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Show Mir r Comment Vice President Agnew resigns; guilty on tax evasion charges by Wil Grey The demise of former United States Vice President Spiro T. Agnew has been greeted with mixed emotions by the citizens of this country. On one side you have the cheers of the liberal left and on the other side you have the sorrow of conservative America. In between? That, no one really knows. In typical Agnew fashion, his final fall was preceeded by much verbal abuse directed towards the news media as he scored their methods of obtaining information from unknown government sources. Agnew was so upset by the news media's ability to get information concerning his prosecution that he went so far as to subpoena several reporters, magazines and newspapers in an effort to find their sources. The Agnew ploy was in vain. His efforts were little more than a large puff of wind preceeding the final plummet of an already tottering building. Purge victim Agnew was but another victim Compassion courage theme of Dr. May's convocation message by Rosann Davis "Compassion, courage, and creativity are the values men of our age must forge within themselves if they are to find values for the future." Dr. Rollo May challenged his audience at Thursday's Fine Arts Convocation to use these values to " 'Create a conscience for a race,' a conscience that can somehow last." Dr. May pointed out that our age is one of upheaval, that we are experiencing the "death throes of old time and the birth throes of new time . " Upheaval, opportunity But, he reminded listeners that "the times of upheaval are times of opportunity, when there are no cut and dried ethics, when no one has the wisdom to tell us what to believe or what to do." Thus he thinks men will be forced to look within themselves for answers and to find new ethics. He warned against simply forming more dogma, which he called the opposite of authentic in the on-going purge of American government spawned by the Watergate investigations. He will probably not be the last tainted by these efforts. In recent weeks, Agnew repeatedly denied any wrong doing as he bitterly attacked his critics. His manuevering included attempts to remove himself from the hands of the American judicial system. He repeatedly claimed that the stature of his office placed him above the ordinary citizen, he was an elitist, entitled to special privileges. For a man claiming innocence, his actions were contradictory to his statements. Why should he fear the judicial process if he were innocent? Agnew, and many of his republican friends, pleaded that he be spared trial in the press, and that he be allowed to present his case in court if indicted, and all the while seeking to prevent judicial access to him. "Damned lies" Agnew called the charges of tax evasion and bribery against him "damned lies" and denied values. He explained that the U.S. is in a position of dogma because we do not believe in what we do. "The tragedy of the Vietnam War was that we did not believe in it." Courage, according to May, underlies all other values. The higher courage is moral courage to stand against society even at a point facing ostracism. He said of his friend, Daniel Ellsburg, "Compassion forced him to moral courage." New conscience "Creativity seeks to make something entirely new," he told listeners, as he urged them to create a new conscience for the future. "The god of perfection will always tell us that what we are doing is imperfect, but nevertheless, we must move ahead." May urged men to battle with their own conscience, to take a stand on what they believe in, to be honest and form values that will be lasting and aid them in difficult times. that he was engaged in any form of plea bargaining with the Justice Department. His reactions were probably the same as would come from any other I "4. STAIRWAY TO INFINITY? No, just a closeup night view of the glass enclosed stairway in the McKay-Dee Hospital. 'Photo by Fred Barta). politician placed in similar circumstances.President Richard Nixon, for the most part, remained silent concerning the whole affair. His most enlightening comment was that the charges against Agnew were "not frivolous." Silence is probably the best help Nixon could offer Agnew in this time of crisis. Many of the men surrounding" Nixon's first administration had fallen in the Watergate probe and Nixon himself is embroiled in a legal battle over Watergate related tape recordings. In the end, Agnew resigns and goes to Baltimore, Md. where he enters a plea on "no contest" to tax evasion charges. The judge-informs Agnew that the plea of no contest is an admission of guilt and was he aware of that? Agnew answered in the affirmative. Even the staunchest of Agnew supporters cannot miscontrue what is to be found in the records of the court. Nixon-rubber stamp Attorney General Elliot Richardson has made it clear that Agnew's action came after Opening coming soon for cultural center in UB activities area by Denise Morgan The freeze of student government funds was thought to be the underlying cause of the delayed opening of the Cultural Exchange Center (CEO. However, in an interview with Marcia Galli, coordinating head of Ethnic Studies, it was learned that a shortage of contracting materials is responsible for the delayed move. Initial construction The only aspect student government has been concerned with, as far as the actual building of the offices is the approval of initial construction. Even so, it is still entitled to the justification of funds which it supplies to the Ethnic Studies Program. The Ethnic Studies Offices will be in full operation within a week to ten days, during which final stages of construction will be completed. Anyone is welcome to visit the center, but the counselors employed by CEC are sessions of plea bargaining with the Justice Department and that the final outcome had the rubber stamp approval of Nixon. The punishment meted out on Agnew is evidence of his political stature. A $10,000 fine, a two to five month suspended jail sentence and three years probation seem little to pay on a known figure of $87,000 and most sources estimating the real figure as approaching $500,000. Criminal activity It is sad that the American political system has deteriorated to the point that the Vice Presidency of the United States has been vacated due to criminal activities. It is ironic that a prominent Maryland republican started the investigation. It is frightening that the law which allows for Agnew's replacement was made a constitutional amendment in 1967. It is a miracle that America has a form of government that can withstand this type of turmoil and still function as the governing body of 200 million people. primarily concerned with helping the major minority groups on campus (Indian, Chicane-, and Black). They are located in Rooms 241A, 241B, 241C, of the Activity Center in the Union Building (on the Northwest side of the building). Minority involvement High hopes are expressed for more involvement in student government through the Cultural Exchange Center. Organizers of CEC believe it will greatly influence positive attitudes among the minority groups by familiarizing them with the process of student government. Mrs. Galli added that acceptance of the Ethnic Studies Program by the student government has changed for the better over the past two years. She feels they are beginning to be recognized as an organization of valued importance. She also expressed the hope for continued progress in this direction in the coming-years. |