PAGE 8
Book Review
Future Shock “Can’t Be Taken With A Grain Of Salt”
by Lisa Pavadore
Collegian Feature Editor
Alvin Toffler, known
worldwide for literary works read
in over 50 countries, criticizes the
social and cultural realm, mostly
of the Western World, in the book
Future Shock.
Some critics say that Toffler’s
book will change anyone who
reads it. I don’t necessarily believe
that after reading it, one would
change. However, Future Shock
is a thought-provoking piece, and
at times creates a whole new
world, one much colder and im-
Avoid The
by Patty Altieri-
Collegian Contributing Writer
Access to a wide variety of
materials can make the difference
between a good term paper and
one that is mediocre. Complaints
are made daily about the limited
resources available here in
Behrend’s library. This is nothing.
What few students realize is that
our library is a small part of the
whole Penn State library network.
Inter-Library Loan (ILL) makes
these materials accessible at no
cost to you, the borrower.
Through ILL, books from any
of the commonwealth campuses
or University Park libraries
system may be borrowed through
ABC Celebrates
Black Achievement
by Gregory Goldsmith
Collegian Staff Writer
The Association of Black Col
legians (ABC) kicked off its an
nual “Black Cultural Festival”
with a Red, Black, and Green
Day. The color red is a symbol of
the blood that was lost by blacks
in the struggle for equality,
freedom and peace. Black sym
bolizes the color of the skin and
green represents the original
native land of black people—
Africa.
As a part of the Black Cultural
Festival, the Association of Black
Collegians viewed a film entitled
A Tale of O. It was presented to
them by Charles Pittman, a
former Penn-State All-Star Foot
ball Player and Alumnus. The
film featured relationships bet
ween blacks and whites. A discus-
sion period and ‘meet-the
speaker’ reception followed.
In order to celebrate the con
tributions that blacks have made
in the arts, Parris Baker, a local
play director, poet and
choreographer, came to Behrend
to present a one-man skit that
viewed the hardships and hangups
of blacks. Appearing with him,
was the Erie Bayfront Ballet.
FEATURE
personal from the world we know.
At the start, I thought Future
Shock would be another 1984, by
George Orwell. But, where Orwell
discusses our future through a
dramatic narrative, Toffler
describes in depth what will hap
pen to the people of our society if
we do not cope with a future of
vast and mind-boggling rate of
change. Toffler terms the inability
to cope with much change at such
a staggering rate, future shock.
The book is divided into six
parts, each dealing with a facet of
our society changing too fast for
Term Paper Blues
ILL, provided that the source has
been properly verified (proof that
the book exists or what work you
found the title in.)
Good sources of verification
are book reviews, bibliographies,
and Books in Print. Reference
books or books in the Rare Book
room will not be loaned.
Journal articles can also be ob
tained through ILL. It’s impor
tant to know that the journal itself
cannot be borrowed. A xerox
copy of the specific article re
quested will be sent. The copy is
yours to keep. Perhaps you just
want to browse through a par
ticular journal to see if it has what
you need. You can request a copy
In conjunction with the Black
Cultural Festival, the ABC is
sponsoring an essay contest for
area high school students. Any
student that would like to enter
the contest should submit one
essay to his or her English teacher
on the topic of Black Achieve
ment. The teacher should then
send the essay to Gregory
Goldsmith, Penn State-Behrend
College, Station Rd. Box 505,
Erie, PA 16563. Entries must be
postmarked no later than Feb. 28.
There will be two winners. One
from the 9-10 grade level and
another from the 11-12 grade
level. Each winner will receive a
$25 savings bond and plaque. For
more details call Goldsmith at
898-6570 or 898-6595.
continued on page 10
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THE COLLEGIAN
us to keep up with. Not only does
Toffler describe-almost wam-us
of our inevitable peril, he does not
explain how to avoid future shock
until the last part of the book.
While it is interesting, Toffler
explains many spects of future
shock in a long-winded way, and
cites several examples that could
have been eliminated. A bit ver
bose, maybe, but I believe when
Toffler first wrote the book (15
years ago) it would have been
more difficult to convince his au
dience, thus he provides many
examples.
of the table of contents.
If you work better under
pressure and wait until the end of
the semester to write your paper,
you will not have enough time to
order materials through ILL. It
takes five to ten days to get the
materials requested, even longer
late in the semester when requests
are the heaviest.
Use LIAS to find the most up
to-date materials in the Penn State
system. When you begin your
search, make sure that you are in
the “LIB ALL” mode. Then you
are ready to search by title,
author, subject or call number.
All of the journal holdings for
Pattee (the main library at U.P.)
are on LIAS. Once you have
located the book you want, check
its status. Type in “status” and
press return. A screen will appear
that tells you whether or not the
book is available.
In case LIAS is down or in use,
you can use the COM Catalog for
holdings at Pattee on microfilm.
For journals, you can again use th
COM Catalog or the journal
holdings books behind the circula
tion desk.
The next step is very important:
filling out the necessary form,
which can be obtained at the cir
culation desk. They must be filled
out completely and correctly in
order to be processed. If not, it
could mean a delay of days. The
student assistants or library staff
will help you fill them out. Direct
any questions to Patti Mrozowski
who handles all of Behrend’s ILL
business.
You can still procrastinate.
Order the materials now, and
write the paper the night before it
is due.
In our supposed future, which
can be read in less than 500 pages,
I see that we will abandon die no
tions of long-term friendship,
owning a home, or even raising
our own children.
Toffler spends a great deal of
time discussing transiency. While
Americans do tend to move from
home to home a lot more now,
and though families are getting
smaller, I find it impossible to be
human without needing the
stability and permanence of hav
ing a family and a home. In fact,
the section I find most interesting
deals with the breakdown of the
family.
According to Toffler, parents
will not raise their own children,
but will pursue careers and allow
their children to be raised by pro
fessional families. Far-fetched?
Yes. Impossible? Maybe.
A very possible and.helpful way
of dealing with future shock is
through grouping people who are
MARCH 1,1985
going through the same crises or
life changes. We do have group
therapy today for those dealing
with alcohol and drug abuse, as
well as other mental and emo
tional problems, but Toffler feels
that passing through even what we
term “normal” life phases such as
moving, divorce, and children
marrying can be coped with better
through group discussion. In
dividual therapy will also be more
widely avaialable in the future.
I have found Future Shock to
be stimulating, and I encourage
people to read it. This book can
be a rude awakening for those
avoiding the future, and it can’t
be taken with a grain of salt.
At the least, Toffler will
challenge your values and morals,
and force you to possibly recon
sider any of your deeply rooted
beliefs. At most, you may change
your ideas, or begin to wonder if
we . are really as in control of our
society and future as we believe.