t b e racgill t R i b a o e Volume 4, Number 7
Published by the Students’ Society of McGill University, Montréal, Québec
Tuesday 23 October 1984
Hayes Refuses To Apologize
by Kathy Murray On his first venture out of the United States in four years Billy Hayes spoke at McGill on Thursday, October 18 after the showing o f his movie “ Mid night Express” . This film, based on Hayes five year experience on a Turkish prison, is a highly dramatized, yet powerful statement about the hypocrisy o f that legal system. Hayes’ story begins with his arrest on October 7, 1970 for attempting to smuggle two kilos o f hashish out o f Turkey. After serving all but fifty-three days o f his four year sentence, Hayes was sentenc ed to another thirty years. Hayes final ly escaped in October 1975 after several unsuccessful attempts. Once back in the United States, Hayes was caught up in a “ media snowball” and subsequently wrote the book that forced him “ to deal with all that had happened that he hadn’t dealt with in prison” . Out o f that book came Alan Parker’s controversial movie. True enough, considering it as a political statement, “ Midnight Ex press” would be radical, however, as a representation o f the mental and physical atmosphere o f the prison, these images accurately conveyed a physical reality. Hayes began his lecture with reflec tions and comments on what really Hayes responds to angry questions.
D e b a t in g
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U n io n U .
by Jane Bergman The McGill Debating Union has just returned from an extraordinary success at the University of Toronto tourna ment. Elizabeth Jarvis came in as se cond p lace sp eak er, M atthew M en d elso n was th ird , G o p a l Sreenivasan sixth, novice Sarah Cross came in eighth, Lindsey Slaughter tenth, and Ben Cohen eleventh. McGill also placed third, fifth, and sixth in the team stan d in g s, and M atthew Mendelson came in third, and Eli Jar vis sixth in public speaking. Yes, it was definitely a McGill sweep. McGill was also represented at the Fordham tour nament in New York City where they made a strong showing. The Debating Union was not idle during the summer months either. While most o f you were out enjoying the summer vacation, the D.U. members were hard at work resulting in a first place finish for the team of Baila Lazarus and Bruce Morrison at the Concordia summer tournament. Debates are constantly going on right here at McGill throughout the year as well. If it all sounds too good to pass up, you can join us each Tuesday at 6:00 P.M . and Fridays at 3:00 P.M^ for lively rounds of debates. This year McGill also has the esteem ed position o f host for the World’s Debating Tournament to be held
T r iu m p h s
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O f T . February 16-23. We will be recruiting judges for the tournament in the near future. If you might be interested, you can get a taste o f what it’s all about at the high School tournament McGill is hosting on November 9-10. Anyone wanting to judge can sign up at the D.U. office in room B-16 in the student union building. As well, those in terested in attending or participating in world debates should be on the lookout for notices in the Daily or the Tribune, or check signs on the bulletin board just outside the D.U. office. Many of these debates have direct relevance to the McGill community and deal with issues affecting McGill students. As you can see, the McGill Debating Union is succeeding in putting its money to good use. The union has at tracted many new people and we’re always looking for more. The D.U. executive, which consists o f seven hard working individuals, stays up until the early hours of the morning thinking of new topics for debate and how to get everyone involv ed. So, if you feel like voicing your opi nion on one of our topics, or you just want to spend an hour or so enjoying yourself, feel free to drop by. The debates are fun as well as interesting and informative, and everyone is welcome. Hope to see you soon.
happened in the prisops. He emphasiz ed that the mental aura was captured poignantly by the movie. An emotional shell was necessary simply to endure. After being repeatedly abused for try ing to help other inmates, a cold apathy settled over his personality. “ I didn’t let anything in and I didn’t let a n y th in g o u t. I was dying emotionally” , Hayes says. In terms o f achievement, Hayes asserted that he was not proud of what he did, just proud to have survived and escaped. Diplomatically, Hayes followed with his objections to the film. He admitted that he “ didn’t like it as a representa tion o f all Turks. The Turkish prison system is awful not the Turkish people” . Hayes clearly expressed his belief that although the film truthfully portrayed the emotional anguish and th e le g a l a b u se , it e n tire ly misrepresented his opinions o f the Turkish people and nation as a whole. This meticulously explained point, however, failed to pacify agitated Turkish protesters attending the lecture and render them reasonable. O f the some twenty-five questions asked one quarter o f them laboured on the issue of slander of the Turkish people in the film. The audacious demand o f the protesters that Billy Hayes personally continued on page 4
T b e In sid e
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G o r d im e r
L e c tu re
by Patricia E. Rachofsky On Monday, October 15, South African novelist Nadine Gordimer read her story A C orrespondence Course and gave a commentary afterwards. Ms. Gordimer is a world-famous writer, known for her frank chronicl ing of the changing social and political situation in twentieth century Africa, particularly South Africa. She has been nominated many times for a Nobel prize because her writing shows her dedication to the anti-apartheid cause in South Africa. Her writing is of great technical merit; she has been spoken of as one of the masters o f the short story. Her first volume o f stories was S oft Voices o f the Serpent and Other Stories, published in 1952. In 1953, her first novel, The Lying Days, was published. She enjoyed great literary success thereafter, hindered only by government censors. Three of her books have been banned for various
P o lit ic iz e d
periods o f time in South Africa, but as she gained international fame, this cen sorship slackened. A C orrespondence Course is a story about a single mother whose daughter writes to a political prisoner who even tually escapes from a South African jail. On one thematic level, the story deals with a mother-daughter relation ship. It also deals with the psychological problems o f a single mother. The third thematic level deals with the relationship of rich white peo ple to the poor black people and the civil rights movement in South Africa. The story, which took forty-five minutes to read aloud, is written in a style which is reminiscent o f Hem ingway’s in its simplicity and clarity. There is also much symbolism which pervaded the listener’s subconscious. Nadine Gordimer will be an author whom I will look for in the future. continued on page 2