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Show Anti-war students have been elected to the executive committees of the various faculties of the university over the last two years, and since these representatives in turn elect the powerful seven-man executive committee of the Saigon Student Union, the anti-war movement has dominated it during that time. Mobilize 500 Students The Student Union has been involved in social action as well as politics, having mobilized about 500 university students to contribute labor regularly in refugee relief after Tet Offensive and the May offensive. At one refugee center this summer, I saw students teaching refugee children in a school which they had begun on their own. Vietnam A I protestors Lust make ) difficult tine; ti-ne; 1 , choice k to: By D. Gareth Porter College Press Service (Ed. Note: D. Gareth Porter, who teaches political science at Manchester College in North Manchester, Ind., has just returned from Vietnam, where he wrote for CPS this summer.) (CPS) Vietnam's anti-war student activists have grown increasingly militant this year despite the heavier price of openly opposing the government. If they wish to speak out strongly against the war, students face the choice of risking a long prison term or joining the National Liberation Front (NLF) or its allies. Some of the student leaders have already chosen the latter alternative. Several leaders of the Saigon Student Union in 1967 joined the NFL during Tet. Several of Hue's student activists, traditionally more militant, joined the Front before the end of last year. It is difficult to get accurate information on how many students are actually working for the clandestine Alliance of National, Democratic and Peace Forces or its student affiliate, the Saigon Students Committee for Peace, both of which have aligned themselves with the Front as an alternative to the Thieu government. One political figure well-known for his anti-war stand believes that the figure is probably no more than 100. Student leaders themselves admit that only about 10 per cent of the approximately 25,000 university students in Saigon even know or care about the Alliance and its purpose. Anti-war activists, however, have clearly been driven to a position of advocating the overthrow of the military government by a Communist-led coalition of forces. One student leader interviewed at the Student Union headquarters, still filled with refugees from the May offensive, said, "The future role of the generals who rule the country depends on how they respond to the people's wishes for peace. If they do not give the people peace, thev still will be lost " Soon One Vietnam Militance was also reflected in his position on the future reunification of North and South Vietnam. Far from speaking vaguely of a 10-, 15- or 20-year period before reunification, the student said without hesitation, "Reunification will take place within five years, at the most. Most people believe that all Vietnamese are one, North and South." The activists are not typical of Saigon students. It is usually estimated that only about 10 per cent of the university students are politically active. Most of them have little respect for either the Saigon politicians or the generals, and they have been perfectly i willing to let someone else die if they can avoid military service. But since nearly all of them are from middle-class families, most students also find a victory by the Viet Cong unacceptable. Little Interest The anti-war movement is limited by the inherent social class composition of the studentbody. Little interest is generated by the elections for positions in the Saigon Student Union, the organization representing students of the 14 divisions of Saigon University. But the left-wing opponents of the war seem to be in a majority among those who are more involved in politics. |