Page Two

SCARLET AND BLACK

Friday. March 29. I963

 

 

Scarlet and Black

GmELL COLLEGE
Grlnnell, Iowa

A weekly newspaper published each Friday oi the college
:aur by ﬁle Gi-‘lnncll Commlam on Student yubllcuuons. wu.
Iinm A. Nsyill, ckrirmun. Mpxmnted for nnaouul advertising
by National Advertising Service, 1nd. colisg. Publisher] Rep-
russntutivn is mt snob Smut. Nrw York 22, my. second
class bombs paid at Grinnelll lawn. Subscription rate SLED
per school year.

Jun Hart-ii
Conrad D-Iml
have Bletz
Lynn Dellzler
.. John Wolf
nuu hawker
Len Colour-c:
_ Pour Millcr
Bub Lewis

nrnunii annonrson
Miko Gnenﬂeld
Pl! Workllun
Mimi Levine

MANAGING EDITOR
NEWS EDITOR
AssisTlmT ans aanon .
COPY nnlron ,.

sronTs EniToiz

CHIEF PHOTOGB

moor ASSISTANTS
FEATURE EDITOR .v
EXCHANGE EDYI‘OR
cmcuLATioN MANAGER A
A1] LAYOUT MANAGER

 

All letters to the Editor written for publication in the Scarlet
and Black must be typed and double spaced. No unsigned letters
will be printed. However, writers' names Will be withheld upon
requmt. The 5&3 reserves the right to shorten any letter.

A Loud Silence -- KG

A "wired-wireless” radio operation at Grinnell Col-
lege gained the approval of the college hierarchy in May of
1948. Late the following fall the ﬂickering voice of KGRW
travelled through the heating tunnels and into campus ra-
dios. The station was small in budget and operation, broad-
casting for an hour and a half five evenings a week.

KGRW grew steadily for a few years, and then its
voice slowly faded into its present silence. A driving force
behind KG’s inception was a student named Peter Hackes,
now an NBC news commentator, who found his biggest
job was to sell the feasibility of a campus radio to stu-
dents, faculty, and “most of all the administration."

KGRW started off on a small scale, but by 1951 a
staff of 130 participated in the operation of the station. A
confident station manager, Bill Calm, said in 1951, “If we
keep growing at this rate, in five years KGRW will be

Grinnell College, with every student a member." He added,‘

“The future looks high indeed for this adolescent organ-
ganism."

Calm was wrong. KGRW never really made it at Grin-
nell. Generally, the interest in a college radio remained
high. But the equipment and technical quality of the
closed-circuit broadcasting hurt the station. Also under the
“wired-Wireless" the Norris Halls couldn‘t be reached.

Last year the station manager of the now offrthe-air
KGRW proposed that the college turn to a FM set-up,
broadcasting over the air. A Board of Publications com-
mittee prepared a report rﬂavoring a FM set-up, the report
being sent to Grinnell President Howard B. Bowen.

In the absence of President Bowen, James H. Stauss,
dean of the college, presented the proposal to the faculty
which reportedly approved the program in principle. At
the time President Bowen cited the need for further study
on the program.

The Glinnell College student senate passed a resolution
in the spring of 1962 unanimously in favor of an FM sta<
tion Between 800 and 900 students last spring signed a
pet ion calling for an FM station, yet the future of an FM
college radio is not bright.

Monday President Bowen said that even should an FM
proposal be approved by a faculty committee (which he is
in the process of selecting for the purpose of studying the
FM proposal), he doubted if an FM station could be worked
into next year’s college budget. A station would necessitate
an initial outlay of between $5000 and $7000, according to
the station manager of the defunct KGRW.

President Bowennoted that if the FM proposal receives
the support of a faculty committee, he would “give it
serious consideration."

“I feel that the radio station from a public relations
stand point has little to offer us,” President Bowen added.
He noted that the station‘s value would be for educational
purposes only.

Stephen E. Wood, dean of men, in reference to a ra«
dio station said, “I don’t believe a student can accept the
responsib ty of managing and programming." His reason
for this feeling was the amount of time involved in such
work.

KGRW-FM would be a frill, another extracurricular ad-
dition to Grinnell. According to Wood, the question boils
down to “priorities," or to which extras in Grinnell is go-
ing to incorporate into its program.

We think that an FM station at Grinnell should have
priority over other frills suc'h as two or three highly ex-
pensive concerts a year or a ski slope constructed for the
Snow Carnival. An FM Station could ’be successful. It has
educational value and could also provide a welcome change
lfrom the commercial programming of most Iowa stations.

