llridiy. April 4. lm

SCARLET AND BLACK

Page Threo

 

lETTERS

Test Your Relevance

To the Editor oi the Scarlet and Black:
Students have expressed, ol late, some
dissatisfaction with the present system
of Senior Comprehensive Examinations.
We feel that academic institutions should
be responsive to student needs and sen-
timents. It would seem, therefore, that
a general interdisciplinary comprehen-
sive examination, designed to allow the
sludent to interpret the Grinnell Exper-
ience m his own way, might prove more
valuable in his educational development
than the traditional method of academic
measurement in current user
Herewith we submit a model comple-
hensive examination, well suited not
only to the capacities oi the average
liberal arts student. but also to his chns<
en iields Of interest. We make no claims
as to the universal applicability oi the
model. we do hope, however, that it
may suggest a new direction for those
dedicated faculty examiners who are
truly concerned with the maintenance

oI Grinnell‘s high Standards of moral,

athletic, and intellectual achievement

1. Write a brlei essay on “Law Eli—
iorcement”, without usliig the word
dingo.

1. Define briefly:

a) Clark l-lall

b) the Scarlet and Black

c) the Attorney General oi the state
of Iowa

d) mystery meat

, Draw, label, and explain a campus
dog.

. Give a synopsis of the Crossett Theory
oi Virginity. Do not. retcr to autumw
biles.

. Justiiy Chief Peters

. What is Saga Chuck’s real name? Be
sure to take into account both sym-
bolism and imagery, particularly as
these relate to function and structure
in the first tour chapters. Your ans-
wer should display ability to synthe-
size critical theory and empirical
evtdence.

7. Discuss dormitory living in {our let<
iers or less.

a. Examine In depth, the sociopolitical,
quasiebotanciol deriviations oi the
“hotbody” concept, as concretized in
Gates l-lall Lounge Coniroiitation at
5 February, 1969.

ll. Examine and document the ontologi-
cal argument {or the existence oi
.- especially as interpreted by
Pierodactyl. ..

ll). It has been said that: “The College
Bookstore is a viable alternative."
Comment.

Barbara Wolf '46
Julie Wolf '70
Molly Wolf ’71

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1003 MAIN

Supression is No Alternative

To The Editor

It has become a Springtime tradition
{or certain segments of the Grinnell
student community to wage some kind
of war on the socalled “military-ilk
dustrial complex.” This year is no ex-
ception. Unfortunately, while the usual
bickering is at an innocuous, non-sub-
stanuve nature, this year’s ioray is
plainly deleterious. deleterious to those
who voluntarily choose the option oi
AFROTC.

Here, one notes that persons who
espouse the inalienable nature of indi—
vidual rights are reneging on their own
philosophy. Apparently, the pendulum
swings lrcely only for those who agree
with the proper channel of thought, In
short, one must think as he is told; i.er
one must be repulsed by any aspect of
the military whether it be General Le-
May or the Grinnell AFRCTC unit. And
if one does not agree that the military is
bad per Se, that “ideal" will be com
veniently eniorced ior him. indeed, each
individual should teel privileged to have
persons actrng in loco parentis for him

This coin, however, has two sides
(Iancy thatl). Certain individuals who
are planning their futures may decide
that an AFROTC Program is the solu-
tion to their military commitments. i
would suggest that these persons are
not ‘Fascists" or “militarists” a priori.
They may be puople who want to iultill
their military obligation in a way that
may enable them to use their college
educations to best advantage,

5.G.A, President Tom Thomas implies
in a recent statement that OCS pro-
grams are readily available to desirous
graduating students. What drivel! To
enter Air Force oiticer training. one
must be physically acceptable tor pilot
training. To enter Army ocs, however,
I do concede that one need only desire
to go to Vietnam as an intantry oiiicer.
Rumor has it that the majority oi grad-
uation seniors might not be interested
in the Army’s “generous" offer.

Ill View of the limited alternatives
presently available to graduating sen<
iUl'S. undelclassmen may be interested
in the AFROTC Program. Moreover,
some students may be interested and
some may not be interested. But my
point is this: if some individuals see
AFRDTC as a reasonable way to solve
their own particular problems, why
must others issue il directive that would,
in sheet, deprive the rights oi persons
seeking AFROTC as an alternative to
the draft? Why?

My theory regarding this question is
that some people at Griiinell College are
appalled that a iew people in their com-
munity wear uniiorms and drill. Some
people in other communities are ap-
palled that a iew people wear beards
and long hairl Perhaps the optimal so-
lution would be to abolish AFROTC,
beards, and long hair.

precious is each in lvidual’s right to
decide for himself —— even if it does not
conform to the decision that the ma-
jority would make.

Stan Wezelman

Step Up To

JD‘S RESTAURANT

mvi Main
Mon. . Sci. 5 la in pm.
Sunday — Noon 0- in pm.

