SCARLET AND ILACK

 

Scarlet and Black

Gallium. COLLEGE
‘Grinnell. Iowa

A weekly newspaper published each Friday ol the col-
lege yerr by the Gnuuell Committee on suiuen: Publica-
lion-I. Laird n. Barber, chairman. Represented for
national Advertising by National Advertising serme, inc,
College Publishers Representative, )5 East sour Slreel.
New York 22, N.Y. Second class postage Paid at Grinnell.
Iowa. Subscripnon rnlc $4.50 per school year.

, Lynn nemlcr
Jim Mclnrym
. Joli.- won

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BUSINESS MANAGER .
MANAGING colrou

The north campus social chairman and soutll campus
:oclal chairman asked house council and baffleboard members
or a pledge to enforce open room policy last Sunday. Their
reasons were tllat they could not take responsibility for an
unenforced open room program this semester and that the
college was in serious danger of losing the program if such
a pledge were not made.

Yesterday, the two chairman met with the social planning
board to decide the fate of open rooms this semester. The
rogram of open rooms was extended to all but the four
lialls—Haines, South Younker, Dibble, and Langan—which
failed to guarantee enforcement.

The action has had some unfortunate aspects. First,
there was no claim from the administration that college of-
ficials were any more seriously concerned with enforcement
procedures recently than in past semesters.

Second, there was no pressure from the administration
for a statement of this nature if open rooms were to be
preserved; the possibility that a new dean of men might review
the program next fall and the fact that no opens were sched-
uled during the interim session (nor have there been any
during past interims) were the only “threats.”

Third, the action was poorly timed. House councils were
iven only a few days to decide whether to sign the pledge.
ad a similar proposal been raised later in the semester,

after open roolns for this semester had been scheduled and
assured, there would have been time to discuss and weigh
the alternatives.

Fourth, the purpose of the proposal was not explained
adequately. The result was widespread uncertainty in many
balls. Many house council members simply didn’t want to

ledge themselves to be ubiquitous patrolmen. Others felt
hat the pledge implied previous laxity ill enforcement Others
didn‘t feel a pledge by this year’s house councils would
guarantee a continuation of enforcement next year.

The Board of Trustees, however, has never spelled out
what steps would be requisite to making the present experi»
mental program permanent. Perhaps the reason for the unfor'
tunate present situation is that no one knows the exact mature
qualities we are supposed to be displaying. ls student re-
sponsibility to be measured by student ability to strictly en-
force present rules? Should we enforce less strictly and see
that rumors of the “irresponsible minority” aren’t spread? Or
are there other qualities the administration and the Board
of Trustees would like us to manifest?

Most students want open rooms to continue; at present
no one is sure of what we are supposed to do to insure their
continuation. J

W

Students tend to be very short-sighted when they look
[or the answer to Grinnell’s open dorm policy. Although they
can say a great deal concerning the situation, the attitude
prevails that the less done about it the better.

The head social chairman of North and South campus
must be applauded for what appears to be outstanding courage
along with an impressive amount of insight. They were not
afraid to admit that their program would most likely fail
to function properly under existing conditions. Neither did
they hide the fact. that responsible action involved positive
student enforcement. Theirs was a lonely action of self-
respollsihility. ‘

Students were shocked, at first, that they were being
called upon to act. Many had failed to acquaint themselves
with the concept that positions of leadership demanded more
than the acceptance of pUSlt10n#f01‘ in the past year there
have been many accepting positions, and few giving leadership.

The idea of students affirming that they would take that
responsibility of enforcing open dorms caused a lot of static
across campus. But, by the end of the week the majority
of students had indicated that they were willing to take the
responsibility for their positions in a new effort to enforce the
open dorm policy. If such action can be carried out, it will
add to the value of the policy itself and will undoubtedly
solve some of its problems. Perhaps in time it will lead to
an expanded and improved program.

Those who refused to affirm a position of enforcement
and gave no reason for this refusal were able to lose them-
selves in lofty phrases about the demands of the proposition,
or about self made theories on rules in general. (This does
not include those halls which didn’t sign the o iginal state-
ment out drew up propositions of their own indicating their
desire to continue enforcement.) But those refusing to sign
any document could not hide the simple facts. Their refusal
illustrated that these individuals were not willing to direct,
themselves toward the responsible action that their positions
represented.

Friday. Februory I4

Letters to the Editor

Abernathy Relates Editorial on Interim Session and 11A

T0 the Editor:
The editorial in the last 8&3
seemed to carry its thrust
along two main lines: (1) The
underclassmen (freshmen and
sophomores) feel little incen-
tive or necessity to study dur<
ing the interim session, since
there are no individually ogient—
ed interests; (2) the possible
interests of the juniors are con»
slructed by the requirements
of the JLA exam. In both cases
the result is a wasted interim
because of a lack of individual
focus in the session itself. I
would suggest rather that there
may be a lack of individual
focus in the individual himself.
Dr. Kuntz’s letter last week
offers the answer to point l~
“The job of learning to be your
own boss. . . . is difficult,” Col-
lege is the place to learn both
the good and the bad of wasted
time; we should stress the
promise of the interim.

With respect to point 2, 1
think the editorial has gone
awry. The JLA syllabus does
not restrain interests; indeed,
its value lies precisely in its
wide applicability, its possibil-
ity, its openness. In terms of
the purposes of the examina-
tion, this year’s syllabus was,
in my opinion, very good.

