 

Editorial

ittle did Stephanie Avery and Jeanette Williams

know. when they decided to start a cheer-leading

squad, what a sensitive nerve they would be

striking within Grinnell. Initially a few of us

thought it wasjust an allrcampusjoke, or at most,
an attempt to assemble another athletic bootingrsquad in the
tradition of the OBrsquad. We were surprised to find out how
wrong we were.

The grumblings ranged from “Theyrsaid it could never
happen here . . to “What's next . . . homecoming?” A
subject like this is so easy to take lightly. It was the light,
almost frivoulous nature of this issue that set us up for a
sobering shock at Tuesday’s organizational meeting. '

The scene which confronted us was of two women at
tempting to assess why a room full of their fellow students
were so vehemently objecting to their plans to form a
cheerleading group. The worst possible outcome of this
relatively minor affair would be the creation of an issue
where there is none. Many people have implied that there is a
racial question at hand (because the two women organizing
the effort happen to be black). We are not dealing with a
racial issue. The confrontation exists between a group of new
students who wish to ”import" an aspect of their
background which they feel is worth their time and effort to
pursue here, and a group of students (probably a
majority) who have a strong notion of what Grinnell is, and
hold it as an entrenched conviction of what Grinnell should
be.

'We were struck at the Tuesday meeting by “liberal,”
”openrminded" students telling these women, in no un-
certain terms, that they would be embarrassed to have them
pursue their plans. The women responded that they were
embarrassed by the activities of the OB-squad. This however
had no perceptible impact on the crowd.

Other objections arose, but they all took on the quality of
excuses for some deeperaabiding rejection of the idea . . . The
assumption which pervaded the entire meeting, which seems
highly specious, was that all activities carried out on this
I campus need some sort of majority approval. There are
numerous organizations, both officially recognized and
informally assembled. which may or may not represent a
majority sentiment, yet no one has ever had the gall to even
suggest suppression of these groups.

The stock rejoinder to this is that cheerleaders make
themselves more obvious than other minority factions. Of
course, the OB-squad usually has the subtlety of a herd of
bull elephants in heat. But if that's too close to home, OSA is
an organization which has never sought student sanction,
but went to great lengths, on behalf of the students, to
inﬂuence the action of the Trustees at their last meeting.

Those of you who have considered the White Paper or
attended any of the alumni weekends know that the College
is in a very self»conscious period of examining what sort of
students Grinnell should attract, The standard liberal
response is that we should go out of our way to attract more
minority. rural, Southern (Western7l, non-urban-
cosmopolitan applicants. This liberal attitude also seems to
assume tacitly that not only does the white urban middle-
class environment have something to offer these people, but
that these people also have something to offer us.

Yet, in this situation, what the “outsiders" are being told
is that their interests are too “low»rent" to be allowed to
occur in public. This is so clearly a reactionary “what will the
neighbors think?” attitude that its apparent domination of
student sentiment within the confines of Grinnell is sobering.

For those died-in-the-wool liberals who feel that
cheerleading represents some kind of insidious trend towards
fraternities, sororities, etc . . . consider this. If indeed, the
trend of incoming students is toward more traditional
social institutions lbut this isolated incident in no way points
towards that), then this undoubtedly represents a legitimate
need on the part of these incoming students. Do we have the
right to inhibit the natural evolution of the school‘.7

The majority will always determine the character of this
place. If ten people want cheerleaders why assume that the
majority will lean towards pledging, wingtip shoes and
panty raids? if, on the other hand, the majority should ever
desire these things, it seems obvious that this is the direction
social life at Grinnell should take.

What becomes apparent at this point is that yesterday’s
liberals are today's reactionaries. Is it not more ominous that
individuals are being blatantly ridiculed and suppressed,
than the fact that a handful of people want to dress up and
perform in a way which some of us consider embarrassing?

Alum notes that Grinnell-in-London
is improving with age

To the ilu : This autumn, I
had occasion to pass lhrough
London on route in Euslcrn
Europe, As a recent Grinnell
graduate and veteran of [he lirsl
Gl'innellrltholldon program, I
naturally spent a good deal of my
time lhere in the company oI the
preseni members of [he Grinnell
communily in London.

There is enough of ihe pioneer in
me to feel a slight tingle of pride at
having been one of those carly
lrailrblazers, who left an indelible
mark on North Kensington during
the aulumn of 1974, and returned to
Grinnell touched by all we had seen
and done. And, lhough the program
was excellent that first year, and
well worth every momcnl, l was
impressed by how profitably [be
present participants have made
use of [he collective experience of
past years, The program has
Continued to grow and evolve,
experimenting with differenl ways
to utilize the environment through
fieldwork, and developing new
courses taught by both Grinnell
faculty and British instructors
The fieldtl‘ips now seem organized
and executed with a finesse wprihy
of recognition by Cook’s lravel
agency, And, (here is an increasing
lund of knowlege as lo the
resources available both Within
London, and outside of ihe clly
environs. museums, 18lh century
estates, and ruined caslles all (all
Within the scope of this year’s
program

One oi the concerns voiced by
Grinnell-in-London studenls is
[hat the program may be too in-
sular, discouraging contact with
English people This is d problem,

