f'NﬂOl EAYTON

SCARLET & BLACK

’l/M IOWENSE G“Z

"The misuse of language is not only distasieiui in itself, it is even iniurious to the soul.'

— Plato

 

Vol. LXXVIll

Grinnell. Iowa, Friday, February 1:. 1970

No. 3

 

Grinnell Freshmen Are
Rated in National Survey

The freshmen who entered
Grinnell College last fall were
more talented, more affluent,
and more “liberal” than the
average college freshman, Those
are the results of a survey of
college freshmen conducted last
fall by the American Council on
Education. 343 Grinnell students
completed questionnaires There
were 390 students in the entering
class Here are some 01 the find
ings of the survey

74 per cent ot Grinnell s fresh
men had 13- -plus or better grade
averages in high school. Just
over 36 per cent of all entering
college freshmen in the sample
had such records. 61 per cent of
Grinnell’s freshmen were in the
upper in per cent of their high
school classes. Just under 31 per
cent of the national sample fit
into this category. 24 per cent
of the nation’s freshmen were in
the second quarter of their high
school classes; only 9 per Cent
at Grinnell.

One quarter of those surveyed
at Grinnell had edited their high
school newspaper. 12 per cent of
the national sample had done so.
Almost 36 per cent had ”had
some original writing
published," This is twice the
national average. 3 times as
many Grinnell freshmen had
competed in a state or regional
speech contest. Only 24 per cent
had received a varsity letter in

Attorney General
Reigns Supreme

byPhilSnsich

Will Rodgers once insisted that,
he nevcr met a man he didn't
like. i was on the verge of
plagiarizing that phrase myself
until, along with about thirtyrfivc
other college Republicans
touring cabinet utilccs, I pcr-
soiially confronted Richard C.
Turncr, Attorney General oi Iowa
and widely reputed bastion of fair
play and personification of
Justice. End result: scratch one
universal lover of every man.

While I lost faith in the natural
likerability of mankind, a new
dimension was added to my
comprehension of man’s forth-
rightness and honesty. Turner
was a case in point when asked
by thc students why he opposed
extending the franchise to 19 year
olds (he is the officer in Ilie statc
administration who docs) he
blurted (a la Al Capp): ”You 19‘
year old children should stick to
things you know about, like
puberty and hubcaps." He
probably would oppose suiiragc
ior middle aged women on
grounds oi their involvement
with the menopause and cook-
books. And let me assure you that

cont. on page ti

sports, while 32 pcr cent oi the
national sample had done so.

A third of the national Sample
intended to major in either
business, education, or
engineering. Only 2 per cent oi
Gi‘innell’s freshmen had such
plans. On the other hand, 35 per
cent of the Grinnell freshmen
planned to get either 3 Ph D.
or a Ed. D. degree. 12.5 per cent
of the national sample had such
plans One quarter of the class
had not decided upon a probable
Career. Nationally the figure was
only 11 per cent. 36 per cent ex-
pected to change their major
field at least once; twice the
national average. 17 per cent of
Grinnell’s freshmen expected to
transfer to another college, and

cont. on page 5

Dean Alice Low
Resigns to Marry

Mrs, Alice 0, Low has resigned
as Dean of Students at Grinnell
College, President Glenn Leggett
announcedlastrriday. .

ThereSIgnation is effective this
summer, at which time Conncy
M, Kiniba will become Dean of
Students.

Mrs. Low, who joined the Grin-
Iiell staff In 1966 as Dean of
Women and became Dean of Stu-
dents in 1968, will be married this
summcr to Dr. Robert Yee,
chairman of the Political Science
Dcpartmcnt at Central Washing.
ton State College. She will live
in Ellcnsburg, Wash

Kimbrn was named Associate
Dean of Students last summer
ailcr a year as an assistant pro-
fessor of physical education for
mun and a member of the coach-
ingstaii.

“Grlnncll is losing a dedicated
tidiiiiiiisirator whose firm. flexs
iblc, and sympathetic approach
to sludcni problems has earned
the rcspcct of all scglnclits oi the
college commtm‘t . " Dr. chgett
said “Mrs Lou’s positive atti~
tudc and faith in young adults
have played a leading role in
numerous new ventures begun at
Griimcli during the last lour
years "

Tlic pI‘CSlCleIlL continucd'

“We have a highly qualified
successor in Mr Kiiiiho. He is
vicll aware oi our unique prob
lems and opportunities. and we
arc conlidcnt that the quality oi
siuileiil life at Grliincll \vill
toniiniic to inipi-ovc under his
leadership "

Mrs. Loiv’s term as a student
adiiiinlsii‘zitor at Grinncll was
marked by the initiation of a new
i-csidcncohali system that places
men and womcn on both North
Campus and Soillli Campus, an
extension of Co-educational

Irwin and Pahnke Speak

Campus Holds Drug Symposium

Featuring lectures, films,
discussions, and class par-
ticipation by three experts,
Grinnell's drug symposium was
held Wednesday and Thursday,
Februaryiandsat the college,

Dr. Samuel Irwin, phar-
macologist, began the program
early with a KDIC interview
Tuesday afternoon. He continued
his introduction to the Grinnell
scene that night by participating
in an informal session with
students in the Loose RA Suite
andlater by speaking to a special
meeting oftheRAs.

