The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 24, 1950 Page: 2 of 8
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two
THE THRESHER
A Fable
Once upon a time the animals decided they must do something
heroic to meet the problems of a "new world." So they organized
a school.
They adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climb-
ing. swimming, and flying. To make it easier to administer the
curriculum, ALL the animals took ALL the subjects.
The duck was excellent in swimming—in fact, better than his
instructor but he made only passing grades in flying and was very
poor in running. Since he was so slow in mning, he had to stay
after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running.
This was kept up until his web feet were badly worn, so then he
was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school,
so nobody worried about that except the duck.
The rabbit started at the top of the class in running, but he
had a nervous break-down because of so much make-up work in
swimming.
The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustra-
tion in the flying class, where his teacher made him start from the
ground up instead of the treetop down. He also developed "charlie-
horses" from over-exertion and then got C in climbing and D in
running.
At the end of the year an abnormal eel that could swim exceed-
ingly well and also could run, climb and fly a Tittle, had the hgihest
average and was valedictorian.
The prairie dogs stayed out of school and fought the tax levy
because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to
ihe curriculum. They apprenticed their child to a badger and later
joined the ground hogs and the gophers in order to start a successful
private school.
DOES THIS FABLE HAVE A MORAL?
G. H. Reavis, Ass't. Supt.,
Cincinnati Public Schools.
Words & Casting pearls
Music
a a
A Sequel
Ihe next year the animals were so discouraged by their grades
and bored with the classes that they didn't go back to school. Instead,
each one continued in his own pattern of life, doing the things he
liked best in the old way.
Then one day the rabbit fell in the pond and was drowned
because he didn't swim very well. He hadn't paid much attention
to his swimming lessons.
About a week later,Nthe duck was sunning himself in a meadow
about fifty yards from his favorite pond whpn he saw a wildcat
creeping towards him with a very hungry look in his eye. The duck
pulled himself together and started for the pond. Now, ducks have
to make a short take-off run before they can get into the air, but this
cluck hadn't had any interest at all in his course in running. He was a
very poor runner. I he wildcat went snap-snap and all that was left
of the duck was seven grey feathers.
While the squirrel was out one day gathering nuts and thinking
about he would trick his old enemy the dog going home that night,
someone chopped down his tree-home. When the squirrel frisked under
the clog's nose to start their regular evening race, he lit out for home
and easily outdistanced the dog. But when he got to where his home
used to be. he was bewildered to find it gone. He looked all around
him for a place to hide. 1 here was nothing but a great big rock,
ten feet tall and tco smooth to climb. There was no tree close
enough. He said quickly to himself, "I shall have to fly up to the
top of that rock." But he didn't*remember much about flying because
lie hadn't been very interested in his Hying course. So while he
stood there flapping his le?s without ever getting off the ground, the
dog caught him and gobbled him up. all but his little furry tail.
The eels, prairie dogs, ground hogs and gophers were wiped out
that year by an epidemic of hoof-and-mouth disease (Aftosa).
THE MORAL OF THIS FABLE IS GET BEHIND
THE TEAM AND FIGHT! * EBM
7#£X/C£
Entered as second class matter. October 17, ld'16, at the Po3t Office,
Houston, Texas, under the act of March 3, 1879.
' Subscription Rate $1.00 Per Year
Represented by National Advertising Service, Inc., 420 Madison Ave.. New York City.
Published every Friday of the regular school year except during holiday and
examination periods by the students of the Rice Institute. Editorial and
Advertising offices are in the Fondren Library on the campus.
Editor Emmett McGeever
Business Manager Tom Smith
Assistant Business Manager Ernest Voss
Associate Editor Bill Hobby
News Editor Ruey Boone
Editorial Advisors Bob Mcllhenny, Finis Cowan
Sports Editor Howard Martin
Assistant Sports Editor Ted Lockhart
Fanfare Editor Patsy Brady
Society Editor Marty Gibson
Make-up Staff Allyce Tinsley and Harold Melnick
Reporters Beverly Brooks, Don Eddy, John Blake-
more, Pat Byrne, Bob Schwartz, Dewey Gonsoulin, Betty Mc-
Geever, Lee Mary Parker, Nina Shannon, Bernice Davis, Julia
Martin, Shirley Arnold.
