PAGE 2 THE GRINNELL SCARLET AND BLACK MAY 17, 1974

Ladd: Evaluation Va-licl

An Open Letter to the Grinnell
College Community:

I am writing this specifically in
response to recent discussion re-
garding faculty evaluations and the
memo distributed by Dean Walker
on May 15th. Let me emphasize
from the start that my reactions
are not intended to represent the
student body as a whole.

I was amazed with tile vehement
objections which many faculty mem~
bers expressed after receiving the
results of the student-initiated ev-
aluation, “The Institutionalized Gr-
apevine”. Professors seemed to
feel threatened by the criticisms
which they had received\ through
the ratings and comments of the
‘Grapevine. Dean Walker has re-
ferred to these feelings as the
“anxiety among faculty members”.
'This anxiety and the rather def~
ensive behavior of faculty members
could be partially a result of a
misunderstanding on their part.

_ The implication seems to be that
' students utilize evaluations in or-
, der to determine which courses
‘.will be easy, entertaining and re-
' sult in high grades. This is a so-

Protests ,'Bu Fu,’

Sensitivity Lack

To the editor.

We saw the photograph on page
seven depicting the “world’s re-
cord bu-fu," and we would like
to ask the participants whether they
would have posed in black faces
celebrating the “world’s recordwa-
bermclon-eating contest.” We seri»
ously doubt they would have and if
they had, we know there would have
been an outraged reaction from the
over—whelming majority ofthe cam-
pus community. The [actthat no out,
rage was anticipated or occurred
shows that there is still at least
one minority on campus whose sen-
sitivity is not respected. For those
“bu—fu” participants, Who obviously
have a few things to Work out, th-
e re are trained sexuality counselors
on campus who can help them solve
their problems in ways that don’t
involve publication of derogatory and
offensive pictures.

With love,
your gay sisters and brothers

mewhat insulting misjudgment from
the point of view of a student who
has always tried to make responv
sible choices in this respect. In
fact, most of the students that I
know are very concernedaboutlind-
ing courses which will be informa—
tional and challenging as well. The
student evaluations provide several
examples which illustrate this. To
cite just a few. the courses of
Phillip Bay, Sheila McCarthy andlra
Strauber were all described as de»
manding, rigorous but worthwhile.
In all three cases, the courses of
these professors were recommend,
ed inspite of the heavy work loads.
Consequently, I think that the fears
of the faculty are unjustified and
unreasonable. Ll faculty members
actually do feel compelled, as Dean
Walker has stated in his memo,
to implement various changes in
their “courses and pedagogy... to
improve their evaluation” - but
not their teaching effectiveness, I
think it reflects a lack of maturity.
I would have the same disdain for
a student who was obsessed only
with grades at the expense of a
learning experience. Moreover, I
find it ironic that suddenly due to
these evaluations, professors should
submit to the "academic pressure"
which students have experienced
for years. Student receive evalua-
tions with not only every course.
but every paper or project. Most
of realirle the limitations of such
evaluations. They are not a satis-
factory or final word on our eff-
orts or our final results, but they

Wiles: Praises

To the Editors:

I have read with great interest
and joyful hope several letters fr-
om the Grinnell Gay Community
published in your pages during the
past year. I am doubly pleased.
that gay individuals at Grinnell are
finally making themselves heard
with pride and dignity, and that the
son is cooperating in providing one
valuable forum for such open, great-
ly needed communication.

I remain very grateful to Grinnell
for having been an environment in
which I was able, as a student, to
explore and develop many positive
and sensitive facetsof mytotaliden-

Kolber: Clears up 'Conlroversy'

To the Editors:

I am writing concerning the te-
cent “chess controversy” that has
appeared in the 8&5. I have been
amused by many of the comments
generated. (Prof. Adelberg, lac-

, cept
lenge ,
My purpose here is to clarify a
, few points of fact and hopefully se-
‘ tile this “issue.” First, I have
mixed feelings toward USCF rat-
ings. They are the only criterion
with which to impartially compare
America’s 50,000 Serious players,
and yet they are not always com~
pletely reliable. For example, my
performance rating since coming
to Iowa has been about 1900, but

your chinese checkers chal~

the actual rating now listed has not

caught up. But Prof. Adelberg’s
“so-what” attitude is a bit extr-
eme. To assert that USCF ratings
are to chess ability as cumulative
‘ G.P.A.s are to smartness, pretti-
ness, or purity is the height of ab-
surdity. Our USCF system is not
perfect but it is so highly respec-
ted that it was recently adopted
by the International Chess Federa-
tion as the worldwide standard. Fur-
ther, the point of .these ratings is
to reflect current ability, not that
of many years past, which Prof.
Adelberg refers to. And my offer

to play a serious match with any-
one on campus still stands. The fact
that nobody has accepted the offer
speaks for itself.

