Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

f Cult TT.vnl Q 1 -LJiV|JXU/JL By Ellen Goodn The efforts now begin to fii irrational. From Guyana we read a tale were a tale of the occult. The i almost metaphorical, as if sani hacked arduously from the junj always threatened by the encrc of madness. The photographs of murder among the Peoples Temple sect written for a Joseph Conrad cap man is capable of anything." But what is most spooky, mo prehend about this fantasy of people give up their will to their might give up meat. The pro) through the media are of indiv into donors. First, they donaU I their life and then their entire 1 belonging. It seems that the borders betw a belief and submersion in it, be fanaticism, a community and fragile ones. This is not the first story of < j murder and mass suicide in American history. It comes as a because of its intrinsic horror ^ pens now, when the focus of turned elsewhere. | We live in a decade and a com [ more intrigued by and coocernc selfishness and the chic pursu And now, we face again the te willed group, of mass hysteria, most bizarre aspects of the cul since the Manson murders. In the past several years, pe sporadic attention to cults w | washing, suits against Moonies the revelations about Synanon. living within a single closed i beliefs have been described a relief, the relief of finding a reti TTIIIVIi pvvpic QIC OU U^gllllg lUl I ind place. IT'5 3:00HH| IN THE BttJafl KORNIKJfo^/JBBW ts offer the miss ning the iri tan Dr. Stanley CatJi the handle "cult < id reasons for the their members, can follow." of the cult, as if it In the midst of th letting itself seems cult of the leader ty were a clearing, encouraged to expl jle, always fragile, private psyches, tl aching underbrush part of a mass. ? ^1 - Ak 1 _ scives, uiey iuiu r and mass suicide I don't think that look as if they were demonic. It's too ttion: "The mind of safe. It ensures imi Perhaps cults ar ?t difficult to com- the flip side, the fanaticism, is how Whether these gnx cult the way others religions or jung Files filtering back originally offer son iduals transformed community, or a & 5d the direction of and, almost alwaj life ? in return for Only slowly do ! demanding, authc een commitment to elusive purity, an tween idealism and forcement of their a stalag, are also By then, follow differentiate their :ult madness, or of They have becomc i history, even in their ego on the col shock to our system told. ind because it hap- The events leadij our concerns was the jungle are exfc of a long string ol a try which has been disintegration of J id about the wave of and a vision into it of individualism, surely be filled in ] rrors of the single- weeks ahead, death pacts ? the But beyond the?4 t culture to surface individualism ofte often creates the n?|n U.... ; j i.. l r 2_i. uy/ic lutvc puiu oiuy ucuior era in uiie ith cries of brain- mitment and cor , and most recently special environme The attractions of grow at the edges c system of life and of the simple epi as those of simple horror. The horro -eat from a world in a sense of meaning c 1978, The Bostc Washington Post 't'MBggsM j > ing ? 'ofi r\ir\ o 1 u ujLv/nai i, the Bostoajan who has earned ] sxpert," has said simply about Tiey don't have to become, they e culture of the self, they join the . In a society where many are j ore the sensitive crevices of their ley find safety and belonging as While others search for themneaning by losing themselves, cults can simply be dismissed as simple an explanation and too tiunity for us or our children. e more accurately described as escape route, of the society, jps eventually become organized ie horror stories, many cults lething found missing: a sense of et of ideals, some greater goals, I 's, a charismatic leader. i tome leaders turn paranoid and ritarian in the pursuit of an d sometimes violent in the enown sense of righteousness, ers often find it impossible to own fate from that of the group, s a part, not a whole. Having put II ? - uccuun piaie, uiey ao as iney are ig to this massacre and suicide in raordinary. They are the climax f events, including the apparent ones, an idealist, into a terrorist a nightmare. The details will gainfully and painstakingly in the s specifics, we already know that n creates anxiety and free will desire to escape it. In this parnse isolation, a vacuum of comnmunity may prove to be the