Newspaper Page Text
September 28, 1962
Page 3
GLtUe* FEATURES • SPORTS • SOCIETY • THE ARTS
Magic
published
of Ne
re
head
English
had
a vol
of his
The
Poems,
Press
of
verse narratives and lyric* written
by the author Ottawa. period of
some forty yeara s
Every poem in this volume, with
the exception, perhaps, of the
lyrics, reflects an intense aware
ness of what man new is and what
hw oould become. In a sense, each
peem is a condemnation of what is
wont in mga, and yfet at the same
time a glorification of what is best
in him as well. The poet, in almost
the same breath, scorns man’s stu
pidity, selfishness and narrow-
idbdadnese gfcd yet praise# him
fol> hm faith and courage in the
(self <k trial and adversity.
Although having chosen to write
in the conventional verse forms.
Dr. Highfill, in a unique personal
diotn of his own, makes a reveal
ing and compassionate statement
•boat mankind. The Magic Robe
is, as he writes in the introduction,
a cover for the naked frailties of
all the people who may desire to
enter into partnership with hu
manity.”
In 1918 when Highfill began
writing the title poem, World War
had been going on for more than
three years. In 1914 our failure to
preserve the peace seemed to
prove once again that the peaceful
•ettlemfcnt of major disagreements
and misunderstandings between
nations Was still that strange and
far-off state to which man has al
ways idealistically attained. The
war then, as the war that was to
follow, seemed to confirm only too
clearly, man's basic inhumanity to
man. *<e
Faced with this depressing fact,
Highfill sought to express In som
May his ewa feelings about a situa
tion over which he had, like most
>4'us, little if say, direct personal
sdktrat. but about which, unlike
most of us, he felt deeply and
itt-ongly enough to speak his mind,
fhst he chose the voice of the poet
to do so is to his glory and our re
gard.
Prior to retiring from Mercer,
vhere he served as Pollock Profes
mr of English since 1948. Highfill
rrved as professor and head of the
English department at Ouachita
-allege and at Memphis State Col
ge, and as professor of English at
lississippi State College for Wo-
nen. He has also served as visiting
irofeasor of English at various
CD9* at the University of Arkan-
*s, Mississippi State College,
Murray State College, Alabama
Itate Teachers College and Tran-
ylvania College.
Highfill earned his bachelors de
fee at the University of Arkansas,
il* master's from Northwestern
University and his doctorate at
he University of Chicago.
Listed in Who’s Who in Ameri-
• and the Directory of American
•holers, a member of the Modern
4mgu«ge Association, the Ameri-
ui Association of University Pro
nsors, end the Academy of Po-
hcal Science. Highfill is a con-
ributor to the Dictioaary of Aroer-
and the author of ar-
Sea on language and journalism
have, appeared in various pro
aiosal Journals.
Pictured from left to right is
Grant Wood's American Gothic
and Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggen
heim Museum. Both are prints
from the new slide collection ac
quired by the university. They are
printed through the courtesy of the
Mercer Art Department
NEW SLIDE COLLECTION ACQUIRED l!Y UNIVERSITY
Carnegie Slides Depict Vivid
Account Of The American Scene
VIEWPOINTS
STUDENT OPINION—REVIEWS—LETTERS
"What do you like best about
Mercer?" Cluster pollster, Frances
Bozeman put this question to a
cross section of Mercer students.
Below are their answer*.
Judy McCray—The friendly at
titude of the people.
Sharlene Eubanks—The food
and a certain sorority.
Mary Touma—Friendly p«>ople and
the campus.
Michio Hojo—Making friends.
Edward Simmons—The teacher*,
most of them are swell.
Eddie Stone—T. S. B.
Eiichi Hamanishi—The people
are so friendly.
Beverly Hall—The added attrac
tion of not having to get up and
face 500 other girls at breakfast
(She transferrer! from Wesleyan).
Hans Kissel—The dorm life and
Uie girls.
June Freeh—Friendly people.
Nancy Preston—The friendli
ness of the people and the way
they are willing to help you.
Liz Potter—The friendliness and
the willingness of the upperclaas
Letter To The Editor
Coleman, Georgia
9 September, 1962
Dear Larry,
As the final days before school opens rush to a close, I'm thinking
of you and the mammoth task that is yours for the coming year. Best
of luck to you ... I’d like a subscription to the Cluster for the coming
year. Let me know your rates.
Cordially,
Ralph Bass, Jr
men to help you in any way they
can.
Ole Figenbaun—The friendly
people, and the contact with Amer
lean students.
Eddie Hudson—The fun and
friendly people.
Margaret Brockway—The crazy
antics of Dowell Hall.
Kay Wheeler—The way the new
girls get together and meet each
other.
Viguen Ohanessian—Having
chance to understand the people of
the southern part of the United
States.
Margie Wagner—Foreign stu
dents.
Unidentified law student—The
coffee at the snack bar. Thelma
and Mary.
Bill Oppengeimer—Friendliness
Johnny Johnson—The girls.
Mark Cellars—Teachers.
Junior (unidentified)—The food.
Gordon Dinkins—Wesleyan.
