April 24, 2009 Volume 125, Issue 23

The Scarlet and Black First College Newspaper West of the Mississippi

Grinnell College Grinnell, IA

Trustee open
forum recap
BY A NNA G ILBERT AND M ARCUS Z EITZ
At the Trustee open forum last night,
the four ten-minute presentations by stu-
dent groups, followed by questions, brought
together two, usually distant, groups.
The event, which is often scheduled
during the Trustees’ tri-yearly visits to cam-
pus, took place in the Forum South Lounge
and was hosted by SGA President Neo
Morake ‘09. Afterwards, presenters and
students-at-large stayed for more in-depth
conversations with Trustees.
The four groups that gave presenta-
tions were the San Ramón Alliance, A Just
Grinnell, the No Limits Project (NLP) and
Students for Responsible Investing.
The groups’ messages overlapped with a
focus on two specific core values promoted
by Grinnell College—social responsibility
and a diverse community. Last night’s pre-
sentations highlighted both successes and
setbacks in fulfilling these core values in a
variety of contexts, including campus life,
service trips and investment ethics.
While no definite decisions can be made
at this open forum, these student-Trustee
discussions give Trustees a sampling of stu-
dents’ perspectives on current College poli-
cies and potential changes.

The San Ramón Alliance:

Consisting of Marissa Gilman ’09,
Grace Philipp ’12, Aniko Drlik-Muehleck
’11, Mary Jane Giesey ’12, Emma Peterson
’10, and Katherine Gregersen ’09, The San
Ramón Alliance presented on their self-or-
ganized alternative break trip to Nicaragua.
Holocaust survivor talk many people
The group, basing their presentation on the
study abroad programs and internships of
group members and alumni, spoke of ex-
periences in the community of San Ramón
and the nearby region.
Alliance members worked with El Cen-
tro Promocional Cristiano por la Paz y la
Vida (CPCPV ), an organization which was
founded in the 1980s to support victims of
violence in the Contra wars.
Recently, another student group, Social
‘Schindler’s List’ alum speaks on campus
Entrepreneurs of Grinnell (SEG), which On Tuesday, April 21, Holocaust survivor and Grinnell College alumna Celina Biniaz spoke to a group of students, faculty, staff and community mem-
specializes in microloans to developing bers in JRC 101 about her experiences and memories of the Holocaust. This event was sponsored by the Center for the Humanities and Grinnell College
communities, formed a partnership with Jewish student organization Chalutzim as a part of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Biniaz shared her story of growing up in Poland, being placed
CPCPV. in a concentration camp, and consequent placement in Oskar Schindler’s factory, whose humanitarian efforts were documented in Steven Spielberg’s
Philipp, the primary correspondent be- “Schindler’s List.” After the war, Biniaz moved to Des Moines, and eventually she attended and graduated from Grinnell College in 1952. Aside from
tween the two groups, spoke of the suc- with Spielberg, this is the first time she has publicly spoken about her experiences in the Holocaust. PAUL KRAMER
cesses of CPCPV. “CPCPV is an extremely Biniaz, see p. 4
professional organization,” Philipp said.

Computer thief arrested after eBay probe

“They’ve been working with various forms
of microfinancing and microloans for the
past seven years.”
In addition to, building the community
through partnerships with SEG and the
CPCPV, members of the San Ramón alli-
ance spoke to how their experiences in Ni-
caragua allowed them to put their Grinnell
education into practice.
“I had taken environmental econom-
ics with Mark Montgomery and I felt that
every single day I was thinking about that
class when I was down there,” Gilman said.
“Having that experience really brought
to life my education at Grinnell, and so
I wanted other people to have that same
‘aha’ moment through experiencing things
that we going
Trustees, see p. 5
Student suspected of stealing over $20,000 dollars worth of equipment from College
BY BRIAN SHERWIN
According to a Grinnell Police Depart-
ment media release, on April 21, officers from
the Grinnell Police Department arrested a
Grinnell College student for Theft in the First
Degree. Two search warrants were issued, and
officers found stolen electronics in the stu-
dent’s dormitory room.
The arrest is the result of an investigation
relating to the disappearance of 13 College-
owned computers and other electronics equip-
ment worth approximately $20,000.
On April 20, Grinnell College Safety and
Security reported an item’s appearance on the
online auction website eBay to the Grinnell
College Police Department. Grinnell College
Security Officer Patrick Ritter had been scan-
ning the website for the stolen equipment.
Grinnell College Police Department Chief
Jody Matherly then inquired information from
the eBay website.
“At that point, we contacted eBay security
and worked with them to find out who had
posted the item and got that information,” said
Chief Matherly in a phone interview with the
S&B. “And, it led us back to the College cam-
pus, and so we executed search warrants and
we were able to recover several stolen items.”
After Grinnell Police Department Officers
Stuart Fricke and Joe Meyer retrieved the sto-
len items from the student’s room, it was found
that some of the equipment had already been
sold on eBay.
The arrested student is currently housed
in Poweshiek County Jail, in Montezuma.
Accused of Class C Felony Theft in the First
Degree, the student may face up to ten years
in prison and a fine from at least $1,000 to a
maximum of $10,000.

You already knew it, but Jaysen Wright’s ’09 play Track and field rises It’s bigger, it’s bet-

Inside 1 nation validates Grin-

nell’s claim to being
cool.........................p. 2
2 marks culmination of
MAP and awesome
talent......................p. 8
3 to the occasion as
The Dick slides into
Grinnell...............p. 14
4 ter, it’s an inserted
preview of the S&B
Magazine...........Inside
2 NEWS
edited by J. Francis Buse and Brian Sherwin
sherwinb@grinnell.edu; busejohn@grinnell.edu April 24, 2009

Money from Mays Grinnell Mock Trial competes at nationals

BY JAI GARG Underdog team performs at competive national stage, credits lack of law school
Grinnell College received a $500,000 four-year grant
BY B ASSIL A LCHEIKH school year progressed, we started relying on group practic-
from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation this year to help
This past weekend, Grinnell’s Mock Trial team surprised es a lot less and instead, doing more one-on-one practices,
initiate the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program
colleges across the country by advancing and participating where we can fine-tune what needs work,” Lange said. “Five
(MMUF) at the College.
at the national mock trial competition, beating Brown Uni- Iowa schools made it so we were not surprised who we saw
The Mellon Foundation created the MMUF in 1988 to
versity and tying the University of Virginia on way to an at the competition, and we definitely knew what to expect.”
“help remedy the serious shortage of faculty of color in higher
overall 1-6-1 record. Only 48 out of over 600 college teams According to Reese, the team’s unique strength is the
education,” according to the Mellon Foundation website
in the country made it to the national level, where students ability to look at any case differently from most other teams.
“I think Grinnell was chosen in part because of their work
tried a defamation case in journalism. “We had been work- “We don’t look like lawyers,” Reese said, “but when it comes
towards diversity and achievement,” said English and faculty
ing on this case all year,” said Julia Reese to the trial, our trump card is the intel-
coordinator for MMUF Shanna Benjamin. “And because
’10 “It was a rewarding experience to see ligence, preparation and insight into legal
Grinnell is such an outstanding liberal arts college.”
The program is named for Benjamin Mays—an African
us compete at nationals—a level where “It was a rewarding experience matters and arguments that other teams
American man who was a mentor to Martin Luther King Jr.,
Harvard didn’t make it to this season.” to see us compete at nation- miss.”
While Grinnell’s Mock Trial team Someone vital to the team’s prepara-
and later became president of Morehouse College in Atlanta.
has been competing for 14 years, this als—a level where Harvard tion and practice is local attorney Brad
It offers the opportunity for up to any five students in the sec-
ond-year class to conduct independent research with a faculty
year was the team’s highest placement didn’t make it to this season.” McCall. “He has helped us with not only
in a national tournament. “The team theory, but how to deliver your ideas dur-
member for two years.
is definitely an underdog,” Reese said. Julia Reese ‘10 ing a trial,” Lange added. “If you calcu-
“We identify students in the second semester of their sec-
“You don’t expect schools without a lated how much time Brad puts into us
ond year, they are the kind of individuals that know where they
law school to perform this well, but we and his hourly rates, it adds up to a huge
want to go and have a clear sense what they want to do,” Ben-
changed that this year.” donation.”
jamin said. “What we do is help them realize those goals.”
Team members said the high level of competition did not This year, the Mock Trial team has been working on a
Additionally, the fellows will have many options to attend
faze them during the trials. “We were poised and confident,” defamation case, regarding a politician who allegedly lost an
seminars, regional conferences, and summer research oppor-
Sam Wice ’09 said. “We weren’t pressured, because we never election due to libel from a reporter in a tabloid magazine.
tunities. According to Benjamin, after Grinnell, the fellows
expected to get this far— hence why we’re an underdog.” The mock magazine reported that the politician committed
could receive extra grants for research, loan repayment, and
The team’s success stemed primarily from an intense lev- first degree murder, which was later found false by forensic
other valuable resources.
el of practicing, as members devoted large amounts of time scientists. The politician then took the case to court. Prior to
“Once you are a Mellon you are always a Mellon,” Benja-
and effort to repeating the same case throughout the year. the competition, the team then decided whether it will take
min said. “Once you leave Grinnell, you will be part of a na-
“We ran this mock trial scenario 36 times at different com- the prosecution or defense side.
tionwide network of scholars and you will have support in the
petitions,” Reese said. “At times, we would practice three to The team is somewhat optimistic about next season. “We
process of achieving a Ph.D.”
four hours in the morning and in the evening.” The mem- definitely have the tools and resources to succeed— it all
Students will be chosen based on a competitive application
bers even cut their winter break short to practice on campus depends on who we recruit,” Reese added. “We are now defi-
process that includes a cover page, two essays, and two letters
a week prior to the start of the second semester. nitely prepared for these competitions—however, our short-
of recommendation including one from a prospective mentor
Fellow team member Adam Lange ’11 said that another coming is the strength of other teams.”
by the end of the month.
reason for thier victory is a new style of practicing. “As the

CDO CAREER CORNER FROM THE CAREER P EER A DVISORS

The Online Image

Have you ever Googled yourself ? What pictures of you are on sites like Facebook
and Myspace? What does your blog say? What does your Twitter feed say? It is
easier and easier to find information about people online. Even if you have the
privacy filters on high, employers can see images of you just by entering your name
and the word “Grinnell” into a Google image search. While we’d like to think that
employers don’t care about the pictures your friends posted on Facebook, in an in-
creasingly competitive world and a very tough job market, they look for any possible
way to distinguish between candidates. Take a few minutes to clean up your online
image and give yourself a better chance at success.

Apr. 24-Apr. 30 Movie Times on Page 6

Friday 25
Saturday 26
Sunday Monday 28
Tuesday 29
Wednesday 30
Thursday
HUMANITIES CENTER HOOFIN’ IT 5K GRINNELL BASEBALL WRITING RESUMES INTERNATIONAL VIS- BETTER KNOW YOUR STATISTICS POSTER
SPRING SYMPO- RACE: 10th Avenue, VS. MONMOUTH: & COVER LETTERS: ITING FELLOWS LEC- PROFESSOR FILM AND SESSION: Noyce
SIUM: Forum South 10 a.m. Baseball Diamond, CDO 104, 1127 Park TURE: GJV Prasad: DISCUSSION: Forum Ahrens Atrium, 1st
Lounge, 4:15 p.m. GRINNELL RELAYS: 12 p.m. Street, 4:15 p.m. ARH 102, 4:15 p.m. South Lounge, 6:30 Floor, 11 a.m.
LEGISLATOR Q&A: Mac Field, 10 a.m.-6 GRINNELL SOFTBALL COMMUNITY MEAL: p.m. 24 PRELUDES:
JRC 225, 4:15 p.m. p.m. VS. MONMOUTH: Davis Elementary TAIKO DOCUMEN- CHOPIN CONCERT:
DIVE IN MOVIE: ROCK PAPER SCIS- Softball Diamond, School, 818 Hamilton TARY: ARH 102, 6:30 Herrick Chapel, 11
“HOOK”: PEC Pool, SORS TOURNAMENT: 1 p.m. Avenue, 5:30 p.m. p.m. a.m.
7:30 p.m. Forum South Lounge, SYMPHONIC CON- BETTER KNOW YOUR “THE OFFICE”
SPRING DANCE 2 p.m. CERT BAND: Bucks- PROFESSOR FILM AND MARATHON: Harris
PERFORMANCE: GRINNELL LATIN EN- baum Sebring-Lew- DISCUSSION: Forum Center Cinema, 7
Bucksbaum Roberts SEMBLE: Bucksbaum is Hall, 2 p.m. South Lounge, 9 p.m.
Theatre, 8 p.m. Sebring-Lewis Hall, SPRING DANCE p.m.
FTP BONFIRE: Bon- 7:30 p.m. PERFORMANCE:
fire Pit, 8 p.m. SPRING DANCE Bucksbaum Roberts
CBS TALENT SHOW: PERFORMANCE: Theatre, 2 p.m.
Harris Center Con- Bucksbaum Roberts CHAMBER ENSEMBLE
cert Hall, 10 p.m. Theatre, 8 p.m. CONCERT: Herrick
DANCE PARTY: Main Chapel, 4 p.m.
Hall Quad Dining
Hall, 10 p.m.
April 24, 2009 NEWS edited by J. Francis Buse and Brian Sherwin
sherwinb@grinnell.edu; busejohn@grinnell.edu 3
Grinnell students Take Back the Night
Students march, line the Grill with support as part of campaign against sexual violence during week of activities
BY M ANDO MONTANO AND DEVIN ROSS
This week, the Feminist Action Coalition
(FAC) hosted Take Back the Night Week as
an effort to raise awareness and create a space
for conversations about sexual violence and
abuse.
Take Back the Night, an internationally
organized event, stems from the second wave
feminist movement of the 1970s that aimed
to raise awareness regarding sexual assault
and intimate partner violence.
“The historical past is really the best part
about [Take Back the Night],” said Emma
Lawler ’09, an organizer of the consent work-
shop event. “It’s been happening for years and
years. Our take on it is that it can be new, but
it also hearkens back to the history of how
many women have been having issues.”
The week began with a showing of “Law
and Order: Special Victims Unit,” and was
followed by The Clothesline Project, a dis-
cussion concerning intimate partner violence,
a student demonstration throughout campus,
a consent workshop, and will end with Walk
A Mile in Her Shoes in Marshalltown, on
Sunday.
The series of events is not only meant to
raise awareness of sexual violence, but also
serve as a space where survivors of sexual
abuse and assault can talk about their experi-
ences.
“[Take Back the Night] is about reclaim-
ing the night as a space where women can
feel safe about walking home at night alone,
and not be afraid of rape or sexual assault,”
said Jessica Southard ’10, a member of FAC.
One of the longest-standing traditions in
Take Back the Night is the Clothesline Proj- T-shirts decorated by students with messages pertaining to Take Back the Night Week hang above the Spencer Grill. BEN BREWER
ect, which can currently be seen in the Spen-
cer Grill. The project consists of student- that it is a really important part of it, though consent workshop is one thing you can do to who’s been affected, they probably have a
made t-shirts that bear messages regarding it isn’t the only event.” really actively change the rape culture . . . ac- friend who hasn’t told them,” said Lawler.
sexual violence and abuse, which are then Another event held during the week was tively trying to put consent as a part of that Lawler said she hopes that Take Back
hung on display in the Grill. the consent workshop, led by Lawler. During script can have a huge effect on the number the Night will make a permanent impact on
“The Clothesline Project is something the workshop, participants learned how to of sexual rape and assaults.” the campus, not just this year, but in years to
that Grinnell has been doing for a while,” practice asking for and giving verbal consent, According to Lawler, the event is im- come.
said Zoe Schein ’12, a participant in the as well as how to make it “sexy,” Lawler said. portant to the entire campus, regardless of “I hope that every year it gets bigger and
event. “Personally, I think it’s really effective. “The consent workshop was maybe one whether they have experienced sexual assault bigger and that it becomes a conversation
This raises awareness, and then people hope- of the most important things we can do in or not. that we have on campus—that it’s something
fully try and do something about it. I think terms of solutions,” Lawler said. “I think the “Even if people don’t know someone that we talk about,” Lawler said.

