Saturday, November 9, 1968
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three
Saturday, November 9, 1968 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three
GRIEVANCES NOT REMEDIED
-llexican student unrest smolders
By PHILIP RUSSELL
College Press Service
MEXICO CITY - The con-
trasts of modern Mexico are
probably clearest in the way
Mexicohas treated the youth of
the world coming to the Olym-
pics, and the way it has treated
its own youth, the students. The
Olympics were televised around
the world, but one sees little of
the Mexican students.
This contrast was sharpest
Oct. 2 when the National Stu-
dent strike council called a
meeting in the plaza of a hous-
ing project near the center of
Mexico City. Several thousand
j striking students, sympathizers,
and residents of the housing
project gathered to hear the
strike leaders speak.
As the meeting was going on
soldiers backed up by armored
cars began to approach the
plaza from the two sides not
flanked by buildings. Suddenly
* two flares appeared in the sky
and the army began to shoot
into the crowd. Forty minutes
later the crowd was dispersed,
and in the plaza and the sur-
rounding apartments, also tar-
gets of the soldiers, lay a hun-
dred dead and five hundred
wounded.
The official version is that a
sniper fired on a soldier from
an apartment building drawing
fire from the army, which then
shot back killing .35 unarmed
members of the crowd.
The movement dates back to
July 23, when the students of
two high schools were having a
rumble of no political signifi-
cance,, which was broken up.
with more than the usual police
brutality. In response to this
the students decided to stage a
protest rally three days later.
The police, rather than letting
the protest run its course, waded
in and broke it up with tear gas,
clubs and bullets.-
The students responded by
heaving rocks, hijacking city
buses, and later in the demon-
stration burning barricades.
After three days of demonstra-
tions, things calmed down and
the students demanded the
firing of the police chief, lib-
erty for those arrested, and
payments to the families ,of
those who had been killed by
the police.
When these demands had not
been met by Aug. 9, a student
strike was called by the 80,000-
student National University, the
Polytechnic Institute, and the
numerous high schools associ-
ated with it.- I
The students rormed a na-
tional strike council which ad-
ded to the demands to be' met
before the students would re-
turn to classes. Included in the
new demands were the aboli-
tion of the police riot squad,
the release of all political pris-
oners, and the repeal of Mexi-
co's "social dissolution" law,
which is used to suppress poli-
ical dissent.
However, just as the Berkeley
and Columbia movements went
deeper than Telegraph Avenue
til
and Morningside Heights, the
student movement here is a
product of more than unre-
strained police brutality. Gen-
erally the school facilities have
been crowded and government
expenditure on education has
been relatively low even for
Latin America. Often the pro-
fessors had professional careers
outside the University and took
little interest in their students.
For more than a month after
the start of the strike, things
went along peacefully-the stu-
dents having meetings and dem-
onstrations and trying to sway
public opinion; the government
saying it would listen to the
students' legitimate demands
and that it was willing to talk.
Then suddenly the govern-
ment began to take a hard line.,
On Sept. 18 the army was sent.
into the National University to
dislodge students who had been
using the idle facilities as a
strikemheadquarters. Although
the army met absolutely no re-
sistance, all those found on the-
campus were arrested.,The sev-
eral days of street demonstra-
tions which fo11 o w e d were
swiftly repressed.
The government moved in to
occupy the' Polytechnic Insti-
tute on Sept. 23. Police and
troops succeeded in occupying
the campus only after fighting
their' way through burning
buses, Molotovcocktails, and
scattered sniper fire.
The uneasy truce following
the occupation lasted until the
massacre of Oct. 2. In the days
following, hundreds of students
who attended the meeting or
who had been active in the
strike were arrested and charged
with crimes ranging from minor
offenses to homicide.
. Strike activity, because of the
repression, came to a nearly
complete stop, at least for the
duration of the Olympics.
Just before the opening of
the Games, students held a
meeting, this time surrounded
by protective machine - guns.
The strike's main activity now
consists of small neighborhood
meetings to build up public sup-
port. News of what scattered
activity there is, is almost com-
pletely blacked out by the press.
Whenever its end, the strike
has had great effect on students
who, becoming political radicals
overnight, have seen for the first.
time how the Mexican govern-
ment operates.
-Associated Press
'This way out, Hubert'
President-elect Richard Nixon and Vice President Hubert Hum-
phrey meeting yesterday in Miami. They joined in urging national
unity, and both men pledged to work together in the years ahead.
Nixon said he will especially look for Humphrey's assistance in
the fields of foreign affairs and national security.
