Point News, 1993 September 28

              Page 8 The Point News September 28,1993
Signing away your legal rights & letting go
KY DELANEY
staff fall girl
I have always wanted to let go. I
want to rid myself of fear and anxi­ety,
of nervousness and insecurity.
These persisting doubts dominate
my existence. They restrain me from
experiencing the absurd, the adven­turous,
the risk-living. Instead I find
myself opting for safety and secu­rity.
Inside I yearn for something
new, to abandon society’sconformed
ways, to let go of the doubts of my
ability to be who I am. The need to
transcend this concrete world, and
float above it, finally took over. No
longer needing the stability of the
ground beneath my feet, I found
myself able to physically conquer
my fears
and doubts.
For the
past three
years I
h a v e
looked up
at the sky
a n d
dreamed of
what it
would be
like to fall
through the
air. Every
time I have
boarded a
plane I
wished to
jump out of
the win­dow,
to
■leave the
constraints
of security.
Im m e d i­ately
after,
I rethought
the idea
and knew I
c o u l d
never do it
and re ­signed
to
the safety
of my seat.
I viewed
skydivers
enviously, knowing I wanted to try.
I told myself I would do it, but never
did - sometimes I didn’t have the
money or the time and other times
because I had briefly forgotten my
dream. The last time the urge raged
inside of my head, I called and made
a date to skydive the next weekend.
It was a couple of Sundays ago at
nine o’clock. I went to St. Mary’s
Airport and met the four people in
my class. We signed away all our
legal rights to sue if we were injured
or died and then entered the class­room
for three hours. We watched
videos and were taught safety pre­cautions.
We learned how to jump
from the plane on a model. We took
a break for lunch and then walked
out to a field to watch some experi­enced
jumpers fall from the air. The
bright colors of the parachutes
danced through the vibrant blue sky.
The parachuters looked almost magi­cal.
We reentered the classroom and
spent another two hours rehearsing
the procedure, going over safety
rules, and practicing the landing. We
were give a written test. For half of
an hour we waited for the results.
The day had been so long I had
almost forgotten the reason for all
this preparation. Instead fo being
afraid I was becoming impatient.
The instuctors helped us into our
packs and picked out goggles and
helmets for us. They strapped the
packs around our thighs and tight­ened
them. A mechanism to read
altitude was connected to our chest.
I followed the jumpmaster and an­other
student into the small plane.
We flew down the runway. Then it
hit me - 1 was going to jump out of a
plane within the next five minutes!
M y
h a n d s
w e r e
sweating
profusely.
My mouth
was ex­tr
em e ly
dry. I tried
to concen­trate
on
my jump
but all I
c o u l d
t h i n k
about was
how im­p
o s s ib le
the idea of
doing it
was. I saw
my class-m
a t e
jump. The
p l a n e
c i r c l ed
around.
T h e
jumpmaster
rehearsed
my strat­egy
with
me. “Re­m
em b e r
how to
c l i m b
out?” she
a s k e d .
Swing to the edge of the door, hold
on with both hands. Move out on the
step and put both hands on the strut.
Move out to the end of the wing and
let your feet hang. Turn to the
jumpmaster for the okay, look up,
arch back, and let go. She said,
“Ready to Skydive?” And thinking
no I still managed to mutter a semi-enthusiastic
yes. My body was be­traying
my mind as half my body
was outside the plane. All I could
think of was getting back inside the
plane and landing safely on the
ground. Instead I grabbed hold of the
strut and fought hard to move further
out. I was holding on to the wing,
looking down 3,000 feet. I looked
back to my jumpmaster, then up into
the sky and let go.
For a couple of seconds teror ran
through my body. I tried to maintain
my position and started the count off
- one thousand, two thousand, three
thousand, four thousand, five thou­sand.