Grinnell’s coolness validated

Results in for coolest town, Grinnell ranks third
BY SARAH BLACK
While Grinnell may not be the hippest
or hottest place to live, in the minds of In-
ternet voters, it is at least one of the coolest.
Grinnell placed third with over 9,000
votes in Budget Travel Magazine’s yearly
Coolest Small Towns contest. The results,
drawn from internet votes for 22 reader-
nominated towns with fewer than 10,000
residents, were announced on CBS’s Early
Show last Wednesday.
The first two spots were won in a land-
slide by Owego, New York and Rockland,
Maine, each receiving over 22,000 votes.
Grinnell was the highest-ranked Mid-
western town, followed by the Midwest
wine capital of Vevay, Indiana, which gar-
nered almost 8,000 votes. The results can
be viewed at Budget Travel’s website, Bud-
getTravel.com.
“I think it’s cool,” said SGA Presi-
dent Neo Morake ’10. “There are parts of
Grinnell that people don’t get to see. Alto-
gether it’s a good town. I’m glad I put [the
contest] on my Plan, that it got people to
vote.”
Sierra Strassberg ’10, who grew up in
Grinnell, said the results would pique the
attention of students and townspeople
alike. “I think it’s something a lot of people
are going to be happy about it. There are
a lot of people like the Chamber of Com-
merce who work really hard,” Strassberg
said. “I’m actually impressed with it.”
Some Grinnell College students, like
Mairead O’Grady ’10, think that the “cool-
est” part of Grinnell is the abundance of
small businesses. O’Grady cited the Come-
back Cafe as a uniquely Grinnellian asset.
“I go to Comeback Café three or four times
a week and always order the number 11,”
O’Grady said. “The Comeback Café is my
favorite part of Grinnell.”
Nick Johnson, a Grinnell resident who
left to attend Kenyon last semester, ex-
pressed little surprise over the results. “I
feel like New York and Maine usually get
props for being cooler than Iowa. I wouldn’t
expect to be the coolest.”
“Sure, it’s cool,” Johnson added. “But I
think [Grinnell] would seem more inter-
esting if I was passing through or visiting
instead of living there.”
Emily Iwuc ’08 lived in town for nine
months after graduation and moved to
Minneapolis this February. In a previous
interview regarding the competition, Iwuc
said, “I suppose I was mistaken about Grin-
nell’s standing relative to other towns.”
“Rockland, that’s a pretty cool town,”
Iwuc said. “There are worse places to lose
to.”
4 NEWS
edited by J. Francis Buse and Brian Sherwin
April 24, 2009
sherwinb@grinnell.edu; busejohn@grinnell.edu

Holocaust survivor and Grinnell alumna speaks at Grinnell

Celina Biniaz ‘52 spoke to a full JRC 101 about her experiences
in World War II concentration camps and her eventual placement
in one of Oskar Schindler’s factories. During the interview, Biniaz
spoke extensively of her time in war-torn Europe and Grinnell.

In going to high school in America and then transition-

ing to Grinnell, how were the interactions with your peers
insofar as them asking about your past?

I never talked about it. You see at that point there was no
such thing as a Holocaust, nobody used that word, it didn’t
come up until much later. We were displaced people, survivors
of the people, but displaced people, and that’s how we were re-
garded and that’s how we were written up. “The first displaced
family to come to Des Moines.” That kind of stuff, you know.
So they knew that I came from Europe and they knew that
there was a war and they didn’t really ask specific questions
but they were very good. I was accepted totally. I was a strange
thing, the first-foreign speaking student in North High. It was
so unusual, you know, but I was well accepted, they went aout of
the way to help me in every way. It was very good.

What did you study and what activities did you partici-
pate in at Grinnell College?

I majored in philosophy. And as a matter of fact my philoso-

phy professor and mentor is still alive. He’s 102-years-old. Neal
Klausner. I just went to visit him yesterday in the afternoon.
His mind is so sharp, he remembers me completely, and you
know how many years that is!
Since 1952! So that’s what I
majored in.
I was really interested in
studying philosophy to figure
out what happened and why it
happened and what were the
theories behind it and why did
people act the way they did,
just on a different level, the On Tuesday in JRC 101, Holocaust survivor Celina Biniaz (’52) spoke publicly for the first time about her experiences. PAUL KRAMER
level I was accepted in in Ger-
many was an emotional level before they died. homosexuals and feeble minded and you know. A whole bunch
... but here I wanted to know So he started the Shoah foundation, with $56 million of of other people so that’s why he did it, that’s why he put out the
what the other people think why did it happen, not that I ever his personal take of proceeds from the movie, and started this DVD and that’s why he wanted the support of the people who
found out the answer to that, but it was a good major for me. Shoah foundation on his Universal lot in Los Angeles, where had survived on the list to speak about it on the backside of the
they’d send people out all over the world to interview. He has DVD and he called it, “Voices from the List.”
Were you involved in any other activities, extra . . . 52,000 to 56,000 interviews with people who suffered during
the war in 30 different languages in 50-some odd different I know you’re giving a talk in the JRC 101 today, but have
Oh my God, yes. I was in the international club, I was in countries and then he took all of that you often given . . .
the ORCUS’—it was a dance club, modern dance club, and we and employed people to translate them.
did two concerts a year where we danced on the stage, student For example, the deposition was in “I never spoke about it. Nobody Never. This is my first.
government. As my English got better and better I joined more Russian, then it would be translated in my community knew that I
things. into German maybe, and definitely into Why did you decide to do this now?
I had to work a lot so I didn’t have that much time. I worked English. My interview was in English, was a Holocaust survivor, not in
at the office of the Dean of Women answering the phone, I and I’m sure it was translated into Pol- school, not anywhere, not even my I was called by Rebecca [Heller ’11]
worked in the dining room as a waitress, I worked breakfast ish, into German. It was put on a digital and e-mailed or something and she posed
time in the dining room, putting up the cereal boxes and all of form and all of that is stored in archives children.” that question whether I would be willing to
that, I worked at the library—I had to put in two hours at the and now they’re sending all of these ar- Celina Biniaz ‘52 come. I thought about it, and I’d never done
library. chives to universities and learning insti- it, never, the only time I ever spoke publi-
That was the worst, because I couldn’t use the time to study. tutions. cally was for the release of the DVD and
The best workplace was to be in the dining room because at They’ve told me that my interview they asked me to say something, what I said
that time, those two hours of meal is at the Free University of Berlin and is in to Steven Spielberg and that amazingly was what was captured
time in the evening, we were very for- Frankfurt and they’re sending it to Austra- and appeared in all the newspapers.
mal, with white table cloths and all “I was really interested in study- lia. Eventually they want to all universities It was funny, that that little bit that I spoke should have
that, the two hours that nobody stud- ing philosophy to figure out what that will accept it. They have moved now made it because other people spoke and he spoke but, no I’ve
ied, it was go-easy, perfect times—you the whole process, all of the archives, per- never done it, but I thought that I owed Grinnell something.
didn’t lose any study time. The time in
happened and why it happened manently into the University of Southern Grinnell was very good to me, you know.
the library would have been the time ... and why did people act the way California in Los Angeles.
when I would’ve studied anyway. They no longer do any interviews of Ho- Do you think based off of doing the speech today that you
they did” locaust survivors because most of them died, will continue to speak about your experiences in the Holo-
You mentioned that you were Celina Biniaz ‘52 or are dying. They’re now concentrating on caust?
interviewed by either Steven Spiel- Rwanda, doing interviews in Rwanda. They
berg, or others who were working on will follow all kinds of genocide, I think. I don’t know . . . It’s very interesting, I never spoke about it.
“Schindler’s List.” Ten years [later] I was called [and asked] if it was alright Nobody in my community knew that I was a Holocaust survi-
if they would include parts of my interview on the new DVD vor, not in school, not anywhere not even my children, not until
That happened years later, when the Schindler story liter- of “Schindler’s List” that they were going to release and I said my son was 14 and my daughter was 11. So where I live now in
ally hit the newspaper, because that’s when I found it. I was sure, so they asked me to send some pictures and, you know, I Southern California, we moved there about 15 years ago, I have
shocked to find out “that was my life.” It took almost 30 years— didn’t know what they were going to do with all of this but so a little granddaughter who is graduating from high school and
it was published in 1982, and we knew the name of Paul Page. this happened ten years after the, the tenth anniversary of the you see how quickly the years progress.
We knew him from camp. So next time we were in California, Shoah Foundation and the tenth anniversary of the first film. And some of the people have heard, you know, because they
we spoke about how he got Keneally to write the book. And And then I was invited to the event when they were releasing saw my name printed in the L.A. Times so they’ve asked me
then Universal Studios took an option on the book, and forced it to the public, talking about it to the public and I met Steven and I haven’t considered it because it’s different speaking here,
Spielberg to do the movie. Spielberg and some of the other people and all the actors were you know people are receptive, they’ve asked me for it and ev-
This was in 1983, right after he’d released “E.T.,” and he there that were in “Schindler’s List” and Steven Spielberg told erything and speaking to people who might have never seen
thought he was not mature enough to do the film. So he wait- us why he did it. “Schindler’s List” . . . I only started talking about my experienc-
ed for ten years before he started. So finally the film appeared He had no intention of putting it on a DVD but there were es after “Schindler’s List” came out because there was a point of
in 1993, and then from that he used his money to—because so many deniers of [the] Holocaust, people saying that it never reference. I could say “have you seen it?” so I don’t know, I really
people kept approaching him while he was filming and telling happened, no way that it could have, they kept talking about six don’t know, I’ll see how things go today and we’ll find out.
him “I’ve got a story to tell you”—so he thought there were an million Jews but there were actually 11 million people that were
awful lot of survivors who should have their stories published exterminated because the other five million were gypsies and Interview conducted by Chloe Moryl
April 24, 2009 NEWS edited by J. Francis Buse and Brian Sherwin
sherwinb@grinnell.edu; busejohn@grinnell.edu 5
Trustees
from p. 1 through while we were there.” In general, “the No Limits Project wants accountability dards of the College.
and transparency on issues of social responsibility,” Smith The group seeks to encourage the College to use its
A Just Grinnell: said. The group referred to the 14 de- power as a significant share-
Two new members of A Just Grinnell, Rashawn Sims mands listed on its website, emphasiz- holder in many publicly traded
’12 and Nichole Baker ’10, described their future ambitions ing the cost-neutral ones. companies in a way that encour-
as well as the group’s many achievements this year, espe- The group also focused on the long “We think that Grinnell as an institution ages socially responsible busi-
cially since their last Trustee presentation in early Febru- history behind many of the demands. really needs to support what we sup- ness practices.
ary. “Some students have been working on “In the ’80s, Grinnell joined
A Just Grinnell is “currently doing a pilot program with these projects for almost their full four
port . . . we have found that students the international movement to
workshops” addressing injustices at Grinnell College, Sims years that they have been here. Stu- come against a brick wall in these divest from South Africa and
said. These include a workshop on racism two weeks ago dents, faculty and staff have been work- projects” helped end apartheid,” said An-
and another on classism this weekend. Indeed, it was at ing on this for more than a decade,” isfeld, who is an editor for the
the racism workshop that Sims became interested in and Conlon said. Rachel Smith ‘11 S&B.
involved with the group. The group also addressed their un- The group is currently advo-
On a larger scale, the group hosted a November retreat, orthodox approach as a student group, Member of the No Limits Project cating that the College approve
attended by 50 people, and particularly shareholder resolutions up for
a spring break retreat with their deci- vote, which would compel Wal-
40 participants, including sion to not register as an official Mart to include gender identity and expression in its of-
a school-sponsored profes- student organization. “We are ficial non-discrimination policy.
sional moderator. While working as best we can through “We’ve been researching various shareholder resolu-
this is a student-run pro- [institutional] and maybe less tions for this term,” Goff said.
gram, flown-in facilitators traditional approaches,” Conlon The group’s chief proposal was the establishment of a
can cost thousands of dol- said. committee to oversee how well the College’s investment
lars, requiring Trustee and Before voicing their demands, practices align with its stated values of social justice. The
administrative support. members noted that their moti- committee would include membership from students,
Baker tied this semester’s vation “is mostly because we love Trustees and College administrators.
successes with the program’s Grinnell and we want it to be a “The committee would be made up, we propose, of
overall goals. better place and we think that it four students, Treasurer David Clay and Investment Ana-
“The reason this pilot program is [happening] like we can be a better place,” Smith said. lyst Paige Carlson at the Treasurer’s Office, both of whom
said [is because] we want this peer education program to “But we think that Grinnell as an institution really we’ve worked with the last few years on this campaign, and
be institutionalized at Grinnell,” Baker said. “We want ev- needs to support what we say we support. A lot of students two members of the board of Trustees who would not be
ery student who comes through Grinnell to have a basic have been really active in getting programs that do this but required to come [to] any meetings but would be kind of
understanding of privilege and oppression in general and we have found that students come against a brick wall in our Trustee liaisons,” Rubinstein said.
specifically how it acts at Grinnell.” these project,” Smith said. One Trustee questioned the feasibility and efficiency of
considering the thousands of shareholder resolutions that
No Limits Project: Students for Responsible Investment: could come before the Committee. SRI members, however,
Four students—Joe Hiller ’12, Rachel Smith ’11, Vir- In a follow-up to their presentation to the Trustees at contended that the Committee would only target a few
ginia Andersen ’10 and Alex Conlon ’09—represented the the February open forum, students Ari Anisfeld ’09, Jared of the more salient resolutions and focus their efforts on
No Limits Project. Their discussion revolved around their Rubinstein ’10, and Sarah Goff ’11 gave an update on their those.
message, movement, and motivations. progress in setting goals for raising the investment stan-
6 edited by Mark Japinga
japingam@grinnell.edu
ARTS April 24, 2009

