The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1962-01-26

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trary, unless there is a grassroot'
revolt over the present administra
TONS policy, Montana will be lef
behind in the drive to gain the type
of intellectual and industrial develop
ment necessary for progress in the
latter half of the goth Century.
On page 2 of this paper is re.
printed an article by the editor OF
HARPERS which clearly and drama.
tically points out what many Montana
people have been trying itoAputl over
for some time :. "Cs,
The splendor of the future that
could be ours is being obliterated as
higher education is being dragged
relentlessly into a pit.
How long is the journey back from
the River Styx?
There is no way of knowing at
this moment the exact form our tor
ment is going to take. but that
it has begun is obvious.
Speculation on how the state adj
ministration is going to handle the
resistance to their plans to de-empha-
size education at MISC is interesting.
There are those who insist the Gov
ernor wouldn't be so foolish" as to
fire the president or undertake a
wholesale purge. Then there are the
cynics.
The aims of the present admins
4,.o% 70 h4 fN1I Ga4
rid of the academic freedom that
allows economic, social and educa-
tionai facts to get to the people of
the state -. de-emphasize education
by cutting back the money put
the university system under political
control.
A president who has had the intel
lectual honesty and courage to de-
fend the needs of his educational in
stitution and the academic and fl
nancial rights of his faculty is bull
wark against the political control,
which the other detectives
can't be attained.
Any such Horatio at the Campus
Gate presents a problem.
If the stated aims of the admins
5ration are to materialize, what M. o.
will they use?
Is an outright pitched battle better
han piece-meal approach?
AS in any battle, strategy is i'm
oortant whether from the angle of
he attacker or the attacked.
What would be the result of the
inc of thought that administrations
come and go, legislatures come and
20 and "this too shall pass"?
AS the drive to cripple the univer-
iity system in Montana intensifies !
what will be left when "this too
Money can be re-instated but how
ong would it take to repair the I
lamage to the academic standing of |
he units and to quell the unrest that
1t this very point poses threat to
he entire system?
If only money were involved in |
his whole affair the future would be
leak enough, but it is more than
hat.
BY cooperating with the admins
ration and yielding to the pressures
o avoid the pitched battle would any
hing be gained?
This would result in an intellectual
trophy where moving cadavers would
o through the motions of teaching.
'olitical control would be welded
trough a subtle chain of command,
irected from individual to individual
nd silence the invaluable ingredient
D security. ~ 80 j
This M. o. expresses displeasure
Y salary reduction here, an out
ight dismissal there, a letter or warn
lg word another place picking
if process to relieve the outside L
ressure :. the squeezes that build
p the inside tensions a seriesI
scattered Incidents designed to ac-
omplish an overall purpose.
Strangulation by smothering. |
Creating little outside interest, the
esults of this approach are the more