Page Two SCARLET AND BLACK Friday, February I9, was Scarlei' and Black GRINNELL COLLEGE Grlnuell. lawn A weekly newspaper published each Friday of the c i icgc year by the Grinnefl comniiuee on Student Publl trolls. Represented for national advertising by National Ad- vcnising Service, inc, College Publishers Representative, 18 ruin 50m Sui-cl, New York 22, MY. secciin class pust- nge paid if Grlnrlell, Iowa, Subscripllon mm $5.00 per school year. has: paid subscriptions. John wnir nmld Fuson nob nuclei-he, Sue Tayior Wayne Stengel Sieve caicv Tom Hurlnian Assocmre EDXTORS FEATURE EDITOR . . , SPORTS EDITOR ,. . . new PHOTOGRAPHER EXCHANGE EDITOR ,, Sm hey cincuumoN MANAGER nnuicr ivivhmuu Par-I Clay, Anne Farrer, nick Chilly, Doug Meanrmuc, . curaiu Goddard, James Herzog, Alan Axelrod cleii Ashmon, Kris Nasli, Jcauuuc Man, Connie si , xnren niiimm, Simon Sncumaker . Mlke heroic, John Phllllps, Steve Shender Sue Bamulst, Carol Jensen, E|len Werllick. Ami Simonsen, n nnlscinw, nniy Rossmnll, karen Summers, Donna Kolllairie Car“ Dugan, Janice sahl SPORTS nzronrens Dick Lav i Nick Nouns. rnui Trig: BUSINESS sure . ., . Mliui Mada”, Susi" Win xerou'rsus PHOTOGRAPHERS COPY srnrr Locks for Women's Doors Following last week’s quad break-ins and the revelation that there had been 17 thefts in the first 12 days of February in the quad, the 5&8 began searching for answers to why the quad is so vulnerable to such incidents and what was going to be done to relieve the problem. We learned that in an effort to discourage entry along the loggia roof, Buildings and Grounds is considering a temporary proposal for lighting the loggia area more thoroughly. Ac- cording to Evan Walden, director of the physical plant, “lights are the first step to deter anyone fooling around over there.” We had considerably less luck in finding out what measures were being taken to protect the quad from internal thievery. We found that at one time all doors in the residence halls had locks, but that they were removed in the 19405 with the initiation of an “honors system.” It was later realized that north campus was particularly vulnerable to outside break-ins because of its open loggia, so locks were gradually installed in the men’s halls about six years ago. Supposedly, no locks were installed on south campus because of the protection of its locked loggia. The situation has remained the same until the present, but ' cent incidents point out that the quad isn’t as safe from stealing as had been thought. The question of locks for rooms in the quad has again presented itself. Vice President M ~ritt Ludwig, when interviewed this week, knew of no specific reason for not having outside locks on rooms in the women’s halls, but he did note that ‘the deci- sion has never been made on the basis of cost." (Walden esti- iinated that locks would cost from eight to ten dollars per oor.) Dean of Women Jean M. Slocum had no comment to make about locks other than that she knew of no present policy for not having locks. When questioned about the situation on north campus, Dean of Men S. Eugene Thompson said that there has not been much Stealing in the men’s halls. Thompson also said that about 250 men have checked out keys for their doors this year. Acting President James H. Stauss said this week that he was unaware of any great demand for locks, but he added, “If the students, through student government agencies, wish todmalée requests concerning locks, they will be promptly con» 51 ere ." ‘ The demand for locks has been voiced. The AWS Board issued a statement urging the installation of outside locks on all room doors in the quad. The Student Senate has unani- mously passed a resolution asking the college to provide locks on room doors in the women’s halls. Although installing locks might be a negative and “dis- honorable” method of approaching the problem of stealing, it nonetheless seems to be the only method that can cure the situation. it was pointed out during our interviews that stealing is a problem even in colleges where doors have locks; but with locks on the doors, women at least would have an effective means of protecting their property when a rash of burglaries breaks out. _ _ Nor sliouldrthe vague fear that locks will create an “arti- ficial coldness.” iii the quad be used as an excuse for not pro- viding proper protection. The S&BAjoins the AWS Board and the Student Senate in urging speedy installation of locks on room doors on south :ampus. Gerald Goddard Preface lo the Coming War For the fifth time in its history the United States is going to war over a principle that has no foundation in political reality, It is un< derstandable and perhaps desirable in the Con— text of the containment policy that the U.S. should somewhere take a stand against the un- ending Communist advance. But the point where the line is drawn should coincide with favorable geographical, political, and military factors. South Vietnam, with its impenetrable jungle and fragile government, fulfills none of these basic conditions. The U,S. should have learned from the French experience that Vietnam is impossible to defend. Nationalist guerrillas, striking from the cover of the population, cannot be defeated by conventional military strategy or superior military force of numbers. Rather, the senti- iments of the population that protects the guer- rillas must be turned against them. In this, democraticcapiialisi appeal has been remark- ably unsuccessful. The character of our response to the Com- munist challenge has actually violated our own purposes. By opposing liberal ideas With dicta- torial, righcwing governments, like that of Diem, we have enhanced the Communist ap- peal. One wonders whether support of more liberal governments might have been a more