 

Th

Scarlet and Black

Stet/y‘all

Page Nine of MI

insideﬂm
SB

A story on the
career of Pro-
fessor Grant Gas
1e, who is being
honored this we
ekend, and sket-
ches of Several
pieces ol old sci-
entific equipment.

Page ’7

Grinnell

Group P

In line with its policy ol opening
up the student government and prom
viding easy avenues or communicar
tion lor the campus, the new SGA
held a second allrcullege evaluation
meeting Tuesday alternoon in ARI-i.
A panel made up of three faculty
members and three Students brain»
stormed over a wide range ol campus
issues tor a couple of hours, both
among themselves and with people
in the audience. SGA President Russ
McGregor chaired the discussion

Most debate centered around how
much tlle College should and can
accommodate Itself t0 the special
interests of individual students and
groups Under this rubric the panel

Grade Plan Passed

By an ollicial vote or 22-184, the
Grinliell taciilty voled last Monday
to replace the present grading sys-
tem with a system of grade-erase
as iormulated earlier lllls year by
the Educational Policies Committee
and subsequently recommended to
the faculty by the Executive Council,
The neu system will become cf-
fectlve will! the fall semester 1972.

Debate will continue next week on
a second grading motion, wtiicti
would institute a creditserase option
wltllin the new system

Proponents oi the measure ads
vanced several arguments in its
favor, Faculty Chairman Bel yl Clotr
felter, who actually made the motion,
argued that the l" [grade is now seen
as a punitive me: 'ur "That which
is oi importance i what a strident
accomplished, not what he failed to
accomplish," Clotlelter claimed.
and thus the trailsclipt Should not
record penulizatiou for bad Work.

The new system will also
dc»enlphasize the grade point aver»
ago, since the only requirements
ior graduation will be the comple-
tion of a cel lnili number of credits,
Si’iitl Clottelter' "The grade puint
average has no meaning. '1') ~
eliminates it.‘ Thcprcsont system,
which includes a nuiuiici nroptlous
such as Cieditsfull, WP. WF, llllll so
with, only encor ages n nanipn-
lllllnn of options, dill Grog GIIlofl.
“Students are just playing tile game.
This system Slnlplilies things."

Detidtc centered around several
arguments against both these points
and tile 1)!) sililc ‘ildvc'lsc effects the
system could have, The elimination
of D wits of concern to several lace
ulty uicinhcrs, particularly those

who observed that it could hurt the
black students, who have in recent
semesters received approximately
half of the D grades earned here.

Eugene berrnan was not present
at the meeting but distributed a
printed statement obyecting to the
new system because students lose
more by getting their grades wiped
out than they would lose by receiv-
ing a D. This could mean a neces-
sary extension of their education
beyond the regular lour years, in or-
der for some students to pile up the
necessary credits. in a school as
expensive as Grinnell, several fac-
ulty members noted, this could cause
real problems for the students

Don Smith observed that through his
previous experience with a similar
system he Would forecast that actur
ally the “D’s will tend to merge into
C’s. Tllis will be a boon to the Stu-
dent, instead ol a disadvantage.”

The new system may “muddy the
situation with regard to graduate
schools," complained Biology pro-
fessor Guillermo Mendoza and turn
thei'lllOi'o “We Cannot legislate failr
tires out by laculty action. We are
judged by what we do " Gene
Wubliers supported the proposal,
however, observing that “I would
like {i system Where we do not lln-'
pose the pace. This system moves
lounrd that.”

Alter a iiiinoramendnienl by John
Kleillschlnidt which concerned grads
ing options lor ACM programs and
practica courses, the laculty voted.
Several shows of hands and tabular
tiou disagreements later, Secretary
James llottois recorded a 22-18-4
vote In favor.

Friday
14, 1972

April

Volume 80 Number 27

 

The pleschool set now has its very own geodesic dome, thanks to the recent efforts
Trotters special topics art class Tile dome' s inventor, Buckminster Fuller,
will be the Commencement speaker next month.

photo by Robb Buntz

Wall Quits As Dean;
Will Teach And Write

Joseph F. Wail, dean of the college
now on leave teaching at Brown
University, has announced that he
will return to iulltime teaching and
writing beginning with the spring
semester of 1972-73.

in a letter to President Leggett,
released at Monday's faculty meet-
ing, Wall said that his decision was
not sudden, and was based in part
on the perspective the semester at
Brown has afforded him,

”1 am now iully convinced,” Dean
Wall said, Hthat i shall find more
personal satisiaction and can make a
greater contribution by teaching and
writing than I can in an administra-
tive position."

Dean Wall is currently teaching a
course he has established at Brown
on DOStrClVIl War economic def
velopments in American history, and
he is researching and writing a book
under contract for Oxford University
Press to be entitled The Election of
1872: The Unmaking ofaRevolution.

onders Academics

dealt with questions oiincreased and
more varied practicum opportuni-
ties and revisions in the academic
calendar.

The meeting was a followup to the
one in Roberts Theatre at which
president Leggett spoke last week,
It was one of a series arranged by
Anne Walter, SGA Vice»President
for academic affairs, who said SGA's
aim was “to bring together students,
faculty and administration to discuss
and brainstorm on issues relating
to the College.”

She added that Grinnell ”is on the
brink oi some major decisions.,,it
is hoped that these meetings will en»
courage more input and interest in
these decisions.”

McGregor said that Grinnell “had
to go through some changes," and he
raised a question as to whether
“what’s good lor the College is
necessarily comfortable--these
things hit a lot ol people.”

The iacnlty panelists were Beth
Noble (Spanish), Don Smith (His-
tory), and Vil‘ginius Thornton (His-
tory/American Studies).

The students were Jeanne Myerson,
Mike Siegel (who replaced Steve
Korstad) and Greg Vranicar.

