The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 56, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 7, 1968 Page: 2 of 8
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editorial
TRtce 'd CM^itted caiteyeA
The "Masters in Concert" have struck up an
old tune yet another time.
Their move last week to prevent Hanszen
College from continuing to hold evening open
houses until 1:30 am was made for the shabbiest
of reasons. It is only the last in a long string of
actions taken by the Masters to "protect" them-
selves from real or imagined pressures from their
own students at the expense of destroying a more
reasonable and healthy social atmosphere in an
individual college, and it illustrates the inequities
of a system which binds the colleges together
under a set of common regulations.
Hanszen began experimenting with the ex-
tended hours several weeks ago, after being
assured by both the Dean of Students and the
Dean of Undergraduate Affairs that such a pol-
icy violated no written restriction. The Masters
clamped down on Hanszen because of an agree-
ment among them, nowhere written down, which
among other regulations, says that no open house
shall extend beyond 1 am. They cited three gen-
eral reasons for their action. An open house ex-
tending so late, they alleged, would inconvenience
those college members who did not make use of
it; not enough people would take advantage of the
extra half-hour to make the extension worth-
while; above all it was necessary to maintain
uniform social regulations in all the men's col-
leges. None of these three justifications holds
water.
It might be assumed that students, not the
Masters in Concert, can better judge whether
they are inconvenienced by the noise generated
by an open house, yet there has been no torrent
of protest from students who would rather sleep
or study during those hours.
While it may be difficult to determine how
many students must make use of an open house
before it becomes "worthwhile," it was discovered
in Hanszen that of 82 guests signing in after
6 pm on the nights in question, 25—a significant
percentage—signed out after 1 am.
The idea of social guidelines uniformly appli-
cable to all colleges would make sense if the
governmental structure of each college were the
same, if each had an equally effective judiciary,
if each had an equally fair and honest relation-
ship with its Master, if the students in each col-
lege were equal in interests, goals, and attitudes.
For good or ill, such monotony does not prevail.
When seven different colleges, with seven dif-
ferent institutional characters, are bound to-
gether under such enforced uniformity, they
seem doomed to universal mediocrity.
Imagine a college which deviated from the
status quo, as Hanszen tried to do, and imagine
further that its policy was not strangled before
it could become a proven success. Other colleges,
no doubt, would soon attempt to follow suit, and
the Masters of those colleges would be forced—
as individuals, not in a group—to approve or
reject the resultant proposals.
It is to avoid that sort of individual account-
ability, we suspect, that the Masters flee periodi-
cally from the pressures of increasingly assertive
students to the safety of a seven-man body which
invokes unwritten rules for the purpose of
quashing early any real or perceived threat to
their authority.
It is a shame that these men, who as individ-
uals each possess more than enough interest and
devotion to students to provide real intellectual
and educational leadership for their college, do
not develop that kind of relationship with their
students. Instead, they seem to spend most of
their time—what's left over after teaching and
research duties, of course—wilfully burrowing in
administrative minutiae, or fretting about college
open house regulations. A really good Master
would be much too busy. —drb
gandalf and the invasion force
Creampuff
Nothing held Cream back at their Houston
concert two weeks ago. The word is that every bit
of all their outstanding talent was shown.
If you missed the Cream concert, you should
have made the Life Explosion. If you haven't
already heard, the music lasted until the early
morning hours in Anderson Hall. Well past 1 am
the halls of Anderson were packed with people
grooving on the music.
"Wheels of Fire" is Ci-eam's last album. 1
fear that the admirers of New Music will little
note nor long remember what Cream did in
"Wheels of Fire." It is not a bad album; in fact,
it is quite good. However, it is no ultimate album
and it is certainly not the best effort of Cream.
The production of the record was excellent.
Those cuts recorded "in the studio" sound amaz-
ingly live. The suppression of the audience on
those cuts "live at the Fillmore" leads one to
wonder if the applause was dubbed in (it was
not).
The songs on this album range from terrific
(the successful singles, "White Room" and "Born
Under a Bad Sign," and "Those Were the Days")
to the mediocre ("Passing the Time") to tedious
("Toad").
'Pressed rat'
There are three songs that show that Cream
has originality among their more obvious char-
acteristics. The most unique song is "Traintime"
on side four. It is a fast, very fast, blues number
with a strong harmonica lead. This is not what
Cream is famous for.
Another unusual song is "Pressed Rat and
Warthog," which has "recitation" rather than
lyrics. I gather that there is a meaningful fable
under the heavy lead guitar, but, strain as I
might, I could not get the words. This song re-
minds one of "Mother's Lament" on "Disraeli
Gears," the second album by Cjjeam. A third song,
"Politician," deserves mention because it }ias a
very unusual rhythm, very nice.
I like Cream because of singles like "White
Room," "Those Were the Days," "Sitting on Top
of the World," and "Born Under a Bad Sign."
Eric Clapton's guitar stands out especially on
these numbers. I also like jam session-type pro-
gressive rock, especially when guitarists like
Clapton, Bloomfield, or Kooper are playing,
but "Wheels of Fire'"s second record, recorded at
the Fillmore, disappointed me.
Tired, repetitive
While I expected great bursts of inspired,
exciting guitar-wielding, I got instead progres-
sions played over and over again and a twelve
minute drum solo. If the cuts on sides three and
four were reduced by half in time, the album
would be much more outstanding.
For example, Eric Clapton used to play
"Crossroads" in two and a half minutes when he
played with the Powerhouse in the pre-Cream
days. At the Fillmore, "Crossroads" was over
four minutes long. But this is not bad, not exactly
what I am talking about. My complaint is
"Spoonful." Paul Butterfield does a truly out-
standing rendition of "Spoonful" in less than 3
minutes. Of course, music at the Fillmore, for
dancing should be longer than three minutes, but
17 minutes is much too long. The essence of good
jamming is original diversions from, and a sub-
sequent return to, a central theme. Jimi Hendrix
is considered a good guitarist because he can
play all night and never play the same progres-
sion twice.
