The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 46, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, January 9, 1959 Page: 4 of 6
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Four
THE THRESHER
FRIDAY, JANUAV 9, 1959
\
t,
You Can't Get
There From Here
All this semester, sidewalks have been appearing
and disappearing, bulldozers and steam shovels have
been doing strange things to roads, and workmen have
been carrying mountains of red dirt from one place to
another, but in spite of all this flurry of activity there
is still no direct route to the Student Center.
To get there from the library you either have to
cross a sea of red mud or follow a devious route along
sidewalks which seem to take you in the opposite di-
rection. It's as frustrating as trying to explain to some-
one how to get from the library to Jones College.
Shhh!
The Southwest Conference Sportsmanship Com-
mittee has said "no" to "crude songs." We would ven-
ture to predict that Rice and other SWC schools which
are fond of sing "to hell with so-and-so" at games can
bid the SWC Sportsmanship trophy good-by from now
on.
In the interest of better sportsmanship and public
relations, perhaps we could refrain from singing such
songs within hearing distance of other teams, student
bodies, alumni, and the general public—and confine our
singing to college pep rallies and other private occa-
sions—or perhaps just muttering under our breath.
Ik 'Not So Silent' Mill Is Out
By ROYAL ROUSSEL
As most of you know, the Mill
has finally come out, per sched-
ule. You probably know as well
that several more mistakes were
made, not per schedule, which I
would like to clear up.
The article entitled "Notes
from a Not So Silent Member"
was not an editorial, nor was it a
letter to the editor from my
room mate Phil Barber. We print-
ed it because it was honest and
interesting. It does not reflect our
opinion or the Mill's editorial pol-
icy. We seem to have been right,
by actual count 34 people have
asked me about the article, some
with alarm in their voices. While
this was in its own wg.y gratify-
ing we can tell you that the stu-
dent who wrote it is quiet, well
mannered, and would not think of
throwing a bomb at the new re-
ligious council offices. It was
taken from his answers to a ques-
tionnaire Mr. Williams-'hands out
in his creative writing class.
The article entitled "The Two
Loves of Lady Chatterley" was
som,ewhat' garbled in transmis-
sion. If you have not already dis-
covered the key, the first three
lines of the first column go at
the bottom of the second, and the
first three lines of this same col-
umn go at the bottom of the
third.
The Mill will appear again in
the Spring and we hope everyone
will feel free to contribute. We
also hope everyone enjoyed it.
Kolenda Defines Persons, Agents
By CLAIRE P.LUNGUIAN
Dr. Konstantin Kolenda's talk
on "What is a Person" Tuesday
night, at Hanzsen College proved
a fairly provocative one (at least
insofar as most of the audience
seemed to be quite unconvinced
of the truth of his remarks),
due, as discussion later proved,
4o some misunderstanding of his
basic terms.
Persons vs. Agents
Beginning with a grave con-
cession that probably most of his
audience considered itself "per-
sons," he proceeded to define that
essential quality which distin-
distinguishes "p ersons" from
"agents."
An agent is a mere executor
of concrete causes; that is to
say, jt acts as a direct result of
an existing fact. Examples of
existing facts acted upon di-
rectly by some sort of human
agent might be the urge to smoke
a cigarette, or a feeling of
hunger.
Person Omitted
But this cause-and-effect re-
l he J;
THRE
GINGER PURINGTON JIM. MILLS
Editor Business Manager
CLAIRE PLUNGUIAN
Assistant Editor
ED SUMMERS FRANK DENT
Managing Editor News Editor
Department Editors
Ann M. Davis v Features
' Royal Roussel Fine Arts
Clarence Temple -Sports
Phil Barber and Bill McGrath JPolitics
Don Coney Colleges
Ann Bartlctt and Ann Hebert Societ;y
Claire Plunguian ... .Make-np Editor
Frank Van Orden Graphic Arts Editor
Max Jodeit Circulation Manager
Staff
David Rush. Harriet Hokanson, Jarrene Mengrden, Mary Ann Boon*
Maureen O'Leary, Franjl Hensley, Buddy Hers, Gary Webb, Hester Finke,
Mike McNeil, Phyrne Marquess, Ray Ruhlen, Robert Hinton, David Lodge,
Hugh Hudson, Ann Krlegel. Skippy Johnson, Katherine Kelly, Kit Kellogg,
Lynn Graham, Bob Durst, Leslie Arnold, Judi Travis, Marjorie Trulan, Ted
Hermann, Syd Nathans, John Mcintosh, G. S. Edwards, Mary Kay Hawkei,
Max Jodeit, Leonard Cargill, Bobby Moy, Hardee Ktlgore, Gayle DnPont, Joe
lUn, Mike Arch, Roberta Thompson.
'Small Planet' Is
Sprightly Show
"Visit to a Small Planet," now
in its second week at the Play-
house on Main Street, is a
sprightly comedy that may have
a few profound things to com-
municate, but does a pretty good
job of hiding them.
The plot concerns a whimsical
man from outer space (sorry I
can't be more definite about his
home, but it seems to be a ter-
ribly advanced civilization where
one can read minds, move about
in time at will, and live indefi-
nitely) who decides to meddle a
bit with things on Earth.
Was Bored
Since his people have given up
exciting things like war, pro-
creation, and anger, he was get-
ting a little bored. When he de-
cides to stir things up a bit to
enjoy "primitive" Eai'th to the
utmost ("I must admit that
making war is one of the few
■things you people really do
well"), all hell breaks loose,
things finally get straightened
out by a deux ex outer-space,
after many digs at the human
animal in the 20th century.
