Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Student Invo Self-i Apatl By Chuck Cromer and Terry Dugas Gamecock Staff Writers There are two major facets of student involvement, service-related organizations and those geared to the individual. Service organizations throughout America have -reported stable membership levels over the past 10 years, but there has been no surge of enthusiasm to match the near "divine mission" attitude that swept the nation during the Kennedy years. This trend is missed in the'service organizations at Carolina. Volunteer Services has approximately 1500 students. involved each semester. According to Robert Alexander, dean for student activities, this figure has held steady over the last few years. The University Union membership has not changed much in the past three years. The Student Government Association (SGA) has not seen a significant rise in involvement over the past four years. On the other hand, organizations catering to individual student needs have shown a marked increase. Representative of this movement are the fraternities. According to Dean Alexander, the Greeks were at rock .bottom four years ago due to their unresponsiveness -to changes in society. The national. leaders saw problems and took steps to make the Greek 'society more relevant to the student. The dehumanizing aspects of rush have evolved into membership drives and the rigid unif6rmity of fraternity structure has been made flexible enough to cater to the in dividual goals and desires of members.. As a result of this, mem bership in the Greeks has increased almost 20per cent in the past two years. They have achieved progress through necessity. Another aspect of .personal development outreach is seen in the growth of career oriented. --organizations. There .are 188 such chartered campus organizations. This figure represents a turnover of about 20 organizations a year as old interests die. and new ones are born. The political and environmentalist organizations of the late 60's have in some cases been replaced, with groups like BUGS (Biological Undergraduate Students), or the numerous clubs that have sprung up in the spheres of law and business administration. Ivement: interest, Wty Prevail Organizations such as these serve a two-fold purpose. First they sponsor events such as speakers or seminars 'that are directly related to a student's career goals. Secondly, they may serve as social organizations that promote fellowship among people of similar interests. Dean ' Alexander believes that, because of a more complex and pluralistic society, there is an in creased demand for specialization. Career-related oranizations give a student the chance to acquaint himself with his future goal while remaining part of a social group. These organizations serve, to a large extent, the role of a professional fraternity. An analysis of still another set of figures supports the trend toward personal development. In the last two years, participation in- intramural sports has increased more than. 40 per cent. Last year over 5,700 students participated in the intramural program. It appears that students,. and society in general, have begun to ask what they can do for themselves. Frank Siano, president of the University Union, said, "People seek more personal growth of When a person watch themselves as individuals and aren't interested in working for other people through service organizations." This is fo ino atin a good summary of the direction that Manyoroo campus involvement has taken. It was ta e u the consensus of many administrators, lesdietath staff and students.copanttastd Despite the trends noted above, a quick look at the figures shows that less cntb agtwto than half the student body is involved in frhaypiaeef campus organizations. Phrased dif- splsoeinouti ferently, over half the studenits have no stdnswhtora contact with the University outside the efr fteron classroom. Why? One reason is that 67 thtwhaebcm per cent of the student body lives -off rte hngvr campus. Once a student leaves the giesaeftdyn structured framework of the University Th blm foa he is free to cultivate community in- unvoem t li terests, job responsibilities, parental or home obligations, and the like. All ognztoste these factors can hinder a student's Alane fes extra-curricular involvement. Only at "seilzto.niv small, cloistered institutions is this not peletalrgexe a problem. It is shared by every urban Oraiton co school in the nation,.aesuet wr There are other reasons for student i nys uhpse uninvolvement. Siano said, "Students romianespe are tired of being hassled by things in letrthtcnbse general. Why get- hassled by getting midrfsstree .involved?" This statement reflects a frain belief that is wide-spread among FrnSioexln sociologists that a spoon-fed generation aei o i ur has been created. tig.H el htt Some feel that by the time a student tm osetetig reaches college, he has become con- Pehptisrlest ditinedto pasiv, reeptve ole thories en atind an Trends I television, or a Information, like learning and en cture or sees a tertainment, must be forced on a y as a receptacle student. He will not seek it out. It appears that organizations need to mplain bitterly restructure their promotional cam shman class has paigns. If each organization em -eceding. They phasized what it could offer to the in nt feels that he dividual student rather than what the t having to put student can offer to other students, t. This attitude response would be greater. affairs. Some There has always been student the benefits of apathy and there always will be. Even a corresponding during the riotous years of the 60's, only any people feel a small minority of the people involved nation of takers were genuinely dedicated. The vast id the existing majority were there for other reasons. >ff. third cause of' A student joins an organization for .with the one or both of the following reasons: elves. Dean either to meet his own need, be it na t there is career-oriented, social or recreational, vement because or to help someone else meet their , don't know the needs. Fromt the material presented in e to them." this article it would appear that the first stantly seek to objective is the most important to f events. There today's student. An appraisal by space, so much Robert Todd, Director of the University and so many Union and Russell House, seems most out before the apt, "Students want things that will re anymore in- benefit them specifically. . . (and) things never really change, they just di that students tend to run in cycles." Students are no to be aware of more uninvolved in non- academic ey need to take affairs than they have ever been. It just around them. appears so because their focus has the sociological shifted from serving others to serving wve. themmele.