The Hilltopper (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, April 10, 1964 Page: 2 of 4
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April 10, 1964
Page 2
HILLTOPPER
Editorials
soon be graduating from St. Ed- sented, but it is also realized that
and
(50-60%) consider the
h
Academic Questionnaires
Prove Rethinking Needed
THE ST. EDWARD’S UNIVERSITY
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The Hilltop-1
During the past semester, The Hilltopper has repeatedly
pointed out the need for an educational institution and all its
members to critically rethink their positions and policies. We
have stated time and again that this is a most essential element
in the progress of a university. We are afraid, however, that
we have been speaking in terms much too general. During this
past semester we have merely asked questions, hoping that
they would engender some sort of response. But, for the most
part, these questions have gone unheeded and unanswered.
Therefore, we feel that we should set forth our views on liberal
education and St. Edward’s as a liberal arts school.
The Hilltopper considers this a vast topic worthy of discus-
sion in depth. Hence, a series of editorials will be run in the
following weeks, all concerned with the idea of rethinking in
various University fields of endeavor. The editorial will cover
four general areas: religious, academic, social, and leadership.
For this series, we will try to answer some of the questions
we have raised this semester and make, in view of Father John-
ston’s letter to the students, some proposals for action by all
members of the University. The main bases for our answers
and proposals will be the two SAC surveys.
What about the early division of students by majors? Why
not an undetermined major? How balanced is the social life?
Can it be improved? Are we producing the thinking Catholic
leader here? Are we included in the future of the small liberal
arts college? Should we have more symposiums? These and
many more questions will be discussed in the following weeks.
We hope they are considered.
It Ain’t Rational
Because of a decree made by the Bishop of Austin forbidding
the participation of religious in the civil rights filibuster pres-
ently in the Austin city council, this issue of The Hilltopper has
been censored by University officials. The name of the Brother
who is the spokesman of the campus professors’ civil rights
group was ordered stricken from the paper.
The bishop’s position in this matter is incomprehensible. There
is right and there is wrong; segregation is wrong. Every true
Catholic should stand diametrically opposed to segregation,
especially to segregation in public accomodations, which is in
direct opposition to the papal encyclical, Mater et Magistra.
We cannot understand why the bishop has taken this position.
It seems to us that the bishop’s best course of action would be
to allow these religious to participate in the filibuster so that
the populace can see that all Catholics are willing to stand for
their principles.
Edmund Burke once said, “All that is necessary for the
triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Now is no time
to do nothing; now is the time to speak. We have been muted.
We do not understand why. We can see no good coming from
this position.
Frosh Recommend SEU
90% of the freshmen would rec-
ommend St. Edward’s university
to their friends and relatives and
60.5% of the seniors would do so.
However, this recommendation is
not without reservations. A ma-
jority in both cases would recom-
mend SEU only on an academic
basis and stated that the lack of
social life tends to be a strong
drawback. 74% of the seniors and
82.8% of the freshmen feel that
the social needs of the students
are not satisfied. It is realized
that students attend a university
for the academic material pre-
Money for the Elders
The question on the Academic survey concerning scholarships
for upperclassmen impresses us as being very important.
Though only one question is devoted to it in the questionnaire,
the problem deserves much thought. The questionnaire asks if
there should be such a program. We say yes, indubitably.
At present, St. Edward’s has an excellent freshman scholar-
ship program. Approximately 25 scholarships, ranging from
$1,250 to $4,000, are offered each year to incoming freshmen.
Yet no provision to give outright grants to upperclassmen is
made. This seems somewhat illogical. If a man enters the
University as a freshman without a scholarship and does well
his first year, he proves himself a definite asset to the Univer-
sity. In recognition of his efforts and in an effort to further
scholastic excellence, the University should make a scholarship
available to this man if he wishes to apply for it.
The University is willing to grant the untried freshman some
considerable sums (not implying, of course, that they should
not), but the proven upperclassman, the man who has shown
by his work that he is a definite asset to the University, is not
able to obtain any scholarship aid from the University to con-
tinue his studies.
