I Honors
program

tabled

The ”honors" program,
proposed by Dean of Curriculum,
Mary Eysenbach, was removed
from the table and reconsidered at
the Curriculum Committee
meeting yesterday. Followmg a
discussion of the credit distribution
for combined programs or the
college, such as the Rush Medical
Program,the committee
reinitiated debate.

At last week’s meeting,
Eysenbach proposed graduation
with honors which would require
comprehensive examinations at
the end of the junior year and a
BA. thesis to be completed the
senior year.

In reconsidering Eysenbach‘s
plan which had been tabled at the
previous meeting, the general
committee sentiment was against
the program. “Too much pressure
already," “divisive to the com-
munity,” and “people see it as
different from rational education,"
comprised some of the objections
cited, particularly by student
committee member, Betsy
Scheuerman.

Professor Randy Magee ex.
pressed strong opposition to die
plan because it awards honors to
the student ior doing what the
college as a liberal arts institution
expects. The college expects the
student to pursue one ﬁeld more
extensively than others, while
checking into me others to add to
their total education. “Not getting
honors is more dishonorable than it
is an honor to get honors,“
Professor Charles Cleaver- com-
merited.

Magee remarked that he gets
”hints of distant drums of
requirements coming.” Eysenr
bach replied that she “hears them
too.”

Moving the discussion closer to
tabling, Chairman of the Faculty
Arnold Adelberg outlined his
disagreements with the program.
Too much structure in the program
generated Adelberg's dislike for it,
although he was “very symr
pathetic to the major ideas.” The
mechanical details of the exam
and the thesis and lack of a single
form were the structural parts
which Adelherg opposed.

Professor Richard Van Scotter
attempted to table the motion and
form a committee with faculty and
students. The motion met
resistance from Magee who in-
sisted that “the committee is here
assembled, We just have to get one
lead out,” responding that
Eysenbach “has come to the
committee with a program that
doesn’t meet our approval, so we
have to hash it out.”

Van Scotter then moved to
recommend that Chairman Par-
slow select a subcommittee to
work on a “honors" program
proposal to be presented in early
fall. The committee would meet
over the summer, but Parslow
found few volunteers for the
subcommittee due to the summer
vacation.

Systems
director
reSIQns

James McDonald, Director of
Computer Services and Lecturer in
Computing, has resigned because
of seemingly “insurmountable”
problems which have prevented
him from working with students
and faculty, his main concern.

Since first coming to Grinnell in
August of '73, McDonald’s initial
task was “to improve the
academic applications of the
computer.“ Instead, his time has
been spent with administrative
types of problems, directing
computer servicing rather than
Computer Services.

Beginning last fall, his “ad-
ministrative problems" have been
mostly those of installing and
converting to a new, complex
system and ironing out the kinks.
His problems have been intensified
by the fact that Grinnell is a “test
site” {or the computer's
manufacturer, the Digital
Equipment Company. ”Nobody
has as yet done things with the
system that we’re doing." For
example, some of the “hardware”
equipment is new, such as the
magnetic storage discs which have
had a tendency to erase them-
selves. Also, the terminals are
new, and still considered "very
unsatisfactory” by McDonald and
Computer Services, Some oi the
“software” (applications) are also
new. According to McDonald, the
method oi using this computer as a
terminal for another is new.

Since the IBM computer in lowa
City ”looks” at this system as the
same as the IBM system the
college had formerly (though there
are technical differences), the link-
up with the University or Iowa has
created several problems.
Especially notable is the disap-
pearance of student data base
early this semester.

Despite his frequent 95 hour
work weeks, McDonald feels the
situation at Grinnell is
unresolvable within his power or
the power oi any one person. He
ieels that more people deiinitely
need to be working in the depart-
ment and that had he had the
assistance of one person besides
analyst-programmer Mark
Grundler, he might not have had to
make his decision. The ads
ministration‘s response, he said,
was that no more could be af-
forded.

“My main concern is for the
amount of computing being done,”
he said, for the actual use of the
computer by students. “You need
more than the best computer
available, you need people,”

Dean Waldo Walker responded to
McDonals's resignation by cams
menting that he “was sorry to see
him go” adding that a replacement
will be hired by July 1 when MC»
Donald’s contract expires. The
situation was “tough” according to
Walker, because the position
became “overly complex" with the
installation of the new computer
One course each semester will be
continued to be offered by the new
director, Walker added.

by DougSchultz

sa

Tenure
study '

planned

President A. Richard Turner
appointed an ad hoc committee to
explore the processes and
procedures of tenure at Grinnell at
a faculty meeting Monday. This
committee, chaired by history
professor Philip Kintner, was
asked to ”consult widely"
throughout the Grinnell college
community and to submit
recommendations no later than
December '75. Peter Connelly,
Luther Erickson, Clifford Reid,
and Joseph Wall complete this
emergency committee. Reid is the
lone untenured member of the five.

Turner further noted that this “is
not a representative committee”
(no women, and two members of
the history department) but he
hopes that it will get down to the
“nuts and bolts", Ideally, along
with tenure, appointments and
reappointment will be evaluated.

Kintner, who, incidentally, was
Chairman of the faculty in 1973-74,
was also elected Chairman of the
Faculty Organizational Committee
(FCC), succeeding David Jordan.
The FOC is a committee in charge
of coordinating the other coma
mittees, Besides proposing names
for all the major committees this
group oversees the faculty by-laws
and makes suggestions for
necessary revisions of these
guidlines. The other members of
the FOC were elected yesterday by
a faculty vote.

