‘ this“ [D‘oPPEhTEFIFECT

by Jack Dbppelt

The Nixon administration, via the
Pentagon, has decided that it is
about time to repay some of its
political debts remaining from the
1972 campaign.

Consistent with conservative fiscal
policy. the administration believes
that no debts, especially election
debts, should accumulate too long,

The great thing about politics is
that not only can the Victor wallow
in his spoils, but he can spoil any»
one who tried to pull the plug.

This time the administration has
decided to cut back or shut down
274 military installations through»
out the country. That should make
liberals jump for joy.

But, the administration pulled out
the trampoline in the process. It
seems that many of the key cut-
backs are curiously pinpointed to
hit the areas where McGovern and
his “cut the military budge ” allies
did particularly well.

This puts the liberal contingent
in a rather awkward position. Af»
ter campaigning for military cut-
backs, it makes it tough for a con»
gressman to complain when the re»
ductions come calling on his dis»
trict.

But, in effect, the cutbacks elimi-
nate many military and civilian yobs
and put pressure on the congress-

llltlIllllllllllllllliltlllllllllllll

tn-

‘tésson In Base-Stealing :

men and senators in the next elec-
tion.

Let's see how the game works:
McGovern wins Massachusettes by
55% of the vote, the only traitor»
ous state, Five months later, the
administration announces that the
Boston Navy Yard, the Westover
and Otis Air Force Bases, Hans-
com Field and the Chelsea Naval
Hospital, all in Massachusetts, are
being closed. The state will lose
over 20,000 jobs and all the income
consequential to it, which does not
help its unemployment rate which
is iourth highest in the nation.
Rhode island voters made the un—
forgiveable mistake of only giving
Nixon a 53% plurality and electing
clairborne Pell over former Navy
Secretary John Chafee to the Sen—
ate. For that Rhode Island, who
never hurt anybody, gets penali-
zed ‘12,000 jobs, the loss of the
Newport Naval Base, and some gr.

eat drum and bugle music.

The military hardware and jobs
will be transferred to Norfolk, Vir»
ginia and Mayport, Florida, where
they won’t be exposed to antimili»
tary propaganda. The South can use
some more military personnel for
intramural activities.

It is comforting to know that the
Nixon administration is responsive
to critics who advise that the mili-
tary budget be trimmed. There are
all kinds of ways to do it. After
all, there are 2,330 American mili»
tary installations throughout the
world.

So why not make the cuts where
they will also repay the people who
suggested the cuts in the iirst place.

Lord Nixon giveth, Lord Nixon
taketh away.

Remember that all entries in the
Punch Line contest must be in Box
77 by Sunday midnight if you ever
want to see your sister again.

Green: A Reply To Mr. Green

To the Editors:

In reply to Mr. Green’s letter of
last week, I think that the only
thing he proved by writing it was
that he not only did not understand
what Ms. Brown was reiering to in
her letter, but is laboring undera
misunderstanding of the concept oi
equality, resulting from a iaulty
chain oi logic.

By saying that “no more shall I
oppress my fellow (though comple»
tely different)..." he is implying

Mclaughlin: Empathy And Help

To the Editors:

I’d like to preface my remarks
by saying that lwas disappointed
in J. C. Wood’s letter last week,
I wish he hadn’t been so undis-
criminating in his accusations.

I guess I’ve had a iair amount
of blacks in my 22 years, maybe
more than most whites, having lived
in Africa. One ofthe happiest peo»
ple I’ve known was a black girl
who inspired me to completely ch-
ange my attitude toward life and
people, (a process lmight add wh-
ion has required the last eight years
of my life). The first guy Ikissed
as a silly kid of six was black.
The first man I ever loved was
black. In derense of these people,
before they are branded as sell-
outs and traitors, I would like to
say in all objectivity that they are
very fine people, as people in their
own right.

I have also been in communities
where l was a white minority, hated
not only for my nationality, but also
for my color. I've been spit on,
insulted, pelted with rocks, hit. and
pushed around. I’ve been robbed by
a black man to whom i gave shel—
ter at a time when I had little more
money than what he took from me.

And you say to me: “So what,
who cares".

And i say to you. “My sentiments
exactly....So what....Too bad,"

The fact remains that my exper-
ience lies outside the realm of yo-
urs, both in degree and in kind.
But I can appreciate to a Small
degree the way it feels. I would be
the first to say that America does
not live up to its ideals, or its
pretensions. To comment on the na-
ture of the black experience is not
necessary. And I agree that whites
have no business meddling in your
affairs; 1 have no question about

lang: ROIC ?

