daily nebraskan
Wednesday, march 8, 1978
PfiW
page 8
hove is motivating force for poet in Chicano revolution
By Carta Engstrom
Special Editor
Must be the season of the witch
la bmja
la llorona
she lost her children
and she cries
if;' .11
I I
I v I T
x k xt if g
V J iVv ' .if v"W V
i , . r
IB
.
ei to barrancas of industry
her children
devoured by computers
and the gears
Must be the season of the witch
1 hear huesos crack
in pain
y lloros
la bruja pangs
sus hijos hah olvidado
la magia de Durango
y la de Moctezuma
-el Huiclamina
Must be the season of the witch
La bruja llora
sus hijos sufren; sin ella
Alurista
Alurista, one of the foremost American
Chicano poets, views the Chicano move
ment as nonviolent.
Alurista's credits include works pub
lished in Latin American journals, the Chi
cano journal Caracol, Floricanto and Plu
maroja as well as his works appearing in
anthologies published in Spain and France.
Alurista currently teaches in the Chicano
studies department at San Diego State
University.
In speaking with various UNL classes,
Alurista said he could not discuss Chicano
literature without talking about the move
ment. His recurring themes of love and
struggle also come into play when dis
cussing the movement.
"YouVe got to love people in order to
struggle for their well-being. You've got to
love justice in order to struggle for its
manifestation. Hate cannot be a motivating
element in a. revolutionary struggle," Aluri
sta said.
"If one hates, one will get hate, every
thing will return. If you want to be loved
the way to do it is by loving.
"The movement started when the occu
pation took place in 1848. We saw various
rebellions when the land was usurped by
carpetbaggers. They fought back. These up
risings were met with an iron Hand and all
the violence the state could muster up.
"In the 60s, we found a strategy of non
violence, because the state does not know
how to handle nonviolent strategy," Alu
rista said.
Movement strategy includes marching,
picketing and boycotts, according to
Alurista.
Alurista also said there are different
ways to view and perceive the world.
"We've used the term 'Indian' to put our
selves down. . .but if we can only recover
that lost world view (of Indian thinking).
"It's not so much an identity but a way
of looking at things. For example, the idea
that human beings are superior to other
forms of life establishes a premise that
some people are superior to others.
"We are different, not superior. If we
accept that view, maybe we will be less
willing to exploit other people, animal and
plant kingdoms.
As a poet Alurista may talk about
Mother Flarth, but for him it is not so
much" poetic imagery as it is "hard cold
reality.
"We can't live off Coke bottles and
chemically-manufactured food. There's
nothing romantic about that."
Mail delays film's screening;
'Lost Horizon' is rescheduled
Photo by Mike Dahlheim
Chicano poet Alurista plays the concha, made from an armadillo shell.
Last Thursday's "Take One" American
film classics series presentation of Lost
Horizon was not shown "because of ship
ping problems," according to series direc
tor, Jim Anderson.
Even though Lost Horizon was unavail
able at the last minute, Anderson was able
to show another American classic, From
Here to Eternity instead, "so as not to
disappoint the people who had come to
see a film," Anderson said.
"We are very sorry for the inconven
ience and hope that his problem won't
stop people from attending the next movie
in the series," Anderson said. On the Town
(1949) starring Gene Kelly and "rank
Sinatra will be shown March 16 at 7 and
9 p.m.
Anderson added that Lost Horizon
has been rescheduled for April 20 at 7
and 9 p.m.
Network launches sci-fi satire Quark but misfires
By Pete Mason
Entertainment Editor
Hey, I have this really terrific idea for a
TV sitcom. We do a satire on all this
popular science fiction stuff like Star Trek
and Star Wars.
We make our hero the commander of an
intergalactic garbage scow. Funny already,
right? Then we give him a weird crew, let's
see, how about an alien first officer, maybe
an emotionless, articulate artichoke.
television.
review
And we have to have a robot. Every
good sci-fi show has a robot. Let's make
ours a total coward. We can have him say
things like, "Could we please go home
now?"
Then we could have a few more weirdos
like two identical women, one the original,
the other the clone, and a transmutant who
wants to kick the enemy's tail one minute
and worries about hisher nails the next.
