Harvard's SDS Chapter May Begin Larger Anti-War Drive Next Term

The Harvard chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society will probably expand its campaign against the Vietnamese war into the non-University community next term.

Michael S. Ansara '68, the chapter's treasurer, said yesterday that he envisions SDS sending out speakers to various groups--unions, high school clubs, and churches, for example. These speakers will attempt to win converts who will in turn campaign against the war.

No Guarantee

Ansara emphasized that he will only propose this plan and that the full membership must approve it before it goes into effect. "I think we'll do this, but I can't guarantee it," he said.

"But students want to get off the campus," he continued. "They've had marches and teach-ins, and they're discouraged that the war hasn't ended...Johnson needs a huge anti-war movement so if he decides to end the war, it's politically safe for him to do it. The only way to get this movement is to get out and talk to people. I think that's what most students believe."

A Vietnam seminar that SDS has been conducting all fall will provide the initial speakers for the program and probably teachers for future seminars, Ansara said.

Experimental Plan

His plan will be something of an experiment. "We don't know what type groups can be organized. We've got to go out and find out which ones will respond."

Pamphlets aimed at different groups will probably be prepared. Both these pamphlets and the speakers will approach different groups from a slightly different angle. "You've got to make the war relevant to them, and that's pretty hard to do," Ansara said. For example, he explained, SDS may emphasize the draft to high school students, morality to church groups, a reduced right to strike to unions, and the lives of their sons to housewives.

Regional Conference

Ansara proposed his plan to a regional conference of SDS chapters held at M.I.T. this weekend. The two-day conference, attended by 120 people at one time or another, adjourned without taking a position on the proposal.