Page Two

Scarlet and. Black

GRINNELL COLLEGE
Grinnell. law

A weekly newspaper published each many or lhc Col»
Iegc Year by the Gnnuell Committee on Sllldcnl Public
lions chrcsclllcd for nlllionul ndvelllsillg by Nuhonul
verllslng Senlce, Inc, College Pllhllshers Represenlh .
ls Easl smh Succt. New Yank 22. NY. Second alas» posh
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school year. hm pm subscnpnons.

Lynn Denzler
.llm Melulyre

Jolln \Volr

. mmhu Post

Susan nylor

, . Cynlmn Ems!
. Bunny Kinz, Rum chum
_ Tom Hartman

Ann showhlier, Nancy Gromko,
rum clay. susuu Gelher

. . Sieve cusey. Kenton Clymer
Dick Lovell, Nick Nouns. Pml| 'l’rlgg

emron .
nusmess MANAGER
MANAGING EDITOR ,
copy when .
NEWS EDITOR .
FEATURE EDITOR .
srohrs culioas
HEAD PHOTOGRAPHER
prs REPORTERS

SPORTS REPORTERS

Throwing Houseparll'es

Society has several excuses for hanging on to worn-
out tradition — among them sentiment and neglect. But
when sentiment becomes a hinderance, one hopes that
necessity and practicality will take over. Such it should
be in the case of campus house parties.

Every year the ivy-covered annals of Grinnell Col~
lege living are dusted off again and the houseparty
rears its faithful head. Each house on campus is allotted
a sum of money to carry out its social obligations; stu-
dent representatives are chosen within halls to spend
that money. It is traditionally assumed that a major
portion of the pocketbook must go for the semester hall-
fest which less than half the hall residents will attend
and toward which a much smaller percentage will con-
tribute any time or effort.

South Campus has recognized, to some extent, the

social stagnation that house party imposition brings
about. Last year the majority of women’s halls sched-
uled one such party, rather than the normal two, and
attempted to spend the money on more original and re-
.warding social events.
‘ But on North Campus, house councils begin each
year as they did the last — making plans for the {all
houseparty. It is time for campus social leaders on both
sides to re-evaluate the houseparty system in their
halls and to make active plans to take this festering
thorn of worthless activity from under the campus so-
cial skin,

When houseparties are planned each resident will
be represented in the expenditure column, but as many
as half the hall members will never benefit from this
expense by actually attending the event, Money allo-
cated to the balls is meant for each individual and all
efforts should be made to spend it as such. Although
each hall contains residents that would not attend any
event planned, there is a definite need for rte-evaluation
concerning how many are really interested in finding
dates to attend the two annual houseparties.

Even more frequent than the non~attender is the
hall member who sits back and waits for the social
chairmen to “throw the party.” He won’t lift a finger
throughout all the planning and decorating procedure,
yet once the crepe paper has sagged and the quad is
locked, his cries of complaint are loud. No handbook
states that the social chairmen are elected as sole party
givers. If this is the case in your hall, the best place
to throw your party would be right out the lounge win-
dow.

Grinnell’s limited physical environment has been
more than worn out during the decades of party plan-

ning on campus. and the modern social chairman is al-
, .
t,

SCARLET AND BLACK

Friday. October 2, 1964

Letters to the Editor
Kohlmah Views North Campus Altitude, Hall System

The 1964 encampment is now
over and I suppose much will
he wnuen about it by students
and faculty who attended,
However, as I understand it, its
main purpose was to serve as a
vehicle of communication be
tween students and faculty~ad-
ministration. Thus the impres-
slons that it made on students
who did not attend is of pri»
mary importance to its goal.
As such a student, I write this
letter.

It would seem that the major
issue is that ol the attitude on
North Campus, and what steps
should be taken to make the
climate more conducive to the
educational goals oi the college
community. It is argued that
the attitude on North Campus
is such that discussions of
rules, social life. and seiual
activities dominates or com-
pletely excludes discussions
that would lead to intellectual
challenges. This, I feel, is only
half true, and I would hope
that at the encampment this
was discovered. The chants
concerning the digestive habits
of Smith, Clark, or Langan, in

 

an attempt to start a Water
tlghl. is louder and travels much
Iurther than a discussion of
Shakespeare, Most of the fac-
ulty was aware of the water
fight, few were aware of the
dlscussion. This is not to say
that obsene chants can be ex
cllsed because inlellectual dis-
cussion occasionally does take
place, or that North Campus is
anywhere near its educational
value capacity. Rather that
both horseplay and academic
discusslon can, should, and do
exist side by side on North
Campus. However, not enough
of the latter does exist, and this
is caused mainly by a mis
directed attitude. An attitude
which generally runs along the
lines of once I czoss Eighth
Avenue i can forget about studr
les and blow steam via the low
and often Violent humor that
has become an obvious part of
North Campus.

