THE UNIVERSITY OFCHICAGO 8 RECORDNovember 14, 1980 ISSN 0362-4706 An Official Publication Volume XIV, Number 5CONTENTS185 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS200 REPORT OF THE STUDENT OMBUDSMAN FOR THE SPRINGQUARTER, 1980203 REPORT OF THE STUDENT OMBUDSMAN FOR THE SUMMERQUARTER, 1980 <205 THE 378TH CONVOCATION ADDRESS: PASSAGES ON POLITICS,By Robert Z. Aliber208 SUMMARY OF THE 378TH CONVOCATION208 TO THE ENTERING STUDENTS, By Jonathan Z. SmithTHE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGOFOUNDED BY JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER© Copyright 1980 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO RECORDREPORT OF THECOMMITTEE ON UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONSI. PrologueThe Committee on University Publications wasappointed in April 1979 by the President of theUniversity. She asked it to survey all publicationsof the University and its various units (excludingthe University Press) and to consider the need theUniversity has to communicate with various audiences, ways to improve communication, ways tosave money and effort, and the appropriateness ofvarious publications. She also said the committeemight recommend new or different publications.(See Appendix A: Letter from the President datedApril 6, 1979.)During the summer of 1979, the publications director in the Public Affairs Office conducted acensus of all departments and other administrativeunits in the University. She asked for titles ofpublications, intended audiences, productioncosts, the identity of the editors or other responsible persons, frequency of publication, andan estimate of labor or salary costs. When thiscommittee began it's deliberations at the beginningof the autumn quarter, the chairman circulated toits members the director's report on this census. Itaccounted for more than one hundred ninety-fourpublications. While the committee is aware that aminor or infrequent publication may have beenmissed in the census, it believes that most publications now issued are included in the listing. (SeeAppendix B.)Through the autumn and winter quarters, thepublications director and the vice-president forpublic affairs, at the request of the committee,sought more refined figures on production costsand an estimate of the cost of labor to produce allthe publications. They reported to the committeethat their estimate of the cost of production of allthe documents, excluding salaries, is about$628,000 per year. This figure does not include thecost of distributing the documents. If one looks at the intended audiences of the publications, thesecosts can be classified as:Publications intended for campusaudiences $ 98,000Admissions and recruiting publications $292,300Development and alumni publications $190,000Other (e.g., Fact Book and CampusMap) $ 48,000In estimating labor costs, the known salaries ofadministrative employees involved in publicationswere either prorated according to time spent onpublications or included whole for those personswhose entire work is on publications. In addition,an estimate was made of the labor costs for allpublications not produced by the administrativeoffices. The Graduate School of Business hadpreviously made its own estimates, and itsmethods were used as a rough model in determining costs in other units. The vice-presidentfor public affairs reported to the committee thathis estimate of total labor cost for the productionof all publications listed in Appendix B is not lessthan $500,000 per year.So the total cost of producing the publicationsnow issued by the University and its various unitsfor assorted purposes is in excess of $1,100,000per year.II. ProceduresAt its initial meetings, the committee agreed on adefinition of the president's charge and on its ownprocedures. The members decided that theyshould concern themselves primarily with (1)those publications intended for campus distribution (faculty, students, and staff), (2) those intended for an external audience (donors, alumni,other institutions, or the general public), and (3)those intended for prospective students, A partiallist of publications included in category one would185be the University of Chicago Record, bulletins,Medical Center News, the University Directory,etc. Among those in category two are the variousdevelopment publications, the University ofChicago Magazine, the Reports and Research inProgress volumes of the scientific divisions, etc.Category three includes all the Announcementsplus a wide variety of other publications issued bythe divisions and departments.The committee agreed that, while there aresome publications which do not fall into any ofthese categories and some which fall into morethan one class, it could not as a practical matterconsider and report adequately on every knownpublication. It judged that the three groups aboveform the great bulk of official publications.The Public Affairs Office gathered copies of allknown publications of the University of Chicagoand made them available as a collection so thatmembers of the committee could examine themthrough the autumn and winter quarters. Thiscollection also included select materials, such ascatalogues, campus newspapers, and alumni publications, issued by numerous other universities.Providing critical guidance to the committee, thisreference library allowed members to see the entire group of publications sent out by the University.After its second meeting, our committee agreedthat it should meet every week until it dischargedits duty, that it should begin by interviewing atlength some of those individuals responsible forvarious publications, and that it should then assign certain of its own members the duty of drafting parts of its report.Among those interviewed were: GeoffreyPlampin, Editor of Official Publications; JonathanSmith, Dean of the College; Lorna Straus, Deanof Students in the College; and Fred Brooks, Director of College Admissions; Joseph Ceithaml,Catherine Ham, Sol Krasner, and Kenneth Re-hage, Dean of Students, respectively, in theBiological Sciences, Humanities, Physical Sciences, and Social Sciences Divisions; CharlesO'Connell, Vice-President and Dean of Studentsin the University; William Haden, Director ofUniversity Development; John Kennedy, Assistant for Publications to the Vice-President forAcademic Resources; and Robert Blattberg, Director of the Center for Marketing Research,Graduate School of Business. At different timesthe committee also questioned the vice-presidentfor academic resources and institutional planningand the vice-president for public affairs, both ofwhom met with the committee as ex officio members. Most of the committee's comments on thoseinterviews, or on its conclusions drawn fromthem, are reflected in the recommendations presented below, but some general comments heremay afford a background for the rest of this reportand material for discussion by the Universitycommunity when the report is communicated toit.All members of the committee, including theofficers assigned to it as ex officio members, weresurprised at the amount of money spent on publications by the University and at the range andvolume of the publications.If one looks at the purpose of various publications, it is obvious that the expenditure on some isunderstandable, on others not so apparent. Forinstance, a directory of some kind is required bythe University community, and the members ofthe committee generally agreed that the currentDirectory is the best — the best organized, bestprinted, and most elegant — of any they have seen.Again, they agreed that official documents shouldbe available in a permanent form in some type ofpublication, if not necessarily in the present version of the University of Chicago Record. Yet theDirectory and the Record are the two most expensive individual publications issued by the University (in the range of $25,000 to $30,000 a year,excluding labor costs), and the committee hadmany vigorous discussions about their utility andcost.Again, when it reviewed those publicationsmany faculty deem most important — the studentrecruiting materials — the committee found manydifferences of opinion and perceived problems.For instance, the various Announcements costbetween $140,000 and $150,000 a year to produce.In addition, many academic units print separatedocuments to promote recruitment. A notableexample is the College, which last year spentmore than $35,000 on its publications, most ofthem intended for recruitment. An examination ofthe Announcements quickly revealed that almostall are perpetually out of date as a source of information to students about current programs andpersonnel, the city of Chicago, and the University's neighborhood; it also disclosed that, aschanges are made in their texts during staggeredpublication schedules, the Announcements are indisagreement with one another about some information in any one year. Interviews with deansof students further revealed that the use of theAnnouncements varies enormously, some unitssending out the large combined Announcementsto any inquirer about admission, some sendingonly those concerning their own division or186school, others sending both the complete and partial versions, and a small number sending standardletters in lieu of any Announcements. There wereas many opinions as there were persons interviewed about the effectiveness of the Announcements as either references or recruiting devices.In fact, there were probably more opinions thanpersons opining. Not unexpectedly, the BusinessSchool displayed a professionally informed — andlaudable — estimate of the effectiveness of its publications (including Announcements), which receive internal reviews. At the time of the committee's work, the College was involved in revising all its publications for recruiting as well asthose providing general information for students,parents, alumni, etc. Some of the present publications (notably the College Announcements andthe Annual Time Schedule) are to be replaced bynew or revised recruiting and informational materials, including a series of booklets on "Opportunities for the Study of at the College ofthe University of Chicago" and the pamphlet entitled Information for Entering Students. Aneditor for College publications has also been appointed, and assistance with publications is beingobtained from an advertising agency. The committee was favorably impressed by the imagination and energy marking these activities, whichare being coordinated by the dean of the College.In some cases, faculty or other persons interviewed described publications which could hardlybe reduced to a standard recipe. The Departmentof History, for example, produces a regular annual newsletter for alumni, which can also serveas a recruiting tool for graduate students. Almostuniversal opinion suggests that newsletters arevery valuable means of communicating withalumni and prospective students. On the otherhand, the Department of Chemistry, though theevidence is far from conclusive, realizes little apparent return from the distribution of a handsomebrochure intended for prospective graduate students. Similar difficulties in assessing effectiveness are found in a survey of many other materials. For instance, recent — and (so far as thecommittee can judge) desirable — changes in thepublications of the Development Office indicatethat the director of development and other officersmust steadily make, and often alter, evaluations ofthe usefulness of documents designed to gainfinancial support for the University.Two conclusions were drawn from the testimony of the persons interviewed:1 . There is a widespread search for and a recognition of the need for effective, timely, and accurate communications to prospective students, faculty, and staff. The variety of opinion amongthe witnesses was great, but a consistent theme intheir remarks was that the units need simpler,regularly updated, more sharply focussed, carefully organized publications from year to year, notonly about specific programs and personnel, butabout the University as a whole and its environs.2. There is no overall supervision or even comprehensive knowledge of publications, no centraloffice to which a person can turn for help, ideas,or correct information. No one suggested an unwillingness to take the responsibility for individualpublications, but it is clear that many felt a bitbewildered by the task. The committee heard nocriticism from any of the witnesses, nor from anyof its own members, of the only existing operationthat partially resembles a central office — namely,the assorted activities of the director of officialpublications, who, with a single assistant, not onlyproduces the Directory, the time schedules, andall the Announcements, but also acts as the University's dissertation secretary. The pressure ofnumbers and schedules in that office is striking,and the director himself offered suggestions forimprovement in the University's publishing program which are reflected in the committee's recommendations.Finally, it should be said that the members ofthe committee, while they debated for some hoursamong themselves about the large expenditureson