Pa ge Two flatter anti Ifilark Grinnell, Iowa GRXNNELL COLLEGE a weekly newspaper published eat-h ruddy 0 Committee on Student iuonal Amertls g Service, n Ave., sccoiid class rnnltcr at inc Post office ms. Sub‘criptiun mic stun rcr school .- - by the Grid And w nrown. dial cm H the in of March a, scar. nsrisraum . the colic I> him; In kcmcscntcd fol natiu i ailvoi-u 1" mo. epllcuc blislIL-t: Kt: ik, N. nnlcrcd as New I, Gihiuc Iowa, under Nrncy Panel lull-him “'elty 'oui nul Sumucl itendcrrun o Cnnuell: . ltuii ’ Much Lei-inc . Judr 'l'emzcr George li‘uicst. Jim Ii. limp" Judy I-Imid. sumo Conn The Best Monsters Come In Small Packages Every year about this time Grinnelliails begin acting like Texans. They Illalle blueprints and architects drawings and think BIG. They tall: about floats which don’t actual- ly float but sprawl themselves massively over MacEachroll :eltl during homecoming weekend for the admiration of traditionalists and otller float-crazy people. We wouldn‘t take issue with these big high school ideas if they were ingenious, rather than just expensive, but the eyes of the builders are generally larger than their col~ [ective budgets. The allocated $40 allowance is hardly enough nowadays 'to sucessfully produce a walking, talking, smelling and eat» jug float. Because of the massive and complicated mechanical nature of these monsters, melt creep out at night like young grave llobbel's ill Search of parts for their Franken- steins. These parts unfortunately are often found in the holnesites or property of ollr neighbors, rather than ac- quired from more legal sources This sort of illegal acquisition goes a step beyond just picking up a few nails at the last minute because there isn’t time to get them elsewhere, This kind of acquisition, “kiddies,” is becoming blgvtillle. It is known as stealing, and .lt is definitely otlt of order . , . not nice; it is altogether naughty and one of these days the townspeople and the ,police may spank. Therefore, we would suggest that you desist from il- legal acquisition and the desire for building the larger mane ster,'and start a trend toward more clever bllt smaller lless expensive monsters, Forty dollars ought to be enough ,to build something you have to burn down the next day, if you use your heads. The important thing to remember, it seems, is that there is obviously a place where tradition ends and grand larceny begins. by John Ward Herc, recorded for posterit’ 'e excerpts from some p cards that were mailed from Grinncll, Only the names have been deleted to protect: Dear Mom, I Just can't get over how dif- ferent college is. The people here are not . afraid to ideas. If want round they can and no one Says ally- lliing, except a few scofiers really enio school and i isn't too hard. Ward yet. I've been studying a lot in the library, and I had a date too. i Love. 1 J. Dear Family, Had all hourly today. It was 'a real rough test. I think I passed though, It is what is llcnown as a bear, I hopc I lpassed. Yes, I am still dating ‘Li, she has a lot of other boy friends, though, Thanks for the cookies, but I could use some money though. Smoking about a pack a day. Sometimes i] wonder whether I should be '1] chemistry major after all. There's plenty of time to make a decision though. I don't have to declare a major till I'm a sophomore. . Love, J. Dear Mom and bad, Just a hasty note: Homecom- | ‘Gilic fianitg'nf Situues mg starts tomorrow and some of lhc upperclassmen are invit- ing us to a party. I'll write Sunday. Love, J. Hi: , Boy clid I get drunk this week. Some of the football players had me up to their apartment to have a drink, I had two bourbon cakes, and I could barely walk home We sang all the way and tlicii set. fire to North Yolillker's float. One of the guys 1 was with got fined because he u-icd to set fire to his house president. What wc need are some mcrc libcrals on campus. We’re thinking of [cum ing a group of liberals to pre- serve the sanctity of thc indi- \‘idual, We have nothing to lose but our chains! I cut a class [or day. Nobody goes to all the classes all till: time. Love, 1. Dear Mom and Dad, I madc lhc socccr tcaiiil It‘s really great because all the guys on the team are real lib- eral and open minded. I've started writing poetry in my spare time, You don't really have to study as much as I thought \you would. I was liberal many times today. I’VE JUST WRITTEN THE MOST BEAU- TIFUL POEM. IT'S ABOUT LIFE AND DEATH AND HOW THE TWO ARE REALLY THE SANITY OF STONES Com )1. 