Midnight=nerd nirvana
For nerds, there is nothing quite like a midnight re-
lease. It is our Super Bowl. Grinnellians compare stress
levels and page counts. Nerds compare midnight release
experiences. The privileged feeling you get a few hours
later, knowing that no one else has seen or read what you
have, that’s like crack for us.
Two years ago, I bought “Harry Potter and the Death-
ly Hallows” at midnight in Canada, simply so that I could
get the British edition. Well, and because the nearest
bookstore in rural upstate New York took me across the
border to Brockville, Ontario.
Normally, I’d just take the boat over and call in to Cus-
toms. But there were two problems. One, my 14-foot
outboard motor boat had no lights. Two, docking in the
harbor isn’t free after 9 p.m.
Being cheap, I drove. The Customs officer on the in-
ternational bridge was less surprised than I might have
hoped. So much for getting any affirmation of my nerdi-

ness. Even worse, I wasn’t even the first one there. Two
Canadian teenagers—sisters who had been first in line at
this bookstore since the fourth book—and an American
doctor with his devoted 14-year-old daughter had beaten
me.
We killed time by discussing each other’s govern-
ments, sharing pizza and soda. Other people started
showing up around 11 p.m., a number of whom found it
necessary to remind me that not all Canadians are named
Alanis or Avril.
I was the third person in Brockville to buy the book
and the second person to drive back across the border
with it. Six hours later, I went downstairs for breakfast.
Grandma remarked that I was up early when actually, I
had finished Harry Potter instead of sleeping. I was not
allowed to talk to anyone for several days.
So I’ve got transportation issues, international cama-
raderie, free pizzas and excessive fan speculation. One
problem, though: no costumes! It’s my biggest shame as a
nerd—I have never dressed up for a midnight release, and
therefore cannot count myself as a supernerd, no matter
how many lines I can quote or how many times I’ve read
a book.
Luckily, May 1 brings “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”
and on May 8, Star Trek arrives. And I’m finally prepared
with costumes for both.
After dissolving into fangirl squeals during the first
trailer showing Gambit, the card-throwing Cajun, I real-
ized my chance had finally come. I have in my dresser
a black turtleneck with the magenta and blue trademark
and the Sharpie abs. In my closet, there’s a floor-length
trenchcoat. I’ve already destroyed a deck of cards by
throwing half of them at drunk people at Harris, and I
have a lighter to fake my mutant powers.
Sophomore year for Mary B. James, the Captain
(Anna Werner ’09) and I dressed as Captain Picard and
Commander Riker, so I’ve already got the full Star Fleet
uniform. Yes, it’s the wrong era for this movie, but I don’t
care. It’s Star Trek—time travel is never out of the ques-
tion.
While a midnight release at The Strand full of
Grinnellians might not measure up to the epic nature of
the final Harry Potter, a costume brings it close. Besides,
if you won’t dress up like a mutant or a Star Fleet com-
mander for your favorite cultural obsession, is it really
worth it?
From left to right, Anna Logan ’09, Amy Levin’ 09, Aniko Drlik-Muehleck ’11 and Kelzee Tibbetts ’10 perform Shawn Womack’s “Fern
Hill” in the dance main stage performace which runs through sunday.
Students and pros combine for Spring Dance
Performance to fuse dance and video to create an interactive experience
BY S AR AH B LACK
This weekend’s Spring Dance Performance includes a
senior MAP production by Noga Ashkenazi ’09 and some of
the most ambitious multimedia dance performances to date.
In addition to Ashkenazi’s pieces, the four-part, 45-minute
production features students performing choreography by
guest instructors Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer— bor-
rowed from their New York dance company— and Shawn
Womack, Theatre.
Along with Jaysen Wright’s ’09 “Ties That Bind,” the
Spring Dance Performance honors the Theater and Dance
Department’s goal to use the year’s fourth main stage pro-
duction to develop and display student pieces alongside
work from guest artists.
“It’s a laboratory for new work,” Womack said. “Two of
the works presented are MAPs by senior Theatre majors.”
Womack specifically emphasized the importance of
combining student work with that of professional artists.
“It’s important for us to bring guest artists in dance to
work with students,” Womack said, “but it’s of primary im-
portance that we offer students opportunities to create their
own work.”
“It feels like such an achievement for our department
to have two MAP performances and for the quality of at-
tention that the students have given to their artistic work,”
Womack continued. “Both Noga and Jaysen are very clear
in their vision and very clear in articulating their vision for
what they want.”
Ashkenazi’s two-part MAP includes “Dangerous Calm,”
which features 15 dancers, and a solo piece titled “Long Dis-
tance,” which Ashkenazi will perform. Both works incorpo-
rate video shot by Ashkenazi near her home in Israel over
winter break.
“[For “Dangerous Calm”], I filmed in the Israeli desert
by the Dead Sea and in a construction site in Tel Aviv,” Ash-
LAWRENCE SUMULONG
kenazi said. “I’m working with those two places that seem
very different—desert versus city … I’m trying to bridge the
gap between these two spaces and show a vision in which
they’re not that different. I wanted the video to inform the
dance just as much as the dance will inform the video.”
Her solo piece, “Long Distance,” uses film shot on an Is-
raeli bus. Ashkenazi began working on the solo while taking
film and dance courses during her study abroad experience
in Paris last year.
“I’ve been doing film for many years,” Ashkenazi said, “so
editing wasn’t new to me. But it was challenging in terms of
projection formats and working with Roberts’ space and the
projector they had there, so it wasn’t 100 percent smooth but
[not] too complicated either.”
Bridgman and Packer held rehearsals for “Traveling
Feast,” the program’s final piece, over ten days in January
and returned for two days of work last week. Womack con-
ducted rehearsals in the interim, some of which incorporated
the choreographers via Skype. The piece will use a live video
feed to project half of the dancers onto the backs of coats
worn by the other five performers.
“It’s been a real challenge,” Aniko Drlik-Muehleck ’11
said. “You have to get the spacing so precise so that the vid-
eo isn’t distorted when it’s projected. It takes a lot of extra
little marks on the stage and moving around to try and get
it right.”
“We’re working with a couple different projectors, so that
makes things a little more complicated” Anna Logan ’09
said. “It’s taken more time in tech rehearsals, but I think the
pieces come out looking more unique. We’re doing things
more multimedia than dance usually is and I think it looks
very cool.”
The Spring Dance Performance continues with shows at
8 p.m. tonight and Saturday, along with a 2 p.m. matinee on
Sunday in Bucksbaum’s Roberts Theater.
 April 24, 2009
TITULAR HEAD
Diving into the history behind Saturday’s salute to film and alcohol
BY CHLOE MORYL
Titular Head will rear its intoxicated, jeering head for the 33rd
time this Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. in Harris. Though everybody
knows both what Titular Head is and the appropriate amount of al-
cohol to consume before it, less is known about the origins of this epic
evening and how its well-established traditions evolved.
In an attempt to uncover these little-known truths, current Titular
Head organizers Dan Neely ’09 and Mark Sullivan ’10, Titular Head
XXXI host Liz Ward ’07, Titular Head XXV and XXVI Organizer
Chris Rathjen ’02, and Titular Head celebrity Lyle Bauman were all
asked several questions about what makes Titular Head work.
Why is Titular Head called Titular Head?
Sullivan: Apparently Relays and Titular Head used to be
linked together [in the 1970s]. I think Titular Head was the last
event … the winner of relays would be called the “Titular Head”
and would lead this march to Harris. Then they would have a skit
show … I’m sure some of them were just made up on the spot
because people were wasted.
Rathjen: Originally there was a talent show in the ’70s and
’80s. I think the winner of the talent show was the Titular Head
and they got to sit on a float. Then Relays died out and a couple
years later some students brought back the film fest part of it. The
name just kind of migrated on, but was by and large divorced from
its original meaning.
How is the host selected?
Ward: I think they just pick someone that could handle a
crowd and that they think is funny. Apparently they also pick
someone that can project because I didn’t have a microphone for
the first half of Tit Head.
Neely: [This year’s host] Rachel Fields [’09] is hilarious and
she knows how to play a crowd well. Mark and I thought she’d
be a good candidate. It’s nice to give a senior the host position—
kinda fun to go out in a bang.
How is the panel of judges selected?
Sullivan: Traditionally it’s been SGA cabinet, [both] incoming
and outgoing, and then we have four students at large. So this year
we have Fonz Jenkins [10, ] and Kat York [’09,] [who] has never
gone [to Titular Head] … and then Erik Simpson [English] and
H The Wres- Titular
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Doug Cutchins. Simpson was apparently a judge his first year,
loved it, and was never invited back.
Bauman: I think maybe it’s because that I’m pretty open
minded to the whole thing. I don’t think it’s because of my movie
knowledge at all.
When and/or why is there a tradition of being raucously
drunk for Titular Head?
Sullivan: I think it just has to be that way. When I describe
it to people I like to say that it’s like a Roman amphitheatre. It’s
definitely not a film festival.
Ward: Unless someone was submitting something they really
thought was their magnum opus and suffered psychological trau-
ma from the heckling it received … I don’t think there’s anything
wrong with it. It added to the atmosphere and the notoriety.
What makes a film successful/unsuccessful?
Neely: I think really good films incorporate a lot of different
people on campus and incorporate a quirk about us. I really like the
fact that it’s a celebration of oddities in our weird eccentric com-
munity. It’s like we know that we’re being a bunch of dorks and we
know that [we’re] geeking out over kind of silly stuff.
Ward: Brevity is essential. I think that featuring prominent
Grinnell traditions or landmarks or people or characters are all es-
sential to a successful film. I think a film that takes itself seriously
at all is bound to fail. Or one that’s long. Or boring. Or cliché.
What is your favorite Titular Head film?
Sullivan: I’m going to go old school here. I really like “Handjob
at HyVee.” It’s really old, I think [from] 1993. It’s just a guy eating
a cream filled doughnut at HyVee and there are cuts to carrots and
people’s fingers touching carrots and the produce aisle at HyVee
and he finishes it and licks his fingers off and that’s the end of the
movie.
Neely: One that really captures a more recent Grinnell attitude
is “Bare Aspiration,” the one about a streaker. But interestingly
enough the main character in that film didn’t even go to Grinnell.
Bauman: Racquetball [Tunak Tunak Tun] was pretty good.
That’s going to be around for many years.
How do you think that YouTube and increasingly advanced
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edited by Mark Japinga
japingam@grinnell.edu 7
technology has influenced Titular Head?
Neely: In general I think YouTube has geared people toward
what is funny in film. It’s increasing expectations and also increas-
ing quality.
Ward: I worry that it will influence films to their detriment if
somebody gets it in their head that it’d be funny to imitate some
YouTube film that’ll be long gone and forgotten in a couple of
months … I have more faith in the intelligence of Grinnell stu-
dents.
Rathjen: The switchover to digital was while I was [at
Grinnell] so the production value just skyrocketed. It lowers the
barrier for entry so if you have an idea, it’s easier to get it on screen.
What, if anything, would you change about Titular Head,
or where do you see it going in the future?
Sullivan: I’m worried about Tit Head becoming too institu-
tionalized and rational in terms of the way the committee is run.
[This is] the first year we have an email account, which is great,
but half of me feels like, Titular Head doesn’t need an email ac-
count. I kind of like that it’s this inbred, weird, completely nepo-
tistic structure. And it’s like a lot of people don’t understand how it
works and I like that. I like that it’s not democratic. Fuck that shit.
Ward: I don’t know if I would change anything … I never saw
any flaws.
What is your advice to future Titular Head filmmakers?
Sullivan: I like Kellogg’s Corn Flakes because if the audience
eats enough of them and gets drunk enough they will throw them
up in the Harris bathroom … and filmmakers will hopefully film
it for a film next year.
Ward: Be ambitious and don’t make a film that’s easy to make
or that anyone can make. And try and be funny, just for your sake.
It’ll save any film.
Rathjen: So many people have ideas … you hear a hundred
great ideas that could result in a hundred great films and people
just never get around to doing it. My advice would be, make that
film.
Bauman: Hire it out. Get Steven Spielberg to do it. No, try to
be on the lighter side, relax, have a good time doing it. Don’t try
to get real serious. Let the movie have a lighter side and not such
a dark side.
Haunting in Observe and Re-
Connecticut
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Fri. - 4:45, 7:20 & 9:15 p.m.
Sat. - 2:20, 4:45, 7:20 & 9:15 p.m.
Sun.-Thurs. - 4:35 p.m. Sun. - 2:20, 4:45 & 7:20 p.m.
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 8 edited by Mark Japinga
japingam@grinnell.edu
ARTS April 24, 2009

“Ties That Bind” confronts all sides of AIDS crisis

BY TESSA CHEEK
Jaysen Wright’s ’09 MAP, “The Ties That
Bind,” explores issues of sexuality, shame, and ill-
ness as well as those of compassion, strength and
love. Co-directed with Caitlin Davies, the show
debuted last night and will run through Sunday.
In a series of three vignettes, Wright collects
the history of gay relationships around love, suf-
fering and compassion. This first piece, entitled
“Voices in Time,” follows gay issues from the
late sixties to a possible future. The second piece,
“Summer Quartet,” explores the loss and fear
between four friends, one of whom has been di-
agnosed with HIV. The play develops this focus
on the inter-relational repercussions of HIV in
the final section, “Looking Back,” chronicling the
story of two lovers living with HIV.
The characters flush from anger to sup-
port, from devastation to love, and have already
changed the perspectives of the actors themselves.
“These type of things are so easy to push
away ... but tapping into the sense of total loss
completely changes your perspective,” Kevin Tru-
del ’12 said. Trudel plays Vince, the best friend of
an HIV victim.
“Ties That Bind” also pays homage to the
fortitude and strength of love, between same sex
partners or otherwise.
“We did a lot of improv exercises . . . to estab-
lish friendships and connections between actors,”
Wright said.
“I broke down quite a bit in rehearsal,” Lexy
Leuszler ’12 ( Julia) said. “I think the hardest was
playing those improv games and talking about an
emotion as difficult as grief and absolute loss.”
In addition to forging bonds over shared
hardships, the actors were asked to build a back
story around the first time a fellow character got
drunk and other hilarious “past moments.” The
effect is an on-stage closeness is as believable as
it is devastating.
Despite its focus on the repercussions of the
AIDS epidemic, the play also promises a degree
of hope in its focus on inter-character relation-
ships. The show’s final vignette focuses on the
relationship between two men, only one of whom
is HIV positive.
“The final piece really brought home the
concept of disease and the reality of living with
it,” said Rev Darragh ’12, who plays Danny, the
HIV negative partner. “The process really wid-
ened my perspective.”
Wright asserts that the piece is intended to
touch the audience in some way, but leaves the
specifics to the audience. Whether the cumula-
tive effect of his three semesters of work is shock,
sadness, empathy or fear, it is most certainly also
a profound awe in the power of human compas- From left to right, Kelly Ryan ’09, Ben Tape ’12 and Jaysen Wright ’09 act in Wright’s MAP production “Ties That Bind,” which opened last night and
sion. continues throughout the weekend. PAUL KRAMER

