KANSAN COMMENT College unrest in California From The LOS ANGELES TIMES By WILLIAM TROMBLEY California college students face the prospect of a violent spring on campus. In recent weeks the state has witnessed rioting in the streets of Isla Vista, the attempted burning of the UC Berkeley library, and demonstrations against Gov. Ronald Reagan on several campuses, as well as lesser acts of vandalism and violence. Educators and other observers hold two theories about the renewed violence, which follows a relatively tranquil fall and winter. According to one theory, leaders of the radical left have lost their following on most campuses and, in their desperation to win new supporters, are turning to ever more extreme actions. Others believe that the radical movement has gained, not lost, support among students and that its leaders now believe they are ready to escalate the struggle from the level of rhetoric to that of violence. Whatever the reason, there is little reason to doubt the words of UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Vernon I. Cheadle, who has told the university Board of Regents "It seems clear that we are in the guerrilla attack stage." The viciousness of recent events has been startling. For example, the attempt to burn down the Doe Library on the Berkeley campus in early March "endangered the lives of hundreds of people and threatened the destruction of one of the world's great libraries," UC President Charles J. Hitch told the regents. Cheadle said the radicals "will use veiled threats as well as action to cripple our facilities. They will attract outsiders, with nothing to lose and something to gain, to vandalize us. They have been doing it for months." In the strongest statement he has made since taking office Hitch denounced the violent acts perpetrated my those who practice what he called the "new conformity" of the left. "Classrooms are disrupted in the name of education, speakers are shouted down in the name of free speech, job recruiters are driven from the campus in the name of morality, and demands for total conformity to a particular line of thought are made in the name of nonconformity and dissent," Hitch said. "In the university, above all other institutions of American society, we have a profound duty to resist and oppose shoddy thinking, lies and rhetoric which inflames and shocks but does nothing for the truth. "Free speech means careful and skeptical listening, not taking a rhetorical trip. Free expression includes, especially in the university, the duty to oppose cant, dogma and ideological harangue by reasoned and disciplined counterargument. "The crowd that turns into a mob is an insult to the principles of democratic society, and it is a moral insult to the fundamentals of a university," Hitch said. In addition, there are specific local problems on many campuses-intolerable housing conditions in Isla Vista, a heavy drug culture in Berkeley, the unpopular firing of a professor at San Jose State and proposed cutbacks in minority student recruiting programs in both the university and the state colleges. An additional irritant is Gov. Reagan's reelection campaign. There is no question that Reagan is widely disliked by college and university students, many of whom consider him to be the personal embodiment of the adult society they regard as hypocritical, indifferent and reactionary. Several of Reagan's campus appearances, even at such relatively quiet, conservative schools as Chico State College and Cal State Fullerton, have led to student confrontations with police. Most administrators believe their basic strategy must be to separate the small numbers of radicals from the moderate mass of students, to try to prevent the kind of incident that would enable the radical few to enlist the support of the moderate many. They believe this can be done by maintaining communication with all segments of student opinion and by dealing with legitimate student requests while disciplining those who break state laws or campus regulations. This is a delicate process and it is best achieved, these men believe, if they have a maximum number of policy options. This is why university chancellors were so perturbed when Reagan proposed that they be required to declare a state of emergency under certain circumstances and that they be forced to impose predetermined penalties. The final compromise plan that was agreed to by the regents left the discretion largely in the hands of the cancellors and President Hitch. hearing voices— To the editor: It disturbs me very much to feel it my duty to be more outspoken than is normally necessary, but unfortunately the great silent majority (more commonly known as KU students), have been living in their "plastic cradle" all too long. I am not writing this as an attack, most assuredly I want this article to take the form of a plea—to all the peoples in this area. We have finally been subjected to the destructive reality that we, as KU students, have always read about in reference to other schools. Well fellow students, this is it. Though many of you may question the reality of the events of the past few days, I think we can all agree that chaos, confusion and disagreement is rapidly overtaking Lawrence. It is common knowledge that in order to properly and effectively solve a problem, that same problem must be defined—in very accurate terms. There are many people, I am sure, with just as many theories as to what has been causing the recent problems in Lawrence. Well, discussion is necessary, but action is also necessary in solving any human relationship, and we must act now! I despise using tired, worn out words, but perhaps this time, pitted against reality, describing most of the KU students as apathetic will strike home. Students! we can no longer sit on top of "The Hill" and ignore the life that is possibly changing the course of history. We need to work together—NOW! Let us band together as one large faction, and tell all the world that we, the students of KU, are willing to do everything and anything we can to improve the plight that has finally brought us into the rather dubious spotlight. I am just one person who has been, up to this time, practically the same as most of you. No longer can I sit and let others do the work—everyone must realize that the problems we face must be corrected by all those who wish to reap the benefits, and hopefully everyone does want to bring back peace and order, and at the same time institute brotherhood and happiness for all. Perhaps my comments are not the most eloquently written that you have read. I am truly sorry if you are displeased with my writing, but I care about making this world a better one for all involved. For those of you who can't seem to understand what I have said, listen to the Youngbloods when they say: "Come on people now. "Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try to love one another right now, right now, RIGHT NOW!" Griff & the Unicorn Ron Chanutin Morrisville, Pa., senior BY SOKOLOFF David Sokoloff 1970 'Yoo Hoo! Hey! Lookee Here!' THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN An All-American college newspaper Published at the University of Kansas daily during the academic year except holidays and examination periods. Mail subscription costs $8 a semester, $10 a year. Second class postage paid at Lawrence, Kan. 660-6925, goods, services and employment advertised offered to all students without regard to color, creed or national origin. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of Kansas or the State Board of Regents. NEWS STAFF News STAR News Adviser . . . James W. 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