Oregon
daily
EMERALD
Opinions expressed on the editorial page are those of the Emerald and
do not necessarily represent the opinions of the ASUO or the University.
However, the Emerald does present on this page columnists and letter
writers whose opinions reflect those of our diverse readership and not
those of the Emerald itself.
Ron Eachus
Rick Fitch
Gil Johnson
MIKE FANCHER, Editor
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Linda Melerjurgen
Cliff Sander)in
John Sasaki
WILBUR BISHOP JR.
Business Manager
Ron Saylor
Jean Snider
Jaqi Thompson
RICH JERNSTEDT
Advertising Manager
BARBARA STONE
National Advertising Manager
University of Oregon, Eugene, Thursday. February 15, 1968
Johnson’s Interest
Bolsters CHOICE ’68
Anyone who thinks a national collegiate presidential
primary election can't have impact in this nation had bet
ter think again.
If there could be any doubt about the elTect of such an
election it was dispelled this week by Lyndon Johnson.
The President showed great interest in the idea by giving
its backers the one thing he has the least of—time.
Johnson met with the Board of Directors of CHOICE
’68. the national collegiate presidential primary, this
week for over 75 minutes. Officials close to the White
House called the meeting the longest one Johnson has
had in over four years with any outside group other than
the press.
Throughout the session it was apparent that the Presi
dent is concerned with what the collegiate population is
thinking and with what students will say when they vote
on April 24.
Further concern was later voiced when the White
House called the CHOICE ’68 board to find out what
George Wallace and Fred Halstead were doing on the
ballot. Apparently those names had been mentioned dur
ing a meeting between the board and a group of White
House fellows, and the word must have reached the top
echelons of the White House rapidly.
Johnson’s interest in the impact over CHOICE '68 will
increase that impact. The immediate result was front
page coverage of the White House meeting in newspapers
serving Washington. DC.. Philadelphia, Chicago and Balti
more.
The President's interest also caused an exceptionally
large turnout for the CHOICE '68 press conference held
the day after the White House meeting.
What this publicity means is that an already big pri
mary election could become even bigger. Already well
over 1,000 schools have agreed to participate in CHOICE
’68 and hopes are that ultimately 2,000 will join.
Already a voter turnout of over two million is antici
pated, and that number could climb. CHOICE ’68 will
probably be second only to the California primary in num
ber of votes cast.
Obviously, a national collegiate presidential primary
election can and will have impact.
Kttftx.
fr.T» tturf .'ryti
The President’s Analyst
:iii|ii.:|ii i i'll mini miii iim .niMiti;iinm
alter Kfruu! i ^
Secretary Rusk Censures Comments,
Offers Nothing New in Interview
Editor's Note: On Feb. 3,
Walter Grant of CPS, Gordon
Yale of the Colorado Daily, Den
nis When of the Daily Pennsyl
vanian. and Dan Okrent of the
Michigan Daily had a special
interview with Secretary of
State Dean Rusk. Following is
Walter Grant’s account of the
interview.
WASHINGTON (CPS)—When
Secretary of State Dean Rusk
talks about the war in Viet
nam. he sounds like a college
student who has memorized
his professor's notes for feed
back on an exam.
Rusk reiterates live words of
his professor. Lyndon Johnson,
and he oilers nothing new. If
lie is asked a question for which
he either does not know the
answer, or does not want to give
it. he again plays the game of
the student; he beats around
the bush and answers something
else.
But Rusk has something go
ing for him which the average
student does not. He gets to
edit his exam after the 50 min
utes are up.
Rusk, in an interview last
week with Cl’S and three col
lege editors, discussed the war
in Vietnam, the role of t h e
United States in international
affairs, the current conflict be
tween the U S. and North Korea,
and how anti-war protests at
home give encouragement to
the enemy.
No Direct Answers
He said nothing he has not
said hundreds of times before.
