News Release (March 7, 1968)

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RELEASE N E w C OLLE GE SARASOTA, F LORIDA 33578 813 / 355-71 3 1 FOR I}lliEDIATE RELEASE 1-134 -3/7/68 Ref.: Furman c. Arthur SARASOTA--Creativity is a word describing a facet of human capability that is still not well understood. But one New College student--Beatrice Stodola of Marquette, Mich.--is following a course of study in the area, with the help and consent of faculty members. Second-year student Bea Stodola picked "creativity" as a major because more usual fields--like literature and philosophy--seemed to her too structured and uninteresting. "It seemed to me creativity would be as good a major as philosophy and literature," Bea said. "Through the study of creativity, we can learn what life is about, what sort of purpose people have for living." Bea encountered no difficulty from college officials in choosing the unusual major. She noted some students were majoring in other inter-disciplinary areas, like a combination of philosophy and psychology, and explained she was likewise doing work in several different fields. Currently, she is studying psychology in an attempt to under-stand how the mind works. Specifically, she wishes to learn what effect creativity has on both the creative person and on society. more

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NEW COLLEGE -Page 2 Do many people live creatively? "I think there are three kinds of people," Bea saido "Some never go deeply into life, never think about meaning and purpose. A second group does think, but people in this category become cynics. Finally, there are artists, who think, and discover change is possible, and live creatively, even if they aren't really talented." Bea says her own major creative activity is tutoring underprivileged children. She says she tries to encourage them to make up things for themselves rather than following patterns or copying other people. ( "It's difficult to get them to think on their own. They've been told anything they might do can't be good. Like most of us, they think it's safe to do what people tell them to do.v. Besides tutoring, Bea also plays the violin, and occasionally paints or draws. Her future investigations may lead Bea into the area of aesthetics, as well as psychology. Her ambition is to go to the Esselin Institute at California, a school which attempts to increase sensitivity and perception, and there make a study of techniques being employed* After graduation, Bea intends to enter the Peace Corps, but her ultimate ambition is to open a n -age ch.:'"' ; .. -........ h<'"' ..... ...... ... -A--........... 30 -