The Scarlet 8t Black December 9 lS‘l'l—page 2

 

Women’s weekend features creative expression

By Trenn Clelnnll

Films, music. dinner. and a variety of
speakers will highlight Grinnell's second
annual Women’s Weekend, which begins
tonight and continues through Sunday.

The weekend, a repeat of a similar
observance held here last year, is being
sponsored by the Grinnell College
Women’s Group. Patty Rose, one of
several coordinators of the activities,
described the weekend as an attempt to
“celebrate women’s creative expression"
and to duplicate the success of events held
here in honor of International Women’s
Day last spring.

THE ACTIVITIES. which will also
observe the first anniversary of the
Grinnell Chapter of the National
Organization for Women, will commence
this evening at 7:30 in ARH Auditorium
with a series of feminist films. Home
Movie and A Comedy in Six Unnatural
Acts are short films which deal
humorously with people’s conceptions of
lesbianism, In The Best Interests of the

documentary about a custody case in
volving a lesbian mother, The showing of
the films will be followed at 9:00 by a
discussion With Chris Pattee, the Health
Specialist for the Iowa State Legislature
and an active member of the Iowa Gay
Coalition. The films will be repeated in
South Lounge at 9:30 pm.

Tomorrow, a potluck dinnerwith student
entertainment will take place in Gardner
Lounge from 4:004:00 pm. At 7:30 pm,
the film Blow for Blow will be shown in
ARH. The film deals with a French gars
mentworkers' strike and the struggle for
women's liberation which fostered it. It
will be repeated on Sunday at 7:30 pm in
South Lounge.

THE GRINNELL Chapter of NOW will
hold its first anniversary meeting on
Sunday from 2:00-4:00 pm, in South
Lounge, The meeting will feature “A
Report from Houston," talks on the First
National Women's Conference held there
last month. Slides Will be shown and
comments given on the conference and the

include Jean Lloyd-Jones, chairperson of
the Iowa International Women‘s Year
Committee and conference delegate,
Beverly Everett, national IWY com-
missioner, Ginny Bonware, president of
the Des Moines chapter of NOW. Mic
Denfield, assistant superintendent of the
women’s reformatory and alternate
delegate, Sheila O’Flaherty of Des Molnes,
official observer, and Patty Rose, official
observer. who was funded on her trip to
Texas by members of the Grinnell campus
community. Liz Starleaf, alternate
delegate to the conference and the state
coordinator of NOW, will speak on recent
NOW developments and the regional
meeting of NOW to be held in Des Moines
next spring.

The meeting will include discussion of
the conference entitled “Reslicing the Pie:
Women and Public Policy,” to be held in
Marshalltown next January, the
distribution of postcards advocating the
extension of the ERA ratification deadline,

books and records from A Mind of Your
Own, a feminist bookstore in Des Moines.

A SPECIAL tour-hour program or
women’s music will be broadcast on
KDIC beginning at 2:00 pm. Sunday, That
night, from moo-9. , KDIC will present
“Pacifica: Mannequins, Millionettes, and
Women," which contrasts the images of
women as developed by the mass media
with a portrayal of women involved in
social change,

Rose encouraged all Grinnellians to
attend the weekend's events. stressing
the significance of the activities in dealing
with women's needs and concerns.

“SINCE THE National Plan of Action
formulated in Houston has been forwarded
to Congress and the President, it is im-
perative that students inform themselves
of the issues addressed in the Plan. The
weekend‘s activities. especially Sunday's
meeting. will provide an opportunity [or
students to learn about these issues," she

Children is a

Critically»acclaimed

current status of women. Speakers will

to be sent to legislators, and the sale of

said.

Student reaction varied in Clark Hall move

, By Andrew Schultz

Former Clark hall residents
have mixed emotions about their
recent relocation in various areas
on and off campus.

Last June, the Board of Trustees
approved plans to renovate Clark
Hall. Although Clark Hall is
usually a popular North Campus
hall for seniors, few of them,
aware that a renovation was
possible, sought Clark‘s single
rooms at room draw last spring.
Lowerclassmen were placed in the
hall, and were notified by letter in
August that the hall would be
closed sometime during the fall
semester,

RENOVATION work was set for
the fall for two reasons. First, the
Board wanted to renovate other
halls in the near future, and the
Clark Hall renovation was a pilot
project to explore the problems of
closing dorms.

Second, Grinnell’s location
apparently is too far out of the
mainstream to attract summer
laborers for a renovation job. Such
labor is also more expensive. In the
winter, there are more workers
available and the college can hire
them more cheaply.

CLARK Ha|l students met with
Associate Dean of Student Affairs

Letters to the editor

Loosen lid on total number of

To the editor: The greatest Void of
student input into the decision»
making process of Grinnell College
is in the definltlon of budgetary
priorities. Students can 'react to
specific proposals such as library
and dorm renovations, but it is
difficult to make our views on the
relative importance of large
budget expenditures known

A basic priority, in my opinion,
should be the quantity and quality
of faculty, There has been a lot of
discussion about the quality and
diversity of faculty these last few
years, but at the same time there
have been numerous faculty
positions cut. The administration
has not shown to my satisfaction
that the financial situation of the
college warranted cuts in such an
important part of the college. But

Thoughtlessly
wastes paper

To the editor: The Student
Government Association is to be
commended for its “Meatless
Dinner” held Monday, November
28. The inefficient use of grains and
other foodstuffs cannot continue if
we wish to feed the world’s hungry
We must stretch out all of the
resources we have if we intend on
sharing them with the growing
population in our own and other
Countries

For this reason, I was shocked
when a member of Joint Boards
handed each person who entered
the dining hall a full sheet of paper
explaining the purpose of the
dinner The hundreds of pieces of
paper used could easily have been
replaced by one Wellrdesigned
poster. It’s unfortunate that in
their attempt to save one type of
resource they thoughtlessly
squandered another. Stuart
Gilman

the question is not just one of
Grinncll history.