By Timmy Weakley
The Symphony is coming up this
week with works by a couple of
boy wonders, Mozart and Rachman-
inoff. The program consists of the
Overture to "The Magic Flute" and
the 39th Symphony by Mozart and
Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony.
I'm saving the Overture for last,
because I know more about it than
the other two put together.
Mozart wrote his last three sym-
phonies, the 39th, 40th, and 41st, in
thre eweeks of the summer of 1788.
The 39th, in E-flat, is about the
least popular of the three, but is
still one of his masterpieces.
Unfortunately for the low-brows
among us, me for instance, there
have been no popular songs taken
from the score of Rachmaninoff's
Second Symphony; deprived of the
chance of singing softly to them-
selves, the audience will undoubted-
ly become restless during this work,
particularly because the Symphony
is nothing outstanding.
The music to "The Magic Flute"
was written at the insistance of the
librettest, Schikaneder, who took
the story from a fairy tale called
"Lulu, or the Enchanted Flute." As
is usual in this sort of history,
Schikaneder made a goodly pile out
of the run, while Mozart went on
starving/Later, when he built his
new theatre, "An der Wien," Schi-
kaneded adorned the roof with a
statue of himself as Papageno, the
Bird-Man, the part he played in the
"Flute." Such is the effect of fame.
The Overture has been described
as reflecting the tone of the whole
opera; if so, you may expect a piece
ludicrous in the extreme, full of
mock passions of every degree. You
think I'm kidding? Then here is a
resume of the first few minutes of
the opera: A young pi'ince, Tamino
by name, while upon his travels, be-
comes separated from his follow-
ers; and, while unarmed and de-
fenseless, is attacked by a huge ser-
pent. Evidently the serpent is over-
come by lethargy, because our hero
has several minutes in which to call
for help and swoon, finally overcome
by terror and fatigue. Then three
women, attendants to the Queen of
the Night, fly out of their cave and
slay the serpent with their silver
javelins.
The above is undoubtedly the most
adult part of the entire opera; the
whole thing is enough to make a
strong man ill. If you feel vigorous,
read the account of it in the Victor
Opera Guide; even that staid volume
cannot cover up the drivel that Schi-
kaneder put into the libretto.
Above, I made a somewhat slight-
ing allusion to Schikaneder's putting
his statue on his theatre. News has
reached me that this sort of thing
is not as rare as it might be. It
seems that Mr. Kurtz spent the
morning in Foley's, autographing
his records and listening to them*
repeatedly. This Narcissus complex
must be peculiar to artists, like
Benchley laughing at his own stories
or T. S. Eliot reading his own poems
on records.
Being a chemistry major, I am
unable to quite understand this. I
doubt that very many chemists en-
tertain guests by performing the
experiments that made them fa-
mous; I can't see Bacon getting up
at parties and making gunpowder
for the amusement of the other
monks, or Erlich injecting Salvarsan
into casual passers-by. Maybe a cer-
tain amount of self-regard is an as-
set to artists. I dunno.
Another equally important clause
«in the Constitution forbids Con-
gress to pass sentence on anyone
by legislative fiat. This clause was
intended to circumvent an abuse in
the English system whereby a man
could be denounced before and con-
demned by Parliament without ben-
efit of a fair legal trial. Congres-
sional investigating committees and
the newspapers of the country have
been notably lax in the observance
of the spirit of this part of the Con-
stitution.
Such men as Lilienthal and Con-
don, to mention two recent cases,
have had their names dragged
through the mud by the press and
by the committees without one prov-
able charge having been brought
against either of them.
Even the usually calm and sane
Department of Justice was infected
with the spirit of the Inquisition
and has been busying itself de-
nouncing seditious college profes-
sors up to and including the distin-
guished ex-President of the Uni-
versity of North Carolina, who is
now serving in the Senate.
"Yessir," says the FBI, "these
by Bill Hobby
associations of college professors
and workers for peace are just hot-
beds of treason and sedition."
