• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1985-11-21_Vol50_No14_04

PAGE 4 NOVEMBER 21, 1985 WESTERN CAROLINIAN PERSPECTIVES IIIIIIIIMMIIIIIIlllllllll ' ■ :■ "■ " ■-■■^-",':'";/'■'"."■'.'-v; ■ ■■■.-. — EDITORIAL! tape tax turmoil * + * *> • * * « Randy Rosenthal The next time you purchase a Max ell or TDK audio tape for your home or car stereo, you just may have to pay a dollar or more to the big record companies and superstar musicians, if a new bill passes the Senate. On October 7th of this year, Senator Charles Mathias a Republican from Maryland, introduced a bill into the Senate which will attempt to levy severe taxes on audio recording equipment and tape to recover funds that the record companies say they are losing to "pirate" recordings. The use of home recording equipment has become a standard, legal practice for nearly 25 years. Nowthe large record companies,inthemidst of anall-time high insalesand profits,are pressuring government to pass legislation that would unfairly tax consumers and boost the multi-billion dollar recording industry. The law, which is designed to benefit copyright owners, would require every manufacturer of audio equipment and blank tape to pay a royalty tax of 5% of the selling price of tape recorders, 25% of the price of dual cassette audio recorders, and a penny- a-minute tax on blank tapes. This tax is built into the wholesale price, therefore even higher prices can be expected on the retail level. This legislation has many problems. The recording industry must be able to prove that indeed they are losing enough money to piracy to warrant a blanket tax on all audio recording equipment. There are very few of us who are so naive that we deny that record piracy exists. Questionable tapes that look very much like the real thing can be picked up in several locations around town. However, that is the product of a very highly organized counterfeit operation that has nothing to do with the Western student who buys a blank tape at Upstairs Sound. Even with the existence of record pirates, the recording industry has hit an all-time high of 4.4 billion dollars in 1984. There is no evidence that the record industry is losing money from the common person owning cassette decks and audiotapes. On the contrary. The snowballing advances in portable recording technology has produced a greater demand on the recording industry to produce more pre-recorded cassettes. Another problem with this poorly thought-out law is that persons who operate office dictation machines, phone answering machines and , private recording services and educational institutions would be taxed. These persons, along with x individuals who record music to fill needs that are not met by pre-recorded cassettes will be severely } punished. j The worst aspect of this new law relates to the reason for creating this law in the first place. The senators who have listened to the unending rhetoric j of lobbyists have the idea of protecting the artist ', when pushing this legislation. They believe that this law would help artists recover money so they can produce more creative works. The law just does not do this. In fact the law will undoubtedly harm the creative aspirations of musicians. Audio cassette tape has become the preferred method for musicians to preserve, share and promote their original music. If the law were to pass, the small musician struggling for recognition would have to pay a large amount of money to large record companies and superstars like Michael Jackson. This would be a supreme insult. Although this is not an issue of life or death, it is one that will without a doubt affect us all. The senators who support this legislation do so because they virtually only hear the multi-billion dollar record industry's lobbyists. This is an issue in which you can make a difference. Cardsand letters to senators are very effective. If we do not take an active role in determining our laws, we shall be destined to be enslaved by them. MMMMMMM CCCP „____ Children don't Understand SOLDIER OF FORTUNE AFGHANISTAN peka grnyet jbAuu, TIME OUT IN TIME "When in doubt, blowthings up." And why not? Seems to get one's poi nt across and cause a scene at the same time. This bit of worldly wisdom was expressed to me by a n expatriate friend of mi ne a few years ago when my ideals were not so strongly rooted and my mind was still in its formative stages. Exactly how we got on the topic of" Demolitions as a means of self expression" still eludes me, however I am of \ the feeling that it had something to do with the fact i that my. college career was taking a turn for the ' worse, and I was desperately searching for a sound explanation to give to my parents when they received ■ a letter from the Dean of Student Affairs telling them : that the general concensus among the Administration was that I should be shot at dawn or suspended indefinitely. Whatever came first... The strange thing is that I'm still floundering in ; the sea of academia, and although several years older, am not much wiser. The problem stems from j the fact that all people are not cut out for a college '■ career. And depending how you look at it, I would seem to be one of those people. It'snotthatl lackthe ability to comprehend the academics, but it is rather this strange motivational force that makes me want to be constantly on the move. I am much happier when I am on the road, with.no clear cut destination or direction. Just get in the car, turn on the music, . and tear up as many miles of highway as possible. I've spent a little over two decades on this fine j and twisted planet, and most of the last five years have been spent in pursuit of a yet unseen and unamiablegoal. It tends to make me a little bitcrazy if I sit and think about it for any length of time. It isnotthatlthinkcollegeisa waste of time. Nor do I condone the philosophy of "Tune in, turn on, and dropout..." as did so many students during the 60's and early 70's. All I'm trying to say is that I would much rather learn about life by "living" it, than learn about it from a book in college. Too many people take great delight in telling me that, "Without college, you'll get absolutely nowhere in today's world." I strongly disagree. It's got to be written q7*&\ somewhere that all parents are required to make life a living hell for their children if they so much as even question the idea that they may not want to go to college... As 1 mentioned