University of California Berkeley - Blue and Gold Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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subject to University penalties. Now, UC Berkeley recognizes its students as independent adults. Much of this shift in at- titude owes to the fact that many older people are entering or returning to school, and also due to the sheer volume of students. Members of the op- posite sex now live side by side in dormitories they even share the same bathrooms (to the shock of many of the earlier generations). Likewise, the University leaves law enforce- ment to the Berkeley police in off-campus matters. The political climate of the 60 ' s and early 70 ' s, with the advent of the Civil Rights and Women ' s Rights movements on campus and nationwide, forced the University to withdraw from its role as a parental figure and to focus primarily on academics. Despite these two obvious examples of progress, many still question just how relevant UC Berkeley ' s 60 ' s legacy is to the current student body after all these reforms have been in ef- fect for more than a few years. During the Free Speech Move- ment, there was one uniting cause freedom of speech. This safety in numbers, com- mented Political Science Pro- fessor Robert Price, may have been a contributing force to the mass demonstrations. Some observers note that since pro- tests or rallies are on the decline, that the progressive spirit is waning. There are, however, many politically oriented on-campus associa- tions whose goals are diverse and therefore have propor- tionally fewer supportors. Altogether, there may actually be more students who are politically involved now than in the 60 ' s. Based on their political and social views, Cal students of the 60 ' s were often termed liberals because their values were radically different from those of their parents. Today, however, the media has pro- claimed that a new, conservative generation has taken over on the Berkeley campus. It is true that a growing number of Bears are Republicans; but researchers Rose Scherini and Greg Thompson suggest that party affiliation may not actually reflect the whole picture. Perhaps those ideals which were considered liberal in the 60 ' s are so ac- cepted that they now seem middle of the road by those who grew up with them. In ad- dition, UC Berkeley, even with its controversial past, cannot be expected to be wholly indepen- dent of national political trends. To both students as well as the casual observer, countless legacies of the 60 ' s are visible throughout the Berkeley cam- pus of the 80 ' s. The University of California at Berkeley, home of the Free Speech Movement, is still a recognized leader among politically active cam- puses and remains at the forefront in student rights ' movements. by Mark Wigod

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Students of Today Inherit Legacy Of Sixties Many students today perceive the 1960 ' s as an enigmatic time when people wore long hair, spent the day meditating, and advocated peace throughout the world. They speculate no further on Berkeley ' s past than to acknowledge the Berkeley Radicals and to conjure up vague images of the Free Speech Movement, sit-ins at Sproul Hall, and incendiary speeches in People ' s Park. For many, these images are all that comes to mind when the elusive sixties are mentioned. Many come to Berkeley know- ing little more than these few catch-phrases of the era, and many more feel no remorse when they leave without learn- ing much more about the period. The 60 ' s however, was more than just a colorful historical episode in UC Berkeley ' s past. Many of the freedoms that students now take for granted at Cal are the direct legacy of the political pro- gress made during the 60 ' s. Political expression on cam- pus is the most widely known freedom attained as the result of the political activism of the six- ties. Before 1965, political ex- pression was prohibited on UC property; as an alternative loca- tion students chose the most obvious area, Sather Gate, for speeches and other events. When Sproul Plaza and the Martin Luther King Student Union were constructed, thereby extending the Univer- sity ' s boundary to Bancroft Avenue, students and ad- ministrators alike assumed that the free speech area would merely extend to the red brick sidewalk outside the campus markers. But, when an Oakland Tribune reporter discovered that this sidewalk was actually University property and not city property, students truly had nowhere to go to express their political views. Out of this frustrating chain of events, the Free Speech Movement explod- ed, bringing to the forefront the conflicts and chaos that are so well remembered. Today, the situation is much different. On-campus political organizations ' tables line Sproul Plaza, and it is difficult to pass through the area during the peak hours from eleven to one without being approached by supporters of many causes. The groups they represent range from very political organizations such as Students Against In- tervention in Central America (S.A.I.C.A) to religious organiza- tions like Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship. The publicity that these groups are able to attract because of the right to free speech on campus is an essen- tial aspect of their existence. The role of the University in the personal life of students has also changed greatly since the 1960 ' s. The administration ' s policy of in loco parentis meaning that the school acts as a guardian in the absence of parents, seems foreign to to- day ' s students. Back then, the university maintained that the dorms were off-limits to members of the opposite sex except during certain visiting hours. Furthermore, if a stu- dent broke the law off campus, not only was he responsible to civil authorities, he was also

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Cal Through the Looking Glass The University of California at Berkeley is renowned throughout the world for many reasons, both academic and otherwise. Because of the University ' s multifaceted reputation, students have diverse expectations. Whatever they expect, the truth is usually stranger than fiction. To discover their wide views, the Blue and Gold queried a smattering of students to get their comments on how their actual experiences confirmed or contradicted their expectations. Name: Amy Friedman Major: Psychology I knew this was a good school, but I thought Berkeley was really weird at first. Dur- ing the first couple of weeks of my first year, this street person played the piano all night in my co-op. Everyone thought he was a friend of someone else. I was really freaked. Name: John Hyun Major: Genetics I came from a small, independent school, and I heard that Berkeley had a big bureaucracy and you could get lost really easily ... and a lot of that is true. But once you find your niche, it becomes a small en- vironment in a large en- vironment. It makes you feel much more comfortable. Names: Cynthia Sass and Jill Couvson Majors: Mass Communica- tions and Business Administration I came here expecting to fit in immediately. I pic- tured everyone relating on a higher level. But, the people were the same, on- ly older. Name: Josh Iversen Major: Philosophy I was expecting mass orgies in People ' s Park and I went into the park one night after dark preparing for the orgy when the UC Police Department ar- rested me for indecent ex- posure. I found out then that prison life in Berkeley is the same as prison life in Orange County.