The

Scarlet
8 Black

s6

Grinnell College
Grinnell, Iowa

4/11/75 vol. 83, no. 24

 

Schools Students Communications

Studies existence
continue lounges doubtful

fights

For what seemed a fleeting
moment Wednesday night, official
action in the Grinnell “book Con-
troversy” returned to the library
shelves, where it arose, as the
Grinnell Newburg School Board
approved the Reconsideration
Committee's recommendation to
keep Eldridge Cleaver's “Soul on
Ice” on the shelves.

The issue came to the fore in
February when Grinnell preacher
Ben See charged that four books in
the Grinnell high school library
were obscene and therefore
inappropriate for educational
purposes,

Just last Saturday, See’s appeal
to the superintendent of the
Marshall-Poweshiek Joint County
Board oi Education, concerning
three of the books, ended without a
decision.

The first Witness, See, reit-
teratcd his objections to “The
Godfather,” “Sumer of '42" and
“The Exorcist", saying the first
two were generally obscene and
vulgar and “Exorcist" could have
very adverse aiiects on the minds
of persons. Availability of the
books, according to See, is in
violation of Iowa Code Chapter 725,
governing obscene material.

See also charged that the
reconsideration committee was
biased and that the School Board
failed to listen to the voice of the
majority, ignoring a petition of 532
signees in opposition to the books.

Attorney for the GrinnellSchool
District, F, W. Tomasek, cross-
examined See about certain
Shakespeare works and Bible
passages which contain reiercnces
to sex or foursletter words. In
response, See maintained that
language in the Bible was ac-
ceptable because he did not con
sidcr anything in the inspired Word
of God to be obscene. He found the
Shakespeare passages oiiensive,
urging people to read quality
material.

Wednesday night, Junior High
Language Arts teacher Mike
Peterson announced his
resignation which was due in part
to the feeling that “authorities” in
the community were trying to tell
teachers how to do their job and
accusing some of being “immoral”
and “lazy.”

Peterson's resignation, however,
was more a manifestation of
issues which have heated board
meetings and aroused the town
since early fall; namely what to do
about the decadent condition of
the junior high school building.
Termed “obsolete” by Superin-
tendent Michael Slusher, it would
require $250,000 to bring it up to the
Fire Marshal’s recommendations,

But that lnoney does not exist in
the District’s operating budget so
Wednesday night the board
adopted a proposal calling tor a
School bond referendum Il asks
voters ior ll $250,00U lol' repairs to
bring the building up to acceptablc
standards or 2) $1.5 million to

renovate the entire building,
by Doug sclttttlz

empty

During spring vacation, maids
checked all dorm rooms ior fur-
nlture missing irom hall lounges.
Numerous items were found
missing, particularly chairs. North
Campus scored the largest number
of oitenses, while South Campus
recorded tewer items gone.

lithe furniture is not replaced by
next Wednesday, tines oi $10 per
item will be levied by the Student
Aliairs onice occupying the room
where the maids located the fur
niture, Fines collected will be
deposited to the General Physical
Plant Account.

The Student Aliairs otiice
compiled a list oi each missing
item, the room number oi its
present location, and the names oi
the room occupant or occupants
who will be responsible tor the line.
The physical plant employees are
instructed during vacations to
enter each room to check ior open
windows and running lights and
heat in addition to cleaning. Such a
search ior iurniture was completed
over Christmas vacation. Missing
items were reported by the Student
Affairs Office to the resident ad-
visers oi halls with missing fur—
niture who talked individually with
student offenders,

Malls Ranked by Total Number ot
itemthssins
chair. Sela Table Misc.
Bench
Vounkers l 7 1
Smith . t
cowles . . 2
Langan . j
Rawson . 3
Read 4
Gates
Loose
nibble
Haines
James
Mears
Cleveland
llaoEast
+Clark
+Norris
+Main . . .
+No items were listed as missing
trorn these hails
Miscellaneous items include lamps
and ash (ans

HALL

Damage to furniture and I ems

stolen irom campus are the main
concerns of Dean of Student Afr
fairs Jim Tederman. Furniture
receives greater wear in student
rooms, Tederman stated, than it
does in lounges. Items quite often
end up oftrcampus in student
apartments according to Teder-
man, leaving the halls’ lounges
underequipped because the
Physical Plant is no longer buying
furniture. Associate Dean of
Student Affairs Bob Jacobs voiced
another worry in the matter.
Students in halls are cheated out of
lounge furniture that is for their
use, he claimed, adding that peer
pressure would probably be the
only solution,

According to the section on
housekeeping regulations in the
student handbook, maids enter
rooms to clean when halls are
ofilcially closed, Students are also
prohibited irom moving college
iurntshings irom one room to
another, or lrom lounges,
recreation areas, or dining rooms.

Communications studies on the
Grinnell College campus are once
again headed for severe set-backs,
and perhaps, total discontinuation.
The llHated Communications
Department, which was dis-
established during the 1972-73
academic year, had been
restructed into a Communications
Studies Program;
there is still some instruction
available. but no longer can a
student major in this area, Now
this very small program, which
consists oi only two courses and a
few two- or fourscredit independent
options, is in danger or being ef-
iectively phased out oi the
college‘s otterings,

Problems have been touched off
by the fact that Mr. William
Deminoff, lecturer in com-
munications and director of
College Relations will no longer be
teaching communications. As
Deminoii is the only iaculty
member for the whole of the
Communications Studies program,
this leaves no one in the college
officially recognized to oversee
communications course activities.

