Mears decision gets negative campus response

by .\nnc Rowland

Student and faculty reaction over the
recent disclosure OI the Board of Trustees‘
plan to raze M ars and build an additional
iloor onto Norris renects both anger and
dismay,

Matt Hussmann. a junior livmg in
Mears, blurts, "The whole thing strikes
me as insane, lci, " imagine why they'd
destroy such ii licautiiul old building." llc
also asserts. “i plan to write a few letters
to trustees about this."

MOST ('iinlhlrm'rs echo lliissmann's.
while many people, ucli as treshman Jim
\‘t'erntz add. "To put a iourth lloor on
Norris \\' uld he budding ii mistake onto [l
mistake

“I think there’s a question of historic
preservation involved and I don't think the
college has a very good record on that.”
comments alumnus Alan Jones, professor
of history and American Studies. “The
trustees should open up their meetings to
discussion in order to gain both campus
and alumni feelings," he urges, He also
notes that “there's been some talk of a
facultyealumni organization to protest the
decision. but nothing is final yet "

Al.l‘l\ll\':\ MAGGIE Kiesel believes that
the alumni will not be too pleased with the
decision “It's the liighrhnnded way il'S
being done, When they hear about it
they'll certainly hc dismayed It's being
done without any consideration icr
leelinizs or sentiment."

Emily Silliman. lticars holl rep agrees
that the trustee ‘liould have consulted the
campus community. “I think the whole
thing li been handled badly by the
trustees. she says. “They should have
held open meetings and brought in
protessionals 'l'liey'vc kept it a
Secret . . What I'd like to know Is \\‘hcthcr
the trustees would even be allowed to tear
down Mears if it made the (National
Register of II toric Places) listing "

Tti 'I'IIIS tlL‘l'iS'l‘ltJN Martha Row rS.
the coordinator ol the National Trust office
in low-a city, responds that ltlears can lie
torn down despite such listing. “Unless .
federal funds are involved in the
demolition or replacement of the building.
it is private property and the government
has no jurisdiction "

Fi'esident'A Richard Turner states that
it Mears achieves the expected National

Register listing. the possibility of iederal
iunding ior the butlding's renovation

"should be “111' explored " However. at .

this time. he says “I sue nothing changed
in the current situation about Me "
.\'I' THE ME OI the decision to i'aze
hlcars the trustees were unaware Of the
pending National Register listing, states

trustee Al Elsellman. He adds. ”I'm not .

aware oi any study relating to iinuuig
another use for Means "

Elseliinan defends the Board's (leciSlon.
s iting it is based on economic con
siderations “The dollar will only go so
far." he comml‘n ‘. "We have to use It In
an area which will he oi the highest dollar
value

tl'T EVERYTHING Could change."
Elsenmnn admits, "The trustees could
reconsider it they were shown documented
evidence that the renovation oi Nears
\\ould lie economically feasible The
deciSlon of the trustees was that no
students will occupy itiears niter the
spring semester. but plans aren't iinal as
to Its destruction
“However. even with icdcral money i

personally reel that the odds are two in one
against saving Mears. 'rhc ledcral stuns
(lards for use oi that money would
probably add too much to the rust «it
construction.”

ICIS .V‘l \\' STATES that the Btic’ll‘tl'N
ileci on is b4 cd ontacts and “gums iii
the 1375 liohcr housing study. although thc
stiidv does not recommend demolition ot
Meals No other oiirces were consiiltod
because. he say cveral oi us hat-c had
experience w llli thl sort oi proyect lictorc
in la ’l‘ctl [.tlvclo)‘ who chairs thc
Buildings and Ground Comliilttcc. is a
retired contractor. he could lind no
quarrel \\ilh thc llolicr report I iniscli
lcel that we could add a door onto . ms
[or onethird the cost of renovating
itiears '

Turner odds that the college will solicit
an outside protes onal opinion octoi-c
acting on Norris According to Tame the
ouestion which must be faced is. in
there he a lotlrth tloor on Norris by next
August 20. ' Eisenman helieves. l per
sonally iccl .inother iloor on Norris could
be put on and occupied within a l2»inonlh

tcuutituicd on pngctn

 

 

The Grinnell

Scarlet it? Black

11/17/78
Grilfnell College
Grinnell, Iowa
Vol. 87, No. 11

 

Vandalism. a growing problem

by Nancy Gould and
Ken Yordovi
Over the past several months the
Grinnell campus has experienced
what some feel is an unusual
amount of mm? m. _
amount of student irresponsi
and a lack of community at
mosphere in the dormitories.
SGA PreSident Greg Youtz Ieels
that vandalism on campus is ln~
creasing and that this is directly
related to the “decreasing concern
tor community responsibility." ile

lamp burning incident last
weekend, Caplan states that ten to
15 students upset with the incident
came to him, but they were "un-
willing to do anything‘about it,” He
says that this same attitude i. also
reilected in the way that students
will not ask others to turn down
excessively loud stereos

rot'r F.('ll()l-IS Caplan's
sentiments. “Students are afraid of
standing tip [or their home rights,"
he says.

