Page Two

SCARLET AND BLACK

Friday. January l2, |95|

 

Time Fer Action in a World of War-Science

By Donald Wilhelm
I sense a feeling of frustration on campus.
It isn‘t that morale is shot to pieces. It is some-
thing more continuing,‘ more enervating than
that, A thoughtful student of mine said, “It’s as
if you were sitting on an egg that you thought

might never hatch," ”What is the egg," I asked.-

“That’s your plans‘ for the future," he said. ‘

The trouble stems from the present crisis.
The acts of the Kremlin carry to the rich plains
of Iowa. ‘

But the roots lie much deeper. Here is a clue
to what’s going on: A tremendous new forcH
contemporary science and technologyihas been
fashioned by mail, then by man turned against
man.
Now we are being mauled by modern
science in its economic, political, military, and so-
ciai impact. Thoughtful natural and social scien-
tists years ago predicted it would happen. Future
generations (I predict there will be future gene-
rations) will, I believe, be dumbfounded that we
have been so slow in lending moral direction to
science as it affects society. .

They will know, as we are beginning to dis-
cern, that the central challenge for our age was
to bridge the gap between the natural and the
social sciences, \ ’

Who, today, has the moral cynicism to
call this all idle dream? Do you? Then Why
is a new science building going up on this
campus at the very time when science,
lending new efficiency to war, brings dread

Scarie'i—méji'idiiﬁlock'

Scarlet and Black ,
Renicseii-cd (or Nuionnl _Advcrtisii1g by
l iionnl Ailveltisi . Selvice, Inc.

Miliﬁison Ale
' (FEostoniLos
n bi chum
null. lawn
A eekly newspupﬂr published each .v of the col-
hr the Grinuell'Student rubidium: Comimny.
Herb» L. Piescott, President oi the nonni. >
Eutcicd as second class mutter d: the my. office {it
- of March 3, mo. Suhscrlli-

AngeieHSnn

War and Power

Here is a new year. It’s not unusual, occur-
ring annually. Yet somehow it hasn’t brought us
the pleasure of anticipation which usually comes
at such times. Men compare draft cards instead
of New Year’s resolutions; smiles were a little
wry.

During the last six months we were sud-
denly and with extremely bad manners shocked
out of the prevailing attitude that, if we ignored
most of the world’s problems, they would shrivel
up and go away.

We are at war.

We may lose this war. _

What does this mean? Buy a lead mine in
Colorado? The major problem man has always
faced is that he can never successfully get away
from himself.

, A way of life is in danger. Not “our way
of life,,for we didn‘t invent it, and other people
have it too. But we are the greatest power in the
world, and for this season we must shoulder the

' burden of defending it. along with our allies. Alv
ways, responsibility follows power.

There are two ways of escaping this job we
haveithe concentration camp, and the grave.

college Men . . .

Indispensable or Expendnbl '1

ACPi’I‘he question of whether college men
should or should not be deferred ‘from military
service has drawn a number of varied replies
from the nation‘s educational leaders,

There are some, like, the membe s of Gen.
Lewis B. Hershey‘s advisory committees, who
feel deferment should be granted to superior
students. But the Association of American Uni-
versities recently issued a report urging enacte
merit of a law to draft all men for two years of
military service upon their reaching the age of
18. It was felt that the critical situation war-
ranted such a measure.

Meanwhile, college officials are considering
the possibility of reestablishing the old wartime
acceleration program, whereby a student can
graduate in three years instead of the usual
folir. Officials frankly admit tlley'don’t like it
too much; they feel it puts too much pressure
on students and faculty alike,

On January 19, representatives of the
American Council of Education will meet to dis-
cuss these emergency problems, alone with the
problem of expected drop in enrollment. Some
college heads predict that the drop next year
may exceed 50 per cent, in contrast to the 15
per cent drop predicted, Such a big dip would
put national enrollment back to peacetime figures
of 194041.

to the hearts of men in villages and cities

throughout the world?

One reason we push science is to win the war.
In manpower we are overwhelmingly outnum-
bered. In natural resources we are a better
match for our enemies—but many of our natural
resources (petroleum, iron ore, timber, others)
are now dangerously depleted, while our antago—
nists are uncove ng theirs fast.