Deminoff said thatyin order to
“be fair to students and to my
jobs” (he is also special assistant
to the President) he can no longer
take on faculty duties. But he is
concerned that there be a part
time faculty member to take his
place. The response to this
suggestion so tar has been, “no
money,”

Deminoft fired off a lengthy
report on the state ot, and his
expectations lor, media study, to
be reviewed by the my
terdisciplinary Committee on
Communications Studies (cons
sisting of Chairman Waldo Walker,
Deminoff, James Kissane and Don
Smith). As Deminoit explained,
“The original department was
distablished because it was losing
momentum. But there is no reason
a new eiiective program cannot be
built from this.”

The Board of Trustees has so far
been favorably disposed towards
the campus media programs. A
resolution released in the spring oi
1973 favored the continuation of an
interdisciplinary study program,
which would carry on the
traditions oi “graduating students
who have a great interest in or
superior attitude tor the practice oi
communications arts.” Whether
the Board of Trustees will decide
on renewing their taith in this
“long and honorable tradition" will
be discussed at the next trustees
meeting Saturday morning.

President Turner and Dean
Walker will recommend that the
communications study program be
eiiectively dropped. “This is
purely a pragmatic decision.
“Turner said, “If We had the
available lunds, a debate on
whether or not we should be giving
romnlunicatiolls courses would he
in order. But right now this is just a
practical dccision The program
has cvaporutcrl under our ringers l'

The administrative outlook is

bleak. As one otticial put it,
“resolutions not backed by money
are pious hopes.” There simply is
not the money tor a new faculty
member, or the communications
cause is just not high up enough on
the list of budgetary priorities.
Also, communications Studies are
considered by some not to be
academically viable ior liberal
arts study. To start up ‘the
department again is unthinkable,
to clean up and lully repair the
ailing program would be finanr
cially exhausting,

umunicati

imInunicatio:

Communications
Communications

Communications

President of the College A.
Richard Turner said that come
munciations studies are on
“ground zero,” and 'expressed
great concern that journalistic
studies cannot be approached as an
integral part of a basic liberal arts
education. “I am concerned that
we cannot do journalism that is not
Mickey Mouse," he said.

As an alternative to an official
communications studies program,
Turner suggested that there be
-“plusrtwo” options in such courses
as expository writing, which would
deal with the specific area of
media work, Turner would like to
see some rhetoric or speech
courses, which would do a great
deal to improve and develop media
writing and interviewing styles. He
also expressed concern that there
is no debate program, which could
benefit future writers in a similar
way.

or some similar course, Eysenbach
said, “That is a departmental staff
problem." But she went on to say
that a three year-two year B A:
MA. program with a reputable
journalism school, such as
Columbia University, is being
considered. Since Grinnell already
has a similar ”three-two” pmgram
for law, this would not be difficult
to institute. A student on this sort oi
program completes a master’s
degree at the participating
graduate school.

There are a great deal oi
problems which will come to light
if and when communications
studies collapse at Grinnell. No
students working on internships
with local media will earn college ,
credits, as there will be no faculty
adviser for evaluation. In-
ternships, positions which require
active work experience in the daily
operation oi local newspaper,
magazines and wire services, have
had a long standing position in
Grinnell’s history. Intern work
aiiords the only type oi exposure to
journalistic “workstudy” at
Grinnell. These intern jobs are
more acessible than similar
positions at large schools, and thus
ciier a boost tor the aspiring
journalist.

if there are no longer any
communications course offered at
Grinnell, the local chapters of the
Society of Professional Journalists
[Sigma Delta Chi) and Women in
Communications, Inc. will lose
ltheir charters, because the
national organizations' rules
require the existence of com-
munications course work at pare
ticipating schools. These groups
are two or the most active pre-
proiessional groups on campus;
they annually sponsor the Come
munications Conference in April
and invite interested people to
monthly dinners, discussions and
lectures all year long.

J——.———_‘\
“If we had the available funds, a debate on
whether or not we should be giving communi

cations would be in order. 'But . . . the program

has evaporated under our ﬁngers.”

— .4. Richard Turner —
L—_————r

Mary Eysenbach, dean of
curriculum. also seems to ieel that
there is little the college can do to
save media study. “Liberal arts
students can be trained to write
with teeling, sense and perception
(with a general liberal arts course
oi study)" she said, “which is
excellentprcparationior writing
career,” Speciiic media studies
are “a separable process oi the
trade schools.” she stressed. She
went’on to point out that Grinnell
cannot lake the place or a technical
school.

When questioned about the
teas ility of the journalism “plus
two" spinsoll oi expository writing,

It is not known whether the
Trustees will lay the matter to rest,
or simply discuss it at the up
coming meeting, but it is pretty
certain that they will have to make
a major reconsideration of their
resolution oi two years ago.

Turner concluded, “We’ll still
try to hold Communication Con»
ferences as in the past, and put
some sort oi pre-proiessional
statcmcnt in thc catalog in order to
bring enough interested pcoplc to
campus, but as tar as course uprk
goes, there is very little we can
do."

by Lynn. \inrtlist—h

 

