4 Malch31.1972

The Scarlet and Black

F The Doppelt Effect

Mister Machine

by Jack Doppelt

In two short weeks, I have managed
to become a well»oued, talk-your-
ear-off political machine No matter
what/the subject ls, Ican noncha-
langly lnterject a little George Mc-
GovernsDemocratic Pal‘lysliberal
viewed rhetoric into the discussion

I cannot take all the blame because
I am a firm believer in the philosophy
that we are all products of our ens
vironment. And after two weeks of
political headquarters, I feel thatI
should be reapply/ing to a politically-
isolated Grtnnell
Let me give you an example ol my
power.

1. Hi Jack, how was your vacation?
Oh you know howdiificult it is to work
for an honest, liberal candidate in
Chicago. What with Mayor Daley,
vote hand, and all that patronage.

2. Didn't you have any time to

see some plays or anything?
That’s the trouble with the way Our
country is being run now by Nixon
He's playing on our emotions. How
about lhat busing issue. He tried to
steal the stage front the Democrats
alter the Florida primary.

3 It's freezing out here You can't
trust Iowa weather
That’s just it Nixon tells you the
wage-price freeze will counteract
inflation, McGovern has an economic
program which will replacegovei-n-
ment spending on military expendi-
tures wilh those of more prevalent
domestic importance.

4, How are you parents?

My father thinks all politians are
the same. My mother likes Humph-
rey because he was a Man oithe Year
at an Israeli Bond dinner.

5. I have so much work to dobefore

finals.
McGovern is actually the greatest
lriend ol the working man. He he-
lieves that people with overburden-
some work should be allowed more
recreational time. For instance, you
can be a volunteer in his headquar-
ters here in Iowa

6. Do you plan to spend any time at
the Phys. Ed. complex?

I might, i can pass out some cam-
paign literature during half—times,
pamphlets on water pollution during
swim meets, and Stick bumper sticks
ers on the lockers.

'7. After two weeks of home Cooke

ing, Saga food can be quite a let
down,
I know what you mean. Food prices
are soaring, the Republicans are
trying to destroy any coalition by
farm workers, and McGovern should
know about food. He Came from a
small farm state and ate food hims
self. His workers have asked people
to send cards and lettuce to their
congressmen bucking the larm
workers.

3. We ought to get drunk before

classes start Monday.
Great idea. Get me some Scotch.
McGovern, now you can't beat the
name McGovern for a real Scotch
flavor. Bul that doesn't imply that
he's ethnocentric. lie appeals to all
religions, races and ethnic minorls
lies.

9 I’m really catching a cold out
here. Can I borrow a Kleenex?
That’s what people have finally begun
to admit. That McGovern can catch
Muskie for the nomination. People
realize that he isn't a one tissue
candidate any more That reminds
me of a joke that one of the Mc-
Govern slaff members said in AlaSr
ka a lew weeks ago He was being
heckled by a group oi Muskie sup-
porters and at the proper moment
he retorted, “Hush, you Muskies!"

lo. I think you need a vacation from
all the campaigning.

Next week a bunch of us are going
to Wisconsin. We’re canvassing for
McGovern tor the Wisconsin pri-
mary Politics really gives a person
It chance to express himself. Well,
I’ll see you later, lhave to run.

ll. That I wouldn'l doubt Let me
ask you one last question, How do
you manage to turn everything any-
one says into some political propo-
ganda?

That 5 politics.

Rock Garden: Concerts

by Ron Meat-in

I remember reading a letter in a
past edition of the sail: complaining
about the entertainment we get here
at Grlnnell. The writer suggested we
get a soecalled “big-name band” to
play in Darby. Well, OK, that
might be nice, but alter paying some
biggie thousands to play for an hour
or so we’d have just about enough
money left to get the lowa state
marching band.

I feel that this year’s musical cn—
tertainment has never been better.
We may have had a bit too much of
the blues, but according to rumors
this, too, is going to change. But
anyway, let’s take a look at some oi
the year’s highlights.

