description:
Editorial Page THE SKYSCRAPER March 11,1964 THE STCCIIrEI* JM i MIL U II I Ul) I) 111 L 11 is an organ instituted to present the ( views of the campus, the city and the world concerning the students, to promote awareness and to mold public opinion on all issues affecting the college of the tOth century. Why the SAC? We thought we had a student government. But government is de fined according to Webster as a body which directs or guides its citizens not a body instituted to provide a convenient source of canned student opinion. Student government is delegated by the student body, according to the SAC Constitution, to direct such collegiate activities as are for the com mon good ... and to exercise leadership in planning for the intellectual, religious, cultural and social development of Mundelein students. This rule is a right not a privilege bestowed by the institution's administra tion. Yet the SAC will not take the responsibility to exercise this right. The SAC has four standing committees the Academic Affairs Com mittee, the House Committee, Concert-Lecture Committee and the Social Arrangement Board. Yet the AAC is, in its full power, merely advisory, and the student members of the committee were never even consulted when the question of eliminating quar terly exams was considered. The question was decided by an all-fac ulty vote. The House Committee which is supposed to keep the college's facili ties in order cannot make regula tions nor enforce them. They have the power only to suggest. Lewis Center was closed March 2 by the dean of students because of its dis orderly appearance when it' should have been the duty of the House Committee to handle the situation long before this became necessary. In fact, the SAB is the only com mittee which does operate according to its actual purpose. Even the Concert-Lecture Committee only provides student thought when stu dents should select the program with the advice of the faculty mem bers who also serve on this commit tee. Now, if the students are to have only an advisory capacity in the aca demic affairs and the cultural pro gram directly concerning them and supposedly arranged for their bene fit, their education certainly cannot have affected them significantly. If the college believes that its stu dents are not capable of such judg ment then it is not fulfilling the purpose of its existence. If the SAC cannot move from an advisory capacity to that of responsible legis lation, it has no reason for exist ence. For except for its president and one or two members who have pro vided more than responsible leader ship, the council does not even at tempt to function as a government. And with the approach of SAC elec tions, it is time for the pretense to be dropped and for the students to decide what the SAC should be. If the council is to provide genu ine government the officers to be elected must be leaders capable of handling their responsibility. But if the council is to continue as it stands, there is no need for its existence at all. For every function SAC performed this year could have been accom plished by other groups. September's welcoming skit for the freshmen, the book exchange (as well as the one in January) and the fall mixer would have been accom plished just as effectively by any class. The club week of October could easily have been initiated by the clubs themselves, while the Who's Who voting of November could have been handled by the dean of students after the names of those eligible with a B average were issued by the registrar. The one-evening baby sitting project for the alumnae could have been handled by any class and Social Action Week, also of that month, could have been presented by NSA or NFCCS. The Ecumenical Week of December could have been carried out by the Sodality, YCS, NFCCS or the Catholic Students Mission Crusade, while the Week of Political Action could have been directed by the Young Republicans, Young Democrats, the United World Federalist or the History Club. The Skyscraper Ball, too, could have been sponsored by a class. Out of all the SAC activities of the year, only the Pledge Plan might not have been run as easily by another student organization and even that could have been handled entirely by the college's director of development through class officers. And surely, no one can say that the SAC's reason for existence is the execution of the Pledge Plan. Now, if the SAC has no power as a government or its members lack the initiative to exercise this power ... if the SAC is no more than a rep resentative of campus opinion ... if its activities can just as effectively be performed by other student groups .. . then, there is no need for the coun cil's existence and it should be abolished. The Skyscraper Staff Human Resources Provide Answers To Solve Overpopulation Deadlock Overpopulation is second only to nuclear war as a threat to the world, said the Reverend John A. O'Brien, University of Notre Dame research theology professor, in an article published recently in two magazines. By no means a new concern, overpopulation has been an explo sive topic. Since the Malthusian theory was formulated and pub lished in 1798, its controversial prophecies have been paraphrased by critics everywhere. Based on the principle that population increases in a geo metrical ratio while subsistence increases only arithmetically, the theory states that the power of population is indefi nitely greater than the power of the earth to produce sub sistence for man. Besides the obvious argument which realizes the fact that animal and plant population are also ca pable of increasing in a geometrical ratio, authorities have agreed, dis agreed, witnessed world-wide popu lation increase and are still dis agreeing. The UN Food and Agricultural Organization, for instance, dis cussed the situation in Rome last summer, concluding in a 200-page report, that natural resources and world agricultural production are barely keeping up with the world's population increase. Pessimistic? Maybe and a bit unacceptable to the con temporary mind which has lit erally conquered the worlds of atomic energy, disease, inter planetary space and supersonic speed. The dilemma, like most, lies in the definition of a term mainly that of natural resources. Must it be assumed that resources, de scribed as natural or available ad vantages, are merely the