Pulse Editor
Jacquelyn Lewis
jacquelynlewis@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, February 27,2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
On Tuesday
The long and
short of it: Pulse
takes on mullets.
Modem America
recalls ‘50s era,
social challenge,
Kerouac’s ‘beats’
Joseph Bechard
Edge Culture Columnist
These days, a lot of our values don’t quite jive with the
values of the turkeys who call the shots. As the future of the
United States becomes increasingly uncertain, all we can do
to reassure ourselves is look to the past for some sense of
hope; a feeling that things will be better again.
Today’s parallels to heightened Gold
War madness and obsessive 1950s
America are irresistible. Commercial
ism swept across the country. Politi
cians warned of hidden threats from
people hell-bent on destroying our way
of life — whatever that is. They asked
everyone to settle down into some good
ol’ fashioned American pursuits. Blind
patriotism was rampant, and there was
a general tightening of the collective
American sphincter.
Similar to the way many of us feel
now, a number of post-World War II
American youth felt like things needed
to be shaken up, that it was time to dis
cover a new, more meaningful way of life.
In the late 1940s, the war was over, America was in a new
era and the famous beat writer Jack Kerouac began criss
crossing the states in what became a lifelong search for good
times and spiritual calm amidst a world of suffering.
Kerouac always said he came from the heart. Supposed
ly, he coined the term “beat” to unite a sense of beatitude
with a feeling of being “pooped.” He represented an unheard
voice in America interested in joy, piety, existentialism, ex
citement, love and humanity. He wrote about America,
Christianity, Buddhism, jazz, writing and the people he met,
as if they were all part of one big earthly kick. His semi-au
tobiographical works impart an excitement and respect for
life that inspires people to search for meaning or identity.
He is often credited for creating a “rucksack revolution” in
the late fifties consisting of young, backpacked wanderers
looking for who they really were.
However, there is a lot of myth behind Kerouac’s politics.
He would say he had none. Art came first for Kerouac and
he typically shied away from political discussion.
Unlike most of the beats, however, Kerouac was more
conservative. He had compassion for the soldiers in Viet
nam giving their lives for the country he loved so much, and
he couldn’t speak out against the conflict like many of the
other beats. He was also ashamed that people connected
him with the hippie movement.
More importantly, though, Kerouac despised weapons and
killing. His respect for beauty and life was at odds with the
nature of war. The lessons he taught were meant to lift peo
ple above belligerent mentalities and focus America on what
really mattered.
So what does really matter?
Kerouac would say that it’s not fame or power, money or
things, but life that matters. Humility, passion, joy and ex
uberance were the driving forces behind the poetic dynamo.
He was a romantic in a time when people were supposed to
be jaded; he was a true American who loved his country and
wanted only the best for it — even if that meant challenging
the tenets of those who make the rules.
Unfortunately, after the beat craze took off in the late
1950s, Kerouac started experiencing the fame that even
tually took his life. A movement that had once been very
pure and personal to him became a joke and a commer
cial trend.
This fame, coupled with the public’s misunderstanding of
the work to which he dedicated his life, took a serious toll
on Kerouac. His hope for America dwindled, and he began
drinking more heavily than before. In 1969, his drinking fi
nally caught up to him at the age of 47, and America’s heart
lessness killed yet another dreamer.
Contact the Pulse columnistatjosephbechard@dailyemerald.com.
His views do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald.
Joseph
Bechard
Cultural
Obstetrician
Metalsmithing
students craft
innovative displays
using donated sapphires
Helen Schumacher
Pulse Reporter
Students can see the results of cre
ative craftsmanship and the donation of
several sapphires in the LaVeme Krause
Gallery in an exhibit titled “Blue.”
The stones were given to last term’s
intermediate/advaneed metalsmithing
students with instructions to find inno
vative ways to set the stones.
Visiting Assistant
Professor Tracy Steepy
taught the course.
“The stones were
anonymously donated to the
University,” Steepy said. “They
went to the geology department first,
and then they found their way to us
and we were able to use them in a
stone setting class. And so everyone
Turn to Sapphire, page 6A
Photos by Jeremy Forrest Emerald
Metalsmithing students shied from traditional stone-setting techniques, instead embracing unusual, avant-garde designs.
Students produce dance show
The all-student produced “Kinetic Intenf concert
features original compositions by University students
Jacquelyn Lewis
Pulse Editor
University dancers maneuvered and balanced their way
through the past few months, choreographing, rehearsing and
re-choreographing for the all-student-produced concert,
“Kinetic Intent.” The show opens tonight at 8 p.m. in the Uni
versity’s Frances Dougherty Dance Theatre. Later performanc
es will be Feb. 28 and March 1 at 8 p.m.
The concert comprises eight choreographic works, including
graduate dance student Leslie Gallagher’s “Incarnation.” Four
dancers will perform the piece — a tapestry of linear move
ment, improvisation and rhythmic manipulation with a Middle
Eastern flavor.
Gallagher said “Incarnation” has transformed dramatically
since she first conceived the idea last spring. When dancers per
formed the piece at last year’s Graduate Loft Series, it was set to
music by Tool, a stark difference from its current, trance-like
score by the band Hana.
Senior Philippa Anderson said her experience as a dancer
in “Incarnation” has ebbed and flowed throughout months
of rehearsals.
“Every choreographer that you’ll ever work with is really
Turn to Dance, page 7A
Jacquelyn Lewis Emerald
A dancer from Amy Gaeth's "For the Love of Dance (FTLD)" soars
through the air. The choreography incorporates 15 dancers and a live DJ.