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4/28/78
Grinnell College

Grinnell, Iowa
Vol. 86 No 25

The, Grinnell

Scarlet & Black
Davis: black struggle

 

faces revived racism

by I'r't-rla (‘lelnnd

visiting lecturer Angela Davis,
the featured speaker of Black
Martyrs Weekend, said last
Saturday night that although the
black liberation struggle Is ”still
very much 2 ’ve." new trends in
i'acrsm are making the tight for
justice increasingly difficult tor
Ame 'can blacks

Davis. “ho drew from many
sources in her one and a half hour
evaluation of the Current racial
situation. declared that “raid in is
more alive than ever
that “we are often Ctir’rrs of an
effort to persuade us that the black
struggle is dead,

The lecture. given in Darby Gym
before a Crowd of about 800, ex-
plored several recent incidents oi
institutionalized racism. Davis
concentrated on the imprisonment
oi Wilmington Ten leader Ben
Chavis, the reverse discrimination
suit brought belore the Supreme
Court by Alan Bakke, the allegedly
misleading and overly optimistic

4!»

Angela Davis

televi on adaptation oi the book
itoots. incorrect theories and
statistics on black sexuality and
rape. and the "miseducation"
fostered in public schools as
examples oi “the new torm that
racism has assumed."

Davis said that rcpeutedeiiorts
to subjitgate blacks are proof that
”the while establishment" fears
their strength. "i want to knon
why it is that they are determined
to keep iChavist in prison if the
black liberation struggle is dead,"
she said. Bakke's claims. ac-
cording to Davis.'arc “an attack
upon people at color. , . instead (he
Should) Join hands with us” in
demanding more medical Schools.
She said that the impact of itoots
on its viewer‘s was “devastating,"
but that its conclusion prompted ”a
mass catharsis" because it
“created the impression that
racism was overcome.”

Such indirect methods of putting
down blacks are making it in
creasingly difficult for them to
reach their goals. according to
Davis.

“Economically, we are worse off
than we have been in a long, long
time. It looks like we are further
from freedom in 1978 than vie were
in 1968," she said

Davis added that President
Carter, by referring to racial in
justice as a thing oi the past, is
perpetuating ”a new iorm oi
racism that consists precisely in
claiming that racism no longer
exists."

The speech ended with a call for

campus organization and activism

and included an invitation to
establish a Communist Party
chapter in Grinnell.

“Don‘t get disillusioned. The
Important thing is to organize~you
need the organization in order to
have the movement. We have to
say. . . ‘we will no longer accept
this assault on our humanity and
our dignity and our lives,’ ”

These befuddled sophomores appear to be ready to storm the barricades in th r eagerness to draw

rooms at last Sunday's rooin draw.

lPhoto by Chris Lower.)

Nmeteen left Without rooms
1n Sunday’s room draw

by Renae ttersc

Ignore all rumors about raising
canvas communities on Mac Field
or turning Cowlcs parking lot into a
trailer court to house leftover
students,

Also pay no attention to stories
that the college is in the process of
annexing the Park Hotel or renting
the iloors above the Dew Drop inn.
The 19 students who were left
Without rooms at the end of room
draw last Sunday will soon be
given housing for next year,
probably by the beginning oi next
week.

Susan Green Crim, associate
dean of Student Affairs, assured
that “there are enough rooms on
campus.” Although the number of
rooms designated for next year‘s
upperclassmen and the number oi
upperelassmen desiring rooms did
not coincide. those who were not

allowed to draw into rooms will be
accommodated. “This situation
Could easily happen." said Green
Crim. “People tend to overreact:
no drastic measures are
necessary."

ENROLLMENT projections for
next year and the amount at
students participating in number
draw are the two criteria used to
determine how many rooms are
designated ior upperclassmen.
“There is no way to anticipate the
actual number of rooms needed
until room draw," stated Green
Crim. This year, unlike previous
years, all those participating in
number draw went through room
draw.

Also. this year a large number of
students, especially next year's
sophomores, drew into doubles
alone, under the Stipulation that a
freshman or transfer student

would be placed with them,
’N‘entyrtwo students chose such an
option this year instead of the usual
5 or 6. explained Green Crim. Thus
44 available spaces were ”ef~
fectively removed” by only 22
students, she said.

