Tederman; Confused About Grinnell’s Purpose

To the Editors:

I have been talking with many stu-
dents in the past few weeks who
wish to take a personal leave of
absence. As a result of doing so,l
have had some thoughts that I would
like to share With the Grinnell
community.

In talking with these students, it
has become apparent to me that
many of them wishes to take a
personal leave due to their (“55*
atisfaction with their academic per»
formance. ”I want to leave because
I don't feel that I am capable of
fully taking advantage oi my cla-
sses" was a very common state
ment.

What began to bother me was the
criteria which they (and I suspect
many others) used to judge their
academic performance, It appears
that the model that many students
are judging themselves against is
that of the fullrtlme professional
scholar. The type of scholars who
not only are dissatisfied with any-
thing less than a 3.5, but who also
feel they are wasting their time and
money if they are not squeezing
the last possible drop out of the
academic lemon.

When students feel they must live
up to this model, they put tremen-
dous pressure on themselves. It
also puts pressure upon the fac-
ulty. A vicious cycle gets started,
where the students demand academic
perfection of themselves, and, as
a result, demand the same perfec~
tion of their professors. The prOr
iessors, in turn, leel the students
demanding academic perfection
from them and therefore demand
it of the students.

If my perceptions are accurate,
and we do hold up the full-time
professional scholar as a model,
I wonder if that is what we really
want to do. I am not implying that
this model in intrinsically a bad
one. I just question whether it is
an appropriate one for an under
graduate liberal arts college.

Simply put, I see us becoming a
pre - graduate, pre - professional
school and I am not at all sure that
this squares with what our college
literature purports us to be. i am
particularly concerned about those
students who have not made up
their minds or do not plan to go
on to graduate or professional sch-
ool and yet get caught in an aca-

latin America Is Covered

To the Editors:

In the last issue of the Scarlet
and Black Alan Jessen made cer-
tain statements to which the Span-
ish Department would like to res-
pond. First the assertion that we
“play down Latin America” is not
true. One member of our staff
(Mr. Niehaus) was hired precisely
to offer courses dealingspeciiically
with Latin American history, culr
ture, and civilization. By the end
of next semester Mr. Niehaus will
have taught with the approval and
encouragement of the entire Depart-
ment the following classes:

1. Latin American History 261

2. Latin American History 262

3. Latin American Mind and So-
ciety 231

4. Special Topics: Social Problems
of the Chicano 296

5. Special Topics: Education in La-
tin America 296

6. Latin American Essay 346 (next
semester)

'1. Tutorial: The Church in Hispanic
Culture

8. Tutorial: Latin America Today
Surely, Mr. Niehaus's teaching du—
ties do not reﬂect a “playing down
of Latin America.” Moreover, our
whole program illustrates the De»
partment’s interest in Latin Amer—
ica. Language courses such as Lag
tin American Readings 213 and C07
mmunication through Culture 338
deal exclusively with Latin Ameri—
can materials. Even our first year
language sequence reveals an in-
terest in Latin America since 3
of 4 texts used focus on Latin Amer
ican language patterns and culture.
In the field of literature, the De—
partment covers the basic genres
in Latin America withthree courses:
L. A. Poetry, L. A. Novel, and
L. A, Drama, For the past three
years we have participated in the
General Literary Studies program
by teaching classes only in Latin
American fiction and narrative. We
have also offered, in English, a
course on Chicano culture to com—
plement and parallel Mr. Niehails's

course on the Chicanos. Further—
more, 5 out oi the 3 courses to be
offered next semester will deal
solely with Latin America covering
fields of history, culture, civili-
zation, language, and literature (in
Spanish and in translation). To con-
clude our comments on this matter
oi “playing down Latin America,”
we advise Mr. Jessen to examine
the programs of the Spanish De-
partments at the other ACM Col-
leges. He will find that Grinnell's
Spanish Departmentprovidesamore
complete and more diversified co-
verage of Latin American culture,
civilization, and literature than any
other institution.

Mr. Jessen also commented on the
options for Spanish majors. and he
consulted with the Department he
would have found out that we have
been working on plans to increase
the options available to our Majors.
The Executive Council, Administra-
tion, and Student EPC have been
aware of our intentions since early
in the semester and only personnel
matter have prevented us from mak—
ing this information generally
known. Our plan has now been sub
mitted to our majors and allows
students the option to earn up to
16 credits or half of their major
in the type of courses taught by
Mr. Niehaus.

