Brown and White Vol. 84 no. 29

              brown and white vol 84 •— no 29 bethlehem pa tuesday january 23 1973 866-0331 20 discuss student apathy forum elitism in caucus by j michael clinch the alleged elitist attitude of forum members pwir communication between the forum and the brown and white and the apathetic attitude of the student body were discussed in an informal gathering in the neville lounge thursday students called for major changes in forum procedure three members of the student affairs committee carl zvanut 73 mark jacobs 73 and rich conway 74 along with forum chairman george dinsmore and john fields 72 met with about 20 students and members of the ad ministration on the subject of student apathy a freshman claimed that although he enjoyed school immensely there are a number of problems frosh face he specifically cited social life and claimed that there is antagonism between the freshman males and the coeds another complaint was the upperclass domination of all clubs the student also complained about a lack of information conceding the workings and activities of the forum charging that the forum was elitist and intended to remain so charles nippert a graduate student said that graduate students only hear about forum decisions after the fact and never hear about work in progress he compared it to a city council where those who are not in it feel they have no control dave jackley 73 said that forum members seem to be anonymous and suggested that the forum's size be reduced and public participation in creased he stated that the forum had lost sight of its original goal that of an organization to which the administration is accountable lackley recalled the grace hall meetings where the forum was created and where anyone could express his opinion about the student government at that time he noted the forum had spontaneity a quality it lacks today in stead said jackley it is a bureaucracy where issues are debated in committee and the public is ill-informed the forum simply works too well remarked chair man dinsmore with the majority of problems solved in committee without being brought up to the forum for debate carl zvanut and rich conway agreed b&w photo by 808 batcheler neville caucus — student affairs committee members students and members of the administration met thursday in neville lounge to discuss the subject of student apathy engineers now allowed to minor in the humanities effective this semester an un dergraduate in the college of engineering may work toward a minor in the humanities or social sciences along with his bachelor of science degree the new educational program was adopted by the faculty upon the recom mendation of the university educational policy committee the program enhances and formalizes a principle upon which lehigh was founded that the university embody a blend of engineering science and the humanities the close relationship of the three colleges at the university is illustrated by several five-year two-degree programs which combine undergraduate and graduate studies in engineering arts and science and business the new program satisfies the existing graduation requirement for students in the college of engineering who must com plete at least 25 credit hours outside their major field this general studies program allowed the student to range widely in the humanities or social sciences with this program he may concentrate in a chosen area john j karakash dean of the college of engineering said the new program recognizes and formally records the special interest of students who choose to concentrate most of their general study effyrt in one significant field students wishing to earn a minor are required to confer with the chairman of the general studies program who assigns the student to a field advisor usually a senior faculty member in a relevant department the student with the help of his field advisor must submit a proposed program of study in the area of the minor the student gains recognition for the minor upon successful completion of not less than 15 credit hours in his field of concentration and upon the recom mendation of his advisor in that field rosse parking deck proposal fits contained campus policy h joris rosse lehigh's director of physical planning is proposing a parking deck at the southern end of brodhead avenue to help alleviate the tight parking situation at lehigh the deck rosse said is in accordance with a forum recommendation that the university adopt a contained campus policy that is pedestrian oriented building such a deck is rosse's alter native to buying up surrounding properties and knocking down housing for parking lots one such prospective site is on warren square about this policy rosse said there is a moral question in my mind whether this is an appropriate ap proach rosse said that he is having trouble convincing the powers that be that a parking deck is better the advantages are that a deck which is close to campus will be used more extensively and will afford more efficient land use i think the time is growing fairly close maybe one or two maybe five years from now when we're going to have to accept underground parking rather than pave over all the grass and earth on campus the deck he proposed would be multi level with entrances and exits on brodhead avenue and the campus road which runs in iront of psi upsilon fraternity the top deck would be landscaped and could contain three high-rise dormitories which would help lehigh's housing shortage future plans also call for closing off packer avenue to the flagpole making it in effect memorial walk the only entrances to vehicular traffic would then be taylor street eighth street and memorial drive alongside the alumni memorial building according to rosse there is the possibility of expanding the stacks section of linderman library along what is now a parking lot in front of the university center if built underground the top could be used for a patio-like effect the question of closing packer avenue is conway says housing lack may be less than feared by mary lou rogers the shortage of space in the residence halls due to the incompletion of rh 11 for the 1973-74 school year will probably be less than originally predicted according to rich conway 74 chairman of the residence halls subcommittee conway said that he has been informed by dean of residence clarence b campbell that a combination of mistaken figures and the use of the saucon married and graduate student housing smags to house some undergraduates will make the shortage even less than that of the current school year the exact number of students that may be left without housing is not certain said conway the completion of rh 11 will add 200 more beds to the residence halls rh 12 which will follow will add about 200 more he added other than a list in campbell's office of available off-campus housing there are no definite statistics on the numbers and distances of such housing according to conway he added that he sees the possibility of research being done in this area to provide a better look at the situation residence halls is run too much like a business said john kitto 75 president of the residence halls council he said that upperclass males may be squeezed out of the residence halls as the number of women on campus increases since women and fresh men are guaranteed housing he said upperclass males will carry the burden of any crowding that may occur in the residence halls kitto said that taylor and centennial i will house an increasing number of freshmen while none of the other residence halls will have an increasing number of upperclass males the number of all non-integrated upperclass dorms is decreasing and he said freshmen don't use the facilities as well freshmen who don't plan to remain in the residence halls after their first year don't take as good care of the dorms and don't have as much interest in the residence hall social life as upperclassmen kitto explained the hill will probably have the only major social life at lehigh as a result of the integration of freshmen with up perclassmen he said richards will be coed next year said kitto he said that richards will probably be b&w photo by tony tola rich conway 74 see parking page 4 see group page 5 see elitism page 4