Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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F inger emotio . The South Carolina Legislatu split over the fingerprint bill Rep. James Cuttino. In what purely an emotional response to death, he has called for all stu Carolina schools to be fingerpri university students. His reasons, protect students from being I murdered, but we fear the bill and far reaching implications. Law enforcement officers h4 bill's passage, saying it is time 1 passed to stop crime and n criminals. One school official that fingerprinting students wot think twice'before committing , reasons, maybe. We fear tha. statements by the persons who i the proposed law are just the bet could quickly lead to an invasi Constructive C o1 Busine Editor's note: This is the first In. a series of columns by some of the most distinguished individuals in all fields of American life. The column Is syndicated as a project of four Harvard students. They have named it "Constructive Colloquy." The Harvard students said their idea is to provide a "vehicle through which the most dstinguised men and women may share with college students their personal thoughts about life in general or their profession in particular." By JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, 3rd John D. Rockefeller, 3rd, is the eldest of the five Rockefeller brothers. He is currently chairman of the board of the Rockefeller Foundation. I never thought of myself as a furturist until about a .year ago. I woke up one morning to find that President Nixon had appointed me - chairman of a new commission with a rather awe-inspiring name: the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future. The field of population was not new to me since I have been active in it for more than thirty years. But the future of America -- that is a challenging and sobering thought. Letter to the edit< Figerprmn DEKAR MR. BEEBE: At this time there is a proposed law under consideration by the South Carohn4 legislature that would make it compulsory for every student in South Carolina to be finger-printed (branded). There is afready too much spying, numbering, Anooping and regfiedtatibfl')f- the citizen. Sen. San -'ONih, INNH'C., has recently exposed some of this -that the print b nal res re Is presently Who will have introduced by be used, and v appears to be the fingerprini his daughter's Cuttino wou dents In South numbers of nted, including Carolina are I he says, are to year. We feel zidnapped and faulty. Also, R has dangerous, have the bill p penalty for no ive urged the We hope thi hat laws were plication of thi ot to protect has recently c said he hoped Americans m4 ild make them this bill would ? crime. Good vasion of privi these initial Finally the r vill administer on the campi linning of what unknown, but c on of privacy. -caution. 3s and th I recognize, of course, that all of. us are futurists in our own way. We all try to think ahead, usually in the context of our own personal lives. But any future look today is complicated by the magnitude and complexity of the problems with which our society is faced. We live in a time of historic transition; the outlines of which no one can fully perceive. Never before have we had so much technological power nor, ironically, have we felt so impotent in controlling our fate. THE FUTURE The result of all this is that now we can no longer think of the future only in terms of ourselves, our families, our occupations. Now we must also think of the future of America, indeed of the world. We must be prepared to accept responsibility for what happens in the society at large, to find within ourselves the leadership and strength to meet the challenges we face. This must be our approach in every major sector of our society - government, business, labor, the universities, my own field of philanthropy. We can no longer afford to think that we can muddle through, or that somehow native American genius will make It all work, or that government should handle everything that seems too difficult for the private sec'tor. We must all accept responsibility. ing 'brande people knew nothing about. But he didn't tell you this. At this very moment the government has the names of one million citizens-one In every 200 ready to be transferred, via computer, from memory banks to arrest warrants that have already been printed. This proposed law would brand for'l1ife 'eerf 'studenlt In South Carolina by the gestapo ponse ccess to the f Iles? How will they vhy are students singled out for ing? Id have us believe that large university students in South cidnapped and murdered every that this thinking is obviously ep. Cuttino is in such a hurry to assed that he has asked that no n-compliance be included. D House will consider the im ir actions carefully. The army lisclosed that nearly 25 million my be under investigation, and only extend this authorized in. icy by the government. amifications of such a measure )ses across the state is still an only be viewed with an eye of challenM To me one of the most en couraging trends today is that the stirrings and beginnings of self renewal are becoming evident. The universities have started on this path largely under the pressure of student dissent. SELF RENEWAL I see the process of self-renewal beginning in the business com munity as well - growing numbers of businessmen are coming to accept the concept of corporate responsibility for social problems. In these troubled times, with the complex social problems of poverty, race, population growth, the environment, and urban decay, the creativity and organizational skill, the energy and resources of the business community are in dispensable. These qualities of business are one of our greatest national resources. It is therefore a challenge to business - indeed a responsibility - to harness its competence to the solution of our pressing social problems. .The point is not to expect that business can do everything, as in the past decade we seemed to think that government could. The point is that business must find within itself the understanding and drive to do much more than It has in the past, much more than business-aa usual. In my opinion, the future of business - indeed of the entire society - will depend in large 'students method of finger-print com puterized survellance. Because an awful crime was committed is no justification for committing an awful crime on every student In South Carolina. In every slave country, the loss of human freedom was eventually acQomplished by the ma.t.inocent sounding motives.. DR~..LAIKEN ~L46yApit IMrL GSI%zeAtI e o self-i measure on how fully and how well the business community accepts the challenge, to help meet the problems that confront us. CHALLENGES In terms of the challenges of today, business obviously must continue to perform well in its classic function of providing needed products and services and thereby creating jobs and earning a fair profit. Yet at th Rame time, it must also take on new and unaccustomed functions. This will require leadership and dedication of a high order. It will require a process of adjusting to the new values emerging in our society. There will be a need for the re examining of assumptions, the development of new approaches, for changes in the system Itself, Another element of our econoumic system which needs re-study Is the measuring of progress. As one who has spent his life in philanthropy, I have often envied the businessman his clear measure of success. There are few doubts about the meaning of a profit and loss statement. But more and more, as I see It, business will be facing the same problem of gauging ef fectiveness In the social area that philanthropy now faces. If corporate responsibility for social problems Is to be meaningful, business will have to develop new and additional ways of measuring progress. Virtually all of the indices of business ac tivity currently In use are based on volume. In the social field, the question Is not just more, but better - the qualitative as well as the'quantitative. Improved social accounting Is needed If the cor poration Itself ,as well as the public, Is to be in a position to appraise the corporations's con tributions to the betterment of our society, to the quality of life. THIE GNP Reconsideration of our methods of measuring progress should really begIn at the national level where the GNP dominates. Efforts in Washington to develop ways of measuring. sncial, progess. .have. - - by Phil Frank. (PSI enewal not yet been successful, but they persist and should be encouraged. It is a difficult problem, but it must be addressed by both government and industry. Obviously one could go on at length discussing entries on ar" agenda for self-renewal, for re examination by the business community. I an afraid that my new stance as a futurist seems to equip me more to raise questions than to provide answers. And it will be at least a year before the Commission on Population Growth and the American Future attempts any answers. For the present just let me say that I feel strongly on two scores. First, the process of self-renewal - not only for business, but for all institutions in our society - must be generated from within. Self renewal is essentially a democratic concept, the key to the basic strength of this society and our system. Unless we take the initiative now, we .may find we have waited until it is too late, that we are forced to act at the direm tion of some authoritarian figure or under pressure from revolutionary factions. LEADERSHIP Second, I believe the necessary leadership will eftierge in the business community - leadership to carry forward a process of self renewal, to build the research capability we need to chart the future, to cooperate with govern ment in helping to meet the massive social problems of our time. But I believe that such leader ship will recognize that the only way to begin is to begin - to start now, to start chipping away at the problems, not expecting themt solved overnight, not waiting f'6r some grand solution by someone else. Everything is wide open for change, not because we want it that way necessarily, but because that is the way it is. In this, we can see danger, or we can see op port unity. Personally, I see op port unity. I feel these are exciting times to be an{.''-* '.' 1971 construct 've' '&dloquy. All