Tulane University - Jambalaya Yearbook (New Orleans, LA)

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buck passing torn Ireland Whenever there is a spark of originality Whenever there is a gleam of hope, As long as there is life, Wherever there is the spirit of living, In whatever possible form, It must be crushed by committees. — Paul Schulman (A S ' 69) This University i s dedicated to the proposition that all problems can be dealt with by committee. Besides increasing the frustration of people who try to do things on this campus, this type of committee system has two other important drawbacks. An idea is frequently aged and distorted beyond usefulness or recognition through the committee process. A good idea, even if it were to come out of the committee intact, is generally so old that it no longer carries the piquancy and relevancy it once had. Also, an idea, once approved by a committee, becomes an institution — it can only be changed or modified by repeating the same process of committee consideration. Minor repairs require just as much effort as a total overhaul. By mid-fall of 1969, there seemed to be no solution to the problem. Then, during the T.L.F. uprising of the following spring, it became painfully apparent to everyone that something had to be done to speed up the decision-making process. PAGE 10

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sow the seed The growth of the consciousness within the university is like a tree. Tulane has matured a great deal in the last tew years. Some of this growth has been painful. Students and faculty felt the chill of a new season, and were blown from the branches of the University. Some felt that the school had lost its sap. and others viewed the tree as bare. A few leaves fell to the earth to produce fodder for the winter season and to replenish the tree. Underground, the students and the faculty organically broke down to feed the tree, while other forces from without felt the best way to improve the University would be to bulldoze it into shape. The science complex sprung up after a tree had been bulldozed, so that ideas could blossom from the building. That tree had flourished on campus due to the special soil and climatic environment, and because a doctor had taken care to plant a special seed. This seed was one of two that had been sent by a colleague with the hope that the species, which was near extinction, would survive. Only six seeds were known to exist, and two were sent to Tulane. One of the seeds grew next to the old history department, but both gave way to a scientific computer card. That tree was one of the casualties on the great wheel of life. But its brother grows tall between Richardson Memorial and Dinwiddle Hall. And in that tree, about three quarters of the way up. one could see on the vernal equinox, nestled among the branches, a basket of twigs. And so it is in the arms of the University that we build our consciousness in which we will nestle our off-spring until they are strong enough to fly away on their own. — r. Collins vallee march 1971 PAGE 9

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