Page Fourteen soldier ANo'ntACk Letters . . . Crosseti Investigates Complaints About Unreal Nature of Grinnell To the Editor: In the last issue oi the son an» pedr two expressions of a notion so common among undergraduates Hand their parents — as to ha of some importance. Both writers, l\1r. Roberts and Miss Brusl, echo the facile complaint that life on the Grinnell campus is not “real". The charge is an easy echo of the ramiliar phrase, “When you get out into the real world . . 1 think that the notion needs looking into. it has both truth and talsity in it, as do most coin- inon notions; perhaps analysis will reveal. if not the percentage ot each, at least hat the truth and ialseness are. i easons tor think» ing such analysis important at this time are more complex than 1 cm! go into here, where space is, i am told, at a premium, and so i siiall hope that perceptive read cis will be able to deduce the critical circumstances [hilt Im- pclled me to such a letter now. First, one must admit that lite here is as real as it is anywhere else uhere people congregate, whether that place be a club, a Jail, an asylum, a party, a hospital, a congress, or any other institution. The passions exist here — Jealousy, love, hate, fear; the business of lite exists here—~Vvurk, plot, caucus, struggle for power. The stakes are not generally so high as in “real" lite, as a role, we do not die when we tail, nor are we in positions to lntiict death when we win, But for this “defect" we may he grate rul. Anyone who knows anything about life on a college campus, among faculty, students, or even the administration, knows that melodramas and tragedies as well as iarces and comedies are to be round everywhere; and so are the lotless improvisations that pass or drama in the modern theater. Complains, then, about the un- reality of l at college are inace curate; living people inhabit and manage colleges, and that iact a. lone miarantees the reality or lite here. There is, however, some tiuth to the charge that lira here is un- real. And for this, too, we may be ratetut 1r college were exactly ike socalled ”real" lite. it could not do its ioh. As it is a real job, i suppose that it is real life, too. Yet this real job is to make life unreal. Unless students cooperate —for college is a voluntary activia ty‘the job cannot he done. So students must be willing. ior four- years, to engage in lives of deli- berate and calculated unreality, A» long with the faculty, and even the administration, they must fore- go as much of "real" life as they can; they must delimit their pas- sions and speak with an honesty which the so-called ”i‘eal'Y world cannot hear. Yet we must not con~ temn the “real" world, for it has built the garden and. tower that we call a college. It. has enabled stu- dents and teachers to withdraw into it for {our years—the four most formative years of the mind’s life—so that all of reality, ranging from fantasy to brutality, can be examined critically, dispassicllale- 1y, analytically. The “real” World has stocked this gardell-culn-towel‘ with great libraries and with arms able and cultivated men, though on this last point we must allow for the degree of “real” \vorldliness present even in faculty members. Students are supposed to live, at their own accord. ill the garden and to abide by the rules of its na- ture. oiily it tl y do can they ever ground their pl losophies and their knowlctlgeo firmly enough to move into and manage the “realH World successfully. If they refuse, if they are off picketing, ig to topple govern- ments, bui ing oli-art cards, male ing snide remarks, engaging in for» nication, vandalism, di’ugraddictiofl, alcoholism, laziness, they will find, when they reach the real "real” World, that they are woefully uur prepared for it. The college is a reality in the midst of the “real” world and it must be met realisti- cally. Students who snipe at its unreality siinply railto face up to reality. John Crossett (Classical Languages) Argonne Institute Seeks Appliccr nts Details of the Argonne Semes- ter, spring or fall, 1966, have been released by the Argonne National Laboratory and LaVeme Durkee (biology), Gi-innell adviser for the program. The semester, offered for jun- lots majoring in biology, chemis- try or physics, is a six-month ex- perience combining r e s a a r c h, seminars and other course work, experiments and tours. Wages are received during the two-month work period, during which stu- dents serve as research assistants to Argonne scientists. Full aca- demic credit is granted by Grin— nell [or the course work' of the semester. Applications for either semester should be completed before Nov. 15. Further intormation and ap plication materials may be oh tained from Durkee. Pennant Durable Press Ranchcratt _ WESTERN JEANS No ironing needed, 50% cotton —- 50% polyester. machine Washable—Mel'< cerired cut for the irrim look, Form fitting legs. Sizes 2V-3b. GOOD LUCK AGAINST COI , Friday. Novnmlsar B. I?