. Letters to the editor

Grinnellians in Japan must conform to strict Japanese behavioral standards

To the editor: I must say I was
very pleased to observe the article
in the tornado issue about the
Japan Study program, All two of us
Grinnellians here in Japan found
the cockles of our hearts much
warmed,

However, there IS something
missing from the article that could
be of value to those considering
this program. While you noted that
we need the support of Wascda
University to continue the
program, you didn't mention what
that entails, What it requires IS
that Waseda (and Japanese
societyt not only tolerate us, but
also approve of us,

in THE PAST, Japan Study has
paid its own way, and the students
could behave with more freedom,
Now we must more or less live up
to the Japanese image of the good
student, and this means more than

Terri Tiddle .

Li haircut, shave, deodorant, bath
and a clean room It means
studying, attending classes which
can be hideously boring), being
quiet and orderly and respectful

So far that isn't too tough,
However, there are two big killers-
first, you cannot “cut loose" at any
time You can be drunk, but you
can't be loud: you can go outwith
your friends. but you cannot be
rowdy; you can be good-humored,
but not particularly mischievous.
You must be like the Japanese,
who have got enough selfrcontl'ol to
be fairly quiet and orderly when
they'rc bombed out of their lninds

ALL OF TIIF above covers only
public behavior, However, the
other killer is that public behavior
is the only kind that exists, for
practical purposes, In
some cases, you can hear the
people next door hiccup, and no

Blacks here caught in

Somebody once asked me what it
is like being black at Grinnell. I
hesitated for a second, trying to
suppress an irresistible urge to
laugh. them only knows why I
wanted to laugh, 'cause it sure as
hell was not a laughing matter)
My reply was, “Picture yourself in
a boat on a river with tangerine
trees and marshmallow skies.”

Or better yet, picture yourself as
one out of 40 whites in an all-black
school during lunch time in the
cafeteria surrounded by a
multitude of blackness. lSounds
spooky if you ask me.) The
question is: could you handle it'!

OF COURSE YOU could, right?
Riliiight. To tell you the truth, I bet
it would bea very nervewracking
situation, to say the least. For one
thing, you look different, you know,
not like everybody else~kinda
pale and peaked. You also have
this terrible tendency to stick out in
a crowd, Consequently, your ab-
sence from class, or any other
event, is highly noticeable.

Besides looking different, you
talk differently too. Not only is
your accent different, but your
vocabulary is, shall we say, a little
off. Instead of, “Hey man, what's
goin’ down, been hanging kinda
low.“ you come out with some stuff
like, “Hi, how are you, haven‘t
seen you for a while." Not exactly
a great hit in the communications
department are you? Oh well, let's
put aside the physical defectsil
mean differences.

ASIDE FROM THE physical
differences, there's that terrible
image problem you can’t seem to
get rid of. Everybody thinks that
you're rich, and that you live in a
nice house, and that you get
everything you want. If they only
knew! Why, you had to wait until
age 18 to get a Car. And goodnﬁs
knows you don't own any clothes,
for you never wear anything but
your jeans and flannel shirt. How
unfair to be put in such a strictly
defined category!

Well my friends, to answer the
original question, being black at
Grinnell is a challenge. Some can
accept the challenge and handle it
fairly well; otheis try and don’t
succeed; still others decide that
it’s not worth the effort.

I'M NOT JUST talking about
academics, although they are part
of the challenge that black students
must accept. (The academics at
Grinnell are a challenge for
everyone, regardless of skin
color.) The challenge to which I
refer is the adjustment to the social
life here at Grinnell. Many people
don‘t realize that it isn't until in—
dividuals feel comfortable that
they can function at their greatest
potential.

There are a number of ways

 

Gl'innell could be made less in-
timidating for blacks. The black
student body could be increased, as
could the number of black faculty
and staff. The Black Studies
program, which has been hittled
down to the bare requirements
over the Dast few years, could be
improved and expanded, A black
adviser Could be hired to work with
Career Services iii all effort to
respond to the special needs of
black students. Grinnell could even
hire rotating black professors who
would be willing to teach hero for a
few years but reluctant to live here
on a permanent basis.

DON'T THINK THAT the ad-
ministration isn't aware of the
black situation on campus or that
it hasn't done anything to
improve matters. On the contrary,
it realizes how few blacks there are
on campus and, to some extent, has
tried to deal with the problem. or
instance, the college has instituted
a minority recruiter position in
admissions specifically designed to
seek out black students and bring
them to Grinnell. As encouraging
as this may be, future prospects of
such implementations are dismal.
The reason is not difficult to figure
out: money.

It costs money to hire a minority
recruiter, for instance. It’s
probably costly to hire black
professors, assuming they need

 

matter where you go you are
overtly or covertly scrutinized by a
lair proportion of the people who
pass, And by theway, the Japanese
idea of illicit premarital sex is
somewhere between first and
second base.

All of the above is a bit over-
drawn and a great deal depends (in
the circumstances you find
yourself in. Some people can stay
out to any hours, and some have a
degree of actual privacy. Others
have to be home by II pm to keep
from getting locked out or live in a
small fishbowl downwind of an oil
refinery.

OF COURSE. thc people Here
now are the makerorrbreak group,
our behavior has more effect on
Waseda’s decision to support us
than past groups. However, if you
decide to come over here, your
behavior will be watched and

dilemma

more of an incentive to come to.
Grinnell.

The question is, how much
money are \\'e willing to invest in
bringing blacks to campus,
whether they be students, faculty
or staff? Although I don’t think we
have invested enough to com-
pensate for the problem , I think
some effort has been made to bring
blacks to Gl‘inncll.