The current FOC presented at
this moderatelyvattended meeting
some oi the other standing iaculty
committees for next year (75-76).
The Executive Council will consist
oi Adelberg, Kissane, Kurtz, D.
Smith. Bays, Guroff, I. Jones,
Liberman, and Wellborn. The first
four are presently members oi this
same body. Atwell, l-lerman, 1r.
Ving, McKibben, and Wall Will be
the Curriculum Committee '75-'76
which is responsible for oversight
of the curriculum for each year
and the long range implications of
the course structure. The Long
Range Planning Committee again
will comprise Ciotfelter, Connelly,

and A. Jones. These orree recur. ,

nees will again be recommending
changes regarding the college’s
future.

In other business, Turner, after
confirming the Trustees had
dropped the remaining com-
munications courses because of
financial difficulu'es (58:13 April 18,
1975), announced that the college is
planning “intensive study of
priorities in relation to plans for
fund raising in the future."

by Peter Calvert

SGA Nominations

Nominations remain

open until Monday

Contracts
ralse _
questions

lthas been reliably reported that
the Executive Council has
recommended that the individual
contracts of Anne Abler, Instructor
oi Sociology and Richard Wood-
worth, Assistant Professor of
Sociology, not be renewed. The
recommendations will go to one
Board of Trustees, which acts on
all personnel matters. and any
decision will not be final until acted
on by that body which meets June
172.

Abler and Woodworth are
currently the only two members of
the college's sociology depart-
ment. If the contract is not
renewed, both Abler and Wood-
worth would have one more year
on their current contracts, and
would be oiierlng courses during
the academic year 1975-76.

The Faculty Handbook of the
college discusses the matter of
contract renewal, “If the college
decides not to renew the contract of
a Iaculty member not on tenure,
the college shall give adequate
notice of intention not to renew or
reservation of freedom not to
renew: Faculty members with
contracts of more than one year7
in the second year oi service at the
college nine months prior to the
end of the contract (contracts for
an academic year are construed to
end on 31 August); with service at
the college of two years or more
twelve months prior to the end oi
the final contract.”

Abler and Woodworth are both
untenured and are currently on
tweayear contracts to the school.

The prospect of Abler‘s and
Woodworth’s contracLs not being
renewed poses signiiicant
questions {or the sociology
department.

President Turner has stated that
“whether or not the present in-
cumbents are here for die long
run,” to him “a two-person in-
dependent department is totally

Representative

Linda Cornelius
Carin DePree

Mears
Main
James

Helle Lukk

Jen Miller

Cleveland
Janet Pope

Haines
Read

Scott Wolte

Jeu Bob
Ross Damion

Dave Arnold

Loose

Younkers

Smith Patty Hero

nibble Rlck oiaeno

Jim Freeman

Darryl Eradtoru

Mark Bailey
Bob Aldrich

Jonn Debocner

Lucl Marty

Flaire Mills
Carl oopedahl
Pamela curry Ruth Montgomery
Blake cownes Greg Wiggins
Judy Packer
sieve Hadw-cer Cralg zippe

Grinnell College
Grinnell, Iowa
4/25/75 vol. 83, no. 26

unsatisfactory.” Turner
elaborated on his basic
dissatisfaction for two-person
departments commenting that
they did not provide a “rich mix"
for the students taking an ex-
tensive number of courses within
the department. The sociology
department is currenoy the only
two-person department in the
college’s curriculum.

Turner stated that discussion on
the future of the sociology
department would be initiated
later this spring or early next fall.

The sociology department was
characterized by Turner as a
“good small department with a
reasonable enrollment," offering
courses integral to a liberal arts
education.

There are currently 39 sociology
majors in the college. This figure
has risen from 19 in May 1972, to 29
in May 1973, to 33 in May 1974, to
the present figure. The current
enrollment in the sociology
department this semester is 151
students for the six courses being
offered by the two instructors. This
is a 25:1 studenHaculty ratio tor
the department as compared to the
overall studentvfaculty ratio of the
college of 12:1.

Two possibl ties that were
mentioned by Turner'for the
department were the expansion of
the department to three faculty
members or the fusion of the
department with anthropology.
The position for a threerperson
department would have to be
created by the reduction oi a
position in other departments
Turner commented.

The sociology department was a
three-person department two
years ago, during the academic
year 1972.73. Following that year,
the third position was cut, creating
the current two-person depart

ment.
by Brent Schondelmeyer

Coordinator

Gary Frumnin
Virginia Hess
Van Issgaris
Dave TenEyck
Neil Ralzlan
Jane Love
Kl’m tucker

Joe Klnorna

sob Tracy
Richard cote

Jon Herman
Greg Olson

Dawn Harris
David Hooves
Peter calven
Tim HDDK'WS
Marty Langtord
Arm orownson
cindy Grimm

Peggy Ellis

Neal Klsgerman

Rawson
Gates

Clark Marta Fox

Cowles Ed Massey

Jonn Lem

NOI'I'IS Ted Price

Dennis Walters
Marlcrie Wekselman

l<il Wall

Jim Fallsre

Steve Kristal

Doug Cmelik
oan Finkelman
Sara Keene
Karen Meyer
carnev Loucks
Virginia Munoz
Suzanne Rawl‘mgs
Gunrlsr Tnors

M‘lke Nadalskv
Dave Schecler

 

