Page Four

! opinion

Prospects For A New Year

by Greg Vranicar

As New Students receive their first dose of the Grinnell
experience, many are asking, no doubt, ”What kind of year
will it be?” In the next several weeks, all of us will answer
that question by setting the tone for the entire term. It might
be interesting and helpful, in looking ahead to 1971-72, to look
back and review the events and concerns of the Grinnell come
munity in the past three years. Realizing that the recent
past does not determine the immediate future, but also rear
lizing that this year will be greatly influenced by the last
three, we can probably lay out some broad areas that will
receive our attention between now and next May 26.

The 1968-69 year, the first phase of my Grinnell experience;
was the year of confrontation. Played out in the shadow of
the Chicago bloodbath and ”tricky Dick the Peacemaker’s"
eleCtion, the year saw the nowr famous Playboy disrobing inn
cident, heated studentradministration conﬂict on dorm visit

iation policy, and Grinnell's first attemptatstudent power. The
year was not one of the best for the collegewall the Des

Moines Register could print was “There go those freaky p0.
liticos at Grinnell again." Many alumni and parents became
very disturbed and withdrew their support for the college. A
good number of laculty members and students couldnot under-
stand why an institution of higher learning devoted so much of
its time to issues that seemed to many nOt directly affecting
or relating to education.

As the 1969~7U year began, we all wished, I believe, for what
might be termeda ”return to normalcy.”Theyear was anything
but normal. Vietnam Moratorium anda well-planned, successful
student power movement occupiedalmost everyone‘s time in the
fall and winter. Spring began with a crisis--a labor strike
by Buildings and Grounds workers which was supported by
many students. Then Dick (the Peacemaker) invaded Cambodia,
the NC (for "nogood”)sh0t the kids at Kent State, and Grinnell,
which seemingly had seen nothing yet, went through its most
explosive and tensionepacked week. On May 8,’ with one week
of classes and finals still ahead, the college announced that it
could no longer remain in session. The bubble of campus
activism burst and Grinnellians left school to go out and save
Ameriw, if not the world. Almost all of us knew then that we
could do it ,_ that ' , save the world ~ probably before school
was to begin again‘in'lateAugust. .. .1 . ,,

”As we each came to lo-iow individually, neither America nor
the world wanted to be saved in the summer of '70. Not giving
up yet though, we returned last August hoping that our friends
had been luckier than we had. Soon after our return, however,
we realized that none of us had saved anything, and we started
the 197071 term, which could very appropriately be labeled
the year of cynicism. The campus was plagued by an ”I don't
care, it won’t matter” attitude; too many people were com-
placent. Many very important things happened, however. Stu-
dents gained substantial credibility in the eyes of administra-
tors and trustees. The entire college curriculum was redone“
general education requirements were abolished and new pro?
grams, most notable Freshman tutorials, were established.
When it mme time for students to take the initiative, however,
Often there was little or no interest. Of course, having no
real crises for an entire year was new and refreshing.

As most of you can tell from this brief account, each year
at Grinnell is different, and in its own way, exciting. I’m
sure 1971-72 will be no exception. What will happen this
year? What will the issues be? {want to mention several that
deserve our concern.

Since Grinnell is a residential college,mostofus live in cam-
pus dormitories. In many ways, life in the dorms has de-
teriorated progressively each of the last three years. Esr
pecially last year, students did not take an active interest
in the people who lived around them. The dorms were, instead
of viable living units, much like hotels where the occupants
were only filling a vacantSpolwithoutcontributinganythlngi All
of us should get together and make our home at Grinnell
livable. It‘s up to students alone to improve campus life --
neither the administration nor faculty can help or hinder us
much on this issue.

Students now have the seats on college, policy- making com-
mittees. We also have the credibility to voice our opinions
and have them listened to and acted upon. All students should
be concerned and involved in some way in campus or hall
government. Especially new students should keep up on came
pus issues so that their interests and concerns are heard and
protected when decisions are made.

