Page Six

@til resin

Phil Brown, a Gi'iililell student. is Spendill
his junior year zlblxililtl at the Albert Schweit ,er
College in Clluriialtleli (GR) Switzerland. This
article is the ii iii a two part series.

Tile ‘ti'avol-year’ which is relatively com—
mon among European students seems to be ba—
sically a sound idea, ‘lor everyone needs at some
time in his life to be able to have a sizeable
period away from his al influences alid pi
sures ' much in ' ile in the Western
\Voild. ion System notches
the idea up in a characteristic fashion by or-

' alid grouping aiid or nting students
into d Ferent . . . a‘bi' id pi'og ims wllicll l'ea-
time limited 1 eedom and guaranteed credit as
the main attractions. Limited freedom an
attraction in the sense that it is oi‘t‘e 'ed in
the guise of getting to know a foreign cultiiie
in secure surroundings and under tile proper cli-
J'ection. _

This kind of a criticism of the trad' onal
X-College year abr 'id pro im is unfair be-
cause of its overly inclusive phrasing. There a 'e
indeed many individuals who benefit as iiidiiid-
uals from their experiences abroad under such
a program, biit in most cases this is not: the
programs fault. Probably the best tliilig which
can be said about such programs is that they
offer the opportunity, intentional or not, for
individual awakening. it is my contention that
for most; college and univel ity students this
£\\H|l\'enlng, psychological aiid intellectual comes
at a time when it is easilv supprse ed by the
social conditions inherent iii his iirioiindings
ie. the culture of ‘American Oil" .ation‘ and

enerts on ten

SCARLET AND BLACK

more particularly the atmosphere of collegiate
life.

There are two obvious ways ill which this
collegiate atmosphere hinders the outbreak and
development ol’ the personal iiwiil ning which
is all-minortant in developing iudiiidiials who
are capable oi" acting for themselves and of pen,
etl'ating' the potent iiivtli of or ill .atioiial col—
lectivitv in an egalitarian socict (lt " impor—
tant to remember that throughout history it
has been the e men who have been respolsible
[or the binding. the ascension ol' culture and
soCiety.)

First/mast colleges or more correctly ‘iii-
stitutions of highei learning” embrace a social
conditioning ml which functions as a real
model oi the '0 al community of our Cllltlli‘ci
except that it is taken out of cont \ The mini,
nor in which the college cominuniti is a model
out of context becomes clear in the [min of the
crisis the individual faces in the college eli-
vironmont. He is allowed to realize the i‘act that
many of the social more and ideals which he
feels he must ight against do not derive their
source 01‘ authenticity l'l'om any distinct exter-
nal authority, but rather l'rom himself as a
psychologically and sociologically conditioned
man; lo. the notion of authority becomes emas-
culated along with the self. Thus far there has
been a real awakening, and this undoubtedly
does occur consciously or ilnconsmously in
many college students and in last all young peo—

ple of certain educational alid social back—

Friday, April l2, [963

er ties:

grounds \i'llen mooserl to ceitain situational l’ac-
tors

Then the community oi the college is plus
ont, icady to tliil” the individual back into iin-.
toltuicd, llllClltltzll iiavs ot thinking and liiiiig‘,
oifelling a socially lnctilied v to security
on campus and substituting adii tinent iol iii-
iior [\I1)l)lll(‘>.\j and iicedom just as in oui oiin
lalgei society. (of coiiise the pioblem that
things dolit ulna * l‘ oi k out o securely, and
then there are some him never eonl‘oriii and
sonic colleges that offer the opportunity not to
conioi'm.)

Tho cond \iay ill iiliieh the college atmos»
phere stltles and restricts that ai ikeliing is
by putting so much academic piessuie on the
student that he is ioiced into the choice of
studying and learning on his own and in bi
own way and consequently risking bad marks
and academic rest “etion in the Future, or con
forming to the do. red standard of expectations
placed upon him by the college and the com-
munity of students of which he is a part and
often forieitilig much individual and personal
development, There is a thiid solution which
can be taken which is pretending to be a stu-
dent, ie. going half way towards fulfilling both
ends and thereby ma iig' the two ends nothing
but; moans towards a kind oi" conformity which
is anxiety filled and too i'lilniliri' to most of us.
i believe an educational solution is possibiehel‘e,
and that high level experimentation is Vital.

Philip Bl'oivn

 

SCORE Boosts ‘
Human Relation .

The Student Committee on“
Racial Equality (SCORE) at;
Iowa State University is spol‘r
soring its second annual Human
Relations Conference for Iowa
students to be held on the lows
State University campus April
720th and 2lst. A full program
is planned giving ample oppol‘m
tunity for students irom col-
leges throughout the state to
get acquainted and discuss fields,
of discrimination such as nous.
ing, employ ni, education and
campus

Speake s and modelatois will
include— ,

Mr. William Higgs, Missis-
sippi attorney handling civil
rights cases.

Dr. Clarence Yarrow. Ker
glonai Secretary for the
American Friends 5 e i- v i c e
Committee.

PARTY?

AHRVANO S

do the catering.

(inquire about our special
rates for parties)

Telephone 236-6222

Let-

ﬁblﬁll‘l’i

The finest name in cosmetics at

THARP PHARMACY

Where you get personal service
(across imm air Grimiell State Bank)

 

 

 

 

FRESH Mill!
DANISH MAID BAKERY

HOME OF QUALITY
4th Avenue

 

Mr. Ernest Russell. Execu~

 

tive Secretary, Des Moinos
Human Rights Commission.
For additional information on
registration and housing accom»
modations ror the Conference,‘
one may \v to to'
scone.
% Memorial Union
Iowa State University
Alnes, Iowa

SUWER JOBS

Send now [or list at 1000
summer employers. Camps.
hotels, v, 5., Canada, Mexico
3100 to Stanley Assocs., Bo.
21 1 Phila 3 Pa

WANTED

Conservative Students to

form YAF or conservative

gmups on campus and to

start a conservative paper.

Free literature and coopera-

 

tion in oi-znniiing and plan-
both
plied tree or charge.
interested, write E, .14 McCal—
Jr.. Po. Box 1781)
Bridgeport, Colin. or call
EDison 4-9471 collect

ning ior will be sin»

Those

lumi

 

 

* Ride to visir my maiden aunt in Oskaloosu.
at To trade three old Playboy Magazines for one real live bunny rabbit.

* $1,000.000 (donuficns gleefully accepted)

\

What ever your message. plate your Classified Ads in the 5&8 at the low Student Rate (any
student or organization affiliated with Grinnell College is eligible for this rate.)

DON'T GAMBLE on word of mou'l'h or the bulieﬁn beards. Use our
dependable Classiﬁed Service.

Call Exes. 240 or 349 for rates and information

 

 

