description:
Psychologist Champions Clemency Since she met Bill Wither- spoon, the man sentenced to die in the electric chair March 19 for killing Chicago police man, Mitchell Stone in April, 1959, Sister Mary Irene, B.V.M., psychology department chairman, has had the opportunity to enter into what she terms a very com plex, human experience. Sister was introduced to Witherspoon when she accom panied senior psychology ma jor, Jo Ann Brierton to the Cook County jail to interview him and make tape recordings as part of a project to study the psychological impact felt by a man sitting with im minent death over his head. Jo Ann's husband, Dave Brier- ton is chief of security at the jail. Bill is the kind of a person whom you know in the first five minutes, said Sister, recalling her first meeting with the prisoner. She described him as non-defen sive and more concerned with putting you at ease than being put at ease. Since their introduction last No vember, Sister Mary Irene has not only seen Witherspoon several times and corresponded with him, but has led an on-campus, off- campus campaign to have his sen tence commuted to life imprison ment as well as to abolish capital punishment in Illinois. Her interest in the issue dates further back than to her meeting with Bill Witherspoon, however. I've always been against capi tal punishment, she asserted, re collecting the ethics class debates of her college days. A person's ideas on an issue such as capital punishment, she says, almost al ways remain abstract; but now she believes, by knowing a con victed man, she has had the oppor- by Rae Paul tunity to test her abstract prin ciples out in reality. And this is why Bill is so anx ious to talk to people. He realizes that they are dealing with ab stractions when they speak of capital punishment. His writing, too, she pointed out is an effort to acquaint people with the di mensions of the death penalty. Witherspoon, who has been un der sentence of death for almost five years, has had 14 delays of execution. His attorney, Mr. El mer Gertz, is making the final ap peal for the 15th delay, March 12. During his imprisonment, Witherspoon has written two books which are now under publishers' consideration and has had articles appearing in Argosy and Time magazines. His rehabilitation, according to Sister Mary Irene, is self-evi dent. She bases her judg ment on his behavior since incarceration which, she be lieves, is the only real criterion for judging rehabilitation. Sister's first objective in at tempting to arouse campus interest in the Witherspoon case was get ting people to know Bill as an individual by playing the tape recorded interviews for classes and meetings. She then distributed petition blanks and letters, urg ing those who were interested to appeal to Governor Otto Kerner. In order to obtain further sup port for Witherspoon, Sister pre pared packets of literature and mailed them to friends and psy chology departments of colleges and universities throughout the country. Besides including petitions, Sister Mary Irene, B.V.M. bibliographies on capital pun ishment, and in some instances, a personal letter, she enclosed the December issue of Re newal, a monthly magazine published by the Chicago City Missionary society, which con tained A Doomed Man Views His Impending Execution by Bill Witherspoon. She also in cluded a reprint of Is the Death Sentence Dying by Alice Ogle which appeared in the January issue of Ave Maria and Inner City Shepherd of Jan. 15 Novena Notes. In return for the letters and in formation she distributed, Sister received approximately 1,700 peti tion signatures and 45 letters ad dressed to the Governor, all of which she delivered to Mr. Julius Echeles, one of the lawyers who is representing Witherspoon. In estimating the value of such a campaign, especially as it af fects the campus community, she (Continued on Page 4) n D Vol. XXXV Mundelein College, Chicago 26, 111., March 10, 1965 Convocation Probes Peace Sister Mary Ann Ida, B.V.M., president, returned from the Inter national Convocation Pacem in Terris with a renewed appreciation of the United Nations. One of the chief notions that emerged was that there can be peace only if there is some sort of world government. The convocation was held Feb. 17-20, in New York City in observance of National Cooperation Year proclaimed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Oct. 2, 1964. The convocation provided convocation provided a forum for individuals to discuss peace against the backdrop of Pope John's encyclical, Sister Mary Ann Ida said. Experts Convene The majority of convocation participants, including Vice Presi dent Hubert H. Humphrey; U Thant, Secretary General of the U.N.; United States Ambassador Adlai E. Stevenson; Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the United States; British historian Arnold Toynbee; theologian Paul Tillich; Senators Eugene McCarthy (D., Minn.) and J. William Fulbright (D., Ark.) Honor President Sister Mary Ann Ida, B.V.M., has recently been named to re ceive the 1965 Good American Award presented by the Chicago Committee of One Hundred. The award will be presented April 7 at the Good American Awards Ban quet in the Grand Ballroom of the Conrad Hilton Hotel. Sister was unanimously ap proved by the Board of Directors to receive the award which is pre sented annually to distinguished Americans for outstanding con tributions in the field of human re lations and for practicing the basic principles of American democ racy. The organization is one which gives positive direction to the quest for equal opportunity for all Americans and which tries to instill in all citizens the desire to become good Americans, Ernest R. Rather, president of the com mittee, explained. held a deep appreciation of the potentiality of the United Nations, but they also realized how much is lacking in reality, Sister said. Quote Encyclical Many agreed that the United Nations charter must be updated and echoed the wish expressed by Pope John in Pacem In Terris : ... that the United Nations Organization in its structure and in its means may become ever more equal to the magnitude and nobility of its tasks ... In his opening address Dr. Paul Tillich, John Nuveen professor of theology at the University of Chi cago, warned against seeking peace in a Utopian way by providing people with things. He called for peace planning in a realistic way. Favor Disarmament There was almost universal agreement among the participants, Sister Mary