 

“The moving ﬁnger . . .”

Qurol Qmerioomo

I have known

by Scott hicliltit-ray

One of Mr. Turner’s favorite
phrases which sticks in my mind
from the initial White Paper
conierences is. “yeah baby, but
you’re from tinsert name oi city
in Iowa with a population oi over

alren thousandt. That‘s not Iowa."

‘Three oi my iriends irom homc
(population 1200) were on campus
last weekend One of them is the

ion oi an actual Agri-Amerlcan

t i‘i'ith the above quotation in mind, i
searched the length and breadth of
the campus in search oi on ads
ministratlve official to introduce to
my “real” lowa iriends. tin
retrospect, I realize an 3117
inclusive search should have his
cluded the goli coursei

Another memory oi the
discussions has apparently
managed to survive the seemingly
endless onslaught of Wine and
cigar smoke When pressed, hir
Turner admitted that the reference
to Iowans in the White Paper had

- en a mistake It seems that any
\ﬂd Rural Americans Will do, it is
just that they are less mobile than
other US folks It was concluded
that those most likely to attend

tinnell would live in Iowa or
nearby.

Back in my room. as my iriends
and I were discussing our
Christmas ski vacation to
Colorado. it hit me that Grinnell
College is in definite need of
consciousnessraismg. “Con-
sciousness-raising," along with
“symposium" and “colloquium,"
is an item that no bona fide cons
ference agenda should be viithout.
I suggest that this weekend’s
ﬁguring include a consciousness

ng event such as “Rural
America on Parade." Those of us
who quality would then march
through the Coffee House or South

«gringo (having previously wiped
otir boots) in order to give the
conferees a better idea oijust what
this minority cc .rsts oi. I am sure
an administrative aSSlstant could
type in the item on the agendas it
they have already been printed.

After the parade, while the
Conferees lake a coffee break,
exhibits representing the Cultural
life of Rural Americans Could be
displayed in each corner of the
gm Lounge. “The CB. radio: Its

and abuse," and “How gravel

1! Pet Board

 

roads tacilitate teenage drinking"
are just a iew suggestions for the
mixedanedia presentation. To
shed evcn more light on Rural
Americans, a contrasting parade
would be in ordcr. I suggested a
parade oi Chicago-area students,
but an administrative assistant
told me that Darby Gym is booked
solid ior the weekend

Consciousness-raising. as the
saying goes, is a two way street I
was raised in a very typical WASP
tamily in the waspnest oi
America—the Middle West, While
growing up my iriends were all
white, a tew werc Catholic, but
none were Jewish, it was only upon
arriving at the Grinnell campus
last year that iiell trom the ranks
oi the majority into those oi a
minority. The “fall” was not ac»
complished without a tew bruises
However. i was never made iully
aware at my minority status until
the White Paper discussions of this
year,

Two weeks ago i listened with
both anger and amazement as
iriend and stranger alike spoke oi
Rural Americans in the most
clinical oi terms i was turned into

a percentile and tossed back and

forth across the room with obvious
distaste, I was yokingly reassured
that ”I" was different. although
one failed to see that fact
represented by a percentile The
end result was a weird sort of
alienation and detachment from
the conversation to the point where
participation seemed absurd.

Now it is time for another round
oi White Paper discussions and my
triends are long gone. They have
returned home in anticipation oi
our Thanksgivmg meeting to
finalize plans for the ski vacation
and a possible trip to Alaska next
summer, I am left in Grinnell
trying to come up with some
catchy minority slogans such as
“Iowa Power" that Will not bring
libel suits irom unsympathetic
utility companies. in the mean
time t can oiier a parting bit oi
advice to Mr. Turner and his
conierees- Tread lightly as you
walk the corn rows of Rural
America in search oi prospective
students. The you-knowwhat is
spread pretty deep in some iields
en route.

Point of View

by Rob Aldrich

Last week, like hordes oi other
students, I bought a copy or the
lllstitlltionalin-d Grapevine,
thinking to myseli, “why, it's a
Grinnell tradition.” After reading
it, it is clear to me that. the
Gl'ilpm inc is a tradition that ought
to be dropped I agree with the
editor of the Grapevine that there
is a problem in academic advising,
and that In some cases student
assessmcnts oi other protessors
may be more “candid” than a
professor's, but as the editor ads
mlts,»the solution is not the
Gl’apminc. He calls it a "faint
voice in the wind," in actuality, it
is not even that. There is little
possibility oi accuracy or ob-
jectivity under the present
system The questionnaire is
written by students. the return all
too low. and what is perhaps one oi
the weakest aspects is that the
insertion of student comments are
at the whim oi the editor, and the
comments are in many cases
reprehensible. \wiat iollows arc a
iew oi the more choice ones: “The
discussions tended to be
meaningless , . His lectures are
impossibly boring, so all
motivation must comc Irom the
readings which are impossibly
intellectual . This next one,
though, is my “tavoi‘itc:" “To
improve the course i would get
another prof: to improve the

 

boot @0on

professor, i would recommend
surgery." Really, just what kind oi
crap is this? Surely there are more
rational, accurate and humane
ways to evaluate a course and-or a
professor. If the Grapevine is not
respected, it can have no real
function, and it will not be
respected until it is produccd in a
more protessional manner