Shawn Phillips was one of the best
concerts I have heard in three years,
He has the very best voice in rock,
including a falsetto range that would
make McCartney weep. His ability
with the guitars is phenominal: he
plays everything lrom IZ-string
acouslic to ﬁrstring electric. not to
mention the Sitar. He held the entire
audience transfixed for mole than
2-1/2 hours and made me lush out
to try and find his new album (Fine
ally released but not in Grinnell).

The folk concerts have been Superb.
John Prine is the best folk perforr
mer in recent memory His songs
have personal, complex themes, yet
his lyrics are so simple that you sit
there thinking “I could have said
that" but you didn’t and you can’t
Kris Kristofferson has compared
Prlne to Dylan. ldon’ldoubt him,
for this is one singer who deserves
more fame, it it doesn't ruin him.

Steve Goodman was...well, drunk!
He didn’t sing much. I admit, bul
his Stories were worlh ll Ilis form
of storytelling is quite an art, and
he had it down perleclly And when
he did play he showed he knew how;
his guitar strumming was flawless.

And what about music to dance to?
The two black bands who have most
recently played in North Lounge
have been exceptional Rarely have

,. M llilliiliiln\
“will W

Mighty Joe Young. The brass was
precise, the guitars were wild, and
the music could have turn the Forum
apart.

And our own band, "Up and Com—
ing", certainly is, it is great to
hear a band play real honestetoe
goodness songs! How long has it
been since we could dance to ”Hons
ky Tonk Woman” or "Johnny B.
Good”? We haven’t heard Kim sing
so well since those magic days of
“Wah Wah” two years ago. Olson's
lead guitar is excellent, and when he
sings ”i’m a Man” you know it!
Adler’s flute deserves to be heard
much more I don't think anyone
realizes how good he really is; it’s
frightening. lies not Ian Anderson.
but he’s damn close And he’s only
been playing sax lor 6 months! The
drummer of the band who will re
main liameless~(guess why)-rhas
vastly improved since last semes—
ter. And who is that harmonica play-
er?

Anyway, what I’m saying is that
you don’t need “biggies” to make a
good year. McGloughlin was great
of course, we expected that. (I wasn’t
in the mood for him when I walked
in; i wanted more when he finished!
Too bad we were forced to wait be-
cause of the "heavy” group which
played iirst) A suggestion, how-
ever, would hc to possibly get a good
old rock and l'ollhnnd,hecause there
is nothing like a good “old—
fashioned” dance Bul whatever,
the concerts have been first-rate
this year and I hope they continue.
li you want big name concerts, go
to Chicago. It you want good con-
certs, stick around.

The 5th Column

Socialists Offer Basic Reforms

by Phil Salkind, Pierre
Barbeau, and Clayton Lee

Those eating Saga this week uni
doubtedly noticed tour campaign
workers from the Socialist workers
Party distributing literature, dis-
cussing, selling buttons and in gen-
eral, campaigning lor the SW? can-
dadites Linda Jenness (President)
and Andrew Pulley (Vice-president).

They had just come ironi what tye

They had just come from what they
considered enthusiastic receptions
at the U. of Nebraska. at Lincoln
and Omaha, the U of Northern Iowa
and the University of Iowa, with
support groups oi ten to twenty
students formed on all these cam-
puses.

The four here gave many indica~
tions that lheir claim of the largest
socialist campaign Since Eugene v.
Debs was indeed accurate, which
they see as a result of a radicali-
zation not present in America in
1968 responding to the only real
alternative possible,

Probably the most fundamental
Question for Grinnell deals with
SWP versus the Democratic reform
movement/McGovern. in our con~
versation with the four organizers
they said that they see supporting
McGovern as the same as being for

[PC Criticism
Puzzles Freehurg

To the Editors:

I’d like to congratulate Russ on his
victory; l’ve seen him in action, and
he’ll do a job. But I still cannot
help feeling some surprise at the
name—smearing against me, small
though it may have been. It came
nowhere making it a close race, but
l considered it a personal attack.
Just more of the “real world” into
the tower. I’d just like to set the
record straight; I have attended
nearly all EPC meetings, and I have
been doing my best to represent
you.

