The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 8, 1965 Page: 2 of 8
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'Mamser' presents dilettanti
By MIKE JOHNSON
The "Bastard" is off the
press. This first issue, is in-
deed, "as true in shape and as
honest as any madam's," and I
mirror the hopes of its contri-
butors in wishing that it may
not fall prey to the intransigent
"curiosity" of the immortal In-
stitute, or be deprived of its
share of the light of interest
now shining on its two-faced
competitor.
Goethe (spoken softly, re-
verently) once said that there
are two kinds of dilettanti
writing poetry: he who neglects
concern with the structural
mechanics of poetry and rests
satisfied to have portrayed feel-
ing, and he who hopes to create
poetry merely by mechanism,
neglecting content.
Form Equals Content
As a good pupil of the mod-
ern critics, I would say that
poetry must have both to suc-
ceed, that form equals content,
that structure equals meaning.
The central problem in critici-
zing the poetry of the new
"Bastard" is perhaps the very
problem of attempting to define
the manner in which these
equations are defined in the
poetry represented.
The purist in this regard will
The Rice Thresher
John Durham, Acting Editor
Susan Bridges, Associate Editor
Jim Zumwalt, News Editor
John Hamilton, Copy Editor
@olley.e ttclea: a £<xa£
Wiess College's rules proposal offers
convincing- proof that responsible students
can formulate a plan of living that is rea-
sonable- workable, and still guarantees the
members of the college the right to sleep
and study undisturbed.
Founded on the concept "that student
government should and must be the exer-
cise of self-discipline on the part of the
students themselves," the document de-
sei Yes careful consideration by the college
members now and by the proper author-
ities when i! is presented for adoption.
We arc-impressed by the rational liber-
ality of the rules in several areas, espe-
cially liquor regulations and open house
hours. When the starting point is effec-
tively zero, any improvement is. signifi-
cant, and the 12-hour visiting periods on
week-ends represents a giant step away
from the presently prevailing system of
enforced monastieism.
.But as much as we like the emphasis
on self-control in the proposals, we are
dismayed that the students, especially the
student leaders, appear to be more con-
cerned wiih presenting a pose of responsi-
bility to the administration than with
recognizing the individual maturity and
Responsibility of the college member-.
Two rules in the Open House sec-
tion particularly hint of a watch-dog syn-
drome which the college should be con-
sciously avoiding.
It is proposed that when a female is in
the room, there must be an unobstructed
view into the room. How can a college
member feel any sense of maturity when
he is entertaining a guest if the whole
college can walk by his room and look in
to approve or disapprove?
Similarly, the rules for open house pro-
pose that there shall be a stiff penalty for
"immoral behavior". If the college wants
to make certain actions illegal, they
should do so. But to give the college the
power to decide what is "immoral behav-
ior" is bordering on .the absurd.
What we object to most in tjie proposal
is. its inconsistency. Any set of rules or
regulations must be consistent within it-
self.
To base a system on the notion that
student government is the exercise of
self-discipline, and then try to enforce
responsibility within this system through
proctoring could make what is in many
ways an excellent proposal unworkable.
*P<xa ta&te&s fcrecifiitatcaet, fcia&uxtiaa. feccd-licatiaa
* Spring's official arrival, by the Uni-
versity'*-. calendar at least, has been her-
alded by - the re-emergence of the super-
efficient gnome-sprinkler system. To those
who have already been drenched by the
man-made downpour, we can only offer
our sympathy.
To those who have thus far escaped and
would like to continue their dryness, we
can point out that there is an ample sup-
lily of umbrellas in the RMC lost and
found.
* The Thresher is proud to announce
two recent promotions in the editorial
staff; Miss Susan Bridges, a senior history
major, has been appointed associate editor
for the remainder of the year.
find himself disappointed, but
the poets in question are not
professionals, but dilettanti.
As dilettanti, these poets have
written poetry, which, while
lacklustre in structural perfec-
tion, is nonetheless interesting
in content. It is poetry as honest
and perhaps as unselfconscious
as any I've read in the English
language.
Best By Glade
The poem "A Kaddish for
Methuselah" by Roger Glade is
probably the best poem of the
issue. Combining and juxta-
posing innumerable surrealistic
images he has created a work
of interest to both the literary
critic and the student of Fer-
enczi and Freud.
However, the poem does not
read easily — it is a little rough
at points and is, perhaps, too
singsong at others; but taken
on the whole it is very interest-
ing treatment of the themes of
childhood and death.
Geoffrey Bowman's poetry is
better in this issue of the
"Bastard" than it was in Janus
—perhaps partly due to the fact
that here one may see more of
Bowman's poetry than in Janus;
and, of course, Bowman may
have learned more of the poetic
art in the interim.
cerity of tone.