Ve think that an upperclass scholarship program should
be initiated, even if it means the curtailment of the freshman
program. The grants would be made on the basis of perform-
ance, academic and otherwise, renewable each year.
If this program were inaugurated, a real service would be
done for the students. Here is a case where our deflated SAC
could attempt to do its job. That is, lead for the betterment of
the student body. If they tried, they might even be able to do
something about it.
ward’s and representing it in the
business world. Most mentioned
as the reason for this condition
was laziness, with apathy and
lack of agreement among upper-
classmen also mentioned. Defi-
nitely a change is needed here.
Perhaps a system of increasing
the leadership qualities of the
freshmen by giving them more
responsibilities and a move with-
in the freshman class toward a
building of leadership qualities
would remedy this situation in
the future.
57.7% of the seniors and 45.4%
of the freshmen believe the class-
es to be geared to reach the aver-
age student. An improvement in
this field would reduce student
apathy by requiring more inter-
est and study in classes, thereby
increasing the number of stu-
dents who are involved in truly
educating themselves as opposed
to those who are here merely for
the purpose of obtaining a de-
gree. This is not to say that the
average student should be ignored
and not allowed to obtain the
education necessary for his ad-
vancement, but it is saying that
if SEU is to become an educa-
tional nucleus with a truly edu-
cated student body, the student
must be challenged to tax his
thinking capacity. Perhaps by be-
ing presented with a challenge,
the student will become a greater
asset to the University and him-
self.
hour-and-a-half classes and TV
classes to be of little benefit,
claiming that hour-and-a-half
classes are too long and that TV
classes do not provide the oppor-
tunity for questions. These two
types of classes are becoming nec-
essary because of the expanding
curriculum, the lack of instruc-
tors, and the growth of the stu-
dent body. Improvements in this
area are necessary and perhaps
are in the making. The system
has many advantages, but it also
has some obstacles which must be
overcome.
According to percentages, the
students feel that the theology
classes both stimulate them to
think and understand their reli-
gion (seniors—54.5%, freshmen—
67.9%) and have as high a stand-
ard of excellence as other classes
(seniors—48.5%, freshmen—65.3%)
yet 45% of the freshmen and 53%
of the seniors feel that theirs is
a relaxed attitude toward reli-
gion classes. The most-mentioned
reason for this seems to be the
method used in teaching religion,
such as memorization. Other rea-
sons mentioned were subjective
grading, indifference toward the
subject and the attitude that the
courses are of no real or applied
value.
60.6% of the seniors and 29.5%
of the freshmen think that a large
amount of cheating is carried on
in or out of class and both agree
that it is the responsibility of the
individual students to correct this.
TV Disliked
seniors (50-90%)
Cut System
An interesting note is the fact
that 53.7% of the freshmen and
54.5% of the seniors want the
cut system returned to the old
system of two more cuts than
class hours. 41.8% of the fresh-
men and 45.5% of the seniors
would like to see the system abol-
ished. One wonders exactly what
would happen if this system were
abolished.
Both classes (seniors—75.7%,
freshmen—54.6%) consider pres-
ent academic requirements ade-
quate and want the dean’s list to
remain at 3.20 (seniors—70%,
freshmen—67.1%), but 52.6% of
the freshmen want “D’s” accepted
as transfer grades and 57.6% of
the seniors do not want “D’s” ac-
cepted. This is an indication of a
feeling among freshmen simply
to obtain a passing mark while the
seniors have realized that a “D”
does not represent a satisfactory
accumulation of knowledge.
In the matter of discussion,
30.2% of the freshmen and 27.3%
of the seniors have found the
panel discussions beneficial, with
the seniors mainly stating a need
for larger student participation
and the freshmen coinciding with
this idea by saying that students
should be allowed to choose books
for discussion. A change in this
direction would increase student
attendance and interest in these
discussions.
69.5% of the freshmen and only
27.3% of the seniors consider the
counseling program adequate.
Most mentioned as suggested im-
provements by the seniors was a
system of required meetings with
counselors and the greater use
of the counselors in all areas of
student life.
