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THE DAILY NEBRASKAN Editorials Commentary Wednesday, November 1, 1967 Page 2 ie War Proles ID) rovim What? Bo o 1 fie i lae is l, Hanging The rising tide of second thoughts about the war in Vietnam may soon be washed away by a backlash against re cent "peace" demonstrations. Throughout the nation it had appeared that a number of Congressmen, including Sens. Stuart Symington of Missouri and Thurston Morton of Kentucky, and several large newspapers The Atlanta Constitu . tion and the Miami Herald were having second thoughts about the war in Vietnam. But with the increasing incidence of peace demonstrations many of which were not very peaceful it is apparent that the American public, which, too, was beginning to doubt the Vietnam War, is now beginning to swing back into whole hearted support of the war. Public demonstrations both in support of the servicemen in Vietnam and of the American Vietnam policy are drawing huge crowds across the country. And the num ber of such demonstrations is increasing. What then is causing this backlash? It seems that many Americans are willing to go along with demonstrations as a right provided under the Constitution. But they are not willing to go along with the violence and law-breaking that accom panies many of the peace demonstrations. There are those who participate in the demonstrations who maintain that the vio lence is one-sided only the law enforce ment officials are violent. But the evidence seems to say something much different. Perhaps one such piece of evidence is a story written by Ruth Rohrer. a journa lism senior, for the University Daily Kan san. Miss Rohrer was in Washington, D.C. and observed the march on the Pentagon. She reported: "Twenty-seven persons were injured by late afternoon; one news man was clubbed to the ground by dem onstrators when he tried to get inside the Pentagon to the press room; troops were taunted, spat upon; tear gas was used (by both sides, they said); obsceni ties were yelled and written upon walls and sidewalks; vegetables, water bottles, and rocks were thrown at the troops and at the massive building housing the na tion's defense nerve center. "Windows were broken and, as dark ness approached, parking stakes were torn up to build bonfires. At one point, a large group of flower children simultaneously relieved their biological urges in a sym bolic gesture on the Pentagon lawn. "It became an endurance test be tween the troops and the demonstrators. All thoughts of peace must surely have been gone long before. "My sympathy was with the troops, who exhibited an incredible amount of pa tience throughout the afternoon and eve ning, with those participants who had sincerely believed that the event was to be an effort for peace and with Ameri can citizens who hears some of the most beautiful words and concepts in the Eng lish language used to justify the ugliness of the day." Likewise there seemed to be a se vere disregard for the fact in the Wash ington demonstration. Demonstrators contend that the dem onstrations crowd was over 250,000. Yet veteran UPI reporter Merriamn Smith noted that police and reporters, who are accustomed to crowds, thought 50,000 was generous. The demonstrators contended that the discrepancy in crowd estimates was due to "hawk" publishers and fear of John son, Smith said. The UPI reporter also told of one reporter who spent the night in the Pen tagon parking lot with the demonstrators. Smith quotes the reporter as saying: "I was there the whole damned night, outside with you people, and what you're describing (about the press and defecting troops) is pure fiction it never hap pened." The UPI reporter also points out a case where a demonstration leader asked for witnesses to the defections to prepare a tape recording for submission to Wash ington and New York newspapers. But none of the witnesses was will ing to do so. Thus, the American people are be ginning to become disgusted with protes tors' total lack of regard for the facts and their lack of regard for the laws of this nation. And this disgust is no better echoed than in the college newspapers almost all of them the first to grant students the right to protest. Thus the Minnesota Daily editorial izes: "Massive civil disobedience is a desperate and often effective form of so cial protest. But if not religiously dedi cated to non-violence it provides the op portunity for far stronger police or mili tary forces to destroy the protest. "The New Left represent extreme po litical elements the leadership readily admits to having some (although very few) Communists and Communist sym pathizers in their midst. Their presence in the movement makes responsible dis sent, particularly among outspoken mem bers of Congress, immeasurably more difficult. "Furthermore, anti-war sympathies have gained dramatically among the na tion's electorate lately. But when highly publicized violence is associated with the movement, that wide-spread support is jeopardized. "Perhaps the peace movement