The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 15, 1977, Page Page 19, Image 19
Sees campi
Sen
I By JACK KNEECE
Gamecock Staff Writer
On the first day of the fall
w, i prepared to open my not
semester at the university-a
almost 20 years ago.
A lovely young creature-a
wearing white shorts and i
halter, sans bra, la peche
Humbert-Humbert fantasii
breathlessly and thrust a di
hands. It was a disappointrr
going to throw her arms arc
blurt out: "You may be old bi
> "I'm sorry sir," she said,
had a conflict on my schedul
course."
Now, I could have explaine
too, was a mere student com
having first registered at C
some weary and unaccour
bother.
"That's alright, young lad
couldn't be in my class."
illegibly as I could, knowi
administration had changed i
that it would be just as effe
. THAT'S HOW I began the
' Back after being away and
reporter in Washington co\
most of my career) has bee
The sensations are far more
They can perhaps be desci
Fitzgerald returning to life a
Princeton, or Thomas Wolfe
of Asheville (in a humbly ol
Some days I feel as if I h
dead and others I feel like ?
J for the cock to crow--the gam
.a recent rainv afternoon as
[' near the Horseshoe, I felt, foi
I was living in a movie flas
It was a ghostly and nostalj
the concrete bench on the so
the one I had been afraid
abruptly and summoned up
| There it was. It hadn't ch
ft Suddenlv it was a rprtain
1 1950s. I was walking from g
class. I saw a luscious creatu
and a dress that came belov
pale blue cashmere sweater,
rays in the spring sun. I sat
i 1 TALKED, and talked, anc
my class. I told her that I pli
Prize on a more or less annu
to become a reporter in Wash
of the graft and corruption frc
Capitol Hill. I may have even
buildings in a single bound
| mercifully.
Wfi \imnt fA fliA Kron/1 nAin
t vv V IW 111V ui miiu new
1 coffee and I dazzlt d her with
1 We were married a few mom
a and burdened because she fc
velous things I told her aboi
So the bench was still t
1 marriage was over . . . the c
| sat there, immutable, defian
1
Alma Mfttpr
1 should be r<
I To the Editor:
? After having observed
| something for the past two
I years which has been
[$ bothering me, I feel that it is
I
is changes
dor r<
wet v
I m
semester, at the age of SLJ
ebook and start my last J
semester I left hanging p
ipparently a freshman- ?qj
a peach-colored jersey
melba delight for my j m
ss, ran up to nte;myse
op card into my senile y^rs
lent. I thought she was ,
>und my aged neck and 0f us j
it I dig your action." ' pul
catching her breath, "I i,ne(j
e and I can't take your j n
cigar
d patiently to her that I, movii
ing back to school after groWj
arolina in 1955, but for the si
itable reason I didn't was (
ly," I said, "Sorry you that^
I signed the card as
ng that the university
iittle in that respect and that
ictive. youw
fall semester--my last. Crow
out of town (T was aj strain
Bering Capitol Hill for 35 mj
n a real nostalgia trip., 1 to
f than Rip Van Winkle.1 long <
*ibed as akin to Scott those
nd stalking the halls of AS
returning to the streets tanne
Dlique way, mind you), lady 1
ave returned from the she'd
lamlet's father waiting and Y
ecock. For example, on But
I walked by McKissick then ;
a fleeting instant, that know
hback. bead
gic feeling. I walked by Rig
uth side of McKissick- horse
I to face-and stopped No p;
my courage. I s^
anged a bit. some
April day back in the husth
eology to a journalism vm
re wearing bobby socks alwaj
/ her knee. She wore a some
She was catching a few As
t down. ( some
I talked . .. and skipped chanj
anned to win a Pulitzer i i*
al basis; that I planned area
ington and ferret out all ever 1
>m every dark recess of Nursi
told her I could leap tall I none
I . . . memory fades, house
meali
Russell House and had buildi
i my self-assured plans. RE
fVic 1 ofnr T atnonrA/l "* 1
1.11.J IU1V1 . x nao ama?CVl rrcbl
elieved all of the mar- irretr
ut myself. race?
here even though the Our 1
:areer shunted aside. It fulfill
t, implacable, taunting, then
tradition
emembered
ume to speak up about it.
