Rinsing the mind at week's end

Pvt. Joker

by Chris Foreman

And on this sixth day, we are still alive.

No, the genesis of the Bush administration has not expedited the arrival of the Apocalypse, so we must not delay preparation for the impending doom of midterms. (Sigh! First snow falls too late last week to cancel classes and now this!)

As we near the end of the fourth week, the time is appropriate to mimic the transition underway in Washington by rinsing our minds of loose thoughts and tidying ourselves for next week's tests.

With several of the past week's headlines relating to campus, here are the thoughts swimming in my head:

  • Darren Aronofsky's films might be annoying to viewers, but his latest, "Requiem for a Dream," excruciatingly confirms in 100 minutes what "Just Say No" might not have accomplished when we were growing up: Drugs life up your mess.

Though the film is branded with a justifiable NC-17 rating, "Requiem" should be required viewing for teen-agers. Too many movies depict drugs as though they drape happiness over the user. "Requiem" freaks you out. Much of the crowd leaving Sunday's matinee showing stayed in front of The Athena to make sense of the film. It might not suit your taste, but it's an important, effective movie.

By the way, Ellen Burstyn is captivating as Jared Leto's mother. Her scenes are much more original and interesting than that of the drug culture of the younger characters. Check her out again this weekend in "The Exorcist," for which she earned a Best Actress nomination.

  • I've watched Mentos commercials that were more enthralling than "Thirteen Days."

  • nThe Rev. Jesse Jackson did a stupid thing by cheating on his wife, but we must remember the man's message and not his mistakes. Jackson came to southeast Ohio twice in 1998, including a stint as keynote speaker for Communication Week.

"Let's turn America, truly, into a nation of stockholders, wealth builders and job creators, where the colors of the faces of the entrepreneurs match the colors of the American Rainbow," he is quoted as saying in an April 28, 1998 Post article.

Jackson has done much to promote equality during his public life. Before you criticize him for a private act of infidelity and lust, ask yourself what you've done for humanity.

  • One last point on Jackson. If he did not release a statement, the media outlet that would have broken the story would have been The National Enquirer. Has The Enquirer recaptured its position as sleaze king from that scandalous seizure of sludge Matt Drudge?

  • If you've caught any of "Jazz," by Ken Burns, you're probably learning about a lot of musicians you've never heard about before. You're also seeing photographs by Herman Leonard, an OU graduate who returned to campus last Wednesday to speak to the VisCom department.

Within the past three years, both Martha Rial, who received her master's from OU, and Patrick Davison, who is currently pursuing his, have won a Pulitzer Prize. But VisCom, regarded as one of the top three programs in the country, has just eight full-time faculty members. In addition, fall freshman enrollment will be limited, as will the opportunities for transfers.

So, how will VisCom continue to produce graduates such as Leonard, Rial and Davison in the future with the restrictions placed on it by a lack of funding and space?

  • The next time you pop in on an instructor during office hours, remember that VisCom students must make an appointment before meeting with their professors.
  • I'm surprised the Ben Harper show sold out so quickly. At my last concert experience, I saw both Bob Dylan and Paul Simon for $20.

I'm not degrading the band, but I think $20 is a little rich for college folk. Why not drop the price to $10 and move the event to The Convo?

Last week, UPC sponsored a speech by Rubin "Hurricane" Carter that cost $5 and could be converted into free admission at The Athena to the movie based on his life. That was a great promotion and it would have been nice if a similar one could have been repeated for the Harper show.

  • Super Bowl Prediction: Art Modell will look confused at least five times when he appears on screen this Sunday.

Foreman, a senior journalism major, can be reached at cforeman7@hotmail.com. The Post prints Pvt. Joker each Thursday.