substan tial means of physical existence? Can not this term also include man and the potential of his intellect? What is considered a vital resource today might be a nuisance tomor row, or vice versa depending on the needs and abilities of man. It is, therefore, the intellect which is the resource of all re sources, the specifying principle of existing available matter. How can one say, then, that population increase causes poverty, when it is actually man himself who channels and perfects the available raw ma terial? Ironically enough, the five richest countries in the world Belgium, Holland, Japan, Germany and United Kingdom West are also leading in popu lation density. Dr. Karl Brandt, director of the Food Research Institute of Stan ford University, maintains that the North American continent was by Rae Paul overpopulated when Christopher Columbus arrived because the In dians were limited in their ability to manage even a scanty living for their small population. The fact has also been recognized that countries of Western Europe, with their shortage of labor are now exporting goods and importing peo ple from North Af rica, Spain, Greece and elsewhere. Interesting to note, too, is the accusation which views the Catholic Church and its rigid stand on birth control as a sort of blockade to the storage house of eternal prosper ity. But, the most Catholic country in the world, Ireland, has the lowest birth rate of West ern countries, and France had for a century, basically a two-child system. Besides, the overpopulation issue will never really be re solved on a large scale by means of birth control, accord ing to Reverend Arthur J. Mc Cormick, a foremost economist and authority on world popula tion. The remedy, he says, will have to deal directly with the causes of poverty which ef fect the overpopulation situa tion basically, low economic progress, agricultural back wardness, poor educational fa cilities, political instability and outmoded social structures. Perhaps the most obvious mani festation of these deficiencies and the resulting problem are to be found today in India. Here, when population was probably no greater than 100 million, Western observers were already beginning to quote the Malthusian theory. While this appraisal was repeated over and over, the population grew to 500 million and is still increasing. Cer tainly, the underlying causes of poverty, as Father McCormick lists them, are synonymous with the overpopulation problem as it exsits in India. Yes, population grows and with it the words of the Mal thusian theory, long respected by some yet long despised by others. Certainly, the theory is valued for its amazing flexi bility enabling it to be applied to almost any country in the world whose population in crease threatens to exceed its natural subsistence, which in reality, is the ingenuity of its own people. Perhaps the theory's true great ness, however, lies in its amazing durability due to a seemingly end less failure to manifest itself in yesterday's world or today's. To morrow, too, most likely will echo Robert Malthus and the dismal science of the economic world. I/scraper Fhoto by Barbara Danielson WORLD POPULATION EXPERT, Reverend Arthur J. McCormick, a member of Cardinal Suenens' pri vate conference on family planning problems, dis cusses current aspects of the situation with Sky scraper staff member, Rae PauL Jhe S ku crap er Vol. XXXIV March 11, 1964 No. 12 All-Catholic The Skyscraper is published semi-monthly, September to May inclusive except during exam and vacation periods, by the students of Mundelein College, 6363 Sheridan Rd., Chicago 26, 111. Subscription rate is 2 per year. Entered as second-class matter Nov, 30. 1932. at the U.S. Post Office, Chicago. III., under the act of March 3. 1897. The Skyscraper is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press and the Catholic School Press Association. Letters to the editor must be signed. The Skyscraper reserves the right to cut letters in case of limited apace. Board of Editors Janice Jearas. Pat Krochmal, Eileen Schaefer Managing Editors editorial, Mary Etta Talarico j news, Sylvia Hajek ; layout, Rae Paul: feature. Tina De Rosa Columnist Barbara Mounsey Photographers Pat Wall, Helen Ann Brown, Barbara Danielson. Betsy Braunlin Reporters . Mary Ellen Scott. Sister Mary St. Eunice, B.V.M., Dianne Arturi. Pat Toussaint, Diana Lum. Bobble Bohan, Mary Pat Schiffer. Kathy Wright. Clarice Klebba. Maxine Tyma, Betty Busalacchl. Barbara Kubi , Kathy Kelleher Up in Smoke Mini Protest (ACP) The Daily Illini, Univer sity of Illinois, Champaign, wants university officials to remove ciga rette machines from campus build ings. The recent surgeon general's re port linking inhaling of tobacco with diseases makes necessary the reconsideration of university policy, the newspaper said. Most of the buildings on campus house at least one cigarette ma chine. The machines are adminis tered by the student union and an employees' fund. The newspaper said: Such machines have been per mitted for the sake of convenience. But the presence of the machines has implied a tacit attitude that smoking is harmless or at least not dangerous. Break the Habit (ACP) The Pioneer Log, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, re ports: It was after the impressive report the government made about smoking and health that we were suddenly afraid of what our pencil- chewing habit might mean. While leafing through an all-pur pose magazine we found a disturb ing and ominous line that was sup posed to be a household hint: Lead poisoning is still a threat. Our immediate reaction to this bit of sudden knowledge made us drop the pencil that we always clench by habit between our teeth. We picked up the pencil and noticed nows of rough teeth marks, all bare of paint. After all, we have been chewing pencils for many years, especially when we concentrate on something and want to relieve the tension. It was disconcerting to find that even our most innocent and uncon scious vices are being taken away from us by medical findings. We are now searching around for some simple, innocent vice that will keep our mind occupied and not worried about our health.
title:
1964-03-11 (2)
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:
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coverage:
Chicago, Illinois
coverage:
Mundelein College