Friday, March 6, l9“ Graduating Class Bequeatlis Heritage 0! Challenging Attitude Toward Rules To the Editor-x Although it is too early in the year to become sentimental about the inevitably emotional ritual of graduation, it is not too early to take notice of what the passing of the class of 1964 will mean for this institution. With mixed emotions we are now witnessing the withdrawal from student government of the spokesmen of the class of '64 and their replacement by a new class which promises to be different. The alumni, I am told, are more anxious to see this class leave and would move heaven and earth to see that nothing like us happens to this school again. What sort of people were we that we have earned such ill favor? The class of 1899 left us the Women’s Gym; What, if anything,’ is the heritage of the class of 1964? First, I believe it is proper to speak of the class as an identifiable entity, because, though this year’s student gov- ernment was only representing student opinion as a whole, much or the time, they were by far the most articulate and con- sistent forces for rules reforms in the recent history of the cob lege. As a group the class, and particularly its leadership, can be describe we were vocal. we were pol cal and (some~ what less) legalistic, we were idealistic, we held very liberal moral beliefs and we were self< centered. Does this constitute a heritage? Apparently it does Students in American colleges have al« ways chafed at restrictions on their freedom of action, but the traditional response has been a blend of smothered resentment and covert disobedience. Stu- dents have not admitted that college rules actually had the ethically binding character of a fundamental moral law; vio- lation of such rules was only a crime When you were caught. The contribution of the class of '64 was a new, “experimen- tal" attitude regarding rules which was at once moralistic, idealistic, and responsible and a new conception of student as a political instrument of reform. Peter and Jack told us that a rule was a thing we ought to obey, and if obeying it proved noxious the only responsible re- course would be to write a new rule. The alternative for continu- ing to beg the question with in- stitutionalized hypocrisy (by an intentionally inefficient rules enforcement system) hardly 'seemed attractive The student body responded, to the amaze- ment of many, by electing the most articulate portion of 1964's “beatnik horde" to the highest office: in student gov- ernment. What then is the legacy of these people? Despite the unan- imous criticism of the Chapman regime by those seeking his of~ fice, every platform contains the planks of rules reform and moral commitment to rules. What is new, we see, is the “attitude" which our new leaders will manifest while cone tinuing the work of the old guard, The new leaders will wear smiles and more accept- able haircuts, but they under- stand their offices in those same terms which their prede- cessors formulated, There is one change in em- phasis, however, which seems both notable and regrettable. The plank of responsibility met with student opposition while the plank of reform met with administrative opposition. Of the two, the administration (along with those mysterious foes, the alumni) proved the more resistant. What we now see is a new student commit» ment to the old, obnoxious rules. To make matters worse, our efforts at publicizing our cause have put the administration and their policies very much on the spot, with the effect that they now respond from impa~ tience and from an understand- able reaction to outside pres- sure, College students of the late 1950's are already called the “apathetic" or “silent” gener- ation. If we were self-centered and academically disinterested, we were certainly not silent on the issue of personal freedom The leadership of this class, moreover, was sincere in its conviction that it’s beliefs were morally defensible; it labored to develop a concrete “student ethic" to justify its moral stance. This ethic, insofar as any single ethic existed, claimed that all decisions of morality were “up to the in- dividual" unless they affected someone else's rights. The most sophisticated statement’of this philosophy is found in the En- campment Report, specifically in the report from the commit- tee on “student responsibility." The best embodiment of the philosophy in 3 rules system is found in the same report under the Committee on rules. The strain Of idealism has succumbed wholly to frustra- tion. The recent notorious open rooms oath was signed by many who saw nothing Wrong with taking “any" approach to the administration, "so long as it works," The idealogical as- sault did not get results; it is hardly likely that an opportun- ism which lacks Conviction will succeed. ’ Cynicism‘and disinterest are the dominant moods of the stu» dent body now, The political ex- periment clearly fizzled. Yet as- piring student leaders, despite disappointment with the Chap- man administration’s inability to produce the sought reforms, are unable to reject the politi- cal approach to the rules prob- lem, ' So Where do we stand with respect to last year? Relations with faculty, trustees, admin- istration and alumni are con- siderably deteriorated.‘Students are enforcing rules they con- sider obnoxious. The political approach to rules, having failed, remains the dominant self-conception of student gov— GROOM’S LETTER— Continued on Page 7 SCARLET AND BLACK Page Three Tom Follmer Miscellany and Digression Next Tuesday the first big political contest of the year will take place The New Hamp- shire primary, which will pro- vide the first contest for the Republicans in search of their party’s nomination, has ale ready displayed some fascinat- ing aspectsr There are so many candidates in this primary that for the first time in history it might be possible for the can- didates to outvote the elector atel Polls indicate that Nelson Rockefeller is.leading the race so far. Happy recently made a pitch for teen-age support by endorsing the Beatles as a good singing group, Rockefeller claims that his leading oppo- ncnt, Barry Goldwater, is against social security. Gold- water says this is not true at all; that he just doesn’t want anybody to receive social se- curity payments unless they are holding down a full time job, Richard Nixon wants it firm- ly understood that he is not a candidate for the nomination. And to get his point across, he