The Demonstration
Planned Demonstration Speaks Well for Its Organizers
Friday’s demonstration protesting US.
participation in Viet Nam will apparently
be one of the best-organized activities to
take place at the University this year. The
group has taken pains to follow all con
ceivable city and University regulations
governing such activity and has saved the
University potential embarrassment by
clearly declaring that the protest was not
sponsored by the University.
Leaders of the protest have also at
tempted to make the all night vigil an
educational experience for those attending
by providing outside speakers as well as
members of the local community. Speakers
include Wayne Morse, U.S. Senator; David
McReynolds, a leader of the American
peace movement; and Robert Scheer, a
journalist who has recently been in Viet
Nam.
As with any group strongly advocating
a point of view, some opposition has arisen.
Those picketing in opposition to the de
mand that the U.S. get out of the Southeast
Asian country have declared that they
intend to remain around the edge of the
organized demonstration and not interfere
with the organized program. We hope that
this course will be followed. It would be a
sad commentary on the University commu
nity to have a poorly organized counter
demonstration upset the well-planned pro
test.
Those protesting U.S. actions in Viet
Nam are protesting a situation which has
been festering in that country virtually
since the Second World War. Although it
is easy to simplify the struggle into a U.S.
action against the threat of a communist
regime, the picture north of Saigon is
more complex. The Viet Cong is not an
aggressor, it is a body made up of Viet
namese citizens, indistinguishable in back
ground or physical appearance from any
other peasant.
The U S. is fighting in jungles, bombing
villages where Viet Cong members are
known to be hiding, at the same time
killing and injuring farmers and villagers.
A journalist who had spent several years
in Southeast Asia observed once that to
the average peasant in Viet Nam there is
no central government, democratic, catho
lic or communist. For this reason Saigon
and Hanoi may struggle for years without
any real support from the majority of the
people.
Yet we must consider the real threat
which Red China represents to the free
world. A weakened government such as
the one currently in power in North Viet
Nam would have little real power against
its strong neighbor. With other countries
in the area, such as Sukarno’s Indonesia,
who have demonstrated their antagonism
to the United States in particular and the
Western nations in general, there is little
doubt as to which way Viet Nam would
drift if power were given to those now
leading the Viet Cong.
No easy solution is possible in Viet Nam.
The United States is damned if we main
tain the present war with its resultant
destruction, and damned if we let up,
possibly opening another country to com
munist control. President Johnson’s de
clared desire to negotiate and to return to
the basic principles of the Geneva con
ference is the most workable solution heard
to date. But negotiate with whom?
There is no solution in sight.
The Co-op Board
The University Co-op calls itself “the
students’ own store,” but in recent years
there have been some questions raised as
to the aptness of that statement. It was
especially during last year’s controversy
over the College Side Inn that some people
questioned whether it is the student-elected
board or the professional managerial staff
who actually control decisions about the
store. While the Board was deciding
whether to tear down the historic Side
and replace it with an addition to the book
store, several persons suggested that it
was the professional managers who actually
made the decisions and who exerted a
good deal of influence over the Board.
There were questions raised as to the
general competence of Board members and
their ability to exercise their independent
decision-making power.
Last spring an attempt was made to help
answer such criticism. Old Board members
conducted a forum for candidates and
attempted to provide them with the knowl
edge they had gained on the Board. How
ever, of those who attended the session
only one person was actually elected to
the Board and he is no longer a member.
The best way to solve this problem is to
elect better quality student leaders to the
Board to begin with. Those who have
raised questions about the competence of
the Board this year and in the past will
have an opportunity to do something about
it Thursday when the Co-op holds its an
nual membership meeting. Nominations
will be made for three student members
elected in the ASUO general election next
week. The positions open are a one-year
sophomore position and two two-year junior
positions. These three members will then
combine with tw'o holdover members and
select two faculty members to fill out the
Board.
Thus this meeting provides an opportu
nity for those who would like to see
changes in the Co-op Board to make a
contribution toward the realization of those
changes.
Letters to the Editor
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Political Beliefs
Emerald Editor:
I hope, for her sake, that
before she enters the practice
of law Lil Rebhun (Daily Emer
ald 16 April 65) gains a little
more insight into human psy
chology than she demonstrates
in her letter regarding the Free
Speech Movement. Does she
really think that people’s poli
tical beliefs and values are
spontaneously created in a
vacuum? Do any of us arrive,
clean and undefiled, at a cer
tain stage in our development
and suddenly manifest a com
plete political ethic?
I would submit that, whether
we like to admit it or not, we
are all children of our fathers.
