rage Iwo VVLLEVE NENW cvwuewsyF FgVveuvrw THE COLLEGE NEWS Subscription $3.75 — Mailing price $5.00—Subscriptions may begin at any time, Entered as second class matter at the Bryn Mawr, Pa. Post Office, under the Act of March 3, 1879. aa for re-entry at the Bryn Mawr, Pa Post Office filed October 1st,1963. Second Class Postage paid at Bryn Mawr, Pa. FOUNDED IN 1914 | Publisned weckly during the College Year (except during Thanks- Gens. Christmas and Easter holidays, and during examination weeks) Uf’ in the interest of Bryn Mawr College at the Regional Printing Com uu pany, Inc, Bryn Mawr. Pa., and Bryn Mawr College, The College News is fully protected by copyright. Nothing that appears in it may be reprinted wholly or in part without p:r.ussion of the Editor-in-Chief.. EDITORIAL BOARD MTOM Ne E oa icns 5 sencaeosscnsseasdais ongpeUMblocthiinsysscfbdbhc nphost. soncetpaees Associate Editor .... Managing Editor ... Copy Editor............ Lynne Lackenbach, ’66 . Karen Durbin, ’66 eae Pam Barald, ’67 Nanette Holben, ‘6a Make-up Editor oc cceccecceeen ES ER SES a ae Jeanne La Sala, ’°6% Member-at-Large ........ eee, cadvacssas SA MERE CMEIRIG bre ces congdeovaneae eG « Laura Krugman, ’67 Contributing Editors 0.00.0. os Anne Lovgren, °66 and Edna Perkins, ’66 Business MAnagers | o....5i. .5...0cccstaten. Janie Taylor, 68 and Nancy Geist, ’66 Subscription - Circulation Manager Ellen Simonoff, °67 Opinions expressed in editorials do not necessarily represent those of the entire editorial board. Unjustified For many months a significant minority of the country has been up in arms over U, S, intervention in Vietnam. The complaints put forth are mainly that this country has no justification for entering the affairs of an independent nation, and that it has sent troops to join what is essentially. a civil war in which the U.S, has no con- cern, except that one side has been supported by Communist interests. Yet last week, when President Johnson sent troops into another country torn by civil war, there was little or no opposition to his move, The Dominican Republic existed as a dictatorship for almost thirty years with full diplomatic recognition by the U.S, But suddenly, after the Trujillo regime had been overthrown by Dominicans, and after two coups had failed to provide responsible government, this country felt it imperative to throw U, S, marines into the fray. No one quarreled , and rightly so, with the need to protect U, S, citizens in Santo Domingo. But are 20,000 American troops, more than half the number currently fighting in Vietnam, really necessary to protect a few hundred nationals? Washington believes that preventing the threat of another Cuba-like Communist stronghold in the western hemisphere is justification enough for taking over a country. And it is true that General Wessin did ask for U.S. assistance. For a country that supposedly believes in self-determination and the in- violakle independence of free nations, however, this position is un- tenable. We had no binding commitments in the Dominican Republic as we do in Vietnam, no troops or supplies already involved in a struggle that could not continue without our aid. In short, we had no legal or moral justification for intervening in the internal affairs of an unoccupied nation, whatever its geographical location. It is not enough to declare that the U. S, has a right to force itself or its system upon a nation situated near our coasts in order to protect itself and its way of life. . A cease-fire has now been arranged in Santo Domingo. Whether it succeeds or not, only time will tell, but whether this one,or the next one.or a far later one manages to end the bloodshed in the Dominican Republic, one important question must remain to be answered. How long will U, S, military forces continue to occupy the country, and what part will they play in establishing a new government? The U. S. may well be one of the most powerful countries in the world today. But there are some things that even the U.S, cannot do without incurring the wrath of free citizens everywhere. The longer the U, S,. continues to stay in the Dominican Republic, the more harm it will do to its already-tarnished world image. Hurray! In that infamous Mademoiselle article, ‘‘The Barefoot Intellectuals’’ (October, 1962), an unnamed administrative official at Bryn Mawr was quoted as saying, in regard to our academic program, ‘‘Bryn Mawr never makes changes. We just stand still and wait for the others to catch up.’