POVERTY PERSISTS:
Farm 1 e1rs'problems
far from resoltionI]
in $GC elections
ELECTIONS COMM.
'1i
I NDERGROUND at the Vth Forumi
N
D
E
R
G
R
0
u
N
D.
5th Ave. at Liberty, 761 -9700
Thurs., Fri., Sat., Sun.-11:00 P.M. -separate admission required
BLACK POWER, WE'RE COIN' SURVIVE AMERICA-by Lenny Henny-Produced in~ cooperation
with the Black Panther Party. Portraying the struggle for Black Liberation, the inside story of Huey
Newton, and a dynamic speech by Stokely Carmichael. Highly recommended.'
THE GRATEFUL DEAD-by Robert Nelson-The story of the San Francisco Rock group done by one
of the best independent filmmakers around. A visual equivalent to the sounds the Grateful Dead
make. The visual and the auditory enhance and fortify each other.
WE SHALL MARCH AGAIN-by Lenny Lipton-Aprobing documentary on the attempted protest
march on the Oakland Army Terminal by'students from Berkeley and the opinions of "straight" cit-
izens about the action as well as an examination of the "police riot" that ensued.
QUIXOTE-by Bruce Baille-Climaxing this famed film-maker's first period of work, it examines
the mores of the Western World, especially its orientation toward conquest. A complicated film and
sound montage that portraits America, protests its ugliness, and memorializes its beauties. "A visual
trip through the contemporary environment."
"H" THE STORY OF A TEENAGE DRUG ADDICT - An early (1950) W.C.T.U. anti-dope film.
Highly educational with certain camp features. Get yourself together for this one!
SPOEKER MANDALIA- -changing colored mandal background.
By DON KENDALL
WASHINGTON R~) - Agricul-
ture was not a major issue in this,
presidential campaign simply be-
cause farmers' problems are in-
finitely more subtle and old-hat
than those of Vietnam, poverty,
city crime and world affairs.
Serious problems do exist in
American agriculture, but they
are hoary, deep-'rooted shadows
that are too elusive for most peo-
ple concerned with other issues.
No true crisis has emerged to
force agriculture upon voters.
There is, ample food. There is
no widespread, prolongedsdrought
of Dust Bowl proportions. There
have been no riots among farm-
ers, no procession of tractors
marching on Washington.
But the lack of dramatic epi-
sodes does not minimize the prob-
lems of rural America. Poverty
and hunger persists amid the af-
fluence; farmers continue to leave
the land for city jobs; rising costs
of production continue at record
pace.
Hubert H. Humphrey, the Demo-
cratic presidential candidate, ac-
cused Republican Richard M.
Nixon of not fully explaining what
he would do about government
farm programs.
Nixon called for new ideas and
charged that farm income after
eight Democratic years is "intol-
erable" and that "farmers are en-
titled to better."
Third-party candidate George
C. Wallace urged higher govern-
ment farm price supports - up to
100 per cent of parity - and do-
ing away with federal production
controls.
Each recognized that farm prob-
lems exist. Each in varying de-
grees suggested that some sort of
government action is required.
Nixon said he would seek "a
new approach" in federal farm
programs, "energetically imple-
mented" by a secretary of agri-
culture experienced in farm mat-
ters.
The question of how American
agriculture is to be operated in
the future is whether it will con-
tinue mostly in the hands of re-
latively small private investors or
will emerge as an integrated giant
turning out food and fiber as a
factory produces automobiles.
The story is not new. In 1940
farmers comprised about 23 per
cent of the nation's population. In
1948 they totaled less than 17
per cent. In 1952 they dwindled
to less than 14 per cent.
The latest estimate by the De-
partment of Agriculture -- for
1968 - is 10.5 million persons liv-
ing on farms, around five per
cent of the population.
As people leave the lands, farms
become larger. Successful farms
are businesses, operated with the
knowledge, investment, and fi-
nesse required in industry.
Whether those remaining in ag-
riculture will have the capital, ex-
perience and other resources to
remain as "family farmers" if the
exodus continues is a major ques-
tion.
The alternative - the replace-
ment of family farming with cor-
porate-style operations - is an
overriding factor in whatever pro-
grams are recommended by the
next president.
And while its political stock is
not high today, the impact of a
thriving-or a suffering-farm
community is unmistakable and,
in some measure, has had to do
with the solution of the other,
more energetic issues of this pres-
idential campaign.
the
news toda
b) The Associa/ed Press and College Press Seri ice
NORTH VIETNAM REJECTED last night a plan pro-
posed by South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu
for conducting expanded peace talks.
Thieu had proposed an "our side, their side" format for
the talks, with Saigon heading the allied negotiating team.
