Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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1 - Sout>hviCaro 1 iniana^Li branj^ 1 Horseshoe j ? ; 1 Th" Gamecock Founded 1908 Volume 77, No. 8 University of South Carolina August 1, 1984 USC professor of Eng Ennis Rees By Hal Hewell and Marisa Porto A USC English professor was recently awarded the honor of South Carolina's poet laureate by a committee appointed by Gov. Dick Riley. Ennis Rees, 59, was the choice of the five member committee to succeed the late Helen von Kolnitz Hyer, who died last November. "He will bring great vigor to this office, and and 1 hope will bring to the attention of the state the great talent and exciting work that is being accomplished iti the literary arts," Riley said. Riley announced the decision last Tuesday, calling Rees, "an excellent choice." REES, A native Virginian, actively works ; _ ?i * f.'.i J 111 me pucu y i ltriu. Riley recommended a number of changes in the honorary position, including the appointment of a new poet laureate each year. The position will no longer be a lifetime office, according to Riley. Riley intends to appoint a new poet laureate each year for the remaining three years of his term. AFTER THAT, governors may appoint a laureate for the duration of their term along with deciding on the job's specific duties. The position, which pays an annual stipend of $ 1,200, requires only that the poet be available for literary events and to write nrvptrv if rpnupct* H r\n ctatP rvr?r?acinnc J y 11 1 VMUVJIVM , The changes in the position will give the job "a more dynamic conception," Rees said. Rees, who is the author of 18 books, recieved his undergraduate degree at William and Mary and completed his master's and doctorate at Harvard. A TEACHER at Princeton and Duke, SG president's not unethical, By Marisa Porto Recent controversy over Student Governm in the Summit Fund is without premise, ac< Ward, USC Legal Counselor. In a recent letter to The Gamecock charge: year law student William Hamilton that SG German "acted outside the scope of his auth founded, Ward said. "Assuming that the program is a purely \ then in rny view, there would be no infringe dent government constitution," he said. "THE STUDENT Summit Fund drive is Executive Committee set up by me. It is totall the legislative branch of student governmer volvement the legislature has in the project is f of any dollars spent on the project," Germa "When we say that we are totally inch legislative, we mean that only governmental! that everyone become involved with the proje< he said. According to German, money has been app r\r a \fznt in hnrlopf It will hp ;?Hr ... V..V. . Inside Classified Entertainment Opinion Sports The great debate. USC Athenian Deba ducts a literary exercise on "Does Life ception?" 4*I'n?*t?l? I?ui?t " Princ<i'? fir?l mnvir review Another coach goes to court. USC volley! Mozingo resigned her position Friday school lish n _ n ;f rn.u., nam Rces came to USC in 1954. He has been closely involved with poetry and poets and strongly endorses the changes in his new position. "It will make the job a more active one and draw more attention to it. The idea of wrmng a spcciai poem lor a spcciai occasion was never intended to be part of the job, and I've certainly never written any poems that way. Besides, I don't think I'd want to be poet laureate forever," Rees said. Rees has received critical acclaim for his translations of The Odessey and The Iliad HE HAS also written a number of children's books,"Potato Talk," "The Song of Paul Bunyan" and "Tony Beaver" among them. Rees has a new selection of poetry in preparation ror puoncation. 4,lt's a very nice honor to be poet laureate. It pleases me because 1 have been in poetry all of my life here," Rees said. "Ever since 1 got to the university 1 have been writing and publishing poetry. I've been sort of a general consultant for poets all over the state," he said. 44I THINK I've been fully occupied with poetry; It's a full time commitment for me," Rees said. Rees' poetry has both comic and tragic themes but he prefers comedy. "Somehow 1 find comedy to be a truer metaphor for expression than tragedy - at least as far as my own work is concerned," he said. Rees describes poetry as " a way of celebrating, praising and critisizing. It gives people a greater insight into language and life. It enriches life." Rees considers himself a distinctly southern poet. "The Low Country," and n - r i summit runa USC legal coun: Executive Branch in conjunct ent involvement an(1 subject toStudent Senate -r?rrlino tr? P;in 1 "So far as doing anything haven't. The whole concept o s made by third may no1 approve of because President Cilenn ministration. And they thinl lority" were un- things that we should be doirv cerns," he said. oluntarv effort. "IT'S A purely voluntary meru of the stu- help. I really believe in Caroli there willing to volunteer tim a product of an can to make this project com y independent of He said the money raised 1 it. The only in- come to the Columbia campi or the allocation "Some campuses will par n said. with 200 students, might not ? jpendent of the Students at Carolina have be y. It is our wish what it has offered them," C ct in some way," "This isn't the only thing \ assigned all students to ft ropriated for the something which was not dor ninistercd by the plemented a monitoring sysi these committees will give ir ??????