The next step is what do we
do to change this attitude, so
as not necessarily to exclude
horseplay, but to place more
emphasis on an exchange of
ideas. 1, myself, at this time,

 

Fresh Look at Upperclassmen:
Finds Luck of Maturity There

Dear Editor:

As an incoming freshman, a
great disappointment has over-
come me. Where are the ma-
ture. responsible upperclass-
men? The college catalog lists
one of the major objectives of
the college as developing “cow
sciousness of social responsibil»
ity” and "service to his fellow-
men.” Is the preping program
man’s ,social responsibility?
Are beanies a service to his fel-
lowmen? Is the freshman show-
ing concern for his comrades
through dirty telephone greet-
ings? The answer is obvious.

This immaturity is found in
other aspects of upperclassmen
behavior. Take, for instance.
the library. And it seems some-

one is. piece by piece. Why
were the Innocent freshmen re
quired to sign pledge cards
whlle the Guilty upperclass~
men were not? Consider also
the true purpose of the library
and its actual role on campus
A library is a place to gain
knowledge, but Burling is a
place to gain something else.
15 “What are you doing to-
night, honey?" an academic
question.

By pointing out this imma-
turity. I hope the upperclass-
men will reconsider their atti-
tudes, and I call upon my own
class to lead them in estab-
lishing a new, mature conv
sciousness.

Sincerely
A sad freshman

 

ways tempted to look beyond the Iowa cornfields for
a new and better site, An off-campus houseparty can be

 

great fun, but wandering over the hills and rivers of
Iowa just for the sake of finding ah off—campus site
because “that’s what the guys want” is impractical. The
problems of transportation, decoration, women’s hours,
and food transfer are often neglected until the plans are
well under way and the party starts to fall apart before
it ever begins. What might have started out as a mar-
velous idea on paper, becomes nothing but frustrating
fact once the party day arrives.

Each semester the social activity calendar is over-
crowded with events. Yet four week-ends must be
set aside so that the houseparty schedule can run its
course. It would seem that houseparties wore out their
welcome on campus some time ago, and what exists
now is more an obligatory maintenance project rather
than a desired program. We would suggest that if
a houseparty can’t be run by a full-house for a full-

house that the deck be reshuffled and some new deals ‘

made.
LD

 

“Am not about to propose an

answer. Because of this, my oh-
jections to what I consider an
extreme proposal may be weak~
ened.

l believe that the complete
revamping of the hall system
would be a mistake. First of all
as already established and Orv
ganlzed subgroups of North
Campus they could be em-
ployed as workable units in the
process of reorienting the gen-
eral North Campus attitude.
Here are already organized
house councils or larger groups
that the administration could
meet with. They further reprev
sent a vehicle for a unique so-
cial system that neither frater-
nities nor dormitories can
match. They are not so indo-
pendent of each other that
friendships and interchange of
ideas do not span their bound- ,
aries. On the other hand, they
are introverted enough so that
they can serve as the basis for
a social life. It should be 1‘?

-membered that South Campus

does not have to serve as a cen-
ter for social functions. A less
important attribute of the hall
system is the intramural pro‘
gram which is so important
to our Physical Education Pro-
gram. This of course is a minor
lssue, but Should not be over<
looked. We happen to have a
strong and Worthwhile athlelic
program which would be drasti-
cally changed by a switch to a
dormitory system.

There are of course many
weaknesses to the hall system.
Perhaps they have become ov-
erly introverted. The familian
ity one acquires after living
four years with the same group
may to a certain extent dp
tor the exchange of ideas. Tho
social llfe they promote may
cause unnecessary [rustrations
with some of its members.
Worst of all their introverted-
ness might very well breed this
anti-academic attitudes

None the less, the hall syo
tem is a unique situation which
Grinnell can and should be
proud of. Faced with the choice
between a well-run hall system
and a well-run dormitory sys-
tem, I would prefer the hall
system. Further. there is. of
course, no assurance that a
switch to a dormitory system
would actually solve any of the
North Campus problems. It is
easy to say that the dormitory
system on paper looks better
than the hall system as it is,
but don’t forget that on paper
the hall system looks pretty
good. Especially the fact that
it represents workable unit!
through change, if needed, can
be promoted.

Jeffrey Kohlman

 

