the louisville cardinal vol. xliii, no. 25 university af louisville, louisville, kentudaj 40208 april 14, 1972
Fuller-a Communicator of our time
By MIKE SLAVEN
News Commentary
The a.utkor, a. senior pol. sci. major, will
be doing graduate work in urban design at
the University of Akron.
When asked to create an article dealing
with one of the most significant figures
of the twentieth century, the immediate
sensation is humbling. Certainly there
have been numerous well-written articles
which attempt to capture an essence of
R. Buckminster Fuller. I realize my own
shortcomings in trying to recapture any
part of what I experienced Wednesday
night for a period of two hours at Spald­ing's
Auditorium.
Some of you who will read this will be'
unable to understand my dilemma, yet it
is my earnest hope that you may come to
better understand what I feel at this
moment. To sense the joy of discovery
of what to you is a new part of the uni­verse
is beyond description. Indeed it
leads only to the use of many well-worn
cliches and I fear that I may fall into that
pattern. This joy of discovery to me rep­presents
Buckminster Fuller - the man
who led this expedition into the wonder
of being truly a citizen of the universe.
For those of you who at this point are
asking who is Buckminster, it is not
enough to say that he is a 76 year old
mathematician, structural engineer, plane­tary
planner, cartographer, and poet.
Foremost among his widely acclaimed
achievements is his creation of the geo­desic
dome. This is, however, not the man
nor the way I feel he hopes to be remem­bered.
He is the purest example of a
natural philosopher but more than this.
What in essence he is then, is the sum
total of these things and a little extra.
What he achieved in the span of two
hours was the expression of a lifetime of
diligent study of the universe. The feel­ing
with which one was left at the end
was a total saturation of ideas, some of
which I will try to capsulize but which
are better explained within the nine
books he has written. I now begin the
following with the greatest sense of in­justice
to a man who deserves better. If
anything is withheld, it is because of lack
of time and space.
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Buckminster Fuller's preoccupation
would seem to be the answer to the ques­tion,
does man have a purpose in the uni­verse,
or does he exist just to be pleased
or displeased? To this he answers a re­sounding
response - there is a purpose
in man's existence. What hinders him
from the achievement of that purpose are
conditioned reflexes. These are the ideas
which have been, through misunderstand­ing,
created within the minds of man.
Outstanding a~ng these conditioned re­flexes
is the idea that specialization is
the key to success.
This, Fuller fears, may lead to the
downfall of man-when he becomes over­specialized.
Education is the tool by which
this has been constructed and must be the
tool by which it is broken down. Gen­realization
must be the guide of educa­tion
and the various universal principles
the rules.
This hopefully brings us to a concept of
synergy; in order to be fully understood
it is best defined by Fuller himself as,
"the behavior of whole systems, unpre­dicted
by any of their parts, taken sepa­rately."
In explanation of this he employed the
analogy of the relationship of the earth
and moon as that of two masses interact­ing.
This interaction, however, does not
give a true concept of the interaction!? of
the entire system.
For a clear understanding it is there­fore
necessary to study the whole rather
Fryberger sing - ·a spring tradition
By IRENE SPRADLING
Cardinal Staff Writer
At UL there is a 33-year-old tradition.
E3.ch year since 1939, students have
picked some early April or May night on
some grassy spot on Belknap Campus to
officially welcome in spring with the
university-wide Fryberger sing.
The annual competitive songfest is a
tribute to the late Agnes Moor Fryberger,
a devoted anQ. inspiring teacher of music
at UL from '32 to '39.
The woman spent much of her time
writing songs for her students. Once
while sending these songs to Dean Hilda
Threlkeld, she wrote, "It has seemed to
me that there was a lack of light and
original music among the young people
in our university-and that some folks
should get busy and supply the demand."
Since Agnes's time, the tradition lives
on in much the same fashion. Male, fe­male,
and co-ed groups compete against
one another, rated on musical ability, ap­pearance,
and poise.
In between songs and during the judg­ing,
certain honorary groups and organi­zations
tap their new members and give
awards to outstanding individuals and
groups of the year.
Fryberger tonight
This year's Fryberger takes place to­night
from 7:30 to 11 p.m. on the quad­rangle
and is open to the public. (In case
of inclement weather, it will take place
at Manual Auditorium.)
Ricky Coomer and Barbara Comstock
will act as master and mistress of cere­monies.
APO and Gamma Sigma service
fraternity and sorority members will be
ushering.
Ten campus groups will participate in
the actual song fest competition, includ­ing
some of UL's fraternities and sorori­ties,
and one mixed group.
At various points during the night, the
honorary groups Cwens, Mortar board,
Omicron Delta Kappa, Pi Eta Sigma will
tap their new members.
Outstanding freshman, sophomore, jun­ior,
and senior men and women will be
announced. ·
The Inter Fraternity Council will an­nounce
the outstanding teacher of the
year, as well as give an award to the out­standing
fraternity man.
The night will end when the master of
ceremonies announces the winners of the
song fest.
Race · Tip!! Pedalathon W ar~n-Up Noon Today
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than the part. If you can deal successfully
with the concept of the whole then by
knowing some of the parts it is possible
to determine other parts.
Knowledge which is necessary for this
understanding exists within the universe.
What man must do is to discover these
parts. By 1985, through conscientious ef­fort,
Fuller believes that all men on earth
can achieve a standard of living higher
than ever dreamed possible. To achieve
this however, it is necessary to view a
concept such as gravity as to what it is
rather than as to what it does.
The reason that man has reached the
level he enjoys today is due to man's
bumbling and his inadvertant collisions
with the truth. If man is to survive, he
can no longer continue in this manner and
must thoughtfully seek the truth. Man's
wastefulness Fuller cites as the prime ex­ample
of the need for more diligent
thought.
We will certainly use up our fuels short­ly
at the present efficiency rates. Yet
there is the possibility of achievement of
a balance of energy levels if we begin to
use them to their fullest extent.
It is this possibility, this hope for
achievement which I feel stirs within
Buckminster Fuller. After a two hour
exchange of energy between man and
audience, the listener leaves with this
same stirring. Bucky is many things and
a little extra. The little extra I now know
to be one of the most coveted of attributes
- the ability to communicate.
Love, truth, and youth are the keys to
Fuller's world and are easily adopted by
his admiring audience. Love is as the love
of a mother for child. Truth is the spon­taneous
truth of experience. Youth is the
time of the creation of thought. Mr.
Fuller, I respectfully submit you are all
these and then some.
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