Walker’s Move: Check Or Checkmate?

by Jim Alt

If you think that this column has
become repetitious and boring, you
feel that way for a good reason,

It has.

This is painful to admit, suggest»
ing as it does that I am a repe-
titious and boring person. But i
wager that i read this crap more
closely than anyone else; and I,
for one, am tired of it.

If it can be saved at all, the col—
umn could probably benefit the most
from a dose of controversy. ! do
not want to make the “Top Ten
Asshole List” in the Forum john
(although it might be tun to give
Mr. Daffner some compet on), but
I hate to put people to sleep.

This week, fortunately, provided
the necessary controversy. lrefer
to Dean Walker‘s January 25 memo
and to Subsequent events.

Walker eitherdid everything exact»
1y wrong or he did it exactly right,
depending on his intentions. If the
January 25 memo is Walker's way
of hitting us over the head to get
our attention, it was effective. I
would not readily discard this in—
terpretation.

The other possibility is that Wale
ker did not foresee the kneeq‘erk
reaction which his memo prompted.
In that case, he is open to the char»
ge of being “out of touch", which
tor a Dean is synonomous with “stu-
pid." I do not believe that Walker
is stupid.

At least he had the sense to get
out the four»page explanation and to
schedule a gripe session in South
Lounge. Those cleared up most
questions of fact.

it is generally agreed that, be
cause of the precipitous increase
in independents, some framework
for controlling them is needed. Fur
thermore, it is not evident thatany»
body has suffered as a result of
walkers action, which is still re-
viewable by the Executive Council's
subcommittee for Educational Pole
icies.

The real gripes revolve around
the fact that Walker, ‘within his aut-
hority, made the decision right now
rather than waiting for a committee
to make it months from now. Walker
is currently in a position rarely

seen at Grinnell in recent years.

He, rather than a group of persons,
can be held responsible for a de~
cision.

Now, I suspect that nobody would
set himself up as a lightning rod
for criticism unless he thought that
some good might come of it. I
also suspect that Walker has a few
more ideas about policy, and l ser-
iously doubt that he will be retic-
ent in advancing them.

Despite our nearly universal dis-
trust of active administrators, it
must be admitted that running the

$ at 38
letters

(from page 4)

Jacobs: Army
Demands Ability

To the Editors:

I would just. like to comment on
the various negative reactions the
marine corps recruiter has elici-
ted. Firstly, the most obvious re
spouse is that each student should
be allowed the freedom to interview
with whomever he or she chooses.
Yet, there is a second, more imr
portant consideration that is gens
erally overlooked on liberal cam-
puses like Grinnell. This fact is
that there is a set number of off-
icer slots in each branch of the
service, that will be filled, no mat
ter what.

For each ROTC unit that was exe
polled from a liberal school, one was
added to a Southern type institution.
For every recruiter kept off our
campus, one goes to a much less
liberal school. We are about to have
an all volunteer armyuwhat type 01‘
officers would you like to see leads
mg it?

Robert R. Jacobs, R.A.

College by committee—»or rather. by
scores of committees—4s not very
satisfactory. If you have ever at-
tended a faculty or SGA meeting,
you know just howridiculous thepro-
cess can become,

In tact, I am not sure that having
a more responsible administration
is intrinsmally bad. At times I fear
that the College’s papereshuﬁlerSH
administrative, faculty, and student
divisionss—are on the verge of par-
alyzing Grinnell altogether. Power
and responsibility have been so
finely subdivided and delegated that
campus disputes often degenerate
into jurisdictional squabbles.

Such squabbles result, of course,
when nobody is sure who is responr
sible for what. That, I would say,
is a fair description of Grinnell the
last three and a half years.

In this regard, I find it instructive
that the question most trequently
asked about Walker’s action has
been, ”Can he do that?" It is clear
that we do not even know what the
Dean’s responsibilities and powers
are, let alone anybody else’s.

I suspect, though, that the Dean’s
official decision~making capacity
will prove to be broader than we ex—
pected on the basis of his preder
cessor's term. If this is correct,
Walker is likely to run into further
opposition as he attempts to effect
other changes.

Walker, of course, knowsthis. Wal»
ker may also be counted upon to
have his own definite thoughts on
upgrading Grinnell. i, for one, look
forward to seeing a tew proposals
which have not already been through
the bureaucracy’s idea-shredding
mill.

I would conclude with two thoughts.
First, I hope that Walker’s ideas
tend to improve the college, rather
than make matters worse. Both
the faculty and SGA have shown
a decided tendency to produce the
latter sort of idea. If Walker’s pro—
posals make any sense at all, we
should at least listen to them.

