The Grinnell Scarlet and Black. September 12. 1975—1). 4

Elections
, heartening

The recent victory of Vernon Graham and Maynard Raffety
in the Grinnell schoolboard election, affects Grinnell College in
more ways than would seem initially apparent. The elections,
which showed an upward trend in overall support for quality
education in the Grinnell school system, affects every one who
lives, works and makes a home in Grinnell (whether it is for nine
months or nine years).

The condition of the Grinnell schools prior to the election has
been particularly lacking. The old ,junior high school was
discovered to be rapidly deteriorating due to age and neglect,
But, no money existed for extensive repair work which would
be needed to bring the building up to the fire marshall's
standards. So, the building has been closed and junior high
students are forced to follow a split-shift schedule with the
students at the senior high, .

Grinnell College faculty and administration members have
become increasingly upset with this arrangement in recent
months. Charles Seller, former dean of records and off-campus
study explained in a letter to the Herald-Register how he left
Grinnell in order to make sure that his children had a quality
education Other faculty and administration members may feel
this way as well; some perhaps may make the same decision in
the coming year. How many good college people can the
community afford to lose before the bond issue will be passed',7

This boldly emphasizes the need for the college community to
keep itself involved in such civic affairs. The college wants to
attract good faculty members, not lose them. To do this we need
a contented and smoothly operating community,

College voting was slightly up in this election, but not
significantly. “Community awareness” was apparent in only a
rough 5 per cent of the student body (if ”awareness” can be
measured in votes], But even this small tumout seems to have
made some impression, for Precinct No, 2 (which includes the
campus) showed the best turnout of the election. Many analyses
can be made of Voting patterns vis-a»vis results, but what
remains is the conviction and commitment of the Precinct No. 2
voters, as illustrated by their strong support of Raffety and
Graham.

Many local pundits feel that next time the bond proposal goes
before the public it will be accepted, Ifthis is true it will be more
important than ever for all those in the campus community to
get involved, The staff of the Scarlet and Black believes that if
College people are concerned about Grinnell, Iowa as a place to
live, learn and work, they should do something about it.

Get out in the community, talk to people,form opinions, and
the next time there is a decision to be made (whether it is to give
to a fund, boycott a product, or to votel, act upon your beliefs,
Don't let any one try to talk you out of your right to express
your beliefs. Everyone connected with Grinnell 'is a part of

the town.

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The
Scarlet
Er Black

Editor
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cartoonists, artists

Grinnell College
Grinnell. Iowa

Lynn A. yoedisch
Janet Pope

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Rich Arnold

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Carin oeerce, Betti Wiley

REPORTERS
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Hirschblel, Clay Jenkins, sill barks,
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Buckwaller, Tom Parsons, sob
curler. Scott avrlinqamc
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Newton while, Tom McCresdv

spans REPORTERS

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PHOTOGRAPHERS
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Jim Garst, Mark Louviere. David
Katha". Nick Maiden
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Steinbrecher, Dan Hexler
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Paul

cobv s EADE R
Richard Harllel

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WHILE TRYING To CATCH
'THF— FRISBEE

 

’Soap opera’ doesn’t wash“

by John Buckwaller

Want to tune into still another
Monday afternoon soap opera" Get
a copy of the Kinks' Soap Opera
and you won't be able to notice a
difference between the two. Soap
Opera contains alluring adultery,
bashed boozers. and misplaced
melodrama; what more could
anyone want‘l

Soap Opera must be about the
twenty-ﬁrst album by the Kinks
and their fourth or fifth concept
disc. It actually does have
basically the same plot as an at
ternoon television show, The story
runs as follows: A Rock Star
decides that he would like to
become a normal, average,
everyday person to experience how
the workingman lives. He ck.
changes idenfies with an unknown
named Norman. The Star then
experiences a typical day in
Norman's his, consisting of rush
hour traffic, the 9 to 5 boredom
hours, getting loaded after work at
a local bar, and committing
adultery against his newly
acquired_wiie. He then returns
home and argues with his spouse
about her crummy cooking. At this
point Norman (the Star) goes

through personality conflicts
where he forgets if he is really a
Rock Star or actually only Norr
marl. Through the insistence of his
wile the Star becomes convinced
that he is Norman, just another
face in the crowd. Our hero decides
to continue the remainder of his
life as Norman, and to forget his
laniasics of being a Rock Star,

Deaf car
report

The music on Soap Opera is
mediocre, with a few bright points,
The beginning song, “Everybody‘s
a Star," is a powerful intense piece
that is great to listen to, but it
sounds so much like the Who’s
“Can't Explain“ that Ray Davies
should hide his head in em»
barrassment

There are two songs which truly
portray the workingclass humor
of Ray Davies and the Kinks. The
first, ”Holiday Romance,” a
nostalgic tune with sounds from
the late ’20's, is a piece which is
reminiscentof the Beatles' “Honey

Pie." “Duck Duck on the Wall” is a
last lurious song which the Star
sings in reaction to his wife’s
repulsive habit of collecting cheap,
plastic ducks.

Most of the other songs on Soap
Opera are uninventive, with tunes
that have been heard countless
times before The music is not bad,
it's simply typical. The lyrics are
tedious; Ray Davies must have
borrowed them from a lUryear-oldi'
An example: \

All I see is imitation, ‘.

And there's no earth beneath by .
feet. ‘

There are no trees or fields ink
front bl me, ‘
only slabs of concrete. '
Although snap Opera is ex-
tremely unimaginativc, so are
soap operas, hence the correlation
holds. Unlike other serious Concept
albums such as Tommy, by the
Who, soap Opera is just a big joke.
When considered as a farce, one
can appreciate its humor. This
album is simply so corny that it’s
entertaining. Soap Opera is worth
at least one listening, and anyone
interested in just another siﬁ

opera will love it.

Mythical man answers,

It would be very appropriate to
have a shy, sensitive Grinnell male
respond to last week's letter to the
Editor, entitled “Women Embrace
Attention." Perhaps if one was
written it would be as follows:
To: Love; Anonymous
Available

Dear "Love,”

We are understandably tired of
the long cold winters without
anyone to warm our toes, bed, and
heart. I detest the ‘after a few
beers' pickup Pub Scene also, but
I resent your “sexless entities”
charge and your challenge to be
more aggressive. We do not want
“some" (even though you seem
to); we want someone. 0ur living
situation makes us approach
others as humans, not as objects
for a love affair. i

but

We do not have to go out to
communicate; we can become
close through relaxed, casual
interaction instead of’ the rigid}
confining structure of dates,
Someone will become special not
because we carry her books or tell
her we dig her; it will be because

e§urnaﬂr

we become good friends and
lovers, because we meet in a
congenial atmostphere (not in the
Pub), or because we are both at
lracled to one another and both
take the responsibility to convey
that attraction.

Women’s lib, “the new
morality.” allow women and men
to be aggressive or passive. Some

of us are not going to sweep a
woman off her leetor even “put the
moves on her” (sorry, Joe
Namath). In a sense, “Love,” you
are Correct. Women's lib should
not demand that you be as
aggressive as men, but rememﬁ
the other side of the coin. If you‘
not want to have to live up to the
stereotype of the woman’s libber
(aggresive), please do not mold us
into the macho stereotype. We are
all humans with individual par
sonalities which dictate our ace
lions.

Dear “Love," be sensitive
Overcome your stereotypical’
expectations of males. Perhaps we
both want the same thing, but we
must work together, as in»
dividuals, to gain if, 4

Love. too,
incognito

 

