Here's a piece I actually did for the same professor who assigned that big rough draft and then cleverly changed the due date when I didn't go to class. They're always thinkin'.
The piece is about Rhode Island College's newspaper, The Anchor. It is widely regarded as birdcage-liner; this is unfortunate, as I do not hate the publication. I will agree that it's in desperate need of some excitement. Anyway.
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Upon entering the eerily sterile yet surprisingly homely Special Collections Department of the James P. Adams Library on the Rhode Island College campus, it began to sink in that I was terribly ill-prepared for the Life and Times of a RIC Student Research Project. I was very scatterbrained on the subject; who wouldn’t be, considering the paper could be based on any subject concerning the life of a RIC student for the last hundred and thirty years? With the assistance of staff, I obtained several issues of the college’s Anchor editorial newspaper from decades past and began to skim the pages in an effort to discover anything I could possibly write about for the report. As I read over the articles and opinion pieces of an issue of the Anchor from April 13th, 1960, which contained a report on chapel attendance, my bafflement turned to a sudden curiosity; this particular issue of the Anchor was drastically different than the ones I had perused while on the modern-day campus. I read another issue, the second from October 1st, 1963; again, it was very different from the modern day issue, but it was also notably different from the one only three years beforehand. A third issue, from 1966 and featuring a local politician on its cover, made me think: when compared, how different could the Anchor be in subject matter and format over the course of just six years? Three specific issues would be analyzed deeper than other issues in order to display the differences between the time periods, as well as newspaper format and life on campus.
The first issue viewed was The Anchor from Wednesday, April 13th, 1960. In comparison, the modern Anchor is a much more professional release when contrasted to the older, casual issue from 1960. The language used is very “warm and fuzzy”; most of the articles in the older issues seemed to end with a pointedly humorous (and often very aged) quote. An example of this would be an article detailing an accidental fire alarm at the school’s gymnasium, where scantily-clad female students escaped the glances of firefighters by running outside; the story ends with the line “if the firemen knew what was awaiting them, I’m sure they would have made better time!” Much of the newspaper, like this passage, is written in an almost conversational tone instead of like a traditional newspaper. This is very different in comparison to the modern Anchor, which emulates professional newspapers in its businesslike fashion.
The most notable aspect of the first page would be that it featured what was a weekly statistic on chapel attendance for all of the students at the school; within the group of statistics was a statement suggesting that fewer students use it as a study period and more should respect the event. This was particularly interesting because it seemed like chapel was a required (or at least requested) exercise at the college; upon further investigation, it was discovered that chapel was indeed mandatory for students until it was discontinued in 1962. The concept of required non-secular activity at a place considered now to be rather disconnected from any religion shows the large amount of change that the college has experienced.
One major point of interest within this issue of The Anchor was that of the student government. On the front page of the newspaper was a small image displaying the college’s cafeteria, complete with the rooms’ tables covered in litter. Under the picture is a caption reading “if everyone lit just one little candle, what a bright world this would be; if everyone dispensed just one paper cup, what a clean cafeteria this would be!” Upon further investigation, the image and statement were issued by the student government in their continued attempts to reinforce one of their major points: cleanliness within the school. An article written within the issue commented on the essential unity between the student council and administration in enforcing the cafeteria rules, which included no smoking indoors as well as no books being allowed on tables in order to conserve space. It is very interesting to note the amazing amount of change that the student government has undergone at RIC (then known as ‘RICE’); instead of the major controversies now experienced by the committee of people employed on the modern student government, the biggest part of the student government of 1960 was school pride through upkeep of the grounds.
The rest of the issue had smaller yet interesting stories throughout. A story nearby described how many fraternity brothers from different places of education would be meeting at Rhode Island College for a series of seminars on the future of education in the United States. On the next page, the president of one of these very groups of people wrote into the Anchor to eloquently state his dissatisfaction with how the newspaper gathered its facts, citing the Anchor as mismanaged and inaccurate. This goes against the traditional view of a fraternity because it displays the members as upright and vested in their work as opposed to overly social and, in some cases, nearly crude. Yet another article went over the agenda of a group of students as well as their Physical Education advisor, all of whom were taking a trip to Bermuda; this is an interesting display of faculty-student relations at the time because it shows genuine social interaction between teacher and subject. A final story to be commented on was a lecture given by Dr. John Hope Franklin, who spoke on the subject of how educated men are shying away from visiting the “Barbaric South” due to its ongoing race-related “Negro problem”. For the subject to be addressed in such a blunt fashion was surprising since the professor speaking on the subject was African-American and was unabashedly commenting on the subject of the possibly violent persecution of his own race just over a few hundred miles away; it is also notable to mention that this is just as the civil rights movement was picking up steam.
The next Anchor viewed was from Tuesday, October 1st, 1963. One major article detailed the forming of a faculty government in the ‘RIC Council’, at which major events concerning the staff of the college were decided. An interesting note would be that the meetings of the event could be attended by any staff members not on the council, unless that particular staff member was restricted from entering the meeting by a 3/5 vote. This is an interesting display of a possible straining of relations between staff members at RIC, or a sort of elitism within groups that populated the staff. Later in this issue, the idea of freshman adjustment was addressed, with the concept being that the student index (that is, the lowest grade a student could receive and still solidly attend school) for the second semester of their career was being changed to 1.35 instead of 1.75 due to adjustment problems in the grades of incoming freshman. It was criticized heavily by upperclassmen, their logic being that it would lower the standard of college. The general theme of segregation between groups of staff members as well as students seemed to be much more notable in the 1963 issue than in the 1960 issue.