publications, agreed that there could be nosimple judgment about cost effectiveness. As thefollowing recommendations indicate, they hopethe University can save money on publications,and they are aware that this aim is a significantpart of the president's charge to them. Equallyimportant, however, the recommendations, if realized, should produce more effective communications with the University's diverse audiences.III. Recommendations1. The committee recommends the establishmentof an office of University publications, denoted bythat or some other title. The functions of thisoffice, which would not assume the responsibilities of the divisions, departments, andother units for the substance of publications,would be fourfold: (a) it would produce on requestthe documents required by various units of theUniversity for internal and external communication, such responsibilities to include professionalaid in design and distribution, printing contracts,supervision of schedules, and other aspects ofproduction; (b) it would coordinate publications tothe extent of informing the University communityregularly of the kinds of documents various units187are issuing, their presumed effectiveness, cost,and frequency of appearance and distribution, andother related matters; (c) it would provide a reference service for the various ordering units underthe supervision of an officer nominated by thepresident, who could give advice about the information and language regarding the entire University and its community, as distinguished frominformation about academic programs supplied bythe units for individual publications; and (d) itwould be a repository for every publication putout by every unit of the University whether thepublication is produced by the central office orindependently. This collection could serve as alibrary for all members of the community, including the trustees and the president, who are assigned the duty, under the statutes, of communicating the University's aims and activities tothe world but who now do not always know whatis being communicated by individual units.The committee recommends that such an officebe primarily a production, not an editing, operation. To put this another way, it should be anagency which can help all of us save money, avoidduplication, increase accuracy, speed up production, and improve distribution, not one which actsas a provider of copy or as a censor.This office should be able to provide variousunits with standard, current, correct narratives orother materials about life in the University, thecommunity, and the city, national or Universitystatistics, etc. For example, through the use ofcomputer techniques in printing and through innovations in sorting and binding, it might be possible for the office to put together, on order, itemstailored to the needs and interests of specificgroups of readers.In making this recommendation, the committeeemphasizes two stipulations: (a) The establishment of such an office should take place only onthe understanding that the substance of all publications is the responsibility of the originating unitof the University. In other words, this centraloffice should facilitate production, order, uniformity or at least agreement, a common style,and attractiveness of presentation; but the actualmessage should come from the faculty or the administrative unit, not from the production office.Without this clear division of labor, such an officewould merely complicate the University's program of publication, not promote its value, (b) Thebudgeting and organization of such an office mustbe left to the judgment of the president of the University. The committee believes that coordinationof production in one office, with either the con solidation or elimination of assorted activitieswhich have gradually collected, will result in considerable savings to the University. But how thosesavings can be achieved must be determined bythe administration. A new sense of order and direction might be worthwhile even if scant savingsoccurred. Our hope, however, is that theestablishment of a central office would be muchmore beneficial than small savings in money.The committee suggests that a central officeshould begin by assuming responsibility for thelabor of producing so-called official and administrative documents (such as those issued by theeditor of official publications) and that its facilitiesbe simultaneously offered to the academic units ofthe University. If the proposal is indeed useful, intime most units will use the office and then itsoperation will naturally and rightly develop as aproper administrative organ.2. The committee recommends that the entirerange of publications addressed to actual or prospective students be reviewed by the academicunits presently producing them with the purposeof producing new ones which are more timely,more accurate, more personal, better written, andprobably briefer. In this process, the advice ofprofessional researchers and agencies shouldcertainly be sought. For their part, the membersof our committee question the value of the presentAnnouncements, which contain much outdated,misleading material about programs and courses,provide (as a group) little information about faculty accomplishments and current research, andinevitably blur two distinct audiences-prospective students and actual students. Wehave found limited though significant justification(as a reference work in educational and public libraries, for example) for the issuance of the combined version of the divisional Announcements,and suggest that many of the separate versionsmight be replaced by such materials as these: (a) acompact document describing the essence of theprogram (including the faculty) the prospectivestudent expressed interest in and portraying whatthe person would be doing during the period ofhis/her study; (b) a document, perhaps a reducedversion of individual divisional and professionalschool Announcements, containing rules, regulations, and other pertinent information for theactual student; (c) an attractive, accurate pamphlet dealing with the University, the communityof Hyde Park, and the city of Chicago (the lastseparate publication of this kind appeared severalyears ago).We assume that before these new publications188were produced, the faculty in the different unitswould consult among themselves and with relevant experts, and the administration would makeinquiries or tests about the best means of addressing precisely defined audiences.3. Recognizing that necessary funds must beprovided, the committee recommends an increasein the production of departmental or divisional orother suitable newsletters as a means of communicating with alumni, friends, and prospectivestudents. At least one good example (the HistoryDepartment's Newsletter) exists on campusalready, and the form and contents of the communications seem to us appropriate, appealing,and mutually beneficial to the sender and the recipient.4. The committee recommends that somechanges be made in the Directory and in itsmethod of either financing or distribution. Ouradmiration of the Directory is registered above,but it is costly and it presents other problems. Wethink it might be published less expensively. Wethink it should be available at the beginning of theautumn quarter, even if that means, in the firstyear or two, that it will contain omissions andinaccuracies. We recommend that the distributionof first "free" copies be carefully examined with aview to reducing the number and that the possibility of selling second copies to Directory usersbe explored. We are pleased to learn from theeditor of official publications that some of theserecommendations are already being effected.Acutely aware of the initial cost ($9500) of the newDirectory of the medical center, which duplicatesmuch material in the general Directory, we urgethat the number of directories not be increased.5. The committee recommends the replacement of the bulletins by a newspaper issuedperiodically (probably every second week) whichwould be distributed free of charge to all faculty,students, and staff and would be available by subscription to anyone else (including alumni) whodesired it. The paper would also replace manyother publications (for example, the staff newspaper of the Personnel Office, the FoundationChronicle, perhaps some of the Reports issued bythe divisions, miscellaneous notices, and numerous posters) directed at the faculty, students, andstaff (special employee inserts might be regularfeatures of the new periodical) by administrativeunits. It has even been suggested that the TimeSchedules of course offerings could be publishedquarterly as an insert in the paper. Whatever itsprecise form, the paper should maintain so high aquality and coverage that selected departments would wish to include copies in their recruitingpackets and the Alumni Association would decideto send certain issues to alumni.To help determine policies and procedures, ourcommittee further recommends that the presidentestablish a committee of faculty and staff whichwould consult with and advise the editor — to beappointed by the president, obviously — of thepaper.Our discussions of the possible contents of thenewspaper were greatly guided by a memorandumsent to the committee by the vice-president forpublic affairs at the request of the president,which reflected a document he submitted to herlast October. (The memorandum is attached tothis report as Appendix C.)Specifically, we suggest that the paper mightcontain the following materials: a calendar; noticeof official actions of the administration, includingpolicy decisions, new appointments, budget planning and decisions, appointments of and chargesto faculty committees, and financial reports; reports about actions the administration has taken inresponse to government requests or actions; reports about changes in government policies orregulations or in the laws which would affect theUniversity; a listing and description of grants;feature stories on research being done; storiesabout trustees and their actions and about visitingcommittees and their reports; stories about trendsin higher education or activities in other educational institutions which would be of special interest at the University; stories about actions of cityor state government or about Hyde Park as theymay affect the University; descriptions of majorevents (such as lectures and symposia) on campus; accounts about faculty professional activities, including publications, honors, andtravels; articles about the accomplishments,awards, and honors won by students; and lettersto the editor.Some of the reasons for recommending the creation of a newspaper have already been indicatedor implied. To generalize, the committee notedconsiderable faculty dissatisfaction with the bulletins. The calendar is tightly printed and somewhat difficult to read. The "In the Media" sectionis seldom read and at times approaches trivialpuffery. Standards for inclusion of faculty activities and publications are vague, and there appears to be no attempt at a complete canvass.Moreover, campus distribution via sealed envelopes and Faculty Exchange seems needlesslycomplex. Perhaps more important, there is evident need for additional kinds of internal com-189munication which the bulletins do not meet. TheUniversity presently has no systematic andefficient means to communicate directly and officially with students, while the faculty complainabout the plethora of miscellaneous, small piecesof duplicated official material that constantlyclutter their mailboxes and discourage careful attention.Throughout its deliberations, our committeewas aware that the proposed newspaper wouldcost more (at least $50,000) than the publicationsit would initially replace. But, as stated above, thearguments for its creation seem compelling.Moreover, we make our recommendation in thebelief that savings far exceeding $50,000 can beeffected in the whole of the University's publication program (including the entire range of mailings and announcements to faculty and students)at the same time that the effectiveness of the program is enhanced. A reduction of ten percent ofthe total present expenditures (excluding labor)would produce a savings of at least $50,000.6. The committee recommends that the University of Chicago Record (which now costs about$30,000 to produce) be continued in an alteredform and with a narrower distribution. Only alimited number should be available, on request,for students and also for faculty, most of whomappear to be uninterested in the contents. Numerous items now printed in the Record, such as convocation addresses, memorial notices of faculty,and the like, could be included in the proposednewspaper. The Record should contain, we think,documents bearing on the University's structure,direction, and administration — such as reports onthe budget, the state of the University, actions ofthe trustees and of University bodies, reports byUniversity committees — which ought to be recorded permanently and made available to appropriate and interested persons in an official publication. The editor of the Record must