Our one great supremacy lies in the third
kind of reso ‘cerscience and technology. Here
the free nations are still preeminent. Churchill
has stated that our superiority in atomic weap—
ons has alone delayed Russia’s sweep of West-
ern Europe. But he, like Harvard’s Conant and
other foremost scientists, has walned that the
gap between Russia’s science and our own is
narrowing. Is there room for action here?

We know that war is no final answer.

A second reason we push science is that we

are today on the threshhold of an entirely

new phase of scientific progress—a phase
of naturalvsocial science teams, of breaking
barriers, of marrying social morality and
the scientific spirit. I am heartened by the
establishment of the new Society for Social

Responsibility in Science. I am impressed by

the outlook of my scientist friends in gov-

ernment agencies and on campusekinclud-
ing this campus. 15 there room for action
here?

‘ I need not argue that this is the toughest
crisis in our history. Whether you are a man or
a woman, do you feel frustrated living in it,
watching it get worse, while wondering what you
can do? Let’s make a list.

An Armory

Compiled By Charles H. Foster mm

What everyone wants to know, of course, is
how to arm himself psychologically to meet the
present crisis, probably unprecedented in our
history, or, for that matter, in world history
The great illusion, I believe, is to suppose that
there is a single formula that will fit every case.
The fact is that we are so various that it would
be futile and dangerous to suppose that you
could prescribe for me or that I could prescribe
for you. The b we can do for each other is ex»
change possib es. Here are some that occur
to me. I have omitted religion since that it is a
possibility well known to you all, I comment on
the first two to start your thinking.

1. “Carpe diem2" enjoy the present, as we
might translate Horace into prose, or if you care
for poetry, “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying," as Robert Herrick
phrased it. From the very modern point of View,
such a program is not only impossible. It is
worse: it is superficial. If you are one of ”the
hollow men" of whom T. S. Eliot writes, this is
not for you. Still carpe diem by now is a well
known pebble of wisdom, having been rolled in
the waves and sands of time for two thousand
years. Perhaps you will discover that you can-
not do better in our Vcrisis than to.hold this
pebble in your hand and savor every passing
moment; there may not be many more so pleas-
ant. Carpe diem has often been interpreted as
go lose yourself in the moral woods, but it is not
impossible to be innocently insistent on the
present. In a liberal arts college, it would not be
extraordinary if carpe diem meant, among other
things, intense absorption in the excitement of
learning.

2. “The only way out is through.” The
words are Robert Frost’s. I am reminded by
their economy that Ezra Pound once told Frost
that he had ”squeezed the water” out of the
poems of William Butler Yeats. Ezra could
squeeze about as much water out of Frost's sen-
tence as he could out of a granite boulder in a
Vermont pasture. Here is something said so that
it stays said. You may wish to unsay it but
you can’t. I am not even sure that you can for-
get it. If you can’t beat a remark, perhaps you
had better join it,

.3 “The perception of the Comic is a tie
of sympathy with other men, a pledge of sanity,
and a protection from those perverse tendencies
and gloomy insanities in which fine intellects
sometimes lose themselves.”—Ralph Waldo Em—
CYSOH,

4. “Come out of the Golden Gate,

Go round the Horn with streamers,

Carry royals early and late;

But, brother, be not over-elatw

All hands save ship! has startled dream<
ers.”~Herman Melville.

5. “Keep the faculty of effort alive in you
by a little gratuitious exercise ever day. That
is, be sympathetically ascetic or heroic in little
unnecessary points, do every day or two some-
thing for no other reason than that you wollld

1. Dedicate yourselI to the cause of democracy
Learn more about how It Works today; develop your
social awareness; find out how to think straight about
public policy.

2. Remorselessly ferret out and condemn those
of all extreme political stripes who, commonly pro-
fessing hatred for Communism, undermine American
liberticsifor example, those who snipe at our great-
est scientists who stand between us and disaster.

3. Reply to those who say so-called voluntary ac-
tion will Carry us through this peril; remember that
in a real democracy, action through government is in
the truest sense voluntary; insist that sacrifices be
equally shared.

