Page Two
THE BENNETT BANNER
January 1958
THE BENNETT BANNER
Published Monthly By The Students of Bennett College
GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA
Ten Cents a Copy
$1.00 Per Subscription
EDITORIAL STAFF
EDITOR Carolyn Brown.
CO-EDITOR Yvonne Wynne,
NEWS EDITOR Barbara Campbell,
FEATURE EDITOR Delores Tonkins,
EXCHANGE EDITOR Gladys M. Fortune,
SOCIETY EDITOR Sonia Louden,
PERSPECTIVE EDITOR Veronica Shipley,
CIRCULATION MANAGERS Barbara Hammond,
WiUiemina Bimdy,
Emma Jean Blackstock,
Joan Didier,
REPORTING STAFF Nancy Kirby,
JuaniU Spear, ’60; Hilda Harris, ’60; Gloria Brown,
Jean Sparrow, ’61; Linda Brown, '61; Margaret BaUey,
’58
’58
’59
’58
’58
’58
’58
’58
’59
’58
’60
’60
’60;
’61.
BANNER HIGHLIGHTSlLiteraH)^ Jours
fiTi
The Self
(Note: The following article
will be helpful to our thinking
of the Home Making Institute’s
theme of creativity.
THE NEW YEAR AND YOU
The year 1958 is a month old and there are eleven months
left in this year. Let us decide, at the present, that this is the
YEAR. In 1958, things will be bigger and better.
Why should things be bigger and better in ’58, you ask?
The answer is not so puzzling. Each year that passes into the
realms of time and history should be bigger and better. Have
you ever seen Time move backward? No, Time moves forward
and so do we.
Old 1957 was a big year, it was better than 195b, on a
total scale. There were moments, we remember that made us
stop and ponder in awe. Spectacular events occurred, ^e
Chemise Look was introduced, also The New Edsel, Little
Rock, Communistic Eruptions in the South American Coun
tries, Children Killing Their Parents, The Vanguard Failed,
Sputnik Succeeded. Some of these events were gruesome and
the others were pleasant. . . ^ ,
But that was 1957. In ’58, things are beginmng to t^e
on a new look. The Daily Worker has ceased publication, due
to the lack of commimistic interest in this country, and it
seems as if our ICBM program wiU succeed vnth the new bud
get that the government has set up. Let’s keep our eyes on
1958; things are to get bigger as the year progresses.
Now, how can 1958 affect'ils? We, as the ‘fairer sex , cer
tainly don’t want to get bigger, but better, yes. A few days
ago, Bishop R. E. Jones earnestly asked us to fmd ourselves,
to really put forth an effort to learn ourselves.
It is “High Noon” in most of our young lives; we are at
that stage of branching out from the adolescent into matunng
young women. This new year means that some of us will face
the hard cruel yorld, in the latter part of the year, for the
first time, some of us will vote for the first time in 58 and
others of us will prepare to follow in these steps.
How can we prepare to meet these things in ’58, u we do
not know ourselves? We must help 1958 be a bigger bet-
ter year and we can do this only by finding ourselves, by being
bigger in spirit and by being better in our individual patterns
of life. If we do not know ourselves, then all is lost.
Joseph Conrad has said— ..... , „
“A lost man is a man lost in the insignificance of events.
In searching for ourselves in the real, in this the beginnmg
of the New Year, let us get off on the right foot. Bennett S^-
ters are we to be lost in the insignificance of events in 1958.
This new year can be a bigger and a better one, with our
help if we really know our limitations, talents, obligations
and above all have, a> thorough knowledge of ourselves.
“Every man is a volume, if you know how to read him
(Channing) Bennett Sisters. It is imperative that we know
ourselves in order to have a bigger and better 1958 and to
morrow.
The Editor.
In our times, the monologue
has in many instances superseded
the discussion. Man’s capacity for
quiet meditation is a legitimate
one and is the prerequisite of every
discussion. He who has no individ
ual point of view, possesses no per
sonal opinion, will hardly prove a
fruitful partner in discxission . . .
