SCARLET AND BLACK

Page Two

EDITORIAL

Friday, February 28. my

 

 

Truth in Packaging

The KRNT television special on Grinnell began with some
stock footage of long-haired, wildly gesticulating college students
throwing things and shouting God knows What. A campus riot, in
other words. It went on to show approximately 10 minutes of
what could just as well have been stock footage: a “respectable”
picture of student life exemplified by Gl‘innell College. My argu-
ment with the program is based not on whether or not Grinnell
life is respectable, but rather that the show served simply as an—
other 3x5 card in that catalogued, categorized index of cliched
“images” which the program was supposedly intended to dispel.

There is nothing Wrong, and a good deal right, with such
wholesome Grinnell activities as Uncle Sam’s Club, inter-racial
house, CBS’s playing basketball, AWARE, or scholarship winners.
But in attempting to present this as a true picture of Grinnell
life—and thereby in effect relegating equally important aspects
of student life such as dissention and protests to the position of
campus abnormalities—somehow, a great disservice is done to
both the college community and to the public in general. After
all, the numbers of students involved in'each of the wholesome
activities is a minority of the student body, just as those who
participated in the disrobing incident were. To designate some
minorities as “the way today’s students really are,” and others

FREDRICKA NELSON talking wilh her neighbor Vanesa.

talk of the town

as “a loudspoken but unrepresentative fringe,” is not only a dis-
tortion of the truth but a misleading categorization as well.

I hope the college administration is not as pleased with the
program as I imagine they very well may be. Mr, Leggett spoke
the other night of the need for diversity on Grinnell’s campus,

but this program seemed to belie
students on this campus, individuals,

that appeal. There are many

who find different ways to

participate in campus life. To select any partcular group of indi—
viduals as representative of the entire student body is both un-

fair and unfounded, whether they be

clean-cut or not. If diver-

sity is the call, let’s not try to lump all students into an homogen-

ized, blemish-free

product for public consumption. Let’s con~

tinue to provide pictures of campus life such as the KRNT pro-
gram, which was accurate even if cliched, but at the same time

let‘s provide the whole

picture. And if the public comes knock-

ing on our door looking for the picture of a typical middle-class,
apathetic, self-centered student, let us have the honesty to say,
“I’m sorry, you’ve come to the wrong place.” '

 

IRE
' Who Killed the 5%?

By ROGER KOENKER

Some may say it was a suicide, but
those who knew her best could never
swallow that. This was no simple death
irom lack of love, though God knows her
suitors are unsuited. No, our lady of
Burling basement, the Forum, of open-
rooms, and TV sols would not have died
except by some more complex malaise.
No common weavil (apathy) could kill
our Sturdy Student Government.

The sight or the Right honorabls
(Grim) Reaper at the meeting of Presi-
dential candidates in ARK was no ap-
paritlon, and, as those who were there
can testify, the smell of death was thick
as all the suitors spoke. Only Grim had
the courage to explain his proposal. Some
will say that the thousand students who
missed that historic meeting murdered
our lair friend. Others will (and did) in-
dict those "adventurers in morality and
politics” who have ravaged the innu~
cent Miss S.G.A. Everyone knows the
story, “HOW SUSAN G. ANTHONY
FELL INTO THAT CROWD 0F UN-
WASHED PINKO FREAKS AND WAS
DEFLOWERED AND DISGRACED."
But who knows why she is now aban-
doned and why no knight has come to
cave her honor?

Once there was a populist conﬁdence
In the students of this college that made
student government a podium of at
least potential power. Student solidarity
seemed to have the power to transform
me college. S.G.A. elections meant a
month of vigorous debate over the aims
of the college and the needs of students.
With the process went a great deal of
politics unaltered by thought. But poli-

tics here recharged a sense of idealism
and‘puxposo that made it a useful exer-
cise. In large part, the idealism of
elections arose out of a sense of group
consciousness and student unanimity ol
mind about issues like women’s hours,
open dorms, and credit-fail gradlng.
These issues nun bound us together
have dissolved; with them has gone our
populism, our confidence, our idealism.
Capturing student government last year
was not very difficult; she seemed to
want to be seduced. Since the explosion
of the military recluitmenl issue last
spring, it has been clear that student
government will be disowned before she
is misused to lead the revolution. With-
drawzl of the Grinnell lell (such as it is)
from politics is not simply a dissatisfac-
tion with the channels of the “system."
It is an admission of deleat in the effort
to move student opinion.

