description:
May 20, 1964 THE SKYSCRAPER Page Nine Educators Examine Urban Revolt; Investigate Thought in Central City Skyscraper Photo by Betsy liraunlin DISCUSSION OF New Views of the Nature of Man, occupies Mrs. Bohan, Sister Mary Marina, B.V.M., and Dr. John Piatt, University of Chi cago professor, after his recent appearance in McCormick Lounge. Physicist Views Future; Sees Need for Control by Mary Lynch The human race is finally reaching the end of its adolescence, pronounced Dr. John R. Piatt, professor of physics and bio-physics at the University of Chicago, in his speech on New Views of the Nature of Man last month in McCormick Lounge. Dr. Piatt announced that the re sults of findings in the last 20 years have heralded an optimistic position and have coined a philosophical revolution which shadows even the technical revolution of our scientific age. Dr. Piatt went on to say that since man has made his appearance on this planet he has evolved not only in social structure but in psy chological processes with explo sive rapidity. In the 19th cen tury, man lived a very precarious existence in what he thought was an isolated phenomenon. But now, the basic elements of our own life forms have been found on many of the planets and scientists foresee the mechanical assemblage of complex elements of life as an inevitable prospect. Where scien tists once thought that the deple tion of resources would leave the world disinherited, they now find themselves harnessing the very power of the sun. Dr. Piatt further explored the field pf psychology which in the last 15 years has proved a time of drama. The concept Mexican Group Visits Campus Mundelein College was chosen by the Department of Health, Educa tion and Welfare to play host to 11 Mexican college students, ages 17- 27, May 6 and 8. The students, preparing to become elementary school teachers in Mexico, are par ticipating in the International Teacher Development Program, sponsored by the U.S. Office of Edu cation in cooperation with the U.S. Department of State. The Mexican students, headed by Eleno Medina Vasquez, president of the National Fed eration of Rural Normal Stu dents of Mexico, observed Mun delein's teacher education pro gram as well as several Chi cago public elementary schools. The group arrived from Mexico May 6 and attended a reception and dinner at Mundelein. Senior drama major, Carol Ryan's TV show and a closed-circuit TV lec ture were the evening's entertain ment. Friday, the guests observed student teachers in Chicago public elementary schools and demonstrations in teaching Spanish. The group then ret- turned to Mundelein for lunch and a visit to a Spanish drama class. Their tour was concluded by vis its to the campuses of Loyola and DePaul Universities. of the human being is no longer that of a creature limited by its genetic bestiality and Freudian subconscious. Most of human behavior has been found to be plastic and shaped by its cultural environ ment. This environment is intimately connected with education, he em phasized. Former methods have been clumsy, he explained, but new psychological techniques such as the Skinner rapid reinforcement pro cedure and programmed learning are providing smoother devices. However the control which psy chology has over the subject in these instances is, Dr. Piatt stated, reasonable grounds for alarm. Nevertheless, he presents his posi tion as optimistic, explaining that this type of control, in the hands of a freedom oriented society, will eventually lead to more freedom. One experiment with the new learning procedures is a program to enrich underprivileged 4 and 5- year-old children on Chicago's south side so they can enter school on an achievement level equivalent to their grade, he said. Concluding, Dr. Piatt stated that we are now in an epoch of assuming the birthright of the planet we have inherited. But we are now in control of earth only as much as we are in control of ourselves. These advances have not only given us a responsibility but also a new kind of hope an opti mism that should override any 19 century fears that slow, sure doom rolls pitiless and dark. While the Civil Rights Bill vol leys back and forth in the senate chamber, many Americans sit back confident that its ratification will bring an end to the urban revolu tion. But the problems of center city schools operating under less than ideal conditions as opposed to the affluent suburban schools will not be solved by the mere passage of a bill. So teachers, religious and lay, may better understand the nature of the problems in the center city schools, Mundelein is offering a six- week workshop, June 22-Aug. 14 Problems of Living and Learning in the Inner City. The program will draw together specialists in urban development, welfare, social psychology, sociology and anthro pology. List Faculty The workshop faculty will include Dr. Russell Barta','chairman of the political science department, Sister Mary Eloise, B.V.M., chairman of the economics department, Sister Mary St. George, B.V.M., chairman of the education department, Sister Mary Ligouri, B.V.M., chairman of the sociology department, and Sis ter Mary Irene, B.V.M., chairman of the psychology department. In addition to lectures, the group will take part in field trips and special projects in the center city. Discussing civil rights and the core city, Dr. Barta comments, It is no longer a question of whether the civil rights revolution can be put off; for the revolution is here. The major question that arises, therefore, is whether we can keep this world in the form of peaceful reform rather than bloody revolu tion. Discusses Reform He points out that for the ques tion of peaceful reform to be con sidered, three specific points must be considered: the necessity of the revolution, the division in Negro thought and the adjustment to the revolution through education. The necessity of this revolution embraces a consideration of the eco nomic status of the underprivileged. According to Sister Mary Eloise, B.V.M., Everyone has a right to contribute to society, even those who live in poverty. However, such a right is denied to some ten and one-half million American families living in poverty who as a result of unemployment become cut off from society. Attempts Solution The Manpower Act of 1962 was an attempt, Sister points out, to re duce unemployment and thereby by Tina DeRosa and Pat Porwicz allow the underprivileged to con tribute to society. However, the act has not been used as effectively as possible. Sister adds, Through various programs such as the work-training program, the work-study programs and President Johnson's poverty package, the individual is becoming trained and educated for a chang ing world. The division in Negro thought leads to an