At the end of the meeting Anne
Walter gave a brief rundown on
some pending issues that had not
been touched on, including the grad»
ing policy passed the laculty Monday
and the task force proposals on
EPC’s, the Executive Council, and
Alan Nasser’s contract, In the near
future there will be another meeting,
focusmg on housing.

Before the talking began, McGregor
expressed some disappointment at
the size of the crowd, which was then
about 25-30. Bill he said profitable
discussion can take place In dsmall
meeting, and he added that he hoped
enough good would come out of it
to stimulate higher attendance at
luture meetings.

As the discussion went on, the
crowd, which included President
Leggett, Increased to about 50. _

On the question at Practicums,
Mike Stern, a member of the audi-
ence, maintained that there was “a
lot oi potential lor learning not being
used,” and suggested a practicum in
carpentry. Mr, Thornton replied that
the College was not ”an academic
supermarket."

The sense of those present seemed
to be that more practicum opportun-
ities ought to be offered Suggestions
were also made to award credit for
work on SGA, campus committees.
political activity.

Beth Noble suggested changes in
the academic calendar so a student
could be educated “at his ownpace,"
whether that took three years or five,
Thornton concurred in this, but
Smith said that he felt the trend of
the discussion was going toward
“giving everybody his own calen-
dar,” and he added, “One can't have
everything. Lines have to be drawn,
there are some limits.”

Greg Vranicar noted that the Col-
lege had already gone a long Way in
extending its limits,

Before the agenda was completely
dealt with, time ran short and Mc-
cregor dropped the agenda to invite
questions from the floor.

Jenna Finch then commented on
what She termed the “faculty Stu~
dent relationship."

“in the Forum I can tell in advance
which profs will sit down with stur
dents and which will have a kaffee‘
klatch together,” she said. She said
there were conservative forces in
the College opposed to giving the
students a meaningful voice and said
the College ought to be challenged
to do this.

The meeting ended with a warning
by Mario Bognanno. “You change by
so much,” he said. “Then you come
to a limit Then you have to work on
the limit,”

in a telephone interview with the
Scarlet and Black, Wall Said that he
plans to teach the new course at
Grinnell, alter it goes through the
“rigmarole” of being approved.
Dean Wall also told the 5548 that
he has several research and writing
projects in mind which he hopes to
work on at Grinnell after he com»
pletes his current book.
president Leggett, who talked to
Dean Wall several weeks ago in Pro-
vidence, Rhode Island, told the deE
that he was “not surprised” by the
Dean’s decision to return to full time
teaching.
president Leggett said that he does
not plan to begin a search for a new
dean until next September, when lac-
ulty and students will be less in-
volved with other things and able to
contribute their suggestions and
recommendations to Leggett. The
President will ask for advice on the
appointment from all members of the
community early next semester; this
is the same procedure he followed
before Deans Wall and Walker were
appointed to fill the positions held
until July, 1969 by Dean and Provost
James Stauss.

probably, the new dean will be
someone new at the college; Dean
of Administration and acting Dean
of the College Waldo Walker, who
has demonstrated “managerial and
executive talents" is "a very seriv
ous candidate," Leggett said.

However, the Wall-Walker combi-
nation was a “natural", because
of the interests, personalities, and
friendship of the two men, according
to the President, and the positions
may have to be reworked to {it
other people.

Dean Wall, who will return as Dean
for the first semester of the 1972-
73 academic year, will assist Leg-
gett in selecting the new Dean.

In his letter to Leggett explaining
the resignation. Wall said “One of
the several satisfactions l have had
in my present position has been the
opportunity to work closely with you
and Dean Walker in all areas affetk
ting the operations of the college.
I am most gratelul lor the coopera-
tion and support and friendship you
have always given me.

“By next January, I shall have in
actuality served in the Capacity of
dean for four years. These years,
difficult as they have been for col-
lege administrators everywhere,
have also been challenging, and for
Grinnell College. I believe, can-
structive and progressive.”

Five WIII Join Faculty

Five more persons have Signed
contracts to join the Grinnell laculty
next year, and tour more current
faculty members have announced
their resignations, according to
President Glenn Leggett, The five
who signed contracts will join the
American Studies, Biology, Clase
sics, Education, and Religious Stu,
dies departments,

Carolynn neid Wallace, who was
the center of some controversy at
the time the Twentieth Century Room
was taken over by black students and
converted to a Black Studies
Library, has agreed to join the
American studies laculty

Irene Jones will rain the Biology
Department next lall, Peter
Bodunrln will join the Department
or Classics, Clarence Hughes will
join the Education department, and
Harold Kasimow will join the re-
cently created Department or Ree
ligious Studies.

The hiring of tile Manhattan String
Quartet was previously reported in
the 5&8.

Faculty members who have re,

cently announced their resignations
include lrwin Goldberg and Benny
Nefzger, both of the Department of
Sociology, Thomas Schlereth, De-
partment of History, Lynn Mather,
Political Science, and Gordon M2-
ther, Education. Nefzgel‘ will tech-
nically be on leave next year, but
has announced that he does not plan
to return to Grinnell.

Eight and one-halffaculty positions
for next year have not yet been
lilled, These include two in History,
one in Economics, one in Elementary
Education (which is still contingent
on Trustee approval this weekend),
one in Music, onerhalf in Political
Science, and two in Sociology.

Planning to go on leave next semes—
ter are Alan Jones, History; James
Hamilton, Economics; Eugene Her-
man, Mathematics; Mr. and Mrs,
Karl DeLong, Biology; and Dennis
Perri, Spanish. Phillip Bays, Chem-
istry; James Kissane, English;
Wayne Denny, Physics; and Anna
Mae Wack, Physical Education will
return from leaves next fall.

 

