Vii-ruddy May 29. i061 SCARLET AND BLACK h9- Thru The 60's: A Decade of Change By TERRY PARSSINEN Asst. proi. oi History Author‘s note: I was asked to write a pleoe comparing the presenl student mood to that which prevailed in me early sixties, when i was ii student here. Perhaps two incidents that occurred in my sophomore year, 1960—61. best iiidi< (Late the diflerences between my student generation and yours. During the “mock election at Grinneii in the fill, Kennedy was soundly beaten by Nixon. Later that year. a group at rwcnlycdd athletes Attacked and shaved the head of one of Grinneli's first “beatniks” (we had no hippies then), for no other reason than that his long hair somehow oiiended them In the context oi the present campul mood, oi course, these events seem like medieval atuvisms. ‘i'hough extreme, both events sprung iron: the same per- caption: we were heirs to a country, a college, and a hie-style that were not in need at fundamental change. Adjust— ment. perhaps, but not change. We wero crew—cut, clean-Cut Young Democrats or Young Republicans, depending upon our penchant ior such adjustment. Although we were anxious about The Bomb, we were basically optimistic about the in- mm. 1 think that our quietism, as compared to your activism, was not a result oi any great difference between us. We, too, came streaming in ironi upper middle cuss suburbs, proudly displaying our Ni-is certificates and our impeccable high school records. What has happened is that two events — the Black Move- ment and the Vietnam War — have in- tervened between you and us, and made it impossible for your generation to ac- cept things as they came to you. in 1963, we perceived only that small part of the Movement that was bound on be Visible first: the struggle for legal oqualiiy. Commutation, when it came, ’Waii between men like Martin Luther King, jr., and Bull Conner. What was at stake was whether blacks could attend better schools, use waiting rooms, and vote. And votei Could any sensitive man (all to understand that this was a strug- gle between Right and Wmng? Could any intelligent man iail to predict that still: Enabiishment — after receiving a tow embarrassing join — would disown die Bull Couriers, Ind make the ricces~ nary adiustments to include the blacks? Watts and “Black Powerl" were still two years away, and no one. in his wildest knnasies. could have projected black students carrying guns at I liberal uni~ varsity. Likewise. the war in Vietnam was no more than an irritant, not so irnich be- cause it was wrong, but because it was unsuccessiul. This, like other babties in the Cold War, was simply an uniorum- ate, though necessary episode in a long series oi ooni’lcts with the Communists. Even those oi us who hoped for a detenta between the U.S. and tile 0.8.8.11. would not have argued for the immorality at American intervention in Guatemala. Labanon, or Cuba. The rules M conduct for nations like those for men in a Hobbe- Biun state of nature, were not encum- bered by concern loi- morality. This attitude carried ovei into the leading radical student organization or the early 1960's, the Student Peace Union, and its adult counterpart. SANE. We feared not thai our leaders would act immorally, but that they would act ioolishly. During the Cuban missile crisis, for example, we were less concerned about the moral question oi intewcntion than we were about the danger oi a nuclear war. Since 1963, the “liberal veneer has been stripped iroin American imperial- ism." to quote Andrew Kopkind. and the Black Movement has turned out to be in- credibly more complex than anyone could have imagined. The institutions and persons responsible for adjusting the machinery and perpetuating the Amer- ican Dream have failed. Above all, our iaith in the responsiveness or a demo- craticaliy—eiected government to the will at the electorate has been shaken, or even crushed. The prolongation of in: war, and the continued neglect or do mestic problems have made a mockery of this belief. Under these circumstances, it is not rrnprisiug that a substantial part or your generation prefers either to attack or opt out of the institutions and life-style that my generaiion accepted. There were, at course, dissidents among us, but their despair never led to a cynical attitude toward the entire system inn: is preva- lent among many oi you. in some ways, this cynicism, dds automatic disrespect ior authority has been productive. On one level, it has forced some Americans to reconsider the moral implications 01‘ their country’s inrcigu policy. Closer to home, it has led to a questioning or every facet of university regulations and traditions. Black students have made universities aware of their moral obliga- tion to minority groups, and white radi< cais have made universities reconsider the propriety oi the traditional grading system, research-oriented faculties, and integral lies to the military-industrial complex. Together, black and white stu- dents have iorced a restructuring oi universities. For these and other con- tributions you deserve our thanks and our praise. It is a professional axiom that every historian is a captive or his times. To some extent, his contemporary percep- tions necessarily affect the way in which he views the past. I believe that this his sight is also applicable to student garter ations. Certainly my generation was a captivc or the ohucry optimism oi early Kennedy years, In the same way, your generation is the captive oi the history at the last four years, the extent, lor most of you, oi your political concious- Iiess. Seeing both the domestic and for- eign situations deteriorate in that time, Come 0! you conclude that they Cannot improve. Revolution or collapse are the only alternatives. The rhetoric of stu- dent radicalism echoes the apocalyptic prophecies of earlier religious and secu< Jar revolutionaries who were at the brink