BUT. YOU SEE, the problem is
twofold in nature. The one aspect
is bringing blacks here, the other,
and I think more difficult problem,
is keeping them here. Just ivhat
does it take to keep blacks at
Grinnell'? Blacks would remain at
Grinnell if they were more come
fcl‘table. But what would make
blacks more comfortable" More
blacks. that's what,

If this Sounds like a Circular
argument that's because it is. The
attrition rate among blacks, as
well as whites, is depressing. The
fact is, though. when a few blacks
leave Grinnell it is extremely
noticeable. I wish we, and by we I
mean the administration and the
student body, could do more not
only to bring blacks to Grinnell but
make them want to stay, Besides a
greater black population, I‘m not
really sure what else could help the
situation, besides a little interest, a
sincere effort, and most of all
concern,

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judged and have an impact on the

,people that hopefully will follow.

Believe it or not, behaving like a
Boy Scout for even four months has
been somewhat ofa Strain, and I'm
nearly a Boy Scout anyway,

Let me also add, though, that if I
had to pay twice as much, be twice
as good, sit in the back of the bus,

and wear a ball and chain on my
ankle, I’d still be here. I’m not
sure, but i think God stands behind
Mr. Cleaver and this program~it‘s
tar and away the most important,
thing that I've ever done, including
being born, miss tri-eeiii-an, at
Gl'iiillcll of the Orient.

Blasts Council’s ﬁring of Leichtling

To the editor: Alan Lelchtling's
dismissal should be dwelt upon
further, his dismissal holds imr
plications far beyond its effect on
the music department. His
dismissal may have been grounded
primarily upon the departmental
politics WIthin the music depart
ment. but the incompetency of the
Executive Council's dectsion
should be pointed out
Apparently. the Executive
Council was unable to perceive the
adverse effects of his dismissal.
Indeed, if the problem of the
Executive Council's perceptions is
not dwelt upon, future decisions oi
the Council may yield similar
effects on other departments.
Leichtling appealed the
Executive Council's decision when
he was fired. After his appeal the
council failed to realize that he
taught courses. such as electronic

music, which attracted many
Grinnell students, not just music
majors,

I would like to know how many
professors who have been
dismissed appealed the decision
and were rehired through the
appeal system. It seems as though
there is room in the appeal
procedure to point out the bad
effects of the dismissal if other
professors in the department don‘t
point out the bad effects. But ape
parently this system doesn't allow
the bad effects to be pointed out,
and ivhole departments are being
screwed.

It seems to me the reason why
the Executive Council doesn't look
into the appeal very well is because
of its inability to admit that it was
wrong on the original decision.
Mark Sokkappa.

CBS protests scheduling hassles

To the editor: This weekend,
November 2-5, was to have been
Black Cultural Weekend The
Concerned Black Students (CBS!
considers Black Cultural Weekend
3 major all campus event. In an
effort to avoid conflicts wlth other
allcampus events planned on the
November calendar (Loose Hall
Ball, Waltz, Bill Evans Dance
Concert, Major Concerts
Production), Black Cultural
Weekend was rescheduled for the
first weekend in December.

In doing so, it was discovered
that several departments of the
collegc were planning a Madrigal
Dinner for Friday and Saturday
nights of the same weekend
Because these nights were
previously reserved, the Soul Food
Dinner, originally planned as a

- part of Black Cultural Weekend, is

being presented tonight as a “Free
Cultural Weekend Activity.” In
recent weeks, there has been some
uncertainty as to whether the
Madrigal Dinner will actualize or
not.

THE FOURTH weekend in
November (the 25tht was reserved
by the Major Concerts Committee
to present a concert by the musical
group “Blondie." The committee
was unable to finalize the plans for
their reserved weekend and are
now planning to present this major
concert on Saturday, December 2,
the third day of Black Cultural
Weekend. Because of this major
concert, funds for a band to per-
form on Black Cultural Weekend
will not be available.

However, we were advised that

 

funds \\ ould be available to present
a band atan eallier date (Nov. 257
as another “Pie Cultural Weekend
Activity,” which we acceptedi
rather than have no band at all.
Once gain, we now find that there
is some uncertainty that the Major
Concerts Committee will book

“Blondie” for the December date,

WE ARE TIlOIlOUGIII Y
d ontcnted with the attitudes and
actions of the Major Concerts
Committee in this matter We had
hoped that the spirit of come
promise exemplified by the Con
cerned Black Students would have
been reciprocated by the com-
mittee; however it was not
Chairpeople of the Major Concerts
Committee told Concerned Black
Students that their major concern
was with booking “Blondie" on any
possible date. regardless of con-
flicts with other scheduled ac-
tivities.

We feel that the impact of the
contribution we are attempting to
make to the campus community is
being depreciated by the disperv
sion of the activities. Granted,
there are no actions which can be
taken to prevent campus groups
from planning major events on the
same dates, but we would hope that
in the near future some degree of
Consideration would be given to
those who have invested time,
effort and money into planning a
wellorganized weekend. We would
also hope that groups planning
activities will finalize these plans
before they submit them to the
college calendar. The Concerned
Black Students.

IOWA SOC IALI ST PARTY

VOTE

SOCIALIST

BAN NUCLEAR POWER

LEGALI ZE MARIJUANA

PROMOTE NE IGHBORHOOD SOC IAL I SM

COMMUNITY CONTROL OF THE ECONOMY

PM!) Fisk 87 we

qt: Btoonmtsvorl. town Livy, snub,

town sociactsf cnnmtciu

wuss—zest

 