Millard Fillmore: Old History, New Sound

BY M AX CALENBERG
Millard Fillmore became President on July
9, 1850, after the death of Zachary Taylor. He
was the last member of the Whig party to hold
office and his failed reelection campaign en-
sured his now persistent obscurity.
More than 150 years later, Fillmore’s name
and legacy has become an obscure pop culture
and historical reference, which will now enter
the music world thanks to a new band of four
Grinnellians.
Brian Cavanagh-Strong ’09 (keyboard),
Adam Thein ’10 (bass), Nate Redman ’09
(drums), and Mike Weslander ’09 (guitar, lead
vocals) formed the band Phineas Gage over
fall break as all four met in the basement of
1010 High Street, playing together through-
out the week. After winter break, and some
soul searching, they changed their name to
Millard Fillmore to avoid any confusion with
the ever popular other Phineas Gage, a hard-
core metal band from Watertown, MN.
The guys still meet several times a week
in the same basement they formed in with a
low ceiling and even lower head banging pipes.
They listen to a recording of their live show,
discuss arrangements and practice. Being a
freshly formed band, the members know they
are still growing together.
“I don’t know we know what our sound
is yet,” said Redman. “We don’t know how to
categorize ourselves, and maybe the object is
to not do that.”
Initially, the group was, understandably, a
bit short on material.
“You know, when we started we played a
lot of covers because we were experimenting
with how we sound,” said Cavanagh-Strong.
“But as we started writing more music it
seemed pretty unified. Right now we are in a
stage of playing mostly original work but using
our favorite covers to supplement that.”
The songwriting process normally begins
with Weslander.
“Most of the stuff I write is just on my
acoustic guitar,” says Weslander. “I show it to
[everyone] and we’ll change the chords, lyric
passages and melodies, which makes it our Brian Cavangh-Strong ’09, Adam Thein ’10, Mike Weslander ’09, and Nate Redman ’09 comprise
music and not just mine.” Millard Fillmore, and practice in the basement of 1010 High Street. MICHELLE FOURNIER
Much of their original material sounds like boarding or his voice to get submerged, and all graduated, the group may still be able to get
the sum of their individual influences, which four commonly join together for rich harmo- together to practice and play gigs, as all of
range from John Mayer (Weslander) to theatre nies to add a sense of pop to their jam band them may remain in Iowa.
music (Cavanagh-Strong) to Van Morrison vibe. The sound is friendly while still contain- That plan reaffirms their laid back ap-
(Redman) to Rush (Thein). Weslander sings ing enough energy and variation to make it the proach. Why worry about the long-term out-
in a gentle tone, breathing the words out of main focus of a bar scene. look when a quality jam session can happen
his mouth, Brian never allows his upbeat key- As for next year, after three members have right now?
 1 SB &
MAGAZINE INSERT April 24, 2009

the uneasy transition

PROFESSIONALIZATION
IN STUDENT AFFAIRS

by Jeff Raderstrong
with additional coverage by Ari Anisfeld and David Logan
photography by Aaron Barker

Last semester—the Thursday of Hell Week— students, faculty, administra-

tors and staff piled into JRC 101 for a community forum on the state of the campus. People
crowded the stairs and spilled out into the hallway. Everyone came seeking answers on topics
ranging from hirings and firings in Student Affairs to the Office’s policy on calling home
when a student has been hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. exasperated by the constant churning of the College rumor
The theatrics that ensued would quickly turn into legend. mill and a growing sense that students were not consulted “BEST PRACTICES”
Amidst student skepticism, Dean of Students Travis Greene in these policy shifts.
assured Some of the proposed changes were framed in the context What really underlies many of the administrative
students that he had no “double top-secret agenda.” In the of aligning the school with policies at other institutions. reforms, and student anxieties about them, is something
forum’s waning moments, Ralph Savarese, English, rose This was specifically true, for instance, in the case of the far less tangible and yet potentially more significant than
from his chair brandishing what he claimed was Sheree policy of calling home for students hospitalized because of any individual policy change—a desire to bring increased
Andrews’ personnel file and excoriated administrators for alcohol. At the December open forum, Dougharty spoke “professionalization” to the office—a general desire
impropriety. of the need to adopt such a policy by comparing Grinnell Dougharty has expressed. Administrators often describe
Much of the anxiety on display at December’s open forum to other institutions and prevailing trends in the field; he such changes as moves which will benefit students by
was rooted in fears about ongoing changes in the Office said that Grinnell had no such policy and that he had never discarding failed practices and incorporating new dynamic
of Student Affairs. With substantial turnover in the top been at an institution without one. At other points in the ones from outside institutions. In the case of staff changes,
ranks of Student Affairs, its new chief administrators have year, there was also some discussion of involving Student Dougharty has described the process as matching staff
implemented a number of changes—starting this summer Advisors in assessing year-end fines for dorm room damage members’ skills and passions with their duties, while raising
with a complete divisional reshuffling—that have been and the Office also created a sort-of internship position expectations for staff. “We’re expected to be significantly
referred to as “professionalization.” For proponents, the idea for students interested in careers in Student Affairs. Both more involved than we used to be,” said Kim Hinds-Brush,
encourages creating policy based on “best practices” from of these proposals were seen as moves to align the student Assistant Director of Residence Life and Loosehead RLC.
other institutions, ensuring adherence to federal mandates staff positions closer to the resident advisor systems that A simple example she pointed to was formally requiring
and opening lines of communication. To detractors, predominate at other schools. Dougharty’s arrival was RLCs to know the names of their clusters’ residents.
professionalization insinuates the demise of Grinnell’s also accompanied by apparently more stringency in the Much of the organizational restructuring is cited as an
uniqueness and incorporation into the mainstream. enforcement of alcohol policy; the school’s historical effort by Greene and Dougharty to increase communication
laxness in this area had been something of a hallmark that between all Student Affairs departments—like the
encapsulated Grinnell’s offbeat and looser approach. Career Development Office, the Health Center and the
CHANGING TIMES In hiring for open positions this year, Student Affairs
has generally made a point of reaching beyond the Grinnell
Chaplain’s Office—as well as increase communication
with the student body. “What became clear to me [soon
The changes since Dougharty’s and Greene’s arrival community, with the phrase “casting as wide a net as possible” after arrival] is that those collection of departments and
have been substantial. Shortly after Dougharty came to quickly an Office favorite. Job postings for both the Dean of programs have not necessarily worked very intentionally
campus, Jennifer Krohn, former Dean of Student Life, Students and Associate Dean positions required more post- as a student affairs organization,” Dougharty said, which
was transferred to Institutional Research, beginning a master’s experience than similar positions in previous years he felt prevented Student Affairs from providing “the
division-wide restructuring of Student Affairs. Employees and at other institutions. This year’s crop of RLC candidates best educational experience we can for Grinnell college
within the division, such as Director of Service and Social have exuded a noticeably more business-like demeanor— students.” Dougharty’s holistic view of Student Affairs
Commitment Doug Cutchins, took on new duties and at pinstripe jackets and pantsuits and generally more sober— informs his push to increase communication between the
times moved into new offices. While most students may not as compared to some of the more eccentric characters that different departments.
have noticed these organizational changes, students paid have graced Grinnell’s residence halls in recent years. In deciding when and how to reform Student Affairs
attention when Associate Dean and Director of Residence Some have cited Dougharty as a “change agent,” practices, Greene said that the division often looks to
Life Sheree Andrews was abruptly placed on administrative specifically brought in to shake up the organizational other schools—both small liberal arts colleges and larger
leave on Sept 8. culture that predominated on JRC third floor. institutions—to get a sense of the “best practices of what’s
Additionally, the office has explored some controversial “I think the rate of change has been a big part of the … out there . . . [and what] keeps us in line with the legal
policy moves, including proposed modifications to the schism and controversies,” said SGA Treasurer Emily Wax and policy mandates.” Conforming to national “best
role of Student Advisors and a reluctance to fund a trip to ’09, who helped organize last semester’s open forum. “And I practices” allows the College to evaluate its policies against
protest the School of the Americas. The apprehension was think that has harmed our community.” the broader scope of higher education. Communicating
 2 &
with student affairs professionals at other schools helps
bring new ideas to Grinnell that can dramatically improve
current policies. Administrators noted that comparisons
with other institutions have helped strengthen student-
driven policy directives. Dougharty highlighted the school’s
recent adoption and expansion of gender-neutral housing as
one example of the effectiveness of following other schools’
leads. According to Dougharty, “To be able to bring in
outside data and outside research was part of what allowed
us to expand gender-neutral housing.”
One example of an area for improved professionalization
has even been identified by students themselves, some of
whom have complained about a perceived tendency of the
College to offer positions to the partners of sought-after
faculty candidates as an incentive for working at the school.
Too often, they said these individuals were unqualified and
given employment simply to entice them and their partner
to relocate. A standardization and professionalization of
hiring practices and qualifications could curtail this practice
and ensure that only the most qualified candidates are hired.
GRINNELL
EXCEPTIONALISM
Despite administrators’ stated intentions, not all
members of the campus have welcomed the efforts.
Students, in particular, take issue with the application of
national practices at Grinnell because of a belief in Grinnell
exceptionalism—that this college is unique from its “peer
institutions.” The school’s espoused philosophy of self-
governance, its quirky brand of students, and a long legacy
of bucking the mainstream are all cited as examples of
Grinnell’s special stature among the cadre of small liberal
arts schools. Though most would agree new ideas can be
constructive, students are generally hostile to the idea
that Grinnell model itself after some other institution, for
fear of sacrificing its unique culture in the process. “For
students, Grinnell is an experience, so to professionalize an
experience is to streamline and marginalize it,” Wax said.
“The advertising, the ‘No limits,’ the website all trigger
a fear that that’s what’s happening, that we’re making
Grinnell look like every other liberal arts college.”
Ross Preston ’10 —and other students—acknowledged
that the real differences between Grinnell and other liberal
arts colleges might not be as great as many students believe.
But still, they argued, overarching campus changes—
newer, arguably more sterile buildings, publicity and
recruitment campaigns that ignore what makes Grinnell
“different”—cause students to fear that outside influences
lead to standardization and force0 Grinnell into a cookie
cutter “mainstream.” But while “streamlining” Grinnell
advertisements and architecture may irritate some students,
students are grated more by perceived “streamlining” in
Student Affairs, because their policies affect student life
more directly.
“Houston has worked at so many different institutions …
it’s possible that the new administration wouldn’t appreciate
the differences between this place and other schools,” said
Presto. “If you are going to come in here and do all the same
things you’ve done at other places, I don’t agree with that.”
Both Dougharty and Greene made a point to reach
MAGAZINE SB INSERT
out to students soon after they were hired. They both
attended several on-campus parties early in their tenures
and after Dougharty’s first weeks on campus, the S&B
wrote an editorial praising him for his “effort at getting
to know a wide segment of students.” But not all students
are convinced that Dougharty and Greene adequately
grasp Grinnell’s culture—that after only a few months on
campus, how could they? “A lot of people were optimistic
about them in the beginning because they said . . . ‘We want
to get to know Grinnell community,’” said Katey Gager ’11,
an SGA senator. “It seem like Houston had done a little bit
of that, but once he had made his point that he had done a
little bit, he kind of stopped.”
At the December open forum, communication between
administrators and students was a main topic of concern.
Both Greene and Dougharty said all administrators are open
to students coming into their offices with questions, but
some students think administrators should be more active
in the community. Students think they could do more. “I
know who Houston and Travis are but, since Houston’s first
semester here, I’ve seen him once on campus,” Gager said.
“I’ve talked with plenty of other people who feel the same
way. The only way to contact them is to go directly to their
office and [students] don’t feel comfortable doing that just
because of what happened last semester.”
The administration has said that it carefully considers
Grinnell’s culture and traditions when contemplating policy
changes. All senior-level administrators interviewed were
quick to assert that for any policy change to be effectively
implemented, it must be compatible with the Grinnell
community and its own culture. “If [policy changes] don’t
fit the Grinnell culture, then they’re not going to work,”
Greene said.
EDUCATORS,
NOT ADMINISTRATORS
The emphasis on “best practices” can perhaps be viewed
in tandem with a slow shift in the office’s stated role: a shift
from being just administrators to being educators. This fo-
cus on student learning, rather than administrative services,
illustrates a philosophical divide over the best manner of
student affairs administration. Generally, a student affairs
division can be seen as either support staff or as an integral
part of the educational experience. At Grinnell, Student
Affairs administrators see themselves as educators. “We see
ourselves as folks who play a role in providing students with
an excellent learning environment,” Dougharty said. “And
while we may not provide that in the classroom, we provide
it outside the classroom.” Dougharty views Student Affairs
as a holistic entity—not just a collection of offices on the
third floor of the campus center and throughout campus,
but a division that has a place in students day-to-day lives.
Because students mature while attending college, Student
Affairs can have a place in teaching students life skills and
emotional maturity, while also supporting them in that
learning experience, he said.
This perspective is not entirely new. Joyce Stern ’91,
Dean for Student Academic Support and Advising, said
that Student Affairs administrators viewing themselves as
educators and professionals did not start with Dougharty’s
April 24, 2009
At a meeting of the Com-
mittee on Student Life,
Dean of Students Travis
Greene talks with other
Committee members about
issues of self-governance
and campus community.
Aaron Barker
arrival, but both Greene and Dougharty are trying harder
to clarify the administration’s role for the community. “In-
ternally, people have been concerned with doing the best
job they can putting students at the center,” said Stern, who
has worked at Grinnell for ten years. “I think Houston and
Travis have a different way of talking about that and quite
frankly, wanting the rest of the campus to know what we do
over here. We aren’t the caretakers of the student body. We
are educators.”
Student Affairs came out with a new mission statement
this semester. Under Tom Crady, the former Vice President
for Student Affairs who left in January 2008, there was no
official “mission statement,” but simply a “philosophy.”
Both are still on the website, with the “philosophy”
dating as far back as 2001. In the old philosophy, Student
Affairs is a “complement” and an “effective support com-
munity” to “the college’s central educational mission.” The
new mission statement is more active, saying that Student
Affairs “intentionally foster[s] and proactively promot[es]
student learning.”
When discussing the differences in the new mission
statement, Stern reiterated that she sees no large changes
between Student Affairs under Crady and Dougharty, say-
ing “there are a hundred ways to explain the same thing....
This is a new way to articulate what we’re doing.”
MOVING FORWARD
In some ways, the selection of Thomas Friedman as this
year’s commencement speaker is particularly apt. While the
“flattening” of the world described by Friedman may elide
the nuance of global political-economic shifts, it may help
encapsulate the dynamics of Student Affairs at Grinnell and
at schools across the United States. With improvements in
communication and technology, administrators from coast
to coast can exchange philosophies, while a network of trade
groups and professional associations spurs the proliferation
of “best practices.” These transformative pressures can work
to “flatten” out student affairs at institutions throughout the
country, moving toward more professionalization and more
homogenization.
Whether or not Dougharty’s arrival will prove to be a
watershed moment in the campus’ culture is a question that
only history will be able to judge. But what is undoubtedly
true is that Grinnell, like any institution, will continually
change. Organizations must often adapt to changing condi-
tions and many of Grinnell’s facets in other areas have been
willingly cast aside to make way for new ones. What once
was a shameful campus taboo—using a cell phone—is now
a mainstay in the daily lives of most Grinnell students. The
Forum, Cowles and Quad are now relics of their former
selves and in their stead are a deluxe new computer lab and
decked out apartments, while across campus rises the sleek
steel and glass of the new East Campus residences.
Organizations continuously grow and change, often for
the better. Many of the policy changes that fall under the
umbrella of “professionalization”—that RLCs know their
residents’ names, for instance—should probably have been
in place long ago. What’s important is that in reshaping it-
self, the body be careful not to lose itself in the process. This
is a time for introspection, for Grinnellians to contemplate
how they want to define themselves and their community.
April 24, 2009
reply all
e-mail culture at Grinnell
A
s the treasurer of Grinnell College
in a pre-computer world, Waldo
Walker, Biology, had to contend with
something that one doesn’t hear about
a whole lot anymore—a ledger, a
book used to keep records of business
transactions. Walker would spend
hours poring over the large book with
an accounting calculator on his desk
and, most likely, ink stains on his cuffs. Then, in the early 1980s,
Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who was a trustee of the College at the
time, gave Walker something that would irrevocably alter the
way that he did work—an E2 computer. “The first thing I did
was play pinball,” Walker recalled with a smile.
Walker was part of a growing trend. Grinnell College
became a computing school in the mid-1970s and by the mid-
1980s the Internet started to take off and e-mail became a more
common communicative tool. Walker, who served as Executive
Vice President and Dean of the College at this time, played
an important role in encouraging computer and e-mail use on
campus.
In his administrative role, Walker applied for and received
a grant to purchase 60 computers for faculty use. In spite of the
fact that the computers were placed in the faculty member’s
offices, “they wouldn’t touch them,” Walker said. The College
ended up having to pay professors to take courses in computer
use one summer so that the school’s investment would not go
to waste. George Drake ’56, History, who was president at the
time, resisted using a computer for the first two years of his
term. Students, on the other hand, took to the new technology
much more quickly and without prompting. Aware of the
socializing power of computers, “students started e-mailing
immediately after we became a computing school,” Walker said.
Since then, e-mail use has become an everyday necessity.
According to Michael Pifer, Network Specialist of Information
Technology Services, in 2007, alone there were 7.5 million
clean (non-spam) e-mails sent to Grinnell accounts. In 2009
there have been an average of 21,554 incoming e-mails to
Grinnell accounts per day. This translates to roughly seven
e-mails per College e-mail address, a figure that is deflated by
inactive accounts.
Clearly, the e-mail has become a major method for intra-
campus communication. To some, e-mail offers a way to make
friends with people while avoiding potentially awkward pre-
friendship conversations. An e-mail can be carefully crafted
or casual and brief. While some consider them impersonal,
& INSERT
MAGAZINE SB
an investigation of
e-mails offer efficiency and security. Walker noted that there
is no “e-mail tag”—once you send an e-mail, you can be fairly
certain that it has reached its intended recipient. Phil Sletten ’11
lauded the utility of e-mails, highlighting their efficiency. “The
costs are certainly outweighed by the benefits,” he concluded.
Steve Briscoe, Director of Security, echoed Sletten’s
sentiments. E-mail provides a swift and efficient method to
reach the campus community The only downside of e-mailing,
he said, is that it can take a lot of time to sort through the e-mails
and distinguish junk mail from important e-mails. Another
downside: “speed is dangerous—sometimes you say things
and regret it,” he said. For Briscoe, e-mail flubs are particularly
dangerous, because his all-campus correspondences have been
collected on the blog stevenbriscoesavedmylife.blogspot.com.
The same “dangers” are present in private correspondences.
One of this article’s authors signed off an e-mail asking for a
job at a Canadian berry farm, “Thank you for your time and
money.” She was not offered an interview.
logging in
There are, of course, more factors involved in communicating
via e-mail than just sending them. E-mail’s efficiency requires
that account holders log in on a regular basis. On average,
students interviewed said they logged in six to eight times a day.
There are, of course, drastic outliers. Aurora Quinn-Elmore ’12
said she checks her e-mail once daily, while Molly McArdle ’09
estimated that she checks it “a kazillion times a day.”
“Particularly because I have outlook which dings every time
I get an e-mail and because I have an iPod touch which allows
me to compulsively check my e-mail—even during class,”
McArdle wrote, unsurprisingly, in an e-mail.
Students who don’t check their e-mail addresses quite so
compulsively, and even those who do, also use other forms of
electronic communications—GrinnellPlans, instant messaging
services, SMSs and particularly the Facebook wall and inbox—
for speedy non-verbal modes of communication. Facebook
threatens e-mail’s role as the site for informal communication,
with a majority of students interviewed checking Facebook
more than e-mail. Students often said they prefer to use
Facebook for social and personal correspondences, and e-mail
for academic and professional matters.
For some people, e-mail plays a greater role in the social
realm. Ruth Campbell ’11 noted that e-mail, rather than
Facebook, was the site for developing relationships her first-
3
by Ari Anisfeld & Kat York
photography by Ben Brewer
graphic by Mike Kleine
year. Campbell recounted how she got to know her friend
Felicity Slater ’11 via e-mails about their tutorial readings. Later
at a party, they “decided [they] would be friends in real life and
not just through e-mail.” A similar string of correspondences
brought Campbell into her first romance at Grinnell. “We
would climb together and hang out but it was never really a
relationship except through e-mail,” she said. “Only in e-mail
were we able to be like ‘oh, we kinda like each other.’”
etiquette
E-mail culture at Grinnell is somewhat structured in
an unwritten etiquette. Though its use varies somewhat,
people tend to have strong opinions on how to communicate
with different people via e-mail, what levels of formality are
appropriate when, and how to begin and sign-off e-mails. “I
certainly change in formality [depending on who I am writing].
Only when I am replying to e-mail to me that’s been sent to me
that only needs a brief reply, do I remove the heading entirely,”
Sletten ‘11 said. “That’s the only time when I will start writing
as opposed to having a little salutation at the beginning.”
Students expressed the most uncertainty about the most
appropriate salutations for professors. Many students start
simply using the professor’s name. Others opt for the traditional
“dear so-and-so.” Still others open with a friendly “hi” or
“hey.” One student thought writing “hello” was too jilted and
violated the unexplored code of etiquette for faculty-student
communication.
When this etiquette is breached, the result is often awkward.
Last year, while Alex Littler ’10 served as a mentor for a section
of Stephen Sieck’s, Chemistry, organic chemistry class, things
went awry when Littler decided Saturday night that he needed
to send Sieck an e-mail. “I was a little intoxicated and I needed
to send him an e-mail for some reason but I was like ‘blah
blah, hearts and rainbows, Alex,” Littler said. “But he never
responded.”
E-mailing with authority figures can be tricky, especially
when you’re related to the authority figure in question. Peter
Henry ’09 says that the most dramatic e-mail he ever received
was from his mother, a response to his first e-mail from abroad
that mentioned he had been enjoying London and eating tuna
fish. “The only thing she responded back with an all-caps
‘HOLD THE TUNA!’” Henry recounted. Henry’s mother
went on, in great detail and “like a thousand exclamations,” to
inform her son about the mercury content of tuna, chiding him
 4 &
for having more than one can of tuna fish per week. “If money
were an issue she’d send me money,” Henry recalled his mom
writing.
In general, Henry takes a more light-hearted approach
to e-mailing. When sending mass e-mails to the concerts
committee, of which he is chair, he likes to personalize things.
“I like to use ‘yin’ when I am talking to students, because that’s
like a Pittsburgh thing. It’s like you all in Pittsburg, it’s ‘yin’ …
Or folks, I end up using folks more,” Henry said.
Esther Howe ’11 also likes to personalize e-mail, crafting
them in style and syntax to produce a digital gift. “It’s also a
cool way to show your friends a different part of you because
you have this time to craft something and it’s like a deliberate
creation for somebody else,” Howe said. “It’s almost like making
something for them.”
E-mail however is not always so refined. Quick messages
arranging dinner plans or study time are often brief,
unpunctuated and goofy. Campbell recalled sending snarky
Photo Essay by Lawrance Sumulong | “A Beauty” by Nora Frazin | Commentary by Tom Moore | Thoughts on self-governance
MAGAZINE SB INSERT
e-mails to set up meetings with friends Slater and Howe. “Like
every single day we would send an e-mail that said something
along the lines of like ‘hey, shit head, I’m going to the gym now,
come there,’ [or] ‘Hey penis, we’re gonna be in Noyce tonight.’”
Campbell said, “which has actually stopped over the years.”
how quickly things
change
E-mail has come to play an integral role in our relationships
here at Grinnell. It is therefore somewhat jarring to consider
that not too long ago then-President Drake was refusing
to succumb to the desktop or that when the current seniors
were first-years, their elders thought cell phones were über-
un-Grinnellian. Henry imagined the time before instant
communication idyllically: “calling dorm phones, hoping maybe
April 24, 2009
Ben Brewer
I’d just run in to this person at a party. [It must have been] less
organized, less of a mainstream,” he said with wonder. While
Henry’s reverie suggests a longing for a life less ordered and
maintained, it also highlights the convenience of the modern
communication systems. In the past, the dorm phone and
campus mail were certainly integral aspects of communication,
and in some regards they still are, but faster electronic media
have marginalized them.
While e-mail, and the internet generally—mechanized,
quick-fire and standard—seems to have removed some
spontaneity from campus life, in form, the e-mail allows for
creative personalized communication—like calling a new friend
“shithead”—which can be spontaneous in a different way.
Is it too early to feel nostalgia for times past? Or just early
enough to start wondering about what communication will be
in the future? Today e-mail and Facebook, tomorrow telepathy
and Twitter.
April 24, 2009 FEATURES
edited by Chloe Moryl
morylchl@grinnell.edu 9

