Editorial Opinion
What's The Story?
Strange circumstances surround the disclOsure
last week that six students were blinded by looking
at the sun while under the influence of LSD.
According ,to the - repoit, the incident happened
last spring. Why and how was the story kept quiet
so long? More importantly, why can't . anyone get a
definite confirmation of what school the students
were attending?
Yesterday's repoit in The Philadelphia inquirer
claims Edinboro State College is the school. Dr.
Chester T. McNerney, president of the school, says
no. "It' is kind of unlikely," to use his own word&
"As far as I Know, we have never had a drug prob
lem here. We haven't even had a case of marijuana."
Whether Edinboro, population 5,000 students, is
that - isolated from the world or whether President
McNerney's unfamiliarity with his campus, (he's been
president since 1966) is the cause of this naivete, is up
for anyone's speculation.
What matters to the press is that information is
being withheld. This leads to the more important
consideration what is the real story and what
effect does it have on students, anywhere, who ex
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PAGE TWO
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 17, 1968
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TONIGHT
periment with drugs? How can we be sure that LSD
is solely responsible 'in this case? _
We can assume thai the victims had taken LSD.
But we'can - only wonder whether other accompany
ing circumstances prompted them- to seek out their
tragic places in the sun.
WaS LSD the only thing involved? We'll never
know, at least not for al,Vhile.
A secondary consideration is the proklem that
the excess publicity given to the case, mainly be
cause someone is trying to hush it up, might increase
public apprehension about drug reform. While we
don't advocate less strict laws for drugs like LSD
(as the Collegian advocated a revision on laws con
cerning marijuana), we do advocate amore careful
look at those mind-expanding drugs which can pro
duce parallel experiences. at cancel out any look
into the soul for which the drug is taken.,
A more careful look does not have to mean a
negative look, but rather an unbiased study on a
still confused subject. And, at the moment, we also
suggest an investigation into the factors that resulted
in this most recently disclosed tragedy that took the
sight of six students.
Letters to the Edi
I f r
Dewar's Last Words
TO THE EDITOR: I am aware that my letter was an emo
tional one. Certain arguments which utilize the science
of 'logic present the opportunity for a logical refutation;
however, demonstrations motivated by emotions can only
produce- emotional reactions from observers. This particu
lar demonstration (Nov. 22) was disgusting enough to
elicit such an emotional - response.
- I would certainly .not have any criticism of a genuine
memorial service held in a chapel by a group of citizens in
observance' of - our: war dead. The gathering on the Mall
was not such .a service, It was a thinly veiled anti-war
demonstration which used our fallen veterans as justifica
tion for its existence. This prostitution of our war dead in
the guise of a religious Ceremony is the basis of my objec
tion. The words' "mburners," "needlessly sacrificed," and
the black'arm bands betrayed the real purpose of the event.
I thank Mr. Russell for shattering my illusions of the
non-existence of veteran's groups opposing the war. Fur
ther enlightenment by Mr. Russell would be in order.
,Of the nearly one and one-half million veterans that have
been rotated back from Vietnam, .how many have joined
the protest movement? What percentage of the total num
ber of those who have returned' have shown support for
the opposition? -
The verbose harangue sent in by graduates Lißernardo
and Meyer, of course, was not of a high enough caliber
to warrant a reply.
In reply to the remarks by Mr. Klopp, I neither sup
ported nor objected to the beer throwing incident. I merely
Used it as , an illustration of the feeling that many, indeed
most, veterans have about the protest movement and the
demonstrators. As for the appeal for more letters and fewer
draft card and flag burnings, I concur completely.
President Johnson, Secretary Rusk, and Secretary Mc-
Namara have explained their strategy and given their justi
fication for our position again and again via the White
Paper, countless interviews, public statements, and press
reports, What is the basis, then, of the contention that our
government has not made its position clear? Are the dem
onstrators isolated from the news media?
Conversely, I do not understand the vague generalities
about immorality and dishonorableness, or the unclear ac
cusations of illegality that the protesters flaunt repeatedly
as their reasons for protesting.
In conjunction with Mr. Klopp, I call for the opinions
of the campus hawks, and in addition, an unambiguous
statement from the opposition stating specifically what is
being protested. Let us hope that Mr. Long's charge of
apathy, is unwarranted.