Finally, I wish to point out that
Geoff Wyatt (whom I consider to
be the third best student player on
campus, although he mentioned not-
hing about himself in the letter) did
not write out of the clear blue.
He Was responding to specific ac-
tions by Don Aldrich. Aldrich e —
Joys portraying himself as my fri-
end, and then proceeding to make
scathing remarks which sound much
more reasonable comingfrom a“fr-
lend,” The truth is that no one who
knows us would call us friends in
any sense of the word. I will spare
you the details, as any regular pat~
ron of the Pub has been forced to
listen to his solioquies enough al.-
ready. Essentially Aldrich has ma-
de many disparaging remarks
about Geoff and rub which range frr
om chess ability to personal abuse.
I conclude that Geoff decided to set
straight at least that part of the re-
cord which he could. So in conclu-
sion, I do not feel that I have been
in the least “illserved” by my ”i-
ends. Thank you for letting me say
my peace.

Jon Kolber

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PROFESSIONALADVISER thllamDemlno"

can indicate, to some extent, our
strengths and weaknesses. We le-
arn to accept the 2.0 along with
the 4.0 or the LO with the 7.0,
whatever the case may be.

What is most disturbing to me
about the evaluation issue is not
even the question of student input.
My concern is the degree to which
the college community suffers from
studenbfaculty polarization. By ut-
ilizing a variety of evaluations, I
don’t think we are trying to under-
mine Iaculty morale.

We should all have the same goals
in mind —- to make four years or
more at Grinnell a valuable experi-
ence. Finally, I have a sincere de-
sire to know if I am also avictim
of misunderstanding. If not, thenl
think—that Grinnell College has some.
serious problems of communica-
tions and community.

Phyllis Ladd

Brown: Pet

To the Editors:

Grinnell College moved a stepfur-
ther from reality this week With the
decision to ban dogs from campusin
the coming years. I shudder to
think of the far-reaching implica-
tions this will have for future gr-
aduates who leave the sheltered en-
virons of Grinnell and come face to
face with the ruthless. dog-inhab-
ited world.

Open Attitude

tity. Regrettably, however, while the
Grinnell of 1964458 was receptive
to such germinal concepts as black
consciousness, women’s conscious-
ness, opposition to the war inSouth-
east Asia, and other self-liberating

movements, it was not an environ-
ment in which homosexuality was ea-
sily discussed. much less easily or
healthily accepted by an individual
discovering his or her gayness.
I wish now I had had my head suf-
ficientlv together to promote the
formation of a “viable gay comm-
unity” at Grinnell wheanent there.
I have been fortunate in locating
since graduation good resources
and aid in coming to accept and

Gates-Ramon:

Gates-Rawson Towers wishes to
announce that the Bob Rumely vs
John Bloom beardegrowing contest
has resulted in a draw. Following
a dinner at Pag’s, the contestants
were “impartially” judged byMis-
ses Cox, Shashok and Werley, in
the following categories:

whiny Bloom

1. Color (hm rah mm nmhhus x
harrroiol)

2 wow (with: "touchnns

of hair him)

a. cor-numb: (wthln mm on"
our in aunlm radius
on the facial smlarc
(Ll-yr is zllcaslmx-halr)

i, mu (m norms)

Upon shaving after the epic ninety~
day struggle, John Arthur “Baby
Face" Bloom commented. “It’s
great to feel Barbasol on the chin
again, but it Will be hard to do
Quantum without having something
to pull.” Rumely shunned report»
ers, but was observed smiling con~

HEAVY DUTY ‘ ‘
PACKING CTNS ....... 70

HEAVY DUTY
WARDROBE CTNS. 3395
With hangar harm..."