For good or evil our political
beliefs are affected and molded
by the beliefs of our parents.
Secondly, I would submit that
no one, but no one, is capable
of rendering a completely ob
jective and impartial account
of activities in which they them
selves have played a promi
nent part. No doubt “their
speeches were informative” hut
that they “simply told about
the events and circumstances
prevailing at Cal throughout
this year” I would question.
Does Miss Rebhun suppose that
if the chairman of the Berkeley
YAF were to simply tell about
the events and circumstances
prevailing at Cal throughout
this year there would be com
plete agreement with the Ap
theker report?
I think that it would be help
ful for Miss Rebhun to realize
that people’s perceptions of
reality are shaded by the sys
tem of ethics to which they
adhere. What they believe is,
in turn, greatly influenced by
what their parents believed. It
is a grievous fault to maintain
that an individual’s beliefs are
necessarily in complete accord
ance with the beliefs of their
parents. However, it is likewise
a serious fault to airily assume
that the parent’s orientation
has no affect on the course of
the offspring.
Walter Lenington
(>rad., Anthro.
ltNVES^'6^»OW
3
"THE very lOE/\/‘
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Letters to the Editor
University Sponsored?
Emerald Editor:
Reading from the Emerald
about the forthcoming Viet Nam
Protest Meeting 1 have noticed
repeated statements which say
that it is not a University
sponsored event.
But as each issue appears 1
cannot help but get the impres
sion that the University is spon
soring the event: First the Ad
ministration decided that the
Student Union must be kept
open all night in order that the
demonstrators may stage their
"events " Second, and just re
cently, the Administration has
decided to allow the Women
Dormitories to abandon their
Friday night curfew in order
that the girls may attend No
doubt when I pick up the next
issue of the Emerald I will see
where all the sororities will
have followed suit.
Is the political climate on
this campus such, and are the
(now) liberated maidens on
this campus so poltiically
oriented as to know what the
demonstration is all about? In
other words can the Adminis
tration justify letting the girls
"out” for such an occasion?
Oh, but pardon me, as I read
further 1 see that the girls <&
guys) will be entertained by a
movie show at the so-called Pro
test Meeting; Joan Baez will be
there to entertain also (tax
free), Marc Ellington will be
there to entertain them, and
Senator Wayne Morse will start
the party o/T by giving one of
his funny speeches. No doubt
there entertainers will be fol
lowed by a host of other paci
fist speakers, and then peanuts
and crackerjacks after that
Now if all this is going on I
wish the Administration would
cancel my Saturday morning
classes so that 1 can attend
too, what fun!
J. S. Carter
1st Year I.aw
Editor’s Note: No precedent
has been set by allowing the
demonstrators to use the Union
all night Friday. Several high
schools in the Eugene area have
used the same facilities for all
night senior parties on several
past occasions and on one oc
casion, students were allowed
to use the union all night to
watch returns from the national
election.
* ' * *
Senate Visitations
Emerald Editor:
We would like to extend our
thanks to Mr. Rick Williams
for the interest and concern he
has shown for his constituency
by polling their opinions on the
value of appropriating $1,400 to
send three NSA delegates to
the national conference. This
is the first time we know of
that a senator has come di
rectly to those he represents
and asked them for their
opinion on a specific issue
Thank you Mr Williams
Elina Lynn Fox
Senior, education
Barbara Winter
Senior, English
Jennis Johnson
Junior, FnKllsh
l.inda Goodman
Srnior, Social Science
Penelope L. Crawford
Senior, H. L,
editor's Vote: The 11400 VS A
appropriation in the A8UO bud
Ket covers the expenses of an
as yet undetermined number of
delegates to the summer con
vention as well as the l nl
versity's due* in NSA, aud
operation of any NSA programs
at the University during the
coming year. The figure does
not represent merely expenses
for three delegates.
Apathy
Lmerald editor:
I have, for several years, con
aidered student government a
useless proposition This atti
tilde is due less to the inepti
tude of those who seek anil
secure office than to the apathy
of those who are represented
Apathy has caused student gov
ernment to seek out few really
worthwhile campus issues and
to become generally a mere
sounding board for the faculty
and administration. JThis prob
lem was pointed out in excru
ciating clarity by your three
headlines of last Friday (the
16th). To wit: "Romney Attacks
Citizen Apathy", "For Top
ASUO Posts—It’s a One Horse
Race: Moore, Rapp Withdraw",
"Lack of Quorum Adjourns
Senate". If the significance of
these escapes some of your
readers I’m sure you can en
lighten them.
Jack K. YanOrinan
Graduate in education
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