The Prospector (El Paso, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, December 11, 1964 Page: 2 of 8
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December 11, 1964
Page 2
THE PROSPECTOR
OBSERVATIONS
Campus Magazine Has Definite
ct
Function; Suffers From Net
BERRY
Of Bitters
his
THE
PROSPECTOR
1 OK/
PRESIDENT
Editor
Jeffrey F. Berry
able to pro-
duce a product as good as
SAY HE SHOULD MAKE AN EXCELLENT COLLEGE INSTRUCTOR
PREXY, THE FILE ON HIM STATES HE DOESN’T PLAN LECTURES—
USES UNORTHODOX TEACHING METHODS & 15 UNABLE To COMMUNICATE,"
t orFICE
1 OF
1 THE
" PRESIDENT
MEMBER
TEXAS INTERCOLLEGIATE
PRESS ASSOCIATION
Represented by National Advertis-
ing Service, Inc.
TW Review, 'Sp
Is Best Offering
Ossified Absence Rules
Should Be Abolished
MID-TERM IS OVER and many students have now re-
ceived dismaying drop slips given as rewards for
"too many absences.” The drop slip has remained as
one of a quaint number of Texas Western anachronisms
which still haunt the Campus.
College students pay their money and should deter-
mine whether they want to attend class or not. Com-
pulsory attendance is fine in high school where an at-
tempt is made to merely enlighten the average pupil
enough so that he may exist in our society. But college
students are ostensibly studying by choice, not by co-
ercion. The Administrative mind however, has kept the
infantile practice of a list of absences, doctor’s excuses,
and other forms of impedimenta.
Progressive institutions in the East and elsewhere
have long since completely abolished any rules concern-
ing attendance. As long as themes are turned in, tests
taken, and final examinations passed, the student can do
as he pleases. If he finds one class particularly boring
or worthless, he doesn’t attend it. Why should he?
THE PREVAILING attitude at Texas Western is that
there must be compulsory attendance to insure any
attendance at all! If teachers are this poor, then the
students have already wasted their money at registra-
tion, and should not be forced to waste their time in
class. It is interesting to listen to a six-term-old lecture
given by a bored, overloaded instructor. But for some
reason this pastime decreases in appeal with the age and
scholarly intent of the student.
We can be secure in the knowledge that the Adminis-
trative mind and the Administration’s edicts will still
prevail. And, like rats in a maze, the Texas Western
student will continue to be put through his paces to win
the cheese. It is unfortunate that such an ossified sys-
tem is allowed to exist.
Berkeley Riot Misses
The Point In Its Protest
A FEW POINTS concerning the Berkeley University
riots:
After hearing cries of “anarchy” from administrators
and wails of “political suppression” from students, one
wonders if the major issue of the Berkeley affair has
not been obscured. Newspapers carry banner headlines
and speak only of a rule restricting political recruition
and fund solicitation to a certain area. They do not
mention this restriction was passed by the State Legisla-
ture of California.
Unfortunately for the rebels, they do not mention this
point often either, merely bark about “dictatorship.”
Only a few professors, those supporting the rebels, hit
the main point—that a political body should not dictate
what political policies should be followed by a free uni-
versity.
Now, it is agreed, missing classes and causing furor
among administrators and politickers may not be aes-
thetic on the part of demonstrators, but then, neither is
the prospect of being totally connected and related to a
mass, undiversified university system. Berkeley is not
like that, has never been and does not want to be.
Whether political funds may be solicited Campus-wide
is a secondary matter.
One good thing about the situation though, no students
have been shot by administrators. Furthermore, no ad-
ministrators have been hanged by students. It might not
have been so in Caracas.
LITTLE MAN ON CAMPUS
"ASSAYER OF
STUDENT OPINION”
Published by Student
Publications, Inc., of Texas
Western College El Paso Texas
Second-Class postage paid at
El Paso Texas
Subscriptions—$2 per year, or
payment of Student Association
fee
THE PROSPECTOR is publish-
ed weekly during the academic
year except during examination
periods and holidays.
Opinions expressed herein are
not necessarily those of the
faculty or administration. Let-
ters to the Editor should be ad-
dressed to The Editor, The
PROSPECTOR, Texas Western
College.
to suffer from compounded
neglect: the campus neglects
the magazine, while the ed-
itors, glorying in their
troubles, neglect the campus.
Depending upon his tem-
perament, the student mag-
azine editor will either be
resigned or openly attack
various aspects of the acad-
emic environment. He often
cites a lack of finances, in-
adequate talent, academic
pressure, or an absence of
“creative college atmosphere”
as being primary obstacles
against him. (El Burro, has
no trouble with the finances
part of this argument at least.
They are entirely staked by
the Student Association).
Inadequate talent is an
elusive problem. Good con-
tributors are always hard to
find. If the college does not
encourage participation in
the arts, the task of finding
the best contributors becomes
nearly impossible. We have
such a situation here at Tex-
as Western.
The most talented stu-
dents, if they do not trans-
fer from this college to some
place better, are already
trying to break into commer-
cial writing markets and feel
that their “talent” would be
wasted between the covers of
a small-circulation campus
magazine.
Academic pressure on po-
tential contributors and edi-
tors alike also takes its toll.
With the fearful pressure
and competition for that roll
of sheepskin today, students
are fortunate if they have
time to write home, much
less write a short story.
