6

Page Six *







. (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

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~ 2 9 we