has been carrying out na- tionwide speaking tours in- forming Republican organiza- tions of this fact. Supporters of Governor Scranton suffered a severe jolt when it was learned that presently he cannot even carry his own family Henry Cabot Lodge may set all distance records by run- ning from Viet Nam Lodge, however, is expected to be back in the States sometime in April. His plane leaves after the next: coup. Supporters of George Romney are working on a plan to annex Mexico some- time before the Republican con< vention. Margaret Chase Smith is apparently making a play for the early vote by beginning her campaigning each day at 6:30 in the morning. So much for the minor can- didates. Now we come to the real candidates, the people who have devoted their entire lives to politics, the professional can- didates. There is some question as to whether it is fair to place Harold Stassen in this category. since he once held an elective office. Most observers, how- ever, feel that he has long since paid for that mistake. Stassen belongs to that select group of 500 Republicans whom former President Eisenhower has urged to run. Last and certainly least, is Lar “America First” Daley, perhaps the greatest profession- al candidate ever to have the honor of not being elected Mrr Daley, who campaigns in an Uncle Sam’s suit, has been turned down more times than an old bedspread. In fact, losing elections has become too routine for Mr, Daley, Lately he has tried to vary the routine by getting eliminated before the election, Recently, as in New Hamp- shire, he seems to be unable to file petitions of candidacy which conform to the law. But never} fear. There is al- ways the write-in vote. How- ever, if the voters writedn the initials of Lar “America First" Daley, one might be able to question their seriousness, Peter Miller Sanity ot Stones Ernst Aust, editor of a week- ly newspaper in Hamburg, West Germany has been sen- tenced to a year in jail for writing articles against the re- armament of Germany and for peace and military neutrality Officially the charges against Aust, the editor-publisher of the peace oriented Blinkfeuer, are “endangering the state,” “in- suiting the federal govern« ment,” and “supporting the Communist Party.‘ ’ \ During a three month trial that ended January 6, the pros ecution “proved" that Aust consistently endangered and in- sulted the government since 1956 by writing untirrearma- ment articles. Aust’s “support of the Communist Party," which incidentally is outlawed in West Germany, was proven through the following rather subtle form of reasoning: The Communist Party, it is ”widely known," advocates peace and disarmament; thus by simple extension, anyone, in this case Aust, who favors these goals is obviously ”lending sup— port to the Communist party." Aust, who was a paratrooper during the Second World War, recently wrote that as a result of his military experiences, “I swore that I would never again acquiesce in the misleading of a whole generation of German young people.” Blinkfeuer is still being published as the edi- tor appeals‘the cases Here’s a story with a some- what “happier endingr” About a year ago Talmadge Balsar, of Delaware, was convicted of stealing in Wilmington by Judge Stewart Lynch to 25 years in j 'l and 20 lashes to be administered during a public whipping. Last November the State Supreme Court ordered Judge Lynch to resentence Bal- sar~not on humans grounds, to be sure, but because the origi- nal sentence was invalid since the judge had neglected to set a specific date for the whip- ping, as required by Delaware law, In the interim period. it ap- pears that the judge’s con- science became operative, and in resentencing Balsar January 7 the judge decided to reduce the prison term to 15 years and the public whipping, which took place January 28, to ten lashes. Plans are now being made for the 1964-65 French House, Any girl interested in living there should contact Victor Verrette (French) or Carolyn Halftei' as soon as possible. From The Audience A review of the play. “The Tidings Brought to Mary,” presented by the Grinnell Col- lege Players February 22 and 23. By Sam Schuman ”The Tidings Brought To Mary" is a peculiar and diffi- cult play It attempts to pre- sent a Christmas miracle, without becoming a Christmas miracle play, Claudel has achieved this purpose largely through characterization. He has made Violaine, the central character of the play, a saintly human being, but not a saint. Mara, Who should be the evil sister is, in her way, admirable, and, in the final scenes of the work, pathetic, Thus Claudel has avoided simplemindedness and created a complex and worthwhile piece of drama, But this factor of literary subtlety becomes a matter of great theatrical difficulty. Gretchen Geyer as Violaina was forced to attempt to pro< sent a character whom the audience could accept as both a human being and a miracle worker, Miss Geyer success- fully created this demanding part. This success was due in large part to the honesty and simplicity in both her speech and movement, The role of Mara, played by Sue Monro, also seemed quite well done Despite her entrance as the wicked witch of the West (an entrance demanded by the play), Miss Monto gave us a Mara who was, in her own words “a naked sword," which is a far cry from the bloody axe which might have been forced upon us by a lesser ac» tress. Keith Felton, as Jaques the knife~throwing farmer, played quite well Claudel’s character whose feet are planted so firm- ly in the soil that he is con- fused by anything more spirit~ ual than crop rotation The fact that no one left the theatre during the long and dif. ficult prologue is sufficient praise for Ken Freedman’s pre sentation of Pierre de Craonr Terry McCoy as the father was particularly outstanding in Act 1, scene 1. Although the technical as< pects of the show, designed by Mr. William M,,Sherman of Bennington, were superb, we are rather saddened and ashamed to think that Grinnell must have outside support, both intellectual and financial, to de« cently stage a show which was otherwise competent, exciting, and worthwhile. Oellie Is a Baylor Guest M Medical conference William Oelke, Dodge profes- sor of Chemistry and chairman of the college's committee on premedical education, was I recent guest at Baylor Univere sity College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where he took part in a conference on “The Education of a Physician."