OUT TAKES:
a critical analysis
Over the past two weeks J. Francis Buse ’11 and Jai Garg ’11 have been doing the unthinkable and
eating an unreasonable amount of out takes. Despite taking on what can only be described as a daunting
and nauseating task our heroes survived and have graced us with their critical food analysis.

WHITE BEAN VEGETABLE SALAD
By far the best salad that the Grill has to offer—rigatoni and
white beans is good for any time of the day. And unlike the
other salads, you do not have to worry about how old the let-
tuce is, or having to douse it with loads of unnecessary dressing.
This delectable offering does have one downside—don’t let the
plastic box it comes in tilt to the side, because your brown paper
bag will be soaked.
HAM AND SWISS ON OATMEAL BREAD
It is hard to mess up an American classic such as the ham and
Swiss, yet the people at Dining Services manage to do it once
again. Something so simple shouldn’t require the addition of
four packets of mayonnaise just to be able to take a bite. It
begs the question whether that is really ham and cheese in that
sandwich.
PEPPERONI AND PROVOLONE SUB
While getting a sandwich at the Out Take line is usually a last
resort, the pepperoni and provolone sub gives many a respite.
The sandwich, while not a foot long from your favorite sub
place, is more than edible on its own. For a truly fulfilling meal,
warm up your sandwich in the microwave and add a bit of salad
dressing—your stomach will thank you.
palatable. Even covered in dressing, the mix of spices just
doesn’t hit you right. I understand that tossing together
a bunch of random things is hard day’s job, but if
they wanted to go the extra mile I heard you
could find salad recipes easily on Google.
ITALIAN COMBO SUB
By far the best thing on the Grill’s paltry outtake menu, this
sandwich just manages to hit the spot. Warm or cold, with or
without creamy Italian dressing, you just cannot go wrong. Still,
when the best thing on the Out Takes menu is comparable to
a day-old sandwich at any sandwich shop, it begs the question
what Dining Services does with that $11 you give them for
every meal.
VEGETABLE CIABATTA in small ways, mask the flavor of old meat,
but this salad would be much better with cold
cuts or another form of protein (see: Chef Salad).
The vegetable ciabatta is a nice, refreshing break from what CHEF SALAD WITH TURKEY AND HAM
usually consists of slop and/or heavy slices of meat. Like any
boring salad on decent bread, this sandwich won’t upset your
stomach or fill you up, unless you liberally apply mustard and
mayonnaise. For an added treat, throw everything in the bag It’s like the chicken Caesar salad (see above), without decaying
on this sandwich—carrots, chocolate chip cookies and Garden chicken and with processed meats. Crunch your chips up in it,
Salsa Sun Chips only make this sandwich better. and, hey, maybe throw in some extra carrots.
PITA WITH SPICY THREE-PEPPER HUMMUS BROWN RICE AND LENTIL SALAD

CHEESE AND VEGETABLE BOWL
It’s hard to be vegetarian anywhere, but when you don’t have
time to visit the dining hall, life becomes that much harder. It is
without a doubt that the cheese and vegetable bowl is a savior
for many on the Grinnell campus. It is simple and delicious,
a kickback to an afternoon summer picnic treat. While not as
good as the stuff from the farmer’s market, it’s still better than
any other vegetarian choice Out Takes has to offer.
GARDEN SALAD WITH CURRIED CHICKPEAS
As everyone already knows, one thing Dining Services can
never do right is ethnic food—dining hall naan anyone? This
half-hearted attempt at a salad is both nauseating and barely
The first time I took a bite of this monstrosity, I heaved twice
and spit out the contents onto the black Grill table where I was
sitting. There are few things that make me gag, and this mushy
conglomeration of trash was the first since a brown banana in
elementary school. What seems to be old tomatoes, lettuce sto-
len from the dumpster behind Subway and the vilest hummus
the Grill could find is leaps and bounds the most revolting,
disgusting item I’ve ever optionally eaten. My foray into tasting
it this year was similar to last, and this revolting item found its
way into the trash after less than two bites.
CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD
While this salad does contain inoffensive lettuce (check) and
salty black olives (check plus), the hunk of gelatinous, gray-
ing chicken breast (check minus) knocks this salad down a few
notches. The peppercorn lightly sprinkled on the poultry does,
After confusing this for the comparatively gourmet white bean
vegetable salad, I was disappointed when I tasted nothing. Akin
to what one would eat during the flu, I felt neither energetic nor
pleased. I felt nothing. And that’s what this tastes like. Nothing.
TURKEY AND PROVOLONE ON WHOLE GRAIN
Another entry in the mushy sandwich collection, the turkey and
provolone does rise above its pork-based brethren, largely be-
cause provolone is simply a better cheese. This sandwich lends
itself well to a toasting session in the upright Grill toaster, but
don’t let any employees or other patrons witness your cheese-
melting act.
—J. Francis Buse & Jai Garg

TECKTONIK II
RAVE QUAD
SATURDAY
10 PM
10 edited by Chloe Moryl
morylchl@grinnell.edu
FEATURES April 24, 2009

It’s about time to use those delux campus grills

There comes a time every semester when you realize that When you’re ready to cook, load one of the super-high-tech is ready, let it rest for a few minutes before eating. A1 sauce
you just can’t take the dining hall anymore. Maybe you’re star- grills around campus with charcoal and light the coals. The helps if you’ve bought a really cheap cut of meat.
ing at your plate of pasta with white clam sauce when it hits coals should be ashy and white before you start cooking. While Vegetarians—and people who appreciate vegetables with
you—Iowa is landlocked. Maybe your chicken cacciatore tastes the coals heat, oil the grate with a paper towel dipped in veg- their hunk of meat—can also take part in the grilling festivities.
more like cardboard cacciatore. Maybe your last ten meals have etable oil. Lay the steaks on the grill. Cooking time varies A grill pan, or a pan with a bunch of holes in the bottom, works
been Cinnamon Toast Crunch and French fries. Whatever the depending on the thickness of your steak. If it’s an inch thick, best, but you can create your own by layering several sheets of
case, you need an escape, and you’ve already been to Chuong you’ll want to cook it 4-5 minutes on each side for rare (9- tin foil and punching pencil-sized holes in the bottom. Vegeta-
Garden and Lonnski’s enough. 10 minutes total) or 6-7 minutes bles should be cleaned, lightly oiled, and sprinkled with a little
One of the best parts about on each side for medium (12-14 salt. Excellent choices for grilling: mushrooms, onion quarters
nice weather is the chance to grill
food outside. If you’re a vegetar-
Nora Coon ‘10 minutes total). If it’s 1 1/2 inches
thick, cook it 5-7 minutes on each
or small onions, quartered bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, halved
large tomatoes. Vegetables may be easier to handle if you skew-
ian, skip down a few paragraphs. Ice Cream is Rich in Protein side for rare or 8-10 minutes on er them so they don’t roll away. Mushrooms take the longest
If not: steak! As a college student, each side for medium. Do not cook to cook, up to 20 minutes depending on the size, while cherry
you probably can’t afford to buy a your steaks to the point that they’re tomatoes can take as little as 10 minutes. Onions and peppers
ribeye or tenderloin, but look for well done, unless you are some kind take closer to 14-15 minutes, but will be okay if you cook them
flank steak and top sirloin instead. Tougher cuts of meat, like of barbarian. for a little extra time.
flank and top sirloin, taste better if marinated first. To marinate Conventional wisdom says to check to see if steak is done Suggested desserts: ice cream or grilled peaches. Or both.
steak, combine 1/2 cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, by pressing down on it—rare should be soft, and medium Clean and oil the grill very well, and then place fresh peach
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, and 1 tablespoon garlic should be firm but yield a bit. If, like most people, you don’t halves (pitted) cut-side down and cook for 3 minutes. Flip,
powder in a plastic Ziploc bag, then add the piece of steak and automatically know what “firm but yielding” means, you can al- cook for another 3 minutes, and serve sprinkled with cinnamon
seal. Refrigerate for at least an hour before grilling. ways check by cutting partway into the steak. Once your steak and brown sugar.

