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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, October 31, 1968
Fiery Furnace fills 'inner need'
The smoke hangs in the air, not really visible, but there all the same. Around the room, the hum of voices can be heard.
The darkened basement is filled with students. Some sit at candle-lit tables, others sprawl on the floor, still others squat on the stairway or lean against the rough stone walls.
On a makeshift stage in one corner, a girl with long, straight hair softly strums a guitar. Behind her, sit other instruments, to be used later on.
No one in the room is older than thirty.
It is a typical weekend evening, and the place is the "Fiery Furnace" coffeehouse.
The "Furnace," as patrons call it, is located in the basement of Canterbury House, the Episcopal student center at 1116 Louisiana. Open Friday and Saturday evenings from 8:30 to 12:30, it provides an inexpensive change (15 cents admission at the door) from KU's other week end pastimes.
Sketch by Mike Shearer
Mike Miller, a former KU student who helps run the coffee house, says much of its appeal lies in the informality.
"It's primarily a place to relax," he says. "People can be themselves. They don't have to put on a front."
And casualness is the rule, from the naked light bulb dangling from the ceiling to the simple refreshments served. Two urns of steaming coffee sit on a wobbly table. Nearby is a box of regular sugar cubes, along with several dripping communal coffee spoons. Doughnuts, too, are sometimes available, depending on how early in the evening you arrive.
The "Furnace" rarely has formal entertainment as such. While personalities like Allen Ginsberg have appeared in the past, most performances are unscheduled and spontaneous.
A staple is folk music, provided by student guitarists.
Original poetry, humorous monologues, and autoharp recitals are also featured-all by students.
It's an old fashioned amatuer hour-with a bohemian twist and genuine talent.
The coffeehouse clientele is varied, both in appearance and response. A few persons, mainly the curous, leave after several minutes. Others linger for hours, not departing until the last guitar chords fade. Some folk music devotees, make the coffeehouse a regular haunt, soaking in the atmosphere week after week.
Students like the "Furnace" for different reasons.
"It's different," says Barbara Bohntinsky. "People here judge you by what they hear, not by what they see."
Jackie in, Spiro out
"I get tired of having people judge me by my appearance," she added.
Another "Furnace" patron,
Dale Cobb, puts it even more simply.
Greek Week at Southern Methodist University, designed as a promotion for post-Christmas fraternity and sorority rush, has recently had themes based on persons claiming some Hellenic heritage.
"It fills an inner need," he says.
Other students don't find the coffeehouse to their taste. One sideburned pair, resembling the Bobbsey twins in their identical
Last year the theme at SMU was "Even Zorba was a Greek." This year, however, they are keeping up with the news of the day.
"Even Jackie Went Greek" is the 1968 theme.
Maybe next year, Spiro.
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navy blue windbreakers, strutted in during the middle of a song. For five minutes, they stood conspicuously by the door, openly sneering at the scene before them. Finally, realizing no one cared about their opinions, they dropped the arrogant pose and sheepishly left.
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In the future, says its supervisor, the "Furnace" will have some special "happenings," including rock bands and a possible light show.
But by and large he emphasized, the "Furnace" will remain the same as in the past-"A place where anyone is free to perform or communicate by whatever mode grabs him."
Ex-KU prof to speak about student unrest
Student and faculty unrest in European universities will be the topic of a speech by a former KU professor at 8 p.m. Monday in the Kansas Union.
Max Dresden, a former professor of theoretical physics at KU, will speak on "Student Disenchment and Disillusionment: Discontent and 'Revolution in European Universities."
Dresden, a native of Holland,
spent last summer as the Vander-
Waals Professor at the University
of Amsterdam in Holland.
Dresden also plans to give several physics lectures while here, a physics department spokesman said. Dresden is sponsored by the Society of Physics Students and supported by the Committee on Convocations and Lectures.
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