With the election only about a year and aquarter away,
it's also likely that Grinnell students will and should become
more active in national, state, and local politiwl campaigns.
We can now vote, and since we can we should demand to
hear from candidates. There will also be, I am sure, some
opportunity to work for candidates we support.

Dorm life, campus policies, and the election, then, are three
issues that will be important to us this year. No doubt there
will be many other concerns that are not now evident. In
approaching this year, all members of the Grinnell community,
new and old alike, should keep in mind one important truth:
NOthing is constant but change. The 1971-72 year, the 125th
year for Grinnell College, will be unlike all the previous
124. Let's make sure that we continue to build and preserve
an environment that Will enhance the traditions of academic
excellence and social concern thathave made this college great.

THE SCARLET AND BLACK

Friday, August 27, 1971

* No Commercials-No Schlock

by Bill Thomas

Grinnell is a very comfort
table place. Somcpeoplehave
never been in a comfortable
place before. It drives some
of them crazy.

People, all overthis country,
have become very dependent
on the mass communications
media for information (about
many things). I know many
people who will admit that
everyone that they know goes
one way, but if the teevce,
Lhe paper, or the radio says
that things are going the other
way, my friends will believe
that they just must know a lot
of exceptions. Most of the
White people at Griniicll have
had no direct contact with
Black people. Alloftheir cont
tact has been indirect, and
much of it through those old

\\

by Ron Medvin

When I began writing this
column last year, the firs
record I wrote about was cal
led Elton John, named afie
an unknown singer from Eng
land. Elton John had really
knocked me out; his singing,
dispite a loud orchestral back
ground, was dynamic. Itho‘
light then that he deserved
more publicity.

[got what I wanted; so did
he of course. John foundhimr
self at the top of the rock
world in a matter of weeks.
He came to the States and
drove everyone, includ
ing rock critics, wild. Bob
Dylan came to all ofhis shows
in Fillmore East. Leon
Russell invited John to jam
with him after a show. And
on November 17th, 1970, Fl’
ton John performed in \VABCV
FM studios for a live radio-
concert. From this session
came one of 1971‘s sure-
shot best albums of the year.
The album is called simply
"1l/l7/7u"., and you haven't
really heard Elton John until
you've heard him live. Per-
forming on piano with Nigel
Olsson tin drumswlls in all!)
--and Dec Murray on bass,
they taped six fantastic songs.

Side One starts with “Take
Me to the Pilot”, a hard
driving, gospel~like song. Un-
like John’s first album, there
is noorchestra to coverJohn's
phenomenal piano, and you can
tell from this firstnumberwhy
Leon Russell was so impres-
sed. John is no doubt one
of the best pianists to appear
in the rock world. His voice
too is driving and dynamic,
as seen in the first song.
He continues witha Iightrockr
ing version of the Stones’
“Honky TonkWoman”, sound?
inga bit like Jagger.

The third song is probably
his most serious; it's from his
first album but once again
without the orchestra. It‘s
a beautiful ballad entitled
"Sixty Years On” and I
think it's the best song on
the albumwtmaybe tied with
“Burn Down the Mission”).
The soft arpeggioos of the
beginning of the song change
to crashing full chords with
the background of drums and
bass providing a powerful and
hauntinglv beautiful sound.

media. And those media,
unfortunately, are not in the
business of informing us, or
entertaining us, or educating.
They are in the business of
selling their audience (as at
tested to by a reputable rat-
ings service) to their spon-
sors. They wish only to
milk money from our drooping
eyelids and earlobcs.

For a long time, Iassumed
(Unhappily) that there was no
way out of it. The only peo»
ple speaking against the pre
sent state seemed to be talk-
ing in "come the revolution“
terms-this or thatelectronic
or cultural or political rec
volution. But, [have learned
that remarkable things are
possible. Theyrequiretheri»
ght combination of ignorance

“Can I Put You On", the

‘13le cut on side one, is anon

=ther gospel song, with John’s
ivoice at his best.

