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Inspiration behin By Vicki Jinnette An intelligent man with a gift for humor, 4 Harold Eliot Krents is not to be overlooked. Krents, who is blind, recently gained local j notoriety with his USC spring graduation address. His involvement with President J Reagan's Committee on the Employment of | the Handicapped and the Broadway play and movie "Butterflies are Free," have | gained Krents national recognition. . Krents spoke to the Gamecock football team Friday night at the Roost as a special weekend guest of USC President James B. Holderman. "The chance to talk to a foothall fpnrn is A ffrMt rlrpam for a nhilH especially a blind one." he said. "A FOOTBALL TEAM is coached throughtout a week, trained and led, but the filial analysis of their ability comes on Saturday night at the game. Then the coaches must stand on the sidelines, and the team must do it alone-win or lose. So it is with each of us in veryday life." Krents was the inspiration for "Butterflies are Free," a moving drama about a VAlinor m on'c Qn/ianfQnno a# hio Klir?rlnrtr?o j vuii^ ?iian 0 uvwptuivi mo unnuiiuoo. Krents has been blind since he was nine years old. He said he gave the leading character an attitude and a personality, but some of the events in the movie were very different from his life. "Goldie Hawn (co-star in the movie) never lived next door to me when I was 19!" AS A MEMBER of the President's committee, Krents has been involved in extensive projects in large cities, such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. He works with major corporations, urging the hiring of the handicapped. These corporations make available a certain number of jobs for the disabled, then community organizations that work with the handicapped fill the jobs with qualified employees or irain someone tor me jod. ''Unfortunately, this is not the typical procedure," he said. 4'Toomany times the handicapped are trained to do only one job so they hope their resources will fit the needs of the employer. One out of every four on the unemployed list is handicapped, so it is a major problem.'' r?? Gamecock advertsing gets results Call 777-42 K^^^^LxmgSleev! CAROLINA S // *\\ I-Shirts yO>"?, ^BTcorner of main and blossom ] tnnoLiNn 1.1 Wednesday, 5 10:00 am - Russell Hous Representatives from government aqenc 1 schools will be ovoilc I obout caree id 1 Butterflies I 'I don't envy you going through college or grad school ind coming out trying to find obs at this point in time. The market is cluttered all over the place. We're in a recession. I think getting jobs today is difficult/ ? Harnlri Flint K rents Krents said the White House throws its prestige behind these projects, but it doesn't try to tell them what to do. He said with the government cutbacks, organizations for the handicapped can no longer depend on survival through government money, so they must establish business relations with the corporate community. "MY JOB is to put the projects together, make sure that it's working smoothly, then get out!" Krents has helped form a corps of athletes who volunteer during their off-seasons to work with the disabled. He said the athlete gets to choose what activities he'll like to work with and gets to sit on the board of the corps with corporate leaders. Krents said athletes make valuable contacts on the board, which give them somewhere to turn when their sports careers end. Krents noted this is the National Year of the Disabled and the Year of the Bald Eagle. "We're trying to find a disabled bald eagle," he laughed, "then we'll have both areas covered at once!" KRENTS GRADUATED cum laude from Harvard in 1967 and from Harvard Law School in 1970. Though it's been more than 12 years since he's been in college, Krents seemed like a typical student when he recalled his days as an undergraduate. "Harvard men had a reputation for being very fast," he said, "but I felt it was unjustified. If you took a girl out from Wellesley College, which was a good hour away from Boston, by the time you got her to the party it was 8:30. With a 1 o'clock c a JUUSUIUI Gameco 49 Call 777IBB^^ I All Int( ? 