ANT Fall 1975 3 Letter from the President Robert H. Atwell 4 Profile: Stanley Kauffmann Karol Greene A Mark of Genius: The Participant is mailed without charge to friends of Pitzer College in 8 The Need to Go Public the United States and abroad. The magazine is planned around themes Robert S. Albert of current and broad interest, and features articles by the Pitzer College faculty, staff, and alumni, with occasional contributions by outside Pitzer Courses writers. 14 The magazine also brings to its read­ ers accounts of the faculty's research, Old - All Around Me writing and other professional in­ 15 volvement in their respective fields. Bert Meyers Contributions to further this area of the College's effort toward visibility and communication are appreciated and may be sent to President's Office, Pitzer College, 1050 No. Mills Ave., Communication Breakdown: Claremont, California 91711. 16 Understanding Arguments Pitzer College does not discriminate on the basis of sex, religion, race, or Donnald Brenneis creed either in admitting sty-dents or in allocating financial aid. Designed and edited by Virginia 18 Through the Boob Tube Rauch. Photographs by Michael Hur­ witz, '75, pp. 1,2,22,24; Arthur Nick Williams Dubinsky, p. 2; Judy Griesedieck, '75, pp. 4,22; George Rose, pp. 19,23; Jamie Orlikoff, senior, p. 24; Art, p. 18, Ben Bull; David Levine, p. 8. 2 0 Participating VOL. 9, No.3, Fall 1975 Robert F. Duvall f The Pitzer Participant "is published quarterly by Pitzer College, 1050 No. Mills Ave., Claremont, Ca. 91711. Community Notes Second class permit granted by 22 Claremont, Ca. 91711. 2 OUR CONTRIBUTORS .. Professor Robert Albert's re­ ... Although Karol Greene's con­ Nick Williams search on genius has dislodged some centration at Pitzer was in political favorite misconceptions about the studies, she made a significant impact subject. For example, he says that with her in-depth personality profiles there are no "undiscovered genius­ for The Collegian of The Claremont es", that we rarely find geniuses Colleges. When Stanley Kauffmann among "late bloomers" and that most visited the Pitzer campus, Ms. Greene persons of genius capabilities make a tuned in on the eminent theater and significant mark in their field by the film critic for The New Republic and time they reach 24 years of age. produced the profile on page 4 . According to Professor Albert, A follower of the theatrical and " This says it's a whole new ball game political fortunes of the Smothers Professor Brenneis - we have to approach it differently. Brothers for several years - she is What I'd like to do if I had the money, now set for an exclusive interview for is choose 75 families and make predic­ a profile on the couple. tions on who will and won't evidence At publication date, she w a~ ;ob­ genius qualities when they hit their hunting in the newspaper and early 20's." magazine world, hoping to specialize His article in this issue of The Par­ in writing personality profiles. ticipant, excerpted from American Psychologist, February 1975, is part of a larger, long-term study. He is also co-author of a book in another field, Aging and the Aged, to be published early next year by Glencoe Press. Professor Meyers .. Admirers of Nick Williams, re­ tired Editor of the Los Angeles Times, and humorist, whose articles warmed . Professor Donald Brenneis' arti­ the op-ed pages of that newspaper, cle is based on "You Fruithead: can enjoy him on page 18 of The Par­ A Sociolinguistic Approach to ticipant. Now Editorial Consultant to Children's Dispute Settlement" the Publisher of the Times, and co-authored with Laura Lein, and member of the Board of Trustees of originally presented at the American Pitzer College, Mr. Williams still occa­ Anthropological Association meeting sionally shares with Times readers in 1974. It is now being published in humorous accounts of his Laguna Child Discourse by Academic Press. Beach life. "Ms. Lein and I are presenting a Karol Greene follow-up paper comparing children's arguments among white Americans, . Professor Bert Meyers' poetry is black Americans, and Fiji Indian chil­ from a forthcoming book, And Still it dren this fall at the AAA meetings Happens. With his wife, Odette, a in a second session on child dis­ French literature scholar, he has trans­ course." lated Lord of the Village, "a bestiary of Professor Brenneis' major research 23 animal poems." W ri tten by Franco is interest is in conflict and law and in Dodat in French, the translated version the use of language in conflict. This appears in both French and English. fall, he and Seth Kravitz, Pitzer With a semester's sabbatical leave graduate, class of '75, will read a paper behind him, Professor Meyers is back at the American Folklore Society an­ at Pitzer teaching Modem American nual meeting in New Orleans. The Professor Albert Poetry, Shorter Russian Fiction, and title is "Comparative Study of Verbal Creative Writing: Poetry. Dueling." 