I looked back and there was
my parachute, all there with no
tangled lines. I could not restrain the
smile radiating from my face. I
reached for the steering controls and
pulled them down so the brake would
release. To float down over the world
was incredible. I had control ofwhere
I wanted to go. Over my radio I heard
my instructor on the ground waming
me of getting too close to the landing
field too soon. I had forgotten all
about that. The roads and buildings
loked so small and insignifigant from
my vantage point. I looked at my
altimeter and it read 1000 feet. I had
to get to the end of the tree line and
start my landing. The voice on the
other end of the radio instructed me
that the landing procedures had
changed because of wind variations.
1 followed his instructions and went
almost to the runway - down to 500
feet. I turned ninety degrees to the
right. I was coming down quickly
now and thought I was going to
smack into the ground. I was a body
length above my ground instructor
when he told me to pull down on the
brakes. The ground came up to me
and I relaxed my body, doing a ba­nana
roll to my left side. The ground
was beneath my body and I was
giddy from the excitement. I ahd a
couple of scratches and a grass stain
to prove the reality of it.
The instructor helped me to gather
up my parachute and we walked back
into the airport. She congradulated
me on my jump. I shared the terror
and fear I had felt climbing out of the
plane and she reassured me that it
was normal. I told her how fabulous
letting go and falling was. After that
I made plans to return and experi­ence
falling again.
I look up in the sky and think
about how I jumped out of a plane.
Sometimes I cannot believe that I
was able to do it. Now that I have, I
believe I can do anything. Taking on
other risks has become so much
easier in comparison. I examined
my fear and realized that while jump­ing
from the plane I did not worry
about dying or hurting myself. I was
only afraid to let go.
THX-1138: George Lucas' Legacy
REBECCA MILLER
tfaffwriter
According to my sister, a film
studentkt tbeUmvefsiiyofSoufh-
', e r a : Cai ifomiai:: (USC)?.: George
Lucas is either cinema royalty or
court]ester.bepending on the day
. you catch her and her friends,:
they:either dainii him to be some
sort of movie legend who saved
the science fiction genre (many
go so far as to say the Star Wars
made: them want to study film at
USC) from its own hideousness,
or some type of weirdo leading
millions of fans on for over ten
years. It’s a strange dichotomy,
and one worth investigating.
When George Lucas studied at
USC’s film school in the ‘60 ’s,
science fiction cinema was a joke.
Few sci-fi movies ever exceeded
the bound ofthe conventional boiy
derline horror flick.Those excepA:
tion s -2001: A Space Odyssey and
its like- were considered acciK
dents. Lucas’s first major project
at the end of this period was a isci*
fi film, which, little-known:as4t:
is. had a lasting impact on - the
industry. “THX-113 8” (1969), as
.it was called, depicted a fascist
future full ofclassic struggles be-,
tween good and eviklt was fed by
both .’60s idealism and .its result?*.:
•ing disappointment|,Though;
. Lucas failed to find a studrd iwiljM
• .ing to assist him, (which occtnred ?
• with American Graffiti:, a n d® :
carilyyersi oh loiAppcalyjpseNoW^
::aS well) he did attract ^aii^tition!
•o fF ra n a s J ^
was jusi approaching: the i^cpghit|
: ; tion he’d soon attain Whehhecrib*.
ated The Godfather, and decided
to give Lucas a job at his: Am6ri-|
can Zoetrope picture company j.:
For two years; during which he .
recei ved some: recognition fo r.
American Cfaffiiii a cult classic,:
Lucas researched and wrote the
Star Wars script. He intended it as I
a space epic for children!.. When
he began making the round of the
studios to sell his. idea,: §jie-;was\
initially turned down/several I
times.vThen he approached::20th:
. C^nturyj|i)^>|lhey deddedto take:
| a chance and make Lucas'’ film.
• :::.:Unfor^
was over 600 pages Jong, as Lucas
told a Rolling Stone interviewer , in
1987, As a result, three films were
planned: one to introduce the char­acters,
one to set up the plot, and one
to follow the saga to its logical con­clusion;/-:
Lucas then': perfected :::oid
! and developed, entirely new special
effects techniques.
'' ( lie-approached veteran actofp;
James Earl Jones i^ tf& le c t^
: • to piay.Darth y a ^ r ’syoice and Obi-
Wan Kenobi. Harrison.
