 

 

Culture shock, the Grinnell version

To the Editor:

When traveling abroad, students
are often informed that sooner or
later they are bound to encounter
that infamous beast named Culture
Shock, the natural reaction
towards uniamiliar surroundings,
a Ioreign language, and different
cultural traditions. But having
experienced Culture Shock and
surviving the pressures of life in a
foreign country, I now find myself
face to face with an even uglier
beast—Grinnell Shock This beast [
was not prepared Ior. Upon
returning to Grinnell from an off-
campus semester of independent
study in Costa Rica, I had no idea
what lav in store.

At first I ignored the symptoms
which eventually became more
manifest until finally it occurred to
me that something was wrong.
Meal-time chatter bored me, the
library lights blinded me, I found
my mind wandering not through

my books but on the shors of the

Pacific and through the lush rain
forest. Old friendships were not the
same. old habits had changed, and
in short, I had changed, I began to
see Grinnell as an island, cut off
from the community And lest the
sacred god of Liberal Arts be
betrayed, I witnessed the worship
of academics, I began to notice the
lack of initiative, the lack of en-
couragement by faculty ior in-
dependent work. But, most
demoralizing of all, I realized that
few students could understand the
true meaning of education

And so, I set out to conquer the
beast. But the claws only dug in
deeper. Pre-registration, future
plans, graduate school, demands,
and expectations; all left me dizzy
I just could not put the pieces
together. Five months away had
freed me from such concerns I had
been tree and independent. Now,
once again I was being Spoonrfed
withall the ”knowledge" one could

ever desire, But it didn't taste
good, Not as good, at least, as my
first taste of field work. I had taken
a bite and wanted more.

Still unsatiated, I began to look
for other ways to approach my
predicament. Do I sit out the next
two years and wait till it‘s allover?
Do I pretend to fulfill the ideal of
every “liberal arts" student and
pursue the endless search for true
knowledgel Do I join the in
tellectual army of Grinnell and
fight ignorance the world over? Or
do I sit quietly and study while
trying to maintain the true per-
spective ol education and learning
I acquired during my absence from
Grinnell” A challenging task in the
light of grades and test scores, but
It keeps me busy And I intend to
keep busy, Grinnell Shock, like
Culture Shock, will very often
strike more than once, and often
harder the second or third time, so
they say. Hopefully, I'll be better
prepared the next time around

Robin Cha zdon

Hancher closes Grinnell

out

To the Editol Getting concerts at
Grinnell is no easy trick Ills quite
costly to Ily an ensemble out trom
New York for the sole purposes of
playing for a moo-student liberal
arts college in Central Iowa. That is
why, in most instances, Grinncll
tries to book concerts that are part
of a national or regional tour, And.
when a regional tour is not in the
making. Grinnell tries to book the
artist in other schools in the area
which makes performing In Iowa
feasible. Grinnell has been quite
active with providing other schools
in the area with name en.
tertainment and has expected the
same courtesy in return, With
University of Iowa, in Iowa City,
this has not been the case.

After a year’s absence, from the
concert scene. the legendary
“Modern Jazz Quartet is restor-
ming for a short tour In me spring.
Through previous contacts with
members or the group, Grlnnell
was able to make a personal plea

of planned concert

for an appearance at the College.
The Modern Jazz Quartet was
quite amenable to performing in
urinnell, but because tltey were
being booked exclusively by an
agency In New York We had to
work through that agency. Georgia
Dentel was able to persuade the
agency to allow the Modern Jazz
Quartet to perform for half of |heir
regular price on the condition that
we would seek the approval of
University of Iowa who had booked
the MJQ for a concert on the night
before the tentative Grinnell
periormance.

