Friday, April 21, 1972
University Daily Kansan
5A
Di Zerega Traces Growth, Decline of SDS at KU
Editor's Note: Most of the following is the text of an interview conducted recently with Gus Zierega, KU student involved in left organizations at KU during his undergraduate period.
By S. ARTHUR COHEN Kansan Staff Writer
Nearly all aspects of student life have been influenced by the efforts of student radicals, especially those in the University of Kansas chapter of Students for Derecho Society in Desert Springs, D.I. DZO; St. Joseph Wichia, a graduate student, said in a recent interview.
Di Zerra came to KU in the fall of 1965 as a conservative freshman. He became involved with the group Freedom (YAF) at that time.
After talking to persons from SDS, Dzi Zerega realized that his way of thinking was congruent to those in SDS.
In one and a half years Di Zerega's philosophy changed from one of conservatism to one of the student left in politics.
Di Zerega currently writes a column for the Lawrence Daily Journal-World.
The following is what Di Zerega said of his student involvement with SDS at KU:
THE KU SDS was formed during the 1964-65 school year. At that time and for the next year or two, students about 15 people on nights with a good turnout. As through the rest of its history, its major role was in opposition to the war and minority rights. At that time a majority of students supported the war, and civil rights were ignored. One had ever heard of Women's Liberation, Black power, Gay Liberation or hippies. You could be among the pot smokers on two hands.
SDS began as a very open group with hardly anyone pushing his or her ideological beliefs, but most were general dissatisfaction with American society, and it grew as that dissatisfaction grew. Nationally, McNamara's selling arm, the Christmas branch by Christmas he'dn't say which Christmas—and locally, a growing realization of the extent and indefensibility of University politics sensitized us to how we and others were getting screwed over by the powers that be. A large number of regulations covering students existed at KU, especially over living arrangements and women. So the draft, the war, and student activism general frustration, swelled the ranks of the New Left.
I THINK OUR first real attempt to influence purely University events, since the sit-in in 1968, was made possible by Wescone, wanchce, KU from 1960-69) to protest Greek racism in 1964-65, that led to the chapter's formation was when Al McLean became student body president in 1966.
Martin's people came to us and said, "If you help us win, we will push all this reform legislation through the Student Council." We believed them and helped Martin. We were there, and that's all we're interested in so shove it. They said it pretty bluntly. We learned a valuable lesson about "go-getter" student politicians. A girl was ill and didn't tie the right way and took over government ourselves.
The Independent Student Party (ISP) was an offshoot of SDS and it caused the chapter's first big blow when students were into the "Worker-Student Alliance" thing and wanted to tell the working class where it was really at. Others of us felt that we couldn't reach fellow students, that if we couldn't reach kids with backgrounds similar to ours, we couldn't reach anyone. Nothing could do that, who tried to do the work thing.
The rest of us concentrated on campus issues. The first was over the administration was going to close Watson an hour earlier each night—at 10:00 p.m. instead of 9:30 a.m. We had to get away. We got a petition upet over it and the cretins in student rooms were a committee to study the issue.
The trouble was they didn't appoint anyone to the committee. They were too busy posing for yearbook pictures or something. They were not in the petitions or neither the ASC (Student Council) nor Wescoe did anything, they announced a "Read-In" until midnight at the reed-in thing, the night of the reed-in the Chancellor found the money.
THIS LED to the formation of ISP.
That same year Dean Emily (Emily Taylor, dean of women) told a friend of mine there were no such things as compulsory
floor meetings at KU. This was interesting because freshmen women's residence hall would be open, and they didn't come to floor meetings, they be kicked out of the school. There were school, for "breach of contract."
Women members tried to put up posters to this effect in Corbin, GSP, and Oliver but dorm room windows were cut so we all printed up hundreds of leaflets and they distributed them one night to every girl
Gus Di Zerega
living in the dorms. Thought control failed. The next day the University Daily Kansan exposed trippers to the power trippers they were.
THE SAME YEAR we had the first occupation of University property since Wesson had left. The U.S. Navy Union had made an inaeine ruling that only one organization could have a literature table on a floor in the Union. They were afraid the Navy Marine recruiters or something.
The Military set up a table in the Union so we formed several tables to have literature tables in the Union. There weren't enough floors. So John Garlinghusen and his band played on the military, passed out leaflets and free food, got a microphone, some folk singers, and packed in
The most violent thing we did to the recruiters was to get a little pet to watch them shoot and petals to shoot at the officers. The Union rescinded their ruling decision.
