100 Students Democratize Soc Sci 125

Revolution hit the classroom yesterday as the students in Social Sciences 125 voted not to listen to Arthur MacEwan's lecture, to struggle against the University grading system, and to plan future action without the Sectionmen present.

The confrontation began when a dozen of the 100 students attending the lecture approached the stage and asked MacEwan, assistant professor of Economics, to delay his discussion of "Macrotheory Concepts of Surplus and Aggregate Demand." He agreed, left the stage, and watched an informal caucus lead the discussion.

For an hour and a half, students presented grievances ranging from grades to boring lectures to the structure of the course. Many students expressed dissatisfaction, saying that the course, despite earlier promises, was actually just as highly-structured and hierarchically-oriented as others in the university.

Soc. Sci. 125 "The Capitalist Economy: Conflict and Power" deals with radical polities, stressing themes of alienation, education, and socialization. Readings come primarily from Marx and modern radical theorists.

After some time, Stephan Michelson, administrative head of the Education School section, took the floor delivering a brief analogy between factories and schools. Sectionmen, he explained, have to play roles similar to managers,

and students should apply pressure to them just as workers do.

This brought charges of "paternalism" and "red herring" from the dwindling crowd, which soon demanded that the faculty members leave the room. They did, offering suggestions on revolutionary politics as they went.

The remaining group discussed tactics for another 20 minutes, then broke up. Next Tuesday the sections will meet individually for an hour to determine separate policies, then regroup to set the action for the entire group.