University of Southern California
DAILY « TROJAN
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1968. VOL. LX, NO. 24
New goals outlined by Harris
By TIM TAYLOR
“That little piece of white paper that I’m asked to cam- around that says ‘Selective Service System of the United States’ across the top of it—that’s not a little piece of white paper, that’s a man’s death warrant.” said draft resister David Harris yesterday.
Harris, former student body president at Stanford University and one of the founders of the Resistance, is now appealing a May 1968 conviction for refusing induction into the armed services. A three year prison sentence is pending.
“You and I must refuse any longer to be the messengers of death,” Harris said. “We must refuse to sit back and condemn people around the world to butchery. To do that means you 11 become what I am—a criminal. When the law has done nothing but sanctify endless blood, then I want nothing to do with the law.”
Tall, sandy-haired, and clean-shaven, Harris spoke at noon before a large audience in Alumni Park. As always, he spoke without # notes or any other kind of formally prepared text. He was calm throughout the speech, seldom raising his voice.
One of his main goals is to achieve a new meaning for brotherhood.
“As I look around me and try to find a statement that has both cogency and meaning in the context of a world of blood and oppression, I can find only one such statement,” he said.
“It’s a very simple statement: that all men are brothers. Why you and I must do is take that word, take it out of the realm of empty religious incantation, take it out of the realm of hollow ritual, and give it substance and meaning in our lives. That can only be done by people living that brotherhood from day to day to day.”
He then compared his concept of brotherhood with the draft.
“When one attempts to live in that spirit of brotherhood, one runs immediately into one particular social institution. That institution has been euphemistically titled ‘the Selective Service System of the United States.”’
‘The Selective Service System of the United States is a euphemism for military conscription. Military conscription is a euphemism for taking a young man. whose hands might have built, whose hands might have healed, whose hands might have constructed for those around him, and instead of teaching his hands to heal or to build you teach his hands one simple fact: how to operate the mechanism of a rifle. You teach his eyes how to sight the rifle, then you send him 6,000 miles from home to kill or be killed by another young man who has gone through exactly the same process.”
Harris also contended that the draft is out of place in a democracy, because an institution based on subservience does not fit in with the definition of democracy.
The most visible audience reaction came when Harris explained to what he feels he owes his allegience.
“We in the Resistance,” he said, “owe no allegiance to a colored piece of cloth. We owe no allegiance to a set of governmental principles. We owe no allegiance to a set of people that enforce those governmental principles. You and I owe allegiance to only one thing: that’s the fact of people’s lives in the world today.
Harris closed his 20-minute speech by telling the audience that if they wanted to bring change, they would have to do it themselves.
“If you don’t do it, it won’t be done. There’s no daddy anymore. There’s no Lone Ranger—just you and me. If it is to be done, then you and I will have to do it.”
David Harris in Alumni Park.
Photo by Robert Herrup.
UMAS, BSU present ideas to Topping
The United Mexican-American Students (UMAS) and the Black Students Union (BSU) presented Dr. Topping with a list of recommendations for financial aid to minority students yesterday. The recommendations included:
1.	That the university take the initiative in acquiring funds to accomodate 100 black and 100 Mexican-American students;
2.	That the university endeavor to utilize its influence to acquire funds from private industry, and utilize these funds for black and brown students;
3.	That when considering applicants for financial aid emphasis be placed on admission requirements, and not on competitive examination scores; and
4.	That full tuition remission be rendered to black and brown students by the university.
“We believe the socio-economic progress of black and brown Americans depends on their accessibility to superior institutions of higher education,” the groups said.
UMAS has collected 20 applications from qualified high school and junior college students as a result of its recruitment campaign in five East Los Angeles schools.
It plans to follow through and see that the applications are in before the deadline and to assist the students in getting accepted.
Debaters victorious at tourney
The debate squad returned with first place junior and second place senior championship trophies from the Early Bird Invitational Tournament at Arizona State University last weekend.
USC sent five teams to compete against the 30 colleges and universities in the tournament. Four of the teams qualified for the octa-final championship rounds. Their debate topic was Resolved: that executive control of U.S. foreign policy should be significantly curtailed.
The Debate Squad won last week at the Pacific Southwest Collegiate Forensic Association preview tournament at U.C.L.A. and next week will debate at El Camino College.
UMAS wants Dr. Topping to take the initiative in acquiring the funds for the scholarships. “We’re tired of going to different meetings and not getting any answers,” Miguel Delapena, president of the UMAS Stanford, Claremont and Oxidental have similar programs.
