“Even Castles Made of Sand, Fall into the Sea, Eventually”- Jimi Hendrix The Record Volume 63, Issue 26 www.recordonline.org Thursday, 10th, April 2008 Antioch Then as Now: The Closure of Antioch College in 1882 seem that the role of By Alex Mette capital and legal rights We are no doubt all familiar with some of the history of Antioch, though a few might provided the same be surprised to hear that Antioch College has closed for periods during its dynamic power dynamic that past. This weekend Scott Sanders, Archivist of Antiochiana, will present some we experience with the historic documents pertaining to the college’s closure in 1882. This will illustrate university. the similarities that can be drawn from that time to the current situation of Antioch The minutes of College. The Straker notes of Antioch’s history were given to us by their namesake, meetings of the c/o 1925, and “quite a historian” says Sanders. Robert Lincoln Straker wrote for Trustees of Antioch the Antioch Alumni Bulletin and would eventually transcribe some 10,000 pages of College (ACL) remain notes about Antioch, Mann, and the Peabodys of Massachusetts, his wife’s family. an original source and (antiochiana.antioch.edu) detail the deliberations There were different issues then as well as some simply in different forms if not almost preceding the decision identical. Religious affiliation was an important issue then as well as a potential to close the college. source of sectarianism and bargaining power. The original endowment of $100,000 On June 20, 1880 is widely cited to have come from the Unitarian Church and indeed some would go on a meeting, which to advocate for a return to the role of the Christian Church in the College. Further that discussed the financial affiliation would have been more significant then, considering that most colleges were situation of the college, religiously affiliated and probably many parents would have been hesitant to send their decided that it was not children to a secular institution, at least that was the argument of what would become profitable and the cost the Christian Education Society. Further, while there was no university in 1882, the of operating represented a deficit. “An informal talk followed on the subject of closing institution was subject to a similar bureaucratic structure in which the College Board the college. The question was raised whether and of the professors would undertake of Trustees controlled the assets of the college while executives such as the President, to carry it on.” The endowment of $100,000 was invested first in government bonds. elected by the board, were responsible for the operations of the college. Our own Later a good part of it was put into real estate mortgages and timberlands. During separation between ownership and operations is more pronounced today, but it does the depression of the 1870s some of the investments returned smaller income, and Continued on page 5 Antioch Chamber Orchestra in Kelly Hall By Alex Mette melodic strings that characterized On Tuesday April 8, 2008 locals and students the Allegro con Brio. The alike filled Kelly Hall for a performance of the Antioch Menuetto that followed returned Chamber Orchestra. The program featured several to the energetic style of the first Antioch Students, two of which were singers both movement but also incorporated sopranos, Zoë Julich and Emma Woodruff, both also part a greater degree of layering as of the Antioch graduating class of 2008. The concert well as some parts which were was brief in duration but spanned long distances in reminiscent of a call and response terms of style as well as geography. The concert opened style often present in various following an introduction by James Johnston that spoke forms of music, especially known of Mozart’s style, and the variance in mood and method as part of the music brought to brought on by his use of different keys. We first heard America by African slaves that Mozart’s Symphony Number 25 in G minor, a piece that has so influenced contemporary opened with the Allegro con Brio and was full of energy American music. The method is and dynamism. It gave the sense of a classic piece also used frequently in classical of music, portrayed by a small orchestra, 20 pieces at music and in during this movement its max that night, but that was as voluminous as any was coupled with a layering that orchestra. James Johnston’s conducting was precise and seemed to divide the orchestra seemed to fulfill its role in directing the orchestra and in groups that entered in and out maintaining the sense of rhythm while also maintaining of the piece creating a complex an atmosphere of cordiality and good humor. The sound and a sense of movement. was used and created a contrast between the aesthetic symphony progressed to the Andante which seemed In one case it was between the wind instruments and qualities of the respective types of instruments. It was to flow in contrast to the sharply delineated, bursts of the bowed instruments in which this call and response in this way that a sense of emotion was conveyed. Continued on page 10 Page 1 Notes From Saigon By Jonathan Platt way out of the airport was the massive amount of motor threatening regardless of your frame of reference, they The first thing I want to get straight is the name bikes. For every one car, there are about 30 motor are all traveling at a fairly slow speed, 25 to 35 miles of this place. Forty years ago it was known as Saigon cycles. For a city that touts 11 million people, there per hour. So the accidents that I saw, and there were but it is now officially called Ho Chi Minh City. After are a lot of motor bikes. Three million of them. If quite a few, were all little bumps or a mild thumping of arriving, I realized that the names are interchangeable. every motor bike was on the road at one time in Saigon, the bike. After a few choice words, the riders would go Some say Saigon, some say Ho Chi Minh City. There each motor bike would have one square meter of space. back to their commute. Crossing an intersection was doesn’t seem to be any disparity between the two. After That estimate seemed generous as you navigate your less about raw courage, but more of a testament to your two weeks of travel, I realized when I was outside of way during rush hour. Motor bikes pour out in every math skills because you weren’t just crossing the street. the city it was Ho Chi Minh City but when I was there, direction, violating the most basic traffic laws. They You were crossing sixteen to twenty individual bike it was Saigon. This kind of indifference to the name stream onto the sidewalks, beeping pedestrians out of paths. It reminded me of the mid-eighties video game gave me an interesting perspective of the dwellers of the way. Since the motorbike is the number one mode Frogger. this fair metropolis. The name Ho Chi Minh City is not of transportation, mainly because of the price (a new one `There is no real skyline in Saigon- oops I’m embraced as a new political force that conquered outside goes for about 300 to 500 U.S. dollars) people from all outside of the city so now I should say Ho Chi Minh power houses, particularly France and the U.S., to show walks of life mount these things. 12 year olds, grandmas, City. Unlike Seoul, Korea or Shanghai, China where that their communist way of life thrives forward. As the working stiff, high school kids, families of five, and the buildings only get taller and taller, this city is squat. a matter of fact, it appears that most Vietnamese are mothers with infants were all whizzing by. Safety was The tallest building comes in at a towering eight stories. apolitical. Yeah, they kicked our ass and everybody else a huge concern to me but after awhile it seemed to be What it doesn’t have in height it makes up in sprawl. In who tried to infiltrate them, but there was no political just a way to get around. The Hondas, that’s what they 1954 the city had one district, now in 2008 it claims 25 grandstanding to their independence as such the style of are universally called, are not the powerful Harley’s districts and expands wherever there is space. Mapping other countries like North Korea or Cuba. we see in the states. The largest engine allowed on my way around the city was nearly impossible. Several This is a town where people work and play a motorbike is only 1100 ccs. So even though three rivers snake in and out of the centrality of downtown hard. The most notable observance I made as I found my hundred Hondas coming at you can seem pretty which divide and subdivide the districts further out. Every time I had to make my way back to my host’s house, I would call them and hand my cell phone to the cab driver and let him deal. I saw very few Americans there even though the Vietnamese tourist industry is thriving. Back packers from Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Japan and Korea abound. Despite the weakening American currency, my dollar really stretched. By the end of my second week I learned to haggle a price of a beer from forty cents to thirty.