COLUMBIA DAĨLY SPECTATOR
COUJMBÎA^SPECTATOR
ROBERT FRIEDMAN
Editor - in ■ Chief
NICHOLAS G. GARAUFIS
Mis
cpi
ntation
The interim report íssued yesterday
by the Police Departraent tin the clear-
ing of íive University buildings last
week contains one very valid criticism
of the Columbia administration and its
overall attitude toward the protests of
the past two weeks. The police main-
taĩned that the administration "gross-
ly tinderestimated the number of stu-
dents inside the buildings" and the sig-
nifigance of facuĩty sympathy for the
deraonstrators. The report also point-
ed out that only eighteen oustiders were
arrested duríng the police raid.
Throughout the currenl crisis the ad-
ministration has spcnL a great deal of
time and energy in pcrpctrating the
myth that only a minisculc minority oí
students —ĸtudents vvho seek the des-
truction of the Umver_.ily—support the
protests. President Grayson Kirk in-
formecl the Trustees on April 26 that
a maximum oĩ three hundred students
were involved in the occup.ition of the.
l.i_!ihli_.<_;s.
N'ot only has the administration been
guilty of misrepresentation, but the out-
side press has succumbed to the same
dístortions in reporting thc true go_ils
and sentiments of the Columbia student
body. The effect has clearly been to
diseredit and taint the studentmovement
here in the eyes of the nation. Cne
word of praíse, however, shouldbegiven
the WKCIi, the campus radio station,
for their largely successful efforts to
keep the Columbia and New York com-
munities informed of the events of the
past two weeks,
But even now, when the campus is
just beginning to lose the appearance
of a concentration camp and the stu-
dents are indicating that they can stage
a responsible and peaceful strike, Vice
Presidenl Davtd B. Truman felt com-
pelled yesterday to contribute to a still
tense situation by threatening strikers
with the possibility of calling ĩn the
police agaĩn or of seeking an injunctíon
if things get bad enongh. Statements
such as these are not only in.lamm.i-
tory, but reveal a failure to respond
to an improving situalion wilh anythiug
but reactionary remarks. Though such
misrepi-L'sciititlions niay lie swallowcd
eagerly by the unsophisticated press
and the nation as a wl.ole, the admín-
istration must learn that Lhe Columbia
community will never n^yopl them, and
that hundreds of eUitlt't.ii--, 'j.v Iheir actions
and words, will prove them to be the
distortionstheyare.
The time must come when the acl-
the legitimaLe demands ol' studcnts by
iphical polnt of view
11 indications are that the administration wĩl
press criminal chargos. But if the adminlstra'
should entirely forgo dlsciplinary action, i
Id declare itself illegltlmate, and admit that i
no right to exist. Itegardless of ivhether or no
administration should do this, it clcaiiy ivill uol
-n the StriKe Committee insists that the Cniver-
grant amnesty before It negotiatesonUtiive.sity
irm, the Committee malies these negotiations
impossible, and is gullty of the same infl .vil.ilit.v
which it has accused the administration. Admin-
trative actions in the past. and the Strike (.■omtnit.
ĩ's in the present, may dĩffer in principle, bul
e aljke in stubbornness. Eoth parties, _-"rog^Ilt_J,
rtain of thelr own righteousness, have refused
compromise.
In holding out for amnesly before it will talk, the
Strike Committee seoms more interested in sBving
Ihan in reforming the University.
disobediance leaders of history—Tlioreau,
Gandhi, Martin Luther King—though theychalleiiÊed
Ihe justice of theaulhorityinpoiver, never (.uestionec
the desirability ot order. They realĩited the dangei
principle of one man setting himsellabove tht.
nd tempered thls principle by their agreemen
to pay the penalty of thc law ivhenever they trans-
gressed it. (Gtuĸilii utiui' i'vuu casiigaied a lli-ilisl
judge ivho had apologí_ed for having to sentenct
These men rose above their opponcnts when they
loived dis-îain for ivhat thcir opponents eoul
.:! when they did nol whine fear o( ropi
lluma-. nature is especia'ly quicii to ascrib:
iotive._ topeoplc in jioliliial afi'airs. !( isntii enough
Letters lo the Editor
Abaw EiX'n Snspicit
e Strihi
iv thal
; suspicion of
.elf-ii
I. Thi-
Witlvning S[)lit
Iti Ihc l-fiít)i':
e roles of the L'niv.
. Howev.
Is at Columbia,
I w.deninj. spllt v
of the Lniversit)
íe temporary _
should present the
.dminlstration with r
alions for chitngc,
of the fucts. Oncc
thc Administratioi
to shoiv good faith by implementinj: Ihcm
Kvery attempt
j -ettle (hĩs crisis to
of till invohed sh
Hild be made bcfore ,
drasticasa studer
strihe is considered
Graduat
John .\
May 3, 1968
P. Stephen Sc
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