have d ME soc/moo, rated/armour... \ Wb‘lc‘ $56M fiMfg («ficrlmg \% .J‘r from” {campers fioclOluO G l (3% L. [Earpiece J §mcwv onvcntional socrology ,ior students revamped; Fiction often uses the episode in which a missionary or doctor from civil~ ization works among a primitive peo- ple. His efforts to apply scientific meth- ods to their habits of living usually meet with distrust and suspicion. Then the local princess gets sick. Witch doc- tors are of no avail. As a last hope, the tribe turns to the strange man with the strange methods. If he heals her, the superiority of his “magic” is proved and his mission has a chance of suc— ' cess. If he doesn’t he is taken to the stake or to the cooking pot. The sociologist in America often con- siders himself as being in the same po— sition. He is regarded with distrust and suspicion. Any success he may have in chaotic situations paves the way for the pursuit of his mission, the scientific study of human relations. Failures win him the figurative cook— ing pot and ridicule of his ideas. This situation has tended to make the sociologist feel constantly in need of “proving“ his theories workable. The distrustful attitude of the world has forced him to neglect teaching cle— mentary facts about sociology as they are known and has discouraged basic sociological research. Happily, this role is becoming ob- solete. At Illinois Tech, I have not found is necessary to “sell” sociology at all. Students and faculty, generally, realize that one can be scientific about anything, including society and per- sonality. They are keenly aware of the growing gap b e t w e e n mechanical changes and the social adjustments that must be made to such changes. They know that the social sciences have to offer some of the knowledge and technique that will help narrow this gap. The Techawk doesn’t have to be “sold" on social science. He looks to social science courses, rather for the vitally important facts about the social worlds in which he lives and for the effective ways of understanding and dealing with these facts. The political and social science staff of HT has lately revised the sociology curriculum; abandoning some of the conventional courses which gained a foothold in sociology curricula during the years when sociology was trying to “sell” itself. They have been re- placed by courses designed to fill the particular needs of Tech students for training in sociology. The revised so— ciology- curriculum at 111‘ includes 13 courses. Seven of these relate to spe— cific problem areas with which Tech students are likely to be confronted in the course of their specific careers. The other six courses are of more general relevance, since whatever their careers, all Tech students will be confronted with the problem of dealing intelli- gently with human relationships. A. Biderman hrs about ills r it bllshod oval-v Frldoly durln the school year by tho students of Illinois Inst into at gocbmlooy. 3309 5. Federal. cage . Illlnols Entered as second class mailer 40, at fhoapo‘sqlnoflico cl Chicago, llllnolm, arc Erase? rent for national advertising“ by” the relational A vorilalng Sorvlco Inc c.. 420 Media: Ne W Va 7!: Y. Advertising vat'au furnishcdu any request. Sub- nci’lpilons—Dommllc: $1. 50 pa: 0mm. amigo: $2.613 per rt ‘5! it fidlmr—lnnfihlafi ................. W Mmb‘tdflfl business Manager .............. dMW arisen associate Editor .............. JOHNNSE @5517 Managing Editor ........... some scanned. News Editor, JQE EMS News Stall: Bert Cohn, assistant editor. Alan l’loi‘l’. Ed Stack. Walter Wincelt, Bill Wechter, Vince Parks Sports Editor, ED JENNENGL’; Sports Staff: Marks Levy, assistant editor, Sid DopEeli.“ Ted Spath. Bill Feliss, Don Anderson. Han Bulal ey 4 Feature Editor, DISNE eastern Feature Staff: Clio Kroh. Jim Gewartowslci. Paul Mandelsiein, Hal Bergen. Herb Schmidt. John Sayles, Wayne Besse’r’re. H. Holmes Copy Editors, ROhEM' ZEWI‘Z and cos {EREEN Copy Staff: Delores Jackson. Wal’rer Schaefier Newsletter Editor, anov ARREN‘EZ. Newsloi'ler Staff: John Tyner. associate editor. Wes- ley Ooms, Hank Sinard, Jerry Cazel Promotion Editor, sunny SHAPIRQ Promotion Stall: Nathan Mann Business Staii: Don Lynch. assistant business man— ager. Bob Net-F, Gilbert Eisner. Bill Kocltclmsn Makeup Staff: Wally Kaiser. Frank Dildo Whitney Nichols. Charles Harder Arl- Staff: Irvin Rebeschini. staff- head. James Smala. Carol Glennie, Shirley Schultz. Orlando Marielle: Photography: Joe Lucas. Frank Curtis Typisis: Jeanette Saule. Joann Schwartz. Kora em Office Managers: Vince Marsalais. Chas. Sieibuck Special Assisian‘ls: Frank Janik, Don Lundberg. Read Varloy fill ob ping rains liar stu cuts Placement is still a problem at Illinois Tech. It is‘no‘t the same problem that it was a year ago or even at the beginning of this term. Since lethargy has been replaced by accelerated interest in place- ment, two new difficulties have devel- oped. First placement as such has become confused with vocational guidance work. In their efi'orts to do something, many have delved beyond the realm of what is strictly placement. That is, many organ- izations are going beyond the scope of employment problems but are