It was impossible to pin him
down when he didn't answer a
question directly, and if a ques
tion which he had ignored was
repeated, he merely reiterated
the same old cliches which
members of the Johnson ad
ministration have been repeat
ing for several years to justify
the war.
Even so. Rusk reserved the
right to censor the text of the
interview before it was released
to the public. He did edit his
remarks, striking out the strong
est statement he made.
The State Department took
extreme precautions during the
interview. A handful of depart
ment officials sat in the secre
tary's office, seemingly admir
ing every sentence he spoke.
And the State Department, of
course, recorded the interview,
refusing to let other tape re
corders in the room.
When the interview was over,
Rusk’s aides commented that it
was wonderful. “He’s an old
pro," one said. "He sure knows
how to handle himself.” Anoth
er asked, “Isn't he just mar
velous?”
Rusk is articulate and dedi
cated, as he would have to be
to hold the office of Secretary
of State for seven years. Com
MI!il1imilll!fMlllttl!!:illUIII!llllll)ltlllllllllllllll!l!IIIINIililllllilll
pletely sold on the present l!.S.
policies in Vietnam and else
where, which he certainly was
instrumental in developing, Rusk
seems to enjoy defending poli
cies, but only as long as the
questions are not too pointed.
Columnist Walter Lipptnann
has said Rusk's “education
stopped about 1P44." Many oth
er experts also have said Itusk,
as well as the entire Johnson
administration, has a World
War II view of how to light ag
gression and win eternal peace
for the world.
Rusk's comments support
these analyses. The Vietnam
war, he says, is caused by North
Vietnam committing acts of ag
gression on South Vietnam, and
the only way to stop this aggros
sion is by military might. "If
they're going to tight a war .
we will be there to oppose
them." he emphasizes.
Nothing l.eft
And despite the fact that the
United States is still bombing
North Vietnam, Rusk insists that
the Johnson administration has
done all it can to encourage ne
gotiations to end the war.
“We're willing to negotiate
without any conditions what
ever. We'll sit down with them,
at sundown today, to talk about
peace, without anybody doing
anything, except sit down at
the table arjd talk. Now they've
rejected that," he said
"Now, the point is that Hanoi
has raised a major condition for
negotiations," Rusk said. "They
say there will be no talks until
we stop the bombing—they usu
ally say permanently, and un
conditionally" He emphasizes
that the United States did not
originally propose any condi
tions, but since Hanoi did, the
U.S. found it necessary to pro
pose a counter condition—that
North Vietnam not take advan
tage of the bombing pause.
In response to the suggestion
that the United States stop the
bombing without any conditions
to test Hanoi’s sincerity. Rusk
said, "It's wholly irrational." He
said stopping the bombing with
out conditions could endanger
the lives of thousands of Amer
ican soldiers.
nruiarKN ifcinru
In the interview, Ku.sk com
merited further on the "irration
al” suggestion, but these re
marks were deleted from the
text, and the reporters, who had
agreed to abide by the edited
transcript, were unable to use
it.
The secretary offers little
hope that the United Slates will
initiate more moves toward
peace. "Now, if everybody as
sumes that when Hanoi says no,
that’s the end of the matter,
therefore the United States
must move again, that we must
somehow take some new posi
(ion. the end of that trull is sim
ply that we abandon South Viet
nam. We're not going to do
thut.”
Rusk indicated that the role
or the t'nited Stntes in “protect
ing" other countries could he
almost unlimited "We have for
mal alliances with more than
4(1 countries," he said. "1 would
say that, if we are needed for
the defense of those countries,
we're available, and we'll make
good on our commitments to
those countries." Hut he added,
"We’re not the world’s police
men."
Asked if the Vietnam situation
will be a pattern for U.S. in
volvement in other countries,
Rusk said, "You'll have to ask
the Communist world, various
parts of il. whether they're go
ing to launch this kind of uttack
against those with whom wo
are allies If they do, l would
think the answer is yes, we will.