Chris Fresherg

Criticizes EPC
Grading Plan

These excerpts are from a letter
also sent to Mr. Clotfelter.
The Editors

To the Editors:

I would like to raise certain 0b-
jections to the proposed grading
changes as passed by the AlkCol»
Iege EPC (I do not know what, if
any, revisions were made by the
Executive Council). I’ve talked to
many students, mostly from Norris
Hall. Since I am one of the two press
ldents of that dorm, so the following
objections are not simply my own
but are shared by other students as
well
While places like Oberlin College
encourage students to branch out of
their majors by offering a liberal
credit-erase option, Grinnell seems
to discourage such diversification by
getting rid of the option of Credit we
now entov Credit-erase not only
allows students to touch other areas
of study, it allows those who utilize
it to free themselves from the pres-
sures ol a totally graded system.

Secondly, Mr. Parslow's proposal
seems to ENCOURAGE STUDENTS
T0 PURPOSELY FAIL ACOURSE!!!
Suppose, for inslance. that a Grins
nellian has a GPA over 3.0 and
wants to go to graduate school, and
she is taking a Course outside her
major (or even one inside her major)
in which, at midsemester, she is
getting under a 3.0 in the course.
She has four options open to her:

1). she can dropthe course with a

WP, thus effectively stopping all
learning in a particular area and
a chance to broaden her interests,
OR

2). she can stick the course out and
have her GPA lowered, thus per—
haps worsening her chances for
grad school, on

a) she can work like a dog to raise

her average in that one course,
leaving less time for her other
courses and creating unnecessary
academic stress (besides, i am
assuming she is doing her best in

Johnson in 1964. They stressed the
fact that the Democratic party was
the same old bankrupt capitalist or—
gamzation and that anyone who had
illusions as to McGovern's al-
legiance to that party would have
them dispelled when he Stands he-
‘hind whatever white male the Demo-
crats do nominate.

Besides that, their pamphlets on
McGovern point out some impres-
sive deficiencies in his record. can-
cluding that he doesn’t support imv
mediate and total withdrawal from
.Vietnam, let alone the complete self
determination of the rest at the
world (he has consistently voted for
the military budgets), that he has
only tokenism as a solution for
women (some women officials), that
he doesn’t support working people
(he endorses the wage freeze), and
oppressed minorities.

In short they don’t believe George
McGovern is sincere, but say that's
irrelevant anyway, because even if
he was, by the very nature of how
the Democratic party is constituted,
he would not be able to do anything.
The SWP workers illustrated the
unfeasibility of reformism by point-
ing out that even if the Democrats
wanted to give women true equal
employment opportunities, they
couldn’t, as the} system cannot end

the course and is STILL receiving
under a 3.0), on
4). she can stop doing papers or the
final exam or whatever else is
l necessary to fail the course so its
grade Will be erased from her
, record but she can still go on
i learning in the course by con-
‘ tinuing to be enrolled in it.

(Another) point against the proposed
grading system is that it seems to
entirely forget the 50% or so of the
graduating Grinnellians who do not
go on to grad school. Many of us
do not want to hassle with grades,
as they only produce pressures and
unhealthy competition, and we feel
We have some rights as students at
Grinnell College to choose our own
academic destinies.

Donna Lynn Rothenberg

_Sowmgem4

Disney’s Fantasy World

by Robert Simmons

iCartoon shorts have always been
expensive to make and not very
profitable to distribute Realizing
this, Walt Disney saw the answer to

linancial independence in a lull
length animated feature. He had been
the first to add sound and color to
the cartoon; he was now determined
to make the first animated feature.

