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Show My own thing roriTTogether to solve probb I BY ROGER EKINS This will be a very difficult column for me to write. I have spent the past week standing (and at times sitting) on the periphery per-iphery of the recent dissent on our campus trying to determine where I'm really at. In the past I have thought of myself as a moderate or a liberal, but I have also been called a communist and a heretic. Frank Overfelt, in a magnificent display of subtle, yet childish sarcasm, referred to me as that "righteous RM extraord-inair." extraord-inair." Just what that's supposed to mean I'm not really sure. If Overfelt is accusing me of being self-righteous or of adhering to warped values, then it is only because be-cause I can see no righteousness in people like him who can with any kind of moral justification applaud the escalation of death in Southeast Asia and virtually ignore ig-nore the fact that students are being murdered on our campuses. Illogical Rhetoric I, too, am bothered by the often illogical rhetoric we hear so often from the New Left. I, too, deplore the types of repression we witnessed wit-nessed in the disruption of classes, the attempted burning of the ROTC building and the storming of the Chronicle office. But people like Overfelt can't see the proverbial pro-verbial forest for the proverbial trees. They can't understand that the issues of Cambodia and Kent State are bigger than the Communist Com-munist Party, bigger than SDS, bigger than "non-student agitators" agita-tors" and bigger than "bums," "dirty hippies" and "misled" returned re-turned missionaries. I hate to say this, but people like Overfelt may never understand that by defeating defeat-ing the recent strike proposal they have only increased the disillusionment dis-illusionment of sincere idealists who are only trying to make this a better world and have given greater power to a President who wants to win an illegal, immoral war and to National Guard lead ers who can justify ordering their men to shoot into a crowd of unarmed un-armed college students. I am very sorry that the strike vote didn't carry. It is too bad that a day or two in school is so precious to us. Nevertheless, I must go on record as opposing the 83 people who allowed themselves them-selves to be arrested last Thursday. Thurs-day. While I feel the charges against them are probably unjustifiable, unjust-ifiable, I also feel their decision to be arrested, resulted in nothing more than increased animosity toward our proposed strike. Unwarranted Sit-In I also feel the first sit-in was probably unwarranted. While President Fletcher could have responded re-sponded more favorably to the students' demands than he did, we must realize that he does not have (and should not have) the power as President of our University Uni-versity to unequivocally agree to such demands. Furthermore, the time to "sit-in" on the speaker policy, for example, should not come until that policy has been established and is deemed by us to be unacceptable. I have been very much involved in the Freedom Free-dom of Speech issue and have great faith in the President's commission com-mission even though I am getting very tired of waiting for their report. re-port. If, however, a policy is adopted adop-ted which allows for prior restraint re-straint I will be one of the first to sit down in the Park Bldg. and will be among the last to leave. The second sit-in, however, was justifiable and I participated in it on the grounds that the police officers making the arrests of the day before had no business carrying carry-ing guns. Indeed, this act of carrying carry-ing weapons seemed to be in violation vio-lation of an agreement made between be-tween Campus Security Chief El-roy El-roy Jones and the sit-in leaders. We cannot afford to have firearms fire-arms on campus except, perhaps, under very unusual circumstances. circum-stances. I do not consider a peace- 'ii ful demonstration to k. circumstance. So what do we in , strike vote failed J': no real value h, ike with onj dredstudents'C mutant students , l :: 'ut the UniversiJ lam afraid that a only way that could through some Jjj We cannot allow, vicCf or on any other Onother alternative within the system." ,7 how forty faculty rae the system ,ast walked out of a mei ' they saw a resolution fc. would probably carry, feT ing out, the meeting i" without a quorum and J, adjourned. When kids kind of travesty take fcJ the "system," they get off, and I can't really bta,,: Listen To One Anolta But we can't just give, got over 3,000 students J-a J-a peaceful strike on this a-We a-We got President Fletchr speak before large groupsof senting students and lo telegram to President Nisi" ing a rapid withdrawal front bodia. We got the faculty to-some to-some pretty meaningful re tions. Certainly we would li-have li-have done more, but let's no: dercut these small victories pushing the legitimate te this past week so far tk alienate our supporters, Is; let rhetoric and unreasonat mands cause people to be: even more polarized. Aii : of all, let's keep up the sf: tional communication wi have set up with President ? cher. We must listen to ok other, work together aid ; fully we can solve some o! great problems which are : slowly destroying us as wet placently stroll from classrccc classroom. |
