The Scarlet & Black

 

-.“T0wrlie” T

cm, the mu’sic man

g" (“He’s probably the most valuable person KDIC bas . ”’
—]on Herman, station manager

by Susan ouiiey

Not long afteranswering an ad in
Grinnell’s local newspaper asking
“Do you want to be a news person,
a disc jockey?" Tom Mason found
himself in training at KDIC,
Grinnell College’s radio station, He
soon acquired his license, became
adept in handling most of the
“station’s equipment, and when the
position oi music director opened
up, enthusiastically applied.
Mason found, however, that

.although he was the only serious
applicant, “thlngs were kind oi
touch and go:” he was a “townie”
applying for a student position.

.ventually, though, the student
radio and publications committee

gave him the position, seeking‘

through him to reach out to the

town.
After graduating irom Grinnell

Senior High School, Mason worked
in construction. Like many other
healthy young males of the early
seventies, though, he soon received
a drait notice and, partially
because his father happened to be
on the draft board, decided to serve
.he minimum two years.

sari

Hamburgers, Fries.
Shakes, Ice Cream

OUIK CHEF

5th & Main

During his iirst year, he unr
derwent infantry training, and
then was assigned to “play tin
soldier," guarding the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier in Washingtnn,
DC The second year he spent
“molding" in South Korea, thirty
miles south of the demilitarized
zone. He “grew to resent the are
my." found it “harassing." and
when his hitch was up. returned to
Grinnell, the good life, and KDIC.

Although receiving no pay as

muSlc director (because he is not a
student). Mason takes on
everything from maintaining a
record library and handling the
record lists, to working with
damaged equipment, running a
radio show, and doing occasional
janitorial work. He sees himself as
an element or continuity at the
station, making sure that
everything runs smoothly in the
face oi changing student anr
nouncer schedules. He hopes to
broaden the station’s scope to
make it good listening for the town
as well as the campus. He finds his
Work challenging and calls it “a
line experience."

Mason has encountered several
problems at the station, the most

Eyes Examined
Phone 236-7502

JENSEN
OPTOMETRIS'I'S

Earl J. Jensen, 0.D.
Clark J. Jensen, 0.0.

Across from Post ottice
Closed Thorsdaypm
and Sat. p.m.

serious being record theft. In
dealing with that, he has made
entry difficult; one must ring a
buzzer or pound a little before
Someone on the inSide will unlock
the door. At the end of the 1976
spring semester, alter the students
had left, Mason arrived to take
over for the summer and found the
place a “mess, With records
heaped on the floor,” Since then, he
has constantly taught the chaotic
tendencies oi the station. stressing

order and spending much time
arranging and organizing the
records.

He notes that lack of space is fast
becoming a problem. With about
ten records coming in each day,
Mason is worried that the record
library will soon be full. Finally,
Mason has cracked down on the
“party place" image oi KDIC,
discouraging student announcers
irom crowding the studios with
friends, While on the air,

Jon Herman, station manager,
highly praises Mason’s work a:
KDIC. “He’s probably the most
valuable person that KDIC has,”
he commented. “He sort of snuck
into the position and is doing a
great iob," Next year. however,
“if a competent student wants the
job, Tom may not have first crack
at it due to the Student
Publications and Radio Comr
mittee’s rules on staffing."

When Mason runs the nine to

Step up to

midnight show, he plays “just
about everything," starting With
blues, moving into country and
blue grass, and then concluding
with rock He especially likes
country music, and often attends
area blue grass iestivals.

Mason Is satisilied with the lows
keyed social life of Grinncll, ocr
casionally going to movies, bare
hopping, or just playing cards Wlth
old friends. Also, now that he is
with KDIC, he finds himself

socializing more with students and
attending as many of the college‘s
social and cultural events as
possible,

Aside from his work at the
.station, Mason arranges sup-
plemental income and retirement
plans in the Grinnell area, His long
range plans are to maintain a
position at the station, but more
importantly, to learn, to broaden
himself through music and radio
work and, eventually, through
course work on campus,

l-lavmg grown up in Grinnell,
served in the Armed Forces, and
then returned, Mason has realized
.lhat smalltown Iowa liie is good,
and that “Grinnell is pretty
damned nice."

Want. from p. I)

The Representative asserts that by
expanding the money supply to
finance the national debt, the
government Creates still more
inllation and further erodes the
taxpayers’ purchasing power,
especially the power of low-income
people,

in addition, Crane commented,
the policy oi shortrterm tax rebates
overlooks the long-term eiiects oi
inilatioh and increased govern
ment obligations, to which there is
no end in sight. According to
Crane, the various debts, pensions
and other obligations owed by the
U.S. add up to $6 trillion, By
ceasing to be frugal, he said, the
government “is putting in hock
your iuture, "

Crane believes this irresponsible
spending of more and more of the
people’s money ultimately en-
dangers our freedom.

Turning next to the govern-
ment's primary obligation to
protect the rights of its citizens,
Crane compared the U S. govern
ment to a parasite that is killing its
host The inability to keep this
parasite in equilibrium with its
host leads to costly government
overregulation and presents a
danger to the liberties government
is supposed to preserve, he said,

Citing a recent tax bill as an
example, Crane said that Congress
is too illrlnformed and over-
burdened to understand all the
complexities oi the laws it enacts,
so it delegates its responsibility to
the bureaucrats. He thinks
bureaucracies are thus given a
free hand and proceed to usurp
executive, legislative and judicial
functions of government,

Concerning a question on the
negative income tax proposal,
Crane said he sees the idea as
theoretically good but practically
useless, since the bureaucracy
would be reluctant to scrap
existing social programs and the
Congress would be tempted to
raise the minimum income floor
every election year.

Jon Neiderbach was impressed
with the intelligence of Crane’s
views on ioreign policy, but
strongly disagreed with his ideas
on domestic policy, saying that
Crane “represents a somewhat
scary side of the U S Congress."

Gregg Edwards described
Cranes speech as very moderate,
well-presented. and a refreshing
change oipace. He said, “Speakers
should contrast each other and not
just reflect the dominant views of
the political science department
and the student body ” Noting the
low turnout, Edwards questioned
the Willingness of the campus
community to listen to opposing
points at view.

SPECIAL

V 2-4 P.M, Mom-Thurs.

Bagels and

Cream Cheese
Just 35c With This Coupon

ERUM titlii

Try Whole Wheat and

C Hamburger Buns . . .

JD’S RESTAURANT :
COCKTAILLOUNGE .

Elevatedalow Main .

DANISH iﬂAlD BAKERY

818 Fourth Avenue ,

 