Hilburn Has Light Touch
Jim Hilburn in the lead role
has the proper light touch most
of the time, and particularly in
his scenes with a cat, in which
he" carries on a conversation by
reading its mind. Fi'ances Nohl
as the harassed mother of the
household he visits was by far
the most completely believable
member of the cast. Betsy Smith,
as the young daughter of the
household, is almost horribly
awkward most of the time, but
her face is interesting to look at
(even when she forgets to act be-
tween her lines).
Enjoyable Evening
All in all, the play offers an
enjoyable evening, and the script
is provocative enough to spend
the ride home figuring out how
you would have liked it to end.
—C. P.
lationship entirely omits the no-
tion of persons, which we all
think we are. The answer to this
is that a person is not entirely
a mere representative of the
causal forces that happen to col-
lide with him.
Kolenda stated that a person
is a human being who acts upon
principles he holds to be univer-
sally valid. This means he must
view action in the light of how
it would apply to anyone in the
same circumstances. Considera-
tion of an ideal not actually ex-
isting or present must come into
the picture.
Bound And Free Ideas
Or, the difference between an
agent and a person may be seen
as the difference between having
"bound ideas," articulations of
factual motive s, and "free
ideas," articulations of factual
motives, and "free ideas," those
principles that are universally
valid.
Various instances of mixing
both types of ideas were discuss-
ed afterward, a's well as the pos-
sibility that some people are al-
ways agents (which Kolenda
firmly denied, finding universal
justification for all the examples
of particular, causal ideas which
were brought up). Rational
thinking proceeding from causes,
rather than valid reasons, was
described as "rationalization,"
and reflexes of habit or instinct
were also admitted as part of
motivations.
The conclusion seemed to be
that we are all, like it or not,
persons.
t*i \ \ i i s
HELLO.
FATTV.'|
<• &•
mv
STOMACH
HAS
matured
EASly!
(Peanuts is a regular. feature of the Houston Press)
LAST PROSE OF SUMMERS
Evaluation Period
Is Not All Gloom
By ED SUMMERS
We have temporarily exhausted
the supply of topics on which we
are able to speak with logic and
authority. This leaves us but two
things to talk about: politics and
final exams.
We h#d intended to write on
the former; powerful arguments
were marshaled against this,
however, by influential person.
This left only the latter: final
exams.
All Kinds
There are all kinds of finals,
just as there are all kinds of
students to take them and profs
to be taken. In general, they fall
into two categories: the kind that
flunk you out and the kind that
don't.
The pity of it all is that you
don't know what kind you are
getting until the awful hour
arrives. In class, the professor
amiably frustrates his question-
ers something like this:
"Dr. , what is going to
be on the final?"'
"Well, I think if you study
your text and your notes and the
monthly tests you will have cov-
ered all the material we have had
this semester."
"But wihat are you going to
emphasize?"
' "Well,* the material in the
notes and the material in the
text to which I referred in class."
Blunted here, students try a
new approach:
"What kind of test is it going
to be?"
"Well, I think it will be a
three-hour examination."
"But what kind of questions
will you ask?"
"Well, I think the questions
will — don't hold me to this,
now — cover the material about
as thoroughly — maybe multiple
choice, some essay, perhaps ob-
jective — about as thoroughly as
I think necessary to fully
evaluate you."
Thus loaded down with pei'tin-
ent information from this brief-
ing — or maybe just plain loaded
— the student can commence his
studies. Some courses can be
passed in one night of frantic
cramming before the exam; it
seems to be common belief that
they all can.
To "See How They Did"
The care and time some profs
put into making up exams varies
widely. One prof once gave a
chemistry 120 class a ghastly
final, quite irrelevant to . the
course material which nobody
finished and left most of them
nervous wrecks. It turned out
this exam was actually a quali-
fication exam put out by some
organization or other, which -the
prof had conveniently passed on
to his class "to see how they did."
Just Take It Home
Another type of final is the
tal^g-home exam. On this you may
use any books and sometimes un-
limited time is permitted. These
are worst because the problems
turn out to be impossible t;o do
in less than thirty hours and,
since the prof grades on the
curve, you are compelled to do
the whole thing. Then when the
survivors file into class the fol-
lowing semester, the professor
smilingly apologises, "But surely
you didn't expect me to work it
before I graded it!"
No B ones Br oken
On 'Buttermilk'
By SKIP JOHNSON
A few years back several Rice
students decided to spend their
Christmas vacation in a new man-
ner. They went together to As-
pen, Colorado for ski instructions
and play in the glorious snow.
The expedition wsts a success
(neglecting a few broken arms,
legs, etc.) and has been repeated
ever since then during Christmas
vacation.
A Unique Gathering
This thing has gained some
popularity and this year a group
of Riceites, 120 T. U. Teasips, a
group from SMU and others
went together to Aspen. They
went on a unique train which Ijad
a fifth (your choice) in every
seat. Spirits were high.
Seen On Slopes
Rice-types seen on the slopes
were Bob Davis, a Rice ex who
took time out from medical
school, Taylor Ray, A1 Martin,
Hart (Tigerrr) Peebles, Buzz
Crutcher, who had trouble keep-
ing the same "roommate," Harry
Lynch, who snores too loud, Jim
Hill, Bob Murry and Judi Ley
(how'd she get in here?) Their
favorite slope was Buttermilk
Mt.
Not One°Man
Comment by one skiing (still
doesn't look right) Yankee "...
(Continued on Page 6)
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The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 46, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, January 9, 1959, newspaper, January 9, 1959; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth231106/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.