A notable problem being addressed by the Anchor at this time was, shockingly, the ongoing parking problem plaguing the campus. According to an article, it had “reached a peak”; on the other hand, the college’s acting vice president Dr. Donovan claimed that there was ample space for parking. Maintenance of the campus was also criticized on a large level and an article on the subject made many suggestions, including fixes for the dining hall (which needs to be cleaned thoroughly and must employee people who can be analyzed and reviewed regularly to uphold a proper school image), reinforcing the school’s nuclear fall-out shelter (which protected from radiation and fall-out but definitely not from any sort of blast) and general improvements about the men’s hostel, which was used to house visiting athletic teams. According to articles written in this issue, campus life in 1963 was a problem due to a lack of financial dispersion among things that needed fixing or at least minor support. On that note, the popularization of financial aid for students was mentioned on one of the latter pages of the issue and it came highly recommended by the staff and school. Issues up to this time seemed not to mention much about financial aid or government support of students so this was a notable change of pace.
The final issue to be observed would be The Anchor from Wednesday, March 30th of 1966. An article on the from page detailed the large event of the Christian Association Conference’s creation by Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant members of the student body; its first meeting would be followed by an all-night party and, afterward, a day of religious discussion. This is yet another display of the RIC college life intermixed with non-secular activity and is very interesting due to what seems like a total disconnection to the modern link between the two subjects.
The conflict in Vietnam is never addressed in terms of any opinion piece, but many references are made to it. A small article details how several graduations of Rhode Island College have been awarded Bronze Stars to commemorate their actions during the conflict, and a notice about the Selective Service College Qualifying Test was posted on one of the paper’s latter pages. It detailed the process by which students would have to register for the test, including marking down their fingerprints, and explained that students assumed to be under good standings with RIC in terms of grades would be allowed to finish off the year. The next year would be more of a challenge, however, because students not “up to shape” academically would not be able to register for the 66-67 school year and would default to joining the United States Armed Forces. This can be seen now as a frightening and competitive concept because it rather openly states that students who are not doing well will be sent to war unless they shape up and, even then, they may still not be able to avoid conscriptment.
Further competition between RIC students can be noted in a letter to the editor by Charlene Hall, the Chairman of the Publicity Committee, who spoke out against a dissenting vandal who destroyed a public display on the subject of “students of the month”. The display was created by students on the committee in order to honor the achievements of students who had performed exceptionally well during their time at the school and was only on display for less than two hours before a male (assumedly) destroyed the display and left the remains in the men’s lounge. This is a continuation of what is an increase in student rivalries that has seemed to ramp up from the 1960 issue and onward.
The 1966 issue of The Anchor also shows the first politically-charged opinion piece (without any author name provided) viewed in publication. At the time, West Germany and France wished to sell rights to a steel mill to the city of Peking in China. The writer of the article claims that in doing so, West Germany and France were offending the free world by essentially supplying weapons to those who wished to destroy freedom. China is addressed as a villainous entity, hell-bent on wounding worldwide democracy while France and West Germany are described as unappreciative countries which were basically funded by the United States after World War 1 and wish to only disrespect the country in return. Charles de Gaulle is specifically addressed by the anonymous author as raucous and inappropriate in his basic manner. The fact that there is no discernable author to this piece, matched with the political cartoon next to it showing two figures representing West Germany and France pushing a steel factory toward Peking while the iconic Uncle Sam attempts desperately to push it away, gives a hint as to what the general political views on campus may have been at the time.
A final article to be addressed would be an event description of “Jazz In Church”, where free-range jazz musicians played a session alongside a sermon at the nearby school chapel. The author claimed that the music went very well with the service, allowed it to seem more modern and that the Church may (and should) attempt the event again. This is a stark contrast to the front page of the 1960 issue of The Anchor where students were criticized for not respecting the service solemnly and appropriately.
Without a doubt, comparing three issues of The Anchor has opened many new windows of observation for me in terms of addressing the school’s past. I had no idea that religion played such a major part of the school’s going-ons, or how those very religious practices would eventually change. The student government’s role has changed so drastically over the course of the last forty years, as well; it has gone from a group focused on the cafeteria’s orderliness to a group deciding upon the spending of many thousands of dollars. The problem with parking being as ancient as it seems to be is very humorous in that it is the main gripe that people seem to find with the campus itself. The professionalism of The Anchor itself seems to improve even over the course of six years as the format became less casual and advertisements became more common, but not as blatant and obtrusive as they are now. The changes in The Anchor have not been bad, however; after all, ending every article with a cheesy line certainly doesn’t contribute to quality.
Church services at a college. That's what PC is for, I suppose. I hear it's a nice school.
I'm going back to listening to Scientist - fantastic dub reggae artist, spoil yourself on him. If you read all the way to this point, you're a confusing kind of person.
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