obviouslydecide whether to publish these materials in onevolume or two each year. Our committee thinksthat an annual volume would probably suffice.7. Finally, over and beyond the specific recommendations listed above, the committee urges allunits of the University which have not done solately (we applaud the recent actions of the College, Business School, Development Office, andAlumni Association) to undertake reviews of theirpublications with the purpose of ascertaining boththe precise audiences being addressed and theevident benefits of addressing those audiences.Effectiveness of communication with carefully delineated groups of readers should be the majorcriterion of a publication's utility. As a result ofthe examinations, some units might decide to reduce the scope of their publications. Minimumsavings often percent of total publications expenditures, we repeat, would meet the estimated costof the proposed newspaper. Brief reports on thereviews should be submitted to the president. Ourcommittee affirms once more the right of each unitto determine the character, content's, number, andconsequences of the materials it issues; no otherbody, certainly not a committee, can exercisesuch a responsibility, which has never beenheavier than it is in 1980. At the same time, weexpress our strong hope that it will be possible toincrease the manifest value of University publications while simultaneously lowering the totalcosts. That goal, we believe, all parts of the University should seek to achieve.Gwin J. Kolb, ChairmanKathleen N. ConzenGary D. EppenLeonard LinskyRobert S. NelsonBernard S. StraussNathan SugarmanD. J. R. Bruckner, ex officioJonathan F. F anion, ex officioAPPENDIXESA. PRESIDENT HANNA GRAYS LETTEROF CHARGES TO COMMITTEEMEMBERSTo: Gwin J. Kolb, Chester D. Tripp Professor inHumanitiesFrom: Hanna H. Gray, PresidentApril 6, 1979I am writing to ask if you would serve as chairmanof a committee to review and make recommendations concerning the official publications ofthe University.In particular, the committee should consider:— the kinds of publications the University or itsvarious units need for the various audiences;190— possible new publications, or communicationswhich might replace current ones; for example, itmay recommend revising the format of the bulletins or the University Record or replacing bothwith one or more publications;— the tone and style of official publications;— ways to save money in the printing, production,and dissemination of these documents.Of course, the committee is invited to make anyother recommendations it judges appropriate tothe charge and to include in its report suggestionsabout appropriate style of various publicationsand the kinds of information they are to convey. Itmay also choose to identify new or different audiences which should be reached, on or off campus,through publications.The official publications of the University include such items as the Directory, bulletins, theUniversity Record, the Reports from the Physicaland the Biological Sciences, the Research inProgress volumes from those divisions, thecatalogues of the divisions and schools, recruitingpamphlets and other printed documents, the occasional or regular publications of the professionalschools, the publications of the medical center, the ingle side item, the map, the Fact Book, occasional publications of the president's office, orfrom other offices in the administration.The committee may wish to review the publications of the Alumni Office and the DevelopmentOffice, both of which are under review by othergroups. In addition, there may be other publications suggested by members of the committeewhich should become part of this review.An inventory of publications, while probablynot all inclusive, will be supplied by the PublicAffairs Office, along with samples of publicationsfrom other institutions. That office will supplygeneral staff work to the committee.I shall be asking other members of the University staff to make themselves available to thecommittee for consultation. They will include theeditor of official publications, the dean of studentsin the University, the vice-presidents for publicaffairs and academic resources and institutionalplanning, and the curator of special collections ofthe Joseph Regenstein Library.I am asking the committee to make its initialreport to me by July 1, 1979, but subsequent reports may be necessary.B. CENSUS OF UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONSName of Publication1 . Executive Program ClubLuncheon Flyer2. Announcements3. Executive ProgramDirectory4. Executive Program Tip-insExecutive Program Application5. Student DirectoryStudent Resume BookCourse Evaluation Form6. Special Selected Paper7. Selected Paper8. Mini-Course Flyer9. Faculty Directory10. Business Education atChicago pamphlet11. GE Seminar brochureMBA/Hospital Administration brochureDistinguished AlumnusAward rint Run Frequency Prepared By DistributionGraduate School ofBusiness Publications Executive Program AlumniAnnually Same Admissions600 Same Executive Program Alumni4,000 Same Executive Program2,000 Same Executive Program1,100 Same Dean of Students750 Same Placement Office21,500 Same Academic Services5,300 Annually Same Alumni7,000 Severalannually Same Alumni12,500 Same Executive Program Alumni2,800 Same Academic Services2,500 Same Dean of Students5,000 Same Conference Office1,500 Same Center for Health Administration Studiesartwork Same Alumni Office191Name of Publication ]12. Center for Research inSecurity Prices program13. Alumni Fund gift envelope14. GSB Curriculum User'sGuide15. 190/MBA brochureJournal of AccountingResearch invoice forms16. Institute of ProfessionalAccounting ProgramsExecutive Program ClubDirectoriesExecutive ProgramGraduation Program17. Issues and IdeasStudent Awards Luncheonprogram18. Recruiting the ChicagoM.B.A. pamphletAdmissions Packet:19. Admissions bookletsTranscript envelopesLetter of ReferenceenvelopesMailing and returnenvelopesAcceptance deposit coupon20. Management ConferenceFlyer # 121. Management ConferenceFlyer #2Management ConferenceProgramManagement ConferenceSpeakers' ReceptionTickets22. Proceedings of the Symposium on Hospital AffairsCenter for MathematicalStudies in Businessand Economics covers23. The Chicago MBA Journal24. Associates Program Member Companies List25. Alumni Fund Appeal Card26. Alumni Fund Volunteer'sHandbook27. Dean's Fund brochure28. Business ForecastLuncheon Flyer29. Business ForecastLuncheon ScorecardBusiness ForecastLuncheon TicketsBusiness Forecast PanelMidyear Review invitationand envelope30. Executive Program brochure 'rint Run Frequency Prepared By Distribution500 Same Center for Research inSecurity Prices70,000 Same Alumni Office3,900 Same Academic Services10,000 Same 190/MBA Program2,000 Same Journal of AccountingResearch300 Same Institute of ProfessionalAccounting2,000 Every two years Same Executive Program Alumni500 Same Executive Program20,000 Twice annually Same Development/ Alumni170 Same Dean's Office8,000 Same Admissions OfficeSame Admissions Office18,00018,00018,00018,0001,00022,00012,0001,0004001,00010,0002,5001,00012,5005001,00022,0002,5002,50050013,000 SameSameSameSameSameSameSameSameSameSameSameSameSameSameSameSame Alumni/Conference OfficeAlumni/Conference OfficeConference OfficeConference OfficeCenter for Health Administration StudiesCenter for MathematicalStudies in Business andEconomicsBusiness Students AssociationDevelopment OfficeDevelopment OfficeDevelopment OfficeDevelopment OfficeConference OfficeConference OfficeConference OfficeAlumni OfficeExecutive Program192Name of Publication Print Run31. Health Executive Program 13,000brochure32. GSB Chicago (a 12-page 18,500issue)33. GSB Chicago (32-page honor 16,500roll issue)Chicago MBA recruitingposter artworkExecutive ProgramGraduate Certificates 100Diploma Covers 9834. Michael M. Davis Lecturepamphlet 13,50035. Library Society Bulletin 1,40036. Library Society Newsletter 95037. Student InformationManual 8,00038. Directory 15,00039. Library Handbook 10,00040. Honors Awards Assemblyprogram 1,00041. Convocation program 2,50042. Honorary Degrees booklet 1,00043. Time Schedules 14,00044. Student Directory 3,00045. Rosenberger Medals,1917-1971Announcements 50046. College 25,00047. Business School 22,00048. Divinity School 4,00049. Law School 18,00050. Library School 4,00051. Medical School 5,00052. SSA 12,00053. Biological Sciences 4,00054. Humanities 15,00055. Physical Sciences 8,00056. Social Sciences 24,00057. Graduate Programs 15,00058. Women's Board Directory 75059. Century Fund Honor Rollof Contributors 1,00060. Visiting CommitteesDirectory 1,00061. The Chicago Report 17062. Development Notes 300 Frequency63. The Griffin 50064. Alumni Alert 2,00065. Foundation Chronicle 1,70066. President's Fund Honor 1,000Roll Two per yearFour per yearOne per yearOne per yearAs neededOne per yearFour per yearFour per yearOne per yearOne per yearOne per yearOne per yearFour per yearSix to eightper yearFour per yearIrregularlyFour per yearOne per year Prepared By DistributionSame Center for Health Administration StudiesSame Alumni OfficeSame Alumni OfficeSame Alumni OfficeSame Executive ProgramSame Executive ProgramSame Center for Health Administration StudiesLibrary Development Library Society membersSame Library Society membersOfficial PublicationsSameSameSame Attendees and DevelopmeSameSameSameSameSameSameDevelopmentSameSameSameSameSameSameSameSame OfficeAttendees, those who did notmarch (by mail), librariesby RegistrarProspective studentsMembers of Women's BoardMembers of Honor RollMembers of committees,division heads, etc.Chicago-area volunteer fundraisers^ — mostly alumniDeans, senior faculty, trustees,selected donors,administratorsMembers of the President'sFundAlumni volunteersFaculty193Name of Publication67. Treasurer's Report68. Financial Statements69. Citizen's Board Directory70. The C Note71. From the Midway72. Campaign for ChicagonewsletterAlumni Fund Honor Roll73. Economics at Chicago74. Oriental Institute AnnualReport75. News and Notes—TheOriental Institute76. Ajax NewsletterArthur C. Compton LectureSeries noticesEFI Record of PublicationsEFI Occasional Publication77. Zoller Dental Clinicbrochure78. U-High Midway79. Laboratory Schoolsinformation brochure80. August mailing (schoolopening information)81. March mailing82. Franklin McLean MemorialResearch Institute AnnualReport83. Medieval Studies Undergraduate Program84. Reprint from 1978-79Graduate Programs inPhysics, Astronomy, andRelated Fields85. Department of Physics(general information)86. Department of Physics(course outlines)87. Directory of Research in theDivision of Physical Sciences, 197788. Department of StatisticsStudent OrientationBooklet89. Graduate Study in.Chemistry90. Latin American Studies(flier)91. Directory of LatinAmericanists Print Run Frequency Prepared By Distribution300 One per year Same1,500 One per year Same Comptroller's list800 Every two years Same Citizen's Board members3,000 Irregularly Same Order of the C members, sportsalumni, possible athleticdonors100,000 Two per year Same Prospective and actual donors,volunteers, alumni90,0003,500Department of Economics3,500 Every fall Oriental Institute Members of the OrientalInstitute2,500 Monthly October Oriental Institute Members of the Orientalto June membership secretary Institute200 One per month A.J. Carlson AnimalResearch Facility500 Two per year Enrico Fermi Institute City and suburban high schools,7005001,1006001,1001,1001002,500 Once in 1975Once, severalyears agoOne per weekOne per yearOne per yearOne per yearOne per yearReproduced asneeded SameSameZoller Dental ClinicLaboratory SchoolSameSameSameFranklin McLeanInstituteDepartment ofPhysics colleges, and libraries,physical sciences andhumanities departments oncampusInstitute friends and sponsorsFriends, visitors, and sponsorsProspective studentsU-High students and faculty;one per quarter to parentsParentsAll studentsParentsSameSameSameDepartment of Statistics Prospective studentsEvery other year Department ofChemistryCommittee on LatinAmerican StudiesSame Prospective students194Name of Publication Print Run Frequency Prepared By Distribution92. Committee on Latin SameAmerican Studies(brochure)93. Master of Arts Program in SameLatin American andCaribbean Studies94. Courses in Latin American Sameand Caribbean Studies95. Current Research — Depart Department of Geoment of Geophysical physical SciencesSciences96. Department of Geophysical SameSciences (Peterson'sGuide)97. Astrophysics at the Univer 1,200 Department of Astronosity of Chicago and Astrophysics98. Graduate Study in Mathe 500 One per year Department ofmatics Mathematics99. Department of History 750 One per year Department of History(newsletter)100. Department of History 700 One per year Department of Historybrochure101. Sickle Cell Fundamentals several100,000s102. Committee on Developmental Biology(Peterson's Guide)103. Committee on Developmental Biology —Research Activities104. Political Science 300105. Program in Continuing 1,500Medical Education andFrontiers of Medicine106. James Franck Institute 185Quarterly Report107. International Careers in 