The new position in the math
department (a very legitimate
need from what I can tell) is to be
filled at the expense of a position in
another department. This stance
was decided upon even before
considering whether any depart
ment on campus could afford such
a cut because a maximum number
of faculty is set by the trustees.
The prime consideration used
to determine this number is the
overall student-faculty ratio. Such
a rigid policy which keeps the total

Susan Crim several times this
semester to discuss the many
issues involved in moving, Clark
Hall residents had four temporary
residences from which to choose:
Smith Annex, Brown House (near
Smith). 1227 Park St. (across from
ARH), and Music House (across
from Grinnell House).

At the meetings. Crim explained
the renovation and what was going
to happen to the residents.
Students were allowed to decide
when they wanted to move (before
or after Thanksgiving), and the
nature of the new residences (pets,
coed, etc). A room draw was held,

faculty

faculty number constant even
when new legitimate needs arise
could potentially be very
detrimental to the educational
quality at Grinnell 1 am not
suggesting that we can afford an
unlimited increase in the total
number of faculty positions.
Rather, our policies in this area
need to be made more flexible so
that educational Criteria in specific
situations will be a more ims
portant consideration than a rigid
studentvfacuity ratio when
determining the number of faculty
positions. Davida Alperin

Takes issue with BurrOws

To the editor: Those of us in the
music department were especially
pleased by the article “Singers,
musicians strike notes of diver-
sity.”(S&B. Nov. 18). Ms. Sirur and
Ms Doherty gave us a much
needed. and appreciated, pat on
the back, At the same time I would
like to take issue with a remark
made by John Burrows concerning
the lack of a qualified organ in
structor at Grinncll: “. . there is
no one to really teach organ."
0n the contrary, there is a highly
qualified person available. Ms. Jo
Anne Ritacca is teaching organ
this year in addition to piano. Her

background is as follows:

1. After 8 years of piano, she
began instruction in organ, at the
age of 12, with William Blanchard
at Pomona College.

2. She studied organ at the
graduate level with Ladd Thomas.
chairman of the organ department
at USC and one of the foremost
concert artists on the west coast

3. Ms. Ritacca was a professional
organist at the First Methodist
Church at Claremont before
coming to Grinnell.
James Fudge,
Department of Music

Chairman,

Not veggie endorsement

To the editor: As one of the
organizers of the “Meatless
Dinner"of two weeks ago, I
would like to offer several coma
ments.

1. The intent of the dinner Was to
call serious attention to the world’s
food problems and to make us
think about certain facts per-
taining to land use and agricultural
policies. Nothing about the dinner
was meant to be either an en
dursement of vegetarianism or a
condemnation of meat cons
sumption.

2. There can be little doubt that

advance notice of the planned
meatless dinner should have been
given. I apologize to any and all
who were unneccesarily hassled by
the lack of such advance notice.
3. I urge everyone in the campus
community to carefully look into
how national agricultural policies
and practices affect what and how
much we and the rest of the world
have to eat. Whether you like meat
or not, whether you approved of the
meatless dinner or not, these
matters will have an impact upon

 

you sooner or later. We all eat! Jon
Nciderbach

and the students were
redistributed among the four
places.

EVERYONE involved in the
move agreed it was a hassle and
that many considerations were not
taken into account Many students
found moving a complex, time»
consuming affair. They said they
had to complain to get Bate to help
them move and one woman said
she lost a rug during the move.
Others indicated BkG was very
helpful and efficient. Junior
Rhonda West said, “The moving
men were sweethearts,” and
senior Tom Milliman said, “They
were real good about it."

Other problems that arose from
the move involved the number and
structure of available rooms.
Sophomores who had been living in

spacious Clark' singles had to
double up in the off-campus
housing. There were not enough
singles to go around, Sophomores
were angry about doubling up and
about living in rooms which were
smaller than those in Clark. Some
freshmen were left only with the
choice of offrcampus housing, a
situation they found undesirable.

ANOTHER undesirable effect of
moving was that with the tour way
splitI “it's hard to be Clark Hall
anymore,” as one student said.
Paul Carter, hall representative,
said there were problems regar-
ding use of hall funds and
representation at SGA.

There were other problems with
the move. Clark apparently lost its
Register for the rest of the
semester. Also, people have

complained about “mice and lice”
in Brown House, a rancid smelling
bathroom in Smith Annex, and a
lack of warmth in Music House.

CRIM said. “We don’t intend to
move anybody into an unlivable
situation.” She agreed that moving
was a painful experience. and
added that “the students and
physical plant were very
cooperative.” Crim also mentioned
that there was ”still a possibility"
that the Clark people would get
priority in moving back into the
renovated hall. She cited the
recently compiled housing survey
which found that students were in
favor of displaced Clark residean
getting priority,

Crim acknowledged that there
was some disorganization in the
move, saying, “We need to set up a

clearer communications channel
between me and the hall.” She
added that this may include for-
ming a hall committee consisting
of SAs, the hall rep. and possibly
floor representatives to discuss
moving problems and policies.

ALTHOUGH there have been
problems and complaints. the
Clark people seem pleased with
their new environment, Freshman
John Seyfried said that the idea of
moving “sounded worse than it
was.” Freshman Susan Despain
said she was ”happier . . . The
rooms are excellent.”

Crim promised more
renovations in the future. James
Hall is the next dorm slated for
renovation. and Crim indicated
that the bugs in the moving process
would be worked out over time.

HAPPY HOLIDAY

From

DANISH MAID BAKERY

 