actually investigating vocational guidance fields. Underclassmen who could well héricfit by whatever guidance resources are made available, lose out because guid- ance programs are labelled “placement.” Placement and underclassmen are selw dom considered in the same breath Second, more difficulties occur when separate groups are in unknowing com» petition. It has already happened that an honorary and a professional society have been in the unpleasant situation where both had planned and invested in the same literature distribution cam~ paign. What I mean to do is to throw a chal— lenge to the student government and/or the administration. Some responsible party should step up and coordinate all the scattered placement programs. Furthermore, they should clearly de- fine placement as compared to vocational guidance. Underclassmen should be in- cluded in what is now a senior activity. The senior year is too late to improve a poor college record. They should know the score from the start. V Above all, there is a definite need to replace competition by cooperation. The honoraries, professional societies, and class committees all have good ideas. Why shouldn’t they share them and pull together? Let’s stop competition among ourselves. Hal Bergen W9 temperate in l as as intestate A BACKWARD GLANCE at a dozen editorials still leaves me apprehensive before sitting down to write my opin- ions. Bacon once said “Writing maketh an exact man.” It may not be true that one becomes exact, but he certainly tends to become more careful. If he isn’t careful, someone better informed than he is may be likely to rudely en- lighten him. I felt it did a particularly good job of editorializlng one week trying to get engineers to work on social problems. Evi— dently, I Oversimplified things and discredited present attempts at sew ’ progress, for a sarcastic reply came cago. He flung some of my very phrases back in my face, inviting be to unsheathe my slide rule and grind out a few good formulas to solve the race problem he was interested in. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t print it now, both you and I'Would have benefited by his discussion. Anyway, I sent him a Christmas card. Whenever I feel the least bit dog- matic, now, I yank out this fellow’s letter and wonder how deep in a groove my thinking has become. I am better aware now that social principles are not just “ground out.” More difficult than even considering principles is coming to terms; look how the defini- tion of “democracy” is handled nowa- days, just for an example. Perhaps courses like sociology will allow us to approach some of these problems in a general way. I offer as a number one rule of thumb the fol« lowing sociological proposition: Peo~ ple tend to read and listen to argument and facts that reinforce the particular prejudices they have and not to hear contrary arguments or facts that may change their opinions. This I offer from my own experience. t a big party until 5 am. sat in class tryu ing to pass an exam. He had a tough A medical student who had been to time with the first question: “Name five reasons why mother’s milk is bet— ter than cow’s milk.” After much thought he wrote: 1. it’s fresher. lt’s cleaner. 3. The cats can’t get to it. 4. It’s easier to take on a picnic. 5. It comes in such cute containers. Woman: “Desk Clerk, there’s a rat in my room.” Hotel Desk Clerk: “Make come down and register.” x- -x- u .N’ him “It must be awful to live the lonely life ofa bachelor” “You said it. There’s only one thing worse than being a bachelor, and that’s being a bachelor’s son.” A prominent bishop sat in a box in the opera house awaiting the curtain and watching the fair ladies in low- cut gowns being ushered to their seats. After looking around the house with opera glasses, one of the ladies in the party said,~“Honestly, bishop, did you ever see anything like it in your life?” “Never,” gravely replied the bishop, “never, since I was washed.” 9? ‘X- '2’: “Well, my little man, do you have a fairy godfather?” “No, but i have an uncle of whom we’ re a little suspicious. ” Then there was the Chinese boy who had a Yen for it. “Do you like bathing beauties?” “I don’t know, I’ve never bathed -r- a 44- Little Ann, whose father was absent from home most of the time for business reasons, naturally became very much attached to her mother. When an aunt tried to encourage the child to show more affection for her father Ann ex- plained, “Well, I am related to mama by birth and to daddy just by marriage." He: “You look like a million dollars.” She: “Yes, and I’m just as hard to make.” .x. .x. a From the Chemistry department comes the word that the first alcohol was distilled in Arabia—which might partially explain those nights. “They must have a girl’s ball team in the harem.” “What makes you think so?” “i just heard one of the girls ask the Sultan if she was in tomor- row ’9. lineup. "’ .,.. .x. y Mother, are there any skyscrapers in heaven? No, son, Civils build skyscrapers. Nowadays the last thing a girl bothers to hide is her hide.“ When a guy claims his gal is cold, he should remember so is‘dynamiie until you start fooling around. Carbolic genesis