BEFORE WE had done any of the proper procedures, we could provide proper channels, but as want and to some extent still is) the case, nothing happened till we got there.
Probably the most important event to happen that year stemmed from a very imprudent student at the University of Pennsylvania (Francis Heller, vice-chancellor for academic affairs) concerning the issue of student participation in University governance. "All students are transients," he said. The president was immediately asked that faux pas a petition was formed by a group called "Students Voice" which demanded 50 per cent student representation on all University committees and Heller's resignation.
We got a couple thousand people out for a rally in front of the university, and decided to negotiate and the result was our present Student Senate, University Senate, and the university's president. One of University governance, one of the potentially most powerful student governments in the world.
EACH OF THESE events demonstrated a hard and fast rule about the average次数 you have to hit them. First you have got to hit them over the head (or at least look like you're going to do it) to get their attention. Then you can talk like they're because they'll be listening.
To nobody's surprise but the fraternity big wigs and University administrators, the men in the Student Body, Marilyn Bowman were elected president and vice-president of the student body to preside over the first year of the Student Body, whom they were elected on the ISP ticket.
Under Awbrey the student Bill of Rights was adopted and student government funded things more important than the Annual Jelly Been Rolling and Master Essay Exams. Student protection has existed for all against arbitrary administrative action.
People's theory was to be suspicious of theory. And so the politics of confrontation were on the local university level, even the biggest peace marches with 500,000 to one million people in them failed to move the debate frustrated and desperate for success or at least something romantically spectacular—some radicals turned to violence. The president of the masochistic Marxism didn't help much either. Their talk, "power comes out of the barrel of a gun," neglected to remind potential fodder just who had the guns.
of American society, let alone a strategy to change it or an idea of what to replace it with.
UNFORTENTLY, after the form of Bill Ebert, who served after Awbwre, student politics helped them garner the games and of the past. But even today under a most uninspiring student government, groups such as Headquarters, LAS 48 and was able to receive funding.
SDS, WHICH had become far and away the largest radical youth organization in the country, an organizational mistake. Originally no one who believed in a totalitarian philosophy such as Marxism-Leninism had been allowed to join. This stipulation was not made explicit by members felt that local SDS chapters were autonomous and it would be impossible for a minority totalitarian group to make us of us had misgivings, but we were outvoted.
About the time of the success of ISP, student radical politics came to the fore, turn towards violent confrontation. The New Leflah had new confrontation with students.
The result of this policy culminated in the split of SDS into two factions during their Chicago mayoral race. The factions were essentially Marxist. One was the Moasist Progressive Labor Party and the other later developed, with the factions splits, into the Weatherhens.
NEITHER WAS really representative of the majority of members. However, the minority is much more centralized organizations, and a weakness in SDS conventions which gave any member present, even if not a power player, in the game of power politics.
The take-over of the National Office gave control over the newspaper and over membership requirements. These were not only a person who no person could become a member unless he formally endorsed Albania, of all things. I suspect the average delegate didn't even know where Albania was, but as a result he was voted as he was told to vote.
THIS KILLED SDS. The local chapters wanted nothing to do with it and melted away, before the convention. KUSDs could get organized without practically no publicity. Afterwards there were no meetings for over a year. Then a progressive labor group tried to hold an event in front. It flopped. Most students smart to get involved.
Nixon is a lot better at the violence game than are college kids—as even the Weathermen know. He collapsed of a tactile plus an explosive nose, not bombs, from Vietnam pulled the rug from under most radical leaders Who listens to Abie Hoffman or Tom Hayden
The New Leaf remained organizationally active for a while after September commencing its uprising over Nixon's Cambodia invasion demonstrated the depth of student anger and frustration over our little Caesar's empire, that we saw in the time with the invasion, time that, to look at the papers, seems about run out, but I think the uprising forced him to not send publicly any more American troops into Vietnam.
THE SLAUGHTER of students at Kent State and things like the murder of Niek Rice (killed in the shooting of his wife), Lawrence showed the emptiness of the tastes of confrontation, however. They led to defeat and harm.
Their mistake, I think, was in getting trapped in a tactical box canyon and in never formulating an argument about the American society and an alternative to the present. When the tactics proved disastrous, it was clear that the only other theory generally available was Marxism which, because it usually leads to wrong conclusions, turned most young teen off.
AS A CONSEQUENCE the movement broke up in a variety of single issue groups like groups in Gay Liberation, Gay Liberties and back-to-the-earth people, and so forth. Others, seeing no alternative, have gone into law to work for a change. Some, with less sense, are putting their hopes politicians like McGregor
Still others, in total despair,
Jesus Freakdom or heavy drug use. But mostly people have become, suspicious of leaders of extremism.
