Newspaper Page Text
Poge 4
The Red and Black, Thursday, May 14, 1970
Another Voice
Columnist analyzes National Guard criticisms
Cijc Eeb r aftb ! pack
FOR THF. PAST WEEK it has been
open season on the National Guard
The emotions aroused by the shooting
deaths of four college students at
Ohio's Kent State University has
understandablv sparked high feelings
And to people already steamed up
for one reason or another over military
action in Indo china, it has been ex
traordinarily easy to transform those
feelings to young men wearing the uni
form of the U S. Army in the National
(iuard
That is just the point It has been too
easy to make the (iuard the target of
abuse and vituperation It is only too
easy to take one* isolated incident and
transform it into a general condemna
tion of the entire National (iuard or
ganization
VIOLENCE BECiETS violence An
act of violence is going to bring lorth a
reaction of violence And people are
going to get hurt
Who was behind the violence at Kent
State University has not yet been
brought out It is a safe bet it was not
the four students who were shot to
death It is usually the innocent by
stander who suffers But someone or
some organization whipped up the viol-
The editorial column reprinted
here appeared in the May 13,
1970 edition of the Atlanta
Journal. John Crown, of the
Journal gives here another view
of the outcry which has been
raised against the Guard.
ence at Kent State, violem-e which jus
tified the presence of the National
(iuard
It was inevitable that in the recur
ring acts of violence on college cam
puses across the nation that someone
was going to become a martvr sooner or
later Those deliberately inspiring the
acts of violence counted on that
And so four students at Kent State
Editorials
An opportunity
The amendment presently be
fore the Congress of the United
Slates which seeks the end to the
Vietnam involvement ol United
States troops within a specified
time is noteable in the opportunity
it offers The chance for a benefi
cial change in policy toward the
war should not go unnoticed by
every student regardless of his
feelings toward the war The activ
ist has been in the news a great
deal and the traditional student
has been largely out ol the pub
lic eye in the last few years as ac
tivism has taken over
To draw a simple analogy, the
voice of youth has gotten the atten
tion of the (Establishment, who has
berm the object of its recent criti
cism and reaction. Now is the time
to make use ol the communication
channels which have been opened
through the introduction of the
amendment to end the war Writ
ing congressmen and senators will
compromise no one ami might be a
sizable influence on the outcome of
a Congressional vote
Now is the time for constructive
means to be employed in order that
progressive legislation and not le-
Relative res
During the past weeks of dissent
and violence concerning the Cam
bodia actions of the United States,
incendiary statements have come
from both sides and the time-worn
tool of the catchword generality
has been employed The tendency
to use the implements of demo-
guguery plates the greatest re
sponsibility on the individual lor
making sure that his personal in
terpretation is mu inordinately
colored by the statements made in
the heat of protest
The responsibility of the news
media is to report what is said and
factually state the setting and con
text of the remarks It is the re
sponsibility of the individual to
weigh his reliance on the source
and the extent he is going to be in
fluenced by what is said To call on
the news media, either internally
or through government edict and
direction, to not print certain state
ments by specific speakers be
cause of anyone's disagreement
with an established norm raises the
spectre of censorship which can
galistic reaction might result trom
this country's weeks of violent and
wide spread dissent
It is a purely rhetorical point
to sav that the violence and caustic
dissent over the Cambodia decision
brought about an opining of com
munication lines Many people will
say that the moves by the Congres
sional sponsors of the amendment
is political manuevering to gain
favor with what is shaping up to be
a peace-oriented electorate. The
fact still remains that action other
than talk on college soapboxes and
urban street corners concerning
Vietnam has come about The
voices of people like McGovern,
llatfiek) and other Congressional
doves is growing
We call on each member of the
University community to use the
opportunity afforded by the war-
end amendment to tell his Congres
sional representatives how he feels
and what he thinks should be done
Whether he is a hawk or a dove is
not the important thing, each per
son must make an attempt to be
heard If anyone missed this
chance to register his opinion, he
has forfeited his right to complain
about the sequence of events
ponsibility
become a much larger monster
than people like Vice-president
Agnew seemingly know
Statements by Hosea Williams.
