TV Show Explores Alleged Rise Of Conservatism Among Students

"David Brinkley's Journal" took a half-hour look last night at the so-called "rising conservative tide" among American college students and concluded that the liberals still outnumber the conservatives nearly 2 to 1, while the politically apathetic outnumber both groups "approximately 500 to 1."

The television program centered around film clips taken at the 14th Congress of the United States National Student Association last August. It highlighted the speeches of impasioned liberals urging the abolition of the House Committee on Un-American Activities and of equally fervent conservatives attempting to spread their gospel in the wilderness of overwhelmingly liberal NSA.

Howard J. Phillips '62, former president of the Harvard Student Council, sparked the conservative attack with the declaration that "NSA is not representative of the opinions and desires of American college students."

After the conservative forces were resoundingly defeated in their efforts to temper the protest against the HUAC, Phillips retorted, "I think from the Conservative viewpoint the Congress was a success, because it shows the futility of working within NSA."

Marc J. Roberts '64 summed up the liberal outcry against the HUAC before a meeting of the entire Congress. "This Committee infringes on the basic rights of individuals. It tends to destroy political freedom."

The final resolution, adopted by a vote of 269-158, read in part: "The mandate of the Committee is, itself, defective and inherently contrary to our democratic traditions. . . . The HUAC has directly and indirectly encroached upon university autonomy and on the legitimate freedom of students and faculties."

After the fun was over, the liberals retired to party in a basement hang-out. The program closed with alternating shots of them singing "When the Saints Go Marching In" and of conservatives at their lonely headquarters, insisting to the end that most college students agree with their political views.