8, col. 3 SCARLET AND BLACK Friday. October 6. |96| THE FORUM for DISSEN T by Gilry Hanson, Bill Johnson. Mike Moutross One of C, P. Snow‘s primary contentions in his recent book. “Science and Government," is that a deplorable gap exi. s be tween the scientist and the hue pianist, According to Snow, the scientist has become hopelessly entangled in the confining prob- lems of research; the historian. the man of lcttcrs, the artist, vicw science as a more or less tattered field of study, oltcn ii» relevant to the great human problems (show was placing special emphasis in the non- scicntifically oriented govern nicnt administrator). ‘ Snow’s essay deals with the particular area of mcdcrn polie tics, and lie intentionally sets up the two vcry . opposing groups, the scientist and thc poll. urinn. But in today's intellectual climate wc scc divisions opcn- ing up between all areas of knowlcdgc; our age is the age of the Specialist. In this problem of academics Grinnell is an improvement ovA or many schools. The Engli i major is not entirely ignorant of history and mathematics, the language major is not on- tirely ignorant of history and mathematics and the music major is not entirely ignorant of psychology. But our situation is not ideal. Grinnell’s noble attempt to unily the ’arens of concentration at the freshmairsoplionicrc level with the llumanitieshistorical studies requiremcnt, the science and foreign language requirements, and tlic fine arts and philosophy requirements i mildly effective until such requirements are ful- Iillcd. Then, however, the mean- ing 01 a liberal arts education is often forgoltcn, and each stu- dent pursues his own limited field of study. One would assume that the responsibility for the proper in- lelloctual unification of the stu- dent body would [all on the faculty and that their example would create an atmosphere con- ducive to a meaningfully com- plete, well-rounded education, To a certain extent the faculty crcatcs this otmosphcrc. Intel -departmental comniunico lien is relatively Well developed on campus. The groups of pro— fessors which we notice walking together or sitting in the Union together do not necessarily be- long to the same department and thus would not necessarily have thc same academic cllannelings. But the faculty's relationship with the general student body is far from ideal. Several complaining about faculty participation Because of a lack of articulate conscrvative professors on Campus, the liberal thinking which uiiitcs this fault ty has gone stale and soft. Pro- fessors no longer feel compelled to win the students to their point of View because they in fact have no opposition to corn tend with. We need articulate conservar tires on this faculty, if only to sharpen and clarify the in- tellectual liberars position for the student body, and the in— studcnt organizations are lack of ' tellectual conscrvntivc’s posi- tion, for that matter. Most deplorable, however, is the miserable tactllty rcprcsen tction at our many coffee hot 5 at a time when the prolessols from all the different depart- ments could get together with the students on problems of common interest. "This Slluws a definite apathy and gives the appearance of a very distasteful sort of parcchialrsm. Bcar In mind that whether the faculty is really parochial or not is in]— material if they give this il‘ne pression to the student body. If this type of faculty per- formance continues, it will crip- ple the morale of the school. If a scientist can find no basis for interest in literature, if a psy- chologist cares nothing for the problems of history, than the title of Doctor of Philosophy be- comes a complete misnomer. It seems to me that the sep- al'ationsybetween different areas 01 study within the student cure I‘iculum must be corrected now if Grinnell plans to maintain its reputation as one of Anicr. leading liberal arts colleges. There are signs that these divb sions in the student body are narrowing. . One might cxpecf that the fa- culty would flock to meeting: if only to Seize the opportunity of uniting the college. But less than six professors took the time to attend the coffee hours last week. May I remind all of Grim hell that most of the problems discussed at. a liberal arts school are traditionally relevant to all departments. Bill Johnson Jumps [o [/12 aflil'ol' To the Editor: Tlle talk about this iiow fresh— man class being the best that has cvcr assembled on the grounds of Grillllell is somewhat appall- ing to me. From my vantage point, which is confined to Cowles hall. I scc freshmen exercising their newlound free- dom and individualism