: hzid forked withLucas and Coppola?
:.: at Zoetrope, and several hew faces
grounded outth0casti:fcu0ia^:ad<jpted
much of the imagery o f iTfiXiii 38i”::
G e n e r a H o n Q 0 f p ^
h i$ td r y ^ w a sm d d ^ > t
Despite: all this effort, tbd; Jstudib i
expected only a : ihcdiocre showtnj
at the box office: :3&|||
.: I vThen the: surprise cameJliij 1| | § |
.when the film was releasedjtt jmm&J
.diatel^i;hroke-;.t^. earnings vr^drds.:
::Tna<ie. b# /«ro& |||b ;.mpv^-::dre^::ia i
huge following* A successful mar*
$^in|;;«an^)aign^wasjtetmched, im
eluding toys d e s ;i^ d ;lb j$ ^
C b o o m continued
pire Strikes Back in 1980, and The
Return -of the Jedi. Generation -X"
found a cultural icon.,, and history =
was made, f t - # ' ^
Of course, the public also knows
: .i^C^i&his and Steven iS^idfeirgp
Wdi&fiatidnes series: bti^»iig'pios||
: importantachievements continued.:
•id; be behind the ^enes. :.His :in < te ;|
: trial Lightand Magiccdmpany (ILM);.
dies most - the. special: effects :for
$pielberg:::movies •: $tar: T r ^ : fi Inis,::
and more, Skywalker Sound created
the: state ofthe art THX: sound sys^:
tem installed in many movie, th e ­atres.
All these benefits for the move.
industry would never have occurred^
gjf.it had not been for Star Warss§ j | !
| | But this, is George Lucas:’ gopctf
side, According to Luca$Avatchet^|
there is another side to him, forten
yearsno.Wjhehas promised to make
ibeStarWars prequeUrilogy. He
even told The Rolling; Stone some
specificsin its: J?87 ;anniversary
edition/,^ plot (which Lucas
:claimed was already complete)
: would explain the relationship be-
:: tween Gbi-Wan Kenobi. and
Anakin Skywalker, how the - re^
public fell, and other events lead-ing
up to Luke and Leia’s birth:;
Lucas vowed he’d use lower bud­gets,
Unfortunately, these prom­ises
have yet to be fttiMied, :> ::;|£
;. Another- complaint - iUSC: .film
:.students have withLucas is what
they; It e rxh”h is.d bs.e: sis i oh: mi ith
‘THX-3 138’,” Though Lucas de­nies
any significance for the term,
the letters THX a n d .^ : numbers
: :1:138; as well as their-derivatives,
appear throughout: hi s c a re e y te .
almost become a game for- cinOicha:
students- to: count :referehce:s | h&i
:.yond that ofthe original film title.
For'exarnpleii-3 ||tiie p ri|§ ^ :h f e - -
fer of Chewie that Han and Luke
simulate on the Death Star in “Star
Wars: is from cell block 1138; 2)
Leia is in cell' AA25 0 + J ~2. then
add 3:-3) the Millennium Falcon
parks at Mos Eisley dockihg bay.
94(1+8,13); 4) when Xuke com-plains
that his speeder has been:
outdated, the new model is SB38(|
5) the number that Luke relates to
,3-Pp ks; the one belonging to- f e
•: ga^ ag e 'com p a fe c
. Han, Leia, ahd Chewie, is y2£5%23l
pany created the THX sound sys*
tem,
Others cite Willow md Howard
the Dubkzs rauseenou^ti. 10 ioM:
faith: in liicas: Keed we Wonder
why? • •
: :. Lucas has remained ah. elusive
characterthrou^duttheyear^He:
never seems to have gone ma in-:
stream,-, despite ^arso^stic c^ss^
Yet, he’s never forgotten his USC;
roots: Buildings.:and donations:
there bear his name. And his leg­end,
goodandbed, lives there still;:
and will Continue to live as long a s :
people say that George Lucas make
them.want, to go to the USC: cm-•:
ema school,-.- v