KGRW-FM is needed.

J.P.H

‘lege‘s vice president has put it,

S&B--P

To the Editor;

In a report of a coffee hour
in the 5&8 of Friday, March is,
the question was raised whether
the 5&3 exists primarily as a
crusading college newspaper or
as merely a publicity arm of the
college. You have stated that
the 8&3 should crusade. As the
article puts it: .. . . l the Sam.
should be the manipulator of.
college opinion.” I would submit
to you that the ‘SSzB should be
far more than an issue—makeP
what it is now, Our college
newspaper she be a source of
pragmatic criticism, the real
analyst of the campus issues.

Up to now, the 5&3 has taken
stands that are more emphatic
and dogmatic than pragmatic.
Therefore, the editors should
produce a better thought out
editorial policy, or, as the col-

should stop its irresponsible cru-
sade. I would suggest a positive
substitution for the sensational
unthoughts we have been get-
ting; namely, conﬁne editorial
output to the thoughtful opin-
ions of non-staff members.
There is a distinction between
thoughtful newspaper crusades
and irresponsible journalism,one
which is a pseudo-idealism of
sorts. This distinction was hinted
at in the ﬁrst paragraphs of the
letter. An example of a thought-
In! crusade in American journal-
ism is the expose by the Chica<
go Daily News of the abhorrent
conditions in Illinois mental hos-
pitals. In their thoughtful attack,

ragmatic

the editors of the Daily News
developed a powerful set of
counter-arguments to all Lhe stal-
wart positions; they were never
open to an attack by intelligent
public opinion. If you would ar-
gue that indeed the Daily News
used sensationalism, 1 would re-
tort by saying that every ounce
of their passionate attack was
backed up by a well taken, log-
lcal position.

1 would argue that the Scarlet
and Black editorials have been
lacking in such a logical back-
ing. it seems to many of us that
the editorials have rather seem-
ed take any old kind of a liberal
stand, which has. time after
time, been deemed ridiculous by
the bulk of readers. I cite the
omnipresent grumbling on cam-

pus—directed towards the 5&3.’

The editorials have not been
careful appeals to reason, as
long as passions could be arous»
ed. These actions constitute ir-
responsible journalism. For ex-
ample, great student feeling was
stirred up over the drinking
rule question, Plenty of printer’s
ink. miles of banner headlines,
and almost no real discussion of
the issues.

in reality, the drinking rule

position, if properly publicized!

could be very favorable to the
college trustees. It will, in fact.
make drinking on campus much
more tightly enforced. That is

c .t. .
provoked a much different ac-
tion. When Dr. Bowen replied
to the wave of hysteria that
was precipitated by the yellow
journalism campaign. the declin-
ing prestige of the college res
sulting from “widespread sensa-
tionalism” was one of his major
arguments. Remember that fate-
ful night in the Student Senate?
The student body would give
the 5&3 a ﬁrm round of aP‘
plause for some intelligent edi-
torial positions. 1 daresay, after
the gems of the past three edi-
torial pages (on elections), the
paper would get a standing ova-
tion. Not that the picture is all
bad. Articles by Dan Friedlander
and Ron Goodenow stood out
as excellent work. They stood
out because they were thought
out. But as long as the 58:3
continues to use sloppy word-
ings. their position will be hope-
lessly blurred. For example. one
only has to look at the ﬁrst line
of the article that this letter
comments on (March 15, p. 5):
“The question of Whether the
5&3 has the right to be the
‘manipulator of campus opinion."
“Manipulator” is a poor choice
Iof Words. It easily implies dem-
ugoguery, systematized propa-
gandizing efforts, and emotional
ihyper-appeals. Indeed, that ill-
chosen word implies many things
that the 581B editorials have
been. Would it be such a diﬁi-

l

 

certainly what the trustees want..Cult task to make the M the

Why was this fact not brought‘.“enlightener of campus opinion”
my {rather than the “manipulator?"

Instead of success, publicityi

Mark Schoﬂ‘

 

Blast Against Court Countered

To the Editor:

The Grimell College High
Court has been charged with
incompetence, impotency. and
acts of absurdity in a letter to
the editor in the Scarlct&Black.
These charges have come not
from outside the Court, but
from one of its own member5#
or better, emmembors. (See the
5&3 March 22).

