by Ellen “right

Rays from the western sun reach
through the cloud clumps and
expand the space below. The lake
and its grassy horizon iirst rcccde,
then advance as we lever the canoe
through the water,

Spots of blue-green algae are
awakened by our paddles pressing
against the Wind’s ripples. The
algae alerts my memory to the
ecological studies undertaken at
Rock Creek Lake, the most recent
one begun Aug. 17,

On that day the first water
samples were taken ior an en.
vironmental project in which both
the lowa Department ot Enr
vironmental Quality and the US,
Environmental Protection Agency
are participating, Monthly sam-
ples are being taken over the
course of a year on is lakes and
reservoirs in Iowa.

The purpose is to determine the
extent of the water pollution threat
by analyzing nutrient levels and
chemical composition,

Run-oir

Rock Creek Lake is a man-made

recreational lake located seven

miles west of Grinnell, Engineered

in 1949, it was developed into a
state park in 1952.

Like many Iowan lakes, it has a
large agricultural watershed. Run-
off [mm surrounding farm land
enters the lam ponds and
streams. Large amounts oi
chemical nutrients, including
ammonia, nitrate, and phosphates,
are swept through the creek into
the north end of the lake. The
resulting cutrophication upsets the
biological system by over-

stimulating plant growth and
depleting dissolved oxygen,

According to Roger Ruchti, park
oiiicer at the state park, the heavy
rains this spring made the problem
more acute. The rain and
sedimentation swelled it to “the
highest water level in the life of the
lake."

Rllchti said the most rccent
samples were taken last Tuesday,
September 24, Members of the
Iowa National Guard measured the
depth or the lake, the sunlight
intensity, and rainfall. The same
ples are shipped to the En-
vironmental Protection Agency's
research center in Corvallis,
Oregon, where the nutrient basis is
studied.

natur‘ 91.10.

College Project

Rock Creek Lake was also the
subject of an ambitious project
undertaken by a group of Grinnell
Students during the summer and
fall of 1971. Called “Rock Creek
Lake Environmental Studies,” it
encompassed chemical and
biological analyses of the lake's
eutrophication, as well as the
economic and anthropological
factors involved in its im-
provement.

The report or the iindings was
presented to the lowa Academy of
Sciences in 1972 by project director
Anthony J. Wheeler. Did this study

influence the inclusion of Rock

Creek Lake in the government
study?

A check with John Bremhorst or
the lowa Department oi En-
vironmcntal Quality brought

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Hanging Baskets
Green Plants
Dried Flowers
Cut Flowers
Flowering Plants
Pottery

Clay Pots

The Terrarium
Specialists

Wayside Floral and
Garden Center

823 Broad Street

Grinnell, Iowa j

was probably made available to
the Department,” he noted, along
with studies from other sources
The lakes were chosen on the basis
of this preliminary intormation,
which outlined their hydrology,
chemical composition, watershed,
and use trecreatlcnal or others
wisel.

Restoration

The governmental ecology
project aims to determine the
biological age or the lake. it its
ﬁndings compare with those or the
college students, it will predict the
ruling in or the northern section in
three to seven years, due to rapid
sedimentation.

Other conditions mentioned by
the students were the murky
water, high algal concentrations,
and oxygen depletion resulting
from bacterial decomposition of
the algae.

The tish population has been
dominated by species which can
tolerate low oxygen levels,
especially bluegills. The lowa
Conservation Commission does
carry out a iish management
program at the lake, both to
restock the rished-out numbers and
to diversity the species, adding
channel catiish and Northerns.

Terracing and strip rarming
may be used where rarmland
meets the lake to control the soil
erosion from the immediate area.
Further corrective measures
suggested by the students were
dredging, enlarging the lake, or
building an additional, small lake
iurther up the creek to catch most
of the sediment, The LC, Come
mission has admltted, these efforts
would run into great expense.

What can come or the latest
study? rnrther public awareness
is sure to result. l-lopeiully rederal
funding will be iorthcoming,
especially if the study indicates
that high nutrient concentrations
burden lakes across lhe state.

photo by Doug Halsey

RODGER RUTCIITI. PARK OFFICER

Guy perspectives

Who we are '«

by Bruce Kori

In recent weeks, several
questions have arisen as to the
nature of the Grinnell College Gay
Community, and or the Tuesday
night meetings which it sponsors, I
would like to attempt to describe
both oi these, and, hopeiully, to
eradicate some of the miscon-
ceptions involved.

Within the context of this article,
the words, “gay.” “bisexual,” and,
“straight,” will refer strictly to the
predominant sexual preferences ot
an individual. I am aware that
such a classitication system
ignores the social and emotional
values involved and therefore do
not personally accept it. For the
purposes ofthis article, however, it
is useful.

Over a year ago, three gay
people called an open meeting to
discuss, ”being gay." The
meetings became weekly, and
several other gay people attended
regularly. The Grinnell College
Gay Community was born,

Open to Campus

However, the meetings were,
and continue to be, open to the
entire campus community
regardless of sexual orientation.
Because of this factor and others,

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attendance at meetings has grown
considerably. This expansion has
meant that the uniiying tactor is no
longer necessarily, “being gay."
but has broadened to signify a
common interest in a Variety of
concepts pertaining to alternative
sexuality. Such issues as
bisexuality, the validity oi
monogamous relationships, the
political and social repercussions
of being something-other-thar
straight, have been discussed
within the group. We are essen-
tially supportive ot each other in
our personal struggles, and of the
right of all to determine and cx~
press their sexuality in any way
that does inrringe on the rights and
dignity of others,

Thus, by attending a meeting, no
one is identirying their sexual
orientation. Assumptions, though
irequently made by us all, are also
irequentiy exposed within the.
group.

The polnt is, the Gi'lnnell College
Gay Community is no longer a gay
community in the strict sense at
the word, “gay." For it one defines
the community by those who at-
tend the meetings, then G,C.G C.
now consists of a variety or in-
dividuals dealing with a gamut oi
issues somehow related to alter-
native sexuality and sexual
liberation.

Transition

It appears to me, then, that th
Community is undergoing a
signiﬁcant transition. Let it suffice
to say that we are an organization
actively involved in a struggle ror
personal dignity and ireedom of
sexual expression, that our
meetings are open to all, and that
the initial motivating force [or all
of this has been the oppression
which gay people have ex-
perienced throughout their lives,
and which we are necessarily,
committed to eliminating,

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