Memoirs

From Dan Lipke '72, Tim Dickey '72, Tom Olson '72

Class of 1972 Reunion 2022

THE WORLD BELONGS TO THOSE WHO SHOW UP

What: Class of 1972 50th Reunion
Where: Prairie du Chien, WI.
When: September 2-5, 2022

To a class who survived high school without !

From Ghost of Joe Campion

From the Scarlet Knight

Found in the Journal of the Scarlet Knight

A Spider in My Cell

In My Morning once, I found a Spider struggling in my near-empty water glass next to the basin in My Cell. While wishing to drink water to quench the Thirst imposed by Sleep, in doing so I would End the Spider. Even though I care not for the sight of spiders or envy their lifestyle, I suddenly became frightened for the Spider - the Spider did no wrong but follow a spider's Nature and strive to live a spider's Life. I thought, if only for a few seconds, should the Spider End by My Hand in order to ease My Thirst? The Spider's Life for a glass of water? I felt at Odds with Myself but not at Odds with My Training as a Knight of Campion. My Sworn Duty is not to End Life but to protect the Lives and Freedoms of All until there is a need to End Life in order to Honor my Sworn Duty. The Challenge for a Knight of Campion is to fully Understand His Sworn Duty to All, to Honor His Sworn Duty to the best of his ability, strength and wisdom, to Honor His Sworn Duty even if His Life is to be forfeited.

It is a Sworn Duty to Protect the World from Itself.

I chose to relieve the Spider of the threat of imminent death by drowning. I drained and sopped up any remaining droplets of water in my glass and laid the glass on its side. I left the Spider to survive on Terms defined by Nature, Strength and Chance, Specific Terms always needed for Survival, always needed in Life. I wished the Spider good fortune while abandoning my need to drink on that morning day in my Cell and left for morning meal. It was the early morning when I first encountered the Spider and I would not know the fate of the Spider until the end of Day back in My Cell.

After the finish of morning meal, I went on to my scheduled studies with the Spider in My Thoughts.

My first study was Latin - unforgiving as it always is for Me. In avoidance of my attention to Latin lessons and in consultation with my Latin text, I chose to name the Spider in honor of My Latin Struggles. My Spider is now known as Aranea Tela Spinaretus. For short, I call My Spider - Irving.

During this morning, I was involved with my studies but consumed with Irving in Need of Salvation. I thought of Damnation, the cause of The Greatest of Individual Loss and Eternal Ruin. Eternal Damnation - a Thought most certainly Born in what is often spoken of as Hell. Surely, Irving should not be Damned for following a spider's Nature and thus should be most worthy of Salvation. In absentia (Lat., feminine noun), I again wished Irving good fortune.

The Morning passed quickly but was filled with concern for Irving. At Mid-Day Chapel attended for affirmation of Someone Else, my thoughts traveled to memories of Lucien, the Family Dog of my early life with Mother and Father. Lucien was my closest friend, sleeping alongside Me during my nights. Lucien listened to me when I spoke of Love and Beauty learned from my Mother and when I spoke of Strength and Dread given to Me by my Father. Lucien was always there to comfort and strengthen Me.

Lucien was lost to me one Summer Day just a few years into my early life with Mother and Father.

Lucien arose with Me early on that Summer Day and we wished each other good fortune. Lucien went on to work the fields while I went to Learning and to run my errands for the household. At a late hour, Lucien was not waiting for Me when I returned home from that Day. For Lucien, that Summer Day was not one of good fortune - Lucien was gone and would never return to The Family. Lucien would never return to Me.

My afternoon studies and training went well that Day that I met Spider Irving - I was focused and thought less about Irving. After finishing last meal, I went on to final studies. It was during final studies that concern for Irving again clouded my thoughts. I hoped that a lifeless Irving would neither be present in the glass nor within eyesight when I returned to My Cell. Surely the absence of Irving would bode well for his survival. His survival on that Day would allow Him to fully Honor His Nature, to fulfill His Destiny, to play His Role in the World.

Irving's Survival on that Day would be an afterthought. His Salvation being Paramount.

I now believe that Lucien was allowed passage through the Gates of Elysium those many years ago. I will reunite with Lucien when it is Required of Me. I believe that Irving will be with Us.

There once was a Spider in My Cell - Irving was his Name.

Much can be learned from the Life of a Spider.

From the Desk Of John Duskey '63

First, I want to tie up some loose ends from the April article about pep bands and basketball games. I was in the Marquette Band for several years in the sixties and again in the 70s upon my return from UCLA. I remember playing Spanish Flea from the Tijuana Brass. Among the older tunes, we played Cherokee, made popular by Charlie Barnet's band in 1939. This was at the beginning of the Al McGuire era, when we were fortunate to watch the basketball program emerge to national prominence.