“ Sergeant in l Viet Nam Criticizes , Student Protest Demonstrations To the Editor: Enclosed you will find a reprint from one of ,the USAF newspap- ers from Southeast Asia. I believe this editorial excellently expresses the attitude or many men serving in the military. it provides a little food for thought and i am in hopes that you might publish it in a torthcoming edition oi the son. As a member of the Class of ’62, i am well aware or many of the student and iaculty opinions re garding dis moment, etc. Some or the more idealistic Griuncllians were pieketing the Military Ball, lasting for peace, and mounting other protests back in 1960, so I assume there might be suflictent interest, pro and con, to warrant this article being printed on your editorial page, 1 shall refrain rrom oditoriallzing, on my own, though many of the entrant demonstrations and man practices we read about every day both disappoint and disgust us i will sideuith Sergeant Gianulsos and hope you will see in in present it to the student body. Williur J, Lalhnln, Jr. First Lieutenant, USAF THE COLLEGIATE FRINGE This editorlal was written by T/Sgt. Peter Gt Gianutsos, editor of the Advisor, the newspapei of the Air Force’s Second Air D ' sion at Tan 5011 Nhut Air Field in Viet Nam. Time was when a boy went to college to study law, medicine, en- gineering, or one of the arts. And girls went to get' their Mrs. degree, But lul‘ too many, it is not that Way any more. Today's crop at college nut-ups are no longer content to swallow gold fish, crowd them- selves into telephone booths or small foreign cars. They — and we reler to the minority that makes the majority of the voice — now insist on dictating government poli- cies, and are ready to parade, dem~ onstrate and sitrin at the drop of a cause. The latest gimmick among these intellectual midgets is a campéign to urge all members of the armed forces to desert their posts, rather than serve in Viet Nam. AS a member of the race that started this democracy kick, (Quick. Socrates, the Hemlock) I have no quarrel with the right of the individual to voice his opinion, However, the hysterical babbling of these bourgeois bores borders on sedition, if not treason. I leave that. to the legal eagles in the JusA tlce Department. It is a sad day in- deed when the words honor, duty and country have come to mean so little. As a member of the military Iamily, I have spent the better part of my adult. lite in the Saigons of the world. it never occurred to me to disobey an order, or to question the right of my government to send me anywhere to protect and preserve its interests. _Like a lot of us here in Viet Nam. I have had occasion to he at the base theater during one of the drilly memorial services, and I have seen the Slow walking and Open Monday Nita I'ill Ito! Friday Nive fill :00 3.98 heard somber music and soft pray- er for those to whom rotation dates are no longer impumnt. l mutte‘- ed my own prayer, as well as giv- ing silent: thanks that it was not me inside that metal box. As I stood there, I remembered preachings of mese mentally re- tarded adulLs. and my compassion tor a dead man turned to shame, and then anger that they dared to ask me to prostitute my profession ask me to bring dishonor to in self, to my service and to my coun- ry. It is difficult enough to under stand when the supposed learned citizenry take the rostrum to rant and rave against our government, and thereby feed the propaganda mills to the north, but to be sub- jected to the meaningless chatter of these inlbccilic sloths, whose idea of bravery is to lead a panty raid on a gil‘ls‘ barracks, is more than human dignity can bear. It has been suggested that they all be drafted into the service and brought to Viet Nam. I could not agree less. To put these morons in a uniform is to insult the mertr ory of those who never came back from Guadalcanal or Pork Chop Hill, or those who did not survive the bombing of the Brinks Hotel or the American Embassy here. Instead, clean them u , cut their hair, and take away tieir sweat: shirts and sneakers and bring them to Viet Nam to live among the people. Let them expound their theories about the good, the kind, the misunderstood Viet Cong a- mong the villagers whose homes were destroyed and their meager rice stolen. Let them talk about war mon- gering to the widow of a Vietnanr ese army private, who earns her fish and rice as a prostitute, or with the village woman, who lost a hand, one finger at a time and finally the wrist to these kind. nus- understood Viet Cong because she dared to stand up for what she bo- lieved was right. Draft them into the military? Never! Ours is a proud organizae tion, made up of men and women, who have ideals and principles, and what’s even more important, men and women who have the courage and the will to live up to those beliefs. They take great pride in them- selves, iii their uniforms, and in their nation, qualities that the campus “cuties" have yet to ace quire, Until they do, they will never “belong," The ~ voice will he that of the scnlireducated, the fool who will leave behind only a legacy of shame, dishonor and EA noraiice. t noted from the Navy Times. Oct. to 1965) Virginia's l7th Anniversary Sale DRESSES $15 Value: to $25.95 Fall Clearance of Early Styles Misses and Juniors ' RECORDS! "The Mosr Complete Line In Town" New Releases "FAREWELL ANGELINA" -—Joun Baez— "SEE WHAT TOMORROW BRINGS" —Peier. Paul Bi Mary—- Build a record library economically With Our Selection of Budget Classical: LEEPER MUSIC CO. "Wliers You Can Hear Before You Buy" NOW OPEN SATURDAY EVENINGS