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THE COLLEGE NEWS Friday, October 11, 1968

Bryn Mawr, Haverford Students

Page Two :
THE COLLEGE NEWS

 

 

Editor-in-Chief
Nancy Mir 6 _ Discuss Campus Apathy Causes

Managing Editor

Robin Brantley ‘69 ‘The existence of Bryn Mawr stu- ‘depression, the student stated, and dot a stud orebiens; “thus

Associate Editors dent apathy was considered depression inducesgirlstobecome leaving apathy unaffected. Others

Maggie Crosby ‘70, Cathy Hoskins ‘71 eagerly, if not always coherently, apathetic by turning in on their critici ‘eluctance of stu-

: at the SAC sponsored coffee hour, Own problems, The student’s pre- dents to” open up to one another

- Editorial and Photographic Staff last Sunday afternoon in the Col- occupation with herself is not al- and communicate about the prob-

lems they must deal with as stu-
dents, as part of Bryn Mawr and
of the modern world. |
Mr. Du Boff generalized from

these remarks to point out the
question, underlying the whole dis-
cussion, of the role of the univer-
sity in society today. He stated that
universities today involve students

ways self-satisfied,

Apathy was viewed as mani-
fested in both political and non-
‘political terms by those present
at the coffee hour. The nonin-
volvement of people in their study,
and their unwillingness to envi-
‘sion .and work for changes in
curriculum, in the kind of educa-

lege Inn. Although a panel of three
students, Roberta Jacobs, Kathy
Murphey and Mindy Thompson and
a faculty member, Richard DuBoff, :
assistant professor in. the econ-
omics department, and“a moder-
. ator, Margery Davies, had been
organized to give and encourage
' general impressions and analyses

Cynthia Benjamin ‘69, Maggie Brown ‘71
Sally Dimschultz ‘70, Ashley Doherty ‘71

Cynthia Friedman ‘72, Roberta Jacobs ‘72,
Bunny Kline ‘69, ' Lisa Lyons "72, Phoebe Mix °72
Anne Reskob: 72, Joyce Reimherr 71
Mary Schopbach 1, Susan Walker ‘70

dvertising Manager usiness Manager ubscription Manager of student apathy, the discussion tion Bryn Mawr directs, was in training for particular jobs ,
Robt: Rossner ‘69. _- ~ Saftlas ‘70 Pris Rosenblum ’71.| needed no leading off. It started pointed out. But others empha- which will support the basic oper-
| up from all'corners of the room sized ‘the ignorance of students ations and relationships of society
with personal reactions to apathy about the society in’ which they as it is. This kind of education-~
at Bryn Mawr, and with some - live, and their unwillingness to ‘raining is narrow in scope; it
Founded in 1914 hints at its causes, as found on recognize their relation to it. centers. around the individual in-

Published weekly during the college year except during terest of the student and the par-

ticular need of society. It does not
lead its object to question ‘the
overall role of, the student,in re- _
lation to learning and to the ac-
tual conditions of society. It does
not give birth to and can prevent
an atmosphere of communication
between administration, faculty

- > vacations and exam. periods.
The College News is fully protected by copyright.
Nothing, that appears in it ‘may be reprinted wholly or in
* pare with dut permission of the Editor-in-Chief.

COLLEGE NEWS is entered as a second class matter at the Wayne, *
Penna. Post Office under the act of March 3, 1879.

Offices in The College Inn
_. (LA &1380

campus and in the larger society.
_ The meeting’s description of the
‘abstract term ‘‘apathy’’ began with
a feeling among many people that
apathy is seen in a student’s pre-
occupation with her own self. An
apathetic person is someone who is
uninterested and uninvolved in what

. Haverford Unapathetic?

To introduce some perspective
into this discussion of apathy at
Bryn Mawr, several students drew .
comparisons with other schools.
They wondered if Haverford wasn’t.
more ‘successful in creating an un-
apathetic community in which a
student sees that his work re-

 

She is

 

 

Field Marshalled

To the Editor:

I am at the Apathy Coffee Hour, |
and I have just heard from amem-'

ber of the Curriculum Committee
that no significant letters of com-
plaint have been registered with
the Committeee or with you dur-
ing the past two years other than
those concerned with self-sched-
uled exams. I hereby register a
complaint. At the moment, I am
unable to pin{ Jint-‘the nature of
this complaint -- I know I feel
regimented by Hygiene Class and
P,E, I also know “hathavingfresh-
man comps due{én Monday rather

than on Tuesday. or Friday limits:

the freedom of my,weekends (blame

Workcamp
(Continued from page 1)

had tried to bring joy and hope
to 39th Street earlier that day,
established through her sincerity
and realistic depression a basis
on which talking and communi-
cation finally started to. mean
something besides Black attack and
White defense, Talk turned to put-
' ting Black Power toworkand gain -
ing influential support for it in the
‘suburbs.