However Xuan Thuy, chief negotiator for the North Vietna-
mese delegation turned down the proposal on the grounds
of last week's talks with the United States, in which it was
agreed there would be four separate delegations at the new
talks - the U.S., North Vietnam, the Saigon government, and
the National Liberation Front.
Thieu has refused to send a delegation to talks held un-
der the four-team format, forcing the United States to post-
pone the first meeting, which was to be Wednesday.
U.S. officials have made no comment on Thieu's plan,
while seeking clarification of some of the points involved.
Thieu's plan is most likely aimed at keeping the NLF in a
subsidiary role to North Vietnam's delegation, while the Sai-
gon government receives a prominent role in the talks.
* . .
CHANGING THE METHOD of electing our president
was called "a top priority item" yesterday by Senator
Birch Bayh (D-Ind).
Bayh, the chairman of theSenate Constitutional Amend-
ments sub-committee, a unit of the Judiciary Committee,
said at a news conference yesterday that direct popular elec-
tion of president is the only plan that is going to capture the
imagination of the people sufficiently to stand a chance of
adoption.
"The near brush with catastrophe" in Tuesday's election
has convinced him that now is the time to try to build up
public support for the constitutional change, he said.
Bayh's subcommittee held hearings earlier this yea on
various plans to abolish the present Electoral College system,
but was unable to come to agreement on any plan to recom-
mend to the committee as a whole.
THE TOP OFFICIALS in the Johnson administration
began handing in their resignations yesterday.
Secretary of the Treasury Henry Fowler and Undersecre-
tary of State Nicholas Katzenbach both formally resigned
yesterday. Secretary of HEW Wilbur J. Cohen also announced
he will leave government service in January.
The resignations are expected to take effect specifically
late next month. All of the other Johnson administration of-
ficials will most likely submit resignations before President-
elect Nixon takes over January 20.
Cohen said he plans to return to Ann Arbor to take up the
professorship he left in 1961. He is a professor in the social
work school.
UN SECRETARY-GENERAL U Thant denied yester-
day that attempts to negotiate a peace settlement in the
Mid-East have failed.
Envoys to the discussions in New York from Jordan and
Egypt left the talks Thursday. However Thant said it was
necessary for them to return home after being away from
their capitals for some time.
Meanwhile, Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban remained
in New York and scheduled 'a news conference for Monday.
Statements by all three representatives indicated that Gun-
nar Jarring, the Swedish negotiator, has made little progress
toward a settlement. Jarring has been trying to gain a settle-
ment for 11 months.
* ." 0
PORTUGUESE TROOPS have invaded Zambia from
Mozambique.
The announcement was made in the United Nations yes-
terday by Zambian representative Vernon Mwaanga. Mwaan-
ga said Portuguese planes have bombed the eastern region of
Zambia several times, but said the attack yesterday on the
village of Kamata "is the worst incident to date."
The General Assembly's trusteeship committee is cgr-
rently debating the situation in the Portuguese territories in
Africa. Mwaanga said the issue of the attacks will be raised
in this committee.
* .
EFFORTS WERE LAUNCHED yesterday to create a
United States of Europe.
! Michael Stewart, the British foreign secretary, endorsed
yesterday a proposal for a West Eurolean summit conference
open to any country that wants to join. In addition a Declara-
tion of Europe prepared for formal issuance today outlines the
growing influence of America and Russia on Europe and Eur-
ope's decreasing importance in world affairs, due, to its lack
of unity.
The summit proposal has not been endorsed by any other
nations of Europe, however Stewart said he will have until
January to see what action can be taken.
167 PERSONS WERE ARRESTED Thursday night as
a result of anti-Soviet demonstrations in Prague, and
other cities across the country.
During the demonstrations, Soviet flags were pulled down
and burned while gangs of youths roamed the streets shouting
"Russians go home."
The Interior Ministry, in making the announcement of
the arrests, said they were organized and carried out "by irre-
sponsible groups of citizens" who made "fairly serious provo-
cations." The Ministry also said that names of demonstrators
would be put on lists and circulated to schools, plants, and
businesses.
NOW t 'DIAL
8-6416
Dedicated to every man who has ever had to
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j:,
0an
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ICHGA
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TONIGHT at
1421 Hill St.
8:30 P.M.
< singing folk-rock
} and folk music,
playing bassanova
guitar
instrumentals
$1.00 cover includes free food!
as recorded
by
The U of M
Band,
The Ui of M
Men's Glee Club,
and
The Friars
-Next- L
BARBARELLA
SHOWS
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7:10 & 9:20 _
1-3-5 FO
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