 

but one which results from the
Situation of the foreigner residing
in n large urban mass such as
London, ralhel‘ than from [he
structure of the program ilsclf
Those who wish complele im-
mersion Into the liieslyle nl an
English student would be best
advised l0 organize a junior year
abroad at a British univerSlty
Mosl othcr American universities
which offer programs abroad
mainlain their own housing, and
sometimes, lhelr own campuses Il
seems lhal Grinnell intentionally
makes an eilbrl to lnlegrale Wllll
lhe cily, rather than remaining an
isolated unil. It is difficult to mecl
people in a clly like London; some
sludenls had luck wllh flal»shal‘lng
arrangemenls with Brilishers
isici. others joined organizallons
like film clubs l was impressed
with Ihe number of young British
insli-uclors participating in this
year’s program. who sccmcd
Willing lo spend a great deal of
informal time with Grinnell
sludents: (his was not an out-
standing Iealure oi the program in
ils iirsl year.

Fieldwork is an academic exn
perlcncc completely different from
that which we enjoy at Grinnell. To
spend an afternoon in u museum.
or lrooping through a garden, or
observing ihe workings of a social
services agency, and then in go
home and record one's imr
pressions, atlempling to extract
lhe essence ol the experience, to
perceive lhe larger meaning, [he
”universal in [he particular" is a
difficull task indeed. One learns to
become a more acute observer,
who sees [he source of [be written

in the machinations of daily life,
and who reads with onc's mind
buzzing with [he memories of
personal observation And, there is
a very precious commodity in
having all of [his lake place wilhm
the ccnlcxl of Grinnell, in being
able to share experiences and
observations in a familiar setting.
As 21 Watson fellow presently
dolng'fieldwork in Yugoslavia, I
[Ind that i look back on those
GrinnellrlnvLondon days with a
new appreciation. There is
something wonderiul about being
half in [be world bl Grinnell and
lialfoul.nl'being ablelo go culand
experience a new and foreign
environment, and then returning to
Grinnell, willi one's ideas and
impressions which collectively
provide an cxccllenl base for
discussion, advice. inspiration,
There is a structure for the EX-
change of ideas in London, which
can be maintained back at orinr
nell Now that i am off completely
on my own, i realize how much i
learned from those fieldwork
projects in England. I was helped
to become a more sensitive ob-
server by the guidance and in-
struction i received. and I feel iar
more confident now about my own
resources, having been part pi a
group exploring new terrain
logeuier. -
To all of the organizers and
participants in ihe Grinnell-In-
London program. boih pasl and
present. l raise a glass of plum
brandy, there being no Guinness in’,‘
lhis part of the world. and say a

 

liearly (hanksimay you have
many more years of continued
success. Susan llyall ‘76

The Government, and ominous things

To the Editor: The mocking lone of
last week's article on the alleged
“swine flu vaccinations" was
clearly intended lo pressure those
who chose to remain pure and irce
into allowing themselves m be
contaminated. I find it terribly
distressing that people in positions
of authority are urging students to
submit in the shots. I had hoped
lhal even ii everyone else is being
fooled, [hose who hold pcsuiiins
which command rcspecl (nurse
lrma Hall and editor Chris bower»
for two) would have [he wisdom to
sound the warning against mind
control,

Take that B.A..’

To lherEditor: Hear that you're
planning an issue of lwelve pages,

in sure that instead of running
those sexist ads you'll run student
opinion. How's [his so far? If
you’re lucky, this will fill a goodly
space. Can i go next to Bob Aldrich
this issue? A lotofpeople will read
my letter then . .

Best of luck hndmg material .
Sincerely, Paul Miglioralo

A.R.T.: Santa?

An Open Letter to President
Turner: Lel‘s praclice whal you
preach about this ”joyful Comr
munlly ”

How about dressing up as Si
Nick-you've already got lhe
beards-and running around asking
if we've all been good liiilc boys
and girls? Sounds like u would
relieve some of lhe acadcmic
pressure to me Maybe Wally and
Mary wnuld consent to be elves for
n day Poi-gel llns While Paper
shill, lll'liui wc need is a little
tinsel, LR. liriildcer

Do you not find i| odd that the
major force behind the mass-
vaccination movemenl is not lhe
medical community but The
Governmenl" Surely, you must
have at least raised an inquiring
eyebrow when you first heard of
the plotili would be pitifully easy
for [hem lb inject us with lhe
proper chemicals, and then, using
radio signals from a master
Control system, [urn us Inlo robots.
Having been injected, we would
never be sure ir what we do results
irom our ccnlrcl oi reality or irum
their control of us. Without control,
powerless, subject to any whim
ihey might have, our lives would

our deaths, Living, dying,
creating, destroying. all will be
without meaning when we can n
longer claim responsibility
Responsibllily for our actions will
be lmpoSSible since in acting it
mighi have been lhem. not us, who
made ihe choice. Our knowledge 0' ‘
causes will be shattered and our
world will quickly dissolve into one
of unconnected moments and
events’ the film cui into its in
dividual frames and the frames
scattered aboulia diaspora of
souls across the Euclidean sphere.
So let lhc mocking endiwe are all
in this together. Let the courlr
lericrce beginiBub \vciss

 

 

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