Brown and White Vol. 84 no. 1

              brown and white vol 84 — no 1 bethlehem pa wednesday august 30 1972 868-0331 u forum is the product of a decade of activity bv steve glickstein ( editor's note — this is the first of two articles for freshmen explaining the history and the role of the forum lehigh's governing body from even before its inception the university forum has been surrounded by controversy today the university's legislative body is every bit the subject for heated debate that it was two years ago just one year of operation has convinced many that the forum could be the most progressive and constructive step ever taken at lehigh but many skeptics still persist and even some firm believers have reversed their position and will swear that student participation will never work the forum was created during a remarkable chain of events during the spring of 1970 hence the term spring lehigh >. bui ils origins go deeper i han two years they trace a decade of growing student awareness and involvement events such as a rally for coeducation protests against prejudicial and backward pledging policies of fraternities a move for an improved liberal arts college all took place in years previous yet set the stage and the mood which made spring lehigh possible in 1970 the catalyst the immediate catalyst in the formation of the forum was the firing of a social relations professor without the consulta tion of majors in that department a handful of students began a campaign to have him reinstated other students began to broaden their attack on some of ihe more important and universal problems in the university most notably the lack of student voice in university governance these students pointed to the tact that it took the faculty over two years to repeal guest curfews after it had been approved by arcadia ihen the student government the handful of students grew in number meetings in lhe uc snack bar began to draw crowds but mostly from curious bystanders a strike was called but was poorly attended these students received two big breaks in their quest for increased student participation undoubted some had less noble and more destructive motives one was ihe weather spring fever gripped lehigh it was much better protest than to go to class flagpole rally astudent rally at the flagpole protesting the transfer of a trustee meeting off campus dramatized student concern of gaining a greater voice in university affairs that concern led ultimately to the creation of the forum dean brockway says u not frosh nursemaid brian d brockway dean of the college of business and economics urged the class of 1976 to assist in the changes in education taking place at lehigh during the next four years dean brockway was one of many who officially welcomed the freshman class in the convocation exercises held monday the 900 men and women of the freshman class who arrived on campus today were presented to the president of the university w deming lewis by the director of admissions samuel h missimer president lewis in turn introduced the freshmen to various vice-presidents and deans of the univer sity president lewis in his welcoming address to the class reminded the students that they were finally on their own and that from now on they would be the principle architect of their own future teaching is only the second most important function of the university the most important function is learning he said dean brockway said that he could draw upon his two years as a freshman in college due to military service to find something worthwhile to say to the frosh brockway discussed his complaints of twenty years ago when his freshman class was forbidden to have automobiles on campus had bed checks at 10 p.m and a 6 a.m wake-up bell times have changed he said lehigh will not be acting as a parent brockway mentioned several other areas of education which are now being challenged for the first time since the days of socrates including teaching methods relevance and the monetary priorities of education brockway said that he raised these points to give an idea of what will be going on in education and sat lehigh for the next four years - a third speaker who addressed the freshmen was marc l jacobs vice chairman of forum 111 jacobs introduced the class of 76 lo the two-year-old university governance organizalion he spoke of the events which led to the formation of the forum he also mentioned forum accomplishments of lhe last two years such as he abolishments of the last two years such as the abolishment of saturday classes and the calendar change which has brought students back to classes in august 4 ir the coming year jacobs said that the forum will be taking action on the law school proposal freshman representation to the forum long range goals of the university and university parking problems b&w photo by owl university president w deming lewis addressing the freshman class at the annual freshman convocation monday lehigh is good neighbor vio community relations by bill white lehigh is finally becoming a good neighbor after some strong prodding by the forum a community relations director james harper was chosen last year he spent an innovative first year at lehigh trying to erase the bitter memories of past town gown problems until last year admits harper com munity relations at lehigh were fractured between different areas with no central point of responsibility last year james harper finally became that point and many activities have revolved around him he is lehigh's liaison with the city he is the contact point between the bethlehem police department which has formed its own community relations department and the university after president nixon's decision to mine north vietnam's harbors the police called him to find out what was happening on campus — demon strations were disrupting campuses elsewhere harper told the police to stay away despite a few rumblings of discontent no trouble developed harper is the first vice president of the community council as a service to the community lehigh has allowed its property to be used by community-service organizations free of charge the lehigh property at 4th and brodhead fer example is being used by the spanish speaking council and the money they save on a property lease has been freed for use in serving the community lehigh has a grant-in-aid program for under privileged area students starting in 1973 it will provide one scholarship per year for the goodwin fund recipient a deserving bethlehem area black student under the general college division program several spanish-speaking students are now allowed to attend lehigh on a conditional basis at first they carry no more than three courses per semester b&w photo by owl starting early two members of the class of 1976 participating in one of lehigh university's more venerable traditions see community page 6 see activism pan 4 join the b&w if you are interested in becoming involved on campus there is no better way than joining the brown and white positions are open on all staffs and opportunities for advance ment are unlimited in addition you will receive academic credit for your work experience is not necessary all that is required is an interest in any of the aspects of a college newspaper and a willingness to work interested students should come to an open house sponsored by the brown and white editorial staff tonight at 7 10 p.m in the university center basement room c 06