OCR Text |
Show Ex-dean views current problems BY CYNTHIA WOOTTON Staff Writer "Surely college students are not strangers to us, whom they love, respect and obey." With tongue in check, Dr. Willard Blaesser began his address at the Tuesday morning session of the National Orientation Directors' Conference at Hotel Utah. A former University Dean of Students, Dr. Blaesser was introduced by Dean of Students Virginia Frobes as having contributed significantly significant-ly to the development of the field of student personnel. Dr. Blaesser is presently a professor of educational psychology at Arizona State University. Students are Strangers Dr. Blaesser said, "Of course, many students are strangers to us and to each other, Many faculty are strangers to each other and to their students. This is a major problem in universities today." Following the theme of his address, "The College Student Today's Stranger," Dr. Blaesser admitted that we tend to think of students collectively but not individually. "Why, newspapers and magazines abound with articles on students and what is wrong with them," he said. "At the supermarket magazine rack you can take your pick of Family Circle or Playboy and find commentaries on the problems facing college students and administrators." Orientation Helps In the opinion of Dr. Blaeser, the exceptionally fine orientation programs pro-grams in the nation's colleges and universities which introduced the student to the facilities and services offered, has limited the number of freshmen who might otherwise become alienated and rebellious. Educators and psychologists have a strong tendency to classify the students who wander their campuses. Dr. Blaesser cited an article by Robert Kavanaugh in a recent issue of Psychology Today in which Mr. Kavanaugh depicts today's college student as grim and humorless. humor-less. Classifies Students In his article he classes them in the following categories: a) the malevolent dreamer. This individual has adopted violence as his procedure, driving the administration to pray, "Oh Lord, that we may return to the apathy of the '50's." b) the benevolent dreamer. This individual has ideals and dreams which he is working on through the cooperative efforts of the community. com-munity. c) the kept generation. This group is somewhere between the first two, and they often lead a double standard by doing what they think their parents and teachers want them to do. d) The silent sympathizer. This person does not actively make trouble, but lacks the courage to join the malevolents. e) The domestic student. This group includes the married students, the shy commuter, and the 4.0 student. f) The hippy. This individual is trying to find himself through abandonment aban-donment and denial. g) The graveyard generation. These are hippies on the way out, those who have driven themselves beyond their psychological capabilities. capabili-ties. Dr. Blaesser emphatically rejected classifying students this way. He recognized that it may appear helpful to use such classifications, but in reality it is not. He believes that no student will fit into one category, that the many-faceted college student is constantly changing constantly re-evaluating his ideals. |