U'ster Maddox and any other local
or national public figure can be
/considered explosive and rabble-
rousing But the* responsibility lor
deciding what is 'right' to the indi
vidual can anti must (inly be made
by that individual. No partriotic
"principle” or emotional cause is
inherently right or wrong enough to
suspend and negate this basic free
dom
TTiat basic treedom insutes that
the Black Panther will have the
same right to cry against civil
wrong that accrues to the DAK
Abridgment of such freedoms can
never be tolerated
A stand in support of that basic
right of information places the re
sponsibility for rational evaluation
squarely on the individual, a posi
tion in w hich it has. in the past, suf
fered after fate of being ignored
and or pushed aside
University died
The invesUgaUon is not yet finished
But already there has been a question
raised on whether it was a National
(iuard rifle that fired the fatal bullet
BUT FOR THE sake of argument
let's assume that it was a National
(iuard bullet I am somewhat non
plussed that so many people think that
National Guardsmen must stand there
and take rocks hurled at them as
though they were confetti Granted
National (iuardsmen should be discip
lined should be restrained should be a
cut above the screaming students who
are throwing chunks of concrete at
them But they are not supermen who
have no feelings They can take just so
much like any other human being
National Guardsmen are first and
foremost civilians, citizen soldiers who
at the whim of a governor can be called
away from job and home and family on
virtually no notice at all and thrust into
a confrontation with rioters and dem
onstrators They are there to restore
and maintain law and order They gen
erally do it without bloodshed
In fact, that is one reason for the
emotional reaction to the death of the
four students - it was so completely
out of character, so completely unu
sual. so completely extraordinary that
'here was an emotional reaction to it.
Since someone has to be condemned
for the death of the four students, it is
remarkably easy to condemn the Na
tional Guard as a national organiza
tion It is easy But it would be more
realistic to consider those who whipped
up the students into such a frenzy that
somehow the ROTC building at Kent
State was burned and somehow there
were an awful lot of rocks flying
through the air toward the National
(iuardsmen
Whoever fired the fatal bullets at
Kent State is not beyond condemna
tion But there is more to it than
whoever might have pulled the trigger
Michael Howell
Editor
Rebecca Leet
News Editor
Jo Ann Rock
Business Manager
Howell Medders
Associate Editor
Steve Stewart
Managing Editor
Ronnie Feinberg
News Editor
Robert Friedman
Sports Editor
Sharyn Kane
Feature Editor
Th« RM and Black, a ituOent newspaper at the
imversity of Georgia at Athens. is published semi-
eekly on Tuesday and Thursday except during
lamination and holiday periods and is entered at
« PostOffice in Athens Georgia as Mail Matter o»
he Second Class
Ctpinions expressed m Tt» Red and Black are
those ot the editor or the writer ot signed columns
and are not necessarily those ot the University ad
ministration cr of the Board of Regents
1
Subscription rates are IS 00 per year
News con /Ibu. >ns will be accepted by telephone
I 542 341 4 of S42-34/ at the editor ia> ott.ces m the
Journalism Butidu , at ottices in the Athens Ban
ner Herald building .«•» concerning advertis
mg arid circulation should be made at the Athens
Banner Herald (54*3414)
The national advertising representative ot The
Red and Black .s National Educational Advertising
Service Inc 360 Lexington Ave New York New
Y erk 10017
Policy
During the weeks ahead, opinions and
ideas concerning the questioning of
American policies in the war in Indo
china and campus unrest at home will
fill the conversations of everyone. The
role of the Editorial page of The
Red and Black must be, the Editors
feel, service as a forum for all expres
sions of opinion both pro and con.
For that reason, the policy has been
established and will remain in effect
the r*st of this quarter that Reader
Reaction contributions will have first
priority in the assigning of editorial
page space. This means that any let
ter which handles its sub|ect maturely
and in reasonably good taste will be
given the highest priority for publica
tion.
The Editor reserves the right to edit
any contributions to conform to style,
decency, libel and obscenity laws. No
editing will !>c done on the basis of
conflict of idecogy between the Edi
tor and the writer of the letter.