AFTER IT became apparent
that the rooms were in short
supply, those who had roommates
were allowed to draw into rooms
already blocked for freshmen. The
19 remaining students will be
placed in doubles with freshmen or
transfer roommates. They Wlll
draw, in the order determined by
their original room draw numbers,
from 19 rooms selected by Green
Crim. They also have the option of
doubling up with others or the
displaced 19.

In the interests of fairness,
Green Crim is trying to come up

tcontinned on pages)

Faculty evaluates students, administration in survey

by Bob Mitchell

The Grinnell College faculty is almost
evenly divrded on whether they favor
required courses, unhappy with the per-
formance of President A. Richard Turner,
and relatively satisfied with the college's
commitment to affirmative action, ac,
cording to the resulB of a recent 8&3
survey.

The survey questionnaire was
distributed to 104 members of the faculty
above the position of lecturer who are not
on leave. Response rate was 71 per cent.

Questions in the survey were conceived
by the 5&3 staff. The survey was con
structed with the help of Walt Stone,
assistant professor of political science.

The sample’s demographic charac-
teristics adhere closely to those of the
faculty at large. In fact, the largest
deviation from the demographic iigures
for age, possession of tenure and sex oi the
faculty is only 2.6 per cent.

THE questionnaire was divided into four
categories. The first category asked for
biographical information: the age and sex
of the respondent, and whether he or she
had tenure.

In- the next category, student and
curricular evaluation,'faculty members

 

were asked to evaluate the level of Student
academic and extra-curricular interest as
well as the communicating abilities of the
students,

ANOTHER series of questions in this
section dealt with the faculty’s level of
satisfaction with their department’s
curriculum, the college curriculum,
whether they favored having required
courses, and, if so, in what subject areas.

The third section of the survey asked
faculty members to evaluate the per
formances of President Turner and Dean
of the College Waldo Walker, The final
section asked for an evaluation of the
college's commitment to affirmative
action:

WITH ONE exception. all the questions
were structured so that the respondent had
to choose one alternative. Some questions
required simple yes or no responses. On
other questions, faculty members were
given a range of alternative answers to
choose from. Still other questions required
answers on a onestofive scale, with one
representing the most positive response
and five the most negative. On several
questions faculty members were asked to
elaborate brieﬂy on their answers.

 

Students and Curriculum

In the section dealing with student and
curricular evaluation it was found that a
very slight majority of the faculty believes

required courses should be rte-instituted“

'inere is a widespread belief that the
ability of students to write and com-,
municate orally in class has declined,
Faculty membeis also tend to be slightly
more satisfied with the curriculum in their
own departments than in the college at
large. Finally, while there is a general
belief among faculty members that
student interest in academics is rising,
there is general uncertainty about the
willingness of students to get involved in
extracurricular activities.

THE SURVEY found that 34 faculty
members, or 45.9 per cent of the sample,
favor re-instituting a curriculum with
required courses, while 32 or 43.2 per cent
do not. Ten-point-eight per cent did not
answer this question. ,

Those who said they favor required
courses were asked to choose from five
broad subject areas in which they would
like to see courses required for all
students, These categories were foreign
language, English, natural,science,

mathematics, and history. In addition,
faculty membeis were given the option to
indicate if they saw a need for required
courses in other areas by answering in the
“other" category and specifying which
courses they feel should be required.

Thirteen profs responded to this question
by circling all five subject areas, thus
indicating that they desire required
courses in all the aforementioned
categories. Of the subjects themselves. the
foreign language requirement was
selected 25 times. English was selected 24
times, natural science 22. mathematics 20.
and history 16. The “other” category was
also selected 16 times. In unis latter
category. fine arts, humanities, and
physical education were each mentioned
several times.

THE SURVEY also found that 39
respondents, or 52.7 per cent, believe that
there has been a decline in the ability of
students to write and communicate orally
in Class, Only 19 faculty members, or 25.7
per cent, do not perceive a decline. The
rest of the sample did not respond.

Among those who perceived a decline in
communicating skills; 58.9 per cent say

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