Ann Ida said, that in order to have peace, we must have disarmament. It was also agreed that this is most difficult to achieve. In former centuries, Sister continued, peace was considered negatively, as the absence of war. Today we think of peace posi tively, as a mutual cooperation and understanding among people. Co existence is a living in mutual accord regardless of ideology. Emphasizes Virtue The concluding panel, Sister said, expressed the idea that good deeds are not any better nor are evil deeds any worse than they were in former centuries, but the material consequences of these deeds are much greater today. Virtues once demanded only of the saint are now demanded of every man if there is to be peace. The convocation was intended to raise questions and establish a dialogue among men of different ideologies, considering problems facing them mutually today. If you were looking for an ex change of ideas of people's varying viewpoints, you would have found it satisfying, Sister said. Its purpose was not to achieve what Sister Mary Ann Ida termed instant peace. Experts on Death Only nine days left to take a stand on the death penalty. Read the comments of condemned man, Bill Witherspoon, and experts in law, sociology, criminology and morality; decide; then write to Governor Kerner at the SAC Booth in the lounge. Higher Time Provides Theme For Mundelein 'Revue' Mundelein's first student revue, Time in Revue, will be presented March 19 and 20 at 8 p.m. in the college theater. The theme chosen by the director, Pat Principe '64, and student producer, Noreen Stoeck, is Time Magazine. The topical divisions of Time provide corresponding themes for the Revue's 18 numbers. Travel, a musical act of folk songs, including This Land Is Your Land and I Am a Weary and Lonesome Traveler, will be performed by Gerrie Bruchhauser, Sue Charlevois, Elaine Whitney, Pat Foley, Steve Titra and Joe Wilderson. Economy uses 7 Cents, a musical ex cerpt from Broadway's Pajama Game. Featured are Dolly Ganas and Ed Popperl. Brush up on your Shakespeare with Dolly Ganas, Mary Ellen Scott and Mickey Parent com pletes the culture segment of the program. The sports section concentrates on baseball. Six Months Out of the Year from Damn Yankees will be performed by Jean Ginoc- chio, Mickey Parent, Ed Popper, Larry Price, Mary Ellen Scott, Elaine Whitney, Joe Wilderson and Dick Plate. The three solo numbers are: Medicine, a dance number by Den ise Prevendar, Science, Fly Me to the Moon, vocalists Pat Smith and June Carter will sing Peo ple. This year competition is re stricted to class acts only because all other numbers have been writ ten for the performers. The judges Costs Compel Tuition Increase Tuition for the 1965-66 academic year will be increased to 960, but fees for room and board will remain constant, Sister Mary Ann Ida, B.V.M., president, announced today. The increase of approximately ten per cent is necessitated by higher academic costs which have risen 18 per cent over the past year. In announcing the increase, Sister reiterated that the administration is also making every effort to expand aid available to students. Monetary aid is available through the Financial Aid Office, newly established this year and directed by Mr. Paul Crafton; the Placement Officer; the federal work-study program recently established under the 1964 Equal Opportunity Act; government loans; upper division awards and expanded Illinois State scholarship program. The president explained that tuition represents only about half the revenue needed for academic costs and is never used for such auxiliary enterprises as new buildings. Sister added that tuition is supplemented by the Sister faculty's 400,000 contribution of teaching and administra tive services as well as by outside contributions. are Maurice Stevens of the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency and Stan Dale of WLS and Patricia Nealin, '49, of WGN-TV. The freshman class act, Edu cation, is a comedy directed by Connie Scimeca. Madeline Ros- setti is in charge of the sopho more's Letters to the Editor, a series of musical and comedy skits. The junior class act, Religion, is headed by Kathy McDonnell and the senior's Modern Living by JoAnn Marchio. In past years students have al ways presented a variety show. However, the idea was abandoned because it was difficult to find good, original acts last year, said Nor een. We also felt that many talented girls were not auditioning because they didn't have time to write and produce their acts. There are many innovations in the Revue according to Noreen. For the first time college men from Northwestern, University of Illi nois and Loyola will perform in the show. All musical arrange ments have been made by Drew Trapani, a Loyola junior. There will also be a faculty-staff act en titled Press, and the B.V.M. Scholastics hootenanny singers and combo will also perform. Tickets for the Revue will be sold at the box office between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. beginning March 10. Admission is 1.25 when tick ets are purchased in advance and 1.50 at the door. Auxiliary Gives St. Pat's Dinner Irish music and dancing will provide the tearoom atmosphere for the annual St. Patrick's Day Dinner, sponsored by the Munde lein Women's Auxiliary, March 14, 3 to 7:30 p.m. Entertainment and prizes will climax the evening. Tickets are 2.50 for adults, 1.25 for children.
title:
1965-03-10 (1)
publisher:
Women and Leadership Archives http://www.luc.edu/wla
creator:
Mundelein College
description:
Student newspaper for Mundelein College
subject:
Newspapers
subject:
Religious communities--Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
subject:
Students
subject:
Universities and colleges
subject:
Women's education
relation:
Mundelein College Records
type:
Text
language:
English
rights:
This image is issued by the Women and Leadership Archives. Use of the image requires written permission from the Director of the Women and Leadership Archives. It may not be sold or redistributed, copied or distributed as a photograph, electronic file, or any other media. The image should not be significantly altered through conventional or electronic means. Images altered beyond standard cropping and resizing require further negotiation with the Director. The user is responsible for all issues of copyright. Please Credit: Women and Leadership Archives, Loyola University Chicago. wlarchives@luc.edu
coverage:
Chicago, Illinois
coverage:
Mundelein College