Letters must be typed double space
and should not exceed 300 words.
Dissent: total commitment-token
participation
TO THE EDITOR:
Rallies, marches, moratoriums, and
memorials are no doubt of use if for no
other purpose than to promote social
gatherings on the campus The tragedy
of these movements, which are for the
most part startl’d with g<xxl intentions,
is that a minority of radicals can turn
peaceful civil dissent into a state of
civil disobedience At this point the
majority of seriously dedicated
participants become drawn between
two distinct lines of evil On the one
hand police lines, on the other open
disdain for authority
As a result the inevitable occurs
Fearing arrest, the participants panic
and run. thus increasing the pressure
on the police to restcre order, and in
voking cries of police brutality and
overreaction from the marchers
If. however, the student population
were sincerely dedicated to their advo
cated desires of complete American
withdrawal from Southeast Asia, the
task could be accomplished in less than
six months This total U S. withdrawal
from Indo-Chinese affairs could be
accomplLshed by simple persistence on
the part of the student population, and
through the total absence of anything
even faintly resembling a picket line or
a police bamciade
Through an organized, systematic
nationwide boycott of big business in
terests and products, the student popu
lation could bring sufficient pressure
to bear on the war industries, who are
the only profiteers of this ccnflict Such
tactics as car pooling to cut down on
gasoline consumption, batten and tire
purchases by students and their sup
porters would greatly affect the profits
of the major oil companies Reduction
of long distance phone calls to absolute
emergencies, and the removal of extra
phones from the home would suffi
ciently effect the telephone systems.
Refusals to buy new cars and trucks
would hamper the profits of the major
automobile manufactures And these
are but a few of the business industries
which could be ostracised by the educa
tional community
It should be remembered that stu
dents. educators, and sympathizers
constitute a large portion of the buying
public, especially the public purchas
ing expensive, luxury items
If the cause is worthy, then the
means to reach the end must be self
sacrifice Marching with a group is
easy, compared to walking to class
Doing without air-conditioning to' re
duce utility consumption is somewhat
less enjoyable than gathering under an
oak tree and listening to protest
speeches, and yet this minor irritation
will put the pressure where it hurts: in
the rofiteers' pocketbooks The deci
sion is ours: Total committment or
token participation
JAMES E. PEELER
Calls for effective offensive
TO THE EDITOR:
President Nixon. in last Friday's
news conference, stated the first
American troops would be pulled out of
Cambodia by the middle of this week
According to Nixon's timetable there
would be no more American troops in
Cambodia after June 30
American officers, in Viet-Nam-
disagree with this timetable as a whole -
They feel that the areas to be check
ed out are larger than expected Said
one high-ranking officer. I think this
could be just tne tip of the material
recently discovered in North Vietnam
ese caches would require either
thousands of additional troops, or
several more weeks than Nixon has
allotted . . -
Secretary of Defense Laird stated on
May 12. that the troops will be removed
as originally scheduled anyway Though
the United States intervention into
Cambodia is not to be condoned, it is
interesting to note that the administra
tion is not carrying out Operation Vic
tory to its final degree Therefore.
Echoes of Cambodia, Kent State
many vital enemy areas and weapons
caches would be ignored, thus allowing
the North Vietnamese to restablish
themselves in the area in a considera
bly shorter time than the predicted six
to eight months stated by Nixon TTiis
would entaiKa second and more force
ful American intervention into- the
Cambodian areas This would fall short
of the required time needed to allow
the SoutjrVietnamese to carry out the
military operations on their own
Operation Victory, though totally
unacceptable in the first place. oflist
now unfortunately be carried out to-an
effective degree Otherwise, the need
for a more effective and widespread
American intervention would be neces-
First of
One ol the areas which was listed
during Dialogue 69 as in dire need
of better channels ol cofiiimimca-
tionwas that of relations between
the races on campus, specifically
black-white knowledge of attitudes
and motivation in the racial
groups
A first step in remedying some
of this need is being taken through
the sponsorship this week of a
number of speakers and discus-
series?