To the Editors:

I would like to inject a moderate»
ly rational comment into the con»
troversy surrounding Grinnell’s
ROTC (Racists On The Campus).
Some students may remember rece-
iving, beiore the year started, a col-
lege statement about Grinnell’s
”multi»racial community”. Does
the College intend to stick to this
ideal, or will it encourage the dev-
elopment of separatism and racial
segmentation of the student body?

Eric Lang

your ability to solve your bwnprob»
Iems. But some day the whites on
this campus will be in positions
where they can be of some help.
These are not the people upon whom
you should take out your frustra»
tions.

For four years I have been told
repeatedly that I am a racist and
that I must pay for my guilt. But
my ancestors have no blood unthcir
hands - I am not a racist, nor am
I guilty, and I will not be intimi—
dated into thinking the contrary,
I resent not being accorded the same
respect and dignity that you demand
I pay to you. And 1 suspect there
are others of my race on this cam—
pus who feel much the same way
Ido.

Kathy McLaughlin

that he believes that there is no
difference at all between Whites
and blacks, The argument lrefer»
red to above is that whites and bl»
acks are and should be equal, so
they are intrinsically the same.
Not so.

Blacks are completely different
from whites both in environmentand
in heritage, both in this country and
also in the countries of their an-
cestors. But the argument I cited
above is a throwback to an earlier
argument that I am sure everybody
is familiar with; i.e., if you are
different, you are somehow unequal.
I don’t believe that anyone on this
campus subscribes to this belief,
but its converse, that if you are
equal, you are the same, is qu
ually false and misleading.

It seems to me that there can be
no purpose served by Mr. Green’s
letter at all. In fact, I think all
it did was to take away some of the
dignity oi the exchange over the
housing question, and Ms. Brown’s
letter on the same question,

Black Unity is important to the
sanity, well-being, and awareness
of their culture, heritage, and their
common bonds with the oppressed
masses. I only hope it works, and
that the recent controversy over
the Black Cluster system doesn’t
destroy it or its usefulness as a
means for Black Unity.

Bruce Green

James: Channel The Oratory

To the Editors:

A variety ofletters concerning race
relations from both black and white
Grinncllians have flooded the 5&5 in
recent weeks, The fact that a prob-
Iem exists here is unmistakable,
nevertheless week after week one
narrow Viewpoint after another is
expressed. Everybody seems to be
concerned enough to “talk” about
it, but as iar as i can tell, iew
people are willing to listen, conse-
quently nothing constructive has ev»
er been attempted. Should not we
at least try to channel all the ora-
tory into an active interchange oi
ieelings? Whose purpose will it
serve if blacks and whites continue
to become increasingly offended and
intolerant of each other?

Let’s face it, Grinnell is a re-
lative paradise compared to the
”real world” around us. If we
cannot establish it true community
here, not one of us, nor anyone oi
our generations, will be able to hr-
ing any respectability or fellow-
ship to the world in the future, I

am not advocating any sort of as- ,

similation or destruction of group
unity, nor am I calling for giving
anyone an undue or ovcrsizcd por-
tion of privileges I merely would
like to see Grinnell people begin to
help bring our community back Into
equahimity.

Let us gather together someplace,
not to discuss narrow issues or per»
sonal problems, but to learn from
each other that an individual, he he
black, white, or skyblue»poink, is not
automatically a bigot or out to get

all he can. Why can’t we talk about
our different cultural experiences
with the ultimate goal cibeingbetter
able to understand another human
being? I am willing to be taught,
but only if others are willing to lis-
ten too. We all can learn a great
deal from each other. Perhaps It is
essential that a minority cluster to—
gether, but let’s at least work to»
Ward 3 basic empathetic intellectual
understanding.

Obviously there is more to racial
diiierences then just skin pigmentav
tion. But we will never know unless
we are all willing to sit down toget—
her as equals and discuss it. There»
fore, I would like to initiateamulti-
racial discussion group. Hopeiully,
the group would serve everyone’s
best interest rather than any indiv~
idual‘s or any groups private inter—
est.

Anyone who feels that a dialogue
oi this sort would help enlighten
and ease campus tensions, please
Contact me. This is surely not the
cure-all, and it might not even get
off the ground, but ltseemsto me, we
all have a responsibility to try.
What sort of place do we want Grin»
hell to be, one in which every group
keeps to itself never sharing or lear—
ning irom others, or one in which
we all try to respond to and respect
people with different attitudes and
problems? What a sad commentary
on Grillnell it would be if no one
moved an inch to better understand
his neighbor!

Henry G. James

on: sitar-lib

photo or Nob Tow

The Manhattan Quartet performed in the South Lounge last weekend
with guest clarinetfst James Luke of the Drake University music faculty.

-—
A Column 0f

by Jim Alt

Have you heard about the newgame
seniors are playing? It is called
“talk your way out of finals”. It is
played by the rule in the Handbook
that seniors may be excused from
finals at the instructor’sdiscretion.

