Word: co-op
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...These rules were formulated, of course, to ensure impartiality and prevent abuse of power. But they also provide an opportunity for special expertise, in just the way that Berawan adatlaw is the preserve of the noblemen. Adat is a word meaning everything from religious observance to interpersonal etiquette. The co-op also has its adat, as is clear enough when one hears an older member explaining to new recruits the way things used to be done. An appeal is being made to our own cult of the ancestors. The older members, by telling this lore, claim moral descent from...
...other criteria also enter into the choice, such as pleasantness of manner and perhaps the ability to write. The tua kampong is primarily an intermediary between the longhouse and an external political power that has no place in the traditional organization of Berawan society. The resident tutor at the co-op is likewise a representative of an outside and alien power, Harvard's housing system. The egalitarian ideology of the community has no place...
...formal internal organization of both communities consists of a committee selected by the residents. The day-to-day running of the co-op is in the hands of four elected officers: the steward, whose job it is to buy food and arrange cooking, the job chairman who assigns cleaning duties, the treasurer and the president. The committee of the longhouse is selected by unanimous decision at a house meeting so as to represent every major faction in the village. There are no special portfolios. Instead, the committee jointly takes responsibility for corporate house activities. On major ritual occasions they must...
...aristocrats and the old members applies equally well to the committee, especially as the two loci of power tend to overlap. In both societies the effectiveness of individual committeemen varies enormously from individual to individual. But it must be conceded that the committee is far more important at the co-op than in the longhouse. The reason for this is that the latter consists of many families, each of which is a unit of production and consumption, while at the co-op house all cooking is done on one hearth and everyone relies heavily upon the steward to make sure...
...wooden building extending along a river bank and raised up on stilts. It is a jungle metropolis containing between 200 and 400 souls and humming with activity. It is also a military complex, for the days of headhunting are not so far distant as to have been forgotten. The co-op house also manages a siege mentality at times, since we are even more prone to vandalism and burglary than the average Cantabrigian. Its structure also consists of wooden buildings--two large and charming old frame houses. Although our total population of 35 undergraduates and two tutors does not compare...