BATTEY TEXACO

Sixth & West

To the Editors:

Waldo Walker has proposedthe end
of student evaluations of courses
and professors. He seems worried
that since faculty members are ev-
aluated up to four times a year
their morale is lowered. We stud-
ents are evaluatedlourtimesasem—
ester--perhaps that is why student
morale is so low (notice the num-
ber of personal leaves and drop-
outs). And we pay for it. This sch-
ool is so money—hungry. If they
get our money then we must get
something to Say about What it is
used for. Otherwise the drop-out
rate will continue to rise. Walker
fears that evaluations take up too
much precious student time. We
are paying for the teaching time
of the members of the Executive
Council and so we do not want ev—
aluations to be such a burden on
their time either. Walker proposes
adding to their burden by expecting
them to conduct interviews with
students if the council really wants

Group Protests Proposal

student opinion. This is probably
an easy way to eventually drop st-
udent input altogether. Furthermo-
re, one of us used her own time to
conduct student interviews onapro-
fessor under consideration for pro-
motion. He is an excellent teacher
and believe it or not, smart Grin-
nell students were able to recog-
nize this and evaluate his perform-
ance accordingly. Certainly if he
were allowed to read the results
his morale did not go down. He is
entitled to learn that he is effec—
tive just as another professorisen-
titled to learn how his teaching
methods fail to work. Give student
judgement a little credit. If morale
is lowered due to lousy evaluations,
undoubtedly it deserves to be, un—
til the professor’s teaching ability
improves. After all, we pay to be
taught.

Jane Lamensdorf

Sally Garst

Linda Evien

Chris Balk

Policy a 'Blunder’

I am disturbed that the issue of
the pet policy was dragged outso late
in the year thatSunday‘s meetingpl-
aced more emphasis on a speedy
resolution thanathoughtfulone.That
dogs were forbiddenbefore the ques-
tion of “ultimate recourse" for the
Pet Board was at all resolved was
one of the greater absurdities. How
a policy can be fairly dismissedbe-
fore the conditions of that policy
are ascertained remains a source

Toward Guys

like the gay aspect of my identity
—- I hope others have been so lu-
cky, and I hope that, because of
GGC’s courageous and innovative
efforts this year, future Grinnell
graduates will not have to rely so
strongly upon chance.

As open»mfnded humanity, consid-
eration, and understanding have long
been educational and interpersonal
ideals professed by the college as
an institution, I urge all members
of the Grinnell community to lend
GCC their attention and support.
Again, my respect to you, for hav-
ing already done so. And my con—
gratulations and best wishes to my
gay brothers and sisters for their
strength and determination in this
year's pioneer efforts.

If an alumnus can be of any as-
sistance or further support, this
one would be proud and eager to
extend himself.

Sincerely, ,
John R. Wiles
Class of ‘63

Beards Tied

tently to himself in front ofthe mir-
ror.
Respectfully submitted,
BEEP
Sharon Cox
Karen Sllashok

of great wonderment.

This legislative blunder might be
easier to bear were it not com-
pounded by the obvious lack of re-
presentation exhibited by our "hall
representatives." The curious dis—
crepancy between this decision and
the results or the referendum held
a few weeks ago seems clear indic-
ation that Sunday’s vote reflected
the opinions of individuals. not rep-
resentatives.

The arguments over the practi-
cality of keeping a dog at Grinnell,
I find similarly Offensiver Had the
Pet Board made clear in the past
its insistence that owners remove
repeated offenders (even if this
meant escorting them to the airport
and shipping them home), there
would probably be fewer large dogs
on campus at the present time. As
the owner of a small dog which is
exercised frequently, Iwould greatly
dispute the suggestion that he »is
unhappy, despite his subjection to
the leash law since being brought
to Grinnell; I resent the accusation
that to exercise a dog on a leash
is inhumane; and I feel particularly
cheated by the latest declaration
concerning dogs.

I am angry with other pet owners
who have proven their unwillingness
to comply with current rules, butI
am equally displeased with a stu-
dent government that prefers to
scrap. rather than reckon with, a
policy which a majority of the stu-
dents find favorable. No doubt it is
useless to continue discussion of
the issue, or to be bitter about the
making and make rs of this decision.
Nevertheless. I hope that the “sig~
niiicant minority" which finds this
action in its interests, will be suit-
ably transformed--aslcan nolonger
depend on my dog’s characteristic—
ally friendly expressions.

Meanwhile. dry your eyes. dog-
owners. Maybe SGA can locate the
money for 8x10 color glossies of
our pets, to mark the closing ofthis,
another chapter in The History of
Grinnell.

Mary Brown

 

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