I had mentioned that during my years at UCLA, I followed their basketball program. Each home game was a special show, with the stars being Coach John Wooden, Band Director Kelly James, and TV announcer Dick Enberg. We would watch the game, listen to the band music, and, after it was all over we would watch the replay on channel 5, usually at some kind of party. Enberg was popular with us students, due to his previous background in Education. One time we were able to persuade Mr. Enberg to sing, along with the band, the tune made popular by B. J. Thomas, "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head." Among the other contemporary songs the band played was the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-la-da"

I had mentioned the UCLA band's performance of "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover." Turns out that was a small part of the story. Here is how the song is explained in their website: (https://alumni.ucla.edu/uclas-story/ucla-history-songs )
In the late 1960s, a band student wrote lyrics to a popular tune being played during football games, "I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover." The UCLA song was retitled "Rover." At the height of the legendary John Wooden era, "Rover" was played only after lopsided basketball victories, which were virtually every game. Now, "Rover" is played after all UCLA victories immediately following the alma mater.

Dick Enberg is the same man who, years later, appeared on telecasts at NBC and CBS, and who wrote a play about the life of Marquette Coach Al McGuire. Marquette granted him an honorary Doctor of Letters degree in 2009.

It was generally agreed that, in the 60s and 70s, Marquette did not properly support the Band and the music program in general. I did the best I could to change that, while I was there. Recently they took music out of the department of student affairs and placed it in the College of Communication. Fine Arts, except for the theater program, has been one of the university's weak points.

At Campion we had a music program, and that program had the support of the school administration. The marching band, pep band, and concert band were a part of it, as was the Choir and Glee Club. Prof. S. S. deRanitz was the central figure, but he had the support of Jesuits Fr. David Brehm and Mr. Paul Megan.

I don't intend to explore all the reasons why music should be available for students who have prior experience and/or show that interest. That subject is covered in the literature. Prof. deRanitz led the good musicians to greater levels of achievement. He was also willing to work with inexperienced students, in order to build up the number and variety of instruments in the bands. (I fit into this category.)

Think of what our experience at Campion would have been without music-marching band at football games, pep band at basketball games, spring concerts and other events. There were several talented musicians enrolled and their needs would not have been met. It is likely that, without a music program, these talented musicians would have decided to go to a different school.

There is an even more important reason why music, and fine arts in general, should be in the curriculum. That reason is creativity. One can appreciate good music by listening to it, but there is a special experience for one who is on the inside of a greater creative work. In the band at Campion, this experience could range from playing a part in the Star Spangled Banner, to Joseph Olivadot's Carnival of Roses Overture. Music is one of the best ways to experience creativity, though there are several other ways.

This question sometimes gets asked about education; some Campion alumni have asked me, why couldn't students have more opportunities to learn how to be creative?

In the mid-1970s, I was on the corporate board of the St. Mary Center for Learning, a high school in inner city Chicago. Leonard Nimoy appeared at one of our fund raising events, and narrated a half-hour show about the school that aired on NBC5. His opening statement rings true: "Creativity can be learned if the mind is free."

Liberating the mind is what education is supposed to do. We study history, sociology, literature, rhetoric, science, and everything else, not just to demonstrate good performance or to pass a test, but to give our minds the freedom to think creatively in those fields. Some fields require a large amount of information to reach that stage, but it should be clear where the students are heading.

So, in music it is necessary to know scales, chords, modes, notation and be able to use several other tools in order to gain the ability to compose music. It's a similar situation in other fields of study, and sometimes high school students don't advance far enough to be really creative. That is all the more reason why opportunities to think creatively should be sought out. We find a sense of joy when we can do something creative.

Prof. deRanitz used his sense of creativity in the way he produced several concerts throughout the years. One good example of this was in the 1962 spring concert, when he placed a large clock on the stage for the performance of Leroy Anderson's Syncopated Clock.. Of course this could only have been done with the work of involved students, in this case, Mike McCann '64 and Pat Mower '64. In the following year, Pat Mower composed some background music for a scene in Campion's production of Oliver Twist. Musical creativity was not lacking at Campion.

There is a certain amount of creativity in any dramatic presentation, just as there is in forensics and debate, and in rhetoric and composition. Education today pays even more attention to the Fine Arts than what we saw at Campion. To be competitive among private schools, a school must have strong departments in several areas, including music.

One final note: In examining the history of the UCLA band program, I discovered that, beginning in 1948, the "8-clap" became part of the band's presentation of the Fight Song. It forms an interlude in "Sons of Westwood. Similarly, I also noted that Marquette's Ring Out Ahoya was amended with a "Go Marquette Go" cheer in the early 1970s. I wonder how that happened!