. . the dialogue springs from
the basic fact that man is a gre
garious creature, a social being,
competent and authorized to com
municate with others. It is only
possible and meaningful through
the very belief that truth really
exists In an objective sense and
that Its discovery Is a task en
trusted to m all.
“Bennett Poets”
This month the Banner presents
In this column several poetic
works of our Talented Sisters. The
theme of these poems Is centered
around contemporary life, however
these poems were bom or written
without the jjoets actually having
a specific theme from which to
work.
Within these poems you will
find philosophical thoughts, di
verse moods and interesting po
etic • symbols. The verse styles
range from an almost blank verse
to regular poetic verse. To what
school of poets do our verse
minded-sisters belong? Well, it’s
up to you to decide. Who knows,
there may be a female T. S. El
liot or an Emily Dickinson in our
midst.
Possessed
Possessed? I possess nothing.
Potential, of that there was some
thing.
Processed? That we did.
Thank Grod, there’s a rich life
ahead.
Rudene Abney, ’59
NEXT MONTH
Presenting
'MISS DEMO'
etta keft
^on’-t ^ 5>r )
I "tomorroui^ J
\ vjjKicVi odnha '
Of course, discussion has its pe
culiar difficulties. It is so difficult
because It demands a certain self-
sacrlflclng modesty. We cannot
repose in the security of a truth
already being fully discovered. In
discussion, one must, therefore,
have courage to reveal imperfec
tions, to be daring, to experimsnt.
Only he who acknowledges these
Imperfections, the fragmentariness
of his own efforts In thinking can
ever take part In a discussion
Might It not perhaps be that be
hind the modern incapacity for
discussion lies the weakness of
not being able to admit one’s own
imperfections; the Inward Inhibi
tion of not wantng to admit one’s
own limitations? At least it is
most certainly a sign of uncertain
ty when one rejects a priori the
opinion of the other person.
This brings us to another diffi
culty of discussion: It presupposes
tolerance and toleration of one’s
opponent, and fundamentally only
he can be tolerant who is sure
of himself ... Furthermore: dis
cussion is always risky. One runs
the risk of being contradicted, of
having to correct one’s self, of
having to make unexpected com
promises. In discussion it Is possi
ble to find no solution, or only a
partial one. One may perhaps have
to admit that one’s own point of
departure has been a false one,
and perhaps one has to reconsider
one’s own principles.
All this is inwardly unpleasant
for modem man, for after so many
catastrophes he is looking for total
security at any price—even at the
price of a distorted tmth or a
half-tmth. Discussion can never
give him this absolute seciuity.
Be that it may: discussion will
continue to be the need of our
time. It will have to be practiced
and to be re-learned to counteract
the atomization of our minds. Only
he who reveals himself to others
can ever hope to find himself.
Only he who has learned to listen,
and to listen attentively, can ever
hope to reply adequately.
All this necessitates tranquility,
[confidence, and also courage. Not
until one enters into discussion
has one ever really set foot on
the human stage. Only then does
one confess one’s faith in society
and. through the ordinary give
and take with society, also one’s
faith in the value and predomi
nance of the mind.
Reprinted from
UTSnVERSITAS
An Abstract View of life
The clock radio sounds.
Time to get up.
Food.
Off to work, off to school, off to
life’s routines.
Today, more than yesterday. Sky
scrapers tower high.
Causing birds to meet with fowl in
the sky.
Down beneath the grounds to and
fro
Run the Subways, there they go.
In between, up on the streets
Across from the Chase Manhattan
we meet
DO we speak or greet?
No.
Too busy, too concerned with the
subway of life. ^
In the distance there are sounds,
School is out
The first shift at U. S. Steel is
over.
Food.
Far out in the distance, I hear
Cries.
Shaft No. 11 has just caved in.
“Parlez-vous fl’ancais, Monsieur?”