Side Two starts with ”Bad
ide of the Moon", a mode-
*rately fast song where John’s
piano and voice continue to
shine. But the album’s high-
point is the last song, "Burn
Down the Mission." This is
an 18 minute version of the
song found on his ”Tumbleweed
Connection," album and it in-
cludes bits and pieces of "My
Baby Left Me" and the Bea-
tles, ”GetBack”. This songis
truly phenomenal. The music
starts slowly and then, after
the chorus, the song changes
to a hard, fast moving beat,
with John’s keyboard work
unbelievable. At the end of
the song, he continues to ad*
lib, and treats the listener
to about 15 minutes of the
best piano that you can find
on any record. This is al-
ways Elton John's last song
in concert and he goes all out.
And with Elton John going "all
out", he has made a record
which is a sure shot to be
this year's best. Someone is
going to have to work awfully
hard to make a better album
than this!

An added note: After look
ing all over Europe forJohn's
English album which never
was produced in the States,
"Empty Sky", I found a cheap
boatleg in a local store in
princeton, N. J., my home!
I usually don’t trust bootlegs,
but Icouldn'tresistbuyingthis
one, and I made a good choice.
Not only are the songs ex-
cellent, but the sound quality
is very goodeanot as goodasa
well»produced effort but not
anything like other bootlegs
i have heard where the sound
resembles a $10 tape recorr
der. if you (2m find it-—it
may be called “Gulliver's
Gonc”-—buy it. if you can’t
find it, you'll hear it on KDIC
on the Ron Medvin Rock Gar-
den, timc yet to beannounced.
(There’s nOthing like a free
plug, right!) And ifyou have
any comments, criticisms,
ideas etc. concerning this or
any future column,\vrite to the
Rock Garden in care of "The
Smrlet and Black." Mean
while, welcome back!

and knowledge, naivete and
cynicism. Mass communica~
tions that are human, honest,
speaking to people's needs
(instead of capitalizing on
them), of good quality, con»
taining relevant information,
and also joyous are possible.
Having those qualities around
here (within the continental
USA) makes things revolu-
tionary; that means policeand
other harassments, little
money, much struggle, and
changes. But it is possible,
now.

Where it happened for me
was in St. Louis, Missouri,
at a 63 kilowatt FM station
mlled KDNA. I’ve worked
there off and one for two and
a half years, but I did not
fully comprehendwhat thesta-
tion meant until l worked there
this summer. Iwas program
director (more or less - it
is an unstructured setup), and
was even a sort of station
manager fora couple ofweeks.
What I beﬁn to understand
was what a real as dogfood
"people's” radio smtion could
be like. KDNA has no com-
mercials, no schlock music,
is completely supported by
listener contributions. has a
lack of finesse and a wealth
of mistakes. And yet it has
come up to second place in
one of the top ten FM mar-
kets in the country. People
listen to speeches by Bobby
Scale, Marlene Dixon and
Daniel Ellsburg, interviews
with Ku Klux Klan leaders,and
music programmed for qua-
lity.

I could use a lot of space
writing particulars about
KDNA, but people who want
to really know about it should
laikmto some. .t What- it shows.
is that electronic mass media
may be used for revolutionary
purposes, right now, and can
survive. If someone just does
it.

What i want to get across is
that the currently dominant
mass media are bad for you:
they make you eat bad food
(Wonder Bread helps build
ﬂabby bodies), waste money
(why don’t you step up to a
Chrysler), believe lies (our
role in Vietnam is advisory,
women are silly and sexy,
Blacks are hip and funny and
Stay in their place) and they
create neuroses (if he kissed
you once, will he kiss you
again?). That does not have
to be. There actually can be
alternatives. You can even
learn Something about start»
ing them atGrinnell. Someone
has to make them.

The 5&8 welcomes letters
from its readers. All let-
ters should be signed, but
names can be withheld on
request. Whenever pos-
sible, letters should not
exceed five hundredwords.

 

 

The Scarlet and Black
Grime“ Collage
Grimm". low: soil:

Coredltars u... um

mi Km. . .t

aunties: Manager it wt...

”steamers in... m u...

mutant».
waiter; Luv n W. u mum.
m». m... w, Ctuv.
Writs-nu

WWW“ out... tut
._ l“ tumult
tut, mm was.

tum...

 

 

