Soc Rel Dept. Authorizes 'Activist' Section of 149

The Social Relations Department yesterday decided to give academic credit to an "activist" section of Social Relations 149: "Radical Perspectives of Social Change."

The decision was made by the Executive Committee of the department--consisting of Roger W. Brown, chairman, and the chairmen of each of the department's four sections--after a meeting with the leaders of the section on "Community Organizing: The Fight for Rent Control in Cambridge."

The committee issued a statement indicating their understanding of the operation of the section, to which the section men have agreed. "We made this interpretation hoping that it is what the section men had in mind," Brown said.

The clarification assures that:

* The section will be led by a member of the Peace and Freedom Party but will not be used as an instrument of that party.

* The major emphasis will be on intellectual content of general social science concepts with field work functioning as an adjunct.

* Students may take part on any side of the campaign or may choose only to observe.

Documents Presented

"We had two complex meetings in which a couple of documents were presented," Brown said. "This is probably what they intended, but we wanted to make our understanding clear," he added.

Brown said that previously the course had not been conceptualized in general social science terms and that it was not clear that students could participate on any side of the campaign.

"The statement's conditions are just what we were going to do anyway," Jack R. Stauder '61, the instructor in charge of Soc Rel 149, said.