^ Moratorium Day Spawns Varied Reactions At A&M
AFTER THE MARCH
Wesley Seeliger, Unitarian minister, speaks to a crowd
gathered in the College Station Unitarian Church at the
end of a 1.6-mile march that began at the Coffee Loft at
North Gate. Seeliger likened the church to an atomic re
actor, saying it should “create an atmosphere of respect
and creative action.” (Photo by Mike Wright)
DURING THE AFTERNOON
Throughout the afternoon student gathered into groups, large and small,
in front of the Academic Building. Discussion within the groups, some
times heated, centered around the question of the United States’ involve
ment in Vietnam. Onlookers found the views discussed both thought-pro
voking and, in some cases, amusing. (Photo by Ned C. Muse)
IN THE DUNCAN AREA
Four freshman cadets expressed their thoughts on the
Vietnam conflict and the United States’ role by displaying
a paraphrased version of the traditional Aggie slogan along
with an American flag. Other students wore red, white,
and blue armbands, or flag decals on their shirt pockets,
in contrast to the black armbands advocated by moratorium
leaders.
Che Battalion
College Station, Texas
Thursday, October 16, 1969
Telephone 845-2226
Moratorium at A&M:
9-Hour Word War
SOME TALK . . .
An A&M junior, gives his
views on the United States’
actions in Vietnam in one
of the discussions on the
Academic Building lawn
Wednesday afternoon.
By Dave Mayes
Battalion Editor
Moratorium Day at A&M was
a nine-hour war of words that
began from apparently sponta
neous student debates on the
lawn in front of the Academic
building, spread to a scheduled
rally in a nearby Unitarian
Church and ended with jeering
taunts from passing motorists
flung to a candlelight procession
walking along FM 2154.
The conflict appears to have
remained verbal, however, with
both College Station police and
Campus Security noting that
there were no reported injuries
due to Moratorium activities.
But if there were no physical
injuries, there was plenty of
mental anguish as the student de
bates in the afternoon under the
shade trees at times heated up
into shouting matches with curses
and flashing eyes. At least one
student, a sophomore cadet, spoke
with trembling chin and tears of
(Campus Chest
Begins Today
rage in his eyes.
The largest number of Mora
torium supporters was at the
evening rally at the Unitarian
Fellowship Hall on FM 2154 south
Fellowship Hall on FM 2154
south. Between 200 and 250 A&M
Consolidated High School stu
dents, A&M students, faculty
members and College Station res
idents jammed the 150-seat audi
torium to hear addresses by two
ministers and three A&M pro
fessors.
About 80 of them, mostly high
school and university students,
had marched to the hall from the
United Campus Christian Fellow
ship building in College Station,
1.6 miles away. The UCCF
houses the “Coffee Loft,” where
the Campus Committee of Con
cern (CCOC), organizers of the
march, meets regularly.
A poster placed in the sign
board in front of the Unitarian
hall quoted George Bernard Shaw:
“The world’s best reformers are
those who begin on themselves.”
The board was draped with black
crepe paper.
More than half of the people
attending the rally wore black
armbands, or dressed in black “in
mourning for the Americans and
Vietnamese who died in the Viet
nam war,” as some of them said.
Many had to sit on the floor
or stand in the back and some
stood outside the building and
looked in through the hall’s vent
ed windows.
Facing the audience on a plat
form framed by burning white
candles on tables were the five
speakers. Another candle stuck
in a Michelobe beer bottle served
as a light for the rostrum.
The Rev. Wesley Seeliger, in
troduced by A&M student Bill
Maskal as a chaplain of univer
sity students, told the assembly
that the religious community
must forsake its image of tran-
ouility and instead design a
framework where conflict or con
tact between people can be con
trolled within an atmosphere of
respect and creative action.
He explained that people have
few opportunities for contact or
conflict within the present so
ciety because of the roles or la
bels each person assigns to oth
ers.
“When there is no conflict,
there is no dialogue,” Seeliger
said. He likened people to differ
ent cultures of bacteria, each dis
trusting the other cultures be
cause of lack of knowledge of
them.
He pointed out as an example,
the reaction some persons have
to the wearing of a black arm
band.
Next to speak was Dr. William
P. Kuvlesky, associate professor
of agricultural economics and so
ciology.
Dr. Kuvlevsky said that he
did not support the Moratorium
but appreciated the chance for
a “rational battle on a critical
issue.”
He prefixed his remarks by
saying he was not representing
A&M in what he said at the meet-
(See Moratorium, page 4)
. . . WHILE OTHERS LISTEN
Listening while the junior speaks, another A&M student
gives some thought to his next remarks in the somewhat
heated idea exchange. The student, according to state
ments he made, has been to Vietnam as a soldier and sees
no point for further involvement by the United States.
(Photos by David Middlebrooke)
The second Campus Chest
drive at A&M in as many years
officially opened today, kicked
off by a $100 check from Gene
Stallings, head football coach.