^1 made," he said. BILL KOTTIE, chairman < for said student governn 8 for this project. 5 "I rely on 12 people right 4 It's mostlv advertising major 7 take the campaign so when it issue to campus, we can get t te Society con- "The way we are going Begin at Con- volunteer. We're not trying to 2 the students directly. We are The first one included the sc ? draws good have about 60 on our list that 5 ly and our goal there is abou Kottie said that a second pi ?all coach Elaine funds. to enter law "IT LOOKS real good for 7 ed S.C. Poe I'-.71 S| "f. W } T V'--. B^?; 1?|Hg;VvV ";\' ^iS^-"'-- j Piinis Rees Also writes children's books. "Ballroom," are two distinct poems which are examples of his ties to the South. REES HAS also recorded an album of children's 7 2ms. Rees also has a special affinity for mythology and folklore. "Mythology is as heritage of symbols, images and stories that you can use to say whatever you want. American mythology can be heroic and funny at the same time. Like Hawkeye on "M.A.S.H.," he's a tell tale character in the tradition of Daniel Boone and Paul Bunyan," he said. According to Rees, teaching and writing are compatible occupations. "THEY ARE supportive of each other. campaign MB ion with the Finance Committee ; approval. technically and logistically, we f the Summit Fund idea people they think it caters to the ad< that it takes away from the g, like representing student coneffort for people who want to na. There are a lot of people out ie and effort and whatever they off " hp caiH 3y SG will benefit students who ^ is. ^ ticipate. Others, like Beaufort C>ee it worthwhile for them to do. niefited from the university and *"-*11 ierman said. rvc are going to do this year. We -j**' iculty and senate committees, *5^ ic last year. Secondly, we've imtern so that all the students on " nput into the decisions that are of the Summit Fund committee nent will have many volunteers now to handle public relations.- ' v ' s and they have volunteered to comes time for us to bring the to raise these funds is strictly t , v force any kind of solicitation on going to make it three phases. >liciting of local businesses. We we're going to contact personal- _ ^ - - I P A M t forty thousand," he said. Ill Ot#ti lase will include matching donor A youngst this thing and I'd like to add that Bell Camp's See "German," page 3 I Laureate Just having young people around to share ^ poetry with is a great stimulus to me. Young ' people are a great help," he said. ( Some of Rees' poetry has appeared in Images, the Southern Review and The New , Republic. , Rees has been writing poetry since high school and as an undergraduate he \ "discovered Homer" and took Greek. \ "I'd always written poems of mv own all 1 along and I've made other first translations. I have written children's books in verse and published a book of poems here in 1964," he said. "I PUBLISHED another book of selected poems in 1973 and I am getting ready to put out another volume and bring it somewhere," he said. According to Rees, the main themes of hi.s poems are celebration and praise. "I've done a lot with folklore tales in my children's books writing tall tales and Brer Rabbit stories. I went from Homer into folklore studies. Homer is just a name, and from that I went into the llliad and the Odyssey and then Aesop to Greek Anonymous prose," Rees said. "From there 1 went into American folklore and did the book of rhyming riddles," he said. t4I HAVF, known a lot of noets who have used these traditional tales as the basis for their poems," Rees said. Rees will be teaching full time this year and doing a graduate seminar, and starting a poetry course. "I U< .. . r\..L? 4"~- , I, ~ r\ t 1 ., . 1 ltJUfilial L/uivv IVJI untt diiu iiaivard for two. I have thaught here for 30 years. That means I have 35 years of teaching experience behind me," he said. See "Poet." page 3 |v " n - aMfMHw ' * * "* J . w* o ^ Tyfinrifljp ? < Hhh \3pgSBflBi *?, ,t Sem z-Mm* 91 " jf^m^mwussm > Wi**%"fCMBB^w^Bngn^H^B^^ > Photo by Chns Hildreth irch Of... er is ready to dive for pearls and other treasure at lake. See related story on page 7.