at the cxpcnsc of their classmates. They want to become part of the hell without participating in hall‘ functions; they want hall m’cm— bersllip Without carning it. Surely one comes to Grinncll to study and to learn, but oiic‘s education goes tllrtller than book-learnin’. It is nicc to know all about the Iliad and the Odyssey, but it is also nicc to know those with whom you lirc, The freshmen of Crlnnell to- day believe that they can do wliutcvci- they wish without the least consideration o[ the “pre- sumptuous" uppcrclussmen, who at least try to get them into tllc swing of the Grinllell commu— nity. Although lhc restrictions on hall membership have been cast aside on the. thesis that fresh are mature and responsi— ble enough to contribute to their hall. they have failcrl to demonstrate these qualities. They can comply and go through a modified prepping program, or they can abstalu, as most of them do, Then they want the Ilpperclnssmen to make them feel part of the group without cxcrc iig any of their own i itiativo. With this feeling prevailing in the Il'eshmall class, as I see it. nothing but the dormitory sys tcm will collie into effect with the passing of a few more years The only thing left [or the “Old Regime“ of upperclassmen is for them to move into their own "dorm" and let the all-knowing, freshmen jolly-well carry on their book-leornin'. So uppel‘classmen, let us look to South campus for our inspirar tion and put all freshmen in the Norriscs where they will bc one unhcd class carrying on as they damn wcll please without any thing barring them from their studios, In this way, I believe that neither uppel'r or under- classmen‘s feelings will bc hurt by not participating in any “dorm" activities. Jolln Pcclc To the Editor: Thc House UnrAmerican Ac- tivitics Committee — ”To Abol- islll" vcrsus ”To Acclaiml" Is llicrc no middle ground? There are those of us who agree that even if we have only 5,000 Come mullists who have been relegate cd by mass defection to reading a “otioand-a-half weekly" news pnpc there may well be a notcworthy Communist threat from within the country. At the samr time we that the Committee iinqucstioir ably has misinterpreted and mis- informed: has Vlolated civil lib- crtics which are basic to the freedom the Young Americans are organized to defend: has en- goged in myopic flagrwaving and demonstrations which are more probably promoting than defeat- ing internally corrosive Come muism. But is there a realistic nece5r sity for the extreme? Psycho- logically and emotionally we long to be 100 per cent right, Yet. is not the essence of much of our current liberalism the in- telligent willingness to admit complexity, to deal with the whole as composed of Varied ele- mellts? Why fight for abolition of a potentially useful and ncccs- sary organization? to why me tionalize away the very scr- iously dangerous and frighten ing facets of this Committee? Instead of reacting out of fear, as we surely are with either al— tei‘native,,ivhy not rationally and creatively demand restriction and Vision of the. House Unr Ame can Activities Committee to form from it a democratic and effective tool of the govern- ment? In contrast to uncompromising advocacy of abolition, 1,100 inr formed, insistent letters allow- ing and encouraging Congress— men to take this politically prac- ticable stand could have a sig~ niflcnnt effect! Myrna Sumption To the Editor: What. struck me in the eve- ning debate was the complete integrity of both speakers and especially Mr. Lewis’ calm, [ac tional defense of HUAC’s pur— porlcdly slanderous activities. However, the crucial attitude in the auditorium was that of the elderly lady sitting next to mc. Discreditlng even Mr. Harring- ton's statistics. shc evidenced by a sporadic zeal her irrational faith that at least one worthy response to any American di- lemma was an emotional antic Communist stand, As Mr. Hon rington pointcd out, though, in» lelligenf answers can’t lie in an eiitrcncliment or paralyzing paranoiac response to the ad- mittcdly perplexing problems America is now facing (even my home church is now contem< plating a bomb shelter for their next large project). I would hope that democracy is not now so intellectually bankrupt as to be forced to take up such a useless, disabl- ing banner cs emotional anil- Communism Amcricn is now facing, I feel, a challenge to stand on basic civil rights and exercise a flcxrbilily of approach to tlle world situation inherent in n free system and seemingly lacking in Mr. Lewis' negative conservative cthic. Curt Lamb