Allen Ginsberg Visits UB

The legendary beat poet Allen Ginsberg spoke at UB as part if the Charles Olsen Memorial lectures sponsored by the English Department. He gave three speeches about poetic technique: one focusing on the effectiveness of natural, conversational rhythms, a second on meditation’s ability to produce "pure, natural thought . . . the stuff of good poetry," and a third about preservation of humanistic poetic ideas in the face of increased militarism. "In schools that were once vigorous communities which have now been removed to this ex-swamp, windy plain with a lack of human meeting place or center, our feelings seem to have been devoured by the civilization we have built around us," he said of the Amherst Campus. He viewed poetry as a means for activism, especially in the face of increased censorship of music and the centralization of the arts.

Anti-Rape Task Force Fights for Support from Administration

Anti-Rape Task Force (ARTF) Assistant Executive Director, Chris Larcade, calls for students to demand that the administration help fund ARTF. In the face of an off-campus rape crisis, UB administrators looked to the wholly student-funded ARTF to lead students in protecting themselves and the UB community. However, the Spectrum quoted Denis Black stating "There is no safety problem on campus," leaving ARTF high and dry as funding needs increased. Larcade, citing an incident in which housing office administrators asked him not to post any ARTF flyers so as not to scare off incoming freshmen, argues that administration should pay for the safety of students, not the students themselves, especially if administration is going to turn around and use that safety as a selling point.