Page Two

SCARLET AND BLACK

Friday, February 1

 

 

Scarlet and Black

GRINNELL COLLEGE
Grimicll. lot/u

\i'ralily iicuslmiim published each run
ll) mp oiiuuell (.Uuunllicu cu
in ll Ember, chmnuliu Rci
[venisillg by animml Am‘einsiug
c Publishcis Rwrcsrnililve, IS him 5 ii
Yoili y. swim class push-up paid .u Giiuucii,
iuubu Mlle SlSO bu school rcar.

Li‘im Drlizler
Jim Mciuiyic
.iuliu Wolf
Kureu Ailkilhon
iiui Fish

of me Col-
FllDllcilr

IDUOR
BUSINLSS MANAGFK ,
MANAGING izbirok
f-icm'uize Luiroh . ,.
SPORTS EDITOR
HEAD PHOTOGRAPHER . . . . 1w“ iiimunu

' REI’OR’IERS Aim suuuilier, .i. brie Jacobson. Don Kurascli, paid lioilman,

Nancy Gromylcn, suzuunc ociber. Aillly Hand, susiu Tilylﬂr

The interim session looks good on paper. The
Junior Liberal Arts Exam impresses the prospective
student, and adds depth and polish to the college cata~
loguei But the fact remains — students consider both
the JLA and the interim “comic relief.”

A time designed for independent study finds the
students migrating to the train and bus_depot, rather
than to the library. Shelves in the bookstore remain
stocked with relevant material long after the syllabus
has been distributed. Lecturers, experts in their fields,
are brought to the campus — morning lectures attract
a great number of curious students, while later discus—
sion sessions entertain a handful of sleepy listeners.
The members of the junior class compare notes on how
little they have read about Aristotle, Darwin, or New-
ton, and proceed to deal out the next bridge hand,

What does it mean, this interim period? A two-
week paid vacation for a group of shiftless liberal arts
students who choose to party rather than prepare for
independent progress? It can hardly be a question of
Whether Grinnell students can study independently.
Regular course work, and advanced projects show that
they do a great deal on their own—both by choice and
by necessity.

But where, in the study plans for the interim ses—

the seniors, in preparing for comps, have the oppor-
tunity to do extensive work in a chosen field, and the
chance to graduate necessitates the completion of that
_work successfully.

' Although the JLA is not supposed to shadow the
interim period, the juniors have been restricted cornv
pletely during the last two weeks by its existence.
Their study is independent only in respect to whether
they do it or not For those students who decide to go
along with the experiment, at least two full weeks of
reading are mapped out by the syllabus. There isn’t
much room for-exploration in areas of personal interest,
and there isn’t enough interest in those areas supposed
to be explored The knowledge that no one has to pass
(unless he anticipates needing those four credits to
graduate) might relieve pressure, but it also eliminates
motivation. _

Sophomores and freshmen are guided by vague
plans for learning, and faithfully read books from the
proposed lists and attend their lectures for a while. But
when the interim is over, they have little more to show
for it than memories of sleeping late in the morning,
attending movies every night in ARH. and the appre-
hension that they are one year closer to the JLA sylla-
bus.

If the interim session is going to benefit just the
handful of underclassmen that take the maximum
amount of energy in an attempt to fulfill a rather
vague degree of responsibility, then it should be
abolished. Right now it exists as a lot of free time to
use up before classes start again,

If the juniors are going to have a JLA, then the
topics should be more relevant and more individually»
oriented. Some discrimination should be drawn be-
tween those who do the work and those who “bull"
their'way through; and with the topics as vague and
general as they are now, this is often not possible.

If the college wants to provide the student with
two weeks free from classes to pursue independent in
terests, the interests must be particularized for each
“body-student" rather than bin-aggregate “studenk
body." Let’s focus the interim session or scrap it.

The announcement by Mar-
‘gal'et Chase Smith that she
livnuld enter the New Hump
lshirc primary in an attempt to
secure the Republican presi-
dential nomination came as no
surprise to those of us who are
worried about Creeping femin»
ism in American society. Her
announcement should be a
clarion call of warning ibi-
those American men who have
not yet fallen under Lhe insid~
ious control of the opposite sex.

Whether there are any such
people left in our society has
been open to doubt. Former
President Harry Truman,
when asked about the possi-
bility of a woman president,

answered: “I don’t see why
not. They I u n everything
else, and if you don’t know
that now, you soon will."

Ambrose Bierce conveyed the
same impression when be de-
lined a Queen as “A woman
by whom the realm is ruled
when there is a king, and
through whom it is ruled when
there is not.”

Despite these statements, it
is clear to me that, fortunately,
men make most of the imporr
tant decisions in this world. I
say fortunately, for if these de-

 

Tom Wilmer—“h?
l

l

Cislons were made by women,
I doubt whether our civilizallon
could endure.

1 am a firm believer in the
doctrine of male supremacy.
This belief is firmly ground-
ed in empirical prejudice.
However, it would be foolish
for me to argue for a pro-
gram to deal with women’s
rights which was based on
the separate but equal con-
cept. That type of program
is no longer accepted by the
intelligent individual in to-
day’s society
What i do argue for is a
more realistic policy, a policy
which recognizes the necessity
for Women in socieiy and the
associations Which must take
place in such a society if it is
to continue to function. That
policy is based on the more
realistic and practical concept
of together but unequal.