Sunday morning, workcampers
visited the Magistrates court, Al-
though the Magistrate appeared
relatively sensitive, especially to
the problems of the young people
who came before him, the court-
room scene for the most part,
demonstrated little respect for
the law. The representative of the
District Attorney spent a good
deal of his time looking out at
the girls in the court room or
joking with the magistrate, the
police or the defendents, Cases
did not appear to be taken ser-
iously, almost everyone being dis-
missed.

One case in particular provided

the court with a good deal of
disheartening entertainment, A
woman was brought in charged with
running a numbers racket, proof
being a notebook full of number
' patterns quite obviously for that
purpose. However, her lawyer
quite cleverly got her trial dis-
missed, pointing out that there
was no definitive proof what the
numbers were for and to him they
appeared to be Bible verses,

After this rather uninspiring ex-
ample of religious fervor displayed
in the courtroom, attending church

~~ **~ géFoss from the workcamp at the

Church of God was.a really happy
experiénce. The people were warm

Letter to the Editor

 

it on my inability to organize my
work schedule, if you wish), and I.
find that having my week fall to-
gether hour-for-hour in a Grand
Plan is a shock to me. I wish to
go on record in some form or
another as being unhappy with
such .a setup. Do other people
feel this way? What are their’
specific criticisms?
Sincerely, Gwen Field ’72
P.S, Do all the seniors spend
all their time studying, and am I
going to turn out this way? I
genuinely. enjoy learning, but I’m

terrified when I listen to and ob-.

serve the seniors. That.is par-
tially the basis of my concern.
But maybe I’m just being lazy.

; Gwen Field ‘72

and sincere, and their servicewas
much like a Quaker meeting with
personal thoughts and test-
imonials from the congregation,

There was also a good deal of;

singing accompanied by hand-

clapping, tambourines, drum, or-

gan and piano.
Camp ended with discussion as

to how valuable the experience was,
Despite the problems and at the.
same time, because of the prob-;
lems most agreed it was an in-.
‘valuable experience if only as:
an introduction to the complexity’ -

of the problems of slum life,

Special emphasis camps such as:
this one will be held throughout’
Anyone interested in

the year,
attending can make reservations
through Debbie Harris, Rhoads,
head of the workcamp for League,

Joyce Reimherr

 

Freshmen wishing to obtain a
3:30 a.m. signout must notify
their hall presidents several days
in advanée. These signouts will
be granted in unusual
circumstances only.

~

 

 

 

 

Under the new meal exchange
plan, students with genuine sched-
ule conflicts may obtain academic
meal tickets from Linda Evers
in Pembroke East. These tickets
are for lunches during the week.

Social meal exchangettickets, for
use at Haverford for all evening
meals and weekend lunches, will

be hung on the bulletin board in

Pembroke East. The tickets will

not be dated; students should take -

them as needed and date them as
used. The number of tickets in

the envelope will be unlimited-

for a trial period.

is going on around her,

unaware of other people both in «lates to him as a complete hu-
her immediate environment and man being, to his life in the world,
One and in which students, |
freshman noticed that ever since’ common sense of the relevancy of
she had arrived at Bryn Mawr, -learning, are concerned with each
her life had been centered almost other.’Others thought that Haver-

ford wasn’t much different. Some
one from a small southern col-

lege town remarked that Bryn

Mawr was explosive with excite-
dom and unhappiness felt by many ment and teeming, with concerned
- people in comparison.

In trying to uncover the roots
of apathy. at Bryn Mawr and among
students in general, participants
in the discussion dug into var-
the first day of class because it ious areas. Some thought that the
._Bryn Mawr administration was
inaccessible and uninterested in
student concerns, but other stu-
a life defined in the routine of dents claimed that an apathetic.
‘admininstration did not account

in other parts of society.

exclusively around her courses,
her work and her plans.