“Don't Come Back Ci Honky"

By HELEN GLOVER
and BARBARA PARTEE

Before leaving Le Mayne-Owen COL
lege and embarking on this great cul-
tural (the beautiful aroma ol feet in ARI-l
during a movie and GeOlgc oi the Jungle
on Saturday mornings) and aca-
demic (the time and eliort placed
into independents, ha!) experience, an
admonition was heard popping up in
every conversation with the young peo—
ple our age, students or not, and it was:
“Don‘t come back a honky.” We just
weren't suppose to leave our “Black Irr

/

YT Issue Unclear

To the Editor of the 5&3:

During the week beiore Spring Recess
the campus mail was handed with
memos and countermemos concerned
with whether academic credit should be
removed from ROTC courses. while
about equally divided on whether it
should or should not be, they were alike
in falling to delineate the exact issue he-
tore the Faculty. In this letter I Will set
out my understanding or the issue and
my position on it.

Let‘s look carefully at the "Young
Tulk” (YT. the stage between YD 01‘ YR.
and VFW) motion which started this
controversy; more particularly, at the
reason given to "dis-credit" ROTC
courses. it was that the Faculty could
not Control the ROTC Curriculum, as it
does other curricula, the former being
prescribed by tlle Department ol the Air
Force (DAFL In the ensuing discussion,
it became apparent that, while there is
a provision in the College's contract with
the DAF which technically seems to im-
city the YT claim (see Tom Thomas'
memo of March l2), in practice the DAF
regards the alleged "prescriptions” as
guidelines.

Now, in tact the present ROTC in-
sti'uctors do {allow these guidelines, but
they maintain that they are under no
compulsion to do so. Thus, it seems to
me that whether or not the resulting
courses are good or bad (and I will
not be so presumptuous as to judge this
issue) reflects on the individual ROTC
instructor; not on the contract provi<
sion. as is implied by the YTs. For it a
course were bad, say because its in-
structor iollowed DAF guidelines, the
College Could dismiss him and require
that the now (me not follow them. (That
this latter course at action is possible is
coniirmed by a March 14 memo trom
the Department oi Aerospace Studies to
the Faculty.) it this line or - soning
is Cogent, both the Lindblom Criticism of
ROTC courses as “Simple‘minded”
(5&3, March 7) and the Armstrong et a1.
answer that they're not “at the bottom of
the Grinnell barrel” are irrelevant to
the YT motion. even it they are relevant
to an assessment of the ROTC program
on other grounds.

in response to this argument the YT's
(would, of course, seize on the letter of
the contract. But to do so seems to me
to beg the question at hand, since they
could just as well seize on the spirit
of the contract as recently communicat-
ed by a visiting DAF official. Further,
there may well he an explanation tor
the apparent divergence ot the letter and

stitutian" and come here and try to assi-
milate or else we would lose Contact with
the black people at home.

The soctal atmosphere of Griniiell is
indeed diiierent [min Le MoylierOwen,
but lots or the problems that exist on
this campus are quite the same. For in-
stance, idst semester the students at Le
Mayne-Owen rebelled against the stu-
dent government and it took several
mass meetings to get things straight
again. Our underground newspaper was
very eilicieht in criticizing the relation<
ship between the faculty and the stu-
dents. The president of Le Moyne70wen
is getting ready to retire and last Novem-
ber, the students gave him a big sur-
prise. Tliere were demonstrations against
such things as senior comprehensives,
mod in the cafeteria which ill the end
caused the students to go on strike
against all pay facilities on campus, the
grading system, the attitude of the col-
lege towards the rest at the community,
and anything else that deserved a good
demonstration There were large dis—
cussions between our president, the ad-
ministration, and the students. The most
important grievances were settled and
the others became promises of the Cu-
Lures

From the beginning we have been
treated as it we really belonged to Grin-
nell. We feel that more students from Le
Moyne—Owen did not participate in the
exchange program because most of them
Wanted to attend a small college which
wasn’t too far from their homes; a
semester at Griiinell meant a larger
college without a homey atmosphere.
But, aim being here tor halt a semester,
we think oriniiell is very cozy since our
'best buddies are our roommates and
the “folks" that live in our halls. We are
enjoying our experience at Grilinell and
we sincerely hope the exchange students
at Le Moynecwen can say the same.

___/

the spirit of the contract. As Mr. Frid-
lund, the visiting law processor, has
pointed out to me. the contract provi-
sion may he worded as it is to mollity the
budget-minded congressman who is an-
xious to see that the Government gets
its money's worth lrom an expensive
ROTC program.

ObVlously. one cannot inier from the
above considerations that there are no
grounds whatsoever for disecredlting
ROTC courses. Indeed, I think that
there are some very plausible ones. now-
ever, it is uniortunaie that they haven’t
been introduced in Faculty meeting as
supporting the YT motion,

Peter Bowman, Physics

and Philosophy at Science

——’:;=

} Schmiechen

Contlhued from Page 1

no longer be free or liberal or even me
main 3 “Good" school.

Such a prerproiessional program may
ostensibly increase alternatives for stu<
dents at Grinnell, but in reality it would
be repressive and destructive,

Such programs are not only limiting
in the students who take them, but un—
tair to those who don't. it certainly gives
no credit to the college.

 

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