500Educational Research,Planning, and Administration108. La Rabida (flier)109. Promontory Press 300110. Fact Sheet on the Office ofthe Student Ombudsman111. Divisional Masters Programin the Social Sciences112. Graduate Library School 20,000Scholarships and Fellowships (poster)113. Graduate Library School 3,200Annual Conference(poster)114. MBA/MA Joint DegreeProgram115. CFSC Monographs(catalogue) One per yearOne per yearEvery fallOne per year Prospective studentsProspective studentsCommittee on Developmental BiologySameDepartment of PoliticalScienceProgram in ContinuingMedical Education andFrontiers of Medicine Area doctorsFour per year James Franck Institute Faculty, departmental offices,government and industrialagencies, foreign and American universities, librariesand exchange services, etc.One per year Comparative EducationProgramLa Rabida Foreign applicants andrecruitsEvery othermonth Same EmployeesOnce (1978) Office of the StudentOmbudsmanDivisional Masters Programin the Social SciencesGraduate Library SchoolSameSameCommunity and FamilyStudy Center Graduate and undergraduateschoolsLibraries and relatedinstitutions195Name of Publication116. No Boundaries117. Committee on ClinicalPharmacology AnnualReport118. MAB posters1 19. Ingleside Item120. Quarterly brochure121. Religion on the Quadrangles122. Program tickets123. Holy Week programs124. Holy Week posters125. Thanksgiving serviceprograms126. Thanksgiving serviceposters127. August Union Serviceposters128. Liturgical banners pamphlet129. Oratorio programs130. Oratorio posters131. Christmas Eve Pageantprograms132. Organ recital programs andposters133. Sunday Service Programs134. Hymns135. Occasional concertprograms136. Married Student HousingApartment Information137. Reunion announcement138. Court Theatre announcement139. Court Theatre NewsRelease140. Court Theatre posters141. A Guide to Student Computing at the U. of C.142. Computation CenterNewsletter143. Graduate Studies inGeography\ 144. You and your CreditUnion145. Credit Union poster146. U. of C. Cancer ResearchCenter Annual Report147. Sculpture on the Midway int Run Frequency Prepared By Distribution500 Committee on ClinicalPharmacology Prospective donorsOnce per year Same7,000 One per event Major Activities Board Campus bulletin boards7,000 Occasionally Personnel Office EmployeesEach quarter Rockefeller ChapelSameFor each event SameAnnually SameAnnually SameAnnually SameAnnuallyAnnually SameSame148. Tablet 3,500 Annually Same Slots in chapelFour per year SameFour per year SameAnnually SameFour to six Sameper yearForty-two per SameyearOccasionally Same For services of more than 500Irregularly SameReprinted as Married Student Housing Students seeking housingneeded Assignment OfficeAnnually Alumni Association Alumni6,000 Winter and spring Court Theatre Alumni, area theaters40,000 Summer10 to 300 Same Local papers200 to 500 12 to 15 per year Same Campus bulletin boards,area theaters9,000 Computation Center All students3,000 Annually Same New faculty, any inquirers2,500 Monthly Same Account administrators,specially authorizedaccounts, campus computingsites1,000 Department of GeographyAs needed Credit Union New employees25 .v Annually Same Employee bulletin boards1,500 Annually UCCRCOffice of PhysicalPlanning and Construction BSD faculty, interestedphysicians and cancerresearchers, donors6,000 Monthly Medical Center PublicAffairs UCHC employees, staff,retirees, volunteers196Name of Publication149. Medical Center News Print Run13,500150. Foundation News 1,600151. Medical Center Calendar 700152. Wyler News Notes 400 to 450Hospitals and Clinics 20,000Annual Report153. Publications Catalog154. Annual Report155. Workshop announcements156. A.G. Bush Library Abstracts157. A.G. Bush Library158. Personnel Test SeriesCatalog159. Occasional Paper 37160. Reprint 153Training Manuals161. Active Listening162. Financial Planning163. Decision-making andSupervisionTechnical Reports164. National Validation of aSelection Test Batteryfor Male Transit BusOperators165. Hard Questions: Cancer Research at the Universityof Chicago166. Bright New City brochure 30,000 FrequencyQuarterly Prepared BySameThree per year SameDaily, Monday Samethrough FridayMonthly SameAnnually SameAnnually Human Resources CenterAnnually SameEach event SameMonthly SameWeekly SameSameSameSameSameSameSameSameEvery two U. of C. Canceryears Research FoundationOnce a year University Extension167. Know Your Chicagobrochure 3,000 Once a year Same168. Trip brochures 6,000 Periodically Same169. Chicago Magazine insert Circulation of Once a yearmagazine plus20,000170. Non-credit ads and reprints 5,000 Two per year SameSame DistributionMedical center donors,volunteer fund-raisinggroups, area medical alumni,community leaders, newsmedia, medical centerretirees, campus leadersMembers of cancer fund-raisinggroups, faculty in cancerresearch, cancer donors,some mediaMedical center doctors andstaffMembers of the Home forDestitute Crippled Children,Bobs Roberts Service League,staff in WylerBenefactors, friends, BSDfaculty, opinion leaders,federal and state healthcare legislatorsAuxiliaries, associatedorganizations, foundations,corporationsExtension mailing lists,Chicago Association ofCommerce and Industry,Chicago Public Libraries,various organizationsthrough Bright New Citycommittee membersPast subscribers and throughKnow Your City CommitteeExtension mailing lists,Oriental Institute andspecial interest groups,campus distributionChicago area through magazine, extension mailing lists,campus offices, outsidespecial interestsExtension lists of noncreditand basic program students197Name of Publication Print Run Frequency Prepared By171. Summer Session ads andreprints 5,000 Once a year Same172. Summer Session poster 2,500 Once a year Same173. Alumni Communicators Once a year Alumni Associationroster174. Laboratory Schools posterslarge 1,200small 3,000175. U. of C. Record 19,000176. Reports in the Division of the 12,000Biological Sciences andthe Pritzker School ofMedicine177. Reports in the Division of 6,500the Physical Sciences178. Ryerson Lecture booklet179. Ryerson Lecture poster180. Fact Book181. Campus map182. Faculty Source List183. Faculty and Staff Recreational Facilities brochure184. bulletins185. Medicine on the Midway186. Reports in the Division ofthe Social Sciences187. Alumni Newsletter188. Doctoral Program brochure189. Alumni Awards brochure190. The Emergence of aProfession191. Faculty Sketch BookOccasional Papers192. Number 3193. Number 7194. Number 8Reunion Luncheon programPh.D. Vitae booklets 1,50010,00013,000 Eight per yearThree per yearTwo per yearAnnually Laboratory SchoolsPublic AffairsMedical Alumni andPublic AffairsDivision of the PhysicalSciences and PublicAffairsPublic Affairs (Centerfor Policy Study) DistributionColleges and universitiesand telephone and mailrequestsU.S. colleges and universitiesAlumni in communicationsfieldFaculty and students, collegelibraries and presidents,news media, foundations,University committees andboardsBSD faculty, medical alumni,high school libraries,media list, campus officesPSD faculty, high school andcollege libraries, medialist, campus deans andadministratorsGuests, college and universitypresidents, public relationslists, interested foundations,some University faculty200 Annually Public Affairs (Centerfor Policy Study) Campus bulletin boardsi5,000 Every other year Public Affairs Campus offices, Museum ofScience and Industry,individual requests;o,ooo \ Every other year Public Affairs Campus offices and individualrequests4,000 Public Affairs Media lists5,000 Annually Public Affairs (for Bartlett Gym and InformationDean of Students) DeskSeventeen per year Public InformationThree per year Public Information andMedical AlumniPeriodically Dean's Office6,000 Quarterly SSA400 Annually SameOnce Same2,200 Once Same Faculty, Women's Board,campus buildings, subscribers, local newspapersMedical alumni, BSD faculty,public relations list, highschool and college libraries,campus officesAlumni500500 (second run)6,0006,500300350 Annually SameSameSame198C. CAMPUS NEWSPAPERTo: Gwin J. Kolb, Chairman of the Committee onUniversity PublicationsFrom: D. J. R. Bruckner, Vice-President forPublic AffairsNovember 27, 1979The Committee on Publications has touched onthis matter in two of its discussions, so Mrs. Graysuggested I send you a memorandum reflectinginformation in one I had sent to her in October. Atthe end of last year she had asked me to thinkabout a publication and work up a proposal.Through the summer months Tom Mullaney, whowas then Director of Public Information, and Iinterviewed many people in the University, including chairmen, faculty members, a few deans,and some administrators. We talked with editorsat Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, Boston University, and Princeton. At the same time Mr.Wolowiec got some cost estimates from printers.Almost everyone interviewed said a tabloidpaper would be better than bulletins, since itwould be easier to read.We asked about content, and the principalcategories suggested were:1 . A calendar.2. A listing and description of grants.3. Feature stories on research being done,perhaps drawn from our own press releases.4. Official actions of the administration, including: (a) policy decisions, (b) new appointments, (c) budget planning and decisions, (d) appointments of and charges to faculty committees,(e) financial reports.5. Reports about actions the administration hastaken in response to any government request oraction.6. Reports about changes in government policyor regulation, or in the laws, which would affectthe university.7. Stories about trends in higher education oractivities in other universities which would be ofspecial interest here.8. Stories about actions of city government orabout Hyde Park as they might affect the university.9. Stories about trustees and their actions andabout visiting committees and their reports.10. Letters to the editor.11. An account of publications by faculty,alumni or students. 12. A very limited listing of faculty activitiesoutside the university.Most people thought we should not report faculty travels, but there was a division of opinionabout whether we should report honors given tomembers of the faculty. A few people suggestedthat minutes of the meetings of the Council and ofthe Committee of the Council could be printed in apaper (but presumably that is something theCouncil itself would have to decide).We then asked whether such a publicationcould replace the University of Chicago Record aswell as bulletins. Many faculty people said itcould, but not all agreed. Most of them said somekind of official record had to be published at sometime, even though a newspaper might publishsummaries of official documents. Most agreedthat the Record, if it were limited entirely to official documents, need not be published more thana few times a year. Everyone agreed that suchthings as convocation addresses and the like couldbe omitted from such a Record. There was somesentiment for printing the memorial obituarynotices in the newspaper if the Record weredropped.Everyone agreed that such a newspaper oughtto be an official, but professional, publication andnot make any pretense of being an independentorgan.Our last questions were about the audience ofsuch a newspaper. Everyone thought the facultyand students should receive it. People in administration and in personnel direction tended to thinkthe entire group of employees should also receiveit. If the entire community were to receive thepaper, obviously it would have to be somewhatdifferent in content than if only faculty and students received it. A number of people thought asection inserted into the paper dedicated entirelyto employee news would best answer the needs ofthe different audiences. The administrators wetalked to felt that, in any case, a campus newspaper should have a job-posting section for employees.The cost estimates I gave to Mrs. Gray werebased on production of a twelve-page tabloid issued every second week in the autumn, winter,and spring quarters, once a month in summer andnot at all during Christmas vacation or September;or seventeen issues a year. It would be printed in20,000 copies and given mass distribution; therewould be no mail circulation. I suggested a budgetof $36,000 for production and $12,000 for expenses and equipment, plus $52,000 for the199salaries and benefits for an editor and an assistant.My assumption is that we would save 15 percentof that or more, but I do not know for sure. I thenestimated that we could save about half the current budget of the Record (if we published onlyone or two official document collections a year)and the entire budget of the bulletins and itseditor. In other words, the budget I suggestedcontained about $50,000 in new spending.To produce such a large publication would bebeyond the ability of two people, obviously. But Iassumed, in estimating the cost, the help of theentire Public Information Office, including thehelp of Jack Wolowiec and his assistant in designand production work.Obviously the report I sent to Mrs. Gray did notcomment on the desirability of making this kind