3 from the President President Atwell (excerpted from President Robert H. American higher education, we need be­ been a good thing, particularly as we Atwell's opening remarks to the facul- lievers. This would not be an excellent have become more tenured. I also think ty) college simply because we have said it is; that excellence needs to be pushed in at but it would not have become excellent least two other respects. First, we need to We concluded several years ago that unless some of you had wanted it to be, do more to recognize and reward excel­ the beginning of the year was not the and it will only continue to improve its lent academic achievements of students. best time to try to provoke a faculty position if most of us want it to - because We are beginning to do this in terms of discussion of "Whither the College". I from here on, the 'going is tougher. honors programs, and I would urge that still feel that way, so what I want to do That moves me along rather easily into we do even more, including but certainly this morning is primarily give you some the subject of marketing. If one opts for not limited to a Phi Beta Kappa chapter of my thoughts and then simply give you the "no fundamental change" strategy, and other forms of recognition. Second­ a chance to express yours. then, the problem is marketing. We may ly, our egalitarian faculty rewards sys­ Beginning with the "change versus no already be one of the top 10 liberal arts tem should, I think, make more provision change" construct, I do not now favor colleges in the nation, but if so, that is for rewarding superior performance. The any drastic change in direction for the not generally known and understood. judgments need not be made entirely or College. That may partly be the conserv­ even primarily by the Dean and Presi­ atism which comes with age - and I do Marketing must start with the stu­ dents we have and their retention. The dent, but surely we can develop more remember times when I was pushing ways of recognizing superior work. more change than I would now advocate fact remains that better retention is the single most important key to the im­ Finally, the Rooseveltian dictum about - but I prefer to believe that it is basically the greatest fear being fear itself is because we are quite good at what we are provement of quality; if we retain a higher proportion of entering students, applicable to our situation. We do and and what we do. With an eye to the must continue to live close to the brink student market, it would be easy to con­ we can be more selective in admissions. It is everyone's problem and requires financially and accept the fact that bril­ clude that we need to change in the liant success with all of our marketing direction of some current or imagined that everyone do the myriad subtle things that will make this place more efforts will not change that picture future fads. I would confess that had we much. We can and will become renowned jumped in the direction of some fads attractive to more of our students. It may b.e conscientious advising, including as the premier liberal arts college we are, which some of us have advocated in the and will still in most of our professional past, we would h.ave hurt our position timely letters of recommendation, or lifetimes be always on the edge financial­ and not improved it. simply showing those with whom you ly, and will always fall short of doing Rather, I think we should adopt as a come in contact first that you are a everything we should do for our kind of implicit and rather unquantifiable professional with high standards that students. We may, in short, achieve goal, the objective of being one of the ten you will insist upon, and secondly that greatness without prosperity because the or twelve best liberal arts colleges in the you care about this place . I think we latter takes a lot longer than anyone nation in the next 10 years and the best have a responsibility to the students and realized back in 1963; and the America of in one or two areas. That is a straight­ their families who are shelling out $20,000 plus dollars to come here to the last quarter of the century will be forwardly elitist objective and I think much more inhospitable to higher educa­ that the elitism of academic excellence is present ourselves unapologetically as professionals with high standards, work­ tion than America of the late 40's, 50's, something we need not apologize for so and most of the 60's.