I think this is good because until people get their own stuff together, but until they do our country and our country, and more importantly, what to put in it, we are manipulated by power freaks. A philosophy of freedom, I think needs to develop into one that unmasks blacks, Indians, Chicanos and Wasps, before organizations on the ground try to take control.
TILL THEM there won't be much visible and a lot of people will be feeling pretty hopeless. Yet today more students are going to college and don't know what to do so they may join an ecology or liberation group, but generally are complacently disapproving, which is a lot better than the approval of seven years ago.
The change has been most visible here at KU in the lack of broad-based groups and the degeneration of student life. The student when Marilyn Bowman was suspended because she had participated in an anti-ROTC demonstration, the Senate voted to give her her office back when he back to school the next semester.
Today we see the sickening spectacle of many student "representatives" afraid to vote in favor of legalizing grass because they are afraid of what President Obama has yet. Yet even the President's own commission supports legalizing use and possession.
The next year Bill Ebert was active in organizing the demonstrations and teach-ins over Nixon's Cambodian escapades. Alumni kept on giving and the state legislature didn't financially any worse than they had more quiet Kansas campuses.
Almost all existing student rights, the Student Senate and University Senate, funding for Headquarters, the LAS 48 courses, the fact that the library is open unit time of these units of student activity especially by KU SDS members."
By LINDA CHAPUT
Kancan Stuff Writer
In April 1935 the University Daily Kansan announced that the American College Students would hold a strike to promote peace the day before. The students convocation. All participants were urged to cooperate in carrying out an end to their demands and thereby effective demonstration."
Peace Movement Emerged in '30s
Seven hundred students
standard
course, which was held under
the auspices of the National
Council of Teachers, with the
Student League as
Student League for Industrial
Democracy, and the Inter
Intergovernmental
agency.
The strike committee issued a statement. The will, "The University will be 140 universities on whose campuses the students are enrolled," and the voices to tell the war mongers and munition makers of the world that the will be defended.
THAT SPRING an organization called the KU Peace Action Committee sponsored a number of round table discussions on war.
By LINDA CHAPUT
At one discussion, "Propaganda on War and Peace," a speaker told the students to elect to office men who were for peace. Another speaker suggested that the moneyed interests he referred to would be virtual dictators of U.S. government policies should be eliminated
The Men's Student Council began a week ago, Week tradition carried out by each fraternity the week before the pledges were initiated, in May.
Hell Week, Hazing Under Fire in '30s
Kansan Staff Writer
In the fall of 1935, the Peace Action Committee again sponsored a series of roundtable meetings in which participants in a student control committee joined every major student organization in the United States in protesting war and compulsory military training, which the Oxford pledge "never to support the United States in any conflict."
The tradition had been maintained for years and several fraternities had discontinued the practice, but no action had been taken to preserve it.
TWO THOUSAND students attended the first all-student convocation in the history of KU
In April 1936 the sentiments of the peace movement were again voiced in a student walkout and a march against a dropover by a student, 800 students became part of a group organized strike against war.
The fraternities were allowed to make their decisions individually; all voted to abolish Hall Week. Panhellenic was allowed to impose 800 fines on fraternity members engaging in Hall Week practices.
A representative from each house was invited to meet with the Men's Student Council to discuss abolishing the tradition. The men and women helped their houses to discuss the issue with other fraternity members.
In October 1935, the K-Club, a letterman's organization, passed a resolution relinquishing its
duties as custodian of freshmen traditions at KU. This move marked the end of padding for the new tradition, to ignore their obligations to wear red and blue beanies; in short, it would mean that students practice of freshman hazing.
The faculty of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences had passed a resolution forbidding the paddling of students to enforce traditions, and the Men's Council voted to do the same.
The resolution came as a result of criticism from faculty and staff. The K-Club treated freshmen too severely for failing to observe the dress code.
The paddle, it was decided, would still be used as a means of enforcing freshman attendance for the game. The Parade the Friday night before the K-State football game. KuKu's, Members of Owl Society, the Student Council and the Student Council would wield the paddles instead of the K-men.
Five hundred thousand schools went on strike that day to demonstrate and to act on a five point platform: to protest, war the UN peacekeeping.
demand passage of the Nye Krake Audit program by training, to demand support of the Oxford pledge, and to demand more academic
Before or after the Relays, stop in at Burger Chef for a Super Shef.