ofinvestment in improving internal communicationson campus. But, for your information, and as acaution about any comments I might make in yourcommittee's meetings, I am strongly in favor of it.Finally, your committee had discussed sendinga paper to alumni. I forget who brought this up.That distribution would not be difficult, if the costof additional copies and the mailing costs were infact handled by the Alumni Association.REPORT OF THESTUDENT OMBUDSMANFOR THE SPRING QUARTER, 1980By Bruce LewensteinDuring the spring quarter, over 20 percent of thecases at the Ombudsman's Office involvedacademic matters. Indeed, over the past year, thepercentage of academic problems brought to theombudsman has been steadily increasing. TheUniversity community should make an effort tounderstand the nature of these problems and toconsider how they might be avoided. This effort isespecially needed as the trendy towards largerclasses continues and as new programs continueto be developed at the University.I think many academic problems can be prevented or made less severe if both faculty members and students respect the difficulties of theother and accept responsibility for avoiding misunderstandings and careless actions. In any course, teachers and students must recognize theneeds of each other. When large class sizes remove a professor from close contact with studentsand graduate teaching or laboratory assistants assume more responsibility, it becomes even moreimportant for the professor to make his requirements well known and for students to respectthe professor's need for cooperation. Studentscannot be expected to understand the vagaries ofa professor with whom they have little or no contact; on the other hand, students must understandthe professor's concern that if he makes a singleexception, he opens himself to making 200 exceptions. When a professor has clearly stated his requirements for a course (and, if possible, writtenthem into a syllabus) and students have fulfilledthose requirements, the chances for a misunderstanding are reduced.Many of my cases concerning academic mattersinvolve situations where the normal proceduresfor a course have not been followed. My judgmentin these cases depends on whether the professorand student considered the concerns and needs ofeach other in the unusual situation. For example,a College student complained that his professor ina common core humanities course had not considered, in determining his grade, the extra effort hehad expended in analyzing a particularly difficulttext. Because of that effort, the student had notturned in any of the required papers during thequarter, including the take-home exam. Instead,he had turned them all in at the beginning of thefollowing quarter. The professor said that she hadconsidered the student's efforts. But when thestudent turned in his papers, the professor foundmany problems which might have been solved hadshe had a chance to comment on one paper beforethe student wrote the next. After grading the papers for content, downgrading them for errors ofgrammar and syntax, and considering their lateness > the late exam, and other administrativeproblems, the professor gave the student a D.I do not think the grade was unfair. A professorhas the right to set standards for his course, and ifthose standards have been clearly announced(which I believe they were in this case), a studenthas the responsibility to meet the standards. Inaddition, the professor had warned the studentduring the quarter that he might flunk if he did notbegin turning in papers. I think the professorapplied a set of clear and rational principles todetermine the grade for the student who had notmet her standards.In another case, a student received a fair grade,but I believe he was justified in complaining to theprofessor that he had not received a clear and ra-200tional explanation for the grade. The student, anundergraduate in a graduate social sciencescourse, had received extensions on a few occasions during the autumn quarter and had taken anincomplete in the course. The following quarter hetook a makeup final exam, but handed it in a daylate after falling asleep from exhaustion. Theexam was graded, and initially given a B-. Afterreconsideration, the grader changed the grade to aC. Several staff members involved with the coursethen discussed in what way to penalize the studentfor turning the exam in late. Although severalalternatives were discussed, it became clear that,whatever penalty was given, the course gradewould be the same: C.The paper was returned to the student with a Cmarked on it. Because he could see the originalB— (which had been only partially erased), he wasconfused about his grade. Dissatisfied with theexplanations he received from several staff members, he came to the Ombudsman's Office. Afterinvestigating, I decided that the course grade itselfwas fair. But the confusion regarding the marks onthe final exam, combined with varying explanations of how the course grade had been determined, resulted in unnecessary bitterness. Theproblem could have been alleviated if the staff hadmade one person responsible for the course gradeand if that person had clearly thought through whyhe was assigning the grade of C. Just as a studenthas the responsibility to meet the professor'sstandards, so the professor has the responsibilityto grade the student on a reasonable and clearbasis. To do otherwise fails to respect the student's needs.The need for mutual responsibility and respectis most evident in specific problems between astudent and professor. But the same need alsoarises in general program requirements. A lapse,moreover, produces more serious consequencesbecause of the effect it has on a student's overallsituation at the University. A student should meetthe requirements of the department, but the faculty should be careful and reasonable in communicating the requirements — and especially inchanging them.In one case, a graduate student in a relativelynew program had been given a full-tuition scholarship, even though both she and the departmentknew that she would take some of her courses inother departments. Unfortunately, neither she northe department had clearly specified how manycourses she would be expected to take within thedepartment to continue as a student in goodstanding. At the end of the winter quarter, herdepartment chairman decided that she had taken too many outside courses and withdrew herscholarship.In my investigation, I learned that the studentand the department chairman had differingmemories about the number of departmentalcourses the student was expected to take.Although the department had developed fairlyclear standards on the subject, they had been developed after the student had been accepted andawarded her scholarship. The student appealedthe decision to the dean of students in the University, who persuaded the department chairman torestore her financial aid.Clear communication and respect for the needsof students is especially important when a department alters its degree requirements. Whenone graduate program this year instituted a qualifying exam as a required part of the process towards a Ph.D., many students already enrolled inthe department were unsure about the role of theexam in their own programs. Although the facultythen issued a statement intended to be reassuring,many students remained unsure. Again with thehelp of the dean of students in the University, thestudents received an interpretation of the faculty'sstatement which assured them that they werebeing treated fairly.In each of the cases above, some individual orgroup of individuals has, I believe, either notacted responsibly or failed to consider how hisactions affect others. Often a person has notthought about whether affected people will see hisaction as consistent, rational, and fair.But not all problems which come to the Ombudsman's Office involve fault on the part of anyone involved. Some problems are simply the result of inexperience.In one physical science common core sequence,a number of problems arose during the springquarter, in part because of the department's inexperience with a course of over 200 people. Eachcase was resolved individually, but I think a comprehensive discussion will more clearly show thecomplexity of some academic problems. I thinkthe discussion will also show that even a dedicated department — one which responds quickly,responsibly, and with respect for its students — isnot immune from problems. Other departmentswill, I hope, leam from the experience in this onecourse.Two things frequently cited to describe thecharacter of this University are the integration ofthe College with the graduate divisions andschools and the primarily research-oriented nature of the institution. It is not surprising, therefore, that in its teaching, even at the under-201graduate level, the University is best at the seminar or group-discussion level that most clearly resembles active research. It is equally unsurprisingthat the University's academic system has moreproblems with lecture courses than with seminars,with supervision of student work by graduateteaching and laboratory assistants than with discussions between professors and students. Thesemethods are those with which the University hashad the least practice.This inexperience contributed to some aspectsof the several cases I handled involving the physical science common core sequence taught bymembers of the Department of Geophysical Sciences. The sequence introduces students to principles of geology, oceanography, and meteorology. Although sometimes referred to derisively as"rocks for jocks," it is a popular course, andsome of its instructors have been awarded Quan-trell awards for the excellence of their teaching.Usually limited to 120 people, enrollment wasopened this year to accomodate the many peopledesiring the course, and it swelled to over 200— avery large course for this University. Lectures aregiven by a professor; laboratories are supervisedby graduate students, some of whom have severalyears' experience with the course.Graduate assistants are normally assigned tothe course based on a ratio of one for everytwenty-five students; each assistant supervisesabout eight laboratories per quarter. This yeareight assistants were assigned to the course in theautumn. At the beginning of the winter quarter,however, the department realized that: 1) therewere to be only four labs; 2) the first-day classregistration list showed substantially fewer peopleregistered for winter than for the previous quarter;and 3) the department needed qualified graduateassistants for several other courses. Primarily as aresult of the reduced lab load, the departmentchairman assigned only six assistants to thecourse for the winter quarter.In fact, however, the demand for graduate assistants seemed to be almost the same as it hadbeen before. First, two of the labs required twoweeks to complete; in addition, the assistants offered special review sessions before exams. Second, the class size was actually almost the same asthat of the preceding quarter. The smaller first-dayclass list had resulted from the accuracy of theStudent Information System (SIS) which printsthe names of only those people actually registered. Therefore, anyone whose registration is restricted at the beginning of a quarter will not showup on initial class lists. The resulting discrepancymatters little for most courses, but in a large class a small percentage of error translates into a substantial number of students .The six remaining assistants all worked hard.One professor taught the first half of the quarter,completing a subject he had begun during the autumn quarter. Another professor taught the finalhalf of the quarter. Because of the size of thecourse and the change of professors, however, thegraduate assistants had the closest and most comprehensive relationships with the students. Theywere given essentially complete authority for thatquarter to determine the final grades for thecourse, according to an outline prepared by thetwo professors.When the grades came out, several studentswere unhappy. In a class of 230, that is not verysurprising. Only three students had actuallyflunked, but they all felt sufficiently disturbed toappeal their grades. Unfortunately, because of thechange in instructors, the channel of appeal wasitself not clear. At the request of the master of thePhysical Sciences Collegiate Division, one of theprofessors eventually did assume the responsibility. Those students who had come to theOmbudsman's Office were satisfied by the outcomes of their appeals.But, in general, the graduate assistants werenot. Those with whom I spoke believed that theproblems should not have arisen in the first place.They felt that they had been overworked to thepoint where they were less than sympathetic torequests for attention beyond the norm. They believed that the amount of planning which thecourse required had not been considered whendetermining the staffing levels. The sequence isnot a textbook course taught by rote at a publicinstitution. It is a course in which each of theprofessors tries to imbue