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(Continued from page 5) student body, To initiate thinking in this area, I propose the following: I, Immediate organization by Arts Coun- cil of a skeleton calendar of events for the coming year, Included in such a schedule might be lectures, theatrical pro- ductions, student . , programs and art ex- hibits, student ing programs, con- certs, and the film series, Subsequent- ly, this calendar must be submitted si- ~“multanéously to a coordinating committee for the activities of the Big Six organi- zations at Bryn Mawr, and to the ap- propriate organization at Haverford, to avoid such jam-ups as the recent Fresh- man-Sophomore Weekend all rolled into one, Il, Publication: of a weekly Cultural Broadsides calendar, including movies in and around Philadelphia, concerts in Philadelphia and at all the colleges and universities in the area, lectures in the vicinity, theatre productions, and museum exhibitions, Il, Establishment of a committee to act as clearing house both for inform- ation and tickets concerning theatre, op- era, concerts, and off-Broadway prod- uctions in New York City, including the © rapidly-changing scene of events in Green- wich Village, This might be done in cooperation with Haverford, so as to introduce the possibility of automobile transportation, instead of the more ex- pensive hiring of buses, IV. Organization of theatre training groups on campus, offering instruction in lighting, set-designing, set-building,’ make-up, costuming, and perhaps dir- ecting, These workshops would be stu- dent-run, although the possibility of out- side intructors should not be ignored, if finances permit, V, Establishment of art workshops covering various creative realms: paint- ing and sculpting, as Arnecliffe and the Art Studio at Haverford already provide, machine shop work, and handcrafts, This is another area in which coordination with Haverford would be advantageous financially, as well as for provision of workshop locations, In these workshops, there is again the possibility of invit- ing guest lecturers, VI. Establishment of a system of committees within Arts Council, to pro- vide a concrete structure within which the organization as_a whole can operate, To achieve efficiency, there must be a specific committee, with a chairman, to . which a student with a specific idea can go. The key to a lively, constructive year sponsored by Arts Council lies necessar- ily in the students at Bryn Mawr. It is they who must suggest; and it is the student resources which a highly organ- , ized and tightly-run Arts Council must tap for a creative season on campus, Judy Masur There is a certain kind of Mawrter for whom: scholarship is only half enough, -who feels the need to climb out of her book now and then and create with her hands, with her voice, with her body -- to break from academia and paint a flower or sing an aria or tickle the ivories or proclaim Ionesco or pound a nail or run or jump or stand on her head in the middle of Merion Green and whistle DIXIE just long enough -- but at least long enough -- to be able to return to Spinoza refreshed. She is found all _. over the campus, and she takes two forms; . first, the girl who comes naturally to express herself through the arts and who will ‘‘find a way or make one”’ to do so, ~ second, the girl who hesitates to get involved in theatre or putter. around in watercolors because she feels she is not “talented’’? enough. Can Arts council become such an or- ganization, anticipating, working with, and stimulating activity in the arts? I think it can’t afford not to. There is a tremendous amount of un- confessed talent on campus itching (whe- ther it knows it or not) to manifest itself, to exhibit its wares. The problem is, it has no place in which to do this. There ~ is no reason why anyone who wants to produce a play (which, for one reason or another, may got be either College Thestro’s or Liltie Theatre’s cup 0’ tay) _ ghouldn’t be able to produce and ‘direct be a certain kind of organiz- of ‘Mawrter (both of her) : same time encourages these urges; one which assures all those who would doubt - their own ‘‘ability’’ or ‘‘talent’’ that the value of the arts lies not in the “per- | fection’’ of a finished product, but in the creation of that product -- in the doine,' not the thing done. Two years ago College Theatre or- ganized Sunday morning play-readings in the Common Room; perhaps this instit- ution could be revived? Why couldn’t there be a. one-act (original or pre-fab) play competition, announced in September with the winning productions to be chosen sometime in the spring? And the: program in the graphic arts should be expanded as well. Granted, Mr. Janschka’s art lab is open to anyone who feels the Inclination on Thursdays and Fridays from 2-6 in the afternoon, but how: many people actually know about it (since only one small announcement is made at the beginning of the year), or about what facilities are and aren’t avail- able there? (For instance, what’s Haver- ford got that we haven’t got? In its new Arts Center, I mean.) What about open- ing the lab on Friday or Saturday night under student supervision and with the stipulation that absolutely all messes, artistic or otherwise, Be cleaned up by their creators before said creators leave the premises? I think there should be a permanent (albeit rotating) student art exhibi- tion -- why not’ in the Inn, whose ‘walls are now noticibly devoid of aes- thetically satisfying material (yes, I know there are prints there). This exhibition should be made open to the ‘‘beyond- the towers’’ public, as well as to the stu- dent body, as a place to browse and per- haps to buy. Whatever happened to the Friday-night- at-the-Inn-hootenanny-C offee-House pro- posal which was discussed and roundly approved of at the beginning of this year? If enough Bryn Mawr-Haverford partici- pants are willing (nay, eager!) to or- ganize and perform a program of folk (or why not also rock?) music free for nothing, there should be a place where they can do it. But perhaps you are saying: what about the conscientious OBSERVER? Is there no support in sight for her? Ye of little faith! of course there is. For instance, it is altogether possible that the present movie series could be doubled in scope and yet not in price. If Haverford can offer more than forty movies for $10 how is it that we can offer only ten movies for $4? Moreover, if we expanded our series to a twice-weekly basis, more. people might be willing to subscribe, and increased subscription would naturally result in more and/or better movies, and , so on. And why not Happenings a la Thomas - P, (NYC ex-Parks Commissioner) Hoving? And why not a Fingerpainting Festival? And why not a knock-down-drag~’em-out Charadescapade? Why not? ; How about it? Bring on those urges. Curriculum Carole Collins The Curriculum Committee was formed to act as a liaison between the administra- tion, the faculty and students; to serve as an ‘information center’ for incoming stu- dents; and to formulate proposals which represent the views of the student body concerning changes within the academic