OCTOBER 16, 1970 Alums Visit Campus , To Trade One-liners by Jim Alt The Returnrto-Campus pro- gram, September 12-13, was designed to keep "open lines of communication" between alumni and the campus. After the first day of conferences, panels, and a cocktail party the alumni had informalvisits with students at the various RA'S suites. The raps which developed were, if nothing else, highly memorable: “Do you believe in nuclear war7"—r(class of thirty). "I think you all study more than we did, but you take it all so seriously."h(class of fifty). “Did you lcnow that goldfish are really undergrown carp?" "(class of sixty). Along with suchheavies were casual inquiries concerning the closing of the college last May and the extent ofdruguse on campus. We did prettywell (the alumni seemed to think) in justifying our actions of last spring. It seems thatthe emo- tions which flowed so freely at the time can be quickly re— called to the defense of that episode. Orr efforts were somewhat less effective in "explaining the drug situation." Some ale umni were dismayed to hear the belief that "marijuana doesn't really lead straight to heroin," and that "marl- juana use doesn’t necessarily mean a drug problem." Per haps of greater interest is the observation that the alumni always referred to the weed as "pot” or “grass,” while we studiously used the term “marijuana." So who’s cool? Meanwhile, we were enlighte ened with stories ofGrinnell‘s past. Like ”Spring Riots" (an acceptable jag back in the good old days), or the time all of SAGA’s silverware disap peared, to be discovered at the bottom of the swimming Auction To Benefit King Scholarships The Martin Luther King, Jr. World University Service Auction is to be held this Sat- urday, at 9:30 p.m., in Darby Gymnasium. Traditionally the funds from this auction have gone to the World University Service to facilitate the vari~ ous programs that the WUS maintains. With the inception of the Martin Luther King Scholarship fund, however, the proceeds from the aUCtion have been divided in a ratio of,three to one in favor of the scholarship fund. A major consideration for the distrie bution of the funds is the mat- ching fund that the alumni have provided. The alums match every dollar given to the scholarship fund, doub- ling the overall effectiveness of any contribution made. Of major interest this year shall be the return of Miss de LeCluse's chocolate cakes, which have been the central feature ofeveryauction. Com~ plementing Miss de LeCluse’s culinary skills will bea fan- tastic assortment of items, ranging from a wild Gates’ orgy to an erotic beer and pizza party with twelve chart ming Friars, All items are Still being accepted, so get them in to eitherMarlec Leurs or George Shybut any time before the auction and help benefit the Grinnell Exper- ience. pool. (Now, next Saturday niv ght . . .). Then again, North Campus used to be all male, and South all female, and ne ver the twain did . . . Admittedly, it isn't fair to take Off-[116‘ cuff remarks out of context, just to have fun. So here are some excerpts from these same alumni’s class letters which have fall- en into our possession. One of the best, and certainlynews to the S&B: ". . . the college is not pubr lishing the 5&8 this yearr-it is having a rest until the fin- ancial situation is better. (This may not be the entire reason.)”- (pre twenties). On our appearance: "I would add that I’m not at all smitten with the style of clothes theywearor theirbare feet . . . (but) i saw several girls very properly attired, let me advise." --(pre twenr ties). ; "The kids at Grinnell are functionally dressed, and I must confess that some of it strikes me as downright funs ny. NO[ charming, however." - , (forties). Qt coed dorms: “They do have separate bath rooms."~(twenties). “The women seem to have had a good effect on themen.” - - (forties). "And since there are no hours for anyone, there is a regular free exchange of occu- pants of the rooms. Ifyou know what I mean. Iguess we had the same arrangement, only it was just a bit riskier!"-~ (mid-sixties). On closing of the college: ”Most of the radical agita- tors graduated last springand this should help . . . Luckily, reason and rationality pre- vailed over emotion . . . Yet, we must remember that the administration and faculty did not capitulate to the students. It was the other way around . --(twenties). 0n meals: “We had our meals in the Quadrangle u and delicious meals they were." -- (pre- twenties). " . . . there is a sit-down dinner at 5:30, cafeteria style at 6:15; so you can haveitwith more peace and flair or more speed . . . Wewereattheozls, (Continued to page 11) THE SCARLET AND BLACK Dr. Gregory Falls, executive director of the University of Washington's School of Drama, who was invited to Grinnell to serve asa scholar—consultant for the theater program, talks with students interested in drama during a speciallyrarranged lunch in one of the Forum's private dining rooms. The lunch was sponsored bv Steve Grow’s campus speaker's committee. Dr. Falls, Dramatisl, Praises Grinnell’s Theater Department by Greg Butcher ”Today many people are exV ploring nonrverbal, non»logi- cal, nonrlinea!