University of Virginia Library

Letters To The Editor

Education Students Labeled 'Dead'

Students in all departments of
all the schools of the University are
becoming aware of the fact that
they have, and should have,
opinions and a means of expressing
those opinions about the process of
their education. One of the most
beneficial means of communication
available to a particular group of
full time students, 492 strong, is
the Student Education Association.
Members of the faculty and administration are
present and willing to
discuss issues brought up by students
in these open meetings.

This group met Monday night to
acquaint Bachelor of Science candidates
with problems they will face
in the field of teaching and their
degree of readiness to cope with
these problems once they have
received that piece of paper. Latin
would be a very appropriate language
in which to write the degree
for most Education students since
Latin is a dead language. This seems
true for the majority of students as
a force of 14 did show up for this
publicized meeting. One wonders if
this demonstration of solidarity and
participation in a chosen profession
will last throughout the future
educator's life on both side of the
desk of academia. The word
'chosen' is also important; since, to
the writers' knowledge coercion was
not used to enlist students in the
Education School; nor were promises
of a free ride for three years
or so on the roads of an Academic
Garden of Eden.

Bear with us for now we intend
to be boring - we're going to write
about responsibility for a few lines.
The simple fact of the matter is
that you have a responsibility to
yourself to get the best out of your
education. In short, if you don't
think you're being educated say so!
But go one step of initiative beyond
- tell the faculty and administration
at SEA meetings what you
think can be done to improve this
ambiguous project called "Your
Education." This is your responsibility
to yourself, unless you reasoned
opinion doesn't mean much
to you. But if it doesn't don't feel
too bad because you're in the
majority of 478 students judging by
Monday night's turnout.

In summary, the writers are not
seeking the overthrow of administration
of faculty, but the working
together of a group with two
common interests: to educate and
to be educated. One without the
other is dogmatism which breeds
stagnation. A combination of the
two is pragmatism which at its best
incites learning - that which is the highest ability of any man.

The next meeting of SEA will be
on November 20th at 4:00 p.m.;
South Meeting Room, Newcomb
Hall. At this time Dean Cyphert
will be speaking about proposed
changes in the School of Education
and their relevance to the students.
Again your ideas, both pro and con,
will be welcomed.

Ringo Dead

Amidst all this speculation as to
the fate of Paul McCartney we
would like to present evidence that,
whether or not he is alive, Ringo
Starr is, in fact, dead. We are not
irresponsibly attempting to breed
rumors, rather we are simply trying
to show some highly irregular
inconsistencies which give one
cause to doubt Mr. Starr's existence.

It all begins with the Revolver
album. Here we have "Ringo Starr"
singing "Yellow Submarine," a song
about a magical submarine beneath
a mystical green sea. The submarine
can be viewed as a coffin image.
The sea of green represents the
eternity beyond life. In the next
album Sgt. Pepper's, in the song
"With a Little Help from my
Friends," "Ringo" is asked "What
do you see when you turn out the
lights?" by the other Beatles, and
he answers "I can't tell you but I
know it's mine." Doesn't this
suggest that he has come to a
confrontation with his own conception
of the hereafter? On the cover
of the Sgt. Pepper's album, to the
left of the Beatles themselves rest
four wax likenesses of them. Ringo
is wearing a black turtleneck
(representative of death) while the
rest are merely wearing white shirts
and ties. In addition, Paul's arm is
comfortingly placed on Ringo's
shoulder as a friend "helping"
Ringo "get by" to the hereafter,
casing the transition.

On the double album, Ringo
sings the song "Don't pass Me by"
(obviously symbolic) in which a
revealing line "You were in a car
crash/and you lost your hair"
appears. Car crash, is, of course,
death here and the loss of hair for a
Beatle is synonymous with death.
The last song on the album has
"Ringo" bidding us "Goodnight"
saying: "Close your eyes/And I'll
close mine - Goodnight - Sleep
tight./ Now the moon begins to
shine - " This is "Ringo's" farewell
to everyone and his recognition of
the hereafter.

Lastly, we come to Abbey
Road, their latest album, the cover
of which shows the Beatles crossing
the street and "Ringo" is conspicuously
the only one wearing black.
In "Octopus's Garden" is found
one of the strongest arguments
supportive of our case. "Ringo"
sings "I'd like to be/under the
sea/in an octopus's garden with
you;" clearly a death wish. One
final point in relation to this song
would support the thesis that both
Paul and Ringo are dead because
with both of them gone, there are
only two Beatles left and two
divided into eight i.e. the number
of arms of an octopus, gives four
which is the original number of the
Beatles. This we respectfully submit
in hopes that some light will be
shed on this perplexing controversy.