The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 50, No. 12, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 12, 1962 Page: 3 of 12
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WED., DECEMBER 12, 1962
THE THRESHER
Three
WILL RICE PRESIDENT
Work Load Produces
'A Diseased Institution'
By GARY THOM
What follows is intentionally both extreme and
biased; offer it for its therapeutic value, especially for
those (commonly college leaders) who pay only lip service
to the vaunted "College System."
THE COLLEGES have failed the Rice student in
many respects—college spirit "this" and college system
"that" notwithstanding. Let's look at the record, as they
say. Observe on all levels an over-emphasis on discipline
and disciplinary problems. Watch the membership of
worthwhile all-school organizations dwindle, and look then
to the colleges, from which ade-
quate substitutes are not forth-
coming.
Further, consider the funda-
mental problems facing the ser-
ious Rice student that the advent
of the colleges has left unaltered
and undiminished; problems that
the all-school organizations never
really successfully combated;
problems that Thresher editor-
ials and editors .have generally
ignored ("Where are the propos-
als for making the Roost a real
student center, etc.").
WHO INDEED can fail to un-
derstand the antagonism of some-
one whose college offers him little
but restraints of one form or
another, or the apathy of someone
whose college fails to come to
grips with the fundamental ill-
nesses of Rice which beset him as
a student?
With pride we point to our
College Board averages, and un-
doubtedly the Rice freshman—
that diamond in the rough—is
comparable to the very best. Yet,
1 using a significant example, their
preparation for the sort of thing
with which they are confronted in
the freshmen discussion groups is
generally markedly inadequate.
VAGUE NOTIONS, at best,
about what they are actually
thinking, and want to say; even
vaguer notions of how to say it.
In much the same way that say-
ing something is dependent upon
having something to say, sheer
"factual" knowledge is an all-
important prerequisite for much
of the higher educational exper-
ience; and especially as concerns
liberal arts preparation, such
knowledge, or rather the lack of
it, is more of a problem at Rice.
Beyond this there is the less
tangible matter of differences in
the general atmosphere and atti-
tudes between the Southwestern
prep school, Southwestern so-
ciety and their Eastern counter-
parts. But our immediate concern
is with what happens once the
individual arrives.
HE FINDS a diseased institu-
tion, whose chief illness centers
about; (1) University policies
which reflect a notion that all
(Continued on Page 6)
COLLEGES-
(Continued from Page 1)
named head of a design commit-
tee, and Mr. Lucian Wilkins, Bur-
sar, would head a group to study
costs.
Other Faculty members on the
committee include Dr. J. E. Par-
ish, Dr. Aima Lowe, and Dr.
Louis Galambos.
Students are represented by
Malcolm Butler, Kathy Kindt,
Anne Lassiter, Bill McGregor,
and Tom Sears.
Any member of the committee
will welcome "advice, opinions,
and suggestions" on all aspects
of the group's work, Dr. Fulton
said.
Baylor President
Censures O'Neill;
Play Is Cancelled
By GARY HANOVICH
The Baylor Theater production
of Eugene O'Neill's Pulitzer-
Prize-winning "Long Day's Jour-
ney into Night" was cancelled
Thursday in the middle of its
scheduled run by Baylor Univer-
sity President Abner McCall.
A RELIABLE source said that
several hundred ministers had
gathered the previous Saturday
for "Ministers' Day," some saw
the play. Many returned Tues-
day night, according to the Bay-
lor Lariat — the official univer-
sity newspaper—demanded that
McCall cancel the play.
McCall later denied the pub-
lished reports of ministerial pres-
sure and said that he cancelled
the play because ''its language
is not in keeping with the uni-
versity's ideals."
He said that he received many
complaints from both on and off
campus and that most of them
were from laymen.
McCALL ALSO said he attend-
ed one performance of the play in
which hal of the audience was
composed of students from local
high school drama classes.
"I don't think that students
of this age are mature enough
to understand the intended mes-
sage of the play," he stated.
The production was the first
amateur staging of the O'Neill
work. The theater, through drama
department chairman Paul Baker,
had signed a contract with
O'Neill's widow which stated that
the play could not be cut or
altered, so the profanity could not
(Continued on Page 7)
SENATE REPORT
Charity: Senate Defers To Colleges
By SHIRLEY JONES
The possibility of having a
charity drive was the only new
business brought before the Sen-
ate on December 5.
Del Lohr remarked that the
only practical kind of all-school
drive is one fcr money, but this
form of charity is less satisfying
to the giver than donating time
or personal possessions.
AGREEING WITH her the
Senators decided to encourage the
S.A. PRESIDENT
Suggestions Offered
To Brighten R M C
By BOB CLAKKE
The current controversy and barrage of complaints
against the Memorial Center has developed sufficiently to
warrant some concrete action—either by the Senate, or if
interest is lacking there, by independent interested groups.
In the Thresher of two weeks ago, Wiess College I
President, Mel Lack, noted that
the Center should "... provide
the members of the various col-
leges, both on and off campus,
with a place and opportunity for
meeting informally." I would
only add that the Center should
provide this atmosphere for the
faculty as well.
MEL WENT ON to point out
that the basement of the Center
needs remodeling so that an in-
formal lounge area could be pro-
vided there. This is not as ex-
tensive a project as it might seem
at first glance. I would suggest
that what the basement needs is
a new paint job for the walls and
lighting suitable for reading.
The storage space behind the
pool room could contain the fur-
niture which is presently stacked
in the main basement. With this
accomplished the basement fur-
niture should b e rearranged, a
few tables should be provided for
card playing or for study, some
partitions should be attractively
placed to help out the acoustical
problem, and the juke box should
be moved to the basement, both
for listening and for informal
dancing thei'e.
These improvements in the
basement would be relatively in-
expensive, yet would encourage
use of an area which presently
offers nothing to the Rice stu-
dent in search of relaxation.
ON A MORE elaborate scale,
but one which would pay for it-
self over a period of a few
years, a post office sub-station
and a barber shop could be con-
THE SIGN TO
YOUR
BUILD
FUTURE ON
I
6135 KIRBY DRIVE
5225 BELLAIRE BLVD.
structed in the rear
ment. These are two badly needed
additions to the campus and
would provide extra income for
the Center.
Moving to Sammy's—another
site of disappointment—we dis-
cover a very complicated prob-
lem. On the one hand, the Uni- |
versity found itself in a bad sit-
. <>
uation economically and felt that
closing the serving line in the
evening was the only way to
achieve satisfactory results. The
Bursar's Office builds its; case
upon the fact that Sammy's can-
not be supported by so small a
crowd as was being served before
the decision to close the line.
ON THE OTHER hand, an in-
formal check has revealed that
the small crowds; were not attrib-
utable entirely to uninterested
students or faculty. Frequent us-
ers of Sammy's and some once-
frequent users report that the
food is quite frankly bad, that
(Continued on Page 7)
colleges to have more of this
type of charity projects.
"The Senate did not go on rec-
ord as being against charity,"
said SA President Bob Clarke.
"The colleges were encouraged to
undertake projects of a charit-
able nature."
"At the meeting, it was
brought out that you accomplish
more when you do something
personally than you can by just
contributing money, and the col-
leges are set up to do this bet-
ter," concluded Clarke.
TOMMY TRUMP reported that
his committee is continuing with
its work to change the school
song. He plans to have the
candidate songs revised because
students have expressed dis-
satisfaction with the wording in
some sections.
After a few more brief com-
j mittee reports the meeting was
of the base-1 adjourned surprisingly early.
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The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 50, No. 12, Ed. 1 Wednesday, December 12, 1962, newspaper, December 12, 1962; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth231222/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.