Joe Daniels—Dr. Holloway.
Senior (unidentified)—The food
COLLEGE STUDENTS’ POETRY
ANTHOLOGY
The NATIONAL POETRY PRESS announces its COMPETITION
The annual closing date for the submission of the manuscripts by
College Students is NOVEMBER FIFTH.
ANY STUDENT attending either junior or senior college is eligi
hie to submit his verse. There is no limitation as to form or theme
Shorter works are preferred by the publishers, because of space limi
tations.
Each poem must be TYPED or PRINTED on a separate sheet,
and must hear the NAME and HOME ADDRESS of the student, as
well as the name of the COLLEGE attended.
COLLEGE TEACHER’S NATIONAL
POETRY ANTHOLOGY
Teachers and Librarians are invited to submit poetry mss for con
sideration for possible inclusion in the ANNUAL ANTHOLOGY OF
TEACHERS POETRY.
The closing date for the submission of mss. by the College Teachers
and Librarians is JANUARY FIRST.
There are NO FEES OR CHARGES for acceptance or the sub-
aion of verse. All work will be judged on merit.
ALL MANUSCRIPTS should be sent to the Offices of the
NATIONAL POETRY PRESS
3210 Selby Avenue, Los Angela* 34. Calif.
Rejects Accepted
A new publication called RE
JECT is soliciting contributions
which it says are l>eing rejected hy
other magazines because they are
too daring’ in thought, language,
technique, or simply because the
writer is an unkown who refuses
to affiliate with a recognized
‘school’.”
A letter to the ( luster from the
magazine said that Reject ho|>es to
fill this “unfortunate void." RK
JKC'T will consider for publico
tion “all forms of literature . . .
short stories, sections of novels,
vignettes, plays, jxietrv. tra unlit
(ions, articles, essays, criticism,
etc. *
Contributions should lx* mailed
to: The Editors (Dept. 14 f). 15*7
East 57th Street. New York 22.
New York.
Fine Arts Series
(Continued from page 1)
ed by many as the First Ijulv of
the American Theater today, will
|H-rform on March 4 Miss Ander
son. with a cast of five, will present
scenes from several of her out
standing successes, including "Me
lea."
Featured music of composer
lirector Leonard Bernstein on
March 28 will conclude the series
The S. Hurok presentation of "A
onard Bernstein Gala" will in
dude Robert Rounseville, Claire
Alexander ami the American Hal
let Theatre Production of Jerome
Robbin's “Fancy Free , with ha!
t. full orchestra and chorus
Danforth
(Continued from page 1)
last June, is the most recent of sev
eral Mercer graduates to further
his study as a Danforth Graduate
Fellowship awardee. Ricks is study
ing in Germany this year.
Students may hold a Danforth
Fellowship concurrently with other
appointments, such as Ford, Ful-
bright. National Science, Rhodes,
Woodrow Wilson Winners will be
come Danforth Fellows without
stipend until these other awards
lapse.
The Danforth Foundation, one
of the nation's 10 largest educa-
tiona) Foundations .was founder! in
1927 by the late William H. Dan
forth, St Louis businessman and
philanthropist.
| A set of the Carnegie Slide Col-
| lection, which consists of 2,500 color
slides on “The Arts of the United
States,” was acquired by Mercer
recently.
The acquisition of the $3,000 col
lection. according to Dr Rufus C.
Harris, was made |>ossible through
a $1,500 subsidy from the Carnegie
Foundation.
In the collection, there are 18
categories. They include, in addi
tion to painting and sculpture,
stage design, visual communica
tions. Indian artifacts, photogra
phy, decorative arts, and particu
larly architecture The 17th
through the 20th centuries are the
periods covered
"Every departmnt at Mercer,
will make use of this highly val
ued collection in order to give stu
dents an increased understanding
of the American Heritage," said
Harris.
Marshall Daugherty, chairman
of the art department at Mercer,
said the use of these color slides
will make more meaningful the
message of the printed and s|stken
word in relating the history ot
man
"We shall try to relate American
literature and history to the archi
tecture, iiainting. sculpture, and
household arts o! the United
States." he said
Already planned is a series of
evening slide lectures to la- given
hy members ot the Mercer art lac
iiltv. including Mr Daugherty,
Anthony Stunsfeld, and Miss Lu
cile Blanch
The project lor the Carnegie
Slide Collection Is'gan several
years ago when the Carnegie Cor
poration made a sizable grant to
the University of Georgia. The till
jeet was to provide the best |s>ssi
hie collection of high quality color
slides til lie used in teaching about
the arts ol the United States.
The idea was not to provide
slides merely for the teaching ol art
tself. hut slides which would help
o illustrate American cultural and
social and intellectual history
A committee ol experts even
tually decided upon about 4.000
ihjects to la- photographed in the
18 different catagories The next
step was to get the objects photo
graphed.
Four photographers were sent
out across the country to capture
the objects on film Their object
was nof to glorify hut to document;
not to make “pretty" pictures but
accurate ones—in short, they were
making pictures for teaching pur
poses, to show students how things
actually are. Sandak, Inc., of New
York was chosen to produce the
finished slides.
Volume XLIII