(—trom the previous page)

Political barbs are commonplace in
most social science classes, While
humorous and a convenient way to
make lectures less dry, they really
have no place in the classroom, as any
responsible teacher would recognize.
Apparently, the staii loses stght occa-
sionally of the fact that education

should not involve partiality m the
presentation of knowledge,

All things considered, the closest
Grinnell College comes to being a
politically openrminded institution is
in its token subscription to National
Review. buried on a bottom shelf in
Burling. So I take particular oftense at

'I’m giving my money to the KKK.”

To the editor; Last week I happened
to get a copy oi the 5&3, I noticed
.iamie Cary’s letter, which said, in
part, “.,.the SRtB is Constrained to
print only those materials which
would be acceptable to alumni,
parents, and prospective students,
This restriction, while not severe,
closes out topics which would often be
of interest to Grinnell students.” Cary
is right that the restriction is not
severe. Few of the alumni I know
receive the 5&3. As the '78 Class
Agent, l'm supposed to tell my class
about what is going on at Grinnell.
This year I find that the easiest way to
do so is through reading the Campus
Memo. This may seem inadequate,
and in certain respects it is, On the
other hand, the Memo tells what is

happening on campus, and does so
with an attention to grammar which i
find totally lacking in the 5&3. Gram»
matical nitpicking aside. lam not im-
pressed with the content oi this year's
paper. The pre-play review oi Da in
dicated that the reviewer had not
seen, or else not understood, the play.
The editorial response to Ellen Hera
ing’s letter in the November so issue
was only slightly more \vellrreasoned
and eloquent than a reply oi
“Nyah-Nyah," And I don’t care about
the history of the Pub.

An alternative newspaper seems to
be necessary, It's too bad, because the
only way I can obtain a copy of the
8&5 is by getting a friend to scrounge
one, and other alumns can’t even

Calls for tough stance on Iran

To the editor: Shortly after World
War II our country‘s choice was
Whether to intervene to prevent Soviet
domination of Iran with her vast
amounts of oil. This country did so
and with our ardent support the shah
came to gower. Through the course of
six presi ents, the shah remained our
iaithiul ally. lran bought American
arms to provide for its security. Iran
ian oil ﬂowed to the United States
and Israel. He and his govenment
could be counted on, The United States
had free reign to install various
monitoring devices directed at the
iascist Soviet dictators. If one thing is
clear it is mat the shah was a friend in
a part of the world that would delight
in screwing Western culture to the
wall.

, lquestlon whether any despot can
be a “friend" of the United States, but
ioreign policy is seldom a choice be»
tween a regime that is very good vs.
one that is very evil. The charge is
heard that the shah killed and tore
tured. Yes, this is true. The charge is
heard that he and a select few Iran»
ians accumulated enormous wealth,
Yes, also true. Ironically it was not
these abuses of power, so common to
dictators, that brought his downfall, It
was the liberal reforms that the shah,
with our wholehearted encourage-
ment, sought to make. Namely, taking
vast amounts of land from the control
oi lslamic religious leaders ior
redistribution to the masses and his
call ior a beginning of a new age of
rights for the women of Iran. The
voices or conservative oppressive
religious leaders were raised that the
shah must be ousted. He was.

How bad was the shah? Well, com-

10

pared to what? Without going back in-
to history again to iind the good that
the shah did for his people, let‘s look
at the dictator Khomeini. Khomeini's
government (if I use that term looses
1y) has burned our embassy, imprison-
ed our people, killed and tortured his
enemies, taken a radical antisSemttic
stance, held a ”free" election where
voters placed their ballot in public
under the eye oi machine gun toting
government lackeys, and threatened
instability in an area where our
iriends are iew and enemies many.

What is the bottom line? I think
we’ll see eventual Soviet domination
oi iran and, at the very least, more
oppression than we ever imagined
possible.

Cambodian eﬁ’ort praised

To the Campus Community: The
Cambodian fundraistng effort has and
ed after collecting about $4000 in a
three week period. For the record,
students contributed about threedilths
oi the total; faculty donated the re-
mainder, The Trustees will most likely
contribute matching iunds

In the end, it is gratiiying to know a
majority of the campus gave money;
thanks are extended to all who
donated at collection areas and who
attended the auction (which raised
3350),

Pat Baiocchl and Karen Westgate
are responsible ior bringing the issue
to the attention oi the campus and get-
ting the fundraising process started,
Chris Nylander, Angelo loiirenda.
Philipe Burke, and Rick Caplan all
helped with ideas, moral support, and
organizing talent. Thanks also must be
extended to the folk dancers for per

the suggestion that Republicans are
those members oi the campus com»
munity who are narrowsminded.
Perhaps Bill Stowe should re-examine
the Grinncll political scene beiore he
begins indiscriminately tossing around
phrases such as “Ideologically blind.”
Brad Pearson ‘

manage that. Contrary to popular
belief, when students become dodder-
ing alumni, they do not necessarily
wish to read illrwritten pap about
Grinnell. The seven former 5&8
editors I know did not feel they had to
cater to an imaginary audience oi
nostalgic ninnies. Alumni would like to
know what concerns students on cam»
pus now. I could scrape up the money
for a 58:1} subscription, but I won't un
til somebody puts some thought into
writing and editing it. As a iriend or
mine said in a slightly diiierent con
text, “Until they shape up, rm going
to give my money to the KKK or the
DAR or some similarly worthy
organization. Patty Best "Iii

What should the United States do?
The world is full oi turmoil and it's ,
time to emulate Israel. We must take
a hard core stance against those in
this World that use terrorism against
us. Mature restraint is Called for, at
the present time, to provide the best
chance for the safe return of the
hostages, Aiter that, after political
asylum to the shah, give no appease-
ment to the fascist Khomeini, expel
the toady lranian Students in this
country, hope for another Iranian

revolution, and pray for the eventual
freedom for the Iranian people (even
if I do think the mystical bondage of
their religion prevents them irom ac»
commodating liberty). John C.
Werdeii Jr.

iorming during breaks at the auction
and to Bill Deminoii and the College
Relations otticc ior helping with
publicity and general iundraising.

The disaster in Cambodia is not
natural, but one induced by man with
a shocking completeness. An entire
race or people in endangered. The
solutions to this crisis can be just as
complete it only so-called leaders tour
own included) begin to stress human
lite and dignity over narrow ideology
and power politics, The money you
donated is helping people; the situa-
tion has improved in the last iew
weeks. But the ultimate solution is
Peace, and that can only be attained
through an understanding betw en
governments. It is our respons' lity
to understand and work toward such a
solution. Danny Kaddeii Contributions
can be sent to: oxrAM, 302 Columbus
Ave., Boston, MA. 02116

Scarlet & Block.

 