Secondly, I sincerely hope that
Walker does not make his own life
any more difficult than need be.
He can simpliiy matters greatly if

Rothenberg.0pen
Atmosphere lost

To the Editors:

Like many other people at Grin-
nell, when llirst began to consider
colleges, my main concern was the
educational outlook of the school.
Grinnell offered an “open” atmDSr
phere with a high regard ior stu»
dents’ views. Strong emphasis was
placed on independence and individ-
uality.

Academically Grinnell prided its
self on a high quality laculty and
“progressive" system of evaluae
tion, including pass-fail. The cure
riculum was even moreunique, con-
taining no requirements except the
Freshman Tutorial.

Since last year this school has re-
versed its course. The passvfail
system was felt to be unsuccessful
and was eliminated, much to the
distress of many students. At this
point the present system or A, H,
C, Erase was instituted. Essentially
the message this system implies
is that if a student cannot earn an
A, B, or C lie/she deserves not-
hing, This system places more em-
phasis on grades than the original
A through F structure. In addition,
the latest proposal is that drops
(which were unrecorded) be entered
upon student transcripts.

Another change is the curtailment
of independents. Although some
profs overrextended themselves by
accepting too many independent pros
was, the arbitrariness of this de-
cision is objectionable,

In many ways it seemsthat Grin-
nell is regressing academically. One
cause of this direction seems to be
the lack of input from the general
student body It took a long time
for students to gain a voice in the
processes concerning their educa-
tion. I hope it is not lost because
of apathy.

Michele Rothenberg

he realizes that members of the
college community do deserve afull
explanation of the administration’s
actions, along the lines of his four-
pager and South Lounge session ear-
lier this week.

Unless Walker so chooses, there is
no reason why he should undergo
any more criticism of the unin~
formed variety. That decision ishis,

And now that he has gotten our at
tention, perhaps Walker will let us
know what else he has in mind.
Remember, be neither caused nor
discovered the need to limit Inde-
pendents; he just did something
about it. That action was, in fact,
pretty weak; it penalized nobody
and is still reviewable.

The next move, Dean Walker, is
yours.

I am carefully performing a face-
lift as l prepare my thoughts for
a brief emition in End of an Ear
What I’m doing in a Californian
valley, I don’t know, but it's rains
ing and lowing outside, with Fail
to Winter having just arrived, so
things are a little cool with no
heat. The house where i am stay-
ing has a tin roof, which Could
make up for anything. Anyway, my
thoughts are buzzing as Iconsider
music as opposed to muzak, which
is my present frustration.

I tind music for the masses sadly
repulsive. i have been evaluating
it for some time and have decided
it isn’t simply a matter of taste.
There are too many rational ele-
ments against it to ever approach
that point. on a somewhat profes-
sional level, music is defined as
art and science, structurally com
plete and emotionally expressive.
i find this explanation, among otr
hers of varying extremes, the most
encompassing, and fair platform
for ridicule.

Music is a form of art. The con—
cepts of art (emotion, composition)
have been eliminated for a precone
ceived notion of what is marketable.
What is marketable becomes the
norm when it is all that is pushed.
Ultimately, saleable music is all that
is presented, and changes from art
to economics.

Music is an economic battle. The
composer is writing within the res-
trictions of a terribly hyped critical
eye. Form, pattern, subject, length,
and word usage are all treely pre-
determined, geared for the most
productive point in a selling volume
(one has to eat.)

Phase Two; once beyond the sure
tace, money grab, situation we get
into something a bit more complex,
or perhaps more defeating would be
a better description. There seems
to be a view problem. Everything
from rock to popular to back to
the country, blues, jazz are crock-
ed in one particular, significant sen-
se, They are all based on note pat
terns which to a great degree have
nothing to do with man's experience.
Basically I think this is due to
man’s inability to accept the
concept or chance. He has creat»
ed as set of rules which are sym-
metrical. Beginning, end, so many
notes and spaces on this side equal
to notes and spaces on the other
side. Though they may be differ-
ent, they are still equal in order
to relieve tension which could be
uncomfortable, though we’ve been
led to feel that tension in an un—
comfortable way.

The juxtaposition of breathing,
wind, and traffic and the endless
complexities of every sound pro
duced every second make a daze
zling spectrum of musical ideas,
if heard. These are our sounds
and logically relate much closer
to man than this strange world of
“music" which we have created.
perhaps through man's lack of im-
agination or the limitations of in-
struments or communication, or
our fear of the random, which we
feel is our enemy, Randomness
throws us into chaos; it has al-
ways been our enemy ever since
we invented nlimber lines to dir~
ect us.

