March 5, 1971th!

CHRISTOFH MECKEL, German poet and artist,
will be on campus Sunday and Monday. His major
appearance is a lecture, “The Cost ofa Poem,"
to be delivered in English Sunday at 7 PM in South

Lounge.

Meckel will be available occasionally about the
Forum Monday for discussion andreadings and will
be in Loose Lounge at 3 p.m. He has published
twenty books of poetry, prose, graphic art, and
combinations of the three. He has received several
awards for both his art and his poetry. Born in
Berlin, he is now Writer in Residence at Oberlin

College.

THE S CARLET ANDnBLACK m

Page 3

Dawsons Write About Uganda Coup

The following isa letter from
Edie and John Dawson toRobr
ert and Betty Voertman here
at the college about the recent
coup in Uganda. Dawson will
return here next year to teach
economics, resuming a posir
tion he held for three years.
He now teaches at the Univer
sity of Kampala in Uganda.

Kampala, Uganda
February 3,1971

QJI Afrimn experience gr-
ows daily more exciting! We
thought December was quite
lively enough with a trip to
isolated Karamoja inthe north
east corner of Uganda, where
we had to buy our release
from a lonely village we had
visited, fortunately with a Kan
ramajong guide. Laterfarther
south, we got more involved
than we wanted in the circum-
cision of Sebei youths on Mt.
Elgon. But details of these
adventures are dwarfed by the
past week’s events here.
Sunday night, Jan. 24th, we
were awakened by heavy gun
fire and mortars, and I made
many trips between bed and
our perfumed hillside garden
trying to see where the shoots
ing was. Kampala is built on
seven hills and the University
is fortunately on its own hill,
somewhat away from military
or civil installations. In the
morning we kept the children
home from school and heard
continued gun fire, some of it

Who Cares About Apathy?

by J. C. Labowitz

The concept of apathy is an
interesting one (at leastlhope
it is because that is my topic
this week). Apathy asmassive
indifference tends to run ram-
pant , in situations such as
Grinnell College, partially-as
a result of the vast number of
distractions and diversions
that mtch the attention ofyour
average Grinnell student/fac-
ulty/administrator. T he s e
distractions affect any and all
activities here, from SGA
elections to classroom work,
SAGA to Laos (an amazing
correlation in itself).

This could be summarized
into Someone' 5 Law, which
might state, ' Anything isbet-
ter than what we are supposed
to be doing", or “Let’ 5 go to
the Longhorn". Evidence of
this is manifestedall over Gr-
innell. Perhaps the greatest
example of this is the tele-
vision habits herer years of
experience have demonstra-
ted to me that, if you are den
termined to waSte your time,
anything on TV will satisfy
you. Ihave spent hours Watchr
ing absolutely worthless tele-
vision- roller derby, oldmow
ies, cartoons, and once even
“Hee Haw” when Iwas especs

Students

continued from last week
by Michael Berke

ThirLY’one student volun*
teers work at a day-care cen-
ter in the First Presbyterian
Church, according to Mrs.
Charles Seller, wife of the
Registrar and teacher at the
center.

The center provides Phi/sir
cal, emotional and social devr
elopment, group activitiesand
educational enrichment for
three to SiX’yBar‘Old child-
ren of working mothers, wids
owers, and mothers who are
incapacitated and could not
care for their children during
the day time.

Volunteers work a three hour
shift once a week. The center

ially desperate. I think that
careful attention to watching
those watching television
(which would be another great
way of doing nothing) would
show that not only are many
people wasting theirtime wat-
ching n0thing, they feel guilty
about it. But the true hard-
core apathetic tuber can spend
time watching the patterns
produced by KDIC on Channel
6 without even experiencing
the least pangs of conscience.

Other evidence of Grinnell
apathy and timeafrittering is
found in the Forum, any time
from 8 AM to midnight. Idon't
remember a time that I have
been in the grill without run-
ning into someone to jag with.
But at least we dohavea coma
fortable, attractive place to
relax/not do anything and to
find other people of likemind.
Two other aspects of apathy
should be mentioned. Qie is
ARH, South Lounge, and Strand
movies. Ihave spent literally
hours at a timewatchingmow
ies that I did notenjoyinseats
that were greatly uncomforts
able, and the thought ofleav'ing
before the end never occurred
to me. The idea of notwasting
my time as I was was irreler
vant to the concept of having

In Volunteer

is open from 6:45 a.m. to
5:45 p.m, five days a week.
They work under fullr time
teachers Mrs. Seller: Mrs.
Dennis ljlaas, wife of the colv
lege chaplain; Mr. Robert
Zeimes; and part-time teach-
er Mrs. Mary Adkins aners.
Leonard Thon, wife ofa col-
lege custodian, cook andpartr
time supervisor.

Volunteers participate in
grouprtime activities such as
telling Stories and acting in
plays, supervise free play,
and offer children from broken
homes an opportunity for close
relationships withadults. Vol—
unteers repair toys, devise
puppet showsandmusicalperr
formances, andprovidea ratio

to not do anything, and this
sentence should be taken out
and buried.

The other aspects I wanted
to mention were in SSA elec-
tions. Nothing brings out the
apathy like an election, and
this week’s ranked right up
there, or, to quote Rod Gley~
steen, “the campus was at a
fever pitch” and did not even
know the identity of the one
formal candidate. That one
candidate ended up getting ch-
allenged by a write-in cam-
paign that I gave a serious
chance of winning. I would
havebeen truly appalled had
the write-in won, as anyone
who has to mark "nota jag”
on pesters has to boggle the
mind. As it was, the writerin
campaign proved that doing
nothing but spendinga couple
of hours mimeographing and
sidewalk-chalking can get
you 150 votes.