the students with theexcitement of the subject by approaching it abovethe most basic level. The graduate assistants mustdevelop supplementary materials and answer themyriad questions raised by the professor's lectures. "It's an eclectic course; it takes moremoney and time," said one assistant.During the spring quarter a new professortaught the course. Realizing the problems ofteaching such a large course, he sought the adviceof others in his department. "But you've nevertaught a course until you've taught one thislarge," he said. This professor used a detailed andcontinually updated newsletter to communicatewith his students (a useful system, I believe). Hechose to be extremely harsh regarding excuses formakeup exams — finally deciding to allow nomakeups at all. Once again, several students complained to the Ombudsman's Office. When I spoke202Information/Discussion Action TotalAcademic AffairsGrade Appeals 1 5 6Other 4 5 9Student AffairsAthletics 0 1 1Housing & Commons 0 13 13Hospitals & Clinics 1 4 5Student Employment 0 1 1Student Activities 2 5 7Administrative AffairsFinancial Aid 0 7 7Facilities & Security 1 7 8Registrar & Bursar 1 6 7Library 0 1 1Miscellaneous 0 5 5Total 10 60 70with the professor I learned that in each casewhere a student had missed an exam, the professor had considered the score which a studentmight have received before determining the finalgrade. I think the students were treated fairly.In this particular sequence of courses, I thinkthe various professors, graduate assistants, andundergraduate students all responded responsiblyand reasonably to the problems caused by an unusually large course. But I think the case illustrates how easily the complex balance betweengraduates, undergraduates, teaching, and research can be upset. Other areas of the University, such as chemistry and economics, also usegraduate assistants to assist in growing undergraduate courses. All departments should be alertto the problems of managing large courses andattempt to prevent them. The Department ofGeophysical Sciences is now planning to developa manual to guide professors and graduate assistants who teach the common core sequence.Other departments, too, should plan for changesin teaching methods and style which may beneeded as the College grows larger and thegraduate divisions smaller.Even more, all members of the Universitycommunity should respect the needs of others inthe community and respond to unexpected situations by carefully considering the responsibilitiesof each member. Reasoned actions create farfewer problems than hasty actions taken withoutthought about their unintended consequences.Appendix: DetailsWith seventy complaints, the Ombudsman'sOffice had the busiest spring quarter ever. Tenstudents came to the office only for advice or information, while sixty required some form ofaction — although many of these needed only asingle phone call to clear up their problem. Therewere no surprises in the distribution of cases. Asalways in the spring, far fewer cases involved theathletics department. Also traditional in thespring, the housing office received the most complaints. Two trends which had been developingduring the year continued: the percentage ofacademic complaints continued to climb, and thepercentage of cases involving the registrar andbursar continued to go down (breakdown of casesin the accompanying table).In addition to the formal cases, over sixtypeople stopped by or called the Ombudsman'sOffice for information or ideas.As usual, a few more undergraduates thangraduates used the Ombudsman's Office. REPORT OF THESTUDENT OMBUDSMANFOR THE SUMMER QUARTER, 1980By Bruce LewensteinBy far the most challenging cases at the Ombudsman's Office are those in which the administration or faculty has acted reasonably andresponsibly — but in which I nevertheless believethat the students could have been treated morefairly. The challenge is to identify the troublesomeaspect of an otherwise entirely defensible action.Once I find it, I try to suggest alternatives thatimprove the students' situation without penalizingthe administration or faculty.In my autumn 1979 report, I discussed predictable problems — predictable in the sense that whennew rules are adopted, administrators can usuallysee where potential problems lie. When problemsdo occur, the solution usually involves tinkeringwith the rule — not reexamining the basic principle.But there are problems of a different sort. Theseare the ones which no one seems to have predicted, or which have traditionally been ascribedto the "irrational" behavior of students faced withan adverse decision. These are the problemswhich are the most difficult to resolve because noone has done anything wrong. But I think that203often a single step has been skipped, a step crucialto the fair development of policies and proceduresat the University. That step is: consideration ofpolicies and procedures from the perspective ofstudents.Two of the major cases at the Ombudsman'sOffice during the summer quarter illustrate theproblem. The first involves Single Student Housing (SH). During the final weeks of the springquarter several students complained to me aboutSH decisions that barred them from returning totheir dorm rooms next year. In a few of the cases,questions arose regarding SH discipline and theprocedures by which it is applied. In each of theindividual cases, my investigation convinced methat the SH actions were appropriate and justifiable. Other than providing advice and suggestionsregarding appeals, I could not help the students.Yet I was bothered by a common element ineach of the cases, an element I labeled "arbitrariness." Although SH possessed a reasonable explanation for each of its decisions and for the(often sudden) action upon its decision, SH didnot always present that explanation to the students involved. To them, it often seemed that thedirector of SH acted as policeman, detective, prosecuting attorney, judge, and jury. Any action ofSH appeared to be the whim of the director.During the late spring and summer quarters, Idiscussed my uneasiness about the "arbitrary"decisions with the director and others. We discovered that it had been a long time since the rulesand procedures of SH had been considered in thecontext of student perceptions about the structureof SH and its role in the University. It seemedlikely to me that many students would be surprised at the administration's view that SH is acommunity of its own, with standards and expectation at times different from those in the University community at large. The community at largecan tolerate a wider spectrum of behavior thancan the housing system, where people must, inrelative harmony, eat, sleep, and study in closequarters.As a result of these discussions, the material inthe Student Information Manual describing SHhas been revised to provide a more informativedescription of the system. In addition, SH is considering changes in its internal disciplinary system, changes designed to make students moreaware of their responsibilities in the system. I donot expect that these changes will eliminate complaints about SH. But it is important that administrators throughout the University regularlyconsider whether their own perceptions arenecessarily those of students. Administrative problems cause only annoyanceand frustration. But academic problems usuallycreate the extreme pressures for students whicheveryone wants to avoid. This year, as in severalprevious years, a graduate student whose committee had recommended against pursuing a Ph.D.requested help from the Ombudsman's Office.The case was extremely complex and involvedmuch anguish on the part of the student and muchsoul-searching thought on the part of members ofthe student's department. Once again, I think agreat deal of trouble could have been avoided ifmore thought had been given to how the studentwould perceive various options offered to her.Briefly, the student had completed severalyears of study at the University, including herpreliminary examination, a qualifying paper, and adissertation proposal hearing. At each step, shehad met the minimum qualifying requirements,but only barely. For various reasons, not all underher control, the student's committee had been reconstituted several times.At the time of her proposal hearing, the student's committee had been skeptical of her abilityto successfully complete her degree program.However, the student had convinced the committee members to let her try. Unfortunately,when the student began turning in drafts of herdissertation, they did not meet her committee'sstandards. After the second draft, the committeechairman wrote to the student advising her to dropher efforts to earn a Ph.D. from the University.Once again, my investigation convinced me thatthe student had been treated fairly. Even more, Iwas convinced that the student's committee anddepartment had made a sincere effort to help thestudent, despite their suspicion that she would beunsuccessful. In that effort, however, the student's perspective got lost.For it had been clear that the student was unlikely to produce a dissertation of acceptablequality. But the committee members, swayed bythe student's insistence that she be allowed tocontinue her studies, did not consider what wouldhappen to the student if ultimately she did fail. AsI am sure we all would have done, the committeemembers dwelt on how the student might improveher work; they did little counseling on how shemight apply herself to something more likely tosucceed.I cannot and I do not want to fault the committee members for their optimistic approach. It isand must be the student who takes the risk that acourse of study may not be successful. But I thinkthat at the same time the faculty must considerwhat will happen to a student if he or she fails.204And if the signs suggest that failure is likely, thefaculty should be certain that the student is awareof the signs and understands their implications.The faculty cannot stop a student; but it can makeclear the difficulty of the coming road.Appencfe Year-End SummaryAs I complete my term, I am happy to report thatthe Ombudsman's Office seems to be alive andwell. More students than in any year past used theoffice. They sought everything from informationon how to form a sorority on campus to help withrecalcitrant graders, from advice on appealing fortransfer credit to assistance in dealing with theSIS computer. I believe that the increasingnumber of students using the ombudsman's services represents not an increase in the problemson campus but an increase in knowledge about theombudsman.As I noted in my last report, the number ofproblems involving strictly routine bureaucraticmatters — such as registration, tuition billing, hospital billing — has been declining all year, whichspeaks well for the administrative efficiency of theUniversity. The increase in the ombudsman'scaseload has come in areas such as discipline andacademics, areas where consideration of peculiarindividual circumstances may be more importantthan adherence to an administrative procedure. Ihope that the increase in administrative efficiencyis not necessarily tied to any decrease in thoughtgiven to the effects of all policies and proceduresat the University. Trouble-free life in the University community requires that all members of thecommunity — students, faculty, and staff —consider their actions from the perspective ofothers in the community.I am pleased to see that more financial resources are being directed to advanced graduatestudents, and I hope that the University continuesto actively study ways of helping students whohave completed all work but for the dissertation.In a University dedicated to research in a broadspectrum, it is important that the training of newresearchers not be neglected because funding isdifficult to find.To those with whom I have worked, andagreed, I give my thanks. To those with whom Ihave disagreed, I express my hope that we alllearned something and that we all continue towork together to make the University an evenbetter place to be.Bruce Lewenstein was the University Ombudsman for the 1979-80 term. THE 37BTH CONVOCATION ADDRESS:PASSAGES ON POLITICS% itebert Zn AiberAugust 29, 198©Convocations and commencements are milestones as we pass through life. The succession ofthese celebrations reminds us of the contrast between the permanence of our institutions and thetransience of our passage.When I received the invitation to speak to you,I wondered why I was so honored. One possibilitywas that I was one of the few members of thefaculty likely to be in Chicago today. Another wasbelated acknowledgement for what I had thoughthad been my major contribution to the life of theUniversity and of the neighborhood — the recommendation that Bartlett Gym be kept open onSundays. A third possibility was recognition ofmy proposal for reform of the University calendar, the first significant adjustment in nearly acentury.The recommendation is that we have two summer quarters. We might realize this objective byrenaming one of the other quarters: the sequencemight then be summer, fall, summer, spring.Alternatively, the