in America declared war against itself last week." Similarly the Daily Illini talked about the new violent leadership of the peace demonstrations: "They are slowly squeezing out the people opposed to violence, and they are discrediting the work of those who still believe the way to a solution is through peaceful actions. "The revolutionaries aren't as in terested in stopping the war as they are in stopping this country. Their hero is Che Guevara who was anything but a peaceful man. And their goals are to over throw the entire system in America." There are those who contend that vio lence is necessary to get some action on a question such as the Vietnam war. But these individual seem to think that a complete change is going to haphen overnight. And that is not the way it hap pens. Change is slow, and that change was apparent if one observed newspaper editorials and some members of Congress. But that change apparently was not fast enough for the violence advocates of the peace movement. And so they have resorted to violence. And now that small, but growing, tide of opposition to the Vietnam war (which the peace movement wanted so badly) may very well be erased by the back lash created by the peace movement's violence. By Dan Dickmeyer I thought sure that this year if I let my hair curl over my ears, scuffed up my Hush-Puppies some more, and wore my "Johnson is a no-mind" button that those nice young men would leave me alone. Just to be sure as I passed through the Union on the way to the New Left security "womb" behind the Crib I pressed my body close to the wall. "Please, God," I prayed, "don't let me have to resort to violence." The rising voices screamed over my head as I passed the first booth. "Protect me, dear God." And then . . . zap . . I was hit . . . for the twenty-first time this year. A hand grabbed my arm, another tore at my belt loops, restraining me, and another jammed a fistful of paper into my mouth. A polite voice said: "Oh, excuse me, would you like to buy a ticket to Kosmic Klan." "Oh, God, wherr lid I go wrong," I mumbled under my breath, as I proceeded a few more steps. Someone threw their body at my legs nd then I was hit with a flame thrower and a polite voice said: "Oh, excuse us, would you like to . . ." "All right you capitalistic money grub bers what did you ever do for this campus or me?" I lashed into them. "Oh, excuse us," they retorted paci fistically (darn them) "but we are accom plice ng the purpose of self -perpetuation." "Everyone knows there isn't such a thing as perpetual motion,' I said. "We have disproved that," the head Kleagle of the Klan said, again politely. "We sell tickets to raise money to buy "fealk U write obscene things on buildings and sidewalks to advertise our shows which culturally enrich the Lincoln com munity to make a name so we can sell more tickets . . ." "Have you ever just given any of your money or time away, hippie-like, say to a poverty area, a scholarship or an or phanage." "Excuse us, would you like to buy a ticket to . . the Kleagle retorted me chanistically. "Hah, I never did think you guys had anymore purpose than a group with just one more 'K' in its initials. The analogy is clear. These so-callad workers are victims of your racist tactics trying to buy their freedom into your upper-class society by selling tickets and shining shoes." Sobbing, the two Klan workers stand ing beside the Klan Kleagle released their grip, and looked me in the eyes. "Yes, suh, it's true. Emancipate us. Take this chalk from our hands and free us from the Kleagles. I had been too crueL After all, they could not do anything about their basically subservient nature. I reassured them: "Rest easy, chil'en, your redeemer is coming Saturday night in the form of the guardian of morals the Lincoln Police force. The Kosmic Klan production will be raided under authority of the re-activated 1936 statute prohibiting the wearing of apparel of the opposite sex in public places. When the Kleagle's give their leg shots they'll be arrested and you'll be freed." "Praise de Lawd," said the workers and bowed to kiss my feet and straighten my peace button. Demonstrations Rack Nation9 s Campuses Collegiate Press Service Students on seven cam puses made it a rough week for recruiters from the armed services and for oth er organizations connected with the military. The sit-ins and other pro tests are almost all over now, but the promise of dis ciplinary action against pro testers on most of the cam puses may provide the next source of controversy. Dow Chemical Company recruiters, catalysts for the massive protests at the Uni versity of Wisconsin last week, figured in three of this week's sit-ins: that at Harvard and those at the Universities of Illinois and Minnesota. Other targets for demon strations were: the Navy re cruiter at Oberlin College in Ohio; the CIA recruiter at the University of Colorado; a center for classified re search at Princeton Uni versity and a conference of defense contractors in De troit. Students for a Democra tic