of despair. These anarchists and mil- lenarians are now footnotes to history, and the impending doom that they pre- dicted never came to pass. They were deluded by their selective and simplistic reading or events, as we were at the beginning of this decade, and as some or you are at its and. YOU'RE GRADUATING? Well, Pin a Rose On You! BATES FLOWERS TOO LATE FOR WORDS By LEE MARIL Seniors are no more, has becrls, alum- ui, and juniors wait in the summer wings ior the cue to begin their final year. Renaissance, rebirth, etc, repe- tition oi the same hopes, iailures, per- haps achieved goals, perhaps not. But it all doesn't end with the diploma bit on graduation day and as Grinriell is about to become a sign in the rear-view mirror the benurnbed driver has just a (cw last desperate words. And they are to beware, to plan ahead, to watch out, to realize that {our ycars goal exceedingly last, that Look Back in Anger By DAVID SWEE In looking back at Grinnell four year: ago, it is easy to laugh at the silly prac- tices and the ridiculous rules that were then truly enloi'ccd: coats and ties at late dinner; women’s hours, 12:00; tresh< men women hours, 10:30, until they “demonstrated" that they would be “good"; North-male, Southriemaie and never the twain shall meet ‘i'ire drills” on South Campus only; prepping, which was against the rules but was prac- ticed anyway, while the administration turned its back; real “housemothers”, but only on South Campus; open rooms every Sunday. 2-5; three lounge parties a semester with two hours oi legal open dorms; liquor was “naughty” on much oi South Campus; pot in Langan; woodSies: waierhalloons in Cowles; water lights; animallsm all over, and the administrha tion unconcerned; “It's alright as long as i don’t know about it." Four years later all oi this is guuc But the changes have brought new ques» tlons. When is SAGA going to start do- ing things which students want? (What's so impossible about a Sunday bluiich, liH:00?) Why Can't more dorms be 'made coed? When is the Resident Ad- visors program going to be turned into something eiieclive, as opposed to some- thing haphazard? how long will students pretend to obey the eighty-four hours oi legal opens? How many obey them now? when is the administration going to al- low students to run their own lives? When is it going to recognize that stu- dents can be adults it treated as such? When is the administration going to com out with a good drug statement, like their position on liquor, which is that it is the: student's responsibility to obey the it’ll! law. and tho administration will nit interiors? Has mimaiism really died, or is it just hiding in Dibble? And is anybody going to do something about it? with the new “concern" for the stu< dents, how come the student advisor program is so lousy? And why is the college paying them $14,000 when they are so desperate for money that they are asking student government to fund a sex education program? Finally, with all oi the new “communication" how come the administration ls hiring a particu- lar resident adviser couple when this year‘s resident advisora and the many students who met them all recommend that they not be hired? is anybody really listening? dreams about graduate schools, mar. ridge, liic, remain dreams as long on there is a war in some heaven-knows- where country where the people an- yellow and eat rice all day. And they are to sit down now, whilo there is still time to think, and wonder What you are going to do when the no< iicc Comes in the mail and you‘re not really ready tor it. Plan now what you are going to have to race in (our year: or less; there may still be a war, per- haps a new war in Thailand, Korea, or who knows Where, and the problem! will remain the same. Whether it’s Vietnam or anywherl else the same balance must be reached between ideals, conscience, and reality, and in the process as few people must be adversely affected as possible. And you, or course, are one or those people, I didn't really believe that lour years later there could still be a war and that, despite the supposed pcacc talks, there could be a few, if any, signs of all imminent peace. But that is exactly the case and here we all are, at least me, out in the cold rain with a paper umbrella, And so i want to say a lot of things About the inequities oi the system, the injustice of the present draft, the ac- tualities oi the armed services (God bless them), and the absurdities of War. But the time has already passed for such words and it's really just a little bit too late. I’m tired of Saying such words and l malize that each person must face up to the reality oi the siiu< stinn in his own good time. And so I leave ii at that. r: 268 Future People commencement liaiisiheniiis By KATHY BULL Grinneli is expelling another eruditl graduating class irom her womb. Woops, inw the world. Labor pains began WedA nuday evening when the seniors wen treated to dinner at the spacious Quad- rangle dining room. The misplaced repli- ca oi the president's medallion wa- wwardéd to G. F. Crandall anyway, and the alumni awards went to '1‘. Jr Triplet: and K. .i. Karison. Bacon laureate will be lite first truly solemn- izing event or the Weekend. it will be at B p.111. tonight in Herrick Chan pei with Kathy Karison, Mary Maleoul and Hubert Farbes homiiizing. Tomorrow, Friday, May 30. 1989, A. D., It 2 pm. “amid Hughes will “Search for a Contemporary Context" and thu graduating class or 1969 will receive their passport: to the future, BLASSIFIED ADS you SALE: A 1938 Buick Touring Sedan (2-door). In excellent running condi- tion and very reasonably priced. Cou- tact G, p. Zimiuar, ext. 232 or 236451221, FOR SALE: Very the-p, 50cc Hond- rnotorcycie. In excellent condition, most, $50. That's definite. Or mak. an offer. That's definite, too. Call 0v 627i). CONGRATULATIONS! We Salute You, Class of '69 Swede's Grinneil Laundry