In any case, best of luck to
Shelley Floyd in dealing with
the inherent inertia. Fortun»
ately, it looks a'slfapaihy may
hit either a new high or new
low, because it looks like the
initiative started in this col»
umn will result in pinballmar
chines for the Forum. Crear
tive new ways to waste time
through modern technology!

Programs

of adults to children sufficient
to meet minimum require-
ments for day care centers
licensed by the state of Iowa.
Some volunteers work in con—
junction with psychology clasr
ses.

‘Twenty childrenare current
ly enrolled in the non-profit
center.

According to Mrs. Seller,
volunteers are especially
needed to repair toys. Volun-
teers join the staff of the
center by contactinngs.Sel-
1er. '

Tutur's and Teachers’ Aides
Many Grinnell students work
as tutors or ieachers’ aides

(continued to page 7)

frighteningly loud at the main
gate.

Late in the afternoon a swell
of human voices rose,ech0ing
from hill to hill and gaining
intensity. I learned that the
10cal radio had justannounced
the SUCCESS of Gen. Amin’s
coup, and saw crowds of peor
ple hurrying to the main roads
on the hill opposite us. This
pulsing human roar continued
throughout the afternoon, and
later on, Jack went with fr-
iends cautiously through a
small side gate to a market
area to see the public reac*
tion. It was so marvelously,
wildly happy, that he came
back to get me. Shooting was
still continuing in parts of the
city, but here at Wandegeya
roundabout and market the
streets were jammed with or
owded vehicles , cars and
lorrys decorated with banana
leaves, dragging tin cans, and
jammed with people insideand
festooned with others lying
precariously on top as the
vehicles careened down the
roads. Occasionally an Army
vehicle would driveby,always
with men standing, holding
automatic rifles or machine
guns, and each time the crowd
would cheer! 1 saw about five
white faces in the throngs of
hundres of black ones, yet the
spirit of joy and celebration
was extended to include us .,
we were embraced, hands hear
rtily shaken, and local gin
proffered.

The local people, the Bag
anda, have historically been
the most powerful tribe among
Uganda tribes and were the
people to whom the British
gave authority over other tr?
bes under the Protectorate.
Dr. Obote’ s regime had re-
moved much oftheirpower and

had placed in detentionanum-
ber of Baganda. Their joy at
the coup has been ecstaticrr

”Gen. Amin our savior”

The shooting continued
Tues., but was more isolated
and some ofustookquick trips
to the nearest shop for sup-
plies, mainly ﬂour and powr
dered milk. Wed. was more
calm and our children went
to school until rumors arose
at lunchtime that Tanzania
was preparing to invade!
Thurs. we sent the children
back to school as the atmos—
phere in town seemed quiet
and controlled, exceptforisw
lated shots. Thursday's rumor
was that the Sudanhadinvaded
in the north! But it seemed
unlikely that this could affect
Kampala immediately.

The rumors have been fans
tastic, but we believe the coup
was amazingly bloodless. Of
course there were some 113*
gic episodes such as the Army
tanks firing into the interna-
tional air terminalatEntebbe.
Friends of ours across town,
teaching at the College of
Commerce which is near an
Army base, were caught in
cross fire between two oppo-
sing units of the Army, and
sheltered fourteen Europeans
in their home for two days.
And of course there are the
stories of settling of local
grudges of Baganda against
Other Baganda U.P.C, mem*
bers (under Obote the only
political party), and tales of
Army off duty looting. But the
atmosphere about town isam-
azingly calm and relatively
free from fear, as the citir
Zens continue to waveatpass-
ing soldiers who wave back
and smile at their recently
acquired popularity. Gen.

(continued to page 6) m )

DanceGroupPlaysThisWeékend'

Tonight and tomorrow night
the Theater Dance Group un*
der Betty Voertman will pre
sent its concert in Roberts at
8 P.M. The program, consist-
ing of ten dance numbers and
a longer mime play, includes
choreography by both Mrs.
Voertman and students. Most
numbers will be accompanied
by taped music, except for two
dances in which participants
will create their own sound
effects. »\ series of love duets
will be accompanied by live
guitar.

Wednesday the Choir will
present a concert at 8 PM.
in Herrick which will center
arround Schubert's Mass in
G. The Mass will be accom-
panicd by several violins,
violas, and cellos from the

M \RILYN MUSSER, Greg

Gaines
the college‘s hHHlCTt'OquWHIJPpL‘JI‘WIIh thTl

orchestra. Floyd SlOtterback
will conduct Samuel Barber's
"Mary Hynes" and Ernst Bl’
och’s “The Sanctification," a
Jewish religious piece. Two
E.E. Cummings poems set to
music will round out the pro*
gram.

Poems from Edgar Lee
Master's “Spoon River An-
thology" will be presented in
Arena Theater Wednesdayand
Thursday at 8 RM. The cast
includes the ten students in
Advanced acting and Direct»
ing. The production is direct-
ed by Don Eoros. Bruce l'eir
senheimer will provide guitar
accompaniment. \pproxima-
tely an hour long, the perfor'
mance will employ little in the
way of settings. ‘\Ci01‘5 may
even sit on the floor,

-.indDu\ it! On mus at
itxlit‘i'

Donct‘ Group tonight and toitiorrou night.

‘(Plinio by [kit-ti Zigus)

 

