Bentley Duncan’s “Whips and Scorns” column in the Viewpoints section expressed his distaste for his fellow students. He might have been the first, but certainly won’t be the last, curmudgeon to grace the pages of the Voice.“The past days have provided many overt examples of student stupidity. The little boys with the little paint brushes obviously have little minds. No more ridiculous sight is to be seen than that of some juvenile Attila – his spirit thrilled by mortal combat with lampposts -— leading his sophomoronic Huns in new adventures in depredation. Plainly, for some of us, the Will to Folly is too strong to be resisted.
But of more importance is the covert stupidity of the student body. More significant than the perverse absurdities of Hell Week are those empty skulls who flock to College dances and social functions, but who leave our concerts unattended and our lecture halls deserted. It must be extraordinarily trying for the faculty to have to lecture and tutor this 124 credits and-let’s-get-out-of-here breed.
In the realm of art, are [sic] college dullards share the irrational prejudices of the general public. The ordinary individual will not set himself up as an expert in electronics or nuclear physics without some real knowledge on those diabolical sciences. But when it comes to the arts, he will venture the most absurd judgments with a placid and irritating omniscience. Thus to our celebrated common man modern art is “trash,” contemporary literature is “all sex,” and good music — what the Philistines are pleased to call “classical” music — is some sort of undemocratic disturbance associated with goatees and white gloves…
To conclude, there is only one thing worse than brute stupidity: and that is pseudo-intellectuality. Stupidity is doubtlessly depressing and in fact quite exasperating when we consider the degree of success which it has had in the world at large. But spurious intellectuality is worse — it is corrupting.”