PAGE 4 SCARLET 8. BLACK DECEMBER 12, 1969

 

. ’ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Continue!

Dear Michael.

Over four years ago, while l
was 8&3 editor, “shit" first hit
the pages of Grlniicll's student
newspaper,

Thcn the shit hit thc fan.

A former Grinncll trustee,
Murray Welch, apparently
threatened to cut otf some money
to the college, and acting
president Jamcs Stauss quickly
arranged for the Board of
Publications to pass a rule that
“scatologlcal” language would
never again be used in the 5&B. I
was pissed by the whole affair.
especially when every faculty
member on the Board tthe
faculty held a 5-4 advantagei took
the line that I should have used a
better word 7 like “feces" or
even ”crap “ tiaving thus
rationalized the Situation, they
aimed a collective kick in the ass
at the student press by passing
Stauss's suggested rule. Herb
Prescott, overseer of campus
journalism, had warned me
rightly that Stauss could act like
a tiger when college funds were
endangered, But Herbie didn‘t do
a damn thing to support the
student press: a reduction of
funds to the college would have
hurt him, too.

Now there are similar
problems — only the censor has
changed. Actually, the college
seems to have forgotten its anti »
scatology rule long ago tperhaps
Welch kicked off?) — otherwise
nearly every one of the eight 5&3
editors since me would have been
booted. Strangely, all the
“illegal" scatology since 1965 has
been printed in Newton — by E.
K. Shaw and his Newton Daily
News. Now Shaw has decided
[hill [Mir 7 letter words can no
longer be printed at “his shop."
Slia e a good iicpuhlican. l'm
sure 7 is acting “he one of the
“silent majority" which Dicky
and ' "0 have whipped into a
viscious reaction against “thc
kids“

Shaw probably believes, too,
that Agnew is right about the

“iinpati'iutlc press” 730 E, K is
going to see that .. s'shop” does
not support any more of that unr
American junk, Show is probably
hcai-tsick that “his shop”
home (it the Nc\\t0n |):Iil News.
as patriotic as they come — has
given the rotten Grinnell kids tin
outlet tor their garbage [or as
long as it did. But his spirits
doubtless brighten when remem-
bering that Grilinell’s garbage
has meant over $50,000 in
business during the last five
years. .

Shaw told you that someday
you’ll understand why “that
word" is dirty. Similarly, after
my run-in over shit, Ruth
Prescott of the high . powered PR
department assured me that i
would be sorry about my lapse ol
good taste, I’m not surry about
my so - called taste . lapse, but I
am sorry about Ruth Prescott.
Murray Welch, James Stauss, the
faculty on the Board or
Publications, Herb Prescott, and
E. K Shaw, They're too secure.
and they can‘t adapt to changing
situations. What’s worse, most ot
them know what their problem is,
but they can’t do a damn thing
about correcting it.

So feel sorry ior them as you
push them aside.
You have
resources
PUBLISH!
John Wolf ’66

2345 Superior Street
Madison, Wisconsin

support and
CONTINUE TO

STOPTANTEOMS!

Dear Mr. Brandon:

i have just read your Scarlet 5.
Black Special. There is little
reason in it.

First, Mr Shaw of the Newton
Daily News is a businessman, As
Such, it is his right to refuse to do
business with anyone. if he
chooses to lose revenue by
refusing to publish the S 5: B. that
is his right. If he wishes to deny
access to his place of business. . .
his private property. . . to you r
anyone else, that too is his right.

PRlSON BREAK...

Show me any law to the contrary.
Do you have the right to refuse to
publish this letter in the S 5. B7.
You bet you do, and will
undoubtedly exercise it.

Second, Mr. Shaw, as a bus-
inessman, has a large investment
in equipment, labor and
properly, and he is subject to the

same marketing risk as any other Q

businessman, His livelihood and
that of his employees depends
upon his success as a reputable
publisher II he degrades his
business to the level of a smut
peddler, he takes the very real
risk of loss of good will (a
valuable commodity) in his
business community and a
possible loss oi other business.

Third, lreedom of speech has *

nothing to do with Mr. Shaw’s
refusal to print the s s; B, or Mr.
Pomerenk's refusal to print the s
at E Special in the Service
Bureau. Both men left you
perfectly free to find another
printer There was no denial of
your right to print what you want
to, provided that you can find a
smut shop to do the work. I feel
that Mr. Shaw was wrong in
censoring your copy without your
knowledge, He should have
terminated his contract to print
the S at B, and so informed you, in
the first instance.

