description:
Theologian declares j love ethic old hat by Kathleen Cummins Dr. James Sellers, protestant lay theologian and Dean of the Divinity School of Nashville Tennessee's Vanderbllt University. in his Nov. 10 talk on The Revolution of Personal Morality in McCormick lounge re-emphasized a fundamental distinction between ethics and morality. Ethics Is a thinking discipline, a reflective weighing of the merits of standards proposed for human conduct. Morality Is the prac tice of such standards, the act ing out of their usefulness (or lack thereof) to society. In Dr. Sellers assessed the New Mor ality as a trend seized upon In oversimplified form by a starved society. He defined thre aspects of this trend: mood, motif (norms) and method. THE MOST visible feature, or mood, of this revolution is candor. Personal availability and willing self-revelation as opposed to unhealthy 19th century barriers are becom ing, said Sellers, a life-style for the whole country, not just Haight-Ashbury. Long hair and casual dress bespeak youth's Inslstance on values other than the crewpcut sin cerity of increasing the Gross National Product. Quoting a Texan student, who maintained that someone has to prophesy shoulds, since Christianity is no longer competent to dictate sex life, and the New Morality has ex punged the old rehetoric of war and race relations. Sell ers described the corrosion of Orthodox Religion as our Internal monitor by which we have been thrust, without an absolute scale of priorities, into the free but gloomy limbo of our world. ACCORDING TO Sellers, Dr. Joseph Fletcher, author of -3ii lt;aUoa EtLics and one of the chief architects of the New Morality, proposed Love-or Agape (Loving Concern) as the only absolute moral impera tive. A code of ethics is love subordinate, to be discarded if It no longer serves love. From Fletcher comes also what Sellers calls the Meth od of the New Morallty-the focus on Situation as the basis for decision-making. Just as the negroes made their first big breakthrough by rejecting the old strategy of going through prop r channels when the nature of their goals de manded faster action so the New Moralist's dictum, said Sellers, is: ask in every situ ation what your aspirations are for that situation. then be di rected by the exigencies of the situation, not by precedent, which may or may not apply. For. said Sellers, quoting Fletcher, too many like to wallow In the security of law. IN HIS evaluations of the Revolution. Sellers warned that though he could not but welcome a trend toward hon esty such a trend could follow the French Revolution's example of an indiscriminate rejection of all social conven tions which resulted in chaos. Said Sellers, we still need the protection of a specified role In this world of total involve ment. Taking Issue with Fletch er's emphasis on love as the chief good. Sellers insisted that a value which dictates every thing dictates nothing. Love. Identified by Fletcher with mutuality, which Sellers in turn defines as concern for those important to us. can not possibly be stretched to cover the whole gamut of hu man relationships, which in clude dealings with people of no great moment to us. A set of governing values must be grounded. Sellers asserted, in more or less than love: more, meaning a wider range of observable and dis cussible virtues. and less, moaning Imposed justice as a political stability, necessary preconditions for kind acts. Latin America, Africa and the Inner Cities have shown us that it is simply an illusion to think that the heart can influ ence politics, At the end of history, he added, Justice will be done automatically, but as a result of constant practice, not human altruistic lean ings. CRITICIZING Fletcher's sit uational method, Sellers said that too many people are tempted to consult their own I. iiB Vol. XXXVIII Mundelein College, Chicago, 111., 60626, November 17, 1967 No. 6 MM NSA looks for new image; cultivates grass roots' interest Hearsay speaker Michael Novak, author and theology Instructor at Stanford will discuss The Truth About Viet Nam, at 8 p.m.. Nov. 20. in McCormick lounge. The topic-oriented discussion will be moderated by Sister Mary I. Griffin, academic dean. No vak recently returned from Viet Nam, where he was a cor respondent for the National Catholic Reporter. by Mary Kate Cooney Structural change, the relevancy of modern education, and the lack of communication among schools were the key prob lems discussed by members of the National Student Association at their Illinois-Wisconsin regional meeting sponsored by Munde lein NSA, Nov. 10-11, at the Edgewater Beach Hotel. In an effort to alleviate the first problem, structural changes were made dividing the Illinois-Wisconsin region into four sec tions: Wisconsin, inner-Chicago, outer-Chicago, and downstate Il linois. SKYSCRAPER ohoto bv Marianne Funllo Dr. James Sellers situations only in making moral decisions. The rationale business Is business or or ders are orders can justify sharp tactics and bureaucrat ic consent to war crimes, but, said Sellers not man with a human birthright can pre tend to be Just a business man. A possible solution for the communication among schools was found In the inner-Chicago project to investigate and aid Loyola's plan for the estab lishment of a radio station on its campus. The station, which would broadcast to all Chicago college students, could be used for student and administration editorials, announcements of campus events, the perform ance of student programs, the communication of problems on certain campuses, and any number of other purposes. Foster Fuzzy Braun, re gional chairman, speaking to the 125 delegates and observ ers, set the tone for the en tire weekend: NSA is in the process of building a new structure, a new image. No longer can we be a Santa (Luis or an Easter Bunny, providing services for student governments. We must build a new image relevant to the in dividual student, an image that meets his problems. Braun continued by stressing that the new Image must grow out of the present chaos, that the image must be created