It distresses and e
barrasses me to no end the f
that the students at t
university don't even kn
^heir own Alma Mater. 1
emej
nth rain.
oved on down the horsesho
vhere Dr. DeGravelines, w
iche nur Deutsch" when w
iccosted me one Fall day.
denly emerging from b<
tits he said, "Wie gehts, H
\... pretty fair professor. I
like it.
fANDERED around the h
If with memories that flo
. Here was where we reg
nere index cards. There w<
n that unhurried time and v
ar professors were by the
up before their desks,
^member Dr. Havilah Bal
ette always dangled froi
ng up and down as he spoke,
ing precariously. His enthuj
leer beauty and power of t\
contagious.
*rs later someone would saj
word?" and I worid sm
ock-you wouldn't understa
... and here was where we
intrepid little band of journ;
'ill laugh when you learn ths
n and Speed Graphics-huge
*ht out of "The Front Page
llimeter cameras back the
ok pictures of those girls dn
iresses with those bobby sc
pageboy haircuts.
I'MUSED a group of bralei
louc cVlArfc Arli/Joo oK/vr
v? av/j-juj unvi vof nuiuao 01 iva^
had come to class dressed
have been burned at the sta
ter ashes scattered over C
I had to admit that I like
you could date a girl all ye
what she looked like until I
1. Then it was too late,
[lit there. That's it! That
shoe where I used to park r
irking now. Just a walkws
wing back over to Green
things never change I th
3 my aging body out of the w
Volkswagen. Those few a
/s drew a crowd. It was
thing that would never cat
t l/wvlf/vr] /% 1 ?~ -
1 IUURCU UVC1 ill IIIC 1IU1UI
where out there beneath all
*e was our old ROTC drill
;gan to contemplate the chj
was then a mere void and
believed the campus would
ng Building, Gambrell Ha
of those were here then. T1
s there where 1 used to ps
s-someplace in the vicin
ing.
MEMBER THOSE profesj
ident Eisenhower was
ievably behind the Soviet
Remember our basketbal
football team: always fu
ed by December. Class ri
(ac nnnncoH aKnnf tlftft
"rc"uv" v?w
only that, but at the e
song, the majority of t
up their arms in a fistsignify
honor, when
supposed to be syr
holding a champagr
The last verse of tl
Mater is "Here's a
m- Carolina, forever to tl
act I suppose that if th
his were known, then per
iow manner of the arr
vjot would be correct, too
muer
If a girl
e. Ah .. . yes. Here as marrh
ho insisted that we pin?)
e met him on cam- Beer w
football ?
ehind a group of No more
err Kneece?" Then th
low about you?" He school on
and som<
orseshoe, torturing looked olc
_ X 1 *
aiea DacK over tne in their t
istered out-of-doors some dre
ere only about 7,000 would ne^
ye could tell who the Where's .
number of students Taylor~o
"Cheri
Dcock. Ah . . . his inkspots,
n his bottom lip, Augusta <
the long ash always other girl
>iasm for words and feet bene;
le English language show was
caught sp
::How d you know GOing
ugly answer, "Dr. Break an,
nd . . . ?
took photography .. "
alism students. Yes, . , _
it our cameras were ?>
; boxes with cut film enliuep
(Yes, there were
sn-mere toys.) uating
3ssed in those quaint sf1
cks and loafers and s^8htest 5
pre-Sarar
ss girls bounced by, everythin
js . . . If any young ? a
like that back then Pnnt|!|g 1
ike on the horseshoe . w
lemson. whll<; tr>'
d the change. Back ?onst^"tl:
ar and never really inJPr'ntec
Spring Break at the *!!:,
says, "Y
's the spot on the sc^?p^ s0
ny 1951 Studebaker. a try tc
{y remembe
Street. Thank God h
link to myself as I ,11?
ay of a Volkswagen. * J*1 U
iround in the 1950s and the E
> a mere novelty- - "NOW
;ch on. know hou
y I remember that But I sli
of that concrete and an old bt
field. Climbing
inges. The coliseum academic
no one would have old friei
extend that far. The tried to sa
ill, Humanities . . . there.
info moo <1 Kn??/)inrt T \junnHo
VI V ?UO U luTWCKi Ulllg ?
