The Grinnell

Scarlet 8 Black SW

9/15/78

Grinnell College
Grinnell, Iowa

Vol. 87, N0. 3

 

'Clarh gets warm reception

Incumbent Senator Dick Clark stresses at point during his speech to
students in South Lounge last Saturday. An article highlighting the
main points oi Clark‘s speech is on page two. lPhoto by Karl

Dukstein.)

 

 

 

In (9 Focus

Conflict hitsmusic staff

by Debbie Weiner

Recent changes in music
department personnel have lett
many music students angry and
bewildered.

The problem stems from two
Sources‘ the Executive Council's
refusal to renew the contract of
former Assistant Professor of
Music Alan Leichtling last spring
in the face of what one Student
termed ”strong student support,"
and the resulting lack of personnel
qualiﬁed to teach electronic mUSIC.
a course which has substantial
enrollment. Leichtling, who had

one year left on his present con-,

tract, chose to leave without
completing his last year here, and
departed this summer to take a
position at Eastern Carolina
University at Greenville, N c,

"IS REPLACEMENT, Lee
Cloud, teaches theory and com-
position, and will teach Black
Studies next semester.

Leichtling appealed the Coun-
crl’s decision late last spring to
both the Executive Council and the
iaculty Personnel Appeals Board,
but both appeals were rejected. He
believed that personality conﬂicts
among members oi the music
department resulted in his
dismissal In his written appeal
statement to the Council, be
charged that “my colleagues have
knowingly committed acts oi
slander and libel against me. . ”
l-le iurther chargedthat evalua-
tions by his colleagues of his

. IPIRG stresses environment

by Steve Pfarrer

IPIRG, a small but active group
of concerned students on the
Grinnell campus, is currently
carrying on the Ralph Nader
tradition.

IPIRG stands for Iowa Public
Interest Research Group, a state
wide organization that is dedicated
to consumer and environmental
protection. lowa is just one oi
approximately 25 states that has
such a group.

[N IOWA, AS [N the case in most
states that have a Public Interest
Research Group, the main
chapters are located on college
campuses.

Although there are outside afs
iiliations that support IPIRG, the
most intensive work and research
is done by the colleges, according
to member Brian Ladd. The meme
bers of the Grinnell chapter do
not have an easy task in protecting
the public, Unlike larger
universities, Grinnell 5 small
student body does not lend itself to
massive lobbying efforts or
protests.

AT GRINNELL, IPIRG depends
solely upon contributions irom the
student body and from whatever
various outside sources are
available; no money from the

school is allocated for the group,

Because Grinnell is an in»
dependent and essentially isolated
school. according to Ladd, “the
students are not always aware of
consumer aflelrs and how they
work. Although they are generally
politically aware, the students‘
isolation makes them less in touch
with . public. affairs,. and. cons

' s'equently lh'ey'are not'al'vta'y's'in'

 

touch with a group like IPIRG,
Therefore, we don't always get the
funds we need,” '

THE HISTORY OF IPIRG began
in the 1960’s when College and uni-
versity students throughout Iowa
became concerned wnn govern
ment and business abuses. The
IPIRG’s spawned by the 1960’s
were generally more radical and
demanding than their present day
counterparts. Many oi them
petered out due to lack of funds,
while some of them were squashed
outright on campus by the schools
themselves.

By the time a Grinnell chapter oi
IPIRG was formed in 1911, things
had quieted. down somewhat.
Grinnell’s IPIRG, however small.
has since become an established

force.
INITIALLY, THERE was a

great deal oi student interest in the
group, sort of a hnldovcr from '60’s
activism, In the mid 1970’s, in
terest slackened, but recently, as
Ladd observed, the group has been
attracting more attention.

As a public interest group,
IPIRG is concerned with both
consumer and environmcntal
issues. One oi IPIRG's “biggest
victories," member Janet Kcyes
said, concerns an environmental
issue, Last year, alter an intensive
lobbying eiiort by IPIRG, the iowa
state legislature passed a law
making all beverage bottles and
cans deposituble.

ON BOTH /\ LOCAL and national
basis. IPIRG has lobbied for the
passage of wilderness preservation
bills A bill is presently in the Iowa

‘State Assembly on the issue of

Brushy Creek. a section of un

developed Iowa land that business
corporations have been trying to
get a hold of for prospective in-
dustrialization. IPIRG is fighting
the corporations for the preser-
vation of the land.

IPIRG ALSO continues to give
its support to the Nestle's boycott,
As Keyes explains, the boycott
originated when the Nestle's
corporation began giving diluted
powdered milk to mothers in poor
Third World nations, The mothers
used the milk to feed their babies,
After a week, mothers lost their
ability to breast feed newborn
babies, and they consequently
had to depend upon the powdered
milk, which Nestle‘s proceeded to
,sell to them at a high cost, ac
cording to IPIRG.