from within the present structure, and that stu dents, rather than theorizing about community, must face the gut issues on their cam pus. The gut issue that faces stu dents today, said Teddy O'Toole. National Educational Affairs Vice-P resident of USNSA, is the relevancy of their education and 20th cen tury educational methods. Americans are living today, he said, In a world with a for eign policy that is resulting in riots. Life in the United States today requires that education be relevant. Inventory guides students in self-understanding for jobs As an aid to student self un derstanding. The Strong Voca tional Interest Inventory is now being offered by Mrs. Sylvia Warshaw, Director of Counseling. Used to predict job satisfac tion in a particular field, the inventory gives the student a view of her own potential and Interests. The inventory might also be used to help a student in deciding on an academic program. The scoring scales are based on responses of men and women working In fields rang ing from garbage collecting to medicine as compared to the student's response. In an at tempt to achieve a measure of Interest, all questions are answered with like, indif ferent, or dislike. Mrs. Warshaw gives the 30-50 min ute survey individually, sends the responses to the National Computer System in Minneap olis, for scoring, and then in terprets the scores for each student. Those interested In taking the Strong Vocational Interest Inventory should contact Mrs. Warshaw in 500 for an appoint ment. O'Toole stated that the move today is toward student power, a power that involves a phi losophy of education and of people that says that students can control their own lives on campus, whether in academic or non-academic fields. Students are coming to real ize that they can no longer tolerate the 'in loco parentis' attitude and the spoon-fed edu cation that is being handed to them. O'Toole closed his keynote address on a somber note: If you try to teach democracy by rote, you are more likely to get a dogmatist than a democrat. Under the present American educational system, In the end you are more likely to get a computer than an educated person. The convention action cen tered In the Saturday semi nars. The three-fold movement behind the seminars was to create an awareness of felt needs, to provide contact with persons who possessed the nec essary resources and to pro vide, through discussion, a means toward reaching the al leviation of these needs. The students recognized the need to make NSA known to the individual students. The problem, said Fuzzy Braun. is how to get something started on campus that Is self-sustain ing. The answer is only known through experience, and only by student action did he feel that this could be accom plished. Mike Vosick, head of the Ex perimental college at the NSA summer convention, attacked the apathy of students: Stu dents are made of papier mache. Passion has been edit ed out of American education. Students today are satisfied with the status quo. He stressed the fact that NSA as a national organiza tion is an illusion: NSA is not what you be long to, but who you are. It is what you are doing that makes or breaks NSA. He criticized students' for failure to act: We can't wait for structural permission from the organizational daddy, be cause the organizational daddy doesn't exist. Students were exhorted to define the situa tion on their own campus, to recognize their own problems and to approach NSA for help, but reminded that the action must start from themselves. In the afternoon seminar on educational reform the stu dents debated the relevancy of today's education and the need for personal initiative. The problem, as they saw it, was that one or two persons were making the decisions for them and setting the learning goals. Rick Kean stressed the need to orient the curriculum to the technological age, an age which makes everything pos sible. Yet in this age of in finite possibility, the present American educational system does not fit. Said Mike Vos ick: It's bad. People are being limited, frozen out. The educational system is freezing the mind into incredible pos tures. Kean saw the neetl in the present situation to turn peo ple on to themselves, to make them set their own learning goals. He saw the major cause of student apathy as the lack of confidence in the indi vidual regarding his own pow er: Everyone has power, it's only personal limitations that hold him back. If you don't like what's going on, take hold of what you want to do and do It. A sense of individual power can lead to effective group ac tion: If a group of people get together with any force, with any sense of purpose, their action will work. Kean posited three levels of learning: iactual, intellectual and most Importantly, learning how one learns. He stressed the Importance of the third level, explaining that once you learn, you have reached a level of sophistication that will not allow you to be dic tated to. NSA is in the midst of change. After last year's CIA incident, it has had to begin a reorganization from the grass roots upward. In the process of its reorganization, NSA switched its image from a provider of services to an innovator of education reform. The regional convention pro vided concerned students with an opportunity to discuss their problems. iMIIIIIHIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIWII IBMim Cotillion Tonight The Bal Tabarin Room at the Sherman House, Clark and Randolph, will be the scene of Cornu copia Cotillion, the third annual sophomore class semi-formal, from 9 to 12 p.m. tonight. The Bal Tabarin Room con sists of several parlors, an open bar room and a sunken level, cabaret style ball room. Phil DiCola and his ten piece orchestra will pro vide the music. Sophomore class offi cers, including Judy Widtmann, social chair man and dance chair man, and Marge Race, secretary and chairman of publicity and bids are In charge of arrange ments. Bids, at 5, can be pur chased in the lounge area of the Skyscraper and at the door.
title:
1967-11-17 (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