The apparent lack of crea-
tive atmosphere here at Tex-
as Western and elsewhere
can be attributed in part at
least, to the prevailing social
tone. College admission test-
By STEVE BELL
When informed that I
would attend “A Splash of
Bitters” one night, imme-
diately visions of another
student farce danced before
my foggy eyes. Small en-
couragement was offered by
the rather forced and not too
convincing manner in which
the players staggered onto
the stage on the night of the
performance. All my mis-
givings were dispelled how-
ever, when the action really
started, and was there ac-
tion!
Though the cabaret light-
ing made for bad note tak-
ing and subsequent transcrip-
tion, I was impressed by the
entire technical handling, and
feel that the performance
was enhanced by a very ma-
ture approach to the block-
ing of the performance. In
fact, maturity seemed to be
the keynote in every facet of
the show. The fact that there
were proficient and more
experienced actors on stage
probably accounted for this
polish.
Highlight of the evening
would have to be “Rhymed
Martini’s.” In this skit an at-
tempt is made to get egg-
head Fred interested in wo-
men, whom he objects to be-
cause they are “too earthy.”
Fred is the genius of the
“foot-noted” student who
can give every reference to
every comment that anyone
the one which they have
been censuring.
College magazines are in a
rather ludicrous position to-
day: a college without one
considers itself culturally
immature and inadequate ed-
ucationally, yet colleges that
do have student literary or
humor magazines often re-
gard them with disdain or
meet them at best with in-
difference.
On those campuses which
have magazines such as El
Burro, and there are hun-
dreds, the value of the mag-
azine is evident: regardless
of the quality of the work
contained, the students are
permitted the educational
experience of experimenting
with words, designs, and
they learn from shaping their
work into print. Campus
magazines seem to be one of
the only places where an
artist, writer or poet can
fumble with style and form.
He does not have to meet
the rigorous standards de-
manded of professional or
commercial publications.
Unfortunately, despite the
value of this function, these
magazines are seldom taken
seriously. They have come
BELL'S TOLL
Business Manager. .Barbara Ritter
Sports Editor______Marty Laurel
Copy Editor------Jeannie Todaro
Daguerreotypist______Craig Waters
ing is confined largely to
measuring the quantitative
and analytical capacities; ac-
ademic specialization fre-
quently fosters narrow-mind-
edness and the student body
is fragmented into small
highly-unrelated groups
which discourage identifica-
tion with work done by ar-
tistic classmates. Little won-
der then, with all these ob-
stacles, that student editors
(the El Burro editor includ-
ed) sometimes imitate F.
Scott Fitzgerald’s example.
- When he was editor of the
Princeton “Nassau Lit,” he
and several companions took
over the magazine solely, it
seems, to publish their own
work.
Now good editors are learn-
ing that talented writers do
not simply submit their mas-
terpieces. The talented writ-
er must be wooed assiduous-
ly by persistent staff mem-
bers. When both the college
and student editor show in-
terest in the talents and
ideas of the undergraduate
student, then a good college
magazine is usually produc-
ed. It earns the respect and
interest of the student body.
The student literary/hu-
mor magazine may rarely
contain a notable piece of
satire, prose or poetry. Its
function in the academic
community must nevertheless
be recognized; a function
which is offtimes indicative
of the cultural health of the
community. Whether the stu-
dent editor and his contri-
butors and staff members go
on writing is not so import-
ant. That they have experi-
enced the creative process is
—which leads me to wonder
whether most colleges, Texas
Western included, have miss-
ed the point.
—JEFF BERRY
Season
jolly and gay, but who has a
serious side, Williams does
an unusually fine job.
Add good acting, fine
script, and just enough chaos
to give flavor, and you can
hardly miss. “A Splash of
Bitters” hit the spot.
There has been some crit-
icism this year concerning
the quality or lack of qual-
ity in El Burro. Those who
dislike the
magaz i n e
have a very
solid basis
for some of
their argu-
ments, but I
wonder if
they really
know what
they want or
would be
else makes. He doesn’t smoke,
drink, or go with girls who
do. Fred has had few dates.
Jim (William Gourd),
Frank (Ira Moore), Janie
(Linda Valle), and Myrtle
(Candy Cline) discuss the
vagaries of life and attempt
to come up with a solution.
(That is, they make out
while Judy Weingarten tries
to convince Fred that there
are better things to investi-
gate than Kafka and men
turning into beetles, which
has become both fashionable
and profitable). This is not to
hint that there are any il-
licit occurrences—the men
are not discussing between
themselves, but with the
women.
Janie convincingly demon-
strates that she is not unde-
veloped, and Loretto (Wein-
garten) succeeds in captur-
ing Fred, with a little help
from the aqua vita. The skit
ends with harmony and eve-
ryone is carried off the stage.
Other parts of the per-
formance which were impres-
sive were “Colonel Jenn” and
“Indian Days.” In general,
the acting was good, the
dancing excellent, and the
casting an act of divine in-
spiration. For example, the
casting of Williams as Son-
ny, the doctor, and governor
was perhaps what gave the
production that little more
than merely good which is
great. As a fat man who is
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Texas Western College. The Prospector (El Paso, Tex.), Vol. 31, No. 12, Ed. 1 Friday, December 11, 1964, newspaper, December 11, 1964; El Paso, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1620339/m1/2/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting University of Texas at El Paso.