Student Boredom

Others brought. up the bore-

students “as aSsociated with apathy™®
Another freshman expressed the
disinterest of students in their own
lives. She said that many fresh-
men had“ignored their work since

didn’t seem to matter. Someone:
else concluded that many stu-
dents sense something lacking in

classes and study. Another Par-

ticipant added to the discussion for an apathetic college.
student.said that faculty did not

perceived by students in today’s’ encourage student involvement in.
education, that a faculty member
lack is felt in unhappiness and. was willing to discuss biology, but

that the -lack of human values.

society narrows their lives. This

Viewpoint

 

Perhaps you have seen the posters on campus
the last few days. Or maybe you’ve been struck
by ‘the bright orange “Boycott Grapes’’ buttons
that have been cropping up everywhere. Maybe

you’ve even attended a lecture on grapes at Hav--

erford.

What’s all the fuss? The fervor is ‘‘La Causa’’
of the 5,000,000 Mexican-Americans living in the
southwestern area of these United States. What
is ‘‘La Catisa’’? Most immediately ‘‘La Causa’”’
is the grape strike being waged in California and
throughout the nation by Cesar Chavez and the United

Farm Workers of America. Their action is being: .-

taken against the California Grape Growers. The
thrust of their activity is centered in Delano,
Calif. , the heart of the grape country.

The strike is based .on the economic needs of
the farm workers to organize their labor to avoid
exploitation by growers.’ The majority of workers
are not schooled in the ways of labor, and if they
are forced to remain unorganized, they face the
natural abuse of grower-labor needs.

do not want the paternalism of the rancher;
we do not want the contractor; we do not want
charity at the price of our dignity. We want to
be equal with all the working men in the nation;
we want a just wage, better working conditions,
a decent future for our children. To those who
_ oppose us, be they ranchers, police, politicians,
~ or speculators, we say that we are going to con-
tinue fighting until we die, or we win.”?

‘‘La Causa” is very real to the workers of
Delano. For more than three years now they
have waged their campaign. They have marched;
they have been hungry; they have been attacked
by the police; they have been subjected toviolence.
Their opponents have even crossed them up legally
with staff upon staff of full-time lawyers. Grape
production is a multi-million dollar industry. The
‘workers are poor. They must rely upon the sup-
port of their amigos. They relied upon Robert
Kennedy. They rely upon the personal courage

*

Bryn Mawr.

‘Acme and A&P and Penn Fruit.

and students about these ques-
tions; it is essentially unquestion-
this. ing.

Discussion Not Enough?

As a perception which brought
the discussion of apathy down to
earth, one student insisted that
discussion was not enough to dis-
pel apathy or to divert old ways of
thinking. She illustrated with the
example of Columbia, where, in
confronting concrete issues, and
with their own experience, students
became sharply aware of the nature
of their university, of their con-
nection with the people of Harlem,
and of ‘their ‘‘commonness’”’ with
other students.

In general, suggestions, about
the causes and underlying pare
abstract, and the discussion Te-
mained a sharing of experience
from which to build a more con-
crete and a deeper understand-
ing.

One

Kathy Murphey

Grapes of Wrath

and perseverance of Cesar Chavez, who nearly

died earlier this year during a self-imposed hunger

strike. The workers rely on you. In comfortable
Extend the arm of your humanity.
Complain to the managers of
Ask that they
refrain from selling California grapes. Talk to
the Saga people. Sometimes people will listen.
For example, the grapes served fresh at Bryn
Mawr are not, according to Saga manager Roy
Kessluk, California grown, When only grapes from
California are available for Roy topurchase, Bryn °

Boycott grapes,

’ Mawr dining rooms will go without grapes. Action

causes reaction.

This week-end, the major super-markets in this
area will be leafleted by those concerned with the
plight of the Mexican farm workers. Pass out
papers for a while. We do not wish to offend. ~
We only mean to help because we care. Boy-
cott grapes. It is a simple response. to a com-
plex situation. It means that you personally
must refrain from enjoying grapes this fall. It
means that you will ask your friends to do the
same. It may mean that the strike will end after
four years as growers succumb to increased ec-
onomic pressure.

‘‘La Causa’? is the most apparent of the Mex-
ican-American needs. It is the one in which we
can all participate immediately, and resolution of
it will perhaps provide the means for dealing with
the needs of ‘‘los chicanos” even further. It

. will open the door to a new era for Americans

of Mexican descent, a new era of non-segregated
housing, improved health - the end of tubercu-
losis among the Mexican poor - new job training
programs, fuller enfranchisement, care of the
Mexican-American aged, full civil rights, parti-
cipation in the policy-making facets of the govern-
ment and improved education.

See the little Mexican-American children in
the lean-to. They are exhausted, for they work

(Continued on page 3)

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