Friday February 27

Orchesis, the Grinnell modern dance group,
will present a program in Roberts Theater
next weekend, Friday and Saturday, the 6th
and 7th of March, at 8300 RM. The group is
led by Mrs. Betty G. Voertlnan, Instructor in

Theater (Dance), and is known for the imagina-

Parent Writes On The State Of The College

Dear President Leggett:

We appreciated receiving your
letter concerning the emotional
climate at Grinnell. Our son
entered the college as a freshman
last Fall and We attended Fresh-
men’s Parent Weekend in Octo-
her. After the October weekend,
I am afraid we were rather dis-
lnaycd over the ominous note
struck concerning the dangers to
Grinnell and other Liberal Arts
colleges in the country it such
an emotional climate Continues.

We have always regarded our
selves as having liberal attitudes.
As a medlcal doctor, I am vitally
Concerned with mankind’s social
ills and am quite cognizant of
sweeping reform measures need—
ed. But when, for example, for
a whole weekend, we were sub
jected to power-oriented prop
aganda campaigns of high
emotional content on subjects
encompassing Vietnam politics,
Women‘s Liberation Society
demands, student power con-
cepts and positive benefits oi
drug use, we felt that academic
approaches to discussion were
either being ignored or not
taught.

The weekend did not demon-
stralc a permissive or even
ovorly-pcrltnssive attitude on the
part oi students. faculty. or

administration toward the “vocal
minority", but rather it smacked
of a situation rapidly getting
beyond the control of authority.

We were invited to symposia
on various subjects where I ex-
pected discussio ' instead, it was
again a onersided solnetimes
emotional, often illogical, propa-
gandistic effort at persuasion. I
recall the days especially after
the propaganda nightmare of
World War II when this type oi
approach was considered
bcncath contempt, and yet we
were being asked to treat this
sort of appeal with respect. On
a subject as controversial as drug
use, there were three pro-drug
discussants and a faculty
member who admitted that the
Administration did not know how
to cope with the problem. Are
there no learned people in the
Grinnell College setting who
might have presented anti-drug
considerations?

Even more frightening was the
feeling that although the more
vocal groups were in the mi»
nority, the majority oi students
on campus sympathizcd with
then) and actively backed this
intolerant atmosphere of intimi-
dation. l really wonder if there
is not already evidence or the
abusive ptm‘cr of the majority at

SCARLET AND BLACK

News Analyns

Pa ge Three

‘Actioll Now’ To Meet Here

By Staff Writer

On Saturday March 7 tnext
weekend), those infamous Grinr
nell Republicans will be spon~
soring an Action Now Conierence
on campus in conjunction with
the College Republicans of Iowa,
the Republican State Central
Committee, and the Republican
National Committee. How could
this ignominious convolution oi
political gameplaying organiza-
tions provide anything more than
the run-of—therl'nill political ex-
perience? Perhaps the “Action
Now” will provide the answer.

, The Action Now program was

tion, originality, and excitement of its per:
formances in the past. The choreography on
only ﬁve of the numbers has been done by
Mrs. Voertman, and all the rest were choreo-
graphed by students. (Photo by Paul Doughty)

Grinnell?

It becomes more and more ap-
parent to us that the goal of the
radical students at Grinnell and
other colleges is the creation of
student controlled communes. If
the Administration continues to
take a laissez—laire attitude
except for the issue of violence,
and continues to accede to
student power demands, this goal
should be a iait accompli in the
very near future. Perhaps such
a college commune should be
tried. From recent remarks of
the President at Bennington
College. it would seem that this
institution is close to it. I think
it only falr, however, that if this
is the intent at Grinnell, parents
and alumni should be made

aware of it. We should have the

privilcge of deciding it we wish
our children to participate in this
type of experiment. ‘-

Believe me, we are not replying
to your letter with any attitude
at rancor. We realize the almost
impossible tightrope walking po-
sition you are in. We fully appre~
ciale that you are trying to
halldle a very difficult situation
fairly. We feel that college ad-
ministrators need help and that
is what we would like to offer.

— (Name Withheld By Request)

first established by Elly Peter-
son, then Statc Chairman of
Michigan Republican Party, in
Detroit as a program intended
to make party headquarters in
that city lunctional and valuable
to the citizens during non~election
years.

