The Record
Student Vlewspaper of St. John's University
Volume 81
Collegeville, Minnesota 56321, Tuesday, January 23,1968
Number 1
St. John's Chosen Hub Of Micro-City Research
By Paul Coudron
St. John's University has been designated to be the recipient of a $182,000 Ford Foundation grant to establish a center for the study of the role and problems of the small city in federal systems. The grant is to cover a two and one-half year period beginning Jan. 1, 1968, during which 12 Minnesota micro-cities (population 10,000-50,000) will be studied to discover means of aiding them to develop materials useful throughout the entire nation for cities of "micro-populations."
A DISCUSSION OF THE FUTURE IN MICRO-CITY
Dr, Edward Henry, Dr, Malcom Moos and Father Colman Barry at Twin Cities press conference.
Trustees to Ponder Four Proposals Regarding Food Service This Month
By Greg Skwira
Due to be considered at the Trustees' meeting to be held at the end of the month are four significant proposals relating to the St. John's Food Service. According to Jim Borgestad, the Student Council will ask for:
1) A committee to investigate the use of the food dollar;
2) A committee to investigate the possibility of installing a "pay-as-you-eat" system at St. John's;
3) The initiation of the five day food contract;
4) The "no-board" option. Although there has recently been
much criticism of Student Council involvement in campus issues as non-academic as food, Borgestad feels that reform in this area is important for two reasons: first of all, the quality of the food and the operation of the Food Service is a definite campus morale factor (a diet of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, for example, hardly makes for a contented student); secondly, increasing complaints and a recent demonstration have shown that there is serious and widespread doubt as to whether or not the student is being treated justly under the present system. The five day contract would great-
ly alleviate the injustice of students paying for meals they do not eat, and the committee to investigate the distribution of the food dollar would explain to the students how their yearly board payments are used. The "no-board" option, in Borgestad's opinion, would benefit the students because it would give them the option to decide for themselves whether or not the present food contract system at St. John's is worth investing in, and would give incentive to the Food Service and the Administration to make meals and financial arrangements as attractive as possible.
Borgestad believes that a "pay-as-you-eat" system would be the most desirable, and that its possibilities should be looked into. Under this system (which is in operation at several other schools in the area) a student would buy a particular meal only if he chose to, and would pay only for what he ate.
When asked why the recent food survey did not seek student opinion on a possible two meal food contract, including only lunch and dinner, and why this option will not be taken up with the Trustees, Borgestad stated that research on the subject showed that this option would not greatly benefit the interested stu-
dent. The reason for this, he said, is that the high vacancy rate at the breakfast meal allows the Food Service to increase the expenditures
FOOD CONTRACTS—Continued on page 3
Father Colman Barry, President of St. John's, has announced that Dr. Edward Henry will be director of the Micro-City Project. Dr. Henry has been mayor of St. Cloud since 1964 and is presently professor and chairman of the Department of Government at St. John's. This year he is also President of the Minnesota Mayors Association and Vice-Presi-dent of the Minnesota League of Municipalities.
The purpose of the grant is to establish a center which will focus upon the study of problems of the smaller urban center; that is, the micro-city, in comparison to the larger centers or macro-cities on which millions have been spent for research on urban problems. This grant or project aims to establish the potential which the smaller outside city might have in the future for the development of graceful living as well as the absorption of the rural and farm drift to the city. This study of local governmental problems will be made of 12 Minnesota communities through interviews and analysis of planning data.
THE INITIAL PROJECT of the
Center will focus on the micro-city as a part of the federal complex. One function of the Center is to act as a catalyst in stimulating research of the micro-city by foundations, colleges, city and state agencies. The manner in which this will be accomplished is through conferences on small city problems at which state and local officials and university researchers will be in attendance. A second round of action will be focused on spot conferences to be held in key local areas in the state of Minnesota both to turn up new problems and to inform local officials of the micro-city plight. Thirdly, research will be conducted on Minnesota cities with populations between 10,000 and 50,000 by the Center. These cities will be from outside the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Teachers and students will be used in the accumulation of data which will be obtained through
independent city interviews and individual analysis of planning data on the small city level. The Center hopes to work in conjunction with other agencies and associations such as the Upper Midwest Research Council, the Agricultural Extension Service, the University of Minnesota, the State Board of Health, the State Department of Urban Affairs and others to accomplish the foregoing tasks and endeavors.
Some of the goals or fruits of the project for which the grant has been allotted are the following: 1) a functioning and continuing Center which will remain dedicated to the study of the much neglected out-state local governments and act as the idea center on micro-city problems. 2) In addition to the pilot nature of the Center for other such projects, this Center will hopefully act as an agent in sharpening all dimensions of micro-city problems for policy-making purposes at all levels within the federal system. In Minnesota this could lead to a joint effort by micro-city officials and give the Legislature a true picture of the needs of smaller cities to have legislative attention if they are to adequately meet future demands and growth needs. Hopefully, the Center will contribute indirectly to better planning and policy-making on the part of better informed municipal officials. 3) Finally, a series of monographs containing the substantive research and conference proceedings will be published in order to be preserved and used in future similar studies and applications to the improvement of the micro-city.
The award was accepted by Father Colman and Dr. Henry at a press conference. Representing the Ford Foundation at the ceremony was Dr. Malcom Moos, President of the University of Minnesota. He was formerly Director of the Government and Public Affairs Section of the Ford Foundation in which capacity he acted as liaison with St. John's.
20 Exchange Students Sample SJU Life
By Jose Ertze
The praised and awaited interim term is now halfway through and already some of the effects Father Hilary talked so much about begin to appear. One of them is the considerable increase in academic cooperation between St. John's and other colleges.
During this month Bennies and Johnnies are enjoying the experience of a coed college and campus. The cherished idea of having one faculty, one student body, and the same facilities for all members of the "twin campuses" has shown by itself all the advantages and disadvantages of the project to fuse both schools.
In the CSCA plane, about 20 Johnnies and six Bennies are out for the interim at some of the other colleges of the association. In turn, Miss Marcia Buhr, from Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, is taking Mr. Redmond's course in government here.
Still another example of inter-college cooperation is the course that Dr. Oliver Olson of St. Olaf College conceived. The course is entitled "Tradition and Experiment in Lutheran and Catholic Worship" and its purpose is to give the 36 participating students a complete theoretical and practical experience of the liturgical forms and their developments in both traditions. Dr. Olson and 19 Oles, mostly sophomores, spent one week at St. John's studying and attending all the monastic services at the Church. Father Aelred with 17 Bennies and Johnnies participated in a similar program and attended the Lutheran services at St. Olaf for one week too.
The reaction of the St. Olaf students was one of full satisfaction because, as they expressed it, the course gave them a true look and taste of Catholic liturgy and life. They felt that the time they spent at St. John's
had a great influence ecumenically and found, as one of them said, that besides some things, both liturgies are the same. As an example, for the Community Mass on Thursday, Jan. 11, the songs were taken from the Lutheran hymnal. No special comments on St. John's as a community were given, mainly because the students were kept very busy and the time was too short.
Finally, in the faculty level, Father Benedict is at Bloomington, III., teaching an interim course to the students of the Illinois Wesleyan University, another member of the CSCA.
INSIDE
Haruspex.........p. 2
The Other Side.....p. 3
Strange Bedfellows • . p. 3 Rats............p. 6
