Page 8-Sunday, April 1, 1979-The Michigan Daily
kent state
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numbers of "negative" stories and
overworking the May 4 issue. An article
which raised questions of possible
favoritismin selection of a university
vice-president sealed Golding's lips to
Stater reporters for nearly a month,
according to Plonsky. She also said the
editor selected for spring term "gets
asked a lot of questions (by the ad-
ministrators) about how they intend to
cover May 4."
Activists concede the ad-
ministration's tactics have succeeded
in putting down unrest and
discouraging students who were on the
fringe of becoming more involved in
political groups. "It got so when studen-
ts saw activism, they knew right
around the corner was people taking
pictures," Hart concluded. And despite
the fact that anger and strong feelings
continue to brew within manystudents,
"there is no motivation to organize it,"
he adds. The dejection and frustration
brought on by construction of the gym
was compounded by negative student
attitudes toward dissenters.
"I could never walk in that gym and I
never will; just looking at it makes me
nauseus," says member of the now
defunct May 4 Coalition, Sue Erenrich,
which broke up when the gym construc-
tion proceeded. May 4 Task Force
member Sarah Wilkins calls the group
that remains "a pocket of radicalism in
a quilt of conservatives."
Speakers who come to Kent State
today are greeted by relatively sparse
audiences. Two summers ago Dick
Gregory riled thousands of students,
urging them to throw themselves down
before the bulldozers to halt the gym's
construction. Stokely Carmichael's
recent speech, heard by 150 people, was
on "Total Unification of Africa Under
Scientific Socialism"-not a topic of
mass appeal. And when federal ar-
chivist Charles Thomas spoke of May 4,
1970 and a link with federal foul play, he
attracted 175 persons.
Black students are generally indif-
ferent to May 4 activities. Of nine inter-
viewed, Linda Henry's comments
typified the responses: "The
significance (of May 4) is not that
strong to us." One of the antiwar
movement's failures was that it never
appealed to, or gained black support.
Several black students said Jackson
State, where black students were gun-
ned down, is the tragedy with which
they identify. KSU is geared to white
students in the social and academic
realms, blacks say, and there is no ef-
fort made to appeal to their needs. The
Black United Students movement
(BUS) is now directing its energy
toward getting more funds so that they
can bring in their own'intellectual and
musical entertainment. BUS treasurer
Richard Black said they are pursuing
their goals from within the system
because, "People who fight stand out
and are exploited even when you're just
expressing the constitutional right to
redress grievances."
s TUDENT extra-curricular ener-
gies are now aimed at ROTC
and career-related organizations.
n 971, KSU followed a national trend
with an all-time low of only 71 Army
ROTC cadets. As attitudes changed, the
program gradually recovered
throughoutjthe.decade and in the fall of
1978, 151 men and 69 women enrolled.
The Free Enterprise Club, which just
emerged this year, exemplifies the shift
in student attitudes away from political
interests.
KSU's image problems, as a result of
May 4, have motivated ambitious
student recruitment programs
throughout the state, a massive public
relations campaign, and squelching of
anything resembling dissent. So far, the
efforts have paid off. Freshmen ap-
plications are up 45 per cent from last
yar at this time. But, as Stater editor
Plonsky points out, "This university
can't afford to make mistakes."
Enrollment, which peaked in 1970
around 23,000, dipped drastically
during the middle of the decade, before
stabilizing at 18,000 last fall.
The perils of an eroding student base
have snowballed and resulted in less
state support, which begets higher
'Mition rates and discourages applican-
ts. Rhodes is now talking about a $100
tuition hike for all state schools. The
fact that Ohio is at the bottom of the list
for federal education aid does not help
matters. In addition, elementary and
secondary school strikes around the
state have directed any potential in-
creases to those areas. KSU is slated
for a 3.3 per cent funding boost this
year, which will not even keep up with
inflation of fixed costs, let alone wages.
The faculty recently voted to
unionize, which could be construed as a
no-confidence strike against Golding's
budget priorities. He has asked each
department to justify itself with the
number of students served, arousing
fear and insecurity among instructors.
Plummeting enrollment has meant a
housing glut, particularly on campus.
Two dorms stand studentless, so the
university is renting one floor to
General Motors as a halfway house for
mental patients. The Center for
Peaceful Change, an outgrowth of May
4, has been placed in another empty
dorm. A weekend college program is
planned to ease some of the financial
strain, and department mergers, and
cutbacks account for the rest. The
greatest burden is tenured faculty.
Alleviating labor costs can be done
only by retirement, so cutbacks have
hit the 4,000 graduate students hardest.
The faculty's vote to unionize could be
construed as a no-confidence vote for
Golding's budget priorities. He has
asked departments to justify them-
selves with the number of students ser-
ved.
Students have said Golding runs the
university like a corporation, and
Zimomra says that's why he was hired:
to remedy KSU's economic plights.
Golding himself has expressed -the
philosophy that a university is not sup-
posed to be a democracy. The gym and
May 4 commemoration demonstrate
that he implements his policies. In ad-
dition to charges of coverup and
discrimination against black and leftist
groups, students have described him as
vindictive and beligerent. The faculty's
recent vote to unionize could be con-
strued as a stroke of no-confidence in
Golding's budget priorities.
