Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1988)
The students of the 80s: by Leslie Guy The wind is cold and chaps the faces of the people as they progress toward the red brick office building. Some are shouting, others are carrying posters and flags, but they are all braving the weather and the angry stares of passers-by. They are fighting for a cause. The number of participants can range from ten or 12 people to 500 or 600. They assemble outside university administrative buildings or march down city streets, hoping to attract national attention. These people are college students from schools across the country, and their beliefs are so strong that they want to place themselves in the public eye and demonstrate for a particular cause Most people react to their actions by asking, “Why are they protesting?" and Are they really informed about the issues they are supporting?" Aooarently college students across the Lnited States are well aware of wha s happening around the world, and they hope to make an impact and change the views of society. To help educate the people, students are establishing campus organizations which provide other students and the public with this important information about diverse issues In addition, they hold marches, demonstrations, rallies and sit-ins to *"A express their views and attract national attention. Protesting became a popular form of response after the controversial events in the 1960s. Students began demonstrating to show disapproval for racist behavior and United States involvement in Vietam. Although the prominent issues today differ from those of the past, today’s students are as supportive of their issues as students were in the 60s. Today’s protests revolve around such issues as anti-apartheid and divestment, animal rights, minority discrimination and defense spending. Whether the college or university is liberal or conservative determines the amount of activity and the number of students involved. Berkeley is considered the national leader for campus protest activity, says Karen Kenney, Student Affairs Officer at the University of California at Berkeley. There is a history of protest and tradition at Berkeley, ’ Kenney says. Berkeley is the leader in free speech and a model for the rest of the country. This is just part of their education, and our campus police endorse it.” Protests at Texas A&M are not as frequent or as large as those at other colleges, such as Berkely. For this reason, a group of students here has established the Freedom Society, which is in direct communication with the leaders of national protest organizations. Freshman journalism major Derek Kalahar. a founder of the organization, says the members believe A&M students are too apathetic, and they want people to know that “anyone with any cause can do anything. " Students fighting for a cause, such as nuclear protests or world hunger, may contact Freedom Society members for information about national organizations. Then they can set up a campus group, with national affiliations, advocating the same beliefs. Kalahar says. The Freedom Society is on the mailing list of various organizations and has the mailing addresses of many more. You can get one side of the issue from watching Reagan on TV," Kalahar says. "We are here to present the other side, which is not at A&M Stuaents parnapate in many protest groups across the United States. But the key issue is the objection to the treatment of blacks in South Africa and the insistence of schools to stop investing their money in companies doing business in South Africa Ray Colvig, Public Information Officer at Berkeley, says the issues today are not as clear cut as the Civil Rights Movement and the protests to the Vietnam War in the 1960s. And although today's issues may not seem as important, the protesters genuinely believe in what they are advocating. “In the last few years, for example, apartheid has attracted the attention of the young people. ' Colvig says. “They are focusing on the secondary target, which is to divest. The treatment of South Africans on television shows affected them and they reacted." Colvig says many changes have occurred in the past 20 years including the preparation methods for protests and the knowledge of the topics. Current protesters have an advantage because they receive training on effective methods for bnnging people together. People now have a greater chance of being heard due to higher quality newspapers Also, the institutions are better equipped to deal with the protests, he says. Today’s students are not as carefree as those of the 60s who could devote more time to current issues and worry less about the secunty of their future, Colvig says. Scarcity of obs and a shortage of money were not major problems twenty years ago. The national recession in the 70s made students aware that they need a job and money, ” he says. “People today do not take the chances they would have back then. Kenney says Berkeley students brought the divestment issue to national attention and were essentially responsible for the reactions of other students across the country. Last spring there were divestment rallies on the Berkeley campus every day, with an average of 100 and up to 500 students participating. In addition, they built shanty towns and held sit- ins. she says. Students at Stanford University iiave also protested apartheid and set up shanty towns to protest university investment policies. Michael Ramsey-Perez. a student activities official at Stanford, says the school permits demonstrations and rallies, and the university has a tradition of respecting the protests. "We don t see it as a problem but as a way political changes happen." Ramsey-Perez says. We may be inconvienced by 30 oeople in our office, but it should not be stifled. It is not really a problem This may set us apart from other universities As the winter quarter progresses Ramsey-Perez foresees a nse in the number of demonstrations, rallies, sit- ins and civil disobedience actions which are just a form of freedom of speech. Campus officials are trying to improve the apartheid problem by
