TUESDAY, MAY 18, 1971
Rafferty, Zinn debate intellectual goals
Profs criticize -education
By BILL SANTAMOUR and RICH GRANT
Collegian Staff Writers
Two prominent educators expressed
their dissatisfaction with the current state
of American education in Rec Hall Sunday
night.
Calling for a re-emphasis on an educa
tional policy which stresses the importance
of the individual, Max Rafferty, former
superintendent of schools in California, de
scribed the university "as a beehive."
Howard Zinn, professor of political sci
ence at Boston University, indicted the edu
cational institutions for "passing on the cul
tural heritage" without using their "enor
mous intellectual energy" to solve prob
lems.
,Rafferty claimed that educators are
hurrying a trend toward group adjustment,
away from individualism,
A generation ago, Rafferty said, the phil
osophy of group adaptation became popular
in the public school system. He blamed the
philosophy for teaching that "all values are
relatives, all truths are variable."
Identity Loss
The result was loss of identity and ero
sion of self respect, he added, Students feel
"creeping facelessness."
Rafferty decried an educational system
that "degraded competition for excellence."
Attacking the university from another
angle, Zinn said educational institutions "re
flect the inadequacy of society." He cited the
black revolution and the war in Indochina
as events for which formal education had not
prepared people.." When the war in Vietnam
burst upon us, the people who became quick
experts were pediatricians, linguists, chap
lains," he said.
The university's social function. Zinn
said, is to "preserve power, privilege, the
myths.of the culture and itself."
Emphasize Individual
Rafferty commented that Americans
never could have made America "the envy of
the world" if they had been conditioned to
group adjustment. He advised minority
group members to get America to treat them
as individuals.
"When you react as a member of the
group, you ask to be treated according to the
7 fraternities to house vets,
rescue University from pinch
By BILL ZELLERS
Collegian Staff Writer
At last night's lnterfraternity
Council meeting, seven frater
nities volunteered to feed and
house 30 disabled veterans who
will be visiting the University
to get a taste of college life
Thursday and Friday.
The veterans are coming up
from the Valley Forge Memo
rial Army Hospital on Army
buses and will accompanied by
Army personnel, such as physi
cal therapists for those who
need them. The fraternities
also will be supplying cars to
transport the veterans and peo
ple to accompany them.
The. houses are Phi Kappa
Theta, Phi Lambda Phi, Tau
Delta Phi. Delta Chi, Tau Phi
Delta, Sigma Phi Epsilon and
Phi Kappa Alpha.
The visit by the disabled
veterans is being co-sponsored
by Pennsylvanians to Advance
Veteran Education and the
Renaissance Festival, accord
ing to Ed Baker, president of
Penn State Veterans Organiza
tion.
Express Interest
The vetera:zs were referred
through their education officer
as ones interested in college,
Baker said. "The visit will give
them contact with college life,"
he explained, and they will be
taken to classes in subjects in
which they are - interested.
"Any faculty member who
wants to talk with the men
and help them should contact
us," Bake.. said.
The last minute request for
housing came because of a
mixup in the Office of Student
Affairs, Baker said, An official
invitation from the University
Was needed for the men to
come up; he said, and the office,
was supposed to have sent out
a letter five weeks ago. The
veterans were under the im
pression that the letter had
lowest common denominator," he said.
According to Rafferty, black Americans
and Mexican Americans must think of them
selves not primarily as members of ethnic
groups, but as individuals judged on their
own merits. •
Zinn explained that the university serves
the state ,by "feeding the brains of the uni
versity directly to• the government" and by
"feeding people into the niches of society."
The complexity of society prevents people
from seeing where they fit in the total struc
ture, he said.
Within the university, Zinn pointed out,
the potential power of knowledge is diverted
by having "people work on trivia." But the
separation of people into disciplines, they
cannot solves the big problems.
Zinn criticized the university's policy of
separating knowledge from action. "an em
phasis on technological competition to the
exclusion of moral values and aims."
Regarding action to reverse the - trend
toward group adjustment, Rafferty said
members of the audience could act in three
'areas.
' As a parent, Rafferty said he would "in
sist on an educational philosophy which em
phasizes the importance of the individual."
As a breadwinner, he would improve
himself by enrolling in adult education
cot•-ses.
_
As a voter, he would join the political
Party which treated him as an individual.
Multiplying Billions
Rafferty concluded that today's most
pressing problem is "the survival of the. indi
vidual in a world of constantly multiplying
billions." He told the audience, "It will be up
to you whether mankind hears the shouting
of free men or the murmuring of bees."
Calling for the creation of a world with
out violence and war, Zinn warned that the
university must stop "being preoccupied
with money, bureaucracy, tyranny and
obedience."
He suggested that having students spend
part of their time in society would create a
single reality. He said utopia must be "more
than a positive statement."
Zinn called for criticism of society and an
active effort to change the educational sys
tem.
been sent and were waiting
for the rely when they found
out a week ago that no letter
had been sent, Baker ex
plained
M. Lee Uperaft, acting dean
of student affairs, gave the
veterans' organization the use
of a University car to go to
the hospital with a representa
tive of , .the office and confirm
the arrangements.
Baker said he then went to
see Charles S. Spence, director
of residence hall programs, to
request 15 rooms for the vet
erans, but Spence said the Uni
versity now has 250 guests in
the residence halls for Colloquy
and the Black Arts Festival
and no room was available.
Need Donations
"The local American Legion
donated $5OO for the affair,
Baker said, but it would cost
5250 just to feed 30 men for
two days. The businessmen in
town have been very generous
in donating things, he said.
"However we need funds and
could use aoy donations," he
added.
A block party •is planned
for the men on Friday night
from 7 to midnight on Nittany
Avenue between Pugh Street
and Locust Lane: Several bands
have volunteered to play for
the event.
In other action at the meet
ing, the IFC members unani
mously passed a proposal to
transfer $2,000 from the IFC
savings account to the Uni
versity Bail Bond Fund.
This money may be with
drawn upon 40 days notice and
the inter , — --rned
the interest earned on it will
go to IFC, The interest in the!
fund is slightly lower than that!
of a savings account, Mike
Evanisko, former IFC presi
dent, explahred, so it will cost
the IFC only, about $3O a year.
The fund is a service for all!
students, Evanisko said, and
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, UNIVERSITY PARK, .PENNSYL
Power Diverted
will cover small charges such
as shoplifting or drug busts.
Support HOPS
The IFC also passed a reso
lution recognizing and support
ing the Homophiles of Penn
State as "a legitimate charter
ed student organization entitled
to all of the rights and privi
leges of other student organi
zations."
The resolution also petitioned
the University to change its
decision denying HOPS the use
of University facilities unless a
legal basis is found which pre
vents them from using the fa
cilities.
The purpose of the resolution;
according to Evanisko, who
submitted it, is to support the/
right of the Undergraduate
Student Government Supreme
Court to grant charters to stu
dent organization. "The reso-1
lution is not supporting or re
jecting the aims of the organi
zation," Evanisko explained.
"HOPS is a legitimate inter
est group with nothing illegal in
its charter'," Evanisko said, but
added that the Administration
assumes the group is guilty
until it proves itself innocent.
The power to charter is ott •
of the few powers student gov
ernment has, he added, but
the Administration "overturns 1
a charter if it does not like it."
Evanisko noted that the same
thing happened with Tau Epsi
lon Phi. a coeducational fra
ternity which was chartered by
the USG Supreme Court but
was not recognized by the Uni
versity.
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