before, I've been in college for three (going on four.actually) years. In all that time, I can honestly say that I've learned more about life, people, and the "real" world from late night talks at bars and coffee shops than from anything I ever was "taught" in a classroom. From those discussions came the foundations of my beliefs and my questions. I began to wonder if everything was justa game, and whether or not I was beingcaught up in it. And I still wonder...because now I'm positive that I can learn just as much about anything that is offered as a class in college by simply going out and experiencing it first hand. Thinkabout itfora second or two. How many of you are actually going to get a job that is even remotely associated with the degree you earn in college? And why, for God's sake, is it so damn important to go directly from high school into college? Take sometime off to travel...getout and see life from the road for a while. I can guarantee that it will completely change the way you look at life, and yourself in general. And above all, keep in mind that it's not a sin to quit college. You can always come back to it later, if you feel like it's necessary. I know that parents scream and moan when they read something like this...but remember that the average age for college students in the U.S. is 30.2 years old. Summing this all up, and since I'm limited in space this week, I'll just repeat the fact that college is not for everyone. Every human being is different, and for some it may be their best interests to find an alternative to "formal higher education". About a yearand a halfagol hitchhikedacrosscountry.tryit, and I can assure you that it'll be at least 50 "life" credit hours... mdy atkin WHAT DID YOU SAY? CAMPUS BEEFS APATHY by Tracy Gasperini Apathy - a lack of interest or concern: indifference. Apathetic - having little or no interest or concern: indifferent. We continuously hear about apathy running rampant on campus and how apathetic the students at Western appear to be. Where does this problem stem? Is it possible that administration and faculty members might also be apathetic? Could apathy possibly be self-perpetuating? Lets start with apathy in the classroom. How many times have we all said, "Man, I really hate this class," and, "All I want todoisgetout of here." We've all said this, and some people have literally meant it. No big deal, so you get a "D". By definition, this is a form of apathy. And the shame of it is that this is no big deal to many people. In fact, this attitude has become so common that a 2.5 QPR is now considered by many to above average and is also considered high enough to be a provision for selection as an outstanding student. Now, let's move into student participation in student affairs. One does not have to look very far to find evidence of apathy's existence. People seem very reluctant to participate in student government activities. It's also amazing to see the poor turn-outs for SGA elections. Now, look at the level of concern over policies and issues affecting the student body. Everybody wants to gripe and complain about everything under the sun, but why is it that so few people ever do anything constructive to eliminate the cause of their gripes? Is it possible that most people don't ever do anything because they themselvesare nothing more thana bunchof hotair? n cases like this, actions truly do speak louder than words. It's one thing to complain about something and make an honest attempt to solve the problem, but to complain about everything and do nothing about anything just makes matters worse. There is a concept known as the power of the masses. The high level of apathy here at Western voids the possibility of this concept ever being applied on campus. And this in turn pleases those same people who are the subjects of many of the complaints. Apathy also seems to self-perpetuating. When an issue is taken to someone who should be capable of making a decision, a student will most generally find that the apathetic viewpoints of the administrator or faculty member often lead to indecisiveness. Wherever you go around here, people are afraid to stand up and make decisions. Bearing, courage, decisiveness, dependability, enthusiasm, integrity, and judgement are seven qualities of a leader. It's a shame that we so rarely see them exemplified. Students who have encounters with apathetic adults, in turn take on many of the same viewpointsand eventually become apathetic when someone approaches them about changing the status quo. If you students have a beef about something, voice it. If you know you're right, don't back down because you're a student and nobody cares about what the students think. Domination is easily exercised over a passive people. It has been commonly stated that an effort to make changes on campus is an exercise in futility. Why is this so? This is the result of years of passive compliance by students. The apathetic attitudes on campus won't change over night, but nothing will ever change if a more assertive approach is not taken by the student body as a whole. Apathy cannot be conquered with apathy. RANDY ROSENTHAL EDITOR IN CHIEF CHERYL DAVIS BUSINESS MANAGER GRAY ERLACHER ASSOCIATE EDITOR DESIGN CZARS JEFFREY RICHARDS ANDY ATKIN SHERRA ROBINSON NEWS EDITOR BILLY GRAHAM SPORTS EDITOR KEN LAUBER PHOTO EDITOR DANELL ARNOLD CIRCULATION/PRODUCTION mMW/MMMM*M»M/0gm?>'^ ~^~rrr:< ,.,. ,,,.., i often trunk it comicol. now nature always ao<■ ' ' ■' •■■'■'■. i>oy and e/ery qoi. That s, born into trie workj air y:W .',',' .:»>.,■•'■ DESIGN: BUM ANNE CAMPBELL JEFF BACON CHUCK SORRMS nservntive WS Gilbert

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University’s student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.

• Creator
  • Western Carolina University
• Format
  • Publications (documents)
• Type
  • Text
• Date
  • Date original: 1985-11-21
  • Date digitized: 2019-02-28
• Extent
  • Dimension: 22.75" x 15"
  • Pages: 12 pages
• Subject - Topic
  • College student newspapers and periodicals
  • Cullowhee (N.C.) -- Newspapers
  • Universities and colleges -- North Carolina -- Cullowhee -- Newspapers
• Location
  • Jackson County (N.C.)
  • Cullowhee (N.C.)
• Source institution
  • Western Carolina University
• Source Collection
  • WCU Students Newspapers Collection
• Identifier
  • HL_WesternCarolinian_1985-11-21_Vol50_No14
• Repository
  • Western Carolina University Hunter Library