OLDING'S executive assistant,
Robert McCoy, says his super-
ior has been forthright and
open, engaging student input. Golding
evaded repeated attempts to be inter-
viewed. McCoy cited the wine and
cheese parties held with faculty groups
and annual campus barbecues as
evidence of Golding's reaching out into
the university community. He pointed
to some concessions the president has
made: classes were cancelled on May 4
last year, a brief description of the
events of May 4, 1970 is now included in
the school's catalogue, and the univer-
sity continues to fund memorial ac-
tivities. It is rumored that only a half
day of classes will be cancelled this
year.
Some students said the president has
been open to student input, and others
say he has held forums to present his
positions. But Hart asserts that such
actions are empty, calling it the "open
door-closed mind" policy. The open
door is welcoming students to ex-
press their views, he says, and the
closed mind "is that you can go in there
and say whatever you want, but it won't
be incorporated into the decisions
made."
For all its "openness," the university
has refused to accept two May 4-related
gifts. Prominent sculptor George Segal
offered Kent State his tribute to May 4,
which was portrayed by a statue of
Abraham and Isaac to symbolize God's
test of killing the young and innocent as
Abraham did by sacrificing his own
son. But the administration said the ar-
twork was too violent and Princeton
University procured it, but has not yet
exhibited the work. "Kent had the
chance for art by a contemporary, well-
known artist," lamented design student
Wendy Bogart. "There's no money for
another design teacher or new equip-
ment, and that shows they're (the ad-
ministration) not dealing with it (May
4) realistically."
Peter Davies, author of The Truth
About the Killings at Kent State, of-
fered to store the materials from his
book at KSU. Once again the ad-
ministration refused.
Golding stood his ground on the gym
issue also. He was quoted in the Raven-
na Courier Sept. 19 as saying he didn't
believe that the gym was really the
issue. "It was an issue to stir up the
place and get the suckers involved, it
was mass hysteria by those who wanted
to tear down the place, thrive on
dissidence and hate authority."
Real or not, the gym issue succeeded
in dividing the student body into the ac-
tivists and nonactivists. Part of the
strategy to regain Kent State's status
was by beefing up athletic programs in
order to attract athletes and generous
contributions. A new stadium has been
built and nearly $1 million is budgeted
as a loss for the next three years. But
unlike recreational sports, student tur-
nout at football games as well as other
interscholastic sports is quite poor.
"People don't come here for
athletics," note Zimomra. Ad-
ministrative pressure to alter students'
priorities is evident in Golding's
statement that the objectives in life of
football patrons is quite different from
those of rock concert spectators.
Golding said he would give the football
program three years to redeem itself.
But several students have com-
plained that football unnecessarily
siphons money _ away from
academics-library materials in par-
ticular.
But the interest in commemorating
May 4 remains strong among students
and faculty. It is a special time of year
understood only by those who mourn at
Jackson State for the students show
there on May 14, 1970. Many students
who attend the annual ceremonies say
that is the only time of year it crosses
their mind. Bogart and Joan Carsten-
sen say they think of it often, but they
are atypical.
But a significant number of students
find themselves torn between ap-
preciating good athleltic facilities and
identifying with the cause. And while
the emotional ties are not as strong as
those held by previous generations, the
sense of the event's importance still
reigns. "It's like if you live in Get-,
tysburg, you should know what hap-
pened there or anywhere else like
that," points out student Jennie
Scrivener.
The major student complaints that
have been aired on the handling of May
4 are that the negative aspects receive
too much attention while the
educational value is not emphasized
enough. Today's students are turned off
by rhetoric because it is no longer
relevant. The Task Force still conducts
dorm films and discussion programs,
and Sorehan says he wants to play up
the education and downplay politics
even more. He estimates that only
about 200 of 18,000 students really lknow
about May 4. He also predicts that as
time passes the political perspective
twill fade and the historical value will
dominate the commemoration.
Myra Dugan, Task Force advisor and
CPC instructor planned to spend a few
days on May 4 in her peace studies class
and ended up devoting an entire week to
the subject. She was surprised by the
lively class interest and constructive
discussion.
May 4 commemoration planning
began under the auspices of the student
caucus, and then shifted to the May 4
Task Force two years ago. The main
event of each commemoration is the
candlelight vigil, which present Task
Force chairperson Sorehan termed
religious. It begins with a march
around campus, on Friday night with
all the participants holding candles,
circles around and ends up on the
parking lot where the students were
killed. Half hour turns are taken from
then on standing vigil with a lit candle
at the shooting site through the entire
weekend. Last year the faculty spon-
sored its own commemoration service,
marking the first year of the ad-
ministration-led May 4 Observance
Committee. The Observance Commit-
tee includes two students, and some
Task Force members at first con-
sidered it an affront aimed at
relinquishing its monopoly over the
plans.
The Task Force already has four
speakers planned for this year's ser-
vices: Paul Keane, a former student
who initiated numerous May 4
programs such as the May 4 room in the
library and the Center for Peaceful
Change, Sanford Rosen, attorney for
the parents and students in the civil suit
which was recently settled out of court,
Constance Slaughter, an attorney in-
volved in the Jackson State case, and
Charles Thomas, who has done exten-
sive research on an alleged conspiracy
by government higher-ups to make
Kent State a nationwide example, as
well as folk singer Barbara Dane. The
theme of this year's commemoration
will be the unsettled areas of May 4,
1970.
I
stundalx magazine
Co-editors
Owen Gleiberman Judy Rakowsky
Cover photo by Judy Rakowsky
inside:
Finding
a cure
for dogma
Students.
quest for
kudos
At MOMA
the walls
have ears
Supplement to The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan-Sunday, April 1, 1979