 

 

Truth or Dare

by Ruth Montgomery

At its last meeting the Joint
Board voted to adopt the iollowing
position on the administrative
reorganization it is a stand which
lwholeheartedly endorse. An open
iorum has been arranged with
President Turner and Dean Walker
[or 8:00 pm. in South Lounge on
Wednesday, September 22.
Students should attend in order to
voice their concerns and question
the action.

President Turner has made an
important decision directly ai-
fecting student life on campus
without consulting students. S.G,A.
ls deeply oiiended by the manner
in which this action was taken. and
we [eel that, by completely
denying any student input, it calls
into questio the Administration’s
basic credib ity and good faith.

S.G.A. recognizes the (act that it
is difﬁcult to decide exactly where
to draw the line between matters
oi purely administrative concern
and those necessitating active
student involvement; we feel that
the reorganization falls into both
categories. We recognize that
those portions oi the
reorganization dealing with the
creation of a Provost and Vice-
Provost, are primarily concerns oi
the Administration, and Well
within the legitimate power of the
College President. S.G,A. makes
no protest over this part of the
reorganization

However, in the portions oi the
reorganization dealing directly
with student social, cultural and
recreational programs, we believe
that student involvement in the
decision making process is clearly
called 'for; tor the following
reasons: ,

 

m The money used in the social
and cultural programs is ex-
clusively student moneyiprovided
by the 865 student activity fee. It is
obvious that students have a direct
and overwhelming interest in
seeing that the most qualiiied and
experienced people are involved.
in the process oi spending these
iunds, and ought to be consulted
when these people are hired or
iired.

<2) The high level oi Grinnell’s
social, cultural and recreational
programs have been a mainstay oi
student liie for years. Given the
college's location and size, any
deterioration in the quality oi these
programs would make student iife
here iniinitely less pleasant and
certainly less enriching. it would
likely have long-term eiiects upon
admissions and enrollment, Given
the vital importance of the
aiorcmentioned programs on
present and future student liie,
students should he involved in all
decisions aiiecting these
programs.

Thus. S.G,A. condemns the
absence oi student input in the
iormulation oi the reorganization.
Morever. S.G.A. questions the
reorganized administration's very
viability. We ieel that the new
Director of College Social and
Recreational Programs would be,
”in the vernacular, spread iar too
thin," and also thatmaintenance oi
a satisiactcry level oi programs
ming would necessitate the hiring
oi additional clerical and booking
staii, thereby diminishing the cost
savings oi the reorganization.

scA iurthemiore questions the
nature of the monetary savings to
be gained by the proposal. The
reorganization trades a reduction

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oi administrative expenditures ior
an increase in 5G. A exe
penditures: students are
sacrificing their programs [or
administrative economizing, Seen
in this light, is not the student loss
greater than the administrative
saving?

In conclusion, SG,A. questions
both the manner in which the
demsion was reached and the ef-
fective results of the
reorganization. Therefore the
Student Government Association
oi Grinnell College calls upon the
Administration to immediately
begin a reconsideration oi the
portions oi the reorganization plan
that directly affect student life,
and to involve so A. represenr
tatives in the reconsideration
process

Lest it seem that S.G A. is eXr
clusively concerned with the
position oi activities counselor, I’d
like to stress the importance or the
position of outdoor recreation
specialist. Unlike Middlebury,
Grinnell is not surrounded by the
Green Mountains, The more
limited accessibility of recreation
areas makes the outdoor
recreation specialist especially
important to a balanced program
of activities. Prior to the hiring of
an outdoor recreation specialist
Grinnell's program was organized
on a sort of “outing club" basis,
and the level of student in-
volvement was very low. Both the
necessary skills and time are at a
premium at Grinnell, With the
hiring of the outdoor recreation
specialist both the number of
activities available and student
participation have increased
considerably.

Grinnell is distinctive. it offers
academic rigor and excellance in a
peaceiul rural setting and balances
this with a rich offering of cultural,
social, and recreational activities.
Let us not destroy our distincr
tiveness In an attempt to cut costs.

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Dom of View

Turner

and the

limits of power

by Bob Aldrich

For several days now, I have
been laboring on thlscnlumn under
the illusion that I would lind
something original to say about the
recent administrative shakerup.
However, that has not been the
case. I am at a loss of what to say
or do; in short, i ieel impotent,
powerless. That feeling oi
helplessness. and what to do about
it, is what this column is about.

The Grmnel] student body is
essentially powerless within the
school. There are a few avenues
that are available as means to
ailect changeﬂommittees, SGA,
EPC, and so (orthibut, should the
administration decide, for
example, that they are going to
drop Georgia Dental, Kathy Mc-
Cluskey and Mary Eysenbach,
they do, No muss, no fuss These
people's competence and their jobs,
are facets of the issue that have
been brought out; that will not be
discussed here. There arc, though,
several issues that students ought
to confront themselves and the
administration with.

i. What is the purpose oi having
an open iorum On Wed., Sept. 22,
alter the fact? According to
President Turner. the change is
iinal unless “anyone comes up with
any bright new ideas" (5&8, 9‘10-
76).

2. Does President Turner really
believe that services will not
suiier, especially in the areas oi
outdoor recreation and concerts?
Most students are not protessional
outdoors specialists, and there are
very iew people in the country, let
alone on campus, who can match
Ms. Dental’s expertise. When you
put a group of amateurs in a iield,
whatever it is, that area is going to
decrease in quality.

3. What does it mean when all
three people that are “let go” are
women. and what are the im-
plications ior long range hiringr
firing? It is admittedly hard to
make a generalization him one
instance, but at the same time, it

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4, At what point do students have
a say in their own education and
school facilities? Above and
beyond the immediate issue, there
lis a serious and apparently vast
gap between what students think
they should have a right to vs. the
administration's view.

This issue is compounded by
President Turner’s plea for a
“cultivation of ethical beings."
One oi the alleged norms oi our
society is the democratic process
lin which people can make rational,
intelligent decisions without
coercing or "railroading" their
views upon a group. What does
Turner think he has done? In an
age where, according to him, there
is amood of “malaise and drift," it
is time ior more participation in
the democratic process and not
less, I would contend that it is
precisely his kind oi actions that
are creating the kind of apathy that
he deplores.

Further, What kind of im-
plications are there for the future
of the college? Turner tells us in his
reorganization paper that “I would
stress that the review has been
comprehensive and not
piecemeal." ifthis is true, then it is
not unreasonable to assume that
student-related organizations are
at the bottom end of Turner's
priorities, Given this, along with
the implications that it has for the
future, Turner's goal of .
“‘achieving a ioyiul community” is
highly questionable, both in its
logic and its possibility, .

What, then, should students do?

The iirst step is to go through the
established channels. When the
open iorum takes place next week,
attend it! It is clerar that no
change will take place, given the
administration’s View of the
matter, unless there is a strong
student movement in a given

 

direction.

An ad hoc committee has been
formed to deal with this problem
by the SGA. If you have an idea,
relay it to them, If you don‘t know
whom to Contact, see last week‘s
85:3 for names and pictures of SGA
people.

If students Work through these
channels and nothing happens,
What then? Do we acquiesce? Isay
no; perhaps stronger action will
have to be taken. it must, however,
be thought out—this is no time for
rhetoric; there’ll be enough of that.
But there is an issue here, one that
cannot be avoided: when will we
be given the chance to have a say
in our own education?

The channels have not been
exhausted, and there is a chance
that President Turner will listen to
that student voice if it is loud
enough. But it must be loud. it must
be intelligent, and it must be made

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