Bonjour, Creme
However, on "Spoonful" Cream does play
the same progression twice, or rather three or
four times.
"Toad" is sixteen minutes long, with twelve
of the sixteen taken up by Ginger Baker, in a
drum solo. Not to discourage Ginger Baker, but
he is certainly no better than Frank Cook of
Canned Heat. Baker would be better off leaving
the solos to others.
Besides, "Toad" is the last cut of the second
record of Cream's last album. Their farewell
should be better than that.
"Wheels of Fire" should have had more plan-
ning. "As You Said" might have been better
titled "Four Minute Song to Fill Up Side One."
The longer cuts recorded at the Fillmore could
have been shortened and a couple more songs
included.
Good-bye Cream. Looking back on its history,
one can see that Cream had as much talent as
any other group, with the possible exception of
the Beatles. However, Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce,
and Eric Clapton somehow never had the unity
that would have made Cream even better, that
might have kept the group together.
There were occasional" outbursts of excel-
lence. "Sunshine of Your Love" will forever be
a "golden oldie." "Wheels of Fire" will outsell all
other hard rock albums, again with the possible
exception of the Beatles' Sgt. Peppers. What
held Cream back? Perhaps, it was too much
talent. —frodo
RMN and the young
By JOHN ZEH
College Press Service
WASHINGTON (CPS)—Richard Nixon says he has learned a
lot from campaigning for the Presidency, especially in under-
standing what's on the minds of young people.
He's been on the receiving end of some pretty pointed mes-
sages on signs carried by students. One poster held high at a rally
in Burbank, Calif, especially caught his eye. "Talk With Us, Not
At Us," the sign said.
The sentiment behind that statement is indicative of what
Nixon sees as a gap between generations, a gap he thinks his new
political leadership will help to close.
When Nixon insists he has heeded the sign's message, it's
clear to many on campuses that he is two-faced, a double-talker,
and a real threat to academic freedom.
The Republican nominee feels he has made a sincere effort to
talk with students, not at them. He offers a platform that includes
ending the draft through an all-volunteer army after the Vietnam
war is ended. He has established a Student Coalition to "utilize
the talents and energies of the academic community to resolve
society's problems."
Tax credits
Nixon also would "devise new ways by which, through long
term loans, the federal government can further assist students to
gain a higher education." He also says he would encourage private
enterprise to expand its participation in student financial aid.
Nixon might support the proposal for an "Educational Oppor-
tunity Bank" that would lend student the cost of college, with
repayment dependent on future income. The GOP Platform, though,
contains the old idea of tax credits for parents and a new version:
tax deductions to encourage savings for college.
Tax advantages would also be given to those who support
private schools, the GOP candidate says.
Nixon also supports lowering the voting age. Eighteen-year-
olds are old enough to vote not because they are old enough to
fight, he says, but because they are smart enough to vote.
o
Nixon promises students "a piece of the action." Involved in
"forging the new direction in America," young people will have
a better alternative than taking to the streets in protest, he argues.
All this sounds good to Nixon supporters. Other members of
the academic community, however, are scared to death of what
might happen to dissent and freedom under a Nixon-Agnew
Administration. , .
f
Liberal distaste
Their fear and Nixon's fear of or distaste for student demon-
strators can be explained as simply a difference in ideological
beliefs. To someone on the left, someone on the right seems far
right; while conservatives might be able to stomach moderates,
liberals seem too radical.
But liberal distaste within the academic community for Nixon
can be explained and justified by examining the candidate's
remarks and record.
Nixon's the one, Humphrey supporters pointed out, who voted
in 1947 against a $30 million increase in the school lunch program.
In 1960 as Vice President, he declined to cast the tie-breaking vote
that would have authorized more than $1.1 billion in federal aid for
school construction. He sponsored no education legislation while
a member of Congress and opposed most federal-aid-to-education
measures.
While recently he has been more careful in his choice of words
than his running mate Spiro T. Agnew, Nixon clearly opposes
overt student rebellion.
Last spring he expressed his views on the Columbia disorder,
saying students who close campuses "not only disgrace themselves
but harm the cause of education." "More deplorable," he added, "is
the conduct of those professors and teachers who condoned, en-
couraged or excused the lawlessness of their students."
Nixon saw the Columbia rebellion as "the first major skirmish
in a revolutionary struggle to seize the universities and transform
them into sanctuaries for radicals and vehicles for revolutionary
political and social goals."
Legitimate demands
He warned that "we must not allow the Latin American
university of today to become the prototype of the American uni-
versity of tomorrow. . . . The way to prevent it is to rid the
campus now of any student organization or clique which applauds
and uses the type of force employed at Columbia. The place to
begin is with the anarchic students."
Talk about talking at students.
Oppressive statements like those make it clear that Nixon is
dealing in political doubletalk when he lists only positive plans as
"some indication of the importance my administration will be
determined to attach to the legitimate demands of young people of
America."
Richard Nixon refers to today's young people as the "Great
Generation." He says there is "a new road ahead" for all Ameri-
cans. And to young people he says, "that new and relevant road
is your road. You will be part of the new leadership. The challenge
of change is your challenge, because this land is your land."
While there are some passable parts, Richard Nixon's "new
road" for young people seems paved in rhetorical bullshit.
the rice thresher, november 7,1968—page 2
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Bahler, Dennis. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 56, No. 10, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 7, 1968, newspaper, November 7, 1968; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245040/m1/2/: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.