sions through Black Awareness
Week The' things that are said in
the speeches may not be soothing
to hear, but the events do offer a
chance for a truer picture of black
attitude and feeling on the campus
We hope that the. will be the lirst
of a series which will show white
students how blacks think and con
versely show blacks the true moti
vation and altitudinal set of white
students on campus
'Coming alive 1
*
An interesting comment was
made last week in The Atlanta
Journal in the wake of the demon
stratum on the University campus
The editorial said basically that
events really showed how things had
changed in Athens when a protest
the size of last Wednesday s crowd
gathered for anv reason
Thev continued that it 'the dem
onstration' had shown that the
campus hud come alive
The editorial concluded bv say
ing tliat it was hoped that the fact
of the University's coming alive
would not be too great a shock for
the more conservative membets
of Georgia s educational establish
ment
To this, we can only add
amen
TO THE EDITOR:
The words Kent State and the four
.American students who lost their lives
last week have Deen echoed back and
forth through college campuses all
over the naUon in on* short, traumatic
week
Young people all over the United
States have showed (heir sympathy in
many dillerenl ways Some have held
peaceful marches and demonstrations
and others have fallen to violent means
of protesting the killings while still
others have attended memorial serv
ices and prayed for the four Kent State
students And then we have the apa
thetic groups who could care less or
really don t know what is actually hap
pening in our country today They took
their no class on Friday as a holiday
and went sun bathing and beer drinking
or took a long w eekend home
Do the majoriiv of America's col
lege students tail into the fust catego
ry of peaceful concerned demonstra
tors. or the second category of the vio-
lem protestors' 1 How many actually
attended church services for the youths
or were found frolicking on a pretty
spring day’ No one really knows the
answers to these questions The voice
of America s youth were heard this
week all over the United States from
Kent State to the University of Georgia
to the steps of the White House The
silent youths who did not demonstrate
or participate in memorial services
were not heard Who are they and
where do they come from' 1 Are the si
lent voices the luture of our country or
does the future of America lie in the
voices of the youths that cried out for
peace and freedom’
LOUISE DAVIS
Isn't it unfortunate that this moire, bv
Nixon to shorten the war will in effect
escalate the violence in both Southeast
Asia and in America’
AMERICANS,
student, concerned and active
• 1
Cambodia
Differences-curfews and
TO THE EDITOR
Last evening I attended the Emer
gence Session of the Student Senate to
observe the proceedings Much to my
disgust I found the Senate under the
whip of Bob Hurlev and Mike Willough
by being prodded to take new steps in
matters bevond the purview of the Stu
dent Government Association Not only
was the pressure of the top two elect
ed officials desired to urge the Senate
onward and upward, but a large horde
of radicals were present in an attempt
to stampede the Senate into agreeing
to a resolution on Cambodia and Kent
State. Maureen MacLaughlin the
third United Partv candidate for
high office was not neglected — she
was the spokesman for the
People ." in the words ot one radical
present
One attempt was made to stop the
Senate from considering the resolu
tion A motion was made by James
Baldwin of the Graduate School to sub
stitute a resolution to the effect that
SGA had no business discussing parti
san political issues Immediatelv the
words -of Mike Willoughby were cast in
his face — the Senate was reminded
that thev had been told that rules
changes and other matters were none
of their business The substitute resolu
tion was voted down
Apparently the vast and preponder
ant majority of the Senate does not see
anv difference between an issue like
curfews and Cambodia Continued
questions like Cambodia being brought
before the Senate have utterlv no busi
ness being there The question of Kent
State has a place on the floor of the
Demosthenian Society, but not the
Senate tf the Senate chooses to persist
in the folly of discussing varied and
sundried matter like this, shortly they
will find themselves cluttered with
matters of the same stripe such as the
latest Welfare bill, the seating-of a
Supreme court Justice. Arab-Israeli
conflict, and similar matters of Icon-
cern to students To sav that these
things are not any of the student s
business is wrong To say that bemuse
thev are areas where students am in
terested therefore thev belong oC 0ie
floor of the Senate is at least as bad:*
Hopefully the committee set up un
der the chairmanship of Raymond
Goodwin will decide the same
MARTIN K OTOOt.E
l
t
I