Society (SDS) members figured to some extent in all the protests, but not all protests were organized by the SDS. On three campuses Princeton, Oberlin and Wayne State in Detroit police were brought from outside to deal with the stu dents. Although it was the appearance of city police on the University of Wisconsin campus that brought thou sands of otherwise uncom mitted students into the pro test there, the police did not have the same effect this week. On one campus Illinois the protests achieved their immediate goal. After 200 of them sat-in in the doorway and corridor outside the of fice where Dow was recruit ing, the administration can celled the company's re cruiting program there. Ac cording to a university " spokesman, the action was taken "to avoid possible bodily injury and destruc tion of property." DEFENSE CONFERENCE In the Detroit protest, there was a brief outbreak of violence on Wednesday. The students, returning for a second day to protest against the Fourth Annual Defense and Government Procurement Conference (in which businessmen heard Army and Air Force of ficers tell them "how to keep your share of defense business") tried to enter the building, where the con ference was being held, from the rear. They scuffled with police there and with some of the businessmen attending the conference. One demonstra tor was arrested, bringing the total number of arrests for the two days to 14. Certainly the best organ ized protest was the one at Oberlin, where students knew well before hand which day the Nacy recruit er was to arrive. Some of them drove out to the edge of town Thursday to meet him and escort him to the campus. There more than 100 students surrounded his car and kept him trapped in side for about four hours. When the recruiter finally tried to drive his way out of his predicament, he suc ceeded only in ramming a newsman's car behind his. His was finally freed when local police and firemen drove the demonstrators away with tear-gas and wa ter sprayed from fire hoses. Following is a resume of what occurred at four of the campuses: - , SDS AT HARVARD At Harvard, bout 300 Harvard and Radcliffe stu dents sat-in 'in the chemis try building outside the Dow recruiters' office. Accord ing to one observer, the re cruiter "was effectively im prisoned there." The protest was organized by SDS and had originally SDS Sparks Most Campus Protests (Editor's Note: The following is an opin ion analysis of last week's nationwide cam pus war protests) By Richard Anthony Collegiate Press On the face of it, the wave of pro tests against recruiters and military proj ects that has swept college campuses in the past two weeks would appear to be a direct outgrowth of the Oct 21 Mobiliza tion. In fact, however, the two are con nected only in the sense that, both, are working against U.S. military undertakings. The timing of the protests is largely a result of the fact that Dow Chemical and Armed Forces recruiters have been on the campuses where the protests have occurred. As to the reason for the protest, if there is any, one event that may be -singled out as their cause it is not the Mobiliza tion but the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) national convention last July. At that convention delegates decided to direct their efforts this year toward re ducing military involvement on the uni versity campuses. The idea of making this effort did not originate at the convention. As Mike Spiegel, national secretary of the organization, admits, "We really decided after the fact. There was a lot of this kind of activity going on last year on various campuses." It is also true that SDS has not been the sole impetus behind each of the cam pus protests of the past two weeks. On the other hand, SDS members have been involved to some extent in all of them and have organized some of them. At the convention the politics voted on did not include tactical questions., Accord ing to Spiegel, questions of strategy and tactics are left up to the individual SDS chapters. It was probably inevitable that the tactics would be in the direction of sit-ins, however, because SDS has stressed the need for militant action against mili tary involvement on campuses. Spiegel said that militant action has been emphasized because past protests have shown it to be the most successful method of raising the issues that SDS wants to raise among university people at large. "When students are willing to take militant action," says Spiegel, "Other peo ple on campus see that this group takes its goals very seriously and then they start to think about the problems involved." Another result of militant action has been the increased use of outside police, as in the protests at the University of Wisconsin and at Brooklyn College. For SDS the introduction of the police can be advantageous but it is not always an un mixed blessing. According to Spiegel it can turn the controversy away from the ques-. tion of military involvement on campuses to that of police brutality. "We think the issue of civil liberties