The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 26, 1978 Page: 1 of 20
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The Rice Thresher
Volume LXVI, Number 12
Rice University,Houston Texas
Thursday, October 26,1978
The President's Lecture Series
The Latest in Birth Control
Dr. Carl Djerassi
How to Resist Rape
The Campus Police
sponsored a "How to Say No to
a Rapist" film Wednesday
night in the RMC Grand Hall.
They received the film on the
spur-of-the-moment so
publicity was scarce. But a
good crowd showed up for the
7pm showing although many
were Pub goers who happened
to walk by and became
engrossed in the film.
The film was entertaining as
well as being very relevant. It
gave many good tips on how to
repeal an attack.
Filmed in front of a live high
school audience, the speaker,
Fred Storwraski a Clinical
Psychologist in New York,
gave information with visual as
well as physical demon-
strations on how to attack an
attacker.
The standard knee jab where
it will hurt was stressed but also
fingers-in-the-eyes was
mentioned as a good way to
counter threatened violence.
For the women who could
never bring themselves to hurt
someone else even when they
are being harmed, an attitude
of acquiescence is rec-
comended. Once the attacker
thinks you are no longer a
threat to him maybe his guard
will go down for a moment and
that is when you either run or
attack.
The movie will be rerun
sometime in November. With
the increasing threat of attacks,
women should take advantage
of any information offered.
The escort services offered by
many of the colleges is also
another way to detour a
possible assault,
Course No. 101: Premature
Parenthood — Prerequisite:
Irresponsible Sex. It's a snap
course. Pass or fail. No exams,
term papers, not even any
classes. All that's required is
complacency about you own
sexuality and a basic naivete
that's sure to keep vou from
being in control.
If your general attitude on
the subject is not unlike
Scarlett O'Hara's "111 think
about that tomorrow," or if
birth control is something you
choose to leave up to him or
her or to luck, this course if for
you. To bury one's head in the
proverbial sand most assuredly
will not eliminate the problem.
Dr. Carl Djerassi, an
internationally known chemist
who contributed greatly to the
development of oral contra-
ceptives, will discuss thefuture
of human birth control at 8
p.m., Tuesday, October 31 in
the Chemistry Lecture Hall.
Djerassi's appearance here
is part of Rice University's
President's Lecture Series. His
topic addresses an important
decision for college students.
Although the women's
magazines indicate that girls
think sex should be spontan-
eous and that contraception
would make it calculated and
unromantic, the dating
situation at Rice makes it
almost impossible to ignore the
problem.
Djerassi is a chemistry
professor at Stanford
University and was formerly a
research chemist for Ciba, a
well-known pharmaceutical
company. He received his
undergraduate degree summa
cum laude from Kenyon
College in 1942 and finished
graduate work at the
University of Wisconsin in
1945.
Dr. Djerassi is a member of
the U.S. National Academy of
Sciences and the American
Academy of Arts; and
Sciences. During 1975-76, he
served on the President's
Advisory Group on Contri-
butions of Technology to
Economic Strength.
Voltaire, More Than a Philosopher
Richard Dees
"Voltaire was the epitome of
the cosmoplitian mind and the
cosmopolitan person," Dr.
Virgil W. Topazio said last
night in his lecture, Voltaire,
King of the Philosophes. This
was the first of the Provost
Lecture Series.
Voltaire was considered the
greatest writer, poet and
thinker of his age by his
contemporaries. He was the
leader of a group of 18th
century thinkers known as the
Philosophes. The Philosophes
emphasized, above all, reason;
they criticized everything and
took nothing for granted. In
addition, they believed in the
universality of the mind
through science and that to
help improve the lot of man
was to "resemble the gods."
Voltaire led a crusade
against the religious fanaticism
and social injustice of his age.
As such, he has often been seen
as a proponent of democracy,
but as Topazio pointed out,
Voltaire was quite fond of the
monarchy. Because of. his
caustic nature against
fanaticism and injustice,
Voltaire has often been seen as
destructive. But Voltaire
likened his work to saving a
person being attacked by a
beast: the important thing is to
get the beast off.
Perhaps the most underrated
part of Voltaire's work,
according to Topazio, is his
poetry. Voltaire was consid-
ered a great poet in his times,
but his poetic works have been
neglected in the modern era.
Yet, he wrote many volumes of
poetry and many of his plays,
and even letters, were written in
verse.
Voltaire's theatrical works
followed a classicist style, and
his later works were influenced
by Shakespeare.
Topazio also emphasized the
importance of Voltaire's
histories. These works were
based on sound science and
were about current topics.
Voltaire revolutionized history
writing by attempting to make
it interesting.
However, Voltaire is best
known for his philosophical
tales (e.g. Candide), but,
ironically, he would not have
considered these his most
important works.
He spent much of his later
years writing alphabeticaJ
works (e.g. encyclopedias). In
these works, Topazio said, can
be found the accumulation of
Voltaire's wisdom. He used
these writings to wage full war
against Christianity, injustice,
and ignorance.
Topazio is the Dean of
Humanties and Social Sciences
and holds the Laurence Forret
Chair in French and he is well
known tor nis expertise ol
Voltaire. He was introduced by
Provost Frank Vandiver.
The Provost's Lectures are •
designed to give Dublic access
to work and research done by
the Rice faculty.
Texas A&M's Coach Resigns
Tim Proctor
Emory Bellard has resigned
as head football coach and
athletic director at Texas
A&M. This headline has been
echoing across the state of
Texas. The question floating
around the Rice campus has
been,"What effect will this have
of the football game this
weekend?" This move by
Bellard could do one of two
things for the Aggies; they
could throw in the towel, which
is doubtful, or they could play
with more emotion than ever.
Our main concern as a team
is not what Texas A&M is
feeling. We've been working
since Monday to get ourselves
ready to play. We're always up
for the Aggies and this year is
no exception. We cannot
concern ourselves with all of
the rumors in the papers. We
just have to be ready to play our
best possible game.
On Monday we worked hard
so that we could go to college
station and outblock,
outtackle, and outhustle the
Aggies. On Tuesday, when we
found out that Bellard had
resigned, we did not let up.
Whether or not the Aggies are
ready to play is their problem,
because Rice will be. Come to
College Station and help us
beat Texas A&M Saturday.
Dr. Virgil W. Tapazi
Campanile photo
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Heard, Michelle Leigh. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 66, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 26, 1978, newspaper, October 26, 1978; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245384/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.