We can never equal nature if we

(Elie starlet nno 93ml:

febroor 1, I973

\

photo by Ken thokur

The North - South Arts Duo drew a large crowd last Saturday with a com—
bined program of folk singing and puppetry in the South Lounge,

Music: Our Virgin

persist in this titally hard edge dir-
ection; can never understand its
loose, intertwining development in
constant cyclotrons, forming avast,
circular motion which surrounds us.
Instead, we are encircling ourselves
with giant, unmoving structures and
systems which eventually will give
us no more movement that a bolt
screwing in and out.

Of course, on the other hand,
we have people cutting each otr
her's throats in an ever increas
ing variety and number, and we
can indeed wonder whether man is
capable or doing anything signifir
cantly positive. And then, otcourse,
the death trip, what time is it?
(What time do you have?) and down,
down, down.

So fortunately we’re talking about
music, a comparably finite set. One
fifth of our landscape in terms 0!
senses, One could say, “Music is
all,” and I'd believe it. I say that
in the face or insanity every day

Willi ©©lWElLTi EFFECT

Best Column

by Jack Doppelt

That head should have induced most.
people with average curiosity to in-
vestigate what I mean by “Best
Column of the Year.”

What i am referring to is a cols
umn which appeared in the Chi-
cago Daily News on November 27,
It was written by Arthur Hoppe, a
syndicated columnist

l interpret my obligation to the
SliB and to Grinnell readers as
one in which I will fill this space
with something thoughteprovoking
and entertaining. I feel this par
ticular column fits those require
ments better than any I read last
year, and I doubt if many of you
have had the opportunity to read
it.

This is dedicated to those who
believe that only Donald Kaul or
Mike Royko can write in a hums
orously incisive style.

x x v
by Arthur Hoppe

The experts have now had a coup—
le of weeks to assess President Nis
xon’s landslide victory and predict
what lies ahead for us during the
coming four years.

Some things will be out, they pre-
dict, and some will be in,

To save you the time or wading
through all this political expertise
(which is out), I’ve compiled a
brief memo (which is in).

FIRST OF ALL, Mr. Nixon is in.
This means the work ethic is in
along with individual responsibility.
So bellies will be in while chins
and chests will be out. This is
called our basic domestic posture.

Also out will be poverty, the Eas-
tern Establishment (particularly
Massachusetts), intellectuals andall
blacks except Sammy Davis Jr.
Thoroughly out is permissiveness,
except when it comes to tax write-
offs

In, on the other hand, are the Mid-
dle West, the middle class andmid-
dle brows everywhere. Thus profes-
sional lootball is in, especially on
television, which is very in Unless
it's educational Tlleti it's Oul

OF ALL AMERICANS, the working

of my bro, but let’s be somewhat
base. I'd hate to develop this ditty
far enough to Sayv—music doesn't
exist--so let me say at this time
it would be appropriate if we did
some careful considering. Sit back
and listen. Enjoy the sounds of our
planet. They can be takehseriously,
and if understood, indeed the world
itself can be understood forthe first
time. You’re suddenly in it, instead
of rotating beside it, on a hard sell
plane. Out of the shit, go down and
listen to a refrigerator hum for
about three hours. New gods! New
worlds! and it’s only earth.

or The Your

man is the most in, but only it he
doesn’t go on strike. Then he's out.
Also in are his leaders like George
Meany and Jimmy Hoffa. In fact,
being in is what got Hoffa out.

The Democrats, of course, are
out. Except forJohn Connally,whois
in, and Lyndon Johnson, who is so
far out he's in. But this Shouldn’t
bother the Democrats because poli~
tics are out. Particularly, the new
politics.

In Washington, the Supreme Court’s
in and Congress is out, though it’s
doubtful anyone will notice.

All revolutionaries are out with
the exception of Mae Tse—tung,
Leonid Brezhnev and George Wash-
ington. That’s because international
affairs will be in, Although peace
is out, peace with honor is in and
permanent peace with honor is very
in. So Vietnam’s out. But Nguyen
Van Thieu is so far in we may
never get out.

HERE AT HOME, awhole newsly-
le will be in. In style will be horn-
rimmed glasses, short hair, Fortune
magazine, Oldsmobiles, ballpoint
pens, catsup, Lawrence Welk and
white bread only.

on the other hand, granny glasses,
beards, Rolling Stone, all toreign
cars, felt—tipped pens, rock music
and minirskirls (except on drum ma»
jorettes) will be out of style,

Also out will be style,

Youth, however, will be in. But
only if it acts its age. Thus drop»
ping out will be out while studying
relevant courses will be in. Their
relevance will be judged on howwell
they lead to a successful career
in something or other.

All sex is out except for porno-
graphic movies, which are so
crowded you can't get in. Andthougn
sex is out, iamilies are in, parti -
ulai-ly mothers But only if they‘re
wed,

WELL, THAT'S ENOUGH reading,
which is Out, If you want to know
how to have a runiilled, exciting
time during the coming {our years.
don't call me,

I'm out,

 

