SCARLET AND BLACK

December l7. I954

 

 

Scarlet and Black .

GRIN'NELL COLLEGE
Grinnell. Iowa

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of this ncu‘bpﬂlier or at niuiiioil

opinions of tho cdiior.

E
Dill-Associate Editor

Copy Editor

Prooi Editor
Headline Editor
Art Editor .
Circulation Manager

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io'i'ry Tomlinsiiu

Chuck Stegmeir
Ernie Gerslmn

row Up

Darby gym seems to have a fatal attraction for the

juvenile element of our college. Unfortunately this juvenil-
ism seems to find its most obnoxious manifestation at pub-
lic events,

The flag incident which occured at Saturday night's
basketball game Was not merely “disrespectful", or “in
poor taste” but rather a misdeameanor against the United
States government punishable by up to a $100 fine or up
to 30 days in jail.

Saturday night‘s audience didn’t know this, but they
knew that it wasn’t a laughing matter. The murmer that
rippled through the gym as the flag rose was not the
appreciative laughter of admiration for a clever trick,
or the unabashed laughter at a funny joke. It was the kind
of sound that people make when they are embarrassed and
ashamed. And we were ashamed because .the event, whether
rightly or wrongly was a bad reflection on the college as

a whole, on the town, and on

each one of us,

 

Santa’s

From: R, H, Norton
To: The Faculty

Helper

December 1 l, 1954

Concerning: Last classes before Vacation
Please help our students to develop habits of self discipline

' <1) Holding your classes for in minutes

(2)

Giving them the best you can in lecture, discus~

sion or lnborstory
Early dismissal of the last class before Vacation by even one
faculty member can create disturbances and irritations iar
out of proportion to the temporary emotional satisfaction it
gives to a few immature students who may still believe in

Sanm Claus.

 

LeHers .

in two recent studentriaculty
discussions (sponsored by the
Friars, Nov. 26 and the science
club Dec. 8.) the topic was
“The Role of Science in a Libc
eral Arts Education.” it seems
worth while to say a few words
about these well attended and
intended meetings.

First of all as professor
Klausner correctly implied, the
topic itself though possibly
somewhat poorly stated, is the
subject of vigorous and often
thoughtful discussion through—
out the land. Secondly, it apr
pears that in the_ laboratory of
the philosopher, namely the dis-
cussion group, we young ox:
pcrimentnl scientists appear ill
at ease. Who would trust a phi—
losopher with a test tube?

The more important aspects
or these meetings in my opin-
ion lay in an entirely differ.
ent area, 1. The use of frcc
speech to discuss an important

MERRY

and controversial topic was
unimpaired and should set an
example. 2. The fact that such
a broad topic is not all black
or white was well brought
out. 3. No one intended to or
did for that matter win" the
discussion

The scientlst needs to learn
the philosophy of discussion in
terms of unemotionzll vollcylng
with ideas; the philosopher may
have to lcnrn u sciencc before
he can justly presume to be the
interpreter for all the sciences.
No matter which course the
liberal arts will follow. if they
continue to grow within the
framework of such healthy (11:7
cussions we need not worry
about their future. i

Fcculty and studcnts alike
may look with gratitude to.
wsids the college for providing
an opportunity for this freedom,
towards the philosophers for
stimulating the discussion and
towards the scientist for leaVr
ing their laboratories in order
to participate. Hans Wynbcrg,

CHRISTMAS
From

LEEPER MUSIC CO.

ﬂ Springer Finds Literary Material

In Maverick Unsuccessful, Dull

A Review by Norman Springer_
Without doubt the pllbl
Gl‘innell students,

atlon of Maverick does give

as the editors‘say, “a medium through

which they can express themselves.” Essentially the Maya

El‘lck does this because of its

in 'lensive production which

opens up many more pages (54 in the first issue) than a

more expensive production. This is excellent.

But this ,vcry incrit has lead
the editors into a statement of
purpose which haSrresulted in
the generally low level of the
published material. The editors
believe that n ‘Literary quality'
is an elusive abstraction about
which no two people can agree
completely. The more matcrisl
Maverick can print, the better
the chances of including items
which will strike n given read-
er as ‘quality”

By this they mean, as reveals
ed by an inspection of what
they print, that there is no
“complete” agreement, anything
“literary" may find a given
reader who will see the work
as quality. This is false, for it
assumes that quality is so rel-
ative that there can be no
agreement about it..