Between 50% and 60% of the
freshmen believe the library to be
adequate in books, periodicals,
reading space and hours; 40% use
the library mainly for research
and 54% consider it acceptable.
The seniors, between 60% and
75%) consider the library ade-
quate in periodicals and hours
Big 64-0z. Pitchers of
Pearl, 75c
MAA
but 57% consider it inadequate in
books, and reading space; 50%
use it mainly for research and
48.5% consider it acceptable. As
a general opinion, it may be stat-
ed that the student body considers
the library satisfactory for their
needs in lower levels but upper-
classmen consider a larger vol-
ume of books necessary.
Senior Apathy
Both classes agree (seniors—
63.6%, freshmen—47.7%) that the
upperclassmen are not academic
and intellectual leaders. This is a
disturbing thought, since it is
these upperclassmen who will
By Leo Juneau
Chairman, Academic committee
This questionnaire was distrib-
uted for the purpose of obtaining
student views on academic mat-
ters and included sections on the
intellectual atmosphere, the cut
system, the library, classes and
other pertinent areas. The returns
varied between 60% and 80%
(among the lay students). It has
been decided, in this report, to
deal with the questionnaires from
the senior and freshman classes,
since space does not permit a
comprehensive study of all forms.
By studying these, two sets, a
well-rounded presentation should
be obtained.
In the matter of the presence
or absence of an academic atmos-
phere, both classes considered the
atmosphere to be fair (seniors—
54.6%, freshmen—48.1%) but 41%
of the freshmen classed the at-
mosphere as good while only
18.2% of the seniors did so. The
major reason given in both forms
was student apathy. •
On the whole the freshmen, by
47.2%, considered students inter-
ested in intellectual work while
57.6% of the seniors said students,
on the whole, were not so inter-
ested. Perhaps, this is an indica-
tion of the fact that the freshmen
are newer members of the SEU
community and as such are more
interested, while the senior mem-
bers have slacked off in their in-
terest. What is needed is a pro-
gram of rejuvenation for the up-
perclassmen and one to maintain
the interest of the lower classes
throughout their stay at St. Ed-
ward’s.
a person requires a certain
amount of social interaction. This
is not saying that the University
has a responsibility to present
the opportunity for this type of
contact, but it is saying that op-
portunities should be available
and it is considered that the ac-
ceptance of these opportunities
are the responsibility of the stu-
dent. Austin provides a large area
of entertainment, through the
presence of another university
and the many civic and cultural
organizations in the city. There
is no reason why these organiza-
tions could not be presented the
invitation to use the facilities of
St. Edward’s for their presenta-
tions.
48.5% of the seniors and 57.4%
of the freshmen agree that St.
Edward’s university is increasing
its role in the life of the commu-
nity of Austin, Texas. This in-
creased integration should help to
provide more opportunities for an
increased social life here on cam-
pus.
Although this report is brief, an
attempt has been made to consid-
er the main points concerning the
academic life of SEU, Although
many consider the academic at-
mosphere to be acceptable, SEU
should not be satisfied here.
There is much room for improve-
ment and it remains to be seen
if the students and administra-
tion can work together toward a
better SEU.
One definite area of improve-
ment is in the social aspect. To
better the academic life, a better
social life is imperative, in order
that students may apply the
knowldege obtained in class and
train themselves in the correct
and intellectual manner of ethical
conduct. This is an area in which
student government can become
deeply involved. By initiating
more discussion on all matters
and using its financial and lead-
ership resources to bring to the
campus competent speakers on all
important matters, student gov-
ernment can help to broaden the
intellectual scope of the student
body. Another opinion from an-
other source is always valuable.
Another area of improvement
seems to be in theology and phil-
osophy. Other schools of theology
should be emphasized. Some man-
ner of getting to the root of the
apathetic student attitude to reli-
gion classes should be devised.
Everyone realizes that the situa-
tion exists; it now remains to be
found why it exists and the cor-
rect remedy.
NNV
SPLIT RAIL INN
217 South Lamar
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The Hilltopper (Austin, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, April 10, 1964, newspaper, April 10, 1964; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1491824/m1/2/: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting St. Edward’s University.