tends to obfuscate the real issues," says Spiegel. As for the question of the recruiters' freedom of speech. SDS says the freedom is not at issue, the issues being rather whether universities and their students should contribute to the country's military efforts. It is the freedom of speech issue, however, that is the sticking point for the National Student Association (NSA). Al Milano. an NSA national staff member, says that the organization supports free dom of speech on campus for recruiters as for anyone else. As a result of NSA's freedom of speech stand, the organization has been obliged to steer clear of some of the recent protests. Although NSA representatives aided stu dent protest leaders at Brooklyn College and at Wisconsin, they could not assist at Harvard or at Oberlin, where students., blocked off the recruiters from inter- -viewees. "We understand the frustrations that lead students to these kinds of protests," . Milano says, "but we have to be consis tent about free speech. What we are urg ing is that students be given a voice in things like who recruits on campus." For the present, however, NSA will probably not be able to take a hand in many of the protests that seem bound to occur. There are, according to one SDS estimate, approximately 900 colleges and universities that have Defense Department of CIA grants and many of those will be the targets of protests during the coming year. Whatever comes out of the year, there . is little question that SDS will emerge as the most-hated student organization in the country's history with most of the ill- -will coming from two sources the fed eral government and college and univer sity administrators. been planned as a picketing demonstration outside the building. When demonstra tors arrived Wednesday morning, however, the pro test became a sit-in. About 450 students, in cluding the heads of two major undergraduate politi cal bodies, have turned in their "bursar's cards to ex press complicity with the protest. A meeting of all members of the faculty had been tentatively scheduled" for Tuesday, to decide on disciplinary action for the protestors. At the University of Min nesota, about 40 students jammed onto the entrance of the placement office to protest the presence of a Dow recruiter there Tues day. Some of the students slept in a room near the presi dent's office through the night. Others held a hunger strike that lasted until the Dow recruiter left Thurs day. No disciplinary action is planned against the Minne sota protestors. AT PRINCETON At Princeton 50 students blocked the entrance to a building where the Institute for Defense analysis branch is housed. When the stu dents refused to move away from the door and let em ployees in, 30 of them were arrested. Doug Seaton, a leader of the SDS chapter at Prince ton, said protests in other forms would continue. At the University of Colo rado, 30 students choked the entrance to the place ment center where a CIA representative was recruit ing. Their protest came close to breaking into a fist fight with about 50 students who said they wanted to get in to see the recruiter, but campus police and a facul ty member calmed the two groups. The protestors, most of them members of SDS, had earlier tried to get the CIA recruiter to leave voluntari ly. One of the protestors ex plained why his group had chosen to use civil disboedi ence tactics: "Because we feel-dishonesty, secrecy and totalitarian tactics have nothing to contribute to the educational enterprise, we are protesting their use of our campus facilities." CAMPUS OPINION: Woe To You, Senate Dear Editor: MIDST the rumor of tainted lives One in the crowd was seen to strive. HE needed not ferocoius note providing but a humble throat. TIS of grace and good 1 sing. TRUTH be summoned take the wing ! Hail PARTY FOR NEW POLITICS, new King of Stu dent Power! But wait PNP some of us in the ASUN Trojan horse see our ears. According to the Nebraskan (Sept. 27) one of you quipped, "Only about five senators ever say anything and the others listen well." Well, a few of us are silent for a purpose that purpose being the lack of a reason to speak. The issues that Senate has concerned Itself with this year needed few of the comments a couple of Sen ate's "orators" felt neces sary. The constituents may be laughing at Senate, but a few senators are laughing too! Senate needs issues and some "speaking" senators need finesse, tact and sense. The Mickey Mouse in Senate comes not from the silently cognizant Sudzy Welps', but from the re peatedly unnecessary com ments by the Skill Phlo win's. The Silent Several there fore plea for definite mo tions from our constituents. Cough them up and they will be regurgitated on the Senate floor. It had been hoped this first "Camelot" would be comical, for after all Sen ate, among other things, is comical. If Camelot appears ridiculous as it may to many, it is because that which it strongly believes in is seen in the same light. If little merit comes from one encounter, can't much more come