The Ridgerunner
The Students^ Right to Information and Expression
VOL. 2 NO. >6 Asheville-Biltmore College, Asheville, North Carolina DECEMBER 2,1966
The Geodesic Genius Speai(s Tonight
Twice bounced out of Harvard
and always questioning whether
his math teachers knew what they
were talking about, Richard
Buckminster Fuller, a genius
who wouldn't conform, will speak
in A-B’s Student Center Audi
torium Friday, Dec. 2,
Like the Geodesic Dome, for
which Fuller is most famous, he
is a many faceted individual,
reaching in all directions, prob
ing, questioning, exploring di
verse areas of knowledge. He
can be called engineer, inven
tor, mathematician, architect,
cartographer, philosopher, poet,
cosmogonist and comprehensive
designer.
A marathon speaker. Fuller
is hard to understand because
he pours forth a cascade of in
formation which Robert W.
Marks, author of "The Dyma-
xion World of Buckminster Ful
ler,” likens to trying to absorb
the first six books of Euclid at a
single hearing. Unlimited ''tech
nical richness is offered un
translated at each meeting. .
•‘Bucky. . .has the genius'con
stant onrush of dream flow and
dream logic. . . Each thought
that Bucky expresses feeds back
into his mind, there to generate
families of fresher thoughts,
broader in scope and more in
tense,” Marks explains. Fuller
gives too much of himself at
one time, but, even a little bit
of Fuller can send the mind
reeling into new dimensions.
Despite the difficulty of und
erstanding Fuller, one of the
speaker’s Asheville friends, Al
vin E. Miller of 4 Hampstead Rd.,
adds: “It takes about 20 minutes
before you start swinging with
him,”
A native of New England, Ful
ler invented the Dymaxionhouse,
What’s In The Brown Bag?
The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that taking
liquor into clubs and restaurants to drink it is violating the law.
The court ruled that it is legal for a person to possess liquor
“only in his private dwelling” or while taking a gallon or less
home after legally buying it.
If a person carries a little brown bag containing a bottle of
liquor anywhere except in the living room of his own home, he’s
in trouble.
Cocktail parties at clubs or hotels where liquor is served to
large groups of people MAY be prohibited.
A freshman from Charlotte pointed out that this whole affair
started a year ago. Judge Grist of Charlotte announced that brown
bagging was illegal and ordered the Charlotte police to enforce
the state liquor laws. Three days later, after several raids, the
strict enforcement relaxed. What will happen here in Asheville?
An A-B junior asked, “What will happen if I’m arrested for
carrying a brown paper bag and it turns out that the bottle contains
an RC cola?
A third question; Will there be any booze at A-B’s Christmas
dance?
The official word from Dr. Highsmith, A-B president, is “The
law is the law. The administration cannot condone the breaking of
the law.”
He was, however, sympathetic.
No booze at Christmas.
Bah! Humbug!
-K -K Staff Adjustments jf jf
The start of the second term saw the “Ridgerunner” suffer
a setback in the loss of two key members, Tom Harbin and Rick
Sprague. Rick had been business manager and Tom was managing
editor. Tom has agreed to stay on the staff part-time with sports
writing and with his column, “Runnin* the Ridge.” The editor is
also feeling the crimp of academics. He will go on leave from the
newspaper for an indefinite period.
The “Ridgerunner” is fortunate in having two staff members,
Ginger King, a scholarship winner from Canton, and Tim Medlin,
a freshman from Charlotte, to take up the slack left by the loss
of these members.
BECKY SHERMAN, first student registered for the new A-B
dorms, peeps through a window of one of the new buildings.
a self-contained, low-cost, high-
strength dwelling that could be
delivered by plane.
The Dymaxion Dwelling Mach
ine, a three-wheeled vehicle
which had a top speed of 120
miles an hour, went 40 miles on
a gallon of gasoline, and could
turn in its own length, was ex
hibited at the 1933 World’s Fair
in Chicago.
The Geodesic Dome, a light
spherical dome that has enor
mous strength due to its trian
gulated parts, is Fuller’s most
famous design and invention. He
designed these domes from
mathematical formulas which he
developed and named “Energic
synergetic geometry.”
In the past several months, he
and/or his work have been fea
tured in “Time,” “The New
Yorker,” “Saturday Review of
Literature” and “Sports Illus
trated.”