Dr, Irwin attended classes
Wednesday morning in
Chemistry and Psychology, and
he opened the formal
programming in the afternoon
with a speech entitled,
“Physiological and Behavioral
Effects of Psychoactive Drugs.”
Dr. Irwin is a research Scientist
who has explored porblems in
analgesia, anesthesia, drug
addiction, memory, and social
behavior, but his interests are
farranging, as his meetings
with students proved.

Dr. Irwin’s speech began with
a double-barrel attack on drug
users and the establishment. He
charged the former with un-
derstating the dangers of drug
use and the latter with bias in
stamping out drug use. He states
that nothing we do is without
risk; therefore, it is establishing
relative risks which is important.

On this baSis. according to Dr.

Irwin, alcohol is the most
dangerous drug we possess.
Alcohol is involved in 60 per Cent
of all Violent crimes, 60 per cent
of all traffic fatalities, and 50 per
centof all law enforcement work.
On his chart which rates drugs
according to their intrinsic
hazard potential to society he
lists alcohol as a 100 per cent
ratio; speed, 90 per cent; heroin,
40 per cent; pot, 20 per cent, and
LSD-25.15 per cent.

Dr. lrwin makes a strong
distinction between drug use and
drug abuse, Having made this
distinction, he says, “Drug use
is no problem.” In reference to
pot use, he asserts, “It‘s a shame
to deprive people oi these ex-
periences.” l-le continues,“1n the
times we live in we need drugs,
or else we’d have a lot mure
suicides.”

A drug has no meaning apart
from the dose taken," according
to the scientist. Pot is extremely
safe in low‘dosages, but at six
times the normal dosage it his
duces more bad trips than LSD.
This is the basic problem with
the blackemarket drugs. says Dr.
Irwin, that one can never be sure
of the dosage. He refers to black-
markel drug use as “playing
“Russian roulette.”

in reference to drug laws, Dr.
lrwin asserts, “They cause
problems, they don’t solve any.”
He believes enough research has
been done on grass to justify its
legalization.

Dr._ lrwin discussed problems of drug use and abuse, as well as
legislative and political problems involving drugs, after his ar-

rival on campus last Wednesday.

visiting hours in residence halls,
thc addition of a residencerliall
adviser system, and an im-
provemcnt of other advising and
counseling services.
interviewing of candidates for
Mr, Kinibo's successor as Associ-
ate Dean of Sludcnls will
begin soon, Dr, Leggctt said:
students. faculty members, and
administrators will all partici-
pate
‘5. Low who has a B.A
ilcgi cc Ironi Eustci n Washington
State College and an M A. from

Central Washington State
College, was Dean of Women at
the latter institution for six years
before coming to Grinnell. Before
that, she was Dean of Students
at Wenalchcc Valley College in
Washington ior four years

Kinibo Came to Gi‘lnliell after
scrvtng as a tczicher alld coach
iii the Gary, Ind., public school
system for ll) years ile has BS,
and M S. degrees from Indiana
Univcrsity, and has done doctoral
work at the University of Minner
solo.

However, he opposes chronic
drug use among students and
tries to suggest alternative ways
of broadening experience, Highly
concerned politically, he sums up
his drug philosophy this way:
“Don’t get hung up on drugs, be
activists."

Dr. Walter N. Pahnke, whose
field ranges from the psychology
oi religion to LSD psychotherapy,
made his debut on campus
Wednesday afternoon when he
introduced and answered
questions on the film, “The
Spring Grove Experiment,”
which explores a project with
which Dr. Pahnke is very much
involved at the present time.

in the evening, Dr. Pahnke
delivered his formal address,
entitled “Religion, Mysticism,
and Psychoactive Drugs,” in
which he compared spontaneous
mystical experiences to drug-
aided psychedelic experiences,
finding in many instances a very
great similarity between the two
phenomena.

Dr. Pahnke established nine
categories for describing a
mystical experience: unity,
transcendence, emntiunal mood,
the “knowetic't quality, a sense
of sacredness, alleged inef-
ability, paradoxical images,
transiency, and long—lasting
changes in attitude and behavior.

Dr. Pahnke did research with
two different groups of people
using psychedelic drugs to
determine how often they had a
mystical experience which
closely resembled the spon-
taneous experience. He found in
the first group that 70 per cent
had a mystic experience. and in

'the second group the incidence

was 35 per cent, Thus the results
were very positive.

Dr, Pahrike believes that an
acid trip is not for everyone;
“LSD is a powerful tool and can
be dangerous,” a “freak-out” is
a very real possibility, he warns.
As for pot, he believes that more
research is needed: but in the
meantime, “All penalties should
be removed, I’m upset about
what the laws do, I‘m opposed
tocriminalization.”

Dr, Pahnke ended his Speech
by asserting, “We’ve got to steer
a middle course between the anti-
drug hysteria, which inhinits
even research and the pro-drug
abandon, which will result in
psychological damage,"

When asked about the
possibility or dealing with bad
trips, Dr. Pahnke said that it
would be very easy and very
desirable 7 “even the college
health center could do it.” He
emphasized that this service
must be conducted in an at
mospliere devoid of fear 7
especially fear of being turned
over to police.

 

