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c 10 October 1969 SITUATION INFORMATION REPORT The solution of social problems is the traditional mandate of the social scientists. is rich with postpositional as well as causal theories which may prom- ise eventual long range harmony. size and prophesy, from the "root cause" school, bclieve that first society m u s t understand why and then m u s t employ the technique of artful manipulation in o r d e r to effect a curc of the apriori malady. Hence, the current literature of student revolt Those with credentials to hypothe- New York University's Dr. Louis Feuer finds that the basic problcm is one of generational conflict that can, a t bcst,be minimized. This conflict, that history records as far back as 2700 B. C. , groups generations according to (usually adverse),political and social phe- nomena shared by a common-general age gioup. Currently the w a r and the draft trigger the conflict and group those affected in common intcrest and concern. been the Korean W a r , the depression of the 1 9 3 0 ' ~ ~ etc.. This social malaise, writes Feucr, is minimized during progrcssivc and broad adventurous historical eras when all are involved o$er a relatively long period (industrial revolution, pioneer movement west, etc. ). P r i o r precipitators (in recent history) have San Francisco State's Sam 1. Hayakawa blames the great uni- versal baby sitter, the.T. V. set, for many present pressing problems. In the first eighteen years of life, writes Hayakawa, today's youth spends 22,000 hours.before the boob tube. solved in thirty minutes. He learns that if you're sick you take a pill and presto you're healthy and smiling again. just buy a new c a r or smokc a certain cigarette or use a certain hair grease. The end result is the creation of a generation of impatience with the ihability to .relate-to social reality, seeking simplistic solu- tions and demanding immediacy. He sees complex problems If you wish to be popular Dr. Bruno Bettelheim, University of Chicago educator and psychologist faults emotional development in general and bclicves the expcriencc of today's higher education is not responsive to the psychic, o r for that matter, the practical needs of youth. Bettel- heim believes that although today's student radical le.ader (there would be no movement without leaders) may be alert and. intelligent, . . .- .. --. . . . . . . . - ......