4. Personally support current efforts to erect an
emergency dike to halt aggression; find out which
policy»makei's oppose such efforts; get after them.

5, Push urgent plans for mobilizing our science
to get through the long, hitter pull ahead (do you re
member when Cynics said We couldn’t produce 60,000
planes7). Find out how to harness science in support
of freedom.

6. Unless you are drafted or are sure your best
contribution IS to volunteer, push hard your own edu-
cation, especially in social and natural science. Such
training is also needed in the sciences.

7. Prepare to serve your Federal government
which, as your representative, IS managing the entire
war effort. One way is in uniform; more urgent
(Since we have a draft law) is the need for civilians to
staff the great government agencies.

8. Alternatively, train to serve
search or Wal‘ production.

9. Or plan to work in an international agency
that is helping to lay foundations for eventual peace.

10. Support bold civilian defense programs;
science makes them mandatory.

ll. Avoid hasty war marriages, but don‘t avoid
marriage; remember that men and women are differ-
ent, that they complement each other, that families
constitute basic units of strength.

12. Inspire nil your associates wiih the urgency
of the times. the need for faiih plus trained intellir
gence, and the possibilities for,uslng them.

Act now!

of Wisdom

rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire
need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved
and untrained to stand the test,"—William
James.

6. “Consider well the proportion of things.
It is better to be a young Junehug than an old
bird of paradise."—Mark Twain.

7. "Always go straight forward, and if you
meet the Devil, cut him in two and go between
the pieces; if any one imposes on you, tell him to
whistle against a northwester, and to bottle up
moonslline."7Advice to a Salem boy going to sea
about 1810.

Training — for What?

By Andy Billingsley

Last Friday afternoon, President Stevens announc-
ed the new physical education program for men (see
page 1). Since then, the new program has been a ma—
loi‘ topic for hull sessions in the men’s dormitories.

A 'poll has been conducted among the men to de-
termine their reaction io the program. Among the men
interviewed have been athletes, veterans, and men of
all the four classes. Several broad generalizations have
resulted.

Most men disapprove of the new program.
Athletes are more inclined to be favorable toward it
than non-athletes. Veterans are no less critical of the
program than non-veterans. ,

Common objections to tile program are that it
will take too much time, won’t do any good anyhow,
has no place at the college, and the time could be bet-
ter 5 cut learning something else.

ommon statemean in favor of the programs have
been just the opposite of the above and have stressed ‘
the emergency situation in which we now find our- ,
selves.

Following is a representation of the replies which
have been given. The men were asked this question:
What do you think about the new physical education
program?

Siu Oskam'p: . . . a sound physical education pro-
gram, and a good Way for us to help fulfill our re—
sponsihility.

John Sly.
men adjust to
for it.

Les Allen: . . . Basic training in the army is stren-
uous. Any program which will make the transition
from civilian to military life has merit. Putting first ,
things first, however, it can be pointed out that it will
interfere with studies, it is not compatible with college
life, and it will give students no advnnce standing in
the army. A four-hour course in typing and short
{land under Mrs. Ellsworth would be better prepara-
ion.

Jim Kissane: . . . The objectives are good, but it
won’t make any radical change in the conditions of
the men.

Dick Georgeson: entirely unnecessary. As
long ns we have to pay for our education, I‘d rather
not have it include compulsory military training. ..

Carl >Ludlow: . . . Some of us plan to be in school
a long time. Four hours training a week will‘ take
lots of time.

Alan Goldral-b; . . . The program will activate
some bodies that o dinai‘ily would not be exercised;
and what is more important, it may condition minds
to the strenuous requirements of war.

Doll McInnes: . . . I just don’t have time for it.
It seems that any reasonably well-balanced individual
can make the adjustment to basic training once he is
in the service. It would be better, in my opinion, to
spend this time in college learning something else.
There is also the possibility that such a training pro-
gram would introduce an atmosphere of militarism at
the college, which is contrary to the principles of lib-
eral arts education.

in private be.

will do no good toward helping the
tai’y life. I can See no justification

 