Furthermore, the water the
mothers use to mix with the milk is
often contaminated, bringing
disease and sickness to the babies,
they claim,

AT GRINNELL, IPIRG has been
battling to establish or tenants
landlord service for students
utilizing offscampus housing.
Because of thc overcrowded
housing situation at Grinnell this
year, many more students are
livmg in oii-ecmpus housing than
in previous years. Keycs charges
that the landlords of these
establishments have subsequently
jacked up the rates tor the
students, lPIRG is fighting this
“unfair practice," says Keyes, by
attempting to engage constant
legal service for all students
embroiled in disputes with their

 

landlords.
Gi‘innell's IPIRG chapter is kept
icontinued on page 3)

teaching performance were made
Without firsthand information. His
colleagues “never directly ob
served my classes," he wrote the
Council.

THE COUNCIL, in its rEJectiOn
of Leichtling’s appeal, countered
that “It is acceptable, and has long
been standard practice at lhe
college, to evaluate a colleague's
teaching by means other than
visiting that colleague's classes.”
They did not specify what pracV
lices constituted other “means "
They added that “Your colleagues,
whom we interviewed, State that
they do not wish to change their
evaluations oi your teaching ,

sonality eonllicts " The two
primary criteria are “teaching
eiiectiveness and scholarly ac
livity." with emnhESIS on teaching
effectiveness “This is a teaching
oriented institution," he stressed.
Teaching periormance, he
believes, is “best judged by the
students,” and their evaluations
carry more weight than colieagual
evaluations, Leiehtling's student
evaluations were “mixed," stated
Walker

However, the Executive Council,
in its letter to Leichtllng, wrote.
“The basis of the Council's
recommendation was, and is
reaffirmed to be, its estimation of

“ ‘Is it politics, or is it music.” ”

Leichtling then went before the
Personnel Appeals Board on May
is. The Board, made up oi selected
tenured faculty members, is
empowered to consider three
criteria in its review oi an appeal:
violation of academic freedom of
the petitioner Afar example,
dictating how a professor teaches a
class), application of inap-
propriate criteria rsuch as age,
sex, race. etc.) in evaluation of the
petitioner. and violation of the
published appeal procedure.

Leichtling appealed under the
first criterion. The Board refused
to hear his appeal on the grounds
that his charges against his
colleagues. whether true or false,
“would not have. constituted a
violation of academic freedom,"
according to Board member Don

Smith, proiessor oi history.

WHY WAS LEICHTLING fired
in the first place? There seems to
be much disagreement about the
reasons behind his dismissal. Dean
of the College Waldo Walker
emphasized. “The college can't
make its decisions labour hiring
and firingl as a result of per

your classroom teaching. and that
estimation is based primarily on
the evaluations made by your
colleagues of your teaching " That
the observations were indirect has
no bearing on the matter. ac
cording to the Council, In a later
interview, Walker agreed that “we
have to weigh both elements

. .colleaguai evaluation has a
significant role.”

KENNETH GOLDSMITH.
lecturer in music, offered another
reason for Leichtling‘s dismissal,
Conﬂict over the music depart-
ment's “philosophy of teaching"
was the primary consideration, he
stated. ”His philosophy oi what
students should learn was different
from the rest of the department,"
lGoldsmith believes, ”Alan was not
iinterested in teaching the nitty-
‘gritty of theory. . .(he wasl ab-
solutely wonderful for about five
people," he added. Leichtling's
methods were more suitable to a
music conservatory, he stated. He
charged that Leichtling did not
iteach the fundamentals of theory,

 

ear training and composition. He
tcontinuerl on page 3)

Did spaCemen' share ~l
Grinnell experience?

Remember that little green man
in your physics class last week? He
may have been one of the first
exchange students from Mars to
attend Grinnell.

Officers Sam Reeves and Mike
Hilleman of the Grinnell Police
Department reported last Friday
that they observed three lights in
the sky. The lights appeared
shortly alter 3 a.m, and were
visible until dawn. But were they
lights, or were they UFOs?

ACCORDING Tl) REAV the
objects had white centers, en.
circled by revolving multi-cnlored
lights. The sightings were con
.firmcd by area residents. “I
couldn't estimate the distance,"
Reaves said. “They were sighted
in the east. , .They did appear to
movea little in the sky, bllt I don’t
know if that was the result of ac
lual movement or the rotation of

the earth."

Radar trackers in Des Moines
and Chicago did record two distinct
blips on their radar screens,
Wednesday, similar lights were
reported in the northeastern part
of the state.

THE LIGHTS. according to
Loras College physics professor
Frank Miller. could have been the
result of atmospheric conditions i
caused by the recent hot weather.
Grinnell professor Beryl Clotfelter
calls this theory “plausible."

Clolfelter contends that ”when
the atmosphere is just right. a
bright star can show a very
marked color. . .It's 2i fascinating
sight." He adds that atmospheric
turbulence could have caused the
radar blips.

THAT MAY EXPLAIN the lights
in the sky, but what about the little
green man in physics?

 