ly for home-cooked participat
ity of the nursing in the wr
Now to
>ors telling us that secret littl
letting us slip niche whe
Union in the Space sight. Th<
I team -a real joke. There's
II of promises un- them mor
ings were $36 back Maybe 1
today). a single b
nd of the I have a lot of p
h rk w> linlrl C/>ViAa1 an/1 f am
I1CIU I1UH1 avnwi auu lUl tllC
clench to are embodied in th<
they are of this institution, a
nbolizing so, I am also very p
ie glass, beautiful words of
he Alma Mater. Sometimes
i health, obsolete and somet
lee," but out-classed, but I d
ie words the knowledge by tl
haps the ?f their own Alma IV
nraising tradition that is botl
.? ?and^hoiild l>e mair
s45(
was Dinned in those dav
id. (Nowadays, where \
as king and bourbon e
{ames-particularly Big
Big Thursdays?
ere were those "older m
the GI bill-most of ther
5 of them World War I
i to me back then. Some
hirties. Their sad eyes
ad secret forged in com
yer-could never-fathom
Joe DiMaggio? Eddie L
ur football heroes?
y Pie," "Searching,
Drifters, Elvis . . . Yes
3ne night to hear Elvis. P
s oegan screaming as so
ath the curtain and they <
; over . .. not sure what 1
feeding on the way home
TO Pawley's Island <
d shagging all night and
love every half hour,
larijuana? That was
i New York City or froi
"Reefer Madness." Pr
he entire state back in th
was far different. You w
nester before presumini
sexual license. The Pill d
1 Wrap, Pre-Color TV,
g era. Birth contraol ws
job at the Highway Dep
press for 90 cents an
ealthy, pulling as many
ing to study with my ii
y falling into the press an
I with highway bid spec
in my math class in 197*3
ou probably remembe
I won't go into it too de
> recall my last math cla
r the word "algebra,'
inguage spoken by a 1<
ire you're familiar with
uclidian Algorithm ..
FACTORING is simple
i 10 ao this: (AH hand;
ip into my English class*
it exceedingly comforta
back into the warmth a
womb. Ah . . . Wordswo
nds, nice to see you again
y it all. Thomas Wolfe--n
r into the wrong class on
:e in a lively discussion b<
ong class. Too bad?I lit
the old administration
lecourtvarri Ah still
re she and I used to go in
; serene backwater of c
someone there. A youn
nentarily. They could h
le's telling her he can le;
ound. \
ride in my Maybe i
ideals that Gamecock
i principles allow the
nd in doing Mater to b<
roud of the in this nev
the Alma those wh<
tradition is become at
times it is the Alma IV
In fiutl ttia#
,v *VVI V1IUI
le students
later is one Candy Tel
1 honorable
lained. Senlor- Br
>8
s, she was as good
1/nillH lhf*v mit fho
?v/ !" > ??V.
merged mostly at
Thursday. What?
en"--guys going to
n Korean veterans
I vets. Man, they
of them were even
seemed to betray
bat- something we
i. Where are they?
eBaron and Bones
" The Coasters,!
. . . I drove over to ,
rty date and all the I
ton as they saw his .
Jidn't stop until the
le sounded like ... I
luring the Easter
drinking beer and
something in the
m a grade B flick
obably wasn't an
e 1950s.
ould date a girl an
g to take even the
lid not exist in that
Pre-Xerox, Preis
nerve-wracking,
artment running a
hour and counted
hours as possible
nk-smudged books
d sometimes being
ifications.
! and the professor
r this from high
eply," and I panic
ss in 1953. I faintly
' (or was that a
)st tribe of Ecvn
- r
Pascal's Triangle
(What was that?).
-how many of you
> but mine go up.)
?s like slipping into
ble pair of shoes,
nd security of the
rth and Coleridge.
i. Whitman, yes, he
ny old friend, hello
the first day -even
jfore I realize I am
:ed it.
building and my
there. That hidden
the evening, out of
a m rvi if ah?
aiupuo-uui pidtc.
g couple. I watch
ave been us.
ap tall buildings in
f the editor of the
sees fit, she will
words of our Alma
; printed somewhere
/spaper, so that for
\ ittinU tK/v? a>.
> w loiiy urcjf nitty
least familiar with
later of their school.
iy
oadcast Journalism
*