Haines
Hell
Hole
TONIGHT | 9 | HAINES
April 24, 2009
This Week in Grinnell
(April 24 – 30)
Strand 3 Theatre. $5 Grinnell College
Discount Passes available at the Campus
Bookstore and the Pioneer Bookshop. Call
236-7600 or visit http://www.fridleythe-
atres.com/ for show times. Showing April
24 – 30:
17 Again (PG-13), Haunting in Con-
necticut (PG-13), Fast & Furious (PG-
13), Observe and Report (R)
Grinnell College Student Produc-
tion: “Ties That Bind.” Thursday, April
23 and Friday, April 24, 9 p.m.—10 p.m.;
Flanagan Theater, Bucksbaum Center for
the Arts. Students will perform a series of
three one-act plays written and directed by
Grinnell College students addressing sexu-
ality in modern theater.
Barn Sale. Friday, April 24, 12 —7
p.m. and Saturday, April 25, 9 a.m. —11:30
a.m.; Veterans Memorial Building. Furni-
ture, collectibles, kitchen items, books and
more will be sold to benefit educational
projects for women.
Hoofin’ It 5K Run/Walk. Saturday,
April 25, 10 a.m.; 10th Ave. Registration
for the annual 5K fundraiser will be avail-
able in Harris Concert Hall beginning at
8:30 the day of the race. The event begins
at 10 a.m. and all proceeds go to the Mid-
Iowa Community action Group and Heifer
International. Registration cost is $15 be-
fore Saturday (registration forms available
in the mail room located in the Joe Rosen-
field ’25 Center) and $20 the day of the
race.
Grinnell Relays. Saturday, April 25, 11
a.m.; Mac Field, Grinnell College. Watch
teams of students and community mem-
bers participate in academically themed
events such as atlatl throwing and a BBQ
throughout the day.
Organ Concert. Thursday, April 30, 11
a.m.—12 p.m.;
Herrick Chapel. Grinnell College Pro-
fessor of Music Gene Gaub will perform
Chopin’s 24 Preludes as part of a series of
concerts featuring the college’s newly re-
stored pipe organ.
Ongoing Exhibits:
Grinnell College Student Art Exhi-
bition. April 17—May 7, Grinnell Com-
munity Art Gallery. The exhibition show-
cases the breadth of work accomplished by
Grinnell College art students as well as the
incorporation of liberal arts.
still/LIFE. Jan 13—May 22nd, 2009;
Robert N. Noyce ’49 Science Center,
northwest study lounge, second floor. The
exhibit by Tracy Hicks based around speci-
men jars is intended to provide a space for
intellectual as well as artistic reflection on
the fate of species and raises the question:
what does it mean to preserve? Visit www.
grinnell.edu/faulconergallery/exhibitions for
more information.
&
OPINION SB11
Consent can be sexy, start practicing now
Erin McBurney ’09 and Emma Lawler ’09 explain why Disney movies can’t explain sexual relations
Today concludes Take Back the Night
Week, an awareness-raising week-long event
focusing on issues of sexual assault and safety.
This Thursday FAC sponsored a workshop on
consent, led by my lovely co-author this week,
Emma Lawler ’09. We’re here to refute the
immortal words of Ursula, the infamous Sea
Witch from everyone’s favorite childhood
movie The Little Mermaid. Little did you
know, you need to be working against most
of what you learned from Disney movies in
your adult sexual relations. Body language is
important and sexy (sometimes; did you go to
Underwear Ball?), but it isn’t enough.
In the vague mysticism of sex knowledge, it
sometimes can be hard to know how and when
you need to ask for and give consent. Con-
sent can be sexy, and it isn’t signing a contract,
despite what you may have taken away from
R. Kelly’s trial. We
aren’t talking about
license and regis-
tration here—we’re
talking about talk-
ing. Consent is
important every
step of the way in
your intimate endeavors and you need to find
a space between silence and finding out some-
one’s full sexual history, especially that time
they got rug burns during the Super Bowl
halftime show. From your first kiss together
Willingness to learn and grow
I was disturbed on many levels to read
Noah and Smita’s letter in the S&B. The
symposium, “Transcending Conflict: Israel
and Palestine,” was jointly sponsored by the
Palestinian Solidarity Group, Chalutzim and
Peace Studies. The authors fail to mention
this crucial fact.
Leaders of the Palestinian Solidarity
Group received and approved Roumani’s re-
sume before he was asked to speak at Grinnell.
Moreover, Chalutzim helped fund and orga-
nize all aspects of the Symposium, including
a lecture by Harb Harb, a Palestinian Ameri-
can medical student, and Mariam Bazeed,
an Egyptian American from Seeds of Peace.
PSG and Chalutzim equally sponsored all as-
pects of the Symposium, including Professor
Roumani’s visit, and each group is equally re-
sponsible for his presence on campus.
The jointly organized symposium aimed
to “transcend conflict,” to foster constructive
dialogue by bringing varying viewpoints to
campus. Each presenter spoke and represent-
ed themselves, not Chalutzim, PSG or Peace
Studies. We presented different perspectives
because diversity is a core value of Grinnell.
We hoped that these distinct individuals
would allow students to learn and grow, to
grapple with their own notions of truth and
conflict resolution.
I spent months working on this sympo-
sium with my fellow organizers from PSG. I
understood that we all approached these con-
troversial issues without cruel intentions and
strove, however unrealistically, to bring diverse
scholars and presenters to campus. Last week’s
letter offers neither me nor Chalutzim any
such courtesy.
In the aftermath of this joint symposium,
the first of its kind, I was excited to have found
peers who shared my passion for resolving
the Israel and Palestine conflict and thrilled
to have created a program that constructive-
ly interacted with people whom I disagreed
with. Clearly, not everyone agrees with these
sentiments. I look forward to the day when
Grinnellians can move beyond finger pointing
and hurtful attacks, a day when we can recog-
nize the value in all points of view and through
to introducing your kink to a new partner, vo-
calizing your desires and understanding their
comfort level can be as fun as the down and
dirty itself. Feeling out someone’s feelings
about feeling you feels good—trust us.
There is a grand misconception in many of
our minds that talking about sex and consent
is a mood-killer. Let’s be real—you’re not rob-
bing anyone of the mystery of what’s going on
between your ears and your legs. Consciously
practicing consent can be a hard thing to start
doing, especially if you aren’t used to the idea
or don’t even know the words. But it’s called
practicing consent for a reason—the more you
do it, the better you get. You have to go big or
go home, no pun intended.
There are little ways to practice giving and
asking for consent that don’t involve sex, of
course. The best way to respect each others’
personal bound-
aries is to begin
practicing con-
sent that shows
your attention
to and acknowl-
edgement of
other bodies.
Instead of playing with someone’s hair, ask if
you may. Don’t grab someone’s hand and as-
sume they’ll be okay with it. Instead, tell them
you’d like to hold their hand if they want to.
Practice consent with your friends and strang-
mutual respect, explore solutions for peace.
—Rebecca Heller ’11
SRI on new Wal-mart initiative
In early June, Wal-Mart shareholders,
including Grinnell College, will have the
chance to vote on a resolution that seeks to
incorporate “gender identity” into Wal-Mart’s
Statement of Equal Employment Opportu-
nity (EEO). We, the Students for Responsible
Investment, have sent the Trustees of the In-
vestment Committee a letter arguing that the
College should vote “yes” on the initiative not
only because of its clear connection to our
Core Values, but also because of the uncon-
vincing nature of Wal-Mart’s arguments.
Shareholder resolutions are proposals sub-
mitted by stockholders that often try to pro-
mote corporate responsibility or change cor-
porate governance structures. Grinnell College
as an institutional investor has the right to vote
on such resolutions, as well as partake in other
forms of corporate dialogue. We believe the
College should utilize that right to promote
its mission as an institution.
The “Gender Identity Non-Discrimina-
tion” resolution at Wal-Mart is a perfect op-
portunity to do so. With minimal financial
implications, this resolution has the potential
to create a safer, more supportive work envi-
ronment for Wal-Mart employees as well as
helps attract skilled applicants who may have
chosen not to apply previously because of their
own gender identity or because they are “fair
minded citizens.”
Protections based on gender identity
are supported by Grinnell’s Core Values. At
the upcoming meeting of the Trustees, the
Grinnell College Nondiscrimination Policy
(NDP) will be amended to include “gender
identity or expression,” an amendment of
which we are quite proud. This change is in
line with Grinnell’s commitment to “a diverse
community,” which is a core value of the Col-
lege, and particularly supports the college’s
goal of attaining “a wide diversity of people
and perspectives” on campus. Not only is pro-
tection based on gender identity supported in
our core values, but students also demonstrat-
ed their support for this protection through a
Spring 2008 student initiative, for which 78.4
edited by Morgan Horton
hortonmo@grinnell.edu
ers alike.
We’ve already said it, but giving and re-
ceiving consent is definitely sexy. In the zine
“Learning Good Consent,” (Google it; it’s
a really awesome compilation of writings on
personal journeys and tips and suggestions and
stories, all about consent) an unnamed author
writes, “what’s so hot, so empowering, so fuck-
ing amazing about consent is that the yes’s re-
ally become yes’s. The first time you hear no, it
validates all the yes’s.” Really, that’s just about
the best way to say it.
So, learn to ask. Turn it into a game—with
rules maybe?—we all know that can be fun.
But you have to ask every time. Just because
you’ve touched her chest like 80 million times
before does not make them yours. “Can I take
your shirt off ?” might seem a little redundant
if your boy is squirming a little with excite-
ment but you don’t know until you ask! With-
out it, you cannot understand what they want
or what they’re thinking.
Consent is fun, and consent is sexy. Con-
sent is about learning how to please your lover
the best you can through open and honest
communication. So, in addition to knowing,
without any doubt, that your partner wants
exactly what you’re about to give them, there’s
a pretty good opportunity here of learning ex-
actly how they want it. Teach your partner how
to please you just how you like it—it’s not just
about if you can take the panties off, it’s when.
percent of voting students voted in support the
NDP amendment among other actions to cre-
ate a more gender-neutral environment.
Wal-Mart’s management does not make
any substantive arguments against the reso-
lution. In 2008, when a similar shareholder
resolution was submitted, Wal-Mart’s man-
agement opposed it on the grounds that Wal-
Mart has a notable record for diversity in the
work place, which “already appropriately ad-
dresses the concerns set forth in the proposal.”
The management’s arguments deny the utility
of protection against discrimination based on
gender identity and delegitimize the connec-
tion between safety and gender identity. While
Wal-Mart may have a strong diversity policy
in regards to other statuses, its current policy
does not actually address the concerns of the
resolution, which focus specifically on gender
identity.
Gender identity is distinct from other sta-
tuses and as such deserves protection. As stat-
ed in the resolution, 13 states, including Iowa,
93 cities and 30 percent of Fortune 500 com-
panies have included gender identity in non-
discrimination laws and policies. These enti-
ties recognize the unique struggles connected
to gender identity and have changed their laws
and policies to offer more protection to their
citizens and employees. Wal-Mart should fol-
low this example.
With our recommendation, we have at-
tached our new proposal for an advisory Com-
mittee on Responsible Investment (CRI). The
CRI will work with the Treasures office and
Trustees to create guidelines for shareholder
engagement on behalf of the College and in-
vestigate ways the College could further in-
corporate its institutional mission in its invest-
ment practices.This recommendation serves as
an example of the kind of well-reasoned argu-
ment the CRI will produce.
So when you see a Trustee this weekend,
please tell them you support the resolution and
the development of a Committee for Respon-
sible Investing that can work with the Treasure
and Investment Committee to examine similar
issues in future proxy seasons. Also, if you are
curious about Responsible Investment email
us at [sri].
—To view the ten members of SRI
that signed this letter, visit www.thesandb.com.
12 I&
OPINI
edited by Morgan Horton
PINION
P
PIN
PIIN
N
NION
NIIION
hortonmo@grinnell.eduIO
ON April 24, 2009
Grinnell should follow marketing promises, not Madoff
Bernie Madoff, the Ponzi mastermind that swindled $50
billion from his investors, has mesmerized our nation in re-
cent months. His surname has even permeated the American
lexicon, as the term “Madoff ” is now synonymous with “fraud.”
Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman
deemed our financial system “the Bernie Madoff of econo-
mies,” and several media outlets have labeled the large-scale
banks that invested in risky, mortgage-backed securities as “le-
gal Madoffs.”
Though no “Madoffs of higher education” have emerged
just yet, I think the No Limits Project (NLP) struck a resonant
chord in the letter to the S&B last Friday, pointing out the con-
trast “between the rhetoric used for marketing of the College
and the reality on campus.”
We all came to Grinnell expecting a fair place precisely
because of such marketing, yet we’ve encountered so many
instances where our institution lags behind its soaring values.
For me, the most glaring example came in my second year at a
large study-abroad orientation. There, an administrator began
his presentation with a slide depicting a sub-Saharan African
man dressed in traditional regalia, alongside the phrase “Cul-
ture Shock.” Unfortunately, this display more closely resembled
the human zoos that captivated our popular culture in the early
20th century than an educational presentation. This presenta-
tion encapsulated the notion of “third world voyeurism,” popu-
larized by the British critic Alice Miles.
Professor Max Leung, Assistant Professor of Sociology, said
of this incident, “Of all the images, he chose a tribal black man.
That’s problematic because it invokes a discourse of primitiv-
ism, and a place of desolation that no one else wants to be in.
Sadly, this way of using race to represent a place of ‘otherness’ is
rather common in popular discourse because it’s so easy to use.”
Leung proceeded to tie the incident to the increasingly in-
Call for an external review of hiring and firing processes
Review of the hiring and firing at Grinnell
Last week, the S&B reported on the circumstances sur-
rounding the hiring of Dean of Students Travis Greene and
the departure of Sheree Andrews,
former Associate Dean and Direc-
tor of Residence Life. Our report-
ing was based on claims made in
a faculty-written document, which
constructed a narrative detail-
ing both cases—arguing Andrews
was released in an underhanded
manner and that Greene’s hiring
recalled a Boss Tweed spoils system. While search committee
members—students and staff alike—rejected the allegations
surrounding the Dean of Students search, the S&B’s review of
Andrews’ personnel file and other reporting revealed circum-
stances that seem suspicious at the least.
While the Andrews case may be the most visible and con-
tentious, it is not the only instance of circumspect hiring and
firing in Student Affairs. For these reasons, we believe the
planned external review of administrative hiring and firing
practices is insufficient. Instead of just a campus-wide review
which can dilute the findings of each individual office, we de-
mand one specifically focused on Student Affairs, the office
that has raised the most questions in this area. And, just as
importantly, the review should be conducted, if at all possible,
before the end of the year so that its progress and results can be
SB
sensitive institution that facilitated it. “When you do not have
institutional accountability to ensure that these practices aren’t
replicated at a College administrative level, then it should sur-
prise no one that you get screwed up stuff like that,” he said.
Clearly, this man did not stop and think about the way a
student from Africa would have felt had they been sitting in
that room. He certainly didn’t know how it made me feel, espe-
cially given the fact that not too long ago, my ancestors didn’t
look and dress very differently from his Madame Butterfly fig-
ure.
The saddest part of this story is that this man has faced no
repercussions for his action. And no one expected President Os-
good to reprimand him. It would have
obligated Osgood to discontinue his
do-nothing leadership style. Indeed,
the “Ten Years in Review” link at the
President’s Office webpage hilariously
resembles the Bush administration’s
“accomplishments and results” book-
let, released a few weeks before W. left
office. Both lists are cluttered with “accomplishments” that now
either lack funding or are on the verge of extinction. In any case,
all of Osgood’s real accomplishments have been overshadowed
by tremendous fiscal mismanagement and gaping unpopularity.
Though the presentation isn’t one of the major emblems of
Osgood’s failed tenure, it reminds us of the damage that racism,
as subtle and inadvertent as it may be, can carry, and therefore
the importance of things like A Just training and the No Lim-
its Project. While the NLP saga continues, I draw upon this
personal and visceral experience in hopes of enabling the stu-
dent body to better understand where the NLP students come
from. While I concede that I’m one of many people here who
have benefited from immense privilege, I urge students to try
monitored by all campus members, students, faculty and staff
alike.
Before proceeding, we want to be clear that this is not a
commentary on whether any individual should or should not
have been hired, fired or retained. Per-
sonnel decisions are highly nuanced and
contextual; we do not pretend that we
can make those decisions from an outsid-
ers’ perspective. We are instead concerned
with the process by which those decisions
are made, which often seem questionable
at best. Ultimately, appropriate policies are
not concerned with the final decision, but
rather the way in which that decision was reached.
In Andrews’ case, three points lead us to ask for external
investigation. First, none of the reasons stated in either the cor-
rective action form issued by Greene or in the termination let-
ter by Vice President for Student Affairs Houston Dougharty
seem to warrant dismissal. Missing meetings and not respond-
ing to e-mails, while problematic, can be commonplace in a
hectic office and, in the light of a serious personal crisis, seem
especially trivial. Second, Andrews was served her termination
just one business day after the corrective action form, which is
insufficient time for an employee to improve their performance.
Finally, there is a clear and puzzling discrepancy in the perfor-
mance reviews issued by Dougharty and those issued by Tom
Crady, Andrews’ former boss.
Student Affairs administrators have offered a constant re-
Maddie Cargas ’10
putting themselves in other people’s shoes. As Grinellians, we
get irritated with pretentious peers pontificating in class, so try
and fathom how painful it must feel to receive hate mail, bear
nuanced racism, or watch the administration chuck your schol-
arship away for a plasma TV. Maybe then students will better
understand the need for a hate crime response policy, greater
diversity and more financial aid.
I’m frankly chagrined with the pettiness of the NLP’s criti-
cisms, ranging from “self serving,” to “too confrontational,” to
“idealistic,” to the most risible yet—that they employ exceed-
ingly “sketchy petitioning.” The most frequent (and misguided)
claim is that the College cannot enact these demands, some of
which are expensive, because of the
deteriorating economy—we should
save money instead. These critics
don’t seem to realize that they pose
the exact same strategy that has
failed us in the last decade. In fact,
the NLP proffers creative and en-
lightened ways to dole out our cash,
and by extension, live up to the College’s mission statement.
Of course, Grinnell’s administration does not represent the
total ethical collapse symbolized by Bernie Madoff. But so long
as our endowment spending contradicts our values, our com-
munity’s diversity remains stagnant, and aloof administrators
can victimize students with no disciplinary recourse, a tranche
of Madoff does exist right here in Grinnell. Like the business-
man’s investors, it’s Grinnell students and their parents, many
of whom have devoted their entire lives to service, who lose.
They send their children here thinking that Grinnell is a just
and socially conscious place. Thousands of dollars and almost
four years later, it starts to become clear that it’s too often one
big lie.
frain about the need to “professionalize” the division and cast
as wide a net as possible in hiring. Despite this rhetorical com-
mitment to more stringent policies, the hiring process for the
Assistant Director of Residence Life position occupied by
Kim Hinds-Brush did not seem to adhere to these standards.
Instead of conducting a rigorous national search, as was the
case for every other Student Affairs opening this year, includ-
ing RLCs, division higher-ups seemed to merely have placed
Hinds-Brush in the newly created position without any effort
at looking elsewhere. Students on this campus greatly admire
Hinds-Brush and wished her to stay and she has excelled
thanks to her great familiarity with the College, its culture and
institutions. But, as in other instances, the process flew in the
face of the division’s stated practices.
A final discrepancy is evident in the qualifications for cer-
tain jobs filled in the past year. While the job posting for the
Associate Dean position required five years post-master’s expe-
rience, the Dean of Students position required only four years.
We at the S&B do not feign to know the circumstances
of these hiring and firing decisions. However, the questionable
nature of these decisions casts suspicion across the entire divi-
sion. A rigorous external review of these policies can only help
restore confidence and mend damaged relationships. If a review
were to expose blatantly mendacious activities, then those re-
sponsible can be held accountable and justice served. If not, the
review can serve to exonerate those accused and restore a sense
of legitimacy and trust to both Student Affairs and the campus
at large.
April 24, 2009 &
OPINION
Knowledge acquired from different perspectives
SB edited by Morgan Horton
hortonmo@grinnell.edu 13
Katya Gibel Mavorach talks about realizing the Grinnell mission, intellectual integrity and political justice
Last week Noah Tetenbaum ’12 and Smita Elena are opinions, it is the disingenuity, or perhaps simply self may be useful for the self-righteous. It is not useful
Sharma ’08 reminded readers of the S&B of the mis- a reflection of their lack of established, simple infor- for engaging with the kind of political activism that
sion of Grinnell College, “to graduate men and women mation, which should be disturbing. They accuse guest supports a just and lasting peace.
who can evaluate clearly both their own and others’ lecturer, Libyan-born-and-raised Professor Mau- I am not shocked by the absence of knowledge—
ideas.” The mission reg- rice Roumani, (one of there is nothing wrong with not knowing unless one The Snedge
isters an ambition to help something like 40 per- demonstrates deliberate, intentional bias reflecting ig-
students distinguish criti- cent of Israeli Jews, of- norance and is totally closed-minded to different inter-
cism from critical think- Guest Column ten referred to as Arab pretations of the same material. There is nothing wrong Noyce and ARH
ing and, in the process, to Jews and, like other when students have little to no knowledge about the
acquire analytic skills that Katya Gibel Mevorach Afro-Asian Jewish Is- Middle East and North Africa, who have never heard go head-to-head
inform the different ways Professor of Anthropology raelis, a person of color of and know nothing about the fact that more than
in which they engage in the West) of being half the population of Israel are Christian and Muslim On Monday, Michael
with the world, regardless racist, ignorant, and an Arabs, Druze, Bedouin and Circassians, and, like Pro- Schoelz polled 50 people
of where they are positioned on the political spectrum. obstacle to peace. Professor Roumani, on the Israeli fessor Roumani, Jews from “non-European” countries at Noyce and Marcus
Toward this goal, as a professor, I emphasize keeping right of center, offered a perspective that has not been or are unable to identify differences between political
in mind two questions—What is the premise? What articulated in a public forum at Grinnell College in the culture of Ramallah and Gaza on the one hand—in- Zeitz polled 50 people at
does this premise presuppose?—when considering 14 years that I have been here. cluding the pressure on women— and the political ARH, asking:
both the arguments that are appealing as well as those As someone who was on the left when I lived in movements of Hamas and PLO on the other. I am not
with which we disagree. Israel (as I am here), I disagree with Professor Rou- even surprised by students who do not know there was
Grinnell students who truly aspire to the lofty goal mani’s perspective. At the same time, a Grinnell stu- a landmark event remembered as Black September or 2 40ʼs or 420?
of discriminating “between truth and lie, who do not dent striving to fulfill the mission of the College should realize that the Egyptian and Syrian governments have
tolerate bigotry and political soporifics, and who will be aware of and, indeed, should find his opinion of a different policy toward the Muslim Brotherhood in
use their critical thinking skills to ensure that politi- interest. Listening to and understanding the multiple their respective countries.
cal discourse progresses rationally and fairly” should sides of a complex debate denotes comprehension, not I do not mean to belittle the sincere efforts of stu-
question and investigate when “truth and lie” are rhe- agreement. Instead, Tetenbaum and Sharma shrewdly dents to engage in support of one cause or another. Noyce
torically invoked. Knowledge and expertise are not ac- insinuate the spurious debate over whether Zionism is Living with informational overload and time con-
quired from listening to one perspective, or reading a anti-Semitism and insidiously cite Jewish philosopher,
selective set of “facts.” This is not to be misinterpreted Hannah Arendt, as a shield en route to the crescendo
straints does not exempt anyone wishing to support a
cause from taking full advantage of our very privileged 50%
as a critique of owning a political perspective but rather of an incendiary statement: “we wonder why Chalut- access to resources that can educate us about the broad
a disdain for the audacity of shoddy scholarship and zim would invite [Maurice] Roumani, a member of and minute aspects of a particular region or conflict. If 2 40’s
partisan pedagogy which undermine efforts to nurture the overtly polemical Israel on Campus Coalition, and students and faculty have different responsibilities for
global citizens who will contribute to the noble goal of whether his views are synonymous with Chalutzim’s.”
social, economic, and political justice. (Those who have What a silly comment! Have speakers whose invita-
intentionally seeking out different points of view and
perspectives, we also share a responsibility for learn- 50%
truth claims might re-read the lyrics of Bob Dylan’s tion they have successfully supported been members of ing about the histories of the people who—in the final
“With God on Our Side.”) groups which are less “overtly polemical?” analysis—will continue to live together in the same 420
So while the opinions of Tetenbaum and Sharma Reading selectively and intentionally to armor one- region.
ARH
Cuba, our long-lost middle school acquaintance 42%
Chris Hildebrand ’10 explains how communist Cuba parallels an annoying kid from his early years of schooling
2 40’s
Remember that kid from middle other in four years. I was fine with not I, haven’t talked for a long time—Josh’s brother Raul isn’t exactly a role mod-
school, the one who annoyed the crap seeing him. He didn’t really change acne was red and gross, Cuba’s govern- el—but it’s a step in the right direction.
out of you all the time? I don’t mean
to sound like an ass, but I knew one of
much at all in high school, except to
graduate from a calculator to a Palm
ment was red and rather aggressive. We
just got lost, and now we’re realizing
The ultimate goal, at the end of the
day, in the eyes of many US and Cuban 58%
those kids back in middle school. He Pilot and a PowerBook laptop. that a little bit of a guide in the area politicians, is to finally officially recog- 420
would always come up to my locker But this past winter break, I ran wouldn’t be such a bad thing. nize Cuba and end the all sanctions and
after fifth period, wanting to borrow into Josh in a really surprising way. I got I’m talking, of course, about Presi- embargoes against the country.
some gum, or tell me about his new cal- lost trying to find a friend’s house, and dent Obama’s recent overtures towards It’s not going to happen soon. It’s
culator (yeah, right) and all the “dope!” when I stopped to ask for directions at Cuba—loosening travel restrictions like Josh and me. I don’t think we’ll
things he could do with it. I mean, a Bertucci’s, I found Josh sitting in a by allowing Cuban Americans to be hanging out all the time over the
I wasn’t exactly the coolest kid in the booth across from a gorgeous woman. I visit their summer, but
world back then, but I knew enough to
know that being seen with this kid—
was a little shocked, but he recognized
me, and even ended up driving me over
relatives in
Cuba, and
catching up
on elemen-
DID
let’s call him Josh—and his calculator
would not bode well for my chances of
to my friend’s house (whom he also
knew, coincidentally). Made me feel
allowing for
some US in-
tary school
craziness
YOU
hanging out with any of the in-crowd. bad that I had ignored him all those vestment in from time to
KNOW
I never did see Josh much after
avoiding him like the plague in mid-
years, and not given him the time of day
when I should have.
Cuban tele-
communica-
time is defi-
nitely on the
?
dle school. We went to the same high Surprisingly enough, America has a tions companies, if the Cubans allow it. agenda. Who knows, maybe Raul and
school, which, small as it was, was just Josh. He’s called Cuba, and he’s a lovely It’s not a massive change— Cuba is still Barack will have a game of basketball Men get hiccups more
large enough that we could exist in dif- little island nation off the coast of Flor- communist, after all, and while good ‘ol and start acting like they were best often than women
ferent social circles and never see each ida. America and Cuba, like Josh and Fidel might no longer be in charge, his buds. Anything’s possible!
www.randomfunfacts.com

