Friday. February 20. two

} Root

Continued from page 8

more girls won't Join in com-
petitive nthlctics, even it only
iii volleyball, lt soon becomes
:ircsomc to coerce girls into
playing for their own benefit.

imagine this — a volleyball
at your fingertips (or any other
convenient place) a beautiful
stitrup for a team mate to spike
into the net — a glorious drive
for an offensive shot that
misses the ball entirely, but
manages to inflict tremendous
damage on the knees . . . a
really powerful serve by a
team mate that lands in the
middle of your back . . . even
a head-on collision with the
girl standing next to you. Al-
though usually you can just
stand back and Watch the ball
l'lud right between the two of
you — Still, it's a natural high!
How can you pass it up?

,éressures E

Q
gglﬁselp wit-l. V

ﬂﬁ bag 9

Getting
Married

or looking for a gift for
someone who is?

See our lines of wedding

announcements.
ies, and gifts.

EMPHASIS

905 Main

accessor-

chl week: Look for a per;
stiiinl interview with the Smith
Smiling Six, tips on how
to stay lit, and how winning
has affected their lives at Grin-
liell. Here are this week's offi-
cial standings:
Smitll 5 0 Loose 2
James 5 i Rawson 2
Langan z 2 Mears 3
South 1 1 Main 4

summuumwwrﬁm

Concerned Citizens

Sponsor Dinner

Gl'innell Concerned Citizens
are sponsoring a benefit gourmet
dinner and entertainment
program to help end the war, Fri-
day. Feb. 27, at 6:00 p.m. in the
Veterans Memorial Center.

Proceeds from the dinner will
go to pay for peace ads
previously placed in area news
papers and for future local anti-
war efforts Dinner will be served
from 6:00 to 7:00 pm. in order
that persons who Wish to attend
the Concert on campus may leave
early.

All members oi the campus
community are cordially invited
to attend. Tickets may be pur-
chased from Mrs. Joseph F. Wall
l236-4G77) or Mrs. Wayne Olson

(236-3528) or at the door at $3.50 1 A“ of the

for adults, $2.50 for students, and
$1 ,00 for children.

Entertainers for the evening
will be Kim Thomas, voice, and
Drew McConnomy, guitar;
Karen Smith, guitar, and Celia
Wyckoff, recorder, and Drs
Gene Wubbels and Karl DeLong,
guitar and voice

JD'S RESTAURANT
vzzlo Main

Mon. - Sat. 5 to lo phi.
SundayiNoon to lo punt

Washington’s Birthday

Specials

CAR COATS, S-M-L, Values to $30

SWEATERS. 3440, Values to U2

New SID

Now 55

VIRGINIA'S

826 59h Ave.

SCARLET AND BLACK

Page Three

The Nature of a Liberal Education: Port 2
The Problem of Definition is Raised

A definition of a liberal
education is our next concern.
Let us examine the essential
points of the goals or definitions
of such an education as given by
five well-known colleges:

Amherst: A broad education,
knowledge of some field in depth,
intellectual competence, and
awareness of problems and
methods.

Carleton: Excellence of in
tellectual training, breadth of"

to require these; and as for the
development of character, in
eluded in the liberal education
by most colleges, very little is
done about it as a requirement.
Again, requirements change
from time to time, most Of them
with respect to detail, but some
of them more drastically.

The difficulties may result
from (a) the fact that the subject
of education is so complex that
t is theoretically and practically

understanding, personal and? nadvisable to frame a single

social responsibility, com- '
mitment to goals which extend
beyond the sell.

Oberlin: Academic excellence,
Search for truth, a sense of social
responsibility, moral integrity,
social justice, service to others.

Williams: Development of
those qualities of the mind and
of character which encourage
creative, independent, and
responsible thought, and a taste
ufintellectual adventure.