If they don't, then we'll have
peace, hut the answer to that
lies with somebody else, not
with us."
Rusk referred to the North
Korea seizure of the 1'ueblo
as "an outrageous violation of
the standard international prac
tice " Even if the vessel had not
been in international waters —
and Rusk insists that it was —
North Korea did not have the
right to seize it, he said. (Two
days after the interview Husk
and Secretary of Defense Robert
McNamara admitted that the Ad
ministration could not be sure
whether or not the Pueblo violat
ed North Korea's waters.)
invasion iiotiniiui
The* secretary said the Admin
istration does not see "direct
indications that the North Ko
reans have in mind a large •
scale invasion of South Korea.”
On the question of dissent at
home against the Johnson ad
ministration's policies. Rusk
says he has “no problem" with
free speech and free assembly,
but he emphasizes that the
"form of dissent which tries to
silence other people is some
thing to which I object very
strongly indeed."
Husk also emphasizes that
Hanoi watches the debate in
the United States very closojy,
and "there is no doubt that
they are encouraged by the
dissent in this country — no
doubt about it. Now. that doesn't
mean that you forget the First
Amendment and that you try to
stop dissent, but those who arc
expressing dissent ought to be
aware of that."
He said he wishes antiwar
protesters "would at least try
to make it clear what it is they
want Hanoi to do to make
peace. If they will say that we
want Washington to do the fol
lowing, and we want Hanoi to
do the following, that might
help.”
niiiu!iit!!!iumniiiii!i
Emerald Editor:
Mockery of Justice
Emerald Editor:
Although some may mistaken
ly accuse us of “white racism”
for have the temerity to speak
out, we nevertheless feel im
pelled to do so.
We were very disturbed about
a University dean being assault
ed, as reported in Friday’s
Emerald, by one of the defend
ers who participated in the
Feb. 7 evening hearing involv
ing a member of the Black
Student Union. Such an action
must be condemned by all re
sponsible human beings.
This entire situation makes a
mockery of justice, particularly
justice under the Student Con
duct System. The apparent lack
of order at the hearing, and the
relatively light sentence im
posed on the offender began this
trend.
But the worst came when the
dean was assaulted by one of
this student’s friends. The ac
tion is completely indefensible.
It was not only a violation of
law, it demonstrated a complete
lack of intelligence and re
straint.
We would strongly urge the
dean involved to initiate legal
proceedings against the student.
It must be demonstrated now
that violent and illegal means
must not be condoned or deem
ed acceptable procedure to gain
questionable ends.
Certain spokesmen for the
Black Students have said that
“Black Power” means economic
freedom and power. But appar
ently to some who profess be
lief in “Black Power,” the term
means physical force and vio
lence.
Society — particularly a so
ciety of an intellectual nature
such as the University — must
show that it will not tolerate
violence by anyone, regardless
of race, to obtain his desires.
Ellwood Cushman, Jr.
Sophomore
Music—Law
Kichard C. Adamson
Senior, Sociology
Prayer For Rain
Emerald Editor:
Cringing through The Oregon
Daily Enemy (the particular day
has mattered little), I joyfully
encountered what I would not:
Campus Happenings
Ali Akbar Khan, famed In
dian sarod(ist), Tuesday at 8:00
p.m.
The Beers Family, ‘traditional
folk singers’, Wednesday at 8:00
p.m.
Buckminster Fuller, erstwhile
jack-of all-trades, Friday at 8 00
p.m.
wh i 1 e wistfully seeking
what I would:
Campus Happenings
Nada, or Academia, intense
work - study, tonight(s) at 7 00
p.m. (Meals, 5-7), for all those
interested. Place: confines of
your own abode.
And this (to indicate the
strength of the illusion) on one
sunhlue day, prime exemplar of
a sadistic week.
Itobert E. Emmons, Jr.
Graduate, English