Essential elements of

Tom Fullmer /
Miscellany and Digression

This past week the North and
South Campus Social Chair-
men have proposed a new ap-
proach to rule enforcement
which could set a precedent
for not only the Grinnell can-l,»
pus but perhaps for all socie-
ties which experience problems
in rule enforcement. The social
chairmen have run up against
the impossbility of the contin-
uation of the openrdorm pro-
gram in the light of the failure
of students to live by and en-
force the rules under which the
program was set up.

As a last ditch effort to save
the openrdorm program, they
have distributed a pledge to be
signed by the members of the
house councils and baffleboards
of each hall. By signing the
pledge these students would
agree to accept thalr responsi-
bility for enforcing the open-
dorm rules as listed in the stu»
dent handbook.

Thus all problems concerning
enforcement would be solved
by the signing of a pledge
which would commit 'the
signees to Carry out the jobs
which they have previously
been selected to fulfill. Tile pos-
sibilities for this type or ap
proach are almost unlimited.

I would suggest that, as a

three schemes of order could
be mastered in two or three
days' reading; the lectures giv»
on were adequate to cement the
ideas and to suggest the possi-
bilities inherent in the ideas.
The bulk of the preparatory
task demanded Creative and
imaginative understanding of
previously learned knowledge
as related to new categories of
historical importance. The task
not only permitted but also de
manded some individually ini-
tiated focus. A student with
ideas about his major academic
interests and their relation to
the currents in intellectual his-
tory should have been well pre
pared. The interim session pro-
vided the opportunity and the
incentive for an imaginative
widening of personal interests.

it is important that there
were no correct answers to the
exam; students with a sense of
intellectual continuity should
have completed the test easily.
if the junior student desires to
he liberally educated, then the
interim and exam were oppor-
tunities:

It seems that academic de-
sire is present in students with
a sense of their own individual
focus. The focus and corres-

the pending desire must come from

safeguard, pledges might be
distributed to these same peo
ple which would pledge them to
uphold their obligations to en-
force thc regulations of the
open-dorm program.

If this plan succeeds in sav-
ing the open dorm program it
might also be used whenever
students feel enforcement of
other rules might be desirable.
Pledges might be distributed
which deal with fireworks,
liquor, or quiet hours which
would pledge the house counr
oils and baffleboards to enforce
these or any other rules which
appear in the handbook.

A more radical step would be
to have all students sign
pledges obligating them not to
break specific rules listed in
the handbook. This Would mean
that agencies for student en-
forcement could be done away
with, On second thought, the
lack of student enforcement
would not be a radical change
at all.

Just imagine the tremendous
effect such a pledging program
could have in solving problems
of all Societies. Corruption of
the police could be solved by
having all policemen sign a

FULLMER—
Continued on Page 5

 

 

responsible people on the spot. Perhaps it was an unusual
place for them to find themselves, but the reaction has been
more than interesting. It speaks not only to individual prob-
lems of leadership on campus, but also to the overall com-
munity “problems" of Gl-innell. Let’s hope that at least a
substantial part of the student body willing to comlnit itself
to responsible leadership will follow up with responsrble

 

Let’s face it! The action of the social chairmen put

action.
Ll)

 

within the student. If that atti-
tude is lacking, then most 0!
Grinnell‘s highest values (in-
cluding the interim) are prob
ably wasted,

The further issue (implicit in
the editorial) is how can the
student acquire individual focus
and a desire for a liberal edu-
cation? I have no answer. I
said, however, that if a sludellt
desires to be liberally educated.
then the interim is valuable.
It is invalid to undercut the
worth of the interim by porno
ing out that some students are
not individually focused. The
solution to a lack of this kind of
attitude lies on a deeper level
than changing or scrapping the
interim.

Bill Abernathy

Students Suggest
Leaders, Citizens
Respond By Doing

To the Editor:

The AWS Board and thl
CofHP were this week asked to
Sign a pledge stating that they
would, from now on, enforce
the open dorms policy. when
this statement was passed out,
it was asked how it could be re-
written so it would “ring bet-
ter" with the administration. It
was also made clear that the
signature of the president on
this document does not in any "
way obligate him to consider
enforcement of any other rules.
Maybe the time to stuff ‘ln‘
boxes is over and the time to
act is overdue. The concepts
of citizen and leaders have
gone from our community and
need to be revived.

The enforced policy of the
Grinnell community is L0 let
anything occur so long as it
does not visibly and directly in-
jure another persons. The con-
cepts of Grinnell College, acar
demic community, and society
do not enter our minds any
more. Let us try to be citizens
in the largest sense, ie. pre-
serve ond protect the ideals.
which include the rules, of the
community.

“As a starter it is suggested
that all known violators be re-
ported and dealt with in the
institutionalized manner. Fur~
that, it is suggested that the
members of the community
carry out their responsibility '
m that community. Responsi-
bility is something you do.

Allen Egloff
David Golden

Plan Discussion

Dr. Howard Burkle and the
Reverend Robert De'wey or
First Congregational Church in
Grinnell will engage in a panel
discus'smn of “Adieism and
Faith” in Younker Lounge at
7 o'clock on Monday evening.
There will be an opponunily lor
students to question and coln<
ment upon the ideas presenled.
Everyone is welcome.

 