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Thursday, January 18
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Robert J. Dewar,
BENI'S WORLD
"Here's to the new tourism restrictions—they'll • cut down
on the number of cheapskates seeing the world on a
shoestring!" •
He Won't Switch and Here's Why
TO THE EDITOR: Mr. Mamone's letter referring to his
change from "hawk" to "one who feels the war is accom
plishing little and that negotiations should begin at once"
deserves response,
Mr. Mamone seems now to belong to "the grOup". To
join, read the following: The Two Vietnamese (B. Fall),
Street without Joy (B. Fall), follow with Quotations From
Chairman Mao-Tse Tung, Arrogance 'of Power (J. Ful
bright) and finish with The Pocketbook of Baby and
Childcare (Dr. Spock). Viola! Instant Academician!
The weaknesses 1 / 2 . n Mr. Mamone's argument are:
(1) the assumption 'that the facts (yes, there, are some)
in the letter are necessary and sufficient for a fuller under
standing of the situation in Southeast Asia;
(2) the assumption that the inferences drawn from the
facts are correct;
(3) the assumption that the present administration is
blindly ignoring such facts.
Even former President Eisenhower qualified his recom
mendations for an "end run" around the DMZ by saying,
in effect, that only people who live with this problem
every day are really qualified to make decisions.
Anyone concerned about this war wants to know the
why's, but like most people, you and I cannot be aware of
what facts we don't know.
The "meaningful dialogue" will take place this Novem
ber in the voting booths
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Mike Serrill
Dr. Ernest C. Pollard's proposal, made rec?.ntly before
the University Senate, that students who disrupt the
operation of the University through demonstrations be
suspended deserves more extensive comment.
It might be pointed out that most demonstrators who
willingly disrupt do so with the knowledge that they are
courting arrest or other punitive action, and they delight
in the prospect. Many block the doorways 'of induction
centers or throw chicken blood at Dean Rusk with the
INTENTION of being arrested.
Many recklessly risk life and limb for the ultimate
"glory" and concomitant martyrdom ' of arrest and
sometimes have to expend considerable energy to achieve
their goal. During the Oct. 21 demonstration at the Penta
gon, and at various other demonstrations across the
country, the police were as determined not to arrest any
body as the demonstrators were determined to be arrested
—and if possible bloodied in the process.
A dedicated demonstrator .might have to be carried
out of an induction center several times before the police
will concede failure and pack him into the paddy wagon.
To suspend such people in order to - set them up as
examples to other dissidents is about as proihtctive as
sitting in Pentagon corridors to stop a war being waged
6000 miles away. Such shallow treatment of the problem
only succeeds in hiding it behind an iron curtain of mis
understanding.
A proposal to study in depth the causes of disruption
would be much more useful. (Dr. Pollard indirectly ap
proached this solution by suggesting that the University
Senate sponsor debates on national affairs similar to those
conducted at Yale and Oxford.)
The disruptive element does not wholly consist of
drug-imbibing, long-haired, dirty-faced youths determined
to drop out of a world they consider hypocritical and mili
taristic. Responsible, formerly law-abiding citizens have
also decided that the only. way to communicate with their
government is to break its laws.
A respected clergyman poured blood on the files of
an induction center a few months ago. More men (952)
were convicted of violating the draft laws in 1967 than in
any year since World War 11. A large number of profes
sors and newspaper editors recently declared that they
would refuse to pay the portion of their income taxes
slated for use in the Vietnam'war.
Esteemed authors like Norman Mailer have deliber
ately,and openly broken the law in protest against the war.
Literary critic Dwight MacDonald, author Paul Goodman
and pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock (no self-respecting
mother would question HIS integrity) are all under
indictment for "conspiring to counsel young men to yiolate
the draft laws."
The President of the United States and his Cabinet
members cannot walk the streets of their own country
without inspiring violent demonstrations.
There 'is obviously something deeply wrong with. a
political system (and/or its decision makers) which pro.
yokes mass and unlawful dissent. It is the challenge of
our era to seek out and eliminate the roots of this mass
unrest. We will not find them by vainly searching for
conspiracies—or by veiling the problem with a series of
mass suspensions.
358 E.
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STATE COLLEGE
ALSO . . .
More on Disruption:
A Shallow Proposal
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