SCARLET AND BLACK

Slicks
and
Stones

By Paul Hass
in the “Trade Winds” column
of the April 12 issue oi Satur~
day Review there appears a
piece of descl‘ihingiand, quite
rightly, praising—an extra-cur-

Page Two April 25, 1958

PolL Pourri

Sixleen Seniors Working On
Advanced Sludies For Honors

By Camille Blaszczyk

Sixteen seniors are now working on honol‘s projects.
A student who has a general cumulative grade—point 2\Vel‘<
age of 3.2 or better and a cumulative g‘l‘hdecpoint of "3.5 or
better ill his major and is recommended by his department
may do an independent study for honors. By doing ad-

vanced study in his field and successfully completing all
the requirements, he will re» __—__

naive the Bachelor Arts

Edito'rially gspealting

We’ve been listening around the campus, quite fnnkly in
search ot an editorial topic, asking people what gripes or obseiva-
tions they have about Grinncll. _

One recurrent Lheme appears in numerous and sundry minor
gripes. That is that the Grinnell student is lacking in the intel-
lectual drive and curiosity hc “should" have. (Who has decreed
the almighty “should", we know not, but let us assume that it is
valid). ,

Supporting this hypothesis are observations of decreasing at-
tendance at co hours. lectures and other stimulating, yet extras
curricular, acti es and ot a lack of intelligent comment and dis-
cussion in those classes which, by their very nature, lend them-
selves to that discussion,

We would advance the hypothesis that the decline in the
manifestations of curiosity are due not to a decline in native quest

but in time and energy.

of do- bci‘L Prescott. (English) as her

Ask any studcntiGrinl-lell is admittedly harder this ycar than
at any point in its recent career. Time and again, in reference to
coffee hours, etc, we have heard the lament—"rd have loved to
have gone, but my assignments were just too much for me."

Time, yes, is a factor, but there is something deeper. We are
cha cngcd. But somewhere between the. actual challenge and its
fun on there is an impediment. What?

Could it be the very routine of the life which we live? The
daily round of classes, assignments for tomorrow's classes and re-
views of yesterday's classes to study for next week's exam? Do we
become such slaves to the system that we cannot find time in our
narrow sphere to deviate and to plunge off on explorations of our
OWn'.’

Fourth hour. honors and independent projects are intended to
ofier an opportunity for this type of exploration but their own ef-
fectiveness is erased by the other courses on our schedule (or the
other three hours of the fourth hour course).

president Bowen recognized th's dilemma of American edu-
cation several years ago when he said . . . “The picture of c s£u~
dent dividing his efforts among five or less unrelated subjects,
juggling his time to meet many separate deadlines, scarcely rcp-
rcsents the best in education it a student took fewer courses . . .
he could concentrate his efforts, he could pursue creative work
and independent study in each course, and he could achieve
something that few students ever experience, namely, thorough-
11055."

The current faculty considerations, looking toward a narrower,
yet more extensive plan of study are valid, are necessary to the
very life of the intellectual freedom and curiosity we are all strug-
gling to maintain or revive. Until we have the time and the
cnergy to accept the challenge of knowledge we can never con-
quer even a minute corner of its dominion. And. until We are se-
cure in our own corner, we cannot Safely venture into the next
province and there accept another challenge.

Scarlel and Black

GRINNELL COLLEGE
Grinnell, Iowa

a wzckly newspaper published each Friday at thc college year
Grinneli ocmmhtcc on Student Publications. F. Andrew Brown, ch' .
Member of Armin d consulate Prer- Raprcssntrd for nationul a u
hr National Advc no Service. College Publishers licprcacmativc.
in: Madison Ave.. Ncw york, N. Y Entared as sccond clnir matter at
the Post cities at Grinnell. town. under the act of March i. 1573. Sub‘
serimiun rrtr a per school year. .

sirncd a iclu and .ditniala do not nccgisarily reflect the opinion.
or policies o this newspaper or of orinncll College. Unsigned editorials
reﬂect. the opinion. of the adder,

Editor . Sue O'Brien
Business Manager Jolu‘l Roberts

_—_.___—

 

alteaser

is coming ou'l

APRIL 30!

back again
and better
than ever!

ricular reading program at
Franklin and Marshall college
in Lancaster, Pa.

The program, titled “Book-
of — the » Semester,” centers
around the reading of tbrcc
books unrelated to class work,
their ultimate dissection by
undergraduates and faculty,
and publicity relating to the
books, which is circulated
among some 12,000 alumni.
The books selected tor the
first phase of the program
were William Wl-lyte’s “The
Organization Man," D. w.
Brogan’s “The American Chars

meter" and James B. Connnt’s

“Modern Science and Modern
Man." ’

There is. naturally, nothing
compulsory about the reading
But, utter a good deal of dis-
cussion of the trio, and a nums
her of author—critic panels, bet-
ter than do per cent of the stu—
dent body did read the boooks.
And with no academic credit of
any kind attached.

