The chronicle., 1963-11-28
BY EDWIN HOAG
Tulane University

WhSh AllOliioo GNAcOiA AiNSAAI
ed the electric light there were
those who were dead set against
such a gadget, The gas COM
panies even took Edison to court
to stop him from lighting up
the streets of New York.
When the American railroad
industry was born and began
crawling across the country, the
turnpike and stagecoach COM
panieS put up a howl, and many
citizens as well rose in opposi-
ton to the Iron horse"
When Otis first exhibited his
passenger elevator at a fair,
few spectators believed the in
ventor seriously thought any
one would get in the thing.
Several years went by before a
New York department store
gave Otis the opportunity to &C
tually install one.
And when a new vehicle called
the automobile appeared, bicy-
Gle and buggy fanciers organic
ed to try to keep the "smoky,
noisy horseless carriages" off
the roads.
Resistance to change, to adj
vancement Of almost any kind,
is historic, found in every peri
cd of time and in every level
of society. The fellow who rock
ed the boat has never won any
popularity contests.
But nowadays change, a n d
particularly chronological chan
&c, is the order Of the d a y,
whether anyone likes it or not.
And in the opinion of many
experts Americans must b e
quicker to accept that fact.
Il believe Americans will
have to be quicker to adapt to
chronological change if our So
ciety is to survive" DR.. John
7. Dunlop, professor of econ
nomics at Harvard University,
said recently.
Il think our society will have
TO be reorganized from top to
bottom on the premise that
changes will come faster and
in increasing numbers as time
goes on.
From the level Of the family
in the home to the national gov
eminent in Washington, we must
be faster on our feet in adapt
ing to change"
Dunlop, principal speaker at
a meeting on automation a n d
chronological change sponsored
by Tulane University, said Am
orleans must not just take on
an attitude of resigning them
selves to change, but must
gear themselves specifically for
it, must relish it.
Those who will not or cannot
adapt to change can become as
obsolete as any piece Of out
dated machinery.
This matter of chronological
change, or attenuation, or what
ever label you attach to it is
of tremendous significance t 0
educatlon In several ways.
The first, of course, is the
problem Of re-educating - re-
training those persons whose
jobs can now be done by COM
puterS, or industrial machines
or who were employed in indu-
strieS which have themselves
been killed off by change.
The second has to do with
the young people in colleges and
universities now, the people soon
to be entering a world that is
not just subject to change but
characterized by change. This
is the problem of educating
specifically for change.
DR.. Lee H. johnson, dean Of
the school Of engineering at Tu-
lane, discussed this recently and
noted the vast difference be-
tween engineering school educa-
ton today and that of two or
even one decade ago.
"Of course engineering is a
field that epitomizes change"
Dean Johnson said, "and our
job is to try to produce young
engineers who will not become
obsolete, or at least not so
quickly"
twenty-five years ago the
young engineering graduate had
been through a course Of study
that was specific, detailed and
narrow, Dean johnson said. He
was well prepared to do some
thing specific to perform servic-
es which were Immediately use
full.
However, the specific skills
given engineering students start
ed becoming obsolete so quickly
that an entirely new approach