The drive is sponsored by the
Student Senate Welfare Com
mittee and contributions are col-
|(| lected by Alpha Phi Omega
(APO), a service fraternity of
former Boy Scouts.
Money collected goes to help
students who, for one reason or
another, face heavy financial
burdens. Some recipients repay
the money given to them al
though it is not required.
Civilian residence halls and
Corps outfits will compete on a
percentage basis, according to
Mike Essmeyer, public relations
chairman, to see who can con
tribute the most. The winner,
Essmeyer said, will be allowed
to select the Campus Chest
Queen for 1969-70.
Contributions may be mailed
to Campus Chest, c/o Alpha Phi
Omega, Box 7454, College Sta
tion, Texas, 77840, or be turned
in to outfit commanders or resi-
University National Bank
“On the side of Texas A&M.”
—Adv.
dence hall presidents.
Started in 1952, the Campus
Chest ran every year until 1964,
when it was discontinued because
there was more than enough
money in the fund for its activi
ties.
In addition to helping Ags in
need, the fund provides money
for contributions to charitable
organizations, and supports 38
orphans from Faith Home in
Houston as a Big Brother proj
ect.
Carla Remer, official A&M or
phan, who lives on the Indian
reservation at Vian, Okla., also
receives money from the fund.
A little-known project is the
providing of floral sprays for
the funerals of students who die
while enrolled at A&M.
WEATHER
Friday — Cloudy, intermittent
rain. Wind Easterly 5 to 10
m.p.h. High 66, low 57.
Saturday — Partly cloudy to
cloudy, afternoon rainshowers.
Wind Southerly 5 to 10 m.p.h.
High 71, low 62.
Fort Worth — Partly cloudy.
Wind ^Easterly 10 to 15 m.p.h.
Temperature 58°
Outlook for Democracy in
Developing World ‘Good’
STARTING IT OFF BIG
Head Football Coach Gene Stallings presents the first con
tribution, a $100 check, to David Owens, Campus Chest
campaign chairman, to officially open the drive. Campus
Chest funds go to help Aggies in need.
By Clifford Broyles
Battalion Staff Writer
The prospects for democracy
in the developing world are good
but the process is slow and tedi
ous, according to an associate
professor of politics at Princeton.
Dr. Paul E. Sigmund gave his
view to approximately 75 people
in the Memorial Student Center
Wednesday night at the first of
the University Lecture Series
presentations for the 1969-70
school year.
Sigmund said democracy is
built around three major factors:
nationalism, representation, and
federalism. The developing coun
tries, which include those in Latin
America, Africa and some parts
of Asia, have degrees of democ
racy that are now being devel
oped, he said.
The countries he named were
Chile, Uraguay, Costa Rico, Vene
zuela, Argentina and Mexico in
Latin America; Sierra Leone,
Zambia, Kenya, Ghana and Sudan
in Africa; and Lebanon, Israel,
India, Ceylon, Philippines, Japan,
Malaysia and Singapore in the
Far East and Asia.
There must be a division in
the groups of people in order to
have a democracy, Sigmund con
tinued. He said this division must
not be too large but that it must
be present or there would be no
democracy.
He added there must be a bal
ance of power in order to have a
democracy and also emphasized
the need for institutions to an
swer and decide upon certain
issues. Without these things a
democracy is not possible.
The institutions, he emphasized,
must be deeply rooted so that
opposition by a few would not
destroy it. He cited the United
States Supreme Court as a prime
example, saying that the Court
has maintained its stature despite
opposition on several recent major
decisions.
There are problems these coun
tries face when they attempt to
become a democratic country, he
said. One of the major ones is
lack of party unity, such as con
flicts between tribes in Africa,
he explained.
Literacy and communication
are also a major obstacle, he said,
but policies such as the Peace
Corps have helped greatly to
overcome them. Other differences
arise in the caste systems of
India and religious beliefs and
economic principles of the coun
try.
The principle of majority rule
has not yet been established in
these newly-developed countries,
he added. He said that there have
been no successful institutions as
yet but progress is being made.
Using the elections held in Viet
nam as an example, he said that
although not a complete success
they are a step in the right di
rection.
It is fitting, he said, that he
speak on developing democracy
on Moratorium Day. He added
that the foundations for the
United States being in Vietnam
was laid by policy of the previous
administrations.
Following World War II, he
said, the United States issued
large amounts of both military
and economic assistance which
helped bring about a resurgence
in the living conditions of those
in Europe, especially France and
Great Britain.
The result, he added, was that
Great Britain was able to become
a democratic society despite the
fact it had royalty and France
is slowly doing the same.
The results of the post-World
War II intervention were succes-
ful, Sigmund said, so the U. S.
decided to do the same thing in
Vietnam. That effort is not doing
well, he claimed, and therefore
faith in the democratic process is
lacking. Sigmund added that an-
Bryan Building & Loan
Association. Your Sav
ing Center, since 1919.
—Adv.
BB&L