Rider University - Shadow Yearbook (Lawrenceville, NJ)

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by William R. Bogdan, lnstr. in Marketing What is the role of the instructor? Let us begin with the proposition and assumption that education is a learning process, instilling among other things, basic attributes and ideals to be used during the student's lifetime, and that it is the role of the instructor h l the student achieve this education. If this holds to e p true, then the instructor's task is to prepare the student for the future. To some, defining the instructor's role can only be ac- complished through hindsight. Therefore, perhaps the best definition is one which incorporates a state of dy- namic equilibrium, which has at its base a particular phi- losophy of education. However, let us talk for a moment of another force which shapes the instructor's role-that is, the institution itself. The institution defines the work atmosphere by en- couraging and contributing to the instructor's teaching, . . . . .d research and community involvement, inside and outs: e the institution. The good institution gives the appropriate blend of emphasis and assistance in each of these areas, thereby creating a harmonious work atmosphere. Thus the institution sets the parameters within which the in- structor must perform. This brings us back to dealing with a philosophy of education. It is this philosophy that can be, or is the foundation for all else, and which to be effective, must be shared by the instructor and the institution. A formal edu- cation is like an obstacle course. lt consists of a series of hurdles which the student must jump and has the degree its end As I see it there are two conditions necessary as . , for achievement of the degree: 13 motivation, and 29 aid, assistance and an occasional kick in the pants. Now, what should be the instructor's role, or re-stated, th tu- what educational philosophy will best prepare e s dent for the future? The instructor must provide the aid and assistance. The student must find within himself the motivation to jump the hurdles. ag ...gif-.'j, aff 'f fl ' a Q .. .-.,f-iv'5'7ff

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by Dr. James lL Guimond, Assoc. Prof. ofEnglish l think that all three groups-administrators, faculty, students-are divided within themselves on the question of what Rider needs. In general, we all agree that Rider needs to be a better college. But on specific issues we disagree about Rider's needs, because throughout the United States there are two very different ideas about what constitutes a better college. A good many administrators and faculty, and quite a few students, believe that Rider will be better when it be- comes a more prestigious school in essentially traditional academic terms. This group believes that our country's institutions are essentially sound ones which can be im- proved by a more rigorous application of the knowledge and values embodied in conventional academic dis- ciplines. Consequently, they believe that Rider will be im- proved if it has more students with high grade points, more PhD's on the faculty, more scholarly and scientific research-the hallmarks of traditional academic ex- cellence which serve society as it now exists. A second group, made up mostly of students but in- cluding some faculty and administrators, believe that many American institutions, including colleges, are in dire trouble. They fear that racism, the war and the de- struction of the environment are unavoidable con- sequences of our present institutions and the manner in which they operate. They believe that our academic val- ues-insofar as they have perpetuated these in- stitutions-are values to be feared and indicated. They feel that colleges should be places where students are trained, not to absorb and adapt, but to question and criticize. Consequently, they think Rider needs courses, faculty and students who will examine, criticize and even act to change any part of our American Way of Life which is dangerous to life as it exists on our present planet-which is the only one we have so far. Both these groups exist at Rider, as well as on other campuses. They regard each other with increasing indif- ference and contempt. Each believes it understands the other perfectly, and neither seems able to listen to the other with respect or intelligence. There is nevertheless a possibility that each group has something to learn from the other. If so, Rider has yet another need-a need to learn. SQ 18 wfffllrlif , :clggk-T 'VJ W 3:-'ff'io ' A' i,QZl,,:1 - 4' . is 1, s ':' '-: H225- .QE V. . 127'-2. .A . Aigitill. T' zz- T ggi... -V .N ,ga-A--i.,' Bef- - gg-aj,gl,,.:.Jm-5-l. iris? -'U-.',4, lf: Ei ig- 11:,.., A l. 1 1. fl L' Em:-.-ax'.4 lv , . 1 :gil-wx viii. . .mr Q ll f K .-Z- mfgfi i iii! pic-I. as sz ,.-L.,'1..,l5,,y3l'... V .rife . -ffrfzfle: s .. f. .de- : Q- l?':,gil':ivli u. sv- 2 ll--4, ,gl - .. ,A .:.V,, , . -mfgni 1- , . fx if l'?fs,v'1'1 ' . .-.1'v1:, .3 W S,-,A

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j,,,,,g 5,5-A,,..a.:.f5W :ff.ifiii5La1 ' .. , . T - .. we l.1 ':,jm'1.-.-Q by Robert Kernish Instructor in Sociology When you are first brought into jail, you are Qamong other thingsj given a physical examination, asked to fill out a number of forms, and assigned a sleeping space and work area. lt's remarkably like registering for college. In prison, as in college, things are done to the in- mates with relatively little consent or participation by them. And in prison, a culture of resignation develops to adjust the prisoner to his new reality. If there is a uni- versal rule among convicts, it is do your own time, a synthesis of passivity and alienation and brute endurance. What else is there for the convict? Seize hostages and burn the prison? lt's been done, rarely with any lasting success. Prison foreshortens a man's world, and tasks like survival loom so large that there is no room for anything else. In a prison, this is expected. In a college, it is frightening. When bright young people sign themselves into men- tal cellblocks by allowing education to become a matter of being included in the daily headcount, when trying not to attract the attention of the warden and guards is a daily task, then college becomes a four year sentence with summer furloughs. And it's so easy to move from student to prisoner, be- cause the parallels between college and prison are so tempting. Half-understood requirements dictated from above, perhaps the strains of communal living, the rules that appear from nowhere, the demands that ignore your personal priorities . . . and your own personal se- rial number Qbut stencilling it on your shirt is still optionalj. lt's easy to don prisoner's grey in college: perhaps that's why so many do. You've heard them: don't be a 20 ' 'TREK L. 'Zn f 1.9. aafv - ll ........,,..3 Aus..- M... sucker, sit in the back of the room, cram, hook the course, don't make waves, endure, do your own time- it's the same degree. You've seen them snickering at the bright kid in front who has his hand up all the time, or hunched over notebooks recording every profes- sorword as though their paroles depended on it. Did you see their chains? They survive, as prisoners do. Sentences end, often on sunsoaked June days. But the habits of prison are hard to shake: once you've signed yourself into a cell, it's not so easy to get out again. The prisoner endures what is done to him: he must. In prison, it is dangerous folly to dream of shaping one's own life and out of prison, perhaps impossible. When a student has survived his four year exposure to education by snuggling his real self deep down behind a hard shell of boredom and apathy, when does the shell break? Can he engage himself with life if he has systematically denied himself that pleasure-and pain- at school? When do you start living, start shaping your own life? How much can you endure? Real prisoners sometimes escape from real jails, sometimes rebel against simply enduring. But when we jail ourselves, we can be so much more efficient. Think about college: did you encounter your education with activity and concern and even passion? Or did you let it happen to you, making the appropriate responses at the appropriate times? lt's done now, of course, and you get the same sheepskin in the end. You're free now, and out. But listen for a moment: did you hear a steel door clanging shut, off in the distance? SQ