Asking a prof to be let out of his
final is a delicate chore. Heis likely
to feel that you are not sufficiently
dedicated to the ideal of scholar-
ship. As tar as you are concerned,
taking one‘ final more or less does
not make much difference to your
college career; you have survived
seven semesters of finals already,
and chances are good that you could
get through an eighth.

There are just so many other things
you would rather be doing during
what is called, a bit dramatically,
“your last days at Grinnell” a
little like the last days of Pompeii.
There are a lot of friends who will
not be seeing each other very often
in the iuture. ,

Anyway, if you are a prof and want
to prove that you are a human being
as Well, you might think aboutletting
seniors out of finals. Besides, do you
really want to READ all those ex-
ams?

. a e x

The price of coffee at the Forum
has been raised from It): to leg.
1 know food prices are doing bad
things, but [question whether Forum
coffee is worth 109 a cup, let alone
me.

I also wonder whether the extra
effort needed to count out all those
pennies in change doesn't offset
the extra revenue on coffee. The

’price increase is probably bene»
ficial for the college community,
though; since it forces us to drink
less of the stuff.

A! x ‘.

A bill aimed at protecting us.
congressman from obnoxious con-
stituents has been introduced in the

House It reads in ar
Ultimate Horrible

Serendipity

“It shall be unlawful,..to approach
a Member of Congress with the th-'
ought, idea, or intention ofperform»
ing said acts, including...shouting
at a distance of less than fifty feet,
likewise singing or humming at a
distance of less than ten feet, or the
expulsion of breath upon said mem-
ber whether for the purpose oi
pro raying, communicating, or dra»
matizing ethical, Spiritual, moral,
or political principles, theories, or
beliefs, or any other purpose.”

The bill is currently stuck in a
subcommittee, so don't hold your
breath ,. yet.

a a 3

Now that it is spring i cannot de»
cide whether this place looks more
like a summer camp or a refugee
for abandoned pets, It must be a
coincidence, but have you noticied
that the dogiights on central cam-
pus did not start until AFTERwe got
a pet committee and student dog-

catcher7
a a x

i am really disappointed that those ,
four big nil tanks have been sitting
by Loose for weeks now, and no-
body has adorned them with some
spray-paint artistry. Even the '
at my high school showed'more i
tiative and creativity than Grinne -
ians.

They were not too bright, though.
The smartest kid in my class was
picked up by the police for spray—
painting some oil tanks near our
school. He never would have been
caught, except that he intltialed all;,
his work. 7

i i a .

Have any other peanut butter [realr
ks notiCled the weird variety of con-
sistencies found in SAGA peanut
butter this year? It is probably
uniair to suggest that SAGA might
ever water it; but I was brought
up to believe that peanut butter
should be spread, not poured.

EPC Hears Reports

by ScottWeil
The Sub—Committee on Educational

Policy met yesterday to consider

new course proposals and to hear concluding reports from the three
iaculty divisional representatives on the new guidelines ior independent
study along with a concluding report from Dean Hamilton on procedures
for administrative implementation of the new guidelines.

A sometimes-lively discussion arose during the report from Dean Ham-
ilton, The debate centered around the value of “a second reader” from
the faculty to assist in the evaluation of independent study. Student and
iaculty supporters oi the second reader provision felt that in most cases
the second faculty participant offered a Valuable perspective for construc—

tive criticism.

Those faculty and administrators who were in favor of striking that pro»
Vision stated that while the idea behind the requirement was sound, in fact
many independent projects did not have a second reader.

The issue was finally resolved when Mr, Kintner proposed to allow for

flexibility by merely stating that the
for project completion.

second reader shall not he required

A related discussion was then initiated around the question of written
evaluations of the independent study work done by the student. Some mem—
bers of the Sub»Committee believed that these evaluations would be ex—
tremely valuable in augmenting the meaning of the letter grade ior these
projects and hence should be included on the student’s transcript.

Mr. Guroff made the proper motion to recommend to the Dean of the Col-
lege and the Registrar that these evaluations be attached to the transcript.

Some members of the Sub-Committee were sceptical of the effectiveness
of such a policy, It was reported that some faculty members have not yet
submitted written evaluations for the first set of Freshman tutorials which
occurred two years ago. There was an expressed [ear that due to time con-
straints the some derelictlon of duty would occur in this policy.

in my opinion, this argument is fallacious This isa case of guidelines
being established for a specific function and thenbeing disregarded, causing

ineffectiveness.

instead of enforcing the guidelines, the administration

proposes stricter ones. The majority of the Sub-Committee concurred
and the ”Guru“ amendment" was passed.

 

