Friday, April l6. I965 SCARLET AND BLACK David Lighthourne — letters to Mother Warren the crooks subterranean apartment party got off to a predictably fast start when the host made his enirance with three cases of stolen beer. Casual and .I had been looking for a Good Life all day and were in the process or interviewing Ruga Snell, a recently returned wanderer. No one, in tact, had seen Ruga since he had quit high school and taken oh on a motorcycle tor Gallup, New Mexico. four years ago. Ruga had explained at the tune that Gallup was the only un»American town left in the country. Willi that he had roared out of town that fateful day, goggles, and a black cowboy hat headlong into the wind. Now, as the morn filled with pretty girls and a Rolling Stones record began to play, our conversation continued. ”I believe it was Cervantes who said that all affec- tations are bad, Ruga. why don’t you take nit that cowboy hat?” “Leave him alone, Warren the crock, We're in the middle of an interesting conversation." “I know. I just wanted to tell you that Lhere's a . girl with ratted hair at Llie door who ‘says she's looking for your friend. Should i let her In?” ”Rock stomp, man. That's my good dolly. Send her in." “By the way, Casual, are you ever going to tell me uho that girl is? You've been putting me off too long." “0K. man, but like i can't tell you her name be— cause she's like related to the new president and won't tell me of it either. Now, don't tell her I slipped you the good word, man " “What do you mean, new president? New president of what?" “0! the college, man. They’re gonna announce it pretty soon. New like excuse me, man, before Warren trolls over and hustles my dolly. Later." “That friend oi yours is quite a character. Where did you ever run into him?" “You mean Casual? He just drove into town one day with a carload oi electric guitars and has been living oil the college ever since. I’d like to find out What kind of president they've finally decided (in, but that girl probably couldn't tell me anything anyway. It's quite a thing, you know, trying to find a good college president." “Yeah, I suppose it is. rm waiting for the day when they start choosing presidents tor their pers- pective instead of theu‘ business abilities. That’s the whole problem these days, the way I look at it. Colleges should be kept as separate irom the rest of society as possible. There shouldn’t be any kind of continuity between higher education and pro- fessions or professional training. Colleges should point out things like the fact that the cost of living in our present society is simply too great.” “I know what you mean, Ruga. but I don't know it you're right. it all depends on whether you can find the Good Life inside present society or in some kind oi fringe society." “Well, maybe your new president can answer that." Memphis ‘liberal Cily' Say LeMoyne GrinneIIians (Ed Note: The ioilowing is the continuation or a report trom Le- Moyiio College by Mike Fort and Jim Stephens, Grinnell students who are studying at the Memphis college this semester.) In spite of its proximity to the intamy oi Mississippi, Memphis is a liberal city and most of its citizens are proud of the pro- gress which has been made here. We have experienced only a iew examples of an ardent segregationist belief. Our first encounter was with a white taxi driver of the stats ure of Ichabod Crane, who we asked Without thinking to take us to LeMoyne College. His imr mediate reaction, which is still quite clear in mind, was: "What do y'all want to go to a nigger school like that for?“ When coming back to Le Moyne late one night, we chanced to catch a bus on which we were the only two passengers, The bus driver’s comments on civil rights ran like this: “You probably don't know any niggras. (He recog» nized our northern accent.) They're violent people. How’d .you like to have one for your boss?" What do these people have in common? Fear of a violent, in. tense people. Pride in a loftier culture. which means simply a higher standard of living be- cause of better economic op- portunities. Belief in the con- tention that the Negro is by na- ture crude, brutal, dirty. base. dishonest, inferior. We asked the question, which to us has an obviuus answer: “But isn't the turbulence 0f the Negro a product oi his environ ment? If he had equal employ- ment opportunities, wouldn’t it be different?" But the obviouit is denied. Other questions are answered as if they were being read off the segregationist flash cards. Throughout the conversation there is a painfully apparent lack of reliance upon reason and tact other than personal experience. The only defense offered for segregation is an irrational emotional appeal and a vague reference to a habit of life. There are other evidences of segregation in Memphis, how- ever, Two weeks ago one of the largest churches in the city, the Second Presbyterian Church, with a membership of 3,600 in wealthy east Memphis, opened its doors for the first time to a Negro. The papers reported the event in the iollowing manner: “No one seemed to pay any at- tention to the lone Negro who was in the balcony." However, as a direct result of this event, 200 members quit the congrega- tion to form a fundamentalist Bible group. It is still to be de- termined Whether a mixed group will be allowed to enter the church. As in this church, integration in some other LE MOYNE— (Continued on Page ii) th wan: scuxninno 31mm r-iiih Avenue not long sito and holiest-l the Savoy Plan, so am .nd .nti. ousisd pile of on do si e eomiori. 1t ir going to be knocked down. In no pins will n'u . General Motors rooming Iloure. The Juhnxon Admin noon-an moi: io Anceum‘! tour- ism in th- t/niied Siam Io help our pnymflnh problems. We surreal . slogan: Sue Arno 'ca Be— (on no Wreck m. For a free copy at on