Fourth, whois intimidating you
and the ”dedicated" siaif of the s
it B? intimidation implies a
threat, and the only threat you
received was to be thrown out of
Mr. Shaw’s place of business. He
has every right to ask you to
leave his property and to eject
you forcibly if you fail to comply,
just as you would have the right
to eject me from your otfiee if I
came there and indulged in a
tantrum. .

Fifth, I would be truly
interested to know why you tool
the use of gutter language is
“free" speech. it indicates,
rather, a dearth of vocabulary on
the part of the user and a
definitely low level ot intelr
ligence. Your “Stop The War"
editorial would have been much
more eifective with a stronger
adjective than the one which was
censored. The word you used,

a warm him mop

“Which rhymes with ducking,”
projects a ludicrous and amusing
eiteet, which destroys the serious
impact of the thought behind the
words, That word, dear boy,
shocks no one who has achieved
the age lit reason. Weve heard it
before.

I also wonder why you feel you
must graphically detail the
putrcfaction appearing in the
Peterodactyl. Those who have
the stomach for it can buy their
own copies: those whose
vomiting threshhold is normal
have the right not to be
confronted with it in the college
newspaper. I wonder if you.
personally, are so titillated with
this new - to - you seaminess that
you don't realize it is beneath the
notice of anyone not suffering the
pangs of puberty.

i believe it would be to the ad»
vantage of you and your
dedicated staff to learn the power
of the English language when it is
used in a craftsmanlike manner,
It would also behoove you to
realize that people other than
college students also have rights.
and to stop having tantrums
when you get a no-no from a
responsible adult.

lurs. Edith M. Appleby
1433 Summer Street
Grinnell

RlGHT on!

Dear Mike.

Right on, brother! Iowa
printers will try to mess over you
(look what happened to
Pierodactyl), but don’t give in!
And let no one mistake, either,
that the Iowa printer is the only
roadblock to the Grinnell
Student’s freedom of expression;
the college itself will mess over
you in a much greater way!

Both those American
capitalists and “intellectualsH
(those professing to love books
though they would burn them
instead) will try to use then'
blankety - blank blank spaces to
cover up what they don‘t like,
what’s really going on 7 all but
their own uptight way of life. . .
And if that doesn’t work they w ll
seize material before publication

. or burn it after‘

So far Iowa fascists haven’t
really got into burnings yet, but
they have seized Grilmell student
publications. Last year Iowa’s
Attorney General Richard
Turner made an illegal‘seizure
ino obscenity hearing prior to
seizing Ptcro on the grounds it
was obscene) and everyone
thought, “Oh. what a stupid,

fascistic move!” But, if Grinnel- 'he

Question 0‘ the Week:
There are 87 typogiaphicoi

crrers in this paper.

can you find them?

faculty . administration dominr
ated Board of Publications, in
cohoots with President Glenn
(defender of truth, justice and the
English language) Leggett, for
“reasons they wouldn’t explain”
seized the 1966 college yearbook
without prior hearing.

Right now, a question everyone
should be asking is where was the
Grinnell College Board of
Publications 7 including those
great “free thinkers” Charles
Cleaver and Herbie Prescott 5:
Co. — when your newspaper
faced censorship, Did the Board
raise a single cry of protest when
E, K. Shaw refused to print the
Ssh with controversial words in]
it? No, of course not, because.
exactly as in the case of the '55
yearbook, the Board of
Publications represented not the
interest of students’ free
expression but rather that of die
college’s status quo image.

In the Spring of ’67. as editor of
the 5&3 at that time (then called
The Grinnell Reporter) I ceased
publication in protest when the
yearbook was banned. In doing
so, I suggested reorganization of
Grinnell's system of publications
in order that it be student
controlled rather than dominated
by the faculty ~ administration
block. Consideration of change
was completely ignored,
however, and, since that time,
the situation, as reported to me,
has even deteriorated. In my day,
one at the worst forms of censor-
ship occurred simply by means of
selection of editors: Students
whose opinions seemed to
contorm to status quo Grinnell
standards could be chosen over
those who questioned the estab-
llshmenl. But now, as i ‘
understand it. fullilling the
position of editor is further
limited by a statement each
applicant must sign stating he or
she will comply with Board of
Publications definitions of good
taste. What to print, etc. in other
words, who becomes the editor of
the Student paper» the student

applicant or the Board?
Obviously the campaign for re-
structuring of Grinnell
publications must be resur-
rected, At this time I would

Suggest, briefly. 1, Investigation

of the formation of an
independent student corporation
which would be responsible for
all student publications Students
Nould thereby enjoy freedom of
:pcech and the administration
:ould relax legally. Students‘
iuestions about legal and
inancial matters could be
nswered by experts in these
ields, possibly from Des Moines.
whole notion or an

lians will recalls in 1967, the idependent corporation, by the