This Week We Got letter

EDITOR’S NOTE!

Never in the recent history
of the 58:3 have our readers
turned out so much yardage
of “letters in the editor" as in
the last week or two. Nor, we
might add, has so much or
what they have had to say
been quite so relevant.

Nature of lhe Problem

so the Edith"

A curious incident occurred
last week which, in view oi the
actions oi some students, may
be regarded as almost amusing.
Mrs. Low, Dean oi Wonien, ap<
parently not satisfied with only
an administrator’s view of the
student problem, aised a num-
ber of philoso hical issues in
the hope of gai ng some philo-
sophical insight into the causes
and the principles involved in
the Grinnell College student
problem. i say amusing, because
there we have an administrator
with perception, intelligence,
refinement, sociability, execu-
tive ability, and a successiul
career who shows humility be-
fore the great problems oi hu-
man nature and is not airaid to
seek more knowledge and un-
dcrstanding betore translating
it to action; and in contrast, we
seem to have a number at stuv
dents on this Campus who, not
having yet begun to earn a liv-
ing and iace the hard realities
oi lite, have already decided
and therefore think they know
what is right for Grinnell Col-
lege. So, since what is right is
good, it lollows that these stu-
dents know what is good for
Gl'innell College; and if so,
they must know the nature oi
the Good.

0h Socrates, 0h Socrates,
where art thou Oh Socrates!
Alas, you have lived behind the
times. for here at last we have
found youths at. Gril'lnell Col-
lege who have once and for all
caught a glimpse of the nature
of Good. But peace be with you
in your grave, Icr your mission
has finally ended in triumphant
fulfillment,

Easy to end it with “Amen“,
yet too easy a solution. A care-
In! reading oi last week’s sail;
reveals an abundance oi honor-
liic, condemning, emotional,
and other such terms, dense
with heat but void oi light; tor
example, such terms as ”pro-
gressive," "initiative,” “signiﬁ-
cant r e i o r m," “liberalized
rules," “new ideas" and the like,
not to speak oi phrases taken
out oi context and used to sup»
port a theory. Progress or init—
iative may be towards a good
as well as a bad goal, and the
same applies to the others. or
course, this is not altogether an
indication oi wrongness or
rightness. What’s behind the vi-
olationsl

Generically, the usual Cams

plaints by some collegc stu-
dents. Times have not changed
The general terms are “rules"
and “morality,” and the species
are premarital relations, no
hour restrictions or almost so,
a place in the sun, an outlet for
discontent and frustration, a
slight amount of radical agitaa
tion, and many others too nu-
erous to mention. A note or
sympathy tor you dear students:
I too participated in a general
student strike at Columbia Col-
lege in the 1930's tor a reason
I never knew, and my share oi
“rebellion" throughout has been
more than average.

Specifically, there seems to
be some justiiicstion for the
student's violation. It may run
thus: hour restrictions are main.
ly ior preventing premarital re-
lations; some students have
such relations without penal-
ties; others have been caught
and heavily penalized; this is
an injustice; besides, morality
is the student’s business, and
he is mature enough and wishes
to practice responsibility; ergo,
away with restrictions, it justice
is to be equally distributed.
There are other minor assump»
tions. Now let us consider the
general problem,

in deiimng a liberal educa-
tion, it is well to state its pur-
pose iirst. We may restrict it
only to getting knowledge, but
does this take in the “whole
person?” If good living (or hap-
piness, or enjoyment, whatever
you wish to call it) is the end
or lite, is mere knowledge
enough to assure us of this?
Knowledge may be used also for
evil ends. Should a College al-
low this? Certainly, there are
many aspects to the whole mart:
mental pleasures, physical pica.
sures, social pleasures, good
health, perhaps others, and the
instruments which lead to them.
such as ciiective habits and
money. 1i the college restricts
itselt to knowledge, aren’t we
iorgctting something? who will
make the integration? The stu-
dent? This presupposes a big
assumption. Good living or hap-
piness is to some degree a mat-
ter of art and hence of learn-
ing, and ii so, act involves both
knowledge and certain habits.
Again, it morality does not en»
ter into the picture, or it it
does but is strictly a personal
matter, then either no one has
a right to condemn another, or
such condemnation is meaning
less. it morality does enter,
should the student be allowed
to detine his own morality and
act in accordance with it?