For no apparent reason, the
people at Hancher Auditorium
in Iowa City have signed the
group to an exclusive contract,
preventing Grinnell College from
booking the MJQ. The
number of students that would not
go to Iowa City because oi a per
formance in Grinnell is minimal,
but this is the primary reason Cited
by the authorities at U. of Iowa

 

 

The Scarlet & Black

second class postage paid a! Grinnell, in soil;

 

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published weekly except during holidays and vacation periods in
GrinnellCollege,(5ludentPubll'caiibns and R'adioycom

soil: ,

tee] crying“. lowa

This is a particular “stab in the
back” because Grlnnell, in the
past, has organized college vans to
travel to Iowa City to see concerts,
without even being solicited by the
concert managers at Hancher.
Perhaps the reason ior Iowa City's
irrationality is their jealousy oi
Grinnell's more prestigious
program and this act oI
belligereiicy is a preventive
mcasure Irom making our
program any more prestigious
than it 15. Who knows? Personal
pleas were put in to Iowa City, but
their decision is ﬁnal. The MJQ is
incensed, but because they are
being handled by an exclusive
booking agent, there is nothing
they can do. II you tea] at all
strongly about this matter, you
might think twice before you go to
another concert in Iowa City —Pat
Irwin. Concerts Cot-liiiiriiiaii.

To thc Editor:

In case you want to know,

my name is Ed Peace,

I got some steam to blow

'bout politicos who crow

against cheerleading squads

'cause they would seem so odd,

who say this place

shouldn‘t embrace

a thing so base

as would erase

the marvelous
Movement.

Thus goes their habblcment:

they start with a trilling event

which they misrepresent

in terms litigant

(though they
benevolent)

and to this they cement

ideologies irrelevant,

making an argument

with a liberal bent,

But thi is not to State

that we don'ttulerate

socialists and commies,

indeedplwe have all these!

All this says nothing more

but that we will disbar

all those who aren't spectacular

gains or the

say they're

 

 

i {at cultivating the singular.

 

 

 

hi, it. com
Student coordiniror
Grinnell college
trinnall, Iowa sollz

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The above letter from American Airlines was sent to the Student
Coordinator’s oliice at our request alter many hours of work by our
office to arrange some type or discount night service for students
[flying East over Break. We regret that our efforts did not meet with
success, and that information provided by American led us to in
correctly advertise the availability of this Ilight. We are currently
negotiating with both American and United for charter service
over Spring Break We hope that these efforts will meet \iilth more
success. Our apologies to all those who were inconvenienced or
whose hopes were dashed by our eagerness. Mott Cohen. Stiiilcllt

Coordinator.

Gay group provides support

To the Editor:

The Gl’innell College Gay
Community exists primarily to
build strength, solidarity, and
pride among the gay minority at
Grinnell because we recognize the
dlfficultics encountered in coming
out. particularly in a small closed
community like Grinnell, no hope
next semester to increase our
efforts at providing support and
encouragement to those gays at
Grinncll who have not yet or who
are in the process of coming out,
The Grinnell College Gay Coma
munity Center, located in Smith
Annex (across the loggla Irom
Smith Hall) will (hopefully)
continue next semester to be open
Monday through Thursday, 7 p m
to 9 p.m,, and we welcome anyone
who is even slightly interested to
stop by and look at some of the
literature or ask questions about
the Gay Community. Meetings oi
the Gay Community will continue
next semester, being announced
periodically in the memo as they
have been this semester, and new
people are more than welcome to
show up at any meeting, it only to
listen,

The Grinnell College Gay
Community also exists in order to

force the straight community to
recognize the fact lhat there are
gays at Gl-iniiell and. therefore, to

their own attitudes toward bi- and
homosexuality. To educate and
liberate the straights on campus.
we plan to sponsor at least one
speaker and at least one film
(probably morel next semester;
we encourage the entire campus
community to attend these events

Although it is generally easier to
be gay in America today than it
was ten or twenty years ago, we
have, nevertheless, noticed that
the increasingly conservative
trend at Grinnell ta trend which
many Grinnellians seem to have
observed, but too few have con
demoed) is or
the old. pre-sixties hostility, We
are, moreover, Sle of a society
that assumes everyone to be
heterosexual, a society that does
not permit individuals to explore
their potential sexuality to the
fullest extent. As noted lesbian
author Rita Mae Brown has
remarked: “It's a very simple
connection to understand that a
society or individual who denies
love is a step away from denying
life,”

 

Adam Levine

GRINNELL TRAVEL
WISHES YOU

A HAPPY

AND SAFE

HOLIDA Y SEASON

4:

0

encourage straights to confront I

ding a renewal of‘

15‘

 