The literary material in this
issue, made up of five short
stories and seven booms, is
unsuccessful and dull, chosen
because the editors do lack
a sense of standards. In the
following brief space I will
try to say why. i move into
severe criticism because only
a thing of some value is
worth it.

A decent creative work ought
to begin to make us see, hear,
feel a situation. (I'm not talk-
ing about perfection.) The first
thing One looks for is the par—
ticular sense of the complexity
(dimensions), as well as the
lmmedlacy of a situation or so
tion.

What usually blocks this ef-
feet (and this happens in all
the seven poems) are cliches,
lack of specificity or the other
side of this, generalizations of
the worst kind, the stating of
2i situation, not tho “making" of
it (such as writing the state
ment “Jane was excited,” in-
stead of building the situation
and Jane’s actions in such a
way that the reader can’t miss
her state of “excitedness”).

The largest failure, one that
effects all the others, is that
failure to think out the cle-
sired effect — that thing which
is wanted from the subject To
put itcnothcr way: the writer
has not dcfincd sense of pur-
pose and therefore ‘has no sense
of how to make all else bend to
this purpose.

All the stories fail to han-
die believable situations and
character: All but one are
very poorly organized as re-
vealed in an unaware'ness of
Where to start or story, where
a climax is, what a good end-'
ing ought to bc, Onc story,
The City, manages to suggest
that the nuthor does have a
sense of the problem of rep-
resentation.

Outside the Very improbable
situation, a young man's rage
at a city resulting in the derailr
ment of an elevated train. we
do get a momentary look at
probable emotion through the
author's effort to represent the
young man’s point of view,

From this we get some ink-
ling of a real world. But with
in the confines of the story as
set up it is impossible to get
more than a segment of such a
world. The writer attempts to

suggest everything and this
wrecks the story. What is com
mendable is the effort to show
some of the complexity in-
volved. But even this is made
quately pursued.

Another story, Retreat,
through fantasy, also reveals
some sensc of tho difficulty of
capturing a semblance of a
situation, though it too is not
well thought out, and ex-
tremely overworked.

It does show a consciousness
of the writer's problem in its
sense of unity and in some ef—
fects achieved by various things
usually dully catalogued but in
rare moments related and mov—
ing in an almost believable ac-
tion.

The other stories have less to
offer. There is some ear for
conversation in The Obsessed.
They Shall Lie Down tries so
hard to express an idea that
what is done in the story is
completely improbable and this

body out on a serious limb,

no attemnt to think with
freshness or originality.

The same can he said for the
humor in the form of canoens
and prose. The unsuccessful
story of Grnvitation was a des
perate effort at comedy; the
rest didn’t even Show this kind
of effort.

Some of thc articles may be
useful in that they convey cer-
tain kinds of information. The
best of these is An Illinois Elec-
tion,

As practised by the editors,
Mavericks purpose, to print
a bulk of material of any
kind is no respectable purc
nose The editors have a re-
sponsibility for a serious
search for quality, based on
a strong sense of standards.
It is only with (his sense of
standards that the magazine
will be able to encourage and
develop serious expression.
For the writers this will mean

harder and more intense work
than is disclosed in this first
issue. For the editors this will
mean the terribly diﬁficult job
of learning to discriminate be-
tween ”qualities”. or there will
be no “encouragement of new
writers," who “stimulation of
thought and enthusiastic argu-
ment."

AMERICA 5 FA I ORITE

-: .t tilltj 'IUle
’ heel daft

ORCHESTRA,

handling only succeeds in mak
ing the idea itself banal.

impressions shows a vague»
ness and ambiguity which re-
Veals a complete misunderstandc
ing of good writing, that is, the
precise and unified representa-
tion of on action, of character,
of thought (or all three to-
gether) to achieve a particular
emotional effect.

Matching the crcstiyc sec~
tions of Maverick are articles
under such headings as
"Science and Religion," "nu-
moi," “Culture and Recrea~
tion," ctcctcra. The serious rc-
ligious articles were stale and
warmed over—n0 daring, rm-

J

CHRISTMAS f

FORMAL g

f; GADABOIJTS

i

f
!

SPECIAL PRICES
0N
FULL SUNDAY DINNERS
AND

SHORT ORDERS
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s. CLAus

,. A senior this your, Claus
thails from N. Pole. An
inton. and Business major
1hc ioins Mr, and Mrs.
a Wellhouse in wishing you a
i very

MERRY CHRISTMAS
and
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WELLHOUSE STUDIO

Across from the Post Office

 

SEASON'S GREETINGS

FROM

CLAIRE’S CLEANERS

 

