'VIOLENT' SHOULD DESCRIBE WEATHER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88-01315R000400100005-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Sequence Number: 5
• Content Type: NEWSPAPER CLIPPING

Approved For Release 2006/09/28: CIA-RDP88-01315 00100005-5 STAT
LANTERN
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY
26 January 1979
ishould describ
i 21at
Weather'\
JW r 1W e cruder
Man has often resorted to violence
to bring about certain personal or
societal changes.
'. Early on, one"learns through fairy
tales that violence is permissible
when used to slay dragons and evil
knights, and thus facilitate the re-
scue of the damsel in distress.
'One learns too - from Hansel and
Gretel that if a wicked witch is
'keeping you against your will in a
gingerbread house, you are permit-
ted to violently kick her into a hot
oven and make, your escape. -
But at the, same time, most of us
also are taught that while some
people in real life are ;violent, we
would be better off using the wordh
`violent' only to describe certain
Brigade actions were
to make people think
Tuesday morning, however, thef
violent actions of members of the
Revolutionary Communist' Youth
Brigade against a CIA recruiter, here
on campus, have caused a con-
troversy that will remain in the air.
for ome time.
The brigade picketed Hitchcock
Hall -- where the recruiter was in
terviewing students ?- to protest`
against capitalism and the CIA's pre-
sence on campus and in Iran.
At the climax of the protest, red
paint, symbolizing 1the "blood of
people around' the world,'' was
hurled on the&recruiter. Papers,
desks, walls and several bystanders
were also splattered. The recruiter
was escorted from the campus by
police.
The CIA has had a long history o
recruiting at universities across.the
country. Often, professors and other
students, working undercover for the
agency, spotted ' 'students who
seemed likely candidates for the CIA
and submitted the student's name for
investigation as a possible employee.
During this process, the student
being investigated had no idea' of
what was going on.
A Select U.S. Senate Committee
found that such covert practices have
existed at over 100 universities in the
country.,
While some universities are asking
faculty members to divulge informa-
tion of involvement with the. CIA,
;Ohio State has taken no action on.the.
situation
While-no definite proof of suchr
'practices exist at Ohio State, one
wonders why the university has not
taken steps to prove otherwise.
And since the university has made
no moves to limit CIA activities, one
brigade member feels{that it is up to
their group to "run the CIA off cam-
pus," whether the recruiting is cov-
ert, or open and above board, as was
the recruiting done Tuesday.
According to George Preston, an
ex-marine and treasurer.for the or
ganization, the. actions by.. the group
Tuesday were to make people think.
"Very few students are'-sitting on
the fence now. We've been leafletting
on the Oval and have found that
people are either for us or against
us." Preston said.
While few students may be sitting
on the fence, even fewer seem to be
taking up- red banners and singing
songs of comradeship as they change
classes
_ Tooanystudents.,still believe in
the `American Dream,' but according
to Preston, because of capitalism, the
`American Dream' has turned to
ashes.
Preston compares the attitudes of
students today with those of students
in 1962.:
"Students aren't conscious. You
:can tell. by the way.they,don't vote,"
he said.
"The only difference is that when
unrest occurred later in the sixties,
students weren't organized. Now we
are," he said..
Preston insists that the CIA has no
right to be on campus.'-Tt~does not
matter that the agency is open about)
its presence and students are wil-;
lingly signing up for interviews. a
Brigade members say that thel
CIA's involvement in Chile, Iran and
other countries must be ended. And
the only way, they believe, is through.
violence.
According to Preston, support for
the group numbers in the hundreds.
This may be true, but with only 10
active members in the group, it may t
also be true that the Oval is actually
situated in the middle of Lake Erie. {
Some students may believe in the
group's ideas, but violent tactics
have alienated many. And according
to, Preston, the paint throwing inci-
dent was mild.
Covert practices exist
_,on over-1 M. campuses
`-Ask any Iranian student what he
would have done if he had gotten that
close to a CIA agent:' he said.
Indeed, an Iranian student mayl
have done a bit more than toss a bit of
paint. But red paint looks better on,
barns than people, and everyone'
would be better off if the word;vio-4
'lent' were used only to describe cer-i
.tain weather conditions, and not,
'human actions.
Gregory McGruder is a senior from
tToledo majoring in journalism.
STAT
Approved For Release 2006/09/28: CIA-RDP88-01315R000400100005-5