system, which can then be presented to the faculty for. joint consideration and/or action, In order to act as liaison, the Commit- tee must establish adequate channels of communication between the faculty and students so that each’ becomes aware of the goals and problems connected with their respective functions in the academic community, The Curriculum Committee must fulfill its potential as an ‘information center’ much more actively than it has in the past, One possible solution is the establishment of a central file containing the evaluations by departmental majors of their respective departments and courses, which would supplement the official descriptions of courses in the College Catalogue, This could serve to inform the incoming stu- dent more thoroughly of the demands a course will make on her abilities and time and make her’ aware of many -orevicnely... Friday, March 3, 1967 : Coctleuluies Carole Collins, Susan Nosco, Nicky Hardenbergh, Maigeeet Levi. source of firsthand information about courses and ‘departments, The Committee must be able to formu- late and present to the faculty and the. administration concrete, workable bre posals which are a synthesis of stude complaints, desires and needs, Moré.must be done to adequately ascertain student opinion on academic matters, either through increased dorm. activity or campus-wide discussions and debats, In formulating and adapting a specific pro- posal, faculty and students should be con- tinually consulted throughout the entire process as to attitudes towards proposed modifications and/or revisions in thepro- posal and the present policy at that time, As to specific proposals I may have, I would suggest the institution of self- scheduled exams (with necessary modi- fications for ‘slide identification’ courses) as a necessary, practical and beneficial expansion of -the Honor System; more exchange of courses, if possible to arrange, between the University of Pennsylvania and BMC; some system of credit instituted for those in music or other arts who must expend much of their time in extra-cur- ricular training necessary for continued work in their respective fields after gradu- ation; and the institution of an optional ‘pass-fail? system for fifth courses, on a trial basis, which would hopefully en- courage students to take courses outside their general areas of studies or require- ments without jeopardizing academic av- erages, Nicky Hardenbergh There seems to be a distinct lack of communication on this campus between the administration and the students (and among the students themselves) about the rationale behind academic decisions and policies, and particularly about the flexibility of these policies. The Curricu- lum Committee should try to impress upon the students its function as a channel through which their ideas, recom- mendations and criticisms on academic matters can be transmitted to the ad-. ministration and faculty. Many ideas for academic improvement are entirely feasible, and students should realize that the place to present these ideas is in the Curriculum Committee, which can then determine: the practical considerations of how the proposal could be implemented; the existence of student support for the proposal; the objections, if any, the faculty and administration may have; ways to overcome the objections; or conversely, reasons why they cannot be overcome. The dorm representatives would be responsible for communicating all this information back to the campus.. The Curriculum Committee Can be effective in exposing and eliminating much of the discontent on campus, and can be ex- tremely dynamic, if the student body is willing to both initiate and support proposals, and if the committee can co- ordinate and present these proposals well. The following are some proposals I ‘would like to present. One important problem is that of giving the entering freshmen relevant information about the . various courses and major fields. I think ee eee ener sneaks seestves ‘ ‘ odie aaiee at K eaanes men available to discuss courses with frehsmen, and to make freshmen aware of this. Work has already been started on having seminars for freshmen, taught by graduate students. These seminars Would be inter- departmental, would fully familiarize stu- dents with the different disciplines, so that they could make a more active choice of major, instead of majoring by default, as can happen. Regarding the calendar and exams, I would like to have a definite reading period for both semesters, and some form of self-scheduled exams which would be agreeable to faculty and students and which would allow for a longer inter- cession. These ideas, of course, are only a part of what the Curriculum Committee could hope to accomplish with the active support of the campus. Margaret Levi Although the ratio between students and professors has not risen significantly at Bryn Mawr during the last few years, the number of students in actual, non- statistical classes certainly has. This problem is due in part to the fluctuating popularity of some departments, in part to the growth of the graduate school and the increased demand on the prof-. essors’ time which that incurs. TheCur- riculum Committee, as the liason between students, faculty and administration, could play a significant role in finding out just what is the cause of the dispro- portionate. class size and in coming -up with practicable alternatives and possible solutions to the problem. In order for the Curriculum Committee to do this kind of thing, however, it must first develop a clearer idea of its own role. As it stands now, it is seldom an adequate conductor of student opinion or an adequate presenter of student-form- ulated policy, although it has been and could be. If the students wish to see those measures passed which they feel are important, it is necessary for the undergraduates themselves to be educated about what they want and to be able to voice and defend their desires in an or- ganized and articulate fashion. The Committee can begin this process by getting opinions on what to do from the students themselves through discus- sions in the-dorms, suggestions by their representatives, and articles in the NEWS, Following this would be a review of the implications and problems inherent to each possible line of action. Then a plat- form would be drawn up and presented to the students for comment; if need be, a college-wide meeting of students, fac- .ulty, president, and dean could be called so that there would be a complete air- ing of objections, additions, and questions, The final step would be the presentation of the program to the appropriate fac- ulty committee followed by a renewed, . JOINT process of discussion and adjust- ment to faculty and graduate school de- sires and needs. This way the under- graduate would still have a say in the outcome. There are many problems which could be examined and perhaps resolved by this method: for example, the present counseling services and al- -ternatives, self-scheduled exams, poss- ible calendars, additional courses, How- ever, there are some problem areas which _ (Continued on following page) ~ 2 9 we