nt which nurtures the cults that >f our sanity ? even those worthy tn i n 1. i?m. - ia|m wmicu uy uinrua: ine r." : >n Globe Newspaper CompanyWriters Group DATES HOUSE... Letters to 1'Get rid of Carlen' The seas* To the Editor: Perhaps the only redeeming aspect of last Saturday's football game with the Clemson Tigers is the fact that Carolina's football season has finally come to its dismal end. At last Gamecock fans will not have to put up with the often repetitive and cynical remarks of the Gamecock's egotistical head coach Jim Carlen. I feel it is time to seriously consider how much longer this university can tolerate coach Carlen. Granted, next year the Gamecocks should be an experienced and vastly improved football team. Thus next year must be viewed as a pivotal season in the coaching career of Carlen at USC. If the Gamecocks do not win at least seven games next year then it would be a grave injustice to allow Carlen to linger at the helm of ?- #?? *1 uuuiiua a iuoumlu program. It must be conceded that Carlen has produced winning football teams at West Virginia and Texas Tech. But just what has he done at Carolina? His best team at Carolina posted a 7-5 record (1975) and it was comprised primarily of players recruited by former Gamecock head coach Paul Dietzel. Carlen's overall record at USC is 23-22-1, barely average. His record is road contests is 4-12 and of course he is 1-3 against arch-rival Clemson. We have lost three straight to the Tigers; a feat tfiat has occurred only twice in the past 40 years. Of course Carlen cannot be credited entirely for the disap 1 V WE'VE. _j y GE:?M our ( HERE FOR \ TKlRTV the editor Dn's over pointing performance of Carolina's f 1 t ^ MA ? * * ? ? ? iwvui iuummiu vcaius. nuwever, a large part of the blame must be placed on his shoulders. As a coach, he must be held accountable for the majority of the success or failure of his team. It is all a part of the hazardous profession that he is in. Carlen has been quoted in the past as saying the state of South Carolina lacks a sufficient supply of "quality" high school football players. I might point out that the nucleas of Clemson's Gator-bowl bound football team is comprised primarily of South Carolina natives. If Steve Fuller (Spartanburg), Jerry Butler (Ware Shoals), Steve Gibbs (Greer), and ueatcr urown innyrue Beach) are not quality football players then I don't know who is. As an athletic director Carlen has done a questionable job. Obviously, he feels the basic goal of an athletic department is to operate in the black. Because of this money-oriented attitude, many sports at this university must remain club sports rather than varsity sports. While fencing, lacrosse, bowling, and boxing are club sports at Carolina, they are varsity sports at several equivalent institutions. And of course, controversy has been the mainstay of the USC athletic department during the Carlen years. It seems that this university possesses all of the resources necessary to build a winning football program. However, in its 84-year football history, Carolina has won eight games only once (1903). Two of those eight victories See CARLEN, page 23 Qamecock Founded 1908 Mark J. Lundgren Editor In Chief Don Fobes Copy Desk Chief Jim Phillip* News Editor Barry J. Glenn Entertainment Editor Mike Hunt Sports Editor Dave Roback Graphics Editor Sharon Pippin Wire Editor Judy Sims Editorial Page Editor l*r?\r a ? ? Graduate Assistant | Jan Easterling Asst. News Editor Brett Frledlander Asst. Sports Editor Skot Garrlck Asst. Entertainment Ed. Jill Griffin Advertising Manager Fran George Production Manager ' Jon Clemmensen :. General Manager SamMcKee Business Manager The Gamecock welcomes letters from its readers. Letters should be a maximum of 300 words and must be signed with the writer's > correct name. Pseudonyms or other aliases are not acceptable, but the writer's name " will be withheld If requested and circumstances warrant. Please include the telephone number and mailing address where you can be reached to assist us In verifying the Identity of the writer. Also, inc'ude class standing and major. We reserve the right to edit all letters for space out noi tot content. Pleas* address letteri to: Campos Opinion, The Gamecock, Drawer A, USC, Columbia, S.C. 19706 Opinions expressed In the Gamecock are those, if slened, of the writer and, If unsigned, of the senior editorial staff.