? Whether or not the lady in question was quoted accurately (and, in light of the rest of the article, we doubt it), the day has finally arrived when such acomment can be happily laughedinto the oblivion it deserves. For, as of this year, Bryn Mawr has indeed made changes, and they’re good ones. The Curriculum Study Committee is to be applauded for the new requirements program, going into effect next year. By eliminating the rigidity of certain aspects of the old system --i. e. you HAD to take Freshman Comp.; you HAD to prove yourself at least mediocre in two languages, ad nauseam -- and at the same time broadening the range of the requirements, they have indeed succeeded in providing a real flexibility for the incoming undergraduates. The program is commendable, too, for its concentration on diver sifi- cation, and subsequent safeguards against over-specialization. In general, it appears to be a well reasoned and much needed measure, and we can only say, as upperclassmen, we’re jealous! Open Issue Periodically a rash of robberies andriflingshitsone dorm or another on campus and serves as a reminder that the apparatus for protecting our valuable personal belongings is scarcely adequate, Rooms do not have locks on the doors -- only closets do. It is absurd for a student to gather up all phonographs, radios, cameras, wallets, and similar treasures any time she departsfrom the premises. Yet this is the only course open to her if she wishes to safeguard against the small thefts that occur while students are away for the weekend or even for part of a day. Window locks are similarly important for anyone who values her privacy. On May Day Eve a student on the ground floor of Rhoads had to persuade some Haverford visitors against entering through her window. Granted that this is an unfortunate once-a-year-phenomenon -- it still makes a va'id point. The spirit of Bryn Mawr is one of personal responsibility, Each girl is expected as a matter of course to be capable of running her own life. We are entrusted with an extensive academic and social honor system tnat demands some degree of maturity for its successful operation, Do we really believe that the prerogative of locking our rooms belongs to an even higher plateau of responsibilities beyond our reach? | LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Concealed To the Editor: May I ask the courtesy of your columns to reply briefly to the letter from Grace Hamilton, Bar- bara Mann, and Debby Unger de- fending the State Department’s in- terpretation of events in South Vietnam? Their letter reveals an unawareness of the role inter- pretation plays in ‘‘getting the facts.”’ They write: ‘‘If advan- tage were taken of the informa- tion publicly offered by the State Dept., questions and criticisms would indeed be answered.’’ But of course what the State Dept. offers is not raw ‘‘information’’ (there’s no such thing) but selected, arranged, interpreted information which must be subjected to critical analysis. This is one of the prin- cipal issues in the current debate, that our government has deliber- ately and continuously deluded it- self. Correspondents and field officers for the USIA have com- plained publicly that reports have systematically (and for years!) been ‘‘sanitized,’’ each echelon telling those superior what they thought they wanted to hear. Thus it is unwise, for instance, to assume that the arguments of such a scholar as Helen Lamb can be dismissed merely by re- asserting the government’s posi- tion. Administration officials are victims not only of the ‘‘gulli- bility’? they impute to their critics, but of self-righteousness which is leading to an escalation of self-justification, The pitying contempt with which criticism has been dismissed is misdirected and professors and students have the right and the duty to say so. Ann Berthoff (Mrs. Warner Berthoff) Overt To the Editor: I was very happy to note that literature from the State Depart- ment on the US’s position in Viet Nam has been available in Taylor. As the authors of ‘‘Objectivity’’ say, students must examine both positions intensely, However, I disagree with several of their assumptions about students Sceptical Senior Tests Value of Honors Paper The following article was written by a seniorhonors candi- date, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of THE COLLEGE NEWS-ed. At this time of year, when sen- iors have just finished correcting the 100th page of the third carbon of their honors papers, and juniors are still glowing from the ecstasy of receiving the coveted invitation, is a good time to consider the entire subject of honors projects. This spring, as every other spring, many honors seniors are coming to the end of nine months of continual tension, punctuated by weekly traumatic conferences with an over-demanding advisor, Others, who have worked less doggedly, are having to probe both intellect and conscience ina frantic effort to produce 100 pages of inspiration in six weeks, Neither group is in a particularly good humor, Set against this appealing pic- ture is an even more attractive one: the juniors, both those who have been asked to do honors | applebee o to be a questionnaire to make everybody care... about community issues do you say kleenex or tissues? check one or both or write in here. are you in favor of pretzels and beer? if not, when did you enter this country? do you like spring or do you consider it effrontery? do you prefer silver or stainless steel? how do you feel about chamber music for the glockenspiel? or any alternate plan of your own would you support a bi-college phone or subway or cricket match? if so, which bi-colleges do you have in mind? please return to applebee and those who haven't. Those who have been invitedare often so impressed with the cour- teous little letter with the depart- ment’s small but tasteful letterhead that they cannot do otherwise than accept. And perhaps they should. Graduating with honors makes any record look more