He emphasized that the group will not follow a “confrontation policy.” Instead it will follow “the orthodox method of conferring with administrators.”
Delapena said that although the UMAS has only 15 members, many of the members had experience in the statewide UMAS organization in junior colleges.
After Dr. Topping’s statement that the university will not boycott California grapes because of the political nature of the issue, UMAS will not pursue the issue further.
The areas in which the group will concentrate will be the scholarship program and a speakers program. They wpuld like to get Saul Castro, a prominent East Los Angeles teacher, and David Sanchez, prime minister of the Brown Berets.
“Other UMAS delegations feel that ours is the weakest because we have failed to take stands. But we will prove to all Mexican-American students that we are being effective,” Delapena said.
HELEN OF TROY FORMS AVAILABLE
Helen of Troy applications will be available this week at the Student Activites Center and at the ZBT house. Applications and a $5 filing fee must be turned in by Friday.
Junior and senior girls with a 2.25 grade average are eligible.
Final four Row arraignments set for tomorrow
Four of the students arrested in connection with last Friday’s disturbance on the Row will be arraigned at 1:30 in Division 59, Municipal Court.
The students are: Robert Berry, a sophomore in history; Ronald Egenes, a senior in business; Walt Fail or, a sophomore and punter for the football team; and John O’Leary, a sophomore in history.
The court is located at 421 N. Ave. 19, in downtown Los Angeles.
The other seven student defendants were arraigned on Friday. They pleaded not guilty and will have their trial dates set Oct. 29. The four students who are to be arraigned tomorrow are out on the $625 bail they paid to get out of jail Friday morning.
It is not yet known how the four students will plead.
The arrests were made at 12:40 Friday morning after a large group of students had gathered on the Row during a water fight. The assembly was declared unlawful, and the students arrested were charged with failure to disperse and disturbing the peace.
A meeting between IFC presidents and Dean of Men Daniel Nowak was held Sunday to discuss the incident. Ron Jacobson, president of Zeta Beta Tau, said that to him the presentation given at that meeting of the facts surrounding the case were “very factual and objective.”
The facts given at the meeting, Jacobson said, were read from the police report and another report, the source of which was not specified.
Jacobson said that he felt the report would be read to the IFC Judicial.
Dean Nowak said yesterday that the IFC Judicial is investigating the case and will become involved in it. This arrest will not constitute double jeopardy for the students, he said, because the judicial will make judgements on the houses involved, not the individuals.
Dean Nowak also complained about an article in the Daily Trojan yesterday that had mentioned a rumor that the university had asked that the arrested students be prosecuted “to the fullest extent.” Nowak said that no such request had been made.
Dr. Topping, when asked about the rumor, also flatly denied it. He said that the police treat the portion of 28th St. that is the Row just like any other street in the city, and that the university will not interfere in city police matters.
ELECTION POLL RESULTS
Tendencies of frosh revealed
One third of the freshman class participated in the opinion poll distributed at the freshman election.
An overwhelming endorsement was given to the proposed use of chemical or mechanical birth control devices, with 470 in favor of their use and 68 opposed.
Eliminating the Electoral College by amending the Constitution and placing the election of the President on the total number of votes cast throughout the nation was favored by 477.
In question about reducing the age limit for voting in the United States, age 18 gained 272 votes, more than
the combined total for the alternatives of limiting voting privileges to 19, 20, or 21-year-olds.
Votes were more evenly distributed in the evaluation of the military role in Vietnam, the propriety of civil disobedience, and the actions of the Chicago police during the Democratic Convention.
Only 87 voted for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam. A phased1 reduction of military activity received 233 votes and 107 were in favor of an all-out effort to win the war.
The reaction to the suggestion of resorting to civil disobedience if other
methods to solve a problem proved unsuccessful was divided; 213 voted yes, 219 no.
The Chicago police were considered by the majority of the students to have been within their authority but to have over-reacted.
The voters gave a tentative endorsement to the use of four-letter words in public. Most of them thought that they were not very polite, but felt they didn’t need to be legally restricted. Seventy-five students said that they shouldn’t be used; three voted in favor of jail sentences as punishment for those who use such words.
Play is slated for
festival
The Drama Division’s production of “The Right Honourable Gentleman,” which is being presented at Bovard Auditorium nightly through Saturday, will be one of 192 college entries for the American College Theatre Festival.