analysis of groups like CORE, NAACP and the Black Mus lims plus their influence on the Ne gro and liberal white. Characterizes Organizations In characterizing the various or ganizations, Dr. Barta considers the Black Muslims an unhealthy fringe of some two to three thou sand members, aliens to goals of American society. He feels the NAACP orientates itself to free dom through legal attitudes while CORE'S appeals are based on po litical rights and Martin Luther King calls for Christian rights. However, while the last three emphasize non-violence, it seems, he remarks, that it is no longer clear what exactly is violence and what is non-violence among these organizations. Adjusting to the revolution through education is important, for as Sister Mary St. George, B.V.M., emphasizes, It is what we know that will influence the future and education is an excellent means of helping the culturally deprived see his needs and eventually realize them. Sister says that In teaching in the culturally deprived areas, the teacher must know his students and their educational needs. The teacher should also recognize his students as products of their own culture and accept their modes of behavior ac cording to the students' views. In this way the student will take pride in his heritage and feel a real responsibility to learn. Contributes to Society Sister Mary Eloise also com ments that it is through education that the young culturally deprived student is able to contribute to so ciety by broadening his own outlook and coping with the future. These minority groups which are often labeled deprived are in reality not culturally deprived but cultur ally different from the dominant middle class Anglo-Saxon culture, Sister Mary Irene, B.V.M., chair man of the psychology department, emphasizes. An understanding and appreciation of the differences be tween cultures are essential for the 70 6 Request Unlimited Cuts Write-in Vote Shows Attendance Preferences After tabulating the results of the to cut or not to cut ballot, members of the academic affairs com mittee revealed that 70 per cent of the students de clared their preference for an unlimited cut system in a write-in vote. Of the 622 students who voted, ten per cent favored a designated cut system, three per cent cast their ballot for the status quo and six teen percent voted for teacher clarification of attend ance in each class. Commenting on the results, Sister Mary Marina, B.V.M., chairman of the student-faculty committee on academic affairs, pointed out that classes are the re sponsibility of both student and instructor. Instruc tors should make a class worthwhile but attendance should be required, for if standards are imposed on students they rise to the occasion. Sophomore Comments Laura Nutini, sophomore member of the com mittee, says, I don't think a student can judge if she can got to class or not. There are exceptions, how ever. If the course is strictly book material and the lectures don't give any more, then the student can cut. But both students and teachers have rights and unlim ited cuts impinge on a teacher's rights. Mary O'Malley, chairman of the academic affairs committee said. The reaction of the students seems to indicate that they feel strongly enough about an unlim ited cut system to write in a vote. Students React This would certainly indicate that the students are interested in the type of classes they are presented with. I feel it also indicates their willingness to accept the responsibility of either passing or failing on their own choice. The result of the pool is not as important as the fact that the administration wanted student opinion and got it. success of any attempt to work with people in the inner city areas. One of the great disadvantages of peo ple going into these areas, Sister points out, is a subtle, almost un conscious attitude of condesension. We don't go to work on these people, but to work with them, Sister states. They have a rich ness to communicate to us, a rich ness that comes from trying to rise above their environment. Applies Techniques One of the methods Sister hopes to employ in order to establish this understanding and appreciation in the workshop students will be the role - playing technique. Through role-playing, instructors and stu dents will play both the culturally different and the middle class per son in a given situation. Through this technique, the students will strive to understand the value sys tems, emotional aspects and posi tive coping mechanism of the Inner City cultures. This method will also enable the workshop students to study the impact of the culture on the individual, to consider the prob lem from an individual's point of view as well as in its social cen- text. Until a teacher comes to an un derstanding and appreciation of the other culture, Sister maintains, she is nothing more than a tin kling symbol. Cites Understanding Politically, the poor are more powerful today than they have been at any other time since the Roose velt administration, Sister Mary Ligouri, B.V.M., chairman of the sociology department, points out, but it is only through personal con tact that society as a unit will come to understand its poor and offer them the respect and help they need. Sister cites President John son's war on poverty, the welfare institutions, aid to dependent chil dren and social security as in stances of the poor's political weight. But it is only on a people- to-people basis that the poor can be understood and aided. The measure in which people can participate in the things available to them, Sister comments, deter mines their position on the social scale. When people cannot obtain those things which are essential to normal living, they are poor. When they are completely dependent on others, Sister emphasizes, they have something worse than poverty. Stresses Respect Sister also stresses the impor tance of mutual respect between culturally different groups. The problem of teaching in inner city schools is not merely one of teach ing but of reaching a culture that is little known by the teacher. Sister refers to the work done by the Jane Adams settlement home, Hull House, on the near west side. This home, she points out, did at the turn of the century essen tially what teachers in Inner City schools are trying to do today: to teach the culturally different re spect for their traditions, liberate them by helping them to financial independence and assimilate them into American society. Although the Harrison-Halsted area is being torn down for the Chicago Campus of the University of Illinois Undergraduate School, Hull House is being renovated and will serve as an integral part of the University's social program.
title:
1964-05-20 (9)
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