Seth Hollander, a resident of

“Students are afraid of standing up
for their basic rights. ” i

adds that the campus atmosphere
this year is one in which “people
are more interested in their own
goals” than in establishing a
community atmosphere,

YOUTZ REL/\TES that this past
weekend there was an unusual
amount oi destruction on campus.
In newly renovated James Hall a
hole was punched in a wall, a
ceiling tile was destroyed, the latch
and “crash bar" on the front door
were tampered with and broken
and a crack in that door was
enlarged. Youtz adds that a lamp
in Haines Lounge was intentionally
set on fire.

Last Sunday, Youtz, the. SGA
cabinet and members from the
Office of Student Affairs met to
discuss the vandalism and the
perceived lack oi a community
atmosphere on campus.

ONE OF THE possible solutions
discussed during this meeting was
establishing moreleadership in the
dorms Youtzsays that"part or the
problem is roles ior hall reps and
hall coordinators haven’t been
defined." He feels that they should
”act more as hall leaders" to help
establish a community atmos-
phere,

RA Rick Caplan agrees that
irresponsibility in the dorms is a
large problem. He feels that studs
ents should take more personal
responsibility in order to improve
.wmmunityieeling. Regarding the

 

——Greg Youtz

Loose Hall, called a meeting last
Wednesday evening to discuss the
problem of irresponsibility on
campus, The meeting covered such
topics as loud stereos, garbage on
campus and the removal oi books
irom the library.

ANOTHER RESIDENT of Loose
Hall feels that there is “obviously a
lack ol community this year.” She
states that the students on her floor
“aren't concerned about others'
semesters and studies” and
“aren't concerned about their
neighbors’ sleeping.”

One senior expresses the op-
posing sentiment. He feels that
noise in particular “has always
been a big problem on campus,"
and that the noise and irresponr
sibility is no worse than in past
years.

ANOTHER SENIOR comments,
“You can’t be sure whether it's
your own change over a four year
period or ii the students are really
changing."

According to librarian Steve
PandolIo, the library is also suf-
iering irom irresponsibility among
students. Last year 1,034 books
were borrowed “in an
unauthorized fashion," he
euphemizes.

ALTHOUGH ’I'IlESI-Z books were
eventually returned, the problems
caused by their disappearance will
necessitate preventive'measures it

» the trend continues """

Pandolfo describes some at the
checking systems that have
recently been instituted in other
colleges. Carleton's current
electronic checking system con
sists of metal plates on individual
volumes which trigger an alarm
when carried through the doors
ii ithout being neutralized by desk
personnel Other libraries post
guards at all cxits “We think at
Grinnell we do not need to put
things on that level,“ says Pane
dollo,

The renovation of Hurling
ivithin the next three years will
aiiord opportunity ior minor
changes in the structure of the
library. such as turning the
checkout counter perpendicular to
its present position, thus lorcing
traiiic past the library personnel
beiore exiting, Meanwhile
however. the College continues to
suffer from what Pandolfo calls
“library misuse."

Mm

According to Steve Pandolto, borrowing books in an "unauthorized
Iashion‘ causes the librarians many problems. If the trend continues.
he Says that preventive measures will have to be taken. tPhoto by

Karl Dukstein.)

Will requirements return?

by Trena Clclanil

Discussion regarding the
possible institution of curriculum
requirements is continuing within
the faculty-student Curriculum
Committee, which has been
debating the state oi liberal arts
education at. Grinnell since the
beginning oi the semester.

The central question seems to be,
“What constitutes a liberal arts
education”" One school of thought
holds that a liberally educated
Student is one who has had the
freedom to choose his courses
Without being forced to fulfill
certain requirements in order to
graduate. A second school believes
that unless a graduate has had
extensive exposure to all academic
disciplines—~thc classical
“Renaissance man"~he has not
received a liberal arts education;
thereioi-e, requirements must be
instituted to ensure this
breadth, . .‘
.ACCORDING

TO . history

professor Alan Jones, a member of
the committee, “concern about
general education and some
movement toward restoration ul’
requirements" is not. unique to
Grinnell. This summer Jones
researched “recent curricular
revisions" in general education
requirements at eleven colleges
similar to Grlnnell tincluding
Carleton. Coe, Colorado College,
Knox, Lawrence, and Oberlini,
and concluded that several pat-
terns are evtdent in their treat-
ment at this issue.

Jones found that: It Must have
engaged in recent review and-or
revision of their general education
programs; 2) Almost all have
maintained or increased their
general requirements; and 3t
liiany show a common concern
w mos oi study in) the
ircs in and senior years

0F ' IE LIBERAL arts in-
stitutions studied by Jones. only

‘one tCoc Collegei has as lew'

requirements as Grinnell. One
college which has recently unr
dergone an ambitious and highly
publicized transition to require
ments is Harvard, which last year
instituted a general education
structure in which there are op-
tional ways of meeting re-
quirements within each division,

The report goes on to say that.
compared to these other schools.
“the Grinnell curriculum in its
general education emphasis and
also in its major field emphasis
appears uniquely open and unr
structured . .exccpt for the Fresh
man Tutorial and the limit on
tllvisional credits. there are
literally no requirements tat
Gi'inllellt.”

THIS SITUATION may not be
permanent. however. Due to
growing concern that Griniiell
graduates are not well»rounded.
extensive questioning oi the
college's policy‘is taking .place. A
- tcontiuued on page 2i

 