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The Scarlet and Black April 24, 2009
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 14 edited by Jai Garg
gargjai@grinnell.edu
(Top Left): Joey Snyder ’09 hurls the javelin on his way to capturing third place with a throw of 179 feet, 6 inches. (Top Right): Becky
Bessinger ’09 pulls ahead of Brendelyn White ’10 of Wartburg College in the 3000 meter steeplechase to win first place. (Center): Curran
Johnson ’09 leaps over the bar during the high jump, which was moved into the PEC because of the weather.
Track and field comes out for the Dick
BY JAI GARG
This past weekend, hundreds of students from dozens of
schools flocked to Grinnell College to compete in the annual
Dick Young Classic. This track and field meet, like most years
past, was the only home meet for the Pioneers, and they made
sure to take advantage of it.
“I thought that everyone did great as a whole,” said Ethan
Heppner ’11. “There were some personal records that were
smashed.”
Overall, the women finished hard with 58 points, placing
them fourth out of 14 teams. As a team the men finished with
56 points and garnered fifth place out of the 16-team field.
The women produced two event champions, Becky Bessinger
’09 and Curran Johnson ’09. Bessinger won the 3000-meter
steeplechase with a time of 11 minutes, 56.55 seconds.
“The race went pretty well,” Bessinger said. “It went better
than I expected it would, that was pretty sweet.”
Also placing first for the women’s team was Johnson in the
high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 1 3/4 inches. In the pole vault
Anna Gilbert ’09 finished second with a height of 9-6 1/4.
Johnson was pleased with her success at the meet despite her
inexperience.
“I didn’t compete before this season,” Johnson said. “It was
my second best height.”
On the men’s side, three Pioneers placed third in their re-
spective events—Joey Snyder ’10 in the javelin with a toss of
179 feet—6 inches, Mike Hargadine ’09 with a jump of 13-11
¼ in the pole vault and Heppner’s 10k with a time of 32:41.10.
“I’m glad that I got the experience of racing in a 10k before
SPPORTS
ORTS
CONTRIBUTED
going on to conference,” Heppner said. “I made a couple of mis-
takes in the first two miles going too slow but on the whole I
was pleased with my race.”
But Heppner wasn’t the only one satisfied by the Dick.
“All across the board we had solid performances,” said run-
ner Chris Wilson ’11. “We had guys do good in javelin, 200m,
steeple, 10k, and Nick Sparr [’09] had a great double in the
1500 and the 5k.”
But some of the best performances of the day by the Pio-
neers were not easily noticeable on paper. In the 800-meter run,
Leah Russell ’11 shattered her personal record with a time of
2:22.28 to finish eighth.
“I ended up running four seconds faster than my previous
best time,” said Russell. “It was really good.”
In the 1500-meter run, Wilson ran a time 4:05.37, millisec-
onds behind Sparr who had a time of 4:05.01.
“It was a lot better than I ran all season outdoors,” Wilson
said. “If you convert the time into indoor length, it was the fast-
est time that I have ever run.”
With the Dick Young Classic over, the teams will compete
in two more meets before competing in the Midwest Confer-
ence Championships.
“If you look at the conference website right now, we have
a lot of guys in the top five of many events,” Wilson said. “We
are encouraged, we can improve on our fifth place performance
from [the MWC Indoor Track and Field Championships] be-
cause we pick up a couple [outdoor] events, and if you look
at the spread, there was only a few-point difference between
second and fifth place.”
April 24, 2009
The NFL Draft:
The ultimate
study tool/break
The end of the school year is coming and work is begin-
ning to pile high. Thankfully, this upcoming weekend is
sure to be my most productive of the year. I never get much
work done on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and one
would think with relays happening, this weekend would be
no different, but even a beer garden cannot entice me away
from the work I get done during the NFL Draft.
The draft is phenomenal because nothing really hap-
pens for long stretches of time. I can—and will—just sit in
a lounge for hours on end doing my reading and writing up
outlines, work that would normally be put off until Sunday
or Monday night.
Despite these periods of inactivity, there are several ben-
efits to watching it. You really get to learn a lot about the
incoming class of rookies, more so if you don’t really care all
that much about college football. Also, it’s always exciting to
see what new players will help lead your team to the Super
Bowl. Just a heads-up, the Vikings will be winning the Su-
per Bowl this year—it’s been decided.
However, some can get a little too freaked out about the
proceedings, often thinking their team has been screwed up
for the next decade because they drafted a safety eight spots
higher than he was initially projected. Although I am one
of the few that really do find the draft to be exciting, I know
from experience that even the worst draft moments can turn
out to be fantastic.
There are a few things that are almost always guaranteed
to happen when watching the draft. We’ll see a montage
of all the failed Jets picks (how soon will they add Vernon
Gholston’s name?), former Colts GM Bill Tobin yelling at
Mel Kiper Jr. after the latter criticized his choice of Trev
Alberts in 1994, and the Minnesota Vikings in 2003 failing
to make the number seven overall pick in a timely fashion
which let both the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Pan-
thers pick ahead of the mighty purple.
This, obviously, is the most embarrassing draft moment
in Vikings history, even more embarrassing than drafting
Derrick Alexander the pick before the Bucs took Warren
Sapp, but I would like to set the record straight.
Yes, the missed pick is absolutely inexcusable, but let’s see
what really happened that day. The Vikings had a deal with
the Ravens in place to swap the number seven pick for the
Ravens tenth over-
all selection and a
fourth- and sixth- “The draft is phenomenal because
rounder. Minne-
sota reported the
nothing really happens for long
deal to the neces- stretches of time. I can—and
sary league official, will—just sit in a lounge for hours
but the Ravens, for
some reason, did on end doing my reading.”
not.
But, look at how
those picks turn out. The Jaguars were first to pounce, pick-
ing coveted Marshall quarterback Byron Leftwich. Now, I
always liked Leftwich and would have liked to see the Vi-
kings sign him to a small incentive-laden one-year deal this
offseason, but, regardless, there is no one who will argue he
and his 80 quarterback rating are worth the seventh pick.
The Panthers were next to step in front of the Vikings,
and they fared quite a bit better than Jacksonville. They
chose offensive tackle Jordan Gross out of Utah and he has
turned himself into a more than solid tackle on either the
right or left side. Then again, tackle wasn’t exactly a need for
the Vikings as the year before they got Bryant McKinnie.
Now, who did the Vikings select? Well, they selected a
Senior Day wonder from Oklahoma State who turned into
a four-time all-pro selection at defensive tackle, Kevin Wil-
liams. Williams is, without a doubt, one of the top five se-
lections from the entire draft and arguably the top defensive
tackle in the NFL. So, don’t worry if your team seems to
screw up royally on draft day. Even the best seem to have
little clue as to which prospects will turn out well, and of-
tentimes, it’s the “reaches” that turn out better than the con-
sensus picks.
April 24, 2009 SPORTS edited by Jai Garg
gargjai@grinnell.edu 15
Renewed Relays mix academics with alcohol
Annual tradition is revived to bring faculty, students, and community together for a day of glorious spring time activities
BY M ICHAEL SCHOELZ
This Saturday, 18 teams ranging from Biology to Wom-
en’s Water Polo will descend upon MAC Field at 11 a.m. and
compete in the Grinnell Relays. Although the event was not
held last year in its full glory, excitement is running high. First
played in 1973, Wayne Moyer, Political Science, began the Re-
lays as a way for students to relax before final exams.
“We decided to make it a parody of the Drake Relays,”
Moyer said. “And rather than emphasize super-competitive-
ness, make it like a Sunday school picnic with beer.”
Moyer got the idea for the event from his time at Yale. The
first Relays pitted North Campus against South Campus in a
number of drinking-related events. A weekend and three kegs
of beer later, a tradition was born.
“It went over well,” Moyer said. “We carried it through
till 1987 and we added some events, the most famous I guess
was the Babe Ruth Bat Relay, where you run, put your head on
a baseball bat, go around it 10 times and then go back to the
starting point, which is a study of parabolic trajectories. [The]
Titular Head contest came in at that stage, and it sort of be-
came a big spring weekend.”
In 1987, the Relays were replaced by functions that were
less alcohol centered, because of new state laws. Moyer said
that the Relays just haven’t been the same since. The event
came back during the ’90s and early ’00s but was plagued by bad
weather. This year however, SGA films chair Jeff Sinick ’09 has
tried to breathe new life into the 36-year-old tradition.
“The last couple years that I’ve been here, the Relays have Grinnellians of the past enjoy the exploits of Relays including beer, mud and burning toilets. CONTRIBUTED
struggled kind of a bit,” Sinick said. “Relays the last three years
haven’t happened in big, full-fashion form as a community Cassey Koid ’11 and Allyse Hellmich ’11 put together a team name.
event the way it used to be, so I wanted to team of biology majors and “science-y” types. The two second- “We decided on The Onions because we will make the
bring it back.” years have three biology professors, Gregg competition cry,” Hellmich said. “But that wasn’t science-y
However, Sinick has instituted some sig- Rather than emphasize super- Whitworth, Shannon Hinsa-Leasure and enough so we looked at the scientific name, A. cepa.”
nificant changes to re-emphasize the com- competitiveness, make it like a Elizabeth Queathem on their team. Despite their name, the A. cepas are just looking forward to
munity building. “It took a little convincing,” Koid said. taking part in the Grinnell tradition. They just want to have
“We came up with an idea on how to Sunday school picnic with beer.
” “They were waiting for one prof. to say yes, fun and see their professors and classmates in a non-academic
alter the events so all the events are based Wayne Moyer and then the other two said yes.” setting.
on academic departments instead of being “One had to make the big step and then “We thought it would be a really good opportunity to get to
themed around beer,” Sinick said. “We tried
Political Science the others followed,” Hellmich said. know these profs outside of that environment,” Koid said. “And
to include professors, community members But once the team was together, they this week is really rough for a lot of people so going out there
and staff. So it’s going to be a huge event.” were able to concentrate on more important matters, like the would be really nice and de-stressing.”