Certainly not, ior contradch
tions arise. Morality is deter-
mined partly by wishes, and two
wishes may contradict each oth-
er. Both A and B may want C,
but can both get it? We cannot
let the thiei or the gangster
have his way in the College.
one wish may destroy another.
it the student’s wish is allowed
to t d that of the administr

MERRY CHRISTMAS

FROM

Iolz BROAD

BATES FLOWERS

136-3I97

SCARLET AND BLACK

tion may have to fall; and i
am not sure the College can sur»
me. if the girl students want
no hour restrictions at all, the
parents (probably the majority
in the ease oi Gl‘innell College)
may object. and they pay the
bill, Certain students want noise
in the halls, others suiier and
object; hence there is compro-
mise and rules, whether by the
majority or train above. Any-
way, the College should have
rules and should pay at least
some attention to morality. The
absence of any rules spells cha-
os, the absence oi morality
spells jungle life, and society
cannot exist without one or the
other.

who should make the rules?
Too broad a question, tor there
are rules and rules, and there
are fewer rules and many rules.
As a whole, the faculty make
the academic rules, though now
and then they change them,
cg, ironi percentage grade to
letter gradc, anti back again
(you sec, we too are restless,
only human you know), but at
least, once we make them, we
stand by the majority or else
we are ﬁred. What about rules
concerning unkempt hair, no
haircuts, lousy dress appear.
ance, no shoes, and the like?
Well, when you seek a job af-
ter graduation, necessity knocks
at the door. so not much iuss
by us, even it the sensibilities
oi some oplc are offended;
and sensib ity comes under the
heading oi appreciation of beau-
ty, and beauty is good, of course
(even the ltussians are begin-
ning to see this, now that the
revolution is over). Anyway, a
small matter. so no fuss, as long
as you do not parade naked in
the streets (and please do not
call such parading a “personal
morality”), ior this would be
overly disgusting. There are
rules, then, which the students
are willing to abide by, mostly
because they themselves suifer
by their absence.

As for morality rules, natur-
ally, some students want no
dormitory rules which, among
other things, tend to prevent
or make difiicult premarital re.
lations, So to have their way.
most at them use such reasons
as “responsibility," “the m tu -o
and intelligent student,”
gressive morality,” and the like.
Few are irank about it. So the
problem: should the college
abolish hours restrictions and
rules ailecting premarital re-
lations? But we are back to the
original theme, the problem oi
conilicting wishes.

Assuming that morality is a
good thing, then good for what?
Out of sense oi duty? Duty for
what reason? Kant does not con-
vince me. But if morality con-
tributes to the total enjoyment
oi lite, then the questio by
what means can such liie be
tamed? a relevant question,
deed. Sexual pleasures do con.
tribute, but so do other kinds
oi pleasures (and we may bunch
them all under Truth, Beauty,
and Goodness), and not under
any chance circumstances, tor
serious conﬂicts may arise. So,
using the Utilitarian Prinn' le,
there is an art oi maximizing
(as the mathematician would
say) the set of all pleasures,

e alive:

You’re in the Pepsi

and such maximizing calls ior a
harmony oi pleasures, and this
requires an art which presup-
gases knowledge and certain

abits. One may get pleasure
out oi both friendship and i
sulting everybody, but the lat-
ter pleasure destroys the iorm.
er. Thus, this art calls ior an
analysis oi the kinds and weight
of pleasures and oi harmonious
habits (the concern ot many a
philosopher), and such analysis
and the attainment oi harmoni~
ous habits are indeed no easy
tasks.

Must we go on? The story is
very complicated, and students
who claim superiority in this
field should better reexamine
their thinking. Simpliﬁed aSs
sumptinns are a sign at little
and inadequate thinking, toi-
ethics, like politics, is a very
complicated and ditlicult field.
Most presidents of colleges
would welcome a change, it it
is for the better; but a change
based on simpliticd assumptions
may be risky. Some students
told me that they wish to make
Grinnell College a testing
ground ior their “new morality"
and ior tree premarital rela-
tions, approved by the college
administration, but this would
probably be too risky and per.
haps the death oi the college.
There are many wishes to be
reconciled, and vast knowledge
of how these aflect the total
weliai-e oi the college is re-
quired.

