Page Two

SCARLET 8 BLACK

Student Newspaper oi Grinnell College

1201 Park Street Giinnell Colleql
Grinnell, lawn sollz

A wcrkly newspaper published ench Friday or
the college year by the Grinnell committee on stu.
dent Publications. Represented lor national ndvcn
tising by Nitionnl Advertising Scrvtce, liic., Collego
rubhshcrs Represcntntivc, lB Enst onth Street, New
York 22. N.Y, Second class postage paid at Grinneli,
lowa. subscription rntc 35m per school year. into
paid subscriptions

GPS

Member at tlm
Collegiate
tress Sonic.

:olron . , .,.
MANAGING EDITOR
BUSINESS MANAGER ,
CIRCULATION MANAGER
STAFF wmrcns

parry Anconn

Nell risrncr

.. Stephen Wrrsh
. bruce srrom

, . Martha perkcy, Gordon christcnscn.
siisnn Edwards, Anne rarrnr, Debbie Gentry,
Jack cache-inner, Andy Isaacs, onvid kaulrnnn.
Adrienne Luminous, Molly Mccnirc, sue lvtilicr, Pnul Nnthninn,
.lctr Sulieckier, Gerald Swnnsoll, Ann rarioi, Anne Taylor.
PHOTOGRAPHERS . Alnn Rernhnrdt, non Hooker,
Leigh Senonrd. Dick rrcumnnp

Editorials . . .

LEGGETT’S SPEECH

We waited for two years for President Leggett to make a
definitive statement on student liie. Sunday at the open Senate
meeting the president ended the waiting with a lengthy and broad-
based commentary on campus living.

Immediate student reaction must be favorable. Students who
are willing to work within established channels to discuss the prolr
items oi Grinnell will know the president’s position on Various
matters. Students who real that the college is moving too slowly
toward rule liberalization can make reaction to the president’s
more conservative ideas a rallying cry for revolutiolL And students
who are merely curious to know What our Chief administrator has
to say about campus life are rewarded with a colorful speech.

The prospect of having men and women on both campuses
meets with our approval. It would be a first step in the alleviation
of the inhibitions on this campus about informal coeducational ac»
tivity, and would further more relaxed relationships between the
sexes.

The idea of separating students by class, however, is iii~con«
ceivedi Although class dorms would keep upperclassmen lrom im-
posing sophomoric and anti-intellectual customs on Ireshmen, they
would also prohibit the natural contact between newcomers and
more experienced students that leads to academic and social
guidance and inspiration,

Living in a freshman dorm with upperclass advisors could be
likened to New Student Days, when entering students, although
glad to have ii lew days of their own on campus, and group leaders
to help them get settled, are anxious to see what college life is
really like. Granted, upperclnssmen might be the advisors. but
the student taking the job will, by Virtue of his position, be diner-
cnt from other upperclassmeu. The naturalness of relationships
between the sexes which is sought in mixing the campuses would
be lost between the classes with separate class dormsi

Our greatest dissatisfaction is with President Leggett’s position
on open dorms. Restrictions imposed by the car rule and by lowa
weather leave the dormitory room as the only place ior coeduca-
tional privacy, or course, the study rooms and dining rooms of
the Forum are available, but the “transparent” curtains and ster-
ile decor make them unappealing. And dining rooms must be re-
served in advance, destroying the spontaneity and casualness that
is supposedly being sought in campus social life.

It seems that most of the damage to the “ motional sensibili~
ties" or students witnessing “brazen illegal vi ting” is a result
of the conflict between reasonable action and college rules, rather
than the questioning of the action. If open dorm hours were ex-
tended greatly (granted there must be limits imposed by our pres-
ent residence hall pattern of two students per room), it is our con-
lention that visiting would become more natural and intormnl,
that it would involve groups rather than just couples, that the
clandestine sexual overtones would be diminished, and that its
acceptance by non-participating hall members would be without.
reasonable objectioni

Hopefully, the president’s speech will also remind pepople that
changes need not be iorever in the planning stages. Leggeit wants
to implement some DI the changes next Fall. II we Want to have
a voice in these changes, we must act now. Encampment would be
a logical place for discussions within the college community to
Start. The Student Aflalrs committee will be Considering the
changes and making recommendations. if we have sometllilliz to
say about the way we live, or it we feel we ought to have more
day, now in the time to speak up.

SCARLET AND BLACK

ulllitlllllitllllltllllllltllllltllllllltllllllmllllltlllllItlllIIItllllIItlllIlM

LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR

ﬁlllllllllllllltlllllltllllllltlllIIllllllllllllllllllllllllllllltllllllillll

EQUALITY
OF THE SEXES

To the Editor:

A certain amount of flexibil-
ity is desirable, but inconsis-
tencies in a legal system ought
to be avoided. The school has
partially eliminated the double
standard by its withdrawal of
women’s hours, but one Can<
not say that tlt school has
adopted as its oifi a] policy the
equality oi the sexes.

The greatest inequality of
which I am aware is in the
p h y sic a1 education require
ments. Men are required to
take both intramural competi-
tion and a terrifying course in
physical fitness, requirements
that do not exist for iemale
students.

if Grinneil College wishes to
appear as a truly just institu-
tion, it will have to discontinue
this inconsistency either by the
elimination of the requirements
for men. their imposition upon
the women, or the reinstltutlon
of women’s hours.

.1. A. Arleti

CROSSETT
ON GSM

To the Editor:

When I first read page one of
last week’s 5&3, I assumed
that the headline “Amnlphous
Group Plans Movement" was
merely another specimen of the
lovely illiteracy which students
oiten turnish to amused faculty
members. Alter all, a group is,
by deﬁnition, that which has
form; “amorphous" denotes
that which is Without form.