For the record let me state
that the final decision of the
Court was 2.2, not 2.1 as Nan-
cy Lee Norton stated in her let-
ter. The decision of the Court
had been recorded in the Sec—
retary's minutes and had been
made public prior to Miss Nor-
ton’s “abstention." Furthermore.
the decision to withdraw her
vote was made after the High
Court had disbanded from its
consideration of the case.

1 am surely aware of the
nature of the community in

 

 

which we all live, as do the
other memhels of the Court.
And indeed, “all that can he
expected of any court menu
her is that he honestly try to
hear both sides of the case."
This is exactly what the High
Court was asked to do in de-
ciding' the case of Martin vs.
awsn. And I believe it was
done.

I feel that it is the responsi<

bility of each member of the-

Court, and this includes the
Men's and Women’s Primary
Courts. to listen to and decide
a case as his or her conscience
dictates; a decision not based
on partiality to one side or thel
other. but merely on the pre—
sentaticn of the facts by both
parties to the case. However, i

do not mean to exclude the fact,

that individual justices may hold
differing judicial philosophies,
but rather, that each justice

 

Sena’re Busy With Red Tape:
LiHIe Meaningful Discussion

To the Editor:

As a Senator I am continually
appalled at the lack of meaning-
ful discussion on matters before
the Senate. The issue which
precipitated my present disgust
was list night’s consideration of
the McCarral-l Act Resolution.

During the debate the Senate
saw an attempt to table the
resolution because the students
had not educated themselves.
which was defeated. Then an
amendment was proposed to
change the resolution from ad-
vacating ”repeal" of the Act to
a “reconsideration” of this Act.
The chair was overruled during
the debate on this motion to
keep the Senators debating the
issue of repeal versus reconsid~
erotion. After all this, the
amendment was withdrawn!

A mandate was then proposed
for amendment but it, too, was
withdrawn when it was pointed
out that the mandate would
cost $50 if passed. A more mod-
est mandate was proposed after
a suggestion by adviser Paul
Smith, and then an amendment

 

 

to the mandate was proposed.

This amendment to the amend-
merit was defeated; the man-
date was then passed and added
to the resolution. The repeal, re-
consideration wos again moved
and finally defeated. Then the
full resolution came up for de-
hate and not one single Sen—
ator, including myself, brought
up a single point which touch-
ed on the essence of the resoA
lution, i.e. is the McCarran Act
a danger to American freedom.

This resolution was formulated
in the hopes that ii. would slim»
ulato discussion on the Act.
Coffee hours were held, straw
votes were taken, and the cul-
mination should have come in
Senate when a rational discus—
sicn of the pros and cons of the
bill should have taken place,
Instead the discussion took the
form of legalistic maneuvers and
petty bickering.

Amendments were carelessly
introduced and withdrawn with
about the same amount of care.
This is the representative body
of mature, intelligent Grinncll
students?

Karen Adkinson

render an opinion opemmind-
edly, and in good conscience.
based on fact and rule of law.

i state in closing. that the
High Court has been and will
remain a highly competent and
responsible group of students,
seeking to do only what to them
seems right. We invite criticism
when it is justified, but we can-
not absorb unfounded attacks
based on isolated and out of
context material.

Miss Norton has cried foul.
but the umpire has thrown her-
self out.

Jim Sobic
Chief Justice, High Court

Ten Grinnellians
to Tour Tucson
Air Force Base

Seven Grinnell Air Force
ROTC cadets and three mem-
bers of the college faculty are
scheduled to ﬂy today to Tucson,
Ariz., for a three-day tour of
Davis-Monthan ‘Air Force Base.

The cadets are John C. Black,
Upton s. Ethelbah. Jr., William
D. Gerdes, Michael Miller, Willi-
am 0. Morhman, Donald D. Per
rin and Arthur H. Weyrauch.

Dale n. Terry (Registrar),
Edd w. Bowers (phys. ed.) and
Capt. Dean K. Mandeville (air
science) are also making the
tour.

The ten Grinnellians will fly
from Cedar Rapids aboard an
Air Force 054 transport air-
crrft along with 22 cadets and
four ROTC staff personnel from
the State University of low at
Iowa City.

At Davis-Monthan, the visitors
wiu see demonstrations of air-
craft and equipment currently
used at the Strategic Air Com—
inand base.

A trip highlight will be a tour
of a Titan missile site. The ca-
dets and faculty members will
return by plane to Cedar Rap-
ids March :31.

 

 