length of the quarter might bereduced: each quarter might be five weeks long.An academic year with two summer quarters hasmany benefits. For students, of course, a majoradvantage of the summer quarter is the opportunity to make up incompletes. That, after all, iswhy so many of us are here today: we didn't planto be here, we just didn't finish in time.About mid- June of each year, national newspapers like the New York Times, the Wall StreetJournal, and the Chicago Maroon provide lists ofthe three or four books that major literary, political, and business notables plan to read in thesummer. When these lists appear, I think of booksI want to write. The purpose of writing a book isnot, as it might seem, to be invited to appear on aTV show with Kup or David Frost but rather toresolve a puzzle — to explain how seemingly unrelated phenomena fit together as part of a systemor a whole. Now 1 want to discuss one of theseproposed books. I hope you will indulge the personal reflections.This is a summer of our discontent because thecandidates of the two major parties for the pres-205idency are not inspiring. The letters to Time andNewsweek parody this electoral contest as onebetween a peanut farmer and a second-rate actor.Many voters believe there is not much of a choicedespite the sharp differences between the personalities of the candidates and the platforms oftheir parties. The success of the congressmanfrom Rockford in obtaining a positive responsefrom 15 to 20 percent of the electorate testifies toour unhappiness: many Americans appear willingto risk the presidency with an articulate candidatewho is now a man without a party and whosepolicies on most issues are unknown. The oldadage "When in doubt, choose the mean" becomes transformed into "When in doubt, choosethe alternative." There have been many otherelections when the candidates were unimpressive.On almost everyone's list, Franklin Pierce was theleast consequential of our presidents. Who remembers whom he defeated in 1852? Indeed, whoran against Calvin Coolidge in 1924?Every four years, in good times and in hardtimes, in peace and in war, with inspiring candidates and with mediocre candidates, we Americans meet our neighbors in one quarter of a million precincts as we decide who shall govern.The first election that I remember much aboutwas 1948. The choice then was between a formerbankrupt haberdasher from Independence, Missouri, who threatened to kick the music critic ofthe Washington Post when he wasn't appearingon the newsreels in those garish Hawaiian shirts atKey West, and "the man on the wedding cake,"now memorialized in the New York State Thru-way.The first election I could vote in was 1952. 1 wasthen studying abroad. Several of us got up at fourin the morning to hear the results; the polls hadjust closed in California. It seemed tragic that acountry immersed in issues of internal security,civil liberties, and McCarthyism should have as apresident someone who never before had enteredan election, who had not long known whether hewas a Republican or a Democrat, and whose onlyprevious nonmilitary experience was as presidentof a major Eastern university. Difficult as it wasfor me to contemplate Eisenhower as president, itwas worse to think of what might happen if hecould not live out his term.At the time of the 1956 election, I thought theformer governor of Illinois deserved to and wouldwin. As it turned out, he was overwhelmingly defeated; indeed, he could not carry the state of Illinois. But he had a way with words. Who can forget his use of Abraham Lincoln's responsewhen asked how it felt to lose an election. Thestory is that of the boy who had stubbed his toe inthe dark: "It hurts too much to laugh, and I'm tooold to cry."In the fall of 1960 1 was working in New York. Ihad had lunch with one of my Williams Collegeprofessors, Kermit Gordon, just after JamesTobin, one of my professors at Yale, had beeninvited to be a member of the Council of Economic Advisors. When asked to serve, Tobin hadsaid, "Mr. President, I'm just an ivory-towereconomist," and the president-elect had replied,"Mr. Tobin, that's fine, they're the best kind. I'llbe an ivory-tower president." In 1962, PresidentKennedy received an honorary degree from Yale.Who can forget his remark, "Now I have the bestof both worlds, a Harvard education and a Yaledegree." I, too, was shattered on that NovemberFriday. And yet now when I reflect, as I did several weeks ago while visiting the Kennedy Libraryat Columbia Point in Boston, the performanceseems less impressive than the rhetoric.The choice for me was easy in 1964. Goldwaterwas threatening to bomb Hanoi back into theStone Age, which seemed unwise. Johnson hadpassed the tax cut and promised a civil rights bill.So I voted for Johnson and we bombed Hanoi.Remember the mood of the country in themonths before the 1968 election? Our Administration Building was occupied by our studentsduring the first two weeks of February. In April,Martin Luther King was murdered, and the National Guard and the Army were parked severalblocks from here on the Midway. Robert Kennedywas assassinated in early June. In August, whenthe Democratic Party held its convention inChicago, we had the bash-in in Grant Park and thepolice riot. And the candidates in 1968 — well,both had been national figures for twenty years.One had a magnificent smile and a robust clichefor every occasion; the other a commitment totake the hard road. The country voted for the hardroad, and the hard road eventually led to Watergate.My candidate in the 1972 election had some difficulty in selecting his running mate. The runningmate of the winning candidate subsequently hadsome difficulty in staying out of jail.So this election will be my eighth. By now youwill have inferred that I vote Democratic. You willalso have concluded that I have a bias toward articulate candidates.Measuring the performance of each206president — both those I voted for and those Ididn't — requires a scorecard. One approach is toscore by whether there is tranquility at home andpeace abroad; by our care for the old, the weak,and the dispossessed; and by the vitality of ourfree institutions.Each of the winning candidates for whom I'vevoted has proved a disappointment. If I score thecandidates that won that I had not voted for, Iconclude that Eisenhower was a significantlybetter president than I had predicted. ScoringNixon is more difficult: he was more effective inhis first term than I had thought likely, and hissecond term was so abbreviated that there seemslittle to remember. If I impute scores to the candidates that lost when my candidates won, the results are not very different. Nixon almost certainly would have been less effective than Kennedy, and Goldwater more dangerous thanJohnson.Developing this scorecard has led to increasedskepticism about my skills in predicting how wellboth my preferred candidates and those I did notvote for will perform when elected. The attributesthat attract us to a candidate appear to have littleto do with how effective he will be as a president.It might seem more efficient to pick candidates byflipping a coin instead of by scrutinizing theirvalues, priorities, and attributes. But I concludethat the criteria we use in evaluating our presidents appear to be largely independent of information available about the platforms and thepersonalities of the candidates.When we elect a president, we can never beconfident that his performance will match hispromises. We permit and, indeed, encourage thecandidates to promise they can deliver miraclesfrom Washington if elected, even when we knowthey won't be able to. We know that the candidatefrom California is not serious when he tells us hewill repeal the Law of Evolution if elected. Italmost seems as if the factors which determinewhether a president will be ranked as outstandingor mediocre are beyond the information availableto us when we vote.We should wonder why a country that has produced so much genius should not deliver moreattractive presidential candidates. David Broderhas one answer: "Anybody that wants the presidency so much he'll spend two years organizingand campaigning for it is not to be trusted with theoffice." There are other possible answers. Wecannot as a nation scorn politics as a career andyet expect that we should always have the luxury of choosing between the talents of a John Adamsor a Thomas Jefferson. At times of crisis — theGreat Depression, World War II — the public service collects large numbers of truly impressivepeople. The presidents who are ranked in highestesteem by the historians are almost invariablythose in power at times of major national crises.In this vast country — from California to theNew York Island, from the redwood forests to theGulf Stream waters — power is diffuse and interests diverse. A country so magnificent in its expanse cannot be heavily governed for long. Theday-to-day needs of the people of Idaho differfrom those of the people of Iowa just as the concerns of those in Detroit differ from the concernsof those in Dallas.The book that I want to write would deal withthe trade-off between the diffusion of power in theAmerican political system and the people who areattracted to political careers. This trade-off is theparadox of our choice. Because the presidencynow is so awesome in its ultimate powers, we seekindividuals with Olympian attributes. But thissearch is almost always going to end in disappointment. More than a hundred years ago, WaltWhitman noted that the concerns with the politicsof the day should not distract recognition fromwhat he called "the vital things" — the mighty sizeof the country, the freedom of its people. WhenUlysses S. Grant was running for a second term,Whitman wrote, "Time . . . disposes of presidents, congressmen, party platforms; ... itclears the stage of each and any mortal shred thatthinks itself so potent to its day."If we are disappointed with both candidates andwith so many of our presidents, it may be becauseour expectations for our presidents are so high.Yet it is appropriate that we should maintain highexpectations and accept the disappointmentrather than temper our hopes and ambitions.Our elections celebrate the passages of politicallife, just as our convocations celebrate the passages of academic life. The succession of ourpresidential elections for nearly two centuriesshould remind us of the permanence of our institutions: the presidents pass, the presidency remains.Robert Z. Aliber is University Professor in theGraduate School of Business and Chairman of theCommittee on Public Policy Studies.207SUMMARY OF THE378TH CONVOCATIONThe 378th convocation was held on Friday, August 29, 1980 in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.Hanna H. Gray, President of the University, presided.A total of 480 degrees were awarded: 47Bachelor of Arts, 7 Master of Science in the Division of the Biological Sciences and the PritzkerSchool of Medicine, 29 Master of Arts in the Division of the Humanities, 10 Master of Science inthe Division of the Physical Sciences, 62 Masterof Arts in the Division of the Social Sciences, 1Master of Arts in the Divinity School, 4 Master ofArts in the Graduate Library School, 3 Master ofArts in the Committee on Public Policy Studies, 3Master of Arts in the School of Social ServiceAdministration, 17 Master of Arts in Teaching inTO THE ENTERING STUDENTSBy Jonathan Z. SmithSeptember 21, 1980It is my happy task to be one of the first to welcome you to the College of the University ofChicago. Today you join a long line of colleaguespast and present, students and faculty.Through no particular merit or fault of yourown, you bear a special mark, you have been invested with an all-but-mythic significance. Foryour class was named thirty-one years ago, whena dying journalist with the nom de plume ofGeorge Orwell penned the last lines of a novelwhich depicted a "sour Utopia." It is stunning torealize that we have reached that calendrical moment when it is possible to declare that you are theClass of 1984. I do not expect to occupy thispodium at the next such mythic moment, thegreeting of the Class of 2000.Let me remind you of one scene, sharplyabridged, from Orwell's novel.On the sixth day of Hate Week . . . when thegreat orgasm was quivering up to its climax andthe general hatred of Eurasia had boiled up into208 the Division of the Social Sciences, 6 Master ofScience in Teaching in the Division of the SocialSciences, 195 Master of Business Administrationin the Graduate School of Business, 1 Doctor ofMinistry in the Divinity School, 16 Doctor of Philosophy in the Division of the Biological Sciencesand the Pritzker School of Medicine, 15 Doctor ofPhilosophy in the Division of the Humanities, 15Doctor of Philosophy in the Division of the Physical Sciences, 41 Doctor of Philosophy in the Division of the Social Sciences, 1 Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Business, 4 Doctorof Philosophy in the Divinity School, and 3 Doctorof Philosophy in the School of Social Service Administration.Robert Z. Aliber, University Professor in theGraduate School of Business and Chairman of