Turning to an item about
rules mentioned earlier, justice
is better served if rules, wheth-
er strict or liberal, are eniorced
strictly and hence evenly, The
student is inclined to look the
other way (for various reasons),
and perhaps someone else
should be assigned. A similar
situation exists in the socallcd
Honor Systems; they work it
all are honorable. But since you
almost always get some who are
not, in such cases there is more
injustice than ii, say, tests are
strictly supervised. I would
rather have a liberal set oi rules
strictly enlorced than a strict
set badly eniorced.

I also think that an adminis-
tration should be quite explicit
as to its position concerning
rules and spell them out to
avoid misunderstanding; and
even beiore the student enters
college. in this way, the student
may take it or leave it at the
start. This should not prevent
inter-discussion by the students,
iaculty, and administration for
possible changes. But the iti—
mate authority in determi ing
changes should rest with the
administration, and tor obvious
reasons. We all have to iollow
rules made by others; the lamb
ty iollow those set by the ad-
ministration or president, the
president iollows those laid
down by the Trustees, the Trus-
tees by their majority. ii so,
what Divine Authority has given
the students the privilege of

petty 1551195 and became martyrs
when rebuffed. We make (tour
hle when the President is away
and Consider it a victory, re-
gardless oi the damage to the
college. X am not sure this is
a sign of maturity. Perhaps it
is better to take a cue from
Dean Low and open up discus,
sion {or deeper knowledge and
understanding regarding the
greater problems we are facing.
Neither the faculty nor the
president here are discipline
rians. So, during your four years
here, working together rather
than against each other would
he the better way.
This is a personal View.
H. G. Apostle
Professor of Mathematics

Asks Adminislralion
Help

To the Editor:

Some weeks ago I had tho
pleasure of dining with Presi-
dent Leggett at a Frair’s dinner,
When the conversation turned
to the question oi North Cam-
pus living conditions, our guest
replied that the problem had
been greatly exaggerated and
that he was fairly pleased with
the situation. i was truly
shocked, tor the living condi-
tions are, in tact, absolutely
wretched. Hall life is often con-
ducted on a mean and vulgar
level which is incompatible with
serious academics and social
maturity. It is one thing to
curse and tell bawdy jokes on
occasion, but it is another when
the way of life is permeated
with obscene behavior, ungen.
tlemanly conduct, and intellec-
tual stagnation. One tires oi be-
ing known by dirty names or or
watching cigarettes being ilip-
ped at the TV. One also iii-es
oi seeing his supposedly mature
friends ostracize and humiliate
some other person because they
think he is diiterent. Happily,
I have escaped this way of life
by moving oil-campus, but I
haven’t escaped the problem.
My iriends in the hall say that
disruptions are yet worse this
year. eiiectively preventing
serious studying. Just the other
day, I walked through one floor
oi my ball and iound it covered
with water, dirt, newspapers,

izza boxes, cigar and cigarette
utts, and two or three dozen

beer bottles and cans. Thebath-
room was swamped with trash,
including clothes and bedding
maten'als covered with lilth
and vomit. The administration
has been told all this beiore,
but Dr. Leggctt told me that ho
attributes such complaints most-
ly to a iew good, but weary and
disenchanted, students. Well, i
am one oi those good, but weary
and disenchanted students, and
1 am complaining.

For two years 1 served as a

LETTERS—

(Contlnued on Page 5)

not following rules laid down by (are

others?

Finally, perhaps a sense of
proportion is in order. We en.
joy many things at Crinnell
Collegc and take them tor grant.
ed. We grumble about minor
things and forget the greater
issues. We create idcals out oi

generation!

Merry Ghrislmas
8t
Happy New Year

Don't- forgei' to buy your
little
blends before you leav. ‘
al

gnu tor your

Tharp
Pharmacy .

 

