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friday, aprif21, 1972
lincoln, nebraska vol. 95, no. 100
1
byCobLatta -
More than 200 people followed the route of the
May 1970 march to the state selective service office
Thursday afternoon in protest of the increased air
war in Vietnam. The 1370 march ended in the arrest
of the "Lincoln 7" but the Thursday demonstration
was peaceful and no arrests were made.
The demonstrators did make one detour from the
usual route when they turned right on 12th street to go
to Congressmen Charles Thone's district office.
Apparently the police were not expecting this as they
tried to hold the crowd back momentarily..
The Thone office was locked and dark. It was
three p.m. On the door was a welcome sign and an
American flag.
The group then proceeded to the Terminal
Building where they were greeted by more police, and
a small group trom the Young Americans tor
Freedom, (YAF) who were holding a
"counter-demonstratien."
The YAF people had a bull horn and a shouting
match between the "anti-war demonstrators" and the
counter-demonstrators" followed.
The rally organizers then chose four people to go
to the Selective Service office and talk to Col. Lee
Liggett director of the Stats Selective Service. The
four were Jay Pashalek, Tom Headley, Leah Johanson
and 'Yoko'.
When Liggett was asked by Headley if the Selective
Service law is moral, Liggett replied, "Any federal
March
protests
escalated
air war
employee who is hired to administer a law passed by
Congress cannot allow morals to have anything to do
with his job."
Headley asked Liggett for his personal opinion.
Liggett declined to respond to the question. Liggett
and the demonstrators agreed that neither was going
to change their position.
Yoko and Johanson became discouraged with the
conversation and urged Headley and Pashalek to leave
with them.
When they left the office a Lincoln Police
detective asked the four if he could talk to them.
They refused. He then told an officer to take pictures
of the four as they were leaving, which he did. Yoko
and Johanson covered their faces and were crying
when they joined the crowd in front of the building.
About 10 minutes later the crowd headed back
toward the campus. Half of the crowd stopped by the
Thone headquarters for a while before dispersing.
They left a copy of the Lincoln Gazette on the door.
It read in large letters: "Apathy is killing you and
others," and was signed "your constituents."
The rally started in the Union main lounge at 2
p.m. At the other end of the lounge a movie was
being shown which made listening difficult. The rally
audience was estimated to be about 250.
Nick Meinhardt,, coordinator for the Nebraskans
For Peace, gave the crowd details concerning the
nature of the bombs used in Vietnam.
'The United States is the leading guilty country in
war crimes at the present time," he said. He
maintained that American leaders could be
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prosecuted for war crimes vmSst tSw saras rutes wMd)
ware used to convict Nazis in Nuremburg.
Meinhardt was contested by Mike Hilgert, a
student in the Air Force ROTC.
"Could you protest the war if you lived in North
Vietnam?" he said. "The invading North Vietnamese
are being protected by people like you."
Stephen Rozman, former UNL political science
assistant professor, received a warm welcome from
the crowd and responded with a clenched-fist salute.
He said the situation now is worse than the May
1970 student strike. Rozman was not rehired for his
participation in that event.
"The U.S. is on a collision course with the Soviet
Union. The USSR has blinked in most confrontations
so far but when they don't blink there is no telling
what is going to happen.
"American leadership is gradually finding out they
can not buy everybody. The situation is getting
worse, but Nixon is still playing 'business as usual,"
he said.
When asked about his reaction after the event,
rally organizer Ron Kurtenbach replied, "Is the war
over?"
"I am hoping students are concerned enough to
conduct a strike of classes Friday," he added.
Inspector Robert Sawdon of the Lincoln Police
Department said the rally went about as he expected.
"There were no arrests and no problems of any
consequence. I wasn't displeased at all," he said.
Language requirement revision plan falters
The faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences
met Thursday afternoon but again failed to take final
action on a proposal which would change the
college's group requirements. The meeting, attended
by more than 250 people, was a continuation of a
discussion of the requirements which began last week.
The proposal under consideration was submitted
by the college's curriculum committee and contains
both a majority and minority report.
Both reports recommend elimination of the
freshman English requirement. The minority report
would also change the foreign language requirement.
The majority report, which originally called for
elimination of the language requirement, was
amended to retain the requirement. However, the
amendment gives the student an additional option.
The student may "test out" of a language by passing
a proficiency test equivalent to the material covered
in four semesters of college study.
The minority report, which has not yet been
discussed by the body, would change the current
requirement and offer the student a three-way
alternative.
A student could "test out" of a language by
passing a proficiency test; complete a nine-hour block
of courses in foreign language or culture, plus a
course in applied linguistics; or complete the fourth
semester of a foreign language.
The amendment, introduced by Michael Meyer,
professor of history, passed 109 to 74.
Prior to the vote, discussion centered around the
necessity of retaining the requirement.
Stephen Hilliard, associate professor of English,
said the faculty is caught "in a conflict between
ideals." He said he had benefited from the study of
foreign language, but many students do not.
Ivan Volgyes, associate professor of political
science, criticized Hilliard.
He said demands on a college student are different
than they were 50 years ago, but "if students are in
search of a vocation they should go to Milford
(Technical Training School)."
The faculty will meet again at 3:30 p.m. Friday to
continue discussing the requirements.