Joan Baez swings into town this week, attracting throngs of long-haired older fans along with the ghost of the socially-active sixties.
But recent tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes and mudslides are showing her can-do spirit didn't end with the passing of tie-dye. College students today are contradicting the lazy, apathetic and disconnected stereotypes frequently thrown on them. Students are getting involved.
On the Tufts campus, many students have been participating or coordinating efforts to reach out to the people in Louisiana and Mississippi affected by Hurricane Katrina. From organizing benefit concerts and auctions to holding pot luck luncheons, selling beads and creating Web sites, the students at Tufts contradict the designation "apathetic."
"Youth today are involved in different ways than the youth of the '60s and '70s, and the reason they are engaged in different ways is because the circumstances of action have changed," sociology Professor Susan Ostrander said.
Other educators agree. "I think there is a big difference in tactics today - certainly, students are not taking over buildings and shutting down the University," said Professor Molly Mead, who teaches in the University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS).
"Part of [the reason for] that is that today the emphasis is more on the action part of it - students are becoming more pragmatic," Mead said.
Mead teaches the Experimental College course "Innovative Non-Profits." Students were able to use their skills from the class pragmatically after Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana. Junior Sonja Good Stefani organized "No Shoes, Just Stuff to Use," a campus-wide drive for supplies. Seniors Daniel Stuckey, Jason Karp, Jordan Marton and junior Nick Haslett started studentsdonate.org, a Web site that collects funds and channels them to different relief organizations.
Many other students are looking to raise quick cash to benefit the needy. Musically-oriented students on campus have been hosting jam sessions.
Senior Jon Dimsdale helped the Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS) put together benefit concerts, both in Cohen Auditorium and off-campus at Johnny D's, a restaurant and bar in Davis Square.
"In the days after the hurricane and after receiving Bacow's e-mail about reaching out, the concert was the first thing that came to my mind," Dimsdale said. "Everybody who played at the concert was really eager to [participate]. I asked a few people in the a cappella groups and they were interested right off the bat."
Sophomore Jahn Sood, another student musician, donated a cut of his CD sales for the month of September to hurricane relief organizations.
"As a college student, I can't really go out like a working person and give money, but as a musician, I can play," Sood said. "We could go play at a church and have a bunch of people giving a little - like $3 - but added together it becomes a significant amount of money."
Students have also been working on long-term efforts. LCS Volunteer Vacations will be sending trips to the Jackson, Miss., area this winter. The trips have attracted record levels of interest.
According to senior Alexandra Kramer, one of the Volunteer Vacations organizers, the room was "packed" at an informational meeting, and she has been receiving at least two e-mails per day on the subject.
Though Hurricane Katrina has been on the minds of many students, and has thus been the first place people are looking to donate their services, it has also drawn out the humanitarian side of Jumbos on campus.
For example, while studentsdonate.org was initially created to rebuild the areas affected by Katrina, it will be used in the future to capture student power to respond to similar humanitarian problems.
Sophomore Rida Bilgrami created a Facebook group called "Earthquake Relief Effort" to provide relief for Pakistan. Although the earthquake in Pakistan received significant media coverage, Bilgrami feels that non-Pakistani students on campus could benefit from more information.
"It was all over BBC and CNN, but I think a lot of people didn't know about it," Bilgrami said. "We want people to get involved and realize that this is not just a South Asian thing, it's not just a Muslim thing - it's a humanitarian issue, and we need to help in any way we can."
The group has planned a candlelight vigil for Tues., Oct. 25 and a bake sale on Wed., Oct. 26.
According to political science Professor Michael Goldman, a big obstacle to continued relief is the "bubble effect" of increasingly specialized media, which isolates people from world events.
"Before, when you only had three channels, by the very nature of only three
choices, you were going to bump into things outside of your particular interest," he said. "Now, you could go forever and not know anything about anything other than what you started off with, your initial interest."
Some students are skeptical that the newfound activism will continue.
"I think people have already forgotten about [the hurricane]," Dimsdale said, adding that he would like to see further community service activity on campus during the semester. He suggested taking a percentage of food sales from the Campus Center Commons, Hotung Caf?© ?r Bookstore one day or setting up a drive would be good ways to continue fundraising efforts.
Other students, though, have faith in the continued active citizenship of students. "We live in a time where if you have the means, why wouldn't you?" Kramer said.
