University of Arkansas Monticello - Boll Weevil Yearbook (Monticello, AR)

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the way the media wants it interpreted. That’s why it’s sometimes hard to cate- gorize a year. It seems that most news has a singularly depressing effect. Most of what we associate with a given year is obtained through the news media. It surrounds us, on radio, television, news- print, on anything that will convey the facts FEAR ON THE SILVER SCREEN The film industry experienced difficulties in getting down to earth after Star Wars. This year’s movies include ‘‘Alien,’’ a technically em- bellished B-grade horror movie, “Rocky Il,’’ a sequel to ‘“‘Rocky”’ which is a lesson in redundancy and two movies showcasing Brooke Shields, a talented teen- ager who is-touted as the next sex symbol, yet still asks her mother’s permission to date. There was once a time when ac: tivists and concerned citizens ral- lied around songs or slogans. Now they rally around movies, and ‘‘The China Syndrome” should be a clas- sic example of coming out at pre- cisely the correct moment. In the wake of Three Mile Island. our first nuclear mishap, the anti- nukes flocked to it and revered its message: calamity, catastrophe, death, destruction and radiation, starring Jane Fonda. Robert De- Nero starred in ‘‘The Deerhunter,” a tense representation of the envi- ronment, the first such movie to overcome the stigma of Vietnam. THE SKY IS FALLING Amid the debris of inflation, DC-10’s, unemployment, an energy crisis that few want to recog nize and yet be- grudgingly pay a dollar a gallon for gasoline, one figure shines through. Up through the chaos and a vacation at Camp David has resurrected a new Jimmy Carter, Super President. The smiles are fading, replaced by a stoop and enumerable wrinkles characteristic of his office. In a last ditch effort to win back his popularity, President Carter has shuffled his cabinet and is playing political solitaire with new energy policies and a bold new front to the Americar. people. This has been a typical year, actually. 108 Student Life IN THE RED Inflation ‘redlined’ this year, per- haps signaling that the U.S. econom- ic engine is about to blow. Economic advisors predict a slow down, also called recession. As if it’s not enough trying to stretch a dollar these days one won- ders if he’ll even get a chance to spend it, what with dodging obsta- cles like Skylab. Luckily for America, it returned to earth in Australia’s outback causing concern among the wallaby community. Hamburg resi- dents were less fortuante as they found it difficult to evade two torna- does which crisscrossed their town within a week of one another. es MEESTER,

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HOGS AND WEEVILS | | | Sports, as usual, dominated the news at various times. The Arkansas Razorbacks emerged particu- larly successful, facing UCLA in the Fiesta Bowl and | fighting to a 10-10 tie, then suffering a two-point defeat at the hands of top-ranked Indiana State in the last stages of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, appearing in the final game of the College World Series of baseball and having an outstanding yearin § track and field, tennis and swimming. On the home § © front the Weevil footballers have Ce cause fer optimism J Doug Barnes’ roundball highpoint in their defeat derson squad, while th a | oak? Bie = to win despite muc ie) etitior Nee Y, 1) ms 7) 7 A CULTURAL ABOUTFACE With the advent of the disco crowd, America is undergoing a cultural transformation, as is Iran. Un- der the Ayatollah Khomeini, the deposed Shah’s successor, the countries economy has all but col- lapsed and its women have changed their attire from more liberal western wear to the traditional Moslem getup, complete with veils and flowing robes. ( MORE BLONDES Television brought us little in the way of re- deeming material, unless one considers and end- less array of comely blondes beginning with Farrah what's -her-name. In rapid succession, in time to the drooling of millions of American : males, appeared Cheryl pea =Ladd, Cheryl Teigs, and Suzanne Sommers. iit iy, ee 109