Women’s water polo hosts

conference championship
BY M AX CALENBERG
After a bevy of tough matchups and a long
season, the Grinnell women’s water polo team,
the Black Sheep, took fifth in the Heartland
Conference Tournament Sunday.
The team began the tournament with a
12-9 loss to Lindenwood University, the team
that eventually finished in second place.
“Lindenwood recruits players from around
the world,” said Co-Captain Mari Guttman
’09. “It is a very intense level of
polo, and that we hold our
own against them makes me
very proud.”
After playing Linden-
wood, the team only had a
couple of hours before hopping
into the pool against eventual
champion Carleton College, who
defeated the Black Sheep 10-4.
Despite the losses, team members
said that they went out and performed to
the best of their abilities.
“I feel like this weekend just
summed up [our season] re-
ally well,” said Leah Krandel
’09. “When we won our third
game, there wasn’t much difference between
the games we lost and the games we won, after
each game people had positive things to say
and we were proud of how we performed. I
think that speaks to how amazing this team
is.”
With the season coming to an end, the
Black Sheep are about to become a very young
team, as five players will graduate this year,
leaving only a couple of juniors. Of the many
first-years who joined this season, experience
ranged from never playing before to six years
on a club team. Despite the squad’s youth,
team Co-Captain Josie Seff ’09 sees plenty of
promise for the future.
“I think that the freshman have a ton of
potential,” Seff said. “This season was really
good for them.”
Many players have noticed a considerable
gain of experience through the season, espe-
cially those who never played before joining
the team.
“It was definitely a challenge; you don’t ex-
actly know what to do,” said first-time goalie
Hannah Lytle ’11. “But it becomes a
blast once you know what is going on.”
Unlike many other water polo
teams, the Black Sheep do not have
an official coach, instead ei-
ther utilizing volunteer
coaches from the
men’s team,
the Wild
Turkeys, or
coaching
each other.
“We are a
self-coached team
and we are going
against teams in Conference that have full-
time coaches,” said Alex Peitz ’10. “And we are
starting the season with nearly half our team
never having played before.”
With a mix of players with various levels
of experience, the team is looking forward to
what the future may bring.
“At the end of the season, I felt we’d really
come together as a team,” said Megan Januska
’12. “And it happened a lot faster here than it
ever did in [high school]. It makes me really
excited for the next three seasons.”
 The Back Page
The Best Thing Since The Front Page

This Week in
Grinnell H istory
April 23, 1976
On Monday, the
Iowa House of Repre-
sentatives, in a 60-34
vote, rejected an at-
tempt to decriminal-
ize possession of small
amounts of marijuana,
reported the April 20
Des Moines Regis-
ter. Under current law,
persons found guilty
of marijuana posses-
sion may recieve pris-
This picture from the 1978-1979 Grinnell yearbook shows Grinnellians, including our very own Wayne Moyer,
on terms of up to six
Professor of Political Science, in the throes of the Grinnell Relays Photo of the months and fines of up
We can’t be everywhere! Submit your photo to us at [newspapr]. Earn $10 for contributing the winning photo.
Week to $1000.

TITULAR HEAD: Beer,movies with Lyle and a whole

lot of obscenities. Prepare yourselves for the final
countdown

SECURITY: Pat Ritter may be a pretty kick-ass detec-

tive, but the confiscation of the free flowing Santa
Dong Beer Bong makes us sad.

COMPLAINTS ABOUT TRAYLESS DINING: Does it

kill you to get one less plate of food? Is a second trip
really all that hard?

Help! My sandwich is naked! To inhabitants of Main 2nd Cool balloons, No Limits . . .

random
To whoever ate my cheese in the Langan Floor, thank you for being such an amazing I know you’ve been getting a lot of hate lately,
fridge, I can only ask, why? There is a sign on the home this past year for me and my fellow cohorts. but I wanted to thank you for making my day to-

rants
door asking you not to, from an earlier incident You have hosted countless parties, violent loggia day. I was a little annoyed when I first saw all these
when my lunchmeat disappeared under mysteri- escapades, and a menagerie of animals that in- signs in the Grille; I don’t like to be inundated with
ous circumstances. The principle is basic: I paid cludes three rats, two bunnies, and occasionally a things like that when I’m trying to eat my lunch
for that cheese, so it is mine to eat. Yet you dug it cat named Pasha. Your countless services include and get some work done. And you’re using 20 bal-
Students speak out from my stack of food, leaving only scraps in the party-vator, which provides a wonderful way loons to hold up a single piece of paper? Wow, that
about what’s on the bag. Now I have no colby-jack on my sand- to incorporate people from others floors into the seems like a lot of unnecessary waste when you
wich, and am left bewildered by this stunning Wednesday night rave Zac might be throwing, could just tape it to a wall. But, I chalked it up to
their minds in 142
display of callous disregard for my lunch. I will access to the largest loggia on campus, and the enthusiasm and stopped my complaining until I
words or fewer,
accept anonymous donations of cheese by way of hordes of mostly-naked people scampering about saw what the signs said. 20 balloons to hold up a
and you’re invited! atonement. Please don’t do this again. My sand- the floor at any given night. Plus, the unidenti- sheet of paper to tell me about Grinnell College’s
If you have a rant, wich would appreciate your self-governance. fiable smell that welcomes the brave souls that bad environmental practices? ARE YOU FREAK-
e-mail it to come through the door is just another reminder ING SERIOUS?! Thanks for the laugh No Limits
[hortonmo]. Com- of what a special place Main 2nd really is. Even . . . you really made my day today.
plaining in a public the random assortment of people living here adds
forum is always spice to your already indomitable spirit.
more fun than do- For those living on this magnificent floor
ing it alone. next year, treat her well and make her proud.
—Erika Graham ’10 —Emily Bajet ’12 —Katey Gager ’11

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