Now, why no Knight? It would be
easy to say, son, is an instrument or
motion; those committed to stasis are
excluded. The righteous indignation of
students over Senate opposition to Mal‘me/
recruiting, support of Richard Schncil‘ov
belore the jud‘cihl council, and support
of the Playboy demonstrators have not
created a united rightist backlash. In-
stead we have live candidates with little
hope and no energy. This death-wish may
be what representative student gavem—
ment on zhls campus means. An election
with neither thought nor action will be a
ruling tllneral.

"She said. ‘I know what it's like to be
dead; I lmuw what it is to be sad’; And
she‘s making me Ieel like 1 never been
born.”

by [redricka nelson

Since the fashion these days is to be
gin with a quotation, i will suhmll to
speak to you irom events of the past
week, this piece irom ms in society
magazine: “the ‘permanent manllesta-
tions’ of course did confront people with
a situation completely new, unaccusA
tamed, even unpleasant, but they did so
to force them to a new reaction to the
world, to a new gesture of self-conscious-
ness, in ‘3 faithful interpretation Di
man's existence encircled by objective
reality." ‘

lrom (no issue on happenings and imennodia
springrsummer, '53, on arriols by iiudrich oh
upccky, and translated by w. s. hrrkius,
prugue, inns 1967

i should comment that the magazine
ls kept in the cities of hurling and would
be available in the layman usually by
virtue of spending about four hours in
the index looking for something “appro-
priate.” i never was a natural academi—
clan.

now l leel relieved to beg an apology
for my opening on such a pretentious
note. my anicle today has almost noth-
ing to do with the scholastic scene. i am
going to write about the liule girl
whose picture should appear at the top
of this column. venesa mcelmy is our
Very favorite live year old. she lives in
the building next door and we share the
stairwell and the mailbox wall. some
mornings vanesa stops in to Visit us
when she goes to get the mail. this is a
small routine deslonde and vanesa and i
enjoy together several times a week,
our interests are Very much the some.
sploob’s babies to be and vanesa's new
Cat, mimi; the weather; making pictures
and exchanging gills of load and pretty
things and toys.

today deslollde and i had to make an
expedition to the alley to {ind our tardy
car and we invited valiesa up {or an
aitemaon With us. bill ruiierty came to
take pictures, and though vanesa was
very modest about being photographed
by a newcomer to iho apartment, all or
us got warmed up to each other talking
and playing with blocks. there was a
little strain in the air defined by vim»
esa’s shyness and qlllel listening ior
large parts or the “party." usually she
is eager to iroop through rho apart»
mem, investigating things and discuss»
mg beads or baubles. vanesa has asked
us many [lines it we are hippies and we
try and (lelllle ourselves in somewhat
more precise terms. our conversations
are like this:

“ale you and deslonde hippies?"

“he. nor really, because we're going
to go and get jobs.”

“but aren’t your pictures
ones?"

“they might look like that. don't you
think they’re pretty though?”

(silence)

"don’t
dirty?"

"i was just going to sweep the floor.
you know it's really hard to keep a place
lrom looking messy some of the-time."

(or)

“i was just going to take a bath,”
standing there in my towel, “goadhy
now, vanesa, we'll see you tomorrow.”

“hippies don't take baths do they?”

"see you tomorrow, vanesa.”

(silence) ‘

“bye."

(vanesa sometimes makes slow exus)

"goodbye, vanesa, be sure and stop
in tomorrow."

"goodbye, fred, see you tomorrow."

and then our young lady swooshes out
and away, dawn the hall for lunch at
home. vanesa and her family are our
best neighbors and we’re proud to be
their. friends. we share an 3271/Z perspec-
live or grinnell with lair shares of resig-
nation and surprise. there really are
lots of Vista down this street and around
our building. .

except for a short reminder to lriemls
of mrs. king in malcom that she will
be open again in march, and will show
you the best collection of treasures «
antiques etc. — in the state, for unfor-
tullatcs who haven’t seen or heard of the
wonders), i think i should say goodbye
tor today.

‘hippie‘

hippies keep their houses

The Scarlet & Black

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June! Smllu, Mark thlem
Rich Schmikcncn, Mury zrck

 