♦ ♦ ♦
The development of the Dixiecrat,
or States' Rights, movement from
a shoddy appeal to Klan instincts
in the 1948 election to the intellec-
tually and constitutionally sound
cound campaign against collectivism
is one of the most interesting pol-
itical trends today. Unquestionably
the cause received its greatest boost
from its most prominent convert,
ex-Secretary of State James Byrnes.
The decision of Byrnes, a known
and respected national figure, to
seek the States' Rights nomination
for Governor of South Carolina
probably worries the big-wigs of
the Democratic party as much as
anything has in quite a little time.
If Mr. Byrnes succeeds in freeing
the cause of States Rights from its
unfortunate connections "white su-
premacy" and sectionalism in its
worst sense, he will probably save
the party from the limbo which has
claimed the Greenbackers, Vegetar-
ians, and Prohibitionists.
The Laughing Maniac . . .
by Emmett McGeever
Without going to the ridiculous extent of providing proper
drainage, there are a lot of things which can be done with Lake
Fondren, or, as it is sometimes called, "Fond'en Pond." If the
powers-that-be decide to leave the water there, it would open up a
whole new vista of aquaplaning, water-skiing, carnivals, perhaps even
some day, even—even—no—yes—no—yes—YES-—YES! Even
the aquatic Olympics. On the other hand, with a little judicious sur-
facing, an area of that size could be well utilized as a parking lot,
square dance pavilion, jousting ground, etc.
Or they could fill it with loose dirt, and use it as a bomb
testing ground.
All the men students of this Institute had better beware. In
just a few short weeks, they will be asked to attend some open houses,
to honor the pledges in each literary society. Did I say some open
houses? I mean eight.
It has been my custom in past years, and I believe the custom of
some others, to attend afl of the open houses, in order to be impartial,
and get a fair comparison. Last year I didn't quite make it. I col-
lapsed at the third due to a natural antipathy towards a chives-anchovy
mixture. This year I'm taking up a collection for a prize for the man
or men who can prove beyond all doubt that they made all eight.
Incidentally this will be a good chance to look over the new
lits so we'll know what to expect from them.
I went to the St. Thomas University Mardi Gras last Friday
night. While I wouldn't want to cast aspersions at an outshoot of my old
alma mater, it would be only fair to ask, in the name of all that's festive
about a festival, that they change their attitude. If they'd concentrate
more on having a good time, and less on making more money, it
would be a much more worthwhile project. As it was, the Houston
Mardi Gras was merely a bazaar with music in February. I would
rather have been held upside down and shaken on the way in.
The music was good but the atmosphere was all wrong: the
main occupation of the evening was autograph hunting. One young-
ster even came up to me and said: "Gwen Maccatthy wause heah,
and I got hith auwougwaph!" That chijd didn't know it but he
was looking into the eyes of deathr. What sort of civilization is it
when children are raised to worship a concrete boulder in the middle
of the bald prairie, and revere its financer as' a not-so-minor deity.
Faugh!!!
Old Club Members In Favor
Of New Literary Societies
"Eight" Literary Societies? Will
it work? Are you in favor of the
plan?" These questions are most
prominent in the conversations of
girls on the campus.
Several objections to the plan have
been raicfe^ One of them is that
it will e%iinate the "exclusive" as-
pect qf the societies.
Leev Mary Parker, SLLS repre-
sentative to the council, bad this to
say:"Rice girls are above the pet-
tishness that strict selection of mem-
bers promotes. I also believe that
literary societies offer an invaluable
opportunity to unite the women stu-
dents of the Institute."
Ruey Boone, OWLS representa-
tive to the council, stressed the idea
that it was not the purpose of the
old lits to make their adopted lits
satelites. "The lits are not support-
ing this because they feel they have'
to, but because they feel there is
a definite need for it. I think in-
tense co-operation will make the
plan a success."
EB representative to the council,
Carolyn Douglas issued the follow-
*' <Continued on page 8)
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The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 18, Ed. 1 Friday, February 24, 1950, newspaper, February 24, 1950; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth230832/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.