es ee THE. HAVERFORD NEWS - THE COLLEGE NEWS Friday, May 6, 1966 Alinsky States Unethical Methods Sophs Choose Majors; Justified If Alternatives Limited Social Sciences Gain by Nora Clearman Saul Alinsky, speaking at Bryn Mawr Tuesday night, managed to provoke some of the controversy he is noted for. The objectives of his organiza- tion, the Industrial Areas Founda- tion, are based on the American Dream, as conceived of by the Founding Fathers -- to make sure that no sizeable group is denied economic opportunity or political power. ‘{he bbject of his group is to organize ona mass level, organ- ization being the basis on which man, from earliest time, has had the power (ability) to do those things he has wanted to do. In organizing a community, the group waits to be asked, for he feels it has no right to go into any community and say ‘‘we’re here to help you.’”? This is no more acceptable in a poor ghetto than it would be in the Main Line. The largest issue which Mr. Alinsky discussed was that of the kind of tactics he uses, which is the most controversial aspect of his work. He said that when there are innumerable means possible for achieving a goal, one can af- ford to choose the most ethical, the most acceptable means. How- ever, if there is a limited number of means to achieve a goal, one may be forced to use means that may be considered unethical or may even be the tactics employed by the enemy you are fighting. How- ever, as long as any means are available to achieve certain aims, it is justifiable to use those means. He drew. an analogy with people who during the second world war said that we should not ‘‘stoop”’ to using the tactics that Hitler used, while meanwhile six million people were being incinerated. He severely criticized such people, whose attitude is ‘‘we like your aims, but disapprove of your means, so we shall have to oppose > you.’? Another point he made was that when he is fighting a battle, he must at times ignore the good that comes from the same source he is fighting, so that he can com- mit himself fully: to winning that battle. While Alinsky may have ap- peared to be saying that any means are justified by the ends to which they are applied, I think that what he was trying to express is that when a battle is to be fought and won, means with which to fight it may not be ‘‘nice’? because the means of those who do not have the power to act are very limited. It is too intellectual and unrealis- tic to say that it is degrading and unethical to use the same tactics that are used by the opposition. While a large part of the aud- ience seemed to agree with much ° of what Alinsky said, many were disturbed by his discussion of ethics. Other problems were that Alinsky did not give an idea of the issues which he is generally committed to fighting, and that he did not speak of the specific tactics his organization uses in mass organization. We would have liked to have had a better idea of just what they do,.in a real physi- cal sense, to achieve mass or- ganization. Alinsky was dynamic, partly be- cause of his manner, but also be- cause he is able to do what he sets out to do. I think this adds a great deal of weight to his discussion of means; he has shown that when he sets out to win a fight to give a sector of people political power, he can win it, so that the tactics he uses are certainly effective. Alin- sky showed that the reasons his tactics are so often criticized is: because he has no other ‘‘nicer’’ alternatives. Newsletter Will Publish | Intuitions and Platforms Irving’s Armchair , accord- ing to editors Paul Breslin and Don Dal Maso, is a new publi- cation aimed at English students and faculty, intended for a dis- ‘cussion of ‘‘goals and attitudes in English studies at Haverford,’’ The Students’ Council is supporting the venture, Plans for |.A. include articles by faculty members, installments from a round-table on specific classroom problems, a survey of Freshman reactions to the re- quired English. courses, articles on ‘the student performance,’’ ‘professional needs,’’ and in- dividual grand intuitions regarding the form and function of the discipline, The newsletter will publish again this week, One editor dismissed initial criticism of |.A. and re- gretted having from the critics little fit to print, ‘‘We don’t want or need a consensus to write about the classroom and our place init,’’ he said, ‘‘Our motto is, Blessed are they who raise questions, We are asking people about an old, lurking Haverford attitude toward English studies as boring, in-bred or unsubstantial. The attitude exists and so must some reasons for it; withl.A., we are trying HE: I'm not sure. r that all's well. SHE: Look, isn’t your mother's peace of mind worth 45c? e 0.K.—then call collect. ’ Some things you just can't put a price on—but do phone home often. Your parents like to know to os A to be realistic about something that is vitality important to us.’’ ‘<],A. may be just another stu- dent melodrama ora real forum,”’ he continued, ‘The response de- -termines this, Its creation points out one major question: to what extent do students share in form- ing the grounds of their own in- tellectual and emotional develop- ment??? to Florida later. office. Members. of the Haverford sophomore class have chosen their major fields. Departments which showed the greatest gains were English, Political Science, and Psychology. Twenty sophomores elected to major in History, com- pared to last year’s twenty-six, While none of. the present juniors are double majors, three students in the present sophomore class have chosen double majors and two, interdepartmentals. The distribution of majors in the three fields of interest is roughly proportional to that of last year, the natural sciences losing ground slightly. Geology, History of Art, and Italian have their first majors in three years, while no sophomore chose to study Engineering. Distribution ._ of the present sophomore majors is as follows: 44 in the humanities, 29-1/2 in the natural sciences, and 62-1/2 in the social sciences, The number of majors for this and the past two years follows: _—— ia © ee gars Majors Department 1968 1967 1966 Archaeology 0 1 0 Astronomy 1/2* 0 1 Biology 6-1/2** 5 11 Chemistry 9 11 4 Classics 2 a 5 Economics 9-1/2* 6 5 Engineering . 0 1 1/2** *English 18-1/2** 13 14-1/2** Geology 1 0 0 German 1 0 1 History 20 26 21 History of Art 1 0 0 Italian 1 0 0 Mathematics 5 5 5 Music 2 3 1 Philosophy 10 ye $ Physics 7-1/2* 7 6-1/2** Political Science 15*** 9 13-1/2** Psychology 11 5 5 Religion 6** d 3 Romance Lang. 2-1/2" 1 3 Sociology 7 7 3 * Interdepartmental major ** Double major aad “LA 5-0443 > LA 5-666 | PARVIN’S PHARMACY James P. Kerchner Pharmacist, . 30 Bryn Mowr Ave. Bryn Mawr. Pa. _ BRYN MAWR’S NEW SMART EATING PLACE KENNY’S 24.N. 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