Moreover, the Franklin and
Marshall program stimulated
interest in the Lancaster comv
munity, too; many townspeo-
ple participated in the reads
ing and in the discussions, and
a local hotel has since inc
stalled in its lobby a library
of recent ﬁction and nanrﬁc-
tion for the use of its room.
crs. in brief, Lancaster, town
and college, is undergoing
something of a renaissance of
the lost art of reading.

1 would suggest that some
thing, of this nature might be
instituted at Grinnell The av
erage studcnt, hardcoressed by
fourth hours and library read
ing, is sadly prone to letting
current literature pass unread.
Nor, i think, is the professor
immune; I doubt that any fac-
ulty member takes time to road
much that is unconnected with
his courses during the nine
months that he is actively en-
gaged in teaching. And no one
can be quite sure that publicity
in town would draw a blank,

would not have to duplicate
in tone that of Franklin and

‘ Marshall: the dilemma. of mod-

em man is a subject ol wide.
spread interest, oo be sure,
but one which might be at.
tacked troni another angle...
say hour a reading or Camus-
recent “Exile and the King-
door," or, conceivably, lrom

Tobaccos
Cigarettes
School Supplies
Typewriters
Typewriter
Repairs

Magazines

LAROS
NEWS STAND

 

 

glee with honors.

The iollowing people are
doing independent honors
projects; Dick Holmes is con-
structing componcuts foi- Scllls
tillation counter under the die
rcctioii of Wayne Denny
(physics). nick Dustin is the
ing research on discussion
uiulci- William Vandcrpool
lspccch). Mary Allison’s pros
ject is entitled “Lntin»Ameri-
can Federation," ller advisor
is Joseph Dunner (political
science). Under Ralph Lucb-
beii. (sociology), Lorna Dchay
is doing reascareh on Navaliosc
in a mining community. Joel
Pucck is studying Ricardo
Pulma's treatment of history
with o. H. nauptmann (motl-
crn foreign languages) as his
adviser.

Under Samuel Baron (his

tory) Mike Goodrich is studying
Soviet and Wcstcrn
tion

Tctsuo
Tsaristan and oriental despots
ism. Louise Howe is interview-
mg
children's

interpreter
history, and
history of

of Russian

Nailta the

authors of
with Hel's

cul‘l‘em Iowa
literature

some of Thurber’s fables.

In any case. it might be worth

a try.

urn

Also on the subject of books:

for an idle hour’s diversion, I
advocate wandering at random

through the stacks of the lls

brary,just glancing at the titles
Simply amazing. We have a
vast collection at good books
there.
smattering
utterly unrcad books. Examples, Ames. Theconferemea sponsored
culled in 40 minutes of a rainy
forenoo

but also a delightful

of utterly useless)

“My Lfe as a Disassociatcd
Personality"

"The History of American
Funeral Directing"

“A Year of Costa ltican
Natural History" .

“Outer Mongolia and its In-
ternational Position"

indeed, about the only thing

A Grinnell reading program we don't have is “A Boy’s Life

of Judas Isoario"

adviser.

Alan Jones (history) is ads
rim to Hank Abbott, whose
project concerns
20th century liberal thought
illustrated by Woodrow
Wilso- Bob Mchii-iscy, who
is doing an evaluation of the
Turner tlieses through the
study of an lowa commuv
nity; George Mchmscy, who
studying Jessie Macy and 19th
century American thought
and Dave Fleck, who is
studying the defense of pro-
perty rights in the town

supreme courts from 1885 un-
til 1895.

Carol Steele, under Alice Van
Krevelen (psychology) is study-
ing iantasy and imagination in
the pro—school child, Mary Winn
Kisser will hold an exhibition of
ller art work in Main lounge
Her adviser is Edith Sternncld
(art). Roger Sodel’berg’s project
is on ion exchange studies on
silicaaaluminz catalysts; he is
working under Joseph Danrortli
(chemistry), Guilerino Mendoza
(blongY) is advising Kay Jorg-
ensen ,whosc project is the male
urogenital system of Goodea
luitpolid‘ii.

problems of

as

Grinilellidns Allend
Political Workshop
Willi l8 Colleges

Grinncll was one of 19 Iowa
colleges represented at the Iowa
College Students Workshop in
Practical Politics, held last Sat-
urday at lowa State college in

by the lowa Citizenship Clear—
ing House, brought the students
together with state and local
leaders of both political parties
in a series of panels and dis
cussions,

Donna Darnell and Richard
Hewitt of the Young Republi-
cans club, and Martha Wearin
and William Kell of the Young
Democrats club attended. (3.
Edwin Gilmour (political
science) acted as adviser for the

"LIGHTWEIGHTS"
. . . cool, easy-goiﬂg

Jport skirt;

 

Comfort and «claw in cmy inch ot
(liege handionc Arrow iport mind
For small ilylc to a man's lentil}:-
ltghtwcighl lohrtn railed ill: Season'x

nmcrt "and:

(ﬁlm; and patient].

Mcilcrlrlly )uilured with the Arulold
collar, always mt always canton.
able, whctlir. won. open or closed.

muons

 