Beverly Wehking, writing
largely in a form defined some-
where between the hokku and
the tanka, has seized and writ-
ten down some of her thoughts
concerning God and man.
The shorter poems are better
than the long' ones, although
the "Satanic Power" poem
(while structurally weak) is
tonally powerful.
Gary Bennett's "A Tragedy
•in Five Stanzas" poses a very
interesting question for the
Christian in the age of the
Hell-bomb, robots, and cancer-
ous death. His "After the
Bomb" is a somewhat more
pointed indictment, and his
closing "renaissance piece" is
another phrasing of the eternal
question of being.
The poetry is poignant in its
message; and should the reader
think it typical of the existen-
tial whiners bearing witness to
the death of our wonderful
technological world, he might
well re-read "After the Bomb."
Compson's Obsessions
The poetry of Charles Sinex
reminds one of the obsessions
of Quentin Compson, although
I don't compare him to Faulk-
ner. His writing is more pro-
saic than poetic. His crystalli-
zation of thought through
image is rather effective,
especially in the first poem,
which is perhaps the best.
Robert Zelenka has written
a harpsichord poem — the kind
of poem which I have been anti-
cipating from his omnipresent
pen.
Grasp At Ultimate
In "Rameau" Mr. Zelenka is
again attempting to grasp at
ultimates — a characteristic of
most of his poetry, but this
time he betrays more of the
Romantic temperament, less of
the philosophic.
These are more honest poems
than his seen last on the Rice
campus, and more experimental,
as the reader may discover in
reading "Transcription I."
"Toccata I" is a poem con-
cerning "the moment's mean-
ing," and from my analysis I
discern the poet's contemplation
of the Kierkegaardian "Augen-
blick."
JWD
of objective thought, freedom is simply
to act in accordance with the rational or-
der of things—it hardly ever means any-
thing very new since this order is already
fixed and pre-established. To do something
that has never been done before is to flout
the cosmic order and has myriad reasons
against it."—John Wild.
GUEST EDITORIAL
\ 0ol\
cJlOrltJflif'
"Actually, the whole thing was Mother's idea.''
The following; editorial was the lead
editorial in the April edition of the
Christian Science Monitor.—Ed.
Student protest in the form of
direct action is on the increase. Edu-
John Hamilton, a Wiess junior, is now cators are beginning to grasp just
filling Miss Bridges' former position of how serious a threat it poses to the
copy editor academic community . . .
* The Mamser, self-styled illegitimate Faced with a mounting threat of
, •! i X- i , j. r,. , i student protest demonstrations, edu-
child or several members of Rice s real . , . , .. '
cators are seeking solutions. A con-
hteiaiy society, IS a welcome addition to structive approach to the problem
campus publications. Not necessarily be- of student militancy might begin
cause it has good poetry (we haven't read by recognizing that unrest cannot
it yet), but because of the spontaneity of be i£nore(1- It; must be faced. Its
• j i xi • • causes are too manv and too deeply
its appearance and the vigor of its con- , , . ... , * .
■, j . ., . i* j *i i. . rooted for it simply to go away.
tributors m their distribution campaign. , L, , „ ^
Wp hp 1PVP 11PVPVT nPlP^c; thflr
^ * Quote Of the month for patrons of educators can do much to prevent
Ye Rott Phloutor: "According to the man unrest from developing into direct
A restive generation stirs
action or mass protest. Well before
they are faced with trouble they
can search to see if there is any
actual basis for possible student
complaints. They can question
whether there may not in fact^Jae
too tight a rein on some student
activities, especially in the area of
free speech and assembly.
If this self-examination reveals
room for improvement, they can
undertake overdue reforms before
they are pressured to do so.
Changes made before student pres-
sure is applied are not so likely to
be interpreted as a sign of weakness
or used as a pretext for demanding
further, unjustifiable concessions.
In all this, educators need not
lower standards of academic excel-
lence, forego administrative author-
ity, or fail to stand firm in the face
of irresponsible student protest. In
some cases strict and prompt en-
forcement of academic discipline is
proper and can prevent an ugly
situation from arising. So much de-
pends upon the way in which author-
ity is exercised and communicated.
We believe that statesmanship
and diplomacy on the part of uni-
versity officials can meet the threat
of student demonstrations in a way
that will command respect. We
trust that educators will grasp the
dimensions of the problem confront-
ing them and take whatever steps
are required to keep unrest from
erupting into an unfortunate round
of explosive situations.
THE RICE THRESHER, APRIL
1 9 6 5—P AGE 2
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Durham, John. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 26, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 8, 1965, newspaper, April 8, 1965; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth244944/m1/2/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.