University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

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Musical tastes at SCU reflect the trend away from world-saving concerns.

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.jr ; .: : r ■ i . 2Bb HjjM itimj ' 3 ' m j W -1 -SKt -■■ . ' - ? . i V H III p How does a whole school get into a mood? Well, 3500 undergrads ain ' t a lot, and most of them live together in the dorms, separated only by paper thin walls dressed up with Cheryl Tiegs and Robert Redford posters. SCU is a cohesive community, and it aims to be. It ' s a Catholic school and it ' s an expensive school Could the Bronco mood be the white upper-middle class mood? SCU admits a high percentage of minorities, but the diverse culture that they bring to the campus has little overall impact on the style of living here. Sixteen students showed up for a Chicano sponsored concert during Cinco de Mayo week. The mood on Santa Clara campus is not much different from that of well-off members of the country as a whole; a little smug, a little frivolous, a little self-centered, a lot content. In short, SCU is in a very good mood in 1979. Some folks are a little discontent because there is not enough discontent here, though. The rallying cry is, Fight apathy — start a cause! But few are interested. The seventies have nearly run their course and that makes the sixties, those violent, slogan shouting, tear gas clouded sixties, ancient history. Eight years ago, The Redwood editorialized, Marches simply do not work any more. Many of the individuals who participated in the early marches are disillusioned with the state of the present peace rallies. . . Gone were the days when students sprawled in front of the ROTC drill team at an awards ceremony in symbolic protest. Long gone were the days when SCU was forced to close for saftey because of an impending take-over attempt by students. Nearly a decade later, such social activism is considered an oddity at SCU. When students gather, they gather to have fun. pur and simple. A balmy afternoon of circus entertainment in the Mission Gardens, a sun drenched nine innings at Buck Shaw, the make-believe world of the May Faire — these are the activities that bring students together in large, happy crowds.

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One way to tell what kind of mood people are in is to listen to the music they like, and the tastes at SCU reflect the trend towards plain good fun and away from world-saving concerns. Ten years ago, Crosby, Stills and Nash urged us to Please come to Chicago and protest the war, while Bob Dylan assured us the The answer, my friend, is blowin ' in the wind. According to a poll taken this year, the most popular performer on campus is a gutsy rock and roll singer who dresses like a New Jersey punk. Bruce Springsteen weaves miniature epics about what goes on in Jersey ' s streets of fire. His songs are about aimless lower class kids who have no intention of ever setting foot on a college campus, much less attending a small, private, Jesuit university. But his songs are about hot cars and sex and guns and cops and the animal instincts that arise in the jungleland called inner-city New Jersey. He has romanticized a world which the students at SCU, from such ghettos as Saratoga and Los Altos Hills and Portola Valley, will never know. For the average student, Springsteen ' s streets of fire are about as familiar as King Arthur ' s land of dragons and chivalry.