What is the solution? The editor
of the (impeiiiicoiiers one that is
worth pursuing It is to [arm an ad
hoc Committee with student,
iaculty and administrative pai»
ticipation to design a question
nature. with (I assume) some tore
Inalized nlcans of collection and
tabulation. He goes on to note that
this idea, while effective. is
unlikely, and he thus otters the
(il'npc\im‘ as a partial answer “It
is betterr" says he. “to cry ‘nolf’
and perhaps to be heard than not to
cry at all.” A point well taken, but
unfortunately not heeded By
producing a iirhpci-iiio with as
much to criticize in it as this one, a
backlash is created. One of the
most prominent problems in
producing an eiiective evaluation
is the reluctance on the part or the
iaculty For a variety oi reasons.
they do not want to have semester
evaluations Given the present
state of afiairs, there is no reason
to believe that that attitude will
change: indeed. the present state
of aliairs perpetuates their

View from the ivory tower

by Lil Sexton

The iirst door warming party of
the season was held at the room oi
Mr. Greg Ahmann atter Mr. Ah-
mann had spent the past month
tasteiully reiinishing his front
door, Guests included Ms. K
Montgomery, distinguished SGA
President. After the ribbon cutting
ceremony, which was highlighted
by a terse but clever speech by ltir.
Abmann, guests thrilled to an
incendiary display and light
reireshmcnts, The door itseli,
reputed to be the eighth wonder oi
the world, was denuded of peeling
paint, and aesthetically spread
with light varnish. One guest said
as he leit, “Tastefully executed
affair, Mr Ahmann."

The Split intinitive Society
recently passed the iollowing
motion' ”The split intinitives ‘To
almost be’ and 'to adequately
discuss’ shall henceiortn be ace

ground Comptlo

ceptable phrascology in all term
papers and extremely short
essays,"

The Colloquium Griddleburiuln
will present Dr. Fred Dull oi Dull
and Associates in a series oi
meetings to be held in the dorm
lounges on the topic of “Moods and
mottosin our changing world._"Dr.
Dull will entertain suggestions as
to the relative merits of two
possible collegiate sweatshirt
slogans: “Collegium Cornfieldius
Grinnellius~1846,” or ”Colleglum
Syrupium Middleburium~l$00ﬂ

Also, it is hoped that he will, at
least, receive student input on the
contenders tor the motto of the
year contest: ”Scientia 9t
Syrupium," and “Varicose et
Humiditas."

The ioiirth tray oi the seasonwas
dropped last week at Quad dining
ball by Mr Bean Dudson. The tray

 

reluctance.

From a student point oi view, the
need for either better academic
advising or a bctter cvaluation
remains There is no panacea
waiting around the corner, there is
no insurance that enough people
are willing to work hard enough to
reach any sort oi solution But
whatever it is. it ought to be
governed by a sense of
reasonableness and respect ior
every individual concerned it is
ludicrous tor the student body to
expect to be treated with respect
unless it both commands respect
and respects others.

Towards a Solution, then. an ad
hoc committee ought to he iormcd
to explore these and other
possibilities If the faculty is not
willing to have a semester»
evaluation. are they willing to
improve the quality of the
academic advising? Students have
a right to guidance in their college
career, but it remains to be seen
how that is to be obtained This ad
hoc committee could explore the
question and maybe even come up
with some answers, In any case, it
would be a step in the right
direction. If this is an untenable
idea, then students have a right to
know why. Whatever happens,
though, let us do something. lest we
become too mired in our own
rhetoric.

includcd runny spaghetti.
prehistoric bread. sickly green
peas,and lemon pudding with little
gray lumps in it, Much to the
consternation of Mr, Dlidson. the
tray dropping was well received by
the other diners who warmly ape
plaudcd and chuckled quietly,
When pressed tor comment about
iuture tray droppings. Mr oiidson
said he had none scheduled at the
present time.

A high ranking official in the
registrar's oitice gave a dramatic
reading oi the stirring graduation
epic, “Twas the Night Before
Graduation” Wednesday night in
Grinnell House She was ac-
companied by an interpretive
dance group and three nutists. in
spite oi advance notice through
campus mail, the performance
was poorly attended

linked to CIA?

To the Editor: issues such as an
administrative reorganization and
a redeiinition or college direction
have tended to lessen interest in a
possible CIA liason with Grinnell.
it seems, as well, this joyful
community has iailcd to recognize
the increasing amounts oi animal
waste about campus.
Fortunately. at least when iirst
‘r *ewed, the Pet Board is atop this
matter But a second consideration
might disclose that the Board is
using this as an obiuscatory issue,
Penny Bevis, a concerned alumna,
wrote of those sccretely involved
*wuh the CIA tending to work “for
propaganda purposes.”
it is now the time to take a
carciul stand. What is it that the
Pet Board is actually attempting to
clean up7ii’aul Migliorato.
tEd. note: Mr. Migliorato was
recently honored as one oi the
three “employees at the month" by
Food Service Director. David
McConnellit

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