effective strategy. By going into Vietnam when the national government broke down, U.S. policy further damaged its ideological appeal by putting us in a colonial role. At the present time We control the foreign, military, and economic policy of Vietnam, if not the government itself. This has played right into the hands at the carry—over antl-colonialist sentiment and die Communist propaganda attack, The nature of the Vietnam war further no cents our hopeless position there. Finally rea~ lizing we could not defeat the Viet Cong guer- rillas in file south. we have carried the war to the north with repeated air Strikes. At first glance this policy may seem reasonable since our greatest strength is in the air power ofthe seventh fleet rather than ground forces. How— ever, we must realize that by expanding the war in this way, we are inviting retaliation by the Communists using their major strength in land forces. This could be in the form of a mas- sive invasion of South Vietnam by combined North Vietnamese and Chinese troops. We cannot discount the vital interest of China in the security of North Vietnam. To this point they have given only indirect assistance to the Viet Cong, but should U.S. attacks on the north continue, we can expect them to play an expanding role. The United States would not tolerate Cuban attacks on Nicaragua even though we have used that country as a base of attack on Cuba. Similarly. we must not think that China will stand by While we attack one of its bordering countries. The crucial factor that foretells the coming war is the nature of the U,S. commitment. Dis~ regarding the fundamental strategy of always leaving yourself and your enemy a face-saving way out, we have essentially closed the door behind us by staking our prestige on victory in Vietnam. Thoughts of a negotiated selflement at this point are illusory. Our enemy will not go to the conference table as long as he is winning in the field and we will not negotiate from a position of weakness. ' The Korean example bears out this point. Negotiations were only possible when the mili- tary situation was stalemated, But such a solu- tion is not possible in Vietnam, because the conflict is not taking place in the Same element. While we attack the North from the air, our enemy attacks the South on the ground. A footnote to this situation is the possibility that recent defense pledges by Soviet Prime Minisienifusygin could mean material and tech nical aid in air‘deiense to North Vietnam. This might seriously limit our effectiveness in the air in addition to injecting immediate So- viet interest in 5.13. Asian developments. A further implication of the Vietnam war is its effect On the division in the Communist bloc. Although We will know more clearly after the all party congress in March, there is reason in believe that U.S. escalation of the war has gin en the Chinese and Russians the common ground needed to soften, at least temporarily, their basic ideological differences. in short, going to war (in South Vietnam) over South Vietnam is not worth the cost, It is a war we cannot win. If we are going to stand up to the Communist advance, we should do it at n time and place Where there are reasonable chances of success. Paul Roberts Roberts Rules Of Disorder One morning, when if was very dark and very cold, i received a cryptic little note in my mallv box from my editor. He wished, it seemed, w talk with me. “Paul," he said when I arrived at his cluttered, businesslike office. “Paul.” he said again, r9< peating himself in a manner not uncommon in high- ranking executives. “l’ve been reading your col< umn.” I was flattered. “But Paul,” he said care- fully, “I'm worried about yaur column." “Well, that makes two of us," i told him flippant- ly. “I’ve been worrying about this week’s column. i thought I might do this little piece on dancing and the way . . ." He cut me off. “Paul, you just don’t seem to grasp the purpose of a column. Now what do you think a column is for?" He‘s an awful pedanr, full of a lot or silly ques- tions like that. “Entertainment?" 1 ventured. “No,“ he said wearily. "Information?" “No." “Filler?” “You're gelling closer." “All rlglil, i give up. What's a column for?” “Paul," he condescended, “It's for attack. You must never let anything get in the way of your main purpose, attack! Now take ciu-l's last col» umn. Did you read it?" "Oh, yes. I read eVEI‘ylllmg in ilie 5&8!"- “Now he attacked something. Did you take care- ful note of the breadth of his generalizations, the depth of his hatred? it had substance and point of view and other good things a column should have.” I was hesitant. “Well , . ." "Or, for example, take Lighthourne's column of a few Weeks ago. The one where he attacked the director of the Forum, Did you take note of the Vicious way he [Dre Into a defenseless woman who obviously had nothing but malice in her heart u» wards college students? Didn’t you think it was awfully clever and mature of him the Way he ripped her apart? The Work of a true intellectual. Right?” “Well, as a matter of fact . r ." “That's what I want from you, I want vicious- ness, haired, bigotry. narrow-mindedness, and a:— rogance like our other columnists. That's what I expect from you. Now you go out and work on fhat." And he went back to his more important business. Now as a genei‘alrtype rule I'm not Vicious, hate- ful, bigoted, narrow~minded. or arrogant, but an order from me Top is an order from the Top and who am I, a lowly writer, to argue With the Top? I spent some time looking for a topic that l could approach wuh Viciousness, hatefulness, ef alia. Well, like I said, normally I'm not lllal way so I needed to select something that would make my job easy. i did. 1 think 1'” start writing about S.G.A.