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Show Editorial Radical or Silent, Time Will Show Here wc are again, standing in lines for the privilege of seeking truth. With a mixture of hope and fear we march about in search of yellow cards, green forms, white forms finally presenting our credentials cleansed of traffic violations, book fines and old telephone bills to the check-out person. What sort of a year do we face? There are going to be changes. The fight for a combination of personal education with the values of the multiversity is on, complicated compli-cated by what Pres. James C. Fletcher has called the "quiet crisis" in Utah education. Radicals are shouting for change, carrying increasing in-creasing numbers of the uncommitted middle with them. Those on the right are also making inroads on the apathetic majority. It's said the activist generation is dying that the silent fifties are returning with refusal of committment being in vogue. Will we cool it, hoping things will work out by themselves, or will we shout and burn and tear at the roots of the wrongs we see in culture and society? Time will tell, and won't take too long in the telling. The rumor is about that Young Americans for Freedom are going to push for the University's withdrawal from the National Students Association, which brags of being on the political left. It won't be an easy fight for either side; the combatants are going to have to i seek support from students who now have no notion what YAF and NSA mean. If they fail to gain support, perhaps the silent fifties are indeed back. But there should be a significant minority that becomes aware problems exist, that they do not have easy answers and that answers must be sought. Hopefully, a dialogue will begin, and will begin to have more listeners. Through the editorial page and news stories, the Chronicle will attempt a positive role in the dialague. We will present the arguments of both sides from their most articulate proponents. We will report debates, press for the involvement of more students and solicit the ; comments of faculty and administration. Perhaps the University will become tired of debate and dialogue; perhaps everyone but the speakers will quit listening. But the issues are many and varied and we predict interest will be sustained. Just a few of the issues we think will be mentioned are the ' draft, Viet Nam, marijuana, psychadelic drugs, civil rights, local politics and Utah's liquor laws. These are all subjects that carry a good deal of interest for stude.,is. Closer to home are the president's "quiet crisis" and the problem prob-lem of course and teacher evaluation. Does Utah have enough money to buy itself the sort of University Uni-versity the president envisions, or are his plans in vain? Should students stu-dents have a voice in the choice of their teachers, as some suggest, or is computer registration the real boon some claim it to be. Other battles will doubtless be joined, other fields marked with fallen cloaks of anonymity. Through it all the Chronicle will continue con-tinue to defend editorial freedom and the right of all sides to be heard. It should be an exciting year. We urge everyone to get in on the ground floor now. Whether you join YAF, Campus Americans for Democratic Action, Student Action for Social Justice, Young Democrats, Demo-crats, Young Republicans or just the Chronicle Staff, you'll not only have some fun, you might well learn a lesson or two. |