theCommittee on Public Policy Studies, delivered theconvocation address, entitled "Passages on Politics."such a delirium that if the crowd could have gottheir hands on the . . . Eurasian war criminals. . . they would unquestionably have torn themto pieces — at just this moment it had been announced that Oceania was not after all at warwith Eurasia. Oceania was at war with Eastasia.Eurasia was an ally. There was, of course, noadmission that any change had taken place.Merely it became known, with extreme suddenness and everywhere at once, that Eastasiaand not Eurasia was the enemy. ... On a scarlet draped platform an orator of the Inner Party. . . was haranguing the crowd. ... It wasalmost impossible to listen to him without beingfirst convinced and then maddened. . . . Thespeech had been proceeding for perhaps twentyminutes when a messenger hurried onto theplatform and a scrap of paper was slipped intothe speaker's hand. He unrolled it and read itwithout pausing in his speech. Nothing alteredin his voice or manner, or in the content of whathe was saying, but suddenly the names weredifferent. Without words said, a wave of understanding rippled through the crowd. Oceaniawas at war with Eastasia! The next momentthere was a tremendous commotion. The banners and posters with which the square wasdecorated were all wrong! Quite half of themhad the wrong faces on them. It was sabotage!. . . There was a riotous interlude while theposters were ripped from the walls, bannerstorn to shreds and trampled underfoot. . . . Butwithin two or three minutes it was all over. Theorator . . . had gone straight on with his speech.One minute more, and the feral roars of ragewere again bursting from the crowd. The Hatecontinued exactly as before, except that thetarget had been changed. The thing that impressed Winston in looking back was that thespeaker had switched from one line to the otheractually in mid-sentence, not only without apause, but without even breaking the syntax.. . . The minute that the demonstration wasover he [Winston] went straight to the Ministryof Truth. . . . Oceania was at war with Eastasia:Oceania had always been at war with Eastasia.A large part of the political literature of fiveyears was now completely obsolete. Reportsand records of all kinds ... all had to be rectified at lightning speed. Although no directivewas ever issued, it was known . . . that withinone week no reference to the war with Eurasia,or the alliance with Eastasia, should remain inexistence anywhere. [The work of Winston andhis colleagues in altering the past proceeded at afeverish pace.] ... In so far as he [Winston]had time to remember it, he was not troubled bythe fact that every word he murmured into thespeakwrite, every stroke of his ink pencil, was adeliberate lie. He was as anxious as anyone . . .that the forgery should be perfect. ... On themorning of the sixth day ... [it was] impossiblefor any human being to prove by documentaryevidence that the war with Eurasia had everhappened.It would cheapen Orwell's vision in this stunning narrative if we were to limit it to a bittersatire of the propagandistic gymnastics among theparties of the Left following the announcement ofthe Stalin-Hitler pact of August 1939 (althoughthis may well have been the most immediate reference), or to confine its relevance to about-faceswithin the geo-political realm (the United States inrelation to the Soviet Union or to the Peoples Republic of China; the United States in relation tothe Shah of Iran). The fact that both the peripeteia during Hate Week and the cessation of the workof revisionist history are dated, by Orwell, asculminating on the sixth day, like the labors ofYahweh in the creation narrative in Genesis,suggests a more universal frame of reference. Orwell, throughout his work and most particularly inNineteen Eighty-Four, was preoccupied withthose most characteristic modes of humancreativity — language and history — and with thechilling consequences of the misuse or misappropriation of their power. For our world isconstituted by speech, by memory, by precedent.It is not simply "there." If they be corrupted, theworld becomes corrupt as well. If we cease to usethese powers responsibly, then we cease to behuman. We become, in Orwell's term, "unconscious."The state of being unconscious is exemplified,at one level, earlier in the novel by Winston's exchange with Julia concerning the previous inversion of the name of the enemy.[It was] a shock to him when he discoveredfrom some chance remark that she did not remember that Oceania, four years ago, had beenat war with Eastasia and at peace with Eurasia.It was true that she regarded the whole war as asham; but apparently she had not even noticedthat the name of the enemy had changed. "Ithought we'd always been at war withEurasia," she said vaguely. It frightened him alittle . . . the switchover in the war had happened only four years ago. ... He argued withher about it for perhaps a quarter of an hour. Inthe end he succeeded in forcing her memoryback until she did dimly recall that at one timeEastasia and not Eurasia had been the enemy.But the issue still struck her as unimportant."Who cares?" she said impatiently. "It'salways one bloody war after another, and oneknows the news is all lies anyway."Taking these two scenes together, as Orwellsurely intended, we get the full pathology whichconfronts us as students and as citizens.In the first scene, there are displayed the terrifying consequences of complacency towards,and hence complicity in, manipulation. Themindlessness of the crowd, its collective "orgasm," its "delirium," its state of being "maddened," its "feral roars of rage." And the oratoras well, at one and the same time, is the manipulator and the manipulated. He is the one who"harangues," who "convinces" and "maddens"the crowd; but also the one who "without pausing," "without even breaking the syntax" shifts209the referent of his sentences with such ease thatwhat he says must always be meaningless. God isgood; Dog is good — it's all the same, it makes nodifference. Then there is the work of the ironicallylabeled Ministry of Truth: the endless revision and"rectification" of an always mutable past throughever altered language according to the requirements of the moment. The work of the "deliberate lie," what Orwell terms "doublethink."It is a part of Orwell's genius as a pathologistthat this "deliberate lie" is seen by him to havenothing of deliberation about it. In the same waythat, for the crowd, "there was, of course, noadmission that any change had taken place,""merely it became known," so, too, for the workers in the ministry, the expert class of pseudo-scholars, "although no directive was ever issued,it was known" that the past was to be altered. Intheir complacent complicity, the manipulators andthe manipulated are the same. Orwell carries thisto its dizziest conclusion:Even in using the word doublethink, it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using theword one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erasesthis knowledge; and so on, indefinitely, with thelie always one leap ahead of the truth.Alas, it is perhaps easier for us to identify withJulia in the second scene, but if so, we should bediscomforted. For Julia is no more mindful despiteher pseudocritical cynicism. Although she "regarded the whole war as a sham," although sheasserts that "one knows the news is all lies anyway," what true or false might mean for her isendlessly relativized by the fact that, even afterWinston's arguments about what is the case, "theissue still struck her as unimportant. 'Whocares?' " To believe a lie or to believe that everything is lies is to be equally mindless. Whetherone is hypnotized by oneself or by others or iscareless is to be equally unconscious, to beequally inhuman. Thus Julia is described by thenarrator as one who "did not remember," who"had not even noticed," who speaks "vaguely,"who only "dimly recalls."If we are to resist both the characterization andthe consequences of Nineteen Eighty-Four, someof the most chilling passages of which Orwellcasts in the past tense, as already having happened, then we must be willing to make someaffirmations and expend some labor at achievingmindfulness and consciousness. It is by an act ofour will, through language and history, throughwords and memory, that we are able to fabricate the world and ourselves. But there is a doublesense to the word fabrication. It means both tobuild and to lie. For though we have no othermeans than language for treating with the world,words are not, after all, the same as that whichthey name and describe. Though we have no otherrecourse but to memory, to precedent, if theworld is not forever to be novel and, hence,forever unintelligible, the fit is never exact, nothing is ever quite the same. What is needed, and iswholly lacking in the society that Orwell describes, is the capacity for judgment, for appreciating and criticizing the relative adequacyand insufficiency of any proposal of language or ofmemory.It is this task that we begin together today. Theacquisition of the power of informed judgment,the dual capacities of appreciation and criticismthat must be the explicit goal of all of our educational activities whether in the most basic or mostesoteric of our courses.In the internal rhetoric of the College of theUniversity of Chicago, this triad, this concern forthe critical use of language and memory, thenever-to-be-completed enterprise of honing one'sskill in judgment, is frequently termed generaleducation. But make no mistake. This is not theparticular province of any subset of courses. Thisis not an endeavor of your first year which you areexpected to outgrow as soon as you reach yourmajority. To the contrary, here, in this College,general education is our common purpose thatinforms what we do our first year, our fourth year,our years as students, our years as faculty. Thecritical, conscious use of language, memory, andjudgment is our collective responsibility whetherwe are writing our first course paper or refining amodel at the very frontier of research.We must ask in each course, we must ask ateach moment of our study questions which enhance our humanity, which further our capacityfor mindfulness. What would it be like to inhabitthe world as created by the language and memoryof a particular figure or discipline? What languagewould I have to master, what precedents would Ihave to invoke in order to translate my perceptionof the world and of myself into theirs? What arethe consequences attendant upon affirming or denying that the world is as it is alleged to be by oneof these figures or disciplines? At the heart of thisenterprise is knowledge of and the ability to compare between a variety of figures and disciplinesas they seek to persuade us as to what is the case.This is no airy-fairy business, as Orwell has reminded us. It is central to our lives as citizens. As210I have charged each class that I have addressed,we shall be engaged in this College in politicalactivity. For we will labor and talk together, not inorder to produce wealthy doctors or learnedscholars (although such may be the happy byproducts of our work). Rather we will labor together in the hope that we may become bettercitizens, individuals who know not only that theworld is more complex than it first appears, butalso that, therefore, interpretative decisions mustbe made, decisions of judgment which entail realconsequences for which one must take responsibility. We will labor together at every levelof our enterprise in the hope that we may becomeindividuals who refuse to flee from this responsibility by the dodge of disclaiming expertise,by the dodge of proclaiming irrelevance, by thedodge of easy cynicism or relativism; that we maybe found to be individuals who stand under a solemn covenant to be endlessly conscious, to refuseto relax, to be lulled, to become careless. If wefail, Nineteen Eighty-Four will not be just a novelist's nightmare, it will become the world inwhich we have chosen to dwell.This afternoon, it is my privilege on behalf ofthe College to invite you to join us in this endeavor, and by this invitation to wish you manyyears of exhilarating, damned hard work.We have now come to a traditional moment inthis day's proceedings as students leave this placeto join in their College House receptions and parents leave to cross the street to theirs. For withmy welcome to all of you comes a symbolic parting. Now parents go one way; students another. Iwish you each well.Jonathan Z. Smith is Dean of the College, William Benton Professor of Religion and HumanSciences in the College, Professor in the DivinitySchool, in the Department of New Testament andEarly Christian Literature, and in the Committeeon the Study of the Ancient MediterraneanWorld, and Program Co-ordinator of Religion andthe Humanities.211THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO RECORDVICE-PRESIDENT FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRSRoom 200, Administration Buildingo z"0 I _ om £ c 33 O ¦bS > -pi » |POSTAGAIDiO,ILUNTNO.31 oto3»-j. O Hi4^ 2Z OCO 3.