The American woman simply
has not shown herself capable
of doing anything which re-
quires the slightest amount of
ingenuity and original thought.
She has shown herself inca-
pable of performing such minor
tasks as driving a car. A womr
an never parks a car; she
abandons it.

Women, of course, do have

 

their place in this world. if
trained properly, they make
excellent occasional compilfv
ions and have shown some
abilily in doing menial work.
The marriage vows recogiiice
that woman is suited to be a
servant to man. Each woman
at the altar promises to “love,
honor, and obey," her' hus-
band. That is as it should be.

Even Grinnell is not safe
from the insidious quest lor
equality for women, For those
who are complacent, I need
only point but that two of the
last ioui- S&B,editors have been
women.

One week from today will
begin a test for Grinnell Col»
lege. Next weekend is women‘s
weekend. Each man must de-
cide for himself what his own
Conduct will be during this Crit-
ical period.

I would only suggest that
Grinnell men act from a posi-
tion of strength. Reasoning
is useless with women, but,
like the lower form of intelli-
gence which they are, women
respect ﬁrmness and lame.
Before resorting to violence,
however, one is cautioned to
check with the humane so-
cieiy.

 

An Explanation

To the Editor:
in the last issue of the 5&3
there appeared an ad which

“Independent” Study

To The Editor:

Many faculty members have
been troubled. as has Tom
Fullmer, by the use of the term
“independent" of some study
here at Grinnell. 1 don’t know
which dictionary Mr. Fullmer
consulted. i should urge all to
acquire the habit of consulting
the rich treasury called for
short “N. E. D." — A New Eng-
lish Dictionary on Historical
Principles. N. E. D. meaning
number i for “independent" is

“Not depending upon the
authority of another, not in
position of subordination or
subjection; not subject to ex-
ternal control or rule; self-
g o v e r n in g, autonomous,
l'ree."

Absurdity develops ii we de-
fine “independent," as does
Fullmer’s dictionary as “free
from control or persuasion" in
an absolute sense This is
N. E. D. meaning 5:

“Not dependent on others
for the formation of opinions
or guidance of cpnduci; not
influenced by the opinions of
others; thinking or acting.
or disposed to think or act,
for oneself, (of persons, their
disposition, pm)"

One usage of (his kind is of
“ancindependent' and energetic
man who will vote as he
pleases." An extended use is

KUNTZ LETTER—
Continued on Page 8

 

 

Letters to the Editor...

sion, is the notion of either choice or necessity? Only .

urged student support of the
advertisers represented in the
paper, andl feel that further
explanation is needed.

This year ihe Cyclone and
the 5&3 have taken their
business out of Grinnell, with
the Cyclone photography be-
ing done at Cedar Rapids and
the printing of the 5&3 being
done in Newton. The respec-
tive decisions to leave Grin-
nell were made after careful
consideration of the offers
made and the services to be
rendered.

Naturally Grinnell businesses
were upset at the loss oi this
business, and as of now three
firms have withdrawn their
advertising {r 0 m the 5&3.
These firms are Coast-to-Coast.
Cunningham's, and I. D.'s. This
could be understandable to the
publications' stalls, but there
are two obicciidns to the With-
draWEIls,

rim, boih publications are
on budgets, and they have to
get what they consider to be
the most for what money they
have 1 think that Grinnell
businesses should realize that
it takes more than location in

Grinnell to win the college

contracts and should offer

more than that in getting the
college business.

The second objection to the
withdrawal of the advertising
was the way in which it was
done. The three firms termi-
noted their business with the
idea that. they do no! need stu-
dent business and support for
their firms. Therefore, i think
all students should think about
this next time ihcy do any shop-
pingi ‘

Bunny King

Adult: Mature?

To the Editor:

Perhaps the crux of our prob
lem within the Grinnell Commu‘
nity is the assumption we tend
to make that the terms “adult"
and “mature” are necessarily
synonymous. They may be, bui
need not be. We may have lor-
gotten the la ct that most
“Adults" are not “mature."

When the Community ap-
preached the s f u d e n t indi-
vidually or institutionally as an
“adult,” it made the assump-
tion — “mature."

The Community seems to for—
get that Che larger society has
many mechanisms which lunc-
tion constantly to discipline and
integrate socially the vast ma-
jority of the “adults” who will
never be “m a t u re," even
though they live a millennium.

Robert C. Sauers ’49

Ed. Note: This letter was
received during the Christmas
recess. Because of the ab—
sence of 3 “letters” column
during the change of editors,
the letter was held until now.
We leei ii is still relevant, due
to increased discussion about
campus problems, sponsored
by the Board at Religion.

Be Lecluse Addresses
Ghicago French Girole

Miss Odette de Leclusa
(French) was in Chicago this
week where she presented a
lecture in French (0 the Cercle
Francais on Tuesday. She
spoke on the subject, “The
Parisian Hostess and Her Salon

 

in the 18th Century.” »

 

