 

Representation is key

The recent conﬂict between the SGA and the student
members of the CSL raises many intricate questions con»
cerning the rights and responsibilities of students appointed
to campus committees dealing directly with student life, It
seems clear that what is really at issue here is not the boycott
policy, but rather governance and representation The
question must be asked, what responsibility does an ap
pointed member to a committee have to represent the
opinions of the appointing body?

Under the original guidelines of the student life com-
mittees, SGA appoints four students to the CSL. Two other
students also sit on the committee, one a member of the SGA
cabinet and the other a member of the Joint Board We feel
that under the present guidelines, SGA, as the appointing
body, has, if it wishes to exercise it, the power to recall those
students it appoints. The power to appoint clearly implies
the power to recall.

THE COMMITTEE on Student Life is, in itself, a
microcosm of the community: students sit, as do faculty
members and members of the administration, each
representing their section of the community, The student
members of the CSL are there to represent the opinions and
best interests of their constituents—the student body

How does one determine the opinions of the student body?
From the only organization established to represent such
opinion, howsoever successfully, the SGA. For the student
members to consciously disregard the opinions expressed by
the SGA implies a disregard not only for the opinions of
those who appointed them, b.lt also for the opinions of the
students the SGA supposedly represents,

THERE IS clearly something meritorious and laudable in
voting one's conscience in the face of unpopular opinion.
Congressmen do it all the timeiand then go home and get
booted in the primary. The lesson to be learned, obviously, is
that if one is appointed to a representative post, it is best to
keep in mind one’s inherent responsibility to one’s con-
stituents, This is not simply l’tical expediency, this is in
keeping with one's responsib es as a representative.

Graduation speaker

selection process wrong

Something must be done about the way the com4
mencement speaker is chosen Under the present system, the
college is likely to find itself, as it did this year, halfway
through March without a speakerr ‘

We commend Edward Wilson for graciously stepping in at
the last moment to be commencement speaker. Wilson,
originally scheduled only to receive an honorary degree, was
contacted by President Tumer after the students’ six top
choices for speakers either turned down Grinnell’s invitation,
or proved too high-priced.

WILSON, a noted socio-biologist, will undoubtedly
deliver an excellent speech. However, he was not the choice
of the students, and it is doubtful that many are even aware
of who he is. More importantly, this incident indicates the

ﬂaws in the present process of selecting a commencement
speaker. If it is not changed, chances are, next year we will
once again find ourselves late into the year without a
commencement speaker. And next time, we may not be so
lucky to get someone of Edward Wilson’s calibre to step in.

The present selection process is highly unrealistic Not
only does it move too slowly, but the people contacted are
often fantasy choices. Waiting for Woody Allen, Lillian
Hellman, or Margaret Mead to send in their almost certain
refusals is a waste of time And under the present ranking
system, their replies must be received before the next choice
can be contacted. ,

STUDENT suggestions must be solicited early in the
yearieven as early as the previous Mayo Then, the Com-
mencement Speaker Selection Committee should move
quickly to decide upon a rational choice, They should be
guided by the students’ suggestions, but also should use
their own judgment in contacting not only someone the
students want, but someone they think might reasonably be
expected to show. Instead of being hamstrung by the tedious
process of contacting choices in ranked order, the students
on the committee should be given a freer hand in determining
who is contacted, and in what order. Hopefully next year's
committee will have more luck than this year’s. And it’s not
too early to start now,

 

Regressive Dinner '78.

Doug Schultz

Strolling the solar calendar

by Doug Schultz

As I stood on the shoulder of 1-35
one day last week, waiting for the
one ride that would bring me home
|o Grinnell, I could feel the sun
pushing the thermometer up to
every degree of 83 that day,

The sun glared down on me
directly from above and bounced
olf the pavement from below, I
could feel my face turning red. A
silver Iowa silo somewhere in the
distance caught the sun's rays and
shot them through my photogray
glasses, almost blinding me. A day
later my arms received their first
official Sunburn of the year. I was
making a rather abrupt
reacquaintance with the
magnificent power of the sun,

FOR MANY of us, springtime is
a time to gel . reacquainted with
01‘ man sol whether at Sun Valley
Idaho, Palm Beach, Florida or
right here in sunny Iowa. It's an
ideal time, then, for raising one's
consc‘ ness about the Sun‘s
possib ties for a clean, safe,
relatively inexhaustible and
decentralized, egalitarian source
of energy, an alternative way of
life.

A number ol events, organized
and sponsored by various state and
national energy agencies, hap-
pening in the next month seek to do
just that. They will culminate in

 

the national celebration of solar
DolenLial SunDay on May a.

Roughly, the solar calendar for
Spring '73 looks like this:

TODAY AND tomorrow various
Grinnell College organizations and
the Iowa State Steering Committee
on Energy Sources sponsor an
alternative technology fair. A good
portion of the displays and
discussions will involve solar
energy. ll it shines, there will be a
solar cooking demonstration, as
well as Solar collectors and in-
tegrated solar, wind and wood
systems on display

The following weekend, April 15
and 16, the Community Action
Research Group in Ames is
organizing a statewide meeting of
consumer, labor, environmental
activists to discuss the status of
solar energy and Solar policies in
Iowa, as well as the formation of
a lobbying coalition.

DESPITE an intense. growing
interest in solar energy in Iowa,
which Iowans have shown through
private, corporate and some state
investment, much could Still be
done in the legislative sphere to
promote use of solar energy.

Over 30 states have passed
legislation providing some type at
financial incentive to businesses
and homeowners to encourage
their use of solar technologies.
Iowa is not among thwe states,
although certain bills, most
notably one providing a 5-year tax

 

exemption for home improvements

 

 

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crinnell, la, smlz

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_1

which utilize Solar technologies.
are in committee. A quick postcard
or letter to your senator or
representative might help to push
them out of committee.

IT IS hoped that a strong solar
action coalition would be similar to
the one which was instrumental in
[he passage of the bottle bill in the
Iowa Legislature.

Wednesday, May 3 will be Sun»
Day across the country when the
sun firsltouches our eastern shore.
In Iowa, major activities ,_are,.
organized ior Ames and luwa‘ City,‘
where the applicability and ac-
cessibility of solar power will be
demonstrated. Some examples of
activities are solar fairs, exV
planations of current solar
technology. tours of Solar homes
and buildings, sunrise religious
services and rites of celebration
reminding us of the sun's im-
portance in our cultural history.
Also, [here will be music, dances,
theatre and an examination of the
potential for converting Iowa’s
agriculture and energy depen
dance to solar uses.

DAVID Kathau. Grinnell College
student and Iormer intern with
lhe Iowa Energy Policy Council, IS
organizing SunDay activities for
Grinnell. Among the activities
might be a display of the drawings
and other plans of Grinnell’s own
design for a solar home, produced
by an independent study group of
students and professors.

Well, that about wraps up the
calendar {or the month. I had in-
tended to write some sort of
philosophical diatribe, in»
corporating economics and science
to illustrate the necessity for
development and use of solar
energy and other alternative
sources. But, I think, I might do
better to let the above events Speak
for themselves and encourage all
sun worshippers. admirers and
skeptics to attend.

"Coﬂonmouth”
Rock and Country Rook

4 Guitars and Drums

1‘ and Sat,
April 7th and 8th

Maury’s lounge
Next to the Cinema

 