Elly Peterson is now assistant
chairman of the Republican Na-
tional Committee and has taken
her experience and ideas to the
national level. As a result, Action
Now has become a iulltime com-
munity action effort encouraged
by the Republican Party.

College Republicans in Iowa
have picked up this concept plan
to institute it on Iowa college
campuses with co-ordination on
the statewide level. The confer-
ence on March 7 is designed to
help educate college Republicans
and anyone else interested in
Constructive problem solving and
organized community action.

The conference will include
panels on drugs, pollution, the
perspective of the black student,
and a summary ,and general
procedures panel with which to
close the day’s activities In—
cluded in the program will be
Elly Peterson, the Action Now
ideologue; Jack Criw‘ord,
special assistant for community
affairs to the Republican Na-
tional Chairman; and several
other people intimately con
nected with this community
action program on the national
level.

Either Governor Robert Ray
or Lt. Governor Jepsen will
moderate the general panel, and
Senator Jack Miller will speak
atlunch.

Other resource people will be:
Dr. Philip Levine of Drake
University, head of the govern
nor’s drug commission; and Max
Milo Mills, head of the governor's
Crime Commission. Both men
will participate on the drug
panel. L. B. Liddy, Secretary of
Agriculture, St. Representative
Andrew Varley, expert in Iowa's
pollution problems; and Earl
Jarvis of the govemor’s Cone
servation Commission will
participate in the panel on pollu-
lion.

Concerning the concept of
Action Now in Iowa, Phil Sasich
of Grinnell College, and Director
of Action Now for Iowa, stated:
“Let me emphasize that Action
Now is a non-ideological
program. It is, indeed, sponsored
by the Republican Party and
College Republicans of Iowa, but
it deremphastzes almost to ex»
clusion the traditional party
functions of voteegetting and
political gaming. Rather, it is a

project designed for participation
by all people, regardless of
political affiliation, and is
directed at solving or helping to
solve any community problem
regardless of its role in the party
policy structure, In sum, we hope
to tap the human resource with
the aim or bettering the human
condition in somesmall way.”
He then Commented on the
March 7th Conference itseli. “We
hope that by bringing together
resource people with expertise in
lields related to local projects
college students might under-
take, we can educate Conference
participants in the concepts and
possibilities of community action
programs, Thus. just as the
Action Now program is none
ideological, our Conference will
be directed toward education and
as non-political as possible."
Sasich also stressed that the
Conference is open to all students
and that he hopes Grinnell
students and their skepticism
about party politics will be evi~
dent enough to keep proceedings
nonrpolitical and in line with the
above-mentioned goals.

Students, Faculty
Seek Scrutiny of
Ammunition Plant

“The controller radioed, ‘Look,
I‘ve got a target for you.’ And
he dropped a marker on this nice
little town of maybe 2,500 people.
Lou, the flight leader, asked, ‘Did
anybody see that‘?’ and we both
said no. Nobody wanted to be the
first to go in. We asked the FM:
to mark the target again. Well,’
that was it, Lou went in first and
those bombs just walked down
the street, bouncing off the sides
of the buildings. Don hit one end
and I took the other. We knocked
down maybe 25 buildings . . .
There'd been a sweep through
there a few weeks before; it was
territory, as far as we knew,
secure.”

This was taken from an article
by an airline pilot, formerly a
navy pilot in Vietnam, which
appeared in MacLeans Maga-
zine, February, 1968.

The explosives used by the pilot
quoted above might have been
produced right here in Iowa, at
the Chamberlain Manufacturing
Company in Waterloo or at the
Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in
Burlington. Chamberlain looks

with confidence toward the
future: Chamberlain has

noted the develop-
ments in 11.5. foreign

policy, overseas commitments,
and budget Considerations, and
has taken certain steps to assure
that its eminence in the muni-
tions market is maintained in the
future." The people at the Iowa
Army Ammunition Plant are
more reticent but we‘re told they
produce depth charges, rockets,
ammunition over 30 mm, missile
warheads, bombs,

There is a group of Grinnell
students and faculty who are
studying these companies. If
you‘re interested in helping out,
contact Penny Jacks at extension
379 or box 452.

 

