Friday. February 27. mo

SCARLET AND ll LACK

McCarthy's The Year of the People Selected As
P.P.P.E. Book; Gilmour Recommends Reading

The Year of the People, by
Senator Eugene McCarthy, has
been selected as the February 7
March Political Bookroi~the-
Month, the Program in Practical
Political Education announced
thisweek.

This timely book is an account
of the tumultous and terrifying
events associated with the 1968
presidential campaign by the
man who, perhaps more than any
other, changed the course of that
campaign.

Clearly unaided by the usual
ghostwriter, Senator McCarthy
writes as he spoke in 1968 7
directly, eloquently, at times
with pointed humor, at other
times with real bitterness, He
speaks to a number of the central
questions raised about his per»
sonal quest for the Democratic
nomination: Did he expect to win
the nomination (he hoped to drive
President Johnson into retire-

ment, but he had no hope of ob—.

taining the nomination)? Was
there a feud between him and
the Kennedys (he denies this, but
reveals his impatience and dis-
taste for the style, the use of
money, the elaborate and often
arrogant staff, and the emphasis
on political pragmatism of the
Kennedy brothers)? Why was his
campaign so leeraced, low~
keyed, and mystified (McCarthy
makes clear that politics to him
is a serious, rational, and moral

profession, above petty appeals
to emotion, special interest
groups, or party traditions and
heroes)?

But the volume leaves other
questions ignored or
inadequately answered: Why did
McCarthy resent losing, when he
insisted he has no hopes of
winning? Why did he withhold his
hall-hearted endorsement of
nominee Humphrey until the last
minute? Why did he relinquish
his seat on me Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, after his

strong drive and demand iorva
change in the U. 5. Foreign
policy? Why did he renounce his
Senate seat in 1972 and any desire
to lead his Party toward the
reforms be dismayed?

“This book, although too often
incomplete and disappointing
deserves wide reading and
reflection," remarked C. Edwin
(:‘rilmour (Political Science),
Director of the PPPE. “For it
helps Americans to understand
a cryptic and critical period of
our current pol cal history."

_—_—_—_

t Letters

Continued frl'm page 8

To the Editors:

No weeks ago, my roommate
and l were planning to work on
this semester’s S 5r B. Accord-
ingly, we attended a staff meet-
ing held on Sunday night. We
were dismayed to find that your
political and editorial philoso-
phies differed radically — ii 1
may use that word — from our
own, but we wanted to work on
the newspaper, anyway. 'nlesday

we came to help proofread but_

left in disgust after one hour. it
is impossible to proofread stories
that first need to be rewritten!
This week's paper confirms my
judgment, and l will use the issue
to explain what I think is wrong
ith mg. sea.

Let me start with the basics.

First of all, theS Rt Bis a ”news”-
paper: therefore anyone would
logically assume that news
predominates throughout.
Almost hall this issue is ad copy!
Page three has ad copy and two
columns written by people who
have no connection with Grinnell
College. Yes, current events are
news wherever they happen, but
it’s a pity you use 21/: columns
of space in an a page college
newspaper for columns about the
evils of marijuana ~ trite, to put
it mildly — and the fate of the
Democratic National Committee.

The rest of the copy included
one thoughtless editorial; one
dull article on the humanities
experiment; a reprint of a court
statement; a dull review of an
exciting iolk concert; an ex—
cellent feature on “Battle”

placed as lead news story on the,

front page; a long, dull feature
on the sports page and several
long letters to the editor. Doesn't
sound like too much news, does
it?

Secondly, the S a B is a college
newspaper. Hopefully, a college
newspaper reflects the various
opinion of the student body ~ not
so, however, in our 5&3. Week
after week, you continue I"
produce smug editorials that
damn student movements or
students — and these editorials
are supposed to represent the
student body! 0n the last paper
I worked the author at each edi-
torial had his initials printed at
the end of his editorial. An
editorial is, after all, personal
opinion.

From these basics I turn to
more specific errors. Overall, the
S a: B is guilty of bad journalistic
practice. The copy is generally
poorly written and‘or’dull. with
the exception of ad copy, the
layout is atrocious. Someone had
better learn how to write and
space headlines.

You may use “lack of news”
as an excuse for lack of copy,
but I think you’d be wrong. There

were several stories you could

have used this week such as the
dope on the Steve Miller Band
coming to Grinnell or the
Women's Liberation Conference
in Des Moines. There may not
be a lot happening here, but
certainly there’s enough to fill an
eight page paper with fewer ads
than the currents St Bhas.
Finally, I would complain
about your editorials. In this

week’s issue you printed several
letters that criticized the mis-

Page Eleven

representation and biased tone of
the past editorials — don’t you
read your letters? This week‘s
editorial continues the styles of
the previous ones. I saw neither
of you at the Ptero meeting! Must
you stoop to commenting on a
letter that comments on a meet-
ing you didn’t attend for your
weekly editorial?

Ihope you will read and con-

' sider what I’ve written both in

this letter and on the issue I’ve
returned to you. lhave taken con:
siderable amount of time (and
space, I know) to point out errors
rather than to criticize without
justification.

I'would have liked to work on
the S & B, as I’ll probably end
up being a reporter someday. I
also 'would like to receive a
decent paper once a week. This
is my paper as well as yours;
my money given to the activities
fund paid for it just as well as
yours did. You have no right to
give this college a mediocre
newspaper unless that is the best
you can do. And if that is,thei
best you can dig, get out!

Sue Oringel

.) Senate

Continued from page 5

County National Bank. ”

At the close of the evening,
Alan Cohen recited a brief
benediction. “Thank God there is
more interest in this year’s SGA-
election than last year‘s.” In a
frenzy of religious zeal, Art
Knowles leaped to his feet and
screamfl “E '_e_ the Lord I
move to adjourn." No one dared
Wrésist’thedivtiword’.

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