University of Southern California - El Rodeo Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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art major working out of her own garret gallery on Hollywood Boulevard, created eight oil paintings — each an expression of how she interpreted USC. Nan also designed the cover which uses variations of color and texture to emphasize the different stages of the Master Plan. A special addition to the 1964 El Rodeo combined the talents of Judith Spenceley Morrow and David Wong. Judy, a pretty, intellectual Asian Studies major, wrote and rewrote If You Will Form and Mean until each phrase said exactly what she wanted it to, until a com- pact, meaningful image, her view of the contemporary situation and the college student, evolved. Dave, a pro- fessional photographer and a graduate student in cine- ma, then set to work on the complementary photo essay. A major portion of the book, seniors, underwent a com- plete overhaul. Marilyn organized and with her husband John executed an escape from the dreary routine of slap- ping a few deans ' pictures on the page and calling it a day. Marilyn and Ponchitta also felt that seniors de- served a better fate than being submerged in a sea of faces and a long list of names. The two sections — schools and seniors — were combined. Each school and its ac- tivities are featured as much as space allowed. Em- phasis is on the whole school, its faculty, students, ac- tivities, graduates. Through lively and revealing interviews with the deans, Gail Frazier, an amazingly perceptive writer, captured their personality and thoughts in a way that the student seldom sees. Gail got each dean ' s full attention for at least an hour and bombarded him with seat-squirming, thought-provoking questions. She got frank answers and, in most cases, the deans were gratified by her unique approach. For years they had patiently ex- plained to a staff reporter what their particular school consisted of, what it was doing, what it would do. Now, they were challenged by a witty senior with sparkling baby blue eyes and an inquiring nature. And they loos- ened up — one dean talked with Gail for three hours and finally sang her his college alma mater. Managing Editor Marilyn Farley Managing Editor Tony Young is also responsible for the wonderfully sentimental kenospect in Reverie — perhaps a bit too sentimental, but a work of art nevertheless. One staff member cried when she read it. Another, after typing it four times, wasn ' t impressed. You read it. The Greek section underwent the same scrutiny as the other parts of the yearbook, and as a result, it also has a new face. Using the Master Plan as a guide, the editors decided to emphasize usefulness and service to the uni- versity rather than social activities. Tony Young, an itiner- ant fraternity editor who later became a managing ed- itor, attempted to show how Greeks mature along with the university. In deference to social aspects of Greek living, Tony also gave his interpretation of Night Life in another section of the book. Artist Fred Steck got his first taste of identification swords in the Greek section, but not his last. He painstakingly drew sword after sword, each one containing about 75 individually dabbed dots. The sports section was changed this year, not to de- emphasize the importance of athletic diversion, but to re-emphasize the rest of university life. A new, but hardly radical, approach was used in the football section by Al Malamud. Tony completed the sports division by focusing on the personality of each sport — using ab- stract rather than straight action photography. Throughout the book, you will see consistently good photography. Numerous special contributors made it pos- sible along with a dedicated group of staff photogra- phers led by co-photo editors John Williams and Bill Sechrist. It was a great year for the El Rodeo— it came out on time. The staff has attempted to present an accurate and meaningful reflection of the campus, the people, the year. It is by no means the final word in yearbook pro- duction. But it represents our finest collective efforts. What you may read has been up to us. What you will read is up to you . . . Please turn the page.

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