As I read further, however, I
began to see that the illiteracy
was only a symptom of the
confusion -— to use no stronger
a term — which underlay the
purposes of the GSM (Grinnell
Student Movement). One can-
not tell whether to attribute to
the newspaper’s grammatical
incompetence or to the GSM’!
own irrationality the statement
of Ronald Steinhom’s purpose:
“ ‘We a re trying to work
through official channels now'
to show the campus that noth—
ing will be accomplished this
way."

Any doubts, however, are
cleared up by the remarks or
Michael Penzner, who “elab-
orated" ~ as the 5&8 elegantly
puts it ~— the position held by
Messrs. Thor and Steinhoru.
“As soon as we get an explicit
refusal from the deans," Mr.
Penzner says, “we have a rally
point and can have a revolu-
tion.” Observe the honorable
and manly way in which the
speaker has made up his mind
in advance. Notice the gieeiui
determination with which he
expects — nay, even anticipates
— a “refusal from the cleans.”
As soon as the reiusal comes,
“we can have a revolution.” I
like that idiom “mye a revolue
tioii”; it‘s sort of like a party,
it real "blast”.

Mny 1 close by saying that I
run particularly amused by the
notion oi an “iiniletgrouiit”
newspaper which publicly nit-
nollnces its existence, ltcli _,
and editorial stall? Those soli-
styled revolutionaries do not;

THE MGlIllTAIN OR
THE llALE

By PAUL JONES

There is a great deal of difference between being called wrong
and being proved wrong. This is the conclusion to which I came
after studying Ron Steinhorn's student opinion in last week’s
son. Rather than merely call him wrong in tum, 1 am willing to
continue the needed discussion by attempting to prove his analysis
of ‘rule philosophy’ to be lacking in many respects, and unjustifi-
able in others

At the same time that I may not be cognizant of the justiﬁca-
tion and objectives of social reiorm, steinhorn and many others
are also not cognizant oi the means, i.e., the means from justltica<
tion to objectives. And it one does not know how to get where he
wishes to go, how can he know exactly where he will end up?

The fact or the matter is that my point of view was directed
primarily at means, not justiiication or objectives. If i did not
reel that there were both justification and proper objectives, I
would say so i, too, admit that the administration has not pm

duced a po on based on reasoned right, but, wrongly, one on
authoritarian right.

But again, let us not bypass the chance to extract this reas
soned right it at all possible. And the proper objectives are obvi-
ous: to achieve a reasoned balance of thought and action among
all of the par . oi the community. Is there not, then, a dliierencs
between having the naivete to ask for and want, and having the
naivete to expect, a statement of policy? For there are many,
instances when reason has been mistaken for naivete.

Again, there seems to be little emphasis placed on developing
reasoned means; which is it to be: principles before rules or rules
before principles? That the administration's 'actions seem to be
expedient’ on the basis oi ‘sporadic and inconsistent’ rule en.
iorcement is not proof that the administration cannot effectively
enforce rules, or indeed, that they do not have the right to one
force miles; but, rather, this proves only that their actions do not
seem to be based on principles. it is not that these actions are
necessarily immoral or unethical, but that they seem to be amoral
0r non-ethical.

It is a blatant error to equate Rousseau’s concept or ‘gov-
ernment’ with the ‘academlc community’. it is one extreme to
Say that Grinnell is not the real world, for it certainly is real; but
it is another and just as damnable extreme to say that the makeup
of this community is identical with every other type or communi.
ty including Rousseau’s ideal community based on social contract.

The academic community is diiierent; it requires a type of
hierarchy, an academic hierarchy, but not the political stnlctures
or which Rousseau speaks, This being the case, it is a miseappliu
cation of principles to use Rousseau’s philosophy in respect to
‘rule philosophy' at Grinnell. And again, there were three diner.
ent uses of 'community' evidenced in the article, all in reference
to Grinnell College, but at the same time, all conﬂicting usages.
It is necessary and good to realize that Grinnell is primarily an
academic community, and that there is a difference between an
academic, social, or political community.

Perhaps, ultimately, the students are the ‘only ones able to
legitimately exercise such a sovereign power over themselves'.
But the ability to handle such responsibilities entailed in 50V-
ereign power is also a criterion of legitimacy in an academic com-
munity. To make this point clear and also to conclude, I also will
quote from Rousseau, and perhaps with a bit more relevance:

As soon as a man attains the age of reason he becomes

his own master, because he alone can judge of What will

best assure him his continued existence (Chapter 1, Book

II).

Remember the ‘as soon as‘ and how it is relevant to the mean-
ing oi ‘academic community’.

 

even understand the vocabulary
oi their assumed profession.
And yet it is their pathetic
vaunr that they are capable of
making their own rules. One is
reminded or the poster put up
last week in the campus post
office, in which the GSM asks
“Who decides principles?” As
it principles were decided!

We shall undoubtedly have a
scandal this year which will
outdo even last year's — and
that one made the papers in
Copenhagen, Denmarlc Think
of it: little old Gl‘innell all the
AF and UPI wires! Well, ii We
do have a “revolution," at least
the students will be able to
\vithslantl the snecrs of those
who say “Grilitiell? Where's
that?" Tlitlmpllal’ltly our timer—
pllctls GSM Students will be
able to claim that they trove
achieved even more publicity
than Parsons College, on the

sound principle, no doubt, that
any publicity is better than no
publicity.
John Crosselt
Classics

PARENT
WRITES

I received a copy or the fol.
lowing letter from my mother
to President Leggett. She is
one parent and alumna who is
concerned for the growth of the
Grinch community.

Mariana Allvel]

To President Leggett:

1 tin not envy your 10b, while
at the chute time i no reel that
the President ol a college has
one of the most important yobs
in this country today. This is a

AtLlI‘IElJu—
Continued on Page 4)

 