from several. A hope at least must exist the question: Who will pro vide itr Good luck PNP ! Camelot For Good Dear Editor: My guy volunteered for the military service in Jan uary, 1967. On Oct 17 he was killed in action while serving as a paratrooper. He was proud to serve his country. Yes, there are still MEN who love their country love it enough to sacrifice their precious lives for it. The violence of war, not of his own choos ing, closed life's open door for him in a moment of bat tle. Why did he die, such a young man, only 20 years old? Did be die for these so called "American patriots" who are protesting, rioting and demonstrating against the draft and the Vietnam war? Those energetic BOYS should use their energy for better purposes. My . guy was proud of America and what it stands for and he died fighting for his beliefs. "Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." Was his young life wasted? Maybe my guy was young, but his lifetime was not wasted. A life can not be measured by h o w long he lived it; it was how he lived it. He had much to live for, but he also had a lot to die for. And I'll stand behind my friends and his friends and continue to give them the support I gave him. Sue Miller Rubber Stamp Dear Editor: Recent letters from Greeks in defense of t h e present rush system (such as Steve Burns' letter of Oct 25) all seem vaguely to apply but avoid many important factors. Since I am sure Mr. Burns and col leagues will not agree with various aspects of this letter, I feel I should qual ify myself for this response by pointing out that I spent four years as a Greek and am now president of my fraternity alumni. We can only analyze what the Greek system means in terms of total education in which a personality emerges from the constant dictation of parental au thority to become a unique individual with new fears, hopes and ambitions, based not on dictation, but rath er on his own unique ex periences and newly ac quired attitudes. That fact, as stated by Mr. Burns and so many others, that "as a fra ternity pledge I find I have n,o choice but to 6tudy" ex presses the most insidious characteristic of the Greek system. It is not easy to adjust to one's new sur roundings, new faces and new responsibilities. It is far easier to retreat to the security of a high er authority upon whom one can depend to dictate his responsibilities for him. ac quaint him with new faces and provide for him h i s new surroundings. When this happens, facing the "big bad university" may seem no longer a difficulty because in reality it has never been faced, and the prospect of facing it h a s' vanished. Greeks seem often to apologize for their greater attributes, one of which is the opportunity for social experience. Mr. Burns' statement that "... social life ... is put in its place very properly for the pledge" depicts the true form of the present Greek . parentis-sibling system. M ' only social experience could be seen, with the obligation to 6tudy, as an individual's responsibility, then social activity becomes part of the individual's growth and in so doing becomes as im-: portant to total education as does studying, with no apologies needed! In spite of all this the Greeks have much to offer and in my opinion the ad vantages probably out weigh the disadvantages tor most individuals. What most Greeks on this cam pus fail to realize is that their hope lies in pledging, individuals who will alter the rubber stamp of fra ternal conformism instead of conforming to it. Deferred rush appears to be an attempt to discour age the Greek system on a financial basis with no real thought of improving it. Any one suffering frcm the illusion that Greeks can be changed from without hag never been within. Terrenee L. Eggerlchs (The Nebraskan reserves the right to condense let ters. Unsigned letters will not be printed.) Dafly Nebraskan Vol. 1. No. M Telephone! BnHnw 47HSM. Neva 47X.2SM. Editor MM MMermua Me an M ear iii iIm m m m unsay. WiHihW. Tbeyewv mm rrfctar dorrm tfc mmtm mm neMtaa and mam malm. t a. xaa.Z Z.TZZZ. 7 tbe JnrfeMctfaa af the raailty Muunnrittee oa irmile rvMimttoM. S".fru aaanhJp bv the esmmmitw. m mm senna "ffTy'- Umb" " minm mm hat mm I mm pramo. Awmum Celtertaw Pimm. Natv.nl Adwttakaj ftorrtot. taear MMd at Boon tu Kebraafca Uaiaa. imtmm. fa Mall EDrTOKJAL IT APT Editor Bran Clkas ttanaclai Editor Jack Todd; Newe Editor Ctwryl Trtttl 2L , r ' Editorial Pai Auiitaat JoIm Morru; Sporta Editor Mark Gordoa. AeiieUm (porta Editor Chart) Device; Aariftaat NiaUt tSHm.' "'T3' .,rey' Writ B" Buata, And? CorrijM. Gary bilien. Ed JcMoil. Mirk Lowe. Sherry McGaffin. Jan reiki: Newa A Mutant Keialra lowland; fcnuor Copy Editor. Dick Teatmewr: Copy Edilere. Lyra Gotta JL taamor Eviaaer. Jeaa Jteyaaiea. J vau abhmidt; Paatocra pnere Mike Jtayataa and Dan Ledeiey. ' ' I..'. , ..... Miuimi nur SHL frttl Haaoaal Mwfetar afamafw Kofer Boy I " Caariia Kamor. iaerawry Jaaat aWaloJa7MoUawpuuiia4 Prodactioa Pahr Braaat, SabnyttMi Mnr Jmm OrralatMa Maaaaera iaaao. Lea MJMi7 aY-v MTT.. "