The Spanish Department regrets
the denial of our efforts to clever
lop a program which recognizes,
supports, and fosters the study of
Latin America from a variety of
perspectives (historical, cultural,
and literary). It is also discourr
aging to diligently promote interest
in Latin America and then be told
not that our concern is insuffi-
cient, but nonexistent and we have
actively sought to stiﬂe such in»
terest. We hope that the informa-
tion provided in this letter will
clarify our position on this issue.
Dennis R. Perri

R, G. McLaughlin

Helena Ponseti

Thomas Niehaus

ISPIRG Discusses Energy Crisis

DES MOINES, lA-rlowa appears to
be one of the mostenergy consuming
states in the nation, according to
research done by the Iowa Student
Public Interest Research Group
(ISPIRG),

Skip Laitner, EnvironmentalCoor-
dinator, reported before the Iowa
Legislature’s Energy Crisis Study
Committee, that when Iowa is com-
pared to the top ten states ranked
according to per capita income, lowa
is second only to Nevada in energy
consumed per capita.

According to Laitner, transporta-
tion is an area where energy can
be saved in Iowa. lowa’s interstate
trucking alone uses enough fuel
each day to heat 112.5 Iowan homes
for a winter. If this freight was
carried by rail, 84 of those homes
could be heated. If just half of the
treight carried by truckswereship-

ped by rail, fuel savings would a-
mount to over 40 million gallons.

R. G. Hileman, executive secre-
tary of the Iowa Motor Truck Ass-
ociation, disputed this by arguing
that shipment of fuel oil to homes
and company terminals requiresthe
use of trucks.

ISPIRG stated that it feels it would
be possible for Iowa to reduce tota
energy consumption by 10% withou
seriously altering present life—
styles.

ISPIRG called for legislativesupp-
art for mass transit, the establishe
merit of a State Department ofTrana
sportation, passage of stringent in,
sulation requirements in a1
new construction, establishmentofa
graduated surcharge tax on cars Wit
low fuel economy and the creationo
a State Energy Policy Commission.

demic atmosphere which gears itv
self towards those ends. It seems
as if it is becoming very difficult
to simply get, and enjoy, a good
liberal arts education at Grinnell
College.

It bothers me to hear students
say they need to leave school be-
cause they do not yet have their
careers and lives mapped out. I
didn't think that a liberal arts eds
ucation was meant to be specific
preparation tor a speciiic pre-de-
termined career. I have always felt
a liberal arts college was a place
where you go to grapple with the
questions and decisions of life
goals, values and careers-mot a
place to avoid until you had made
these choices.

If others on this campus are as
confused as i am about what a
Grinneil education is, perhaps it
is time we began discussing it.
i would be very interested in hear-
ing whether others atGrinnell share,
or disagree, with these perceptions

.Iim Tederman

WhatHappened
To Wayne's?

To the Editors:

We are disturbed at Mr. Boone’s
interpretation of drinking in Grinr
nell. Perhaps as Mr. Boone is a
new member oi our community he
does not understand the social life
of a small Iowa town.

First of all, he completely over-
looked one of the more interesting
bars in town; Wayne's Steakhouse.
Secondly, he seems to expect the
bars to be something dillerent from
what they really are. Complaining
that Russ‘s and Duffy’s do not im-
press him as Ivy League is like
complaining that Grinnell, lowadoes
not impress him as being enough
like Pasadena, California. In other
words, by imposing his preconcep-
tions on Grinnell’s drinking estab-
lishments he is completely misun-
derstanding their characters.

MORE

Russ: and Duffy's are working
class establishments and should be
appreciated as such. JD'S is heavily
middle-class and if that is what you
are looking for, that is fine. The
Horn is a family restaurant, not a
truck stop. If Mr. Boone thinks the
Pub is rowdy he obviouslyhasnever
been in a place like the Number,
the Wrong Number, or the Elms.
Since these no longer exist we
would suggest the Silver Lace in
Malcom as a substitute. After see-
ing this saloon he would appreciate
the atmosphere of the Pub.

Finally, we would suggest that Mr.
Boone was not the best qualified
person to write Such an article be-
cause he obviously does not know
what he is talking about.

Sincerely,

Julie Layer
Jane Lago
Craig Murphy
Robert A. Ruhl

Nixon: Another View

KANSAS CITY. MO--Although‘
committees urging theimpeachment
of the President are getting most
of the publicity. there is at least
one organized group supporting the
President.

An ad in Tuesday's editions of the
Kansas City star signed by Friends
of the President c/o Marsh Gies-
ecke asked readers for donations
and letters of support for the Pres-
ident.

It even provided a suggested text:
“President Nixon, Don’t let them
ruin this country. I’m tired of all
the spiteful political muckraking as
well as the negative press. By getv
ting us out of Vietnam, you've pror
ven to me you can get things done.
Please continue your fight against
inflation, waste in government, and
for world peace.”

THE GRINNELL SCARLET AND BLACK NOVEMBER 15, 1973 PAGE 5

“Team: inn mick photo by Doug Halsey

OPEN noon POLlCY...Robert Grey of the Political Science Depart-
ment recently was granted tenure. Believing that, since he no longer
had any need for the protection which non-tenured raculty require, two
of his colleagues allegedly removed his otiice dnnr early Tuesday. The
colleagues have not been officially identified, but usually reliable sources
indicated that one is a well known mass meeting organizer while the other
is reportedly an expert on constitutional politics. The fate of the door

was unknown at press time.