Production, involving so much hand-
work by artists, was slow, linancing
was spotty, and distribution was une
certain. Despite years of problems,
Show White was iihally released' in
1938.

It was both an artistic and financial
success. Moving away from the “cat
and mouse" conflict that was the
staple of most short cartoons (Dis-
ney's Silly Symphonies being the
exception), Snow White had a fully
developed plot, its own specially
composed music, and a new set of
characters in their own world. In
the course of work the Studio had
developed a new technique to give
depth to backgrounds. The camera
work was as sophisticated as any
movie with “real" actors, Disney.
had created an appealing believable
fantasy world and invented a new
form of entertainment.

iPinnochio (1939) was equally
sophbsticated and charming. Taking

i

unemployment for men, let alone for
women.

SWP believes that the Democratic
party has been sufficiently exposed
as bankrupt as a political vehicle
for Americans so as not to warrant
“giving it another chance". They
see proof in the increased indepen-
dent voter registrations that Ameris
cans have realized this and are seek-
ing a true alternative. The SWP cam-
paign is trying to address itself to
that need by constantly speaking to
the issues and challenging the other
candidates to do so and not rely on
charismatic appeals. Their cams
paign is characterized by visits to
prisons (they picked up 70 of their

7000 campaign endorsements at one
Massachusetts prison) confronting
candidates and asking for debates,
which only McCloskey has accepted,
and surprising successes like
coming in 4th in the U. of Califors
nia, Santa Barbara, poll.

SWP doesn't expect to win this
election, but they do expect to edu-
cate many people about the basis oi
political power and the notion that
political action to gain power means
more than voting. They stress the
necessity at year round activity in
developing an independent mass
movement, which they hope to be-
come a model for, in addition to
strengthening the existing ones.
What they do not want to see is the
activists of these independent move
ments supporting the Democrats be.
cause of imagined differences be
tween the two parties interests,
backing 0t administrations. They
cite the fact that David Rockefeller
gave significant support to both
parties in 1968 as one indication of
that.

It seems that this organization of
less than five thousand has provided
the only viable political alternative
that deals with the fundamental so-
cial and political problems lacing
this country. Their presentation of
workable socialist solutions and
their analysis of the real platforms,
voting records and interests of the
reform Democrats / McGovern
seems to demonstrate the type of
political change necessary and the
way to go about implementing it.
Specifically, what is needed is a
campus support group which will
undertake actions like bringing the
Jenness or Pulley to the college,
organizing a preference poll and
referendums on the various issues,
and questioning the positions of
whatever Democratic hopefuls and
campus supporters exist.

Hopefully this column will aid in
providing a forum for the discussion
of issues like this one; ones rela-
ted to radical social and political
change and affecting us here at
Grinnell.

a lesser known iairy tale gave his
creativity more room to function,
One of the most impressive films
ever made‘ by anyone is his
Fantasia. Although in 1940 it was
only the third lull length animated
feature .ever released, it has never
been topped for imagination or tech,
nique. By the mid-50's when Lady
and the Tramp (at the Strand lhis
weekend) was made, the Studio had
fallen into a pattern that doesn’t
diminish the charm or appeal ofthis
work but turned into a dead end Of
creativity (witness The Aristocats).
The combination of cute talking anis
mals, singable songs, and superior
production cannot be beaten as en-
tertainment.

There is a problem in assuming
that this stuff is for kids. Disney’s
witches, deVIls. villains, and her-
rors are some ol the most fright-
ening ever conceived. It is silly to
think that children don't know that
Bambi's mother has been killed or
that no nightmares will result from
bad boys becoming mules. Fan-
tasia's ”Night on Bald Mountain”
sequence is as grotesque as any-
thing since deronymous Bosch. Yet
it is the same imagination that goes
into these horrors that creates Dis—
ney’s fantasy world and makes it
so attractive and entertaining.

 