Grinnell: Aims (a) to help
shape the character of the
student and make him a better
human being so he can achieve
a personally satisfying and
worthwhile life, (b) to guide him
toward intelligent and respon-
sible citizenship, and (c) to
prepare him for a useful career.

above colleges
profess to have as their aim a
liberal education, but we find
variation in emphasis from one
definition to another; and
although there is something
which is common in the above
definitions, there are differences
also. So since me various
definitions given cannot be
refuted (except on logical
grounds), their diversity may
result from something else,
namely, to the differences in
what is considered to be a good
education for a student.
Moreover, what the definitions
say is one thing, what the colleges
require is another. For example,
nothing is mentioned in the aims
about physical education, very
little about the appreciative or
fine arts, and only two of them
include preparation for a career;
yet all the above colleges seem

GLASSES

Made and Repaired
in Our Laboratory

Contact Lenses

Cases and
Solutions

Eyes Examined
Phone 235-3979

E. J. Jensen, 0.0.

OPTOMETRIST

Across from Post Office

Closed Yiiurr. PM.
and Sol, PM.

definition. or from (b) unclear
thinking; and if (a) is the case.
then the expression “liberal
education" had better be left
ambiguous or undefined. 0n the
other hand, terms should be clear
and have definite meanings;
otherwise communication
becomes difficult, What is more.
it is the professed function of
college educators to enable
students to think clearly and
definitely; and if students cannot
find clarity and definiteness in
the definition of a liberal
education, which is the first
principle and serves as a guide
to their various educational
activities, where else would they
find it?

So there are arguments in
favor of and arguments against
a single definition, Specifically,
the following arguments seem to
show that a single definition is
not advisable.

l. Students go to colleges for
different reasons, some to
become engineers, others
lawyers, other bankers, others
teachers and so on. So why have
a single defin' ion of a liberal
education for all?

2, The material, intellectual.
and spiritual strength and
richness of a nation depend on
individuals With a variety of
goals. The same education would
encourage uniformity and even
mediocrity; and such an
education is the mark of a dictar
torship rather than of a demo
racy.

3. Those affected by a liberal
education are the students, and
it is they (or their parents) who
pay the bill; so it is they who
should decide what to learn. If
their aims and desires differ, so
should their education,

4. The so~called “require
ments" for a liberal education
are determined by a majority
vote in iaculty meetings, and the
changes in those requirements
are result irom changing faculty

pennem

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SELECT FROM 10,000
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groups and changing special
interests and not to any obiective
standards. So the student is vic-
timized by power struggles and
campus politics among the
faculty, and his educational
needs are not determined by an
objective standard. It so, there
should be no requirements, but
freedom of choice.

5 Usually, each professor is a
specialist in one field and has no
integrated knowledge of all the
fields. So even if we assume that
there is such a thing as a single
education which would be the
best thing for all, still no man
exists who knows enough to re-
veal it to us. In the absence of
such a man, then, it would be
better to leave the decision up
to the student.

6, Most of the colleges include
under one of their two principal
aims the development of char-
acter, moral integrity, and social
responsibility, or the like. But
what morality should be, differs
from religion to religion, from
nation to nation, from individual
to individual; and to force upon
students a single morality goes
contrary to their religion or their
conscience. So it appears that it
is not the colleges' business to
teach morality. The student
should be left free to follow the
dictates of his conscience.

7. Man is a changing being, and
as his knowledge changes and in-
creases, so do his goals. To
demand a single definition is to
stop progress and the quest for
higher aims and values.

omer arguments besides the
above may be added, but these
are sufficient for our needs. We
may now turn to the corres-
ponding arguments in favor of
a single definition,

1. A liberal education Should
not be like a chameleon,
changing colors from place to
place, from time to time, from
person to person. It it is some»
thing to be prized, it must stand
for something definite; otherwise
it has no claim to superiority over
any other kind of learning, such
as one gets in a trade school.
Such education is general in
nature, not specific; and its
nature does not conﬂict with the
specific goals; on the contrary,
it adds Something beyond those
goals

2. Variety has its place, but it
is a bad substitute for excellence.
What makes a dictatorship an
evil is not just uniformity, but
had uniformity. A good education
for two students is better than
a good education for one of them
and a had education for the other,
if art has principles and does not
LIBERAL EDUCATION—

Continued on page 4

"it‘s OVER. Let us oﬂer thanks]
To British planes and Russian
tanks./ The oil, so precious
to Hie licolth/ 0: Britain
and the Commonwealth,/ ls
sale again with Erl'fish Shell./
The Ibos may not [are so
well / But Harold Wilson
says he’ll chide/ All victors

e ton genocide-J lf's curi-
our: Above the siench,/

Unfypi'cally, Lshalgwfpyngt
““‘ﬁ‘, ”‘9 Vle.w'-:D€DI:
French. a.iao s. 55"“),
N. V. IWMi

 