‘ experiences, meanings, values; as a result, we're seeing a quickening inn terest in the arts." Dr. Gregory Falls,executive director of the University of Washington School of Drama, was invited to visit the cam- pus for a weekend as a sch- olarr consultant by President Glenn Leggett and James Re- eder, chairman of the theater department, to assess Grinn- ell’s program and to suggest the direction and scope of its future. ”Grinnell provides a mar- velous potential situation for teaching and studying theater. I was impressed with the in- terest and intelligence of ma- jors. The college has made a serious commitment in faci- lities and space. "The backbone of the drama department is its production program," Dr. Falls con* tinued. "Nonrmajors can get L Unstructured Free University Offers Students Alternatives There seems to be a lot of question on campus as to ex» actly what Free University is and what it is trying to prove. This reporter would like to clarify the activity andpur- pose of Free University on the Grinnell campus. Free University is an unofr ficial, very loosely structured program oflearningopportunr ity. Dave Hechler organized the original meetings, but he stressed that he spoke as a participant and not asa leader since every student interested has a say in the program.The Free University attempts to encourage students to pursue knowledge on their own, Wilh’ out aprofessor breathingdown their necks or influencing their choice of subjects. As Dave said, "Students are be coming more and more ser- vile in our educational sys tem," and the Free Univer- sity offers a chance for stu- dents to participate in their own education. in this prog- ram students are able to teach and learn from other students. "There are a lot of people here who have things to offer, and it's a shame they‘re not using them," according to Jim Hartog, who teaches a con- temporary jazz class for the Free University. Free Uni- versity also gives students and professors an opportunity to share thoughts and know ledge with each other on an equal basis. The reaction to the classes by those students participat- ing has been fairly enthusiar stic, but Jim fears that not as many people have partici- pated as are interested due to Students associating the Free University with a so called ”long-haired, farrout fringe,” Both Dave and Jim (Continued lo page 10) a piece of the theater by par- ticipating inplaysrrgettlnglnr volved in the total thing. I would support the idea ofpro- viding credit for production. Participating in aplayismore worthwhile than any term pap— er on a play could possibly be." “The mix of courses in the department inevitably must reflect the strengths of the faculty and the interests ofthe students. The facultyaretalkr ing vigorously with each other and with students;and theyare arriving at some answers." “There isa certainminimum core of knowledge that is the essence of a theater major; but when you try to define it, there is a constant struggle. Whatever they decide nowwill be no good three, four years (Photo by Marty Sachs) from now. last year's notes that worked so well often have to be thrown out.” One of the open questions that Dr. Falls was to answer was whether the college should continue to offer a theater major. He answered in the affirmative and added, ”lpre- dict we'll see the number of majors and participants inc- rease and as a result there will be a demand for more professors and support peer ple.” Summing up his reflections on the department, Dr. Falls said, "Flexibility is the big thing. I think a lot of things are being done right--a lot of discussion, a great esprit; that’s the value about this type department and this type school." Group Stays Summer With the early closing ofthis college last May, a critical view of the contemporaryedu» cational process was under taken. One of the results of this analysis was the forma tion of the Grinnell Freedom School this pastsummeri This school was formed by a small group of Students concerned with the goals and the means of the educational process. According to one of the parti- cipants, the purpose of the school was to study the con- cepts of radical politics, to crystalize‘these concepts by an investigation of materials of interest to radicals, and ultimately to develop the abiv lity to communicate these id- eas to the populace at large. Approximately eighteen SIU’ dents participated on a full time basis with a few faculty members intermittently being involved. The basic means of achieving the specified goals was through the formation of a collective. With this slrucr ture, the group was able to place a special emphasis on eliminating the conditioned behavior instilled into indivi- duals by contemporary Ame erican Society. Specifically, the emphasis was placed on the position of the woman in today’s world, and her func- tion in relation to the collect tive living situation. Aspecial women's caucus met to fur' ther the understandingof “wo- men's liberation” both in re lation to collective living and society in general.The exper~ iences and results of the sch- ool are currently being pub- lished in a report which Shall be distributed to college offi~ cials, students, and undergr- ound newspapers. Theaccom- plishments of the group were summed up as: an increase in the knowledge of radical polir ticals, a better developed inn tellectual concept of thesepo- litics and the establishment of a favorable living situation, utilizing the concepts which had been studied. Notice to pre-med students: The annual pre-medical con- ference for students and ad- visors will be at the Univer- sity of Iowa November 6. The dayrlong conference includes discussions, tours and talks with medical students and fa culty. All pre-meds, are inn vited. Sign up for the trip in either Dr. Oelke’s or Dr. Fishman's office.