“If it’s thje U en, ya want, ketch
a hack.”
Down on the coast of Florida
A rotten orange hits the ground.
Too bad.
The Queen Mary, at pier 12,
docked
The crowds flocked.
Sounds and Cries.
Time Passes.
Supper time
Food.
The telephone rings,
Jim died, heart attack.
With sadness your heart sings.
Life must go on, there is mirth
A new niece, a birth.
Bed time
No, the fights are on TV.
Time to retire for the day,
O. K.
And so an abstract of twenty four
is complete.
But wait there’s a tomorrow, and
the next day, and the Next,
Still yet to be processed.
—•Bo’
For Musec Lovers
A new tang was added to the
flavor of choral music as the
National Chorus of America pre
sented a program entitled, “Three
Elxcursions of the Spirit” at Ay-
cock Auditorium on January 14.
The production, staged In inter
esting fashion, made great use of
lights, and was divided into three
distinct parts, suggesting the pro
gression of history from the tenth
century to the twentieth century.
The First Impression
I walked along the crowded lane
Thinking of the years gone by.
When I first met you on the lawn
I was young and oh, so shy.
No one could tell me anything
I knew you would never be
The one I visualized In my dreams
As being the perfect HE.
You see you seemed so nonchalant
And thought yourself so great.
You acted as if you owned the
world
And I was a victim of fate.
Yet after conversing with you
awhile
I found myself quite wrong,
You were a gentleman so good
and kind
With a mind so capable and
strong.
—By E. J. Blackstock
’The first group was ecclesiastl^
cal in nature, and consisted of:
Rex Coeli—“King of Heaven,” thy
humble servants entreat thee to
free them from their sundry ills—
an organum of the 10th century:
"Christe qui Lux es ta dix”—^by
William Byrd of 16th century
church music—a plea for freedom
from darkness: “Koe Nldre”—a
prayer for the eve of Atonement
Day—^from Hebrew liturgy: “Ven
eration of the Cross”—^by Rach
maninoff: and “Praise the Lord,
All Ye Nations”—by J. S. Bach.
Narration, used between selec
tions of the first group and be
tween the other sections of the
program, helped to set the mood
for music heard. The second group
was concerned with “less eccles-
i^'jtlcs” as the narrator -saidrbut—
on the contrary, with Jove. Three
compositions from this section
were given a general heading of;
“A Tournament of Madrigals”.
They were: “Non plu guerra ple-
tate’—by Monteverdi—: “Now is
the Month of Maying”—by Thom
as Morley: and “L’Amflpamaso”
—a scene from a comedy of the
16th century—by Orazio Vecchl.
Johannes Brahms and 19th cen
tury romantic music were repre
sented by selections of the “lie-
beslleder Waltzes.” These were
programmed as “Love Sentiments
In Three-Fourth Time”.
Perhaps, the most Interesting,
and unusual portion of the pro
gram came in the third group with
th€ performance of “Geographical
Fugue”—a selection for speech
chorus, yet written according to
strict rules of fugue form—a musi
cal form. Emest Toch is the cre
ator. Originally, this speech fugue
was done in German and its per
formers encountered the harsh
“H” for which German is so well
known.
“Songs of America”—folk songs
of the Appalachians by John Jacob
Niles, were sung as well as “Songs
of Nature” by Antonin Dvorak.
Here, in this group was shown the
progression into the twentieth
century, especially “Lament for
April 15th”—a satirical chorus
based on income tax forms and
the confusion they create.
’The powerful and dynamic “per
sonalities” of both the twentieth
century and Norman Dello Joio
were combined in the last stages
of the performance where a “Song
of the Open Road” was heard. The
text was taken from Walt Whit
man. In this composition the com
poser has brought together piano,
voice, trumpet, and conductor all
at once.
Mr. Hugh Ross is the director of
the group, the official accompan
ist is Lowell Farr. The trumpeter
was Joseph Andrucci.