The festival, to be held in Washington, D.C. April 27 to May 12, 1969, is cosponsored by the American Educators Theatre Association (AETA), made up of educators, and the American National Theatre Association (ANTA), made up of professional actors and directors.
This will be the first annual festival, William White, assistant professor of drama said. Ten college productions will be selected as finalists to give three performances in Ford Theatre and three in a tent theatre.
“The Right Honourable Gentleman,” written by Michael Dyne, takes place in Victorian London in 1885. The play is constructed around the actual events of history.
The play was originally scheduled to be presented in the spring. However, according to Dr. Stahl, several members of the cast got infectious hepititis and some recasting was later needed after postponement to the fall.
Performances will start at 8 p.m. each evening. Tickets, which may be reserved or purchased at the Bovard box office, are $1.50 (through Thursda'y performances) and $2 (Friday and Saturday performances). Students will receive $1 discount.
Seats may be reserved by calling 746-6063 or going to 304 Parkview.
'Corporate crimes' growing —Nader
By MEL HOROWITZ Asst, editorial director
Violence from unsafe automobiles, unwholesome meat, and air and water pollution dwarfs violence in the streets, Ralph Nader said yesterday in Bovard Auditorium.
The young lawyer, whose book “Unsafe at Any Speed” ushered congressional auto reforms, lashed out at corporation executives who neglect the consumer.
He claimed that “corporate crimes” and fraud were going unpunished, and challenged executives to “stand behind the podium and answer questions from the consumer.”
His attack was aimed directly at the lax standards which exist in meat processing, radiation control, pollution of air and water, and automobile safety standards.
“Twelve percent of the federally inspected
pork products in the United States last year had rodent remains,” Nader said.
The United States Department of Agriculture, said Nader, reluctantly released a report showing putrid conditions of processed meat plants.
It found that dead animals infested meat. A lack of sanitation consisted of meat peeling from the walls and roaches climbing the walls. Chemicals were used to neutralize the foul smell and taste.
“About 1000 people knew about these conditions,” Nader said, “but not the right people: the consumers.”
“The tasteless, colorless impact on cell structure” is the way Nader depicted radiation effects.
Ninety percent of this comes from medical
and dental x-rays although 150,000 General Electric television sets were called back last year for radiation exposure defects.
According to Nader, only one state. New York, requires proficiency tests for dental technicians.
Because of his research, the Radiation Control Bill will be signed into law by President Johnson within a few davs.
“I am surprised that the people of Los Angeles don’t rise up in revolt at the smog situation,” Nader exclaimed. He again blamed corporation executives of ignoring their responsibilities to the public.
He believes in more governmental regulation and consumer knowledge. Corporate decisions are too important to leave to the executives, he said.
Draft counseling office is ready for reclassification
By the end of October, a large number of male students, mostly seniors and graduates, will find their draft status in the precarious position known as reclassification. However, the selective service counseling office is prepared to handle the rush of questions and problems.
Composed of ten law students trained in draft law and acting as counselors, the office is headquartered in Student Union, 217. Sponsored by the ASSC and sanctioned by the USC Law School, the office is equipped to answer any questions or problems that students have about the draft, classification and number of units required.
“We are here to counsel in every sense of the word and to help those people who don’t know what it all means,” said Arnie Jaffee, a counselor.
While the office has been in operation since the beginning of the semester, the counselors have been readying themselves for the “October rush.” Office hours are from 1 to 5:30 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday, 12 to 2 p.m. and 3 to 5 on Wednesday, and 1 to 3 and 3:30 to 5:30 on Thursday. Appointments can be made by calling the office at 746-6092.
While many major universities on the West Coast have similar advisory groups, the counselors are rarely law students with training in draft counseling techniques.
The initial idea of selective service counseling began last year when a group of law students decided to create an office for the specific purpose of handling student draft problems. Following a three lecture series concerning draft laws by William Smith, a local attorney, the group began to observe techniques in draft counseling.
Michael Greene, a second year law student acting as chairman of the group, got the approval of the university to form the counseling office.
Training himself, every counselor is required to take the seminar course in Selective Service Law taught by John Schulz, the group’s advisor. Schulz, a graduate of the Yale Law School, is an assistant professor at the USC Law School.
The students do most of their research in draft laws in class, and each must write a paper at the end of the semester relating to draft legalities. In addition, they meet every Friday to discuss counseling problems and to do further research.