When asked what he has learn
ed in his many years of life,
Fuller once replied, “How little
I know. . .1 am the most unlearn
ed man I know. I don’t know
anyone who has learned hov/ little
one knows as have I.”
After two unsuccessful goes
at Harvard, Fuller went to work
for Armour and Co., two years
later entered the Navy in World
War I and later received an
Annapolis appointment.
In 1927, after finding himself
jobless, Fuller considered sui
cide. With the invention of the
Dymaxion House, he caught hold
of life, going on to become “one
of the most extraordinary Am
ericans of our era,” as quoted
from “Saturday Review.”
During his career he has
founded several design and manu
facturing firms, as well as serv
ing as consultant to industry,
the Ford Foundation, the U. S.
Government, and other agencies.
From 1961 to 19G2 Fuller taught
at Harvard. He has been a visit
ing professor, lecturer, and cri
tic abroad and on many Ameri
can campuses including Yale,
Cornell, Princeton, MIT, and now
A-B.
Tickets may be obtained
through the President’s office
at A-B.
>
Caravels To Play
At A-B Coronation
Miss Asheville-Biltmore Col
lege will be crowned at the-
Christmas Prom to be held at
the Greek Center, Friday, De
cember 16.
The fabulous “Caravels” will
present dance music for the
semi-formal affair which will
be^'in at 9:00. During the dance,
Miss Carole Carson, A-B’ 1965
Queen, will crown the nev/queen.
Ballots will be cast Dec. 15 in
the Student Center for the new
Miss Asheville-Biltmore.
SGA reminds the students that
no one will be admitted to the
dance except those presenting
student activity cards or special
signed invitations. These special
Invitations may be purchased
from Jim Day or Denise Dia
mond with their approval.
RICHARD BUCKMINSTER FULLER
a constant flow of dreams
A-B Receives 13 Scholarships
The atmosphere was cordial
and curious, the attendance was
good, and the college develop
ment dinner Monday, Nov. 21,
produced thirteen scholarships
totalling $7400 for Asheville-
Biltmore.
Community and business lead
ers from Asheville and the sur
rounding area were invited to
'the dinner held in the cafeteria
of the Student Center.
President Highsmith; Mr.
Frank Coxe, chairman of the'
College Foundation; and Mr. J,
Gerald Cowan, chairman of the
Foundation’s Schola:rship Plan
ning Committee, were the prin
cipal speakers.
Dr. Highsmith, in a report to
Asheville’s leaders, outlined the
growth of the college from a
junior college to its senior class
ification. He described the in
ternal problems of higher edu
cation and the changes A-B has
made to meet these problems.
An effective use of time and fac
ulty and a three year curricu
lum were three remedies he
listed.
He added, howevei, that no
change from a basic liberal arts
program will be made.
Mr. Coxe discussed the why
and what of the College Founda
tion. He explained that the Foun
dation acts as a public relations
arm of the college to develop
community support, and as a
channel for gifts and donations.
Highlight of the dinner was the
announcement of the new schol
arships by the representatives
of the firms making them. Don
ors of $600 scholarships are:
Enka Corporation, 3; Olin
Mathieson Chemical Corp.,
4 (over a four year period);
General Electric Outdoor Light
ing, First Union National Bank,
Gumpert, Inc., McClure Foun
dation and Citizen’s Fuel, leach,
and a $200 art scholarship from
Mrs. Francis Woolfson.
Mr. Cowan noted that the
scholarship program aims to
build a hard core of excellent
students for the coming year.
Students present were Miss
Sandy Sluder, Miss Lenda Gayle
Edwards, Jim Day, Sam Ship
man, and John Phaup.
WLOS Program
Features A-B
Asheville-Biltmore is now fea
tured on a Sunday afternoon ra
dio program, “Asheville-Bilt-
more College on Campus.” Rick
Sprague, an A-B freshman, is
the commentator. The show is
on at 2:30 p. m. over WLOS
Radio.
“President Highsmith Speaks
On A-B,” the first presentation,
began the series on Nov. 20.
The following Sunday, “The
‘Ridgerunner’ of Asheville-Bilt
more” continued the series.
This weekend, Dr. Riggs and
Dr. Pait will discuss the Hu
manities curriculum.
The program is aired as an
educational service of WLOS,