University of Southern California
DAILY ® TROJAN
VOL. LXII NO. 116
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
TUESDAY, MAY 4, 1971
Nader hits modes of TV censorship
RALPH NADER
Photo by Greg Ash
Memorial rock festival at noon
“Mayflower,” a rock festival, will be held today at noon on Cromwell Field to commemorate the slayings of four students by National Guardsmen at Kent State University last spring.
Approximately seven hours of music will be performed by such rock groups at T. C. Alantic. Zephyr, Sweetwater, Ballin' Jack. Six-Penny Opera and Flag.
The Mayflower Passenger Committee, which includes Denny Thomson. Mark Upton and Bill Pittenger, is co-sponsoring the “day of reflection” with the ASSC.
Thomson, a festival organizer, believes that “students should not allow May 4 to pass without reflecting upon the slayings at Kent and Jackson State.
“Today should be a forum for retrospection and good vibrations,” said Thomson. “Rock music plays a large role in the culture of youth. Much of the fury and energy of hard rock is a gut-level response to conditions within America. ”
“The politics and culture of peoples is virtually inseperable: “Mayflower” is basically a manifestiation of this reality,” Thomson said.	(Continued on page 5)
By NANCY MYERS City Editor
Ralph Nader, consumer advocate, subtly introduced a campaign to examine television censorship in a speech on “The Rights of a Professional in an Employment Context” last night to a sell-out audience in Bovard Auditorium. He was sponsored by the Great Issues Forum and the Writers Guild of America West.
Nader's discussion of television came after a detailed presentation on employee ethics. He pointed to the professional employee who must choose between his own personal ethics and loyalty to his employer.
His comments on television hit censors both inside and outside television. He warned of the potential threat posed by the government's reaction to CBS’ special ‘The Selling of the
Pentagon.”
When CBS broadcast this documentary on the millions of dollars the government uses for Pentagon public relations, government representatives (most notably Vice-President Spiro Agnew) rebutted with accusations of journalistic distortion by the network.
According to Nader, the networks have backed down as a result of this attack by the government because of the natural intimindation implied by the federal government's issuing broadcast licenses.
He called the government's reaction heavy-handed and warned that it should not be underestimated. The attacks were designed, said Nader, not to punish CBS for this particular documentary, but to discourage all the networks not to do it again.
Although he criticized the government, he also hit the networks. “If the networks had nothing
to be ashamed of, they would be more courageous,” he said. They wouldn't have to bring in their wings when the government criticized them.
He appealed to intellectuals not to ignore or dismiss television because it has great impact on so many Americans. It has got to be examined and watched because, like advertising, it may seem trivial, but it is devestatingly effective, he said.
Nader said, “television fiction prepares children for an unreal, candyland world where all doctors are dedicated, all cops are seeking justice and right and lawyers are willing to sacrifice money to see that the underpriviledged are well represented.
He challenged television to show that the individual fighting the injustice doesn't win and good does not always conquer evil.
How can some of the television wrongs be corrected? In his calm, low-key manner, Nader presented a list of his suggestions.
•	Changes in manuscripts by stations be justified to the authors in writing.
•	Writers be given an annual opportunity to present their grievances on the air. Such complaints never reach the public. “It’s about as novel as the letters of the editor column in a newspaper,” he said sarcastically, but it hasn't been used yet in television.
•	Change means of evaluating a program by deemphasizing the importance of Nielson ratings. Nader suggested using ability to secure a sponsor and rating by letters or other intensity-measuring methods.
Currently television shows are rated by whether sample homes have their television sets tuned into a given show. They do not. Nader noted, determine the intensity of the viewing: what the viewer is doing while the set is on. is he mildly or wildly interested.
In the first part of his speech. Nader discussed the importance of an individual answering to his conscience if he feels it conflicts with loyalty to his company.
He pointed to pollution for examples. How many people knew mercury was being dumped into rivers before it was noted by the press?
(Continued on page 2)
Nader calls for student lobbies
“Students could be by far the most powerful lobby in the country.” said Ralph Nader, consumer investigator, in a discussion with students of the Biology Semester.
Nader commented that, with a student strike force of about eight or nine million students coupled with the 18-year-old vote, young people
can be instrumental in achieving consumer protection. Nader was the guest of approximately 40 Biology Semester class members and answered the student’s questions in an informal manner. The discussion ranged from hospital practices to legal actions in which Nader's group is involved. “You've got to remember that apathy is not only psychological,” he noted. “It's a laziness
of the body and the mind . . . Look at what students did with Vietnam, and with what? A few demonstrations ...”
In answer to a question concerning the level
of responsibility the federal government accepts on the part of the consumer, Nader said. “The (Food and Drug Administration) is like any other corrupt agency. It's up to the victims to change things . . . it's not that bad. though. To have zero (responsibility), you've got to be efficient.”
It was noted in the question and answer session that many people want to know specific
(Continued on page 3)
Hubbard calls meeting to decide election fate
By BOB INGRAM Editor
The final decision from President John Hubbard which would either validate or invalidate last week's ASSC presidential election between John McGuinness and Chuck Jones is still pending further discussion today.
Scott Bice, chairman of the Student Behavior Committee: Dan Levinson, chief justice of the Student Court; and Charlene Bandurraga, ASSC elections commissioner: will meet this morning with Robert Mannes. dean of student life.
The committee will hear statements from all students presidential candidates who participated in the first primary election held two weeks ago. They will then try to find a fair method of determining whether or not the runoff elections held last week should stand as is or whether there should be a new primary election.
Today's meeting was called by Dr. Hubbard and agreed upon by all of the candidates in response to an appeal case filed by presidential candidate Kent Clemence who finished third in the primaries.
Clemence's case (which charged that the student election was unfair) has been heard by the
Student Court three times and each time the Court decided to continue with the runoff election between McGuinness and Jones.
Clemence then appealed to have his case heard by the Student Behavior Committee, whose jurisdiction was upheld by Paul Bloland, vice-president of student affairs, to consider to hear the cases. Bloland acted in Hubbard's place when the president was away on business in North Carolina.
The Student Behavior Committee voted 3-0 to recommend to Hubbard that the election be invalidated.
Hubbard then heard appeals from McGuinness’ and Jones’ parties on Friday who asked for an overruling of the Student Behavior Committee's recommendation which would declare the runoffs of last week valid.
The president then talked to Clemence's supporters Monday and to members of the Student Behavior Committee.
After hearing all sides, Hubbard called a special meeting Monday at 4:30 p.m. of the presidential candidates, the elections comissioner.
(Continued on page 5)
Flag to fly half-mast
The university flag will be lowered to half-mast at 7:30 tomorrow morning in a memorial for the student deaths of last spring at Kent and Jackson State. President Hubbard released the following statement yesterday:
“In the early days of May, 1970, in response to President Nixon’s announcement of military action in Cambodia, a massive reaction was triggered on most American campuses. The response of the University of Southern California was the ‘Days of Concern.’ The tragic deaths of students at Kent State University and Jackson State College became symbols of the campus pleas for peace. A year ago the university flag flew at half-mast by direction of the university president ‘to express our concern as we join with other university communities over the tragic deaths of students ..
“On the anniversary of those deaths, it is fitting and appropriate that we continue to express our concern for peace and to remember especially all those who have died so young and so tragically all over the world. Therefore, I request that the university chaplain read this official statement on May 5, 1971, that he lead the university community in an appropriate memorial at the official 7:30 a.m. flag raising, and that the university flag be placed at half-mast.
“May each of us in his own way during these days dedicate himself again to peace until the times comes when all people will live together in unity and harmony, John R. Hubbard”