From ejt1@columbia.edu Sun Mar 7 09:54:43 1999 Received: from mxu1.u.washington.edu (mxu1.u.washington.edu [140.142.32.8]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW99.02/8.9.3+UW99.01) with ESMTP id JAA18012 for ; Sun, 7 Mar 1999 09:54:42 -0800 Received: from bonjour.cc.columbia.edu (IDENT:cu58912@bonjour.cc.columbia.edu [128.59.35.133]) by mxu1.u.washington.edu (8.9.3+UW99.02/8.9.3+UW99.01) with ESMTP id JAA11778 for ; Sun, 7 Mar 1999 09:54:41 -0800 Received: from localhost (ejt1@localhost) by bonjour.cc.columbia.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id MAA04503 for ; Sun, 7 Mar 1999 12:54:40 -0500 (EST) Date: Sun, 7 Mar 1999 12:54:40 -0500 (EST) From: Elias J Theodoracopoulos Sender: ejt1@columbia.edu Reply-To: Elias J Theodoracopoulos To: Classics List Subject: Socrates to the rescue Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Today's New York Times has a long article by Ethan Bronner, titled "For the Homeless, Rebirth Through Socrates," pp. 1 (front page) and 34. Well worth reading, esp. in light of recent discussions here on the relevance of classics in our society. The reporter's incidental opinions, esp. in paragraph 3, are suggestive of why we are a dwindling breed in spite of the fact that we have so much to offer. Below are the initial paragraphs. "South Bend, Ind., March 2-- The students, mostly in sweat shirts and jeans, sit around a long table dotted with soda cans and cookies and consult their highlighted copies of Plato's "Apology." Two professors guide their debate over whether Socrates, on the verge of execution, was arrogant or humble. Outside, the sun sets on the neogothic campus. There could hardly be a more archetypal college scene than this one in the University of Notre Dame's O'Shaughnessy Building, with its seven stained glass windows representing the seven liberal arts, ancient disciplines from rhetoric to astronomy. Yet the 10 students in this weekly seminar fit no typical profile for Notre Dame or any university. They are current or former residents of the South Bend Center for the Homeless, men and women with the weathered features and oblique emotional balances of those who have spent many nights in the streets. It may seem quaint, if not useless, to bring philosophical literature to the homeless, an idea conceived in some pristine ivory tower. But that is not how the students view it. "Those of us in the grip of addiction use this process to rethink our lives," said Michael A. Newton, 50, originally of New York City, who has been homeless for 16 months. "Socrates makes clear that you have to have the courage to examine yourself and to stand up for something. A lot of us have justified our weaknesses for too long a time." ..." The class is taught by F. Clark Power and Stephen M. Fallon. The syllabus includes Billy Budd, The Tempest, and Essays of Montaigne. Photographs on p. 34. There is hunger for our stuff out there, if only we knew how to feed the hungry. --Elias J. Theodoracopoulos .