11 Portfolio 11 Tues. S Room c Mw^Jr Russeil 1 RREER FRIR September 15 3:00 pm I ie Ballroom over 50 companies. I f ies, and graduate >le to talk with you 'f options. \re Free'works 1 curfew you couldn't waste time on the nroliminariw: nf ot*tUna tn Irnnur hpr I i" ? o~ o ? "During my junior year a young lady, along with a friend of mine, got expelled for < skinny-dipping in a nearby pool. Six years later when my sister was going to Harvard, 1 they posted hours to let everyone know when skinny-dipping would not be going on! The rules have done a complete reversal since I i was in college." Krents said he has detected the return of apathy among college students. He said when he was in college, they all felt they could make things better, although they aian t always go aoouc it in tne ngnt way. "College students have really changed over the years," he said. |j "I DON'T ENVY you going through * college or grad school and coming out trying to find jobs at this point and time," Krents r said. "The market is cluttered all over the ^ place. We're in a recession. I think getting * jobs today is difficult." * In 1977, Krents suffered a massive stroke. He was 32. He credits the stroke with his renewed spirit of life. J "At 32 I thought I was indestructible. Recovering from a stroke was probably the most exhilarating experience in my life. I don't recommend it for everybody, but it made me sit down and take a really good look at myself. I had to ask, 'Who am I?' ana 'What am I?' I wasn't very pleased with what I saw. Secondly, I had to decide what I really wanted to do." "I began to wonder, would I ever get my heel off the ground, would I ever be able to scratch my nose again, would I ever quit stammering? No longer did I worry about mu navt nliant Ar mtr navl inh ?aj iivav viiv/iii vi 111 jr huat jum. ( "YOU CAN completely lose sight of the s day you have. You have to take it, and live it \ to its fullest. Krents is working on a sequel to his t autobiography, "To Race the Wind." After t "Butterflies are Free" became popular, ; publishers urged Krents to write his own 1 story. He did, and in 1972, " To Race the Wind" was released. He said it did well but 1 is out of print. Then "Coming Home", a movie about a ; Hifiahlpd upfpran ctarrino lino PnriHo o?/-l 1 Jon Voight, came out and was sucessful. < s to the News ck Call t 7866 777-7 srested 1 I ,. !; <3A/V meeting ? ept. 14 j; >-g nr !? / j: riouse L_. ?I IU11 III I III III Hi GRAND OPENING * DEVINE ST. NEXT 1 : & Its : Jf $h? H r -~l_UtlCt?-?_ M TWlMar~ 9B - V $2.83 < **"" ** 11 ~ " *wnaa? id* . <v * "'" ' """" 1 i i M > :, fi , , LJ . rr-' -Su?oer ~ U vw-X '.^ v*'" ' ' >m> u11 m xy:-*.' **-??*< > m?h>^*iii i ^im w my iiihih yJiiywy'I|y'IiyiiyIlly "y ry yw y y pMStL Jk. Jk. Jk. JL..Mr. A A.A, .A for disabled iii on aL LA I m at, i inuugni i was indestructible. Recovering from a stroke was probably the most exhilarating experience in my life. I don't recommend it for everybody, but it made me sit _J I A.I II.. 1 uuwii oiiu uiw a many yuuu look ot myself.' - Harold Eliot Krents 'Hollywood being Hollywood, suddenly the landicapped were 'in' - like the Hula-Hoop, ^hey were desperately looking for anything hat dealt with disability." In 1978, CBS bought Krents book and nade it into a movie with the same name. >teve Guttenberg, who played in "Boys rom Brazil" and "Diner", starred as Crents. KRENTS WAS USC's commencement speaker in May. He received an honorary ioctor of humane letters degree. "Receiving an honorary degree is a great privilege, and the fact that the university vanted to recognize some of the things that ['ve done was one of the greatest honors of ny life, so therefore I have a very special jlace in my heart for USC. "Secondly, you have decent sports. At harvard it's a painful experience. I got up at >: 15 last Sunday morning to find out how you lid against Pacific.'' Krents said he's looking forward to doing i tew wnite House-supported demonstration )rojects with the university. "THE THINGS you've done, not only in Columbia, but throughout the university jystem, deserve to be noted and recognized jy the nation," Krents said. Some of the things he was referring to are he special care area for the handicapped, he large number of handicapped students at Carolina, and the positive attitude USC las about educating the handicapped. "I think down here the handicapped are viewed as an opportunity, not an obstacle. "USC seems to be pioneering in so many areas. You're not only assisting your state, but in many areas, your nation," Krents concluded. i tip? he Gamecock 181 1st Time Ever ; 1ECOCK SPACE ANTENNAS ??) (a) (g) I; KEEP UP ' THE SPIRIT! jgg^ga ? $2.00 \sL JEWELRY WAREHOUSE Cotumbii: 1102 Brojd River Rd j i W CoJuoibti 3909 PUll Spftngt Rd ^ J i1 tttttttxxytttT ON ?? ro PUTT-PUTT Pizza : ALL YOU CAN EATU ... ? N ~ | PIZZA * CHICKEN f '* SPAGHETTI r >2 LASAGNA * SALAD L I6|l Alfjxstjivd. L ?, (Acrotj from loyoea umwrj k< 45IOCNevh?e$l.) L (Next to Putt Putt) L 1 #fr*e Video Game >