What do you think, a great premise,
righf
Right, it's a great premise - - and that's
about it.
Quark, which premiered on NBC several
weeks ago, is the brainchild of Buck Henry,
asually a very funny man. Henry collabor
ated with Mel Brooks on the classic Cct
Smart series of a few years back. He has
appeared regularly on Saturday Night Live
and pops up on the Carson show from time
to time. I tend to laugh a lot when Buck'
Henry is on the screen.
I don't tend to laugh a lot at Quark.
Henry has a habit of coming up with hilar
ous premises that the scripts never justify.
Remember Captain Nice? It was a Henry
take-off on super heros. It was a funny pre
mise but the show lasted only eight weeks.
Then there was When Things were Rotten.
That show was a Brooks-Henry enterprise.
The premise was hilarious. An egoistic
Robin Hood and his band of malcontents
cavorted through Nottinghamshire, making
light of the whole Robin Hood legend.
Even the title was funny. But the scripts. .
ho hum.
In Quark there have been a few funny
moments. On the premier show we were
introduced to "The Source," an unseen
entity which had been in mothballs so long
its powers were a little rusty. Leading a
temporarily blinded Quark (Richard Ben
jamin) from one disaster to another, it
kept saying things like, "Trust me," and
"Nobody's perfect."
In one episode the crew encountered a
giant space baggie full of garbage, tied off
with a giant twist -tic.
GeneJean, the transmutant (Timothy
Thomcrson), provides some funny mom
ents when he changes gender, as docs Ficus
(Richard Kclton), the vegetable man, when
he dissects a problem of logistics while the
galaxy burns But for the most part, the
lines never meet the promise of the basic
premise of the show
One of the reasons may be that many of
the best lines get lost in the cacophony of
the laugh track. Obviously a show which
utilizes a lot of special effects can not play
to a live audience, but whoever is turning
that know is a man with no sense of
humor. His machine laughs at the wrong
times.
Another problem is that the jokes are
just downright predictable. This is rather
phenomenal in that Buck Henry is not a
predictable person .
I hope the show makes it past the first
crucial weeks because I think once the
groundwork is laid, the scripts will get
more creative.
I also hope it will make it because I'm a
Richard Benjamin fan. Except for the
short-lived but very funny He and She,
Benjamin hasn't been given much of an
opportunity to succeed in television. He's
talented enough to be given the chance. It
could be that the show will survive on the
strength of that talent alone.
The favorite swear word aboard Quark's
ship is "Oh, Grot!" Even Andy the robot
says it. If Quark improves and still goes off
the air, you may hear me yelling it too.
Flutist, vocalists to present
student recitals Wednesday
Flute and voice compositions are sche
duled for today's student recitals spon
sored by the UNL School of Music.
Jaync Norenberg will perform in the
Choral Room (number 1 19) of Westbrook
Music Building. Her three-part flute pro
gram includes Hungarian Pastorale Fantasie
by Franz Doppler, Night Solinquy by
Kent Kennan and Sonata for Flute and
Pianf). The senior instrumentalist will be
accompanied by pianist Robert Rhein.
Two vocalists will perform in the Shel
don Art Gallery auditorium. Senior Marl
A. Johnson, a tenor, will sing ten works
'A Vucchella by Tosti, Le Reve by Masse
net; An die Musik and Ave Maria by
Schubert; Im Wundrrshonen Mnnat Mai,
Au Mcwr Tranrn Spriescn. Die Rose.
Die Lilie and Wenn ich in deinen Augen
Seh by Schumann; and From Far fmm
F.ve and Morning and Oh! When I Was
in Lave with You by Von Williams. Mary
Indcrmuehcl will play the piano for John
son. Graduate student Cynthia Pace will
follow Johnson's performance. The
soprano will sing works by four composers:
Alma Mia by Handel, Der Hirt auf dem
Felsen by Schubert, "Voi lo sapete" from
Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni and
"The Children" and "The Rose" from
The Children by Chanlcr. Pace's pianist
will be Sharon Groth and the clarinet
accompaniment for the Schubert compo
sition will be played b Ed ICazmicrski.
The recitals arc free and open to the
public.