ACM SGA: Sex And Politics

by Robin Recant and John Turnbull
CEDAR RAPIDS, lA--From the
very start. we began to wonder
just what exactly was going to hap-
pen at the ACM conference last
weekend. When we arrived in Ce»
dar Rapids late Friday evening,
the preliminary organizational
meeting that we’d expected to attr
end had been transmitted into a me»
lange of bar-hopping and an unsuc-
cessiul Coe College dance.

We returned ea—
_

rly the following WE‘ESQJW-lﬂ.

morning to give

it mm“ "Y- otinsneoitiie

This time we suc-
, —
Cesslvely hooked

up with the conference and thus
were priveleged to hear the sopor-
ilic dronings of Cedar Rapidian
politicans.

Later, after a series of preli-
minary meetings, a serious dis-
cussion of the formation and pass-
age of an Impeach Nixon resolu—
tion began. Luckily, all schools
agree that they wanted to see Ni-
xon ousted--Just how they wanted
it done was another question en»
tirely.

Major ideological differences be—
tween the schools on this issue
ranged irom wanting to call solely
for impeachment as a method oi
exposing all the evidence and re-
storing power to Congress(as Grin.
nell asked) to asking for resigna-
tion in order to uphold the inte-
grity of the office of the Presi-
dency, to calling for a special pro.
secutor. Finally, after 6 hours oi
debate a politicking,a watered-down
resolution specifically lackinga rag
tionale to explain our position was
passed incorporating these mean
sures.

0n the level of campus politics,
Grinnell seemed to be lagging bee
hind many fellow ACM schools.
Monmouth, Lawrence, Macalester,
Ripon and Cornell all had Signifi-
cant student power o all impor»
ant trustee and faculty committees.

he governments of Colorado and
Lawrence colleges consisted of

ommunity councils, made up of
tudents, faculty. administration and
rustees.

Most of the schools present had
ome type of student voice in iac-
ulty evaluation.They were,however,
thwarted in their pleas to faculty
nd administration for permission
to proceed with entirely studentr

one faculty evaluations. Grinnell

uggested that they just go ahead
nd do it quipping, ”it worked for
us."

Thus progressive as they seemed,
general problems with college g0,
vernmental structures were expres-
sed, Communityrtype government
was criticized for its excessively
apolitical nature and failure to eli-
cit significant student involvement.
Although students were voting mem»
bers of jointrruling bodies, they
generally felt liable to domination
by faculty and administration. As

Grinnell was the only college that
held open faculty meetings most of
the other schools considered them-
selves lucky to be allowed to have
even one designated student attend.

Pending at Macalester was unionv
ization of its faculty. Students fear-
ed that if this were to occur, stu-
dent voice would be permanently
silenced. Thus, as far as governing
structures were concerned, each of
the ACM colleges expressed an
interest in instituting more liberal
reforms.

Grinneli and Carleton seemed to
be the only schools with open social
policies. Cornell’s students continue
to push for coed dorms, as there
is only one now. Longer visitation
hours are being demanded at Ripon.
At most of the ACM schools, off—
campus housing is limited to jun-
iors and seniors yet even then
“getting out of the dorms is a
real hassle." Alcoholism was menr
tioned in be a serious problem at
both Monmouth and Ripon, Monmouth
has recently been undergoing
serious financial and administrar
tive difficulties

Frankly, sexism was rampant in
the male-dominated atmosphere at
the conference. The only female
student body leader was Sharon
Goodwin of Cornell. General dISr
dain was noted at the expression
of ideas by the few women present.
one (male) student body president
snorted to another, “Why don’t you
send some of your chicks over to
my college? We could really use
some of that fine assatour school.”

As far as the writers of this ar-
ticle are concerned, the sorority-
fraternity attitude remained pre-
valent in student life at other ACM
colleges. As one male delegatecho-
rtled toward the end of the meeting,
“Let‘s go get drunk and pick up
some chicks.” The only thing the
Grinnell students were interested
in picking up were some Big Macs.

This meeting was fouled by its
organizers as being an historic
opportunity for the students of the
ACM colleges to form a cohesive
organization. l-lopelully, such anor-
ganization would be seen as signi»
ficantly representative of national
opinion by tunnelling wide student
ideas through the traditionally con-
servative Midwest,

After the first few hours of the
conference, one could have easily
been tempted to dismiss such ex-
pectations as absurd, However, the
fact that a final agreement wasrea-
ched in spite of the personal idiOr
syncracies or those attending is
promising,

More importantly. the prospect
ot future meetings concerning co-
operative voting on commonly held
stocks portends the emergence of
an effective political force out of
the college's association,

In retrospect, perhaps the best
point of the meeting was made by
another group ehtirely--the Poynter
Sisters, in concert at Coe College
Saturday aiternoon.

 