impressive. There is no overt pressure to accept the invitation, Many seniors, realizing that they gothrough agon- ies with every five-page paper, wisely do not undertake one 20 times that length. Others simply don’t want the extra work. Or the self-discipline. Nevertheless, once a_ student has been asked, there is, in the very nature of the invitation, a subtle pressure. It’s not easy to resist the honor of being selected from those with only 84,9 aver- ages. The fact that only a limited number of students are chosenen- hances the prestige. But what about those who were not asked? Is the attainment of a certain average a valid indication of a student’s ability to work independently? A lower average may merely show that she does too MUCH work on her own, per- haps reading beyond class assign- ments and consequently doing just fairly on an exam covering only the assigned coursework? As the system exists now, hon- ors has two major flaws: it is often an unfairly given reward, or it is a cumbersome burden, Stu- dents unable to handle the inde- pendence of an honors project regardless oftheir average, should not be induced by its prestige value to accept it. And students sincerely interested in working with a certain teacher on a special project should be allowed to, re- gardless of their grades. The fact that so many seniors regret having done honors, in spite of its un- deniable rewards, and the fact that so many juniors suffer from not being asked, indicates a need for revision of the system, There is no way to eliminate the division in many departments be- tween honors and non-honors sen- iors, But it might be possible to institute, on a large scale, project courses (already in existence in certain departments), In that way, students desiring to work inde- pendently would have the oppor- tunity. If more students worked on project courses, less superficial prestige might be attached to hon- ors, And both juniors and seniors would benefit from the placement of proper emphasis on a valuable opportunity, who overtly support positions other than the Government’s. First of all, it is unfair to assume that, simply because these students were not at Haverford to hear the State Department speaker, they have not taken the opportunity to inform themselves of his posi- tion. The US Government position is stated in press conferences, speeches, releases, and in news bulletins in the daily newspapers, to a far greater extent than the opposing positions are stated, In addition, anyone who has tried to explain what the authors of the letter call ‘‘the SDS position,” has had a great deal of practice in confronting defendents of the government policy and knows it well, Just incidentially -- I say ‘‘the SDS position’’ because this position is by no- means limited to SDS adherents, nor was SDS the first to profess it, Here the term is a convenience for a po- sition we all know about, but I caution against its future use as an all-encompassing handle for many shades of other-than-Gov- ernment positions, In short, I find no justification for implying that SAC, SDS and others of non-government position have not taken care to inform them- selves of both sides, as is possible in, and indeed vital to, a demo- cratic society. Objectivity of ob- servation is necessary for a true evaluation of the situation; how- ever, once a position has been taken, I prefer ‘‘blatant’’ and *fovert’? support of it, to timid and vacillating support. That is another necessity in a democratic society - that we not be afraid to stand up for anything we think, Marion Scoon, ’68 Interpretation To the Editor: We are disturbed to find that our comments have been misinter- preted. We intended to put ‘‘dis- _ senters’’ on the defensive -- not because we object to their position but because we object to their method. If we have provoked them into examining the government’s position more closely before criti- cizing it, our ‘*mission’’ has been successful, though misunderstood. We have found that the govern- ment’s position has been ignored. Those who criticize it have neglected to label opinions as such and to suggest proofs for their statements. We have tried to avoid this carelessness. The proofs for our statements have admittedly been from the govern- ment; our attempt has been merely to restate its position. We tend to respect the govern- ment ‘‘propaganda’’ for two rea- sons; (1) we feel that the people speaking on the_ subject are specialists -- they are the ones who spend ALL their time study- ing the situation, facts as well as theories; (2) the opposition has resorted so often to sensa- tionalism and blanket statements that we find it hard to sympathize. Most strongly we object to ab- solute statements declaring that the US government is deliberately deceiving its people. We ques- tion that those who make such claims (most of whom spend the majority of their time and energy on other matters than Viet-Nam, in comparison to the government full-time specialists) can place place themselves in such a posi- tion of omniscience. Grace S, Hamilton, ’66 Barbara Mann, ’68 Debby Unger, ’67 “Watch for your chance to order the Commencement Issue of th COLLEGE _ NEWS. 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