◆ SpookStack

By Edmund G. Brown The University of California right now ts facing the ~ -most critical period in its history.. 3 . We live in an era of change. The rate of technological , _change keeps accelerating each year. And the university is ; the mother of technology and the home of this change. It ts ironic, therefore, that the university itself has not A been able to keep up with the very change which it has’. - created. It ts strange, indeed, that the university has been _among the institutions slowest to change. This ts particu- _ “arly strange, not only because of the technological revolu- | tlon, but because of the education revolution as well. , The student entering the university today 1s of a dif- _ferent breed than the students of the ‘50s. First. of all, he js better prepared. Former Chancellor Herman T. Spieth- of the Riverside campus was one of the first to remark this change. He said that in the last few years the freshmen at “Riverside are as well prepared as sophomores—and in some , , cases, Juniors—used to be. ‘ a This; of: course, has implf{cations for the university cur-— riculum. But the student change-is more than just in his achievement and ability. It is also a change in attitude. We must all realize that the student of today thinks ; differently than the students of the ‘50s. And his new and . ‘ clearly defined attitudes and approaches to public issues are not’ confined to Berkeley or to California. They may be ‘found nationwide. . . - Just: 10 years ago, college students were called—and - rightly so—the Silent Generation. During the McCarthy - era and throughout'the ‘50s, many people were afraid to say what they felt in their hearts was right. And college stu-’ dents merely reflected the soclety around them. That era is gond. The student of today 1s vitally inter- ested in society around him. He should be. He is no longer > content with society’s apathy—or its wrongs. He is ideal~° istic enough to think that society should be perfect, or more - nearly approach perfection. And he has committed himself to the effort to make It as perfect as he can during his life-‘ e. . . 4 Because of this, society should stand up and applaud.’ But it does not. oo ‘ : Have we made our society-safe for students with {deas? | _ ‘We have not, Yes, students have ghayfed. But the’ struc-. ture of the university and ité attitude towards its students. ha pt pace with that, change: ace a ee ae 2, ares ree ee Pee PHT y 2 ey te ae aes ro ek De ak kl ee a om tamed we = - bors SEAT TTY Terns Ae mee ema nmey T Y F RN TER I er Ded t {