Organizing Fails

A meeting called to plan future Boston antiwar activities ended inconclusively last night at the M. I. T. student center.

The gathering, which was planned by participants in last weekend's antiwar conference in Ann Arbor, Mich., was attended by about 300 people from Boston antiwar groups.

After a short introduction by several speakers who reported on the proposals which the Ann Arbor conference had approved, the meeting broke down into smaller groups which represented different areas and "antiwar constituencies."

Out of the smaller discussions emerged several proposals, including a Boston regional antiwar conference and plans for automatic responses to further escalations of the Indochina war, similar to last year's "The Day After" demonstrations. Some discussion groups presented proposals for a Women's March on the Pentagon on March 27.

"What we need is a new participatory movement for the spring, to be brought to the various antiwar constituencies throughout the city," said Dick Mann, one of the Ann Arbor participants.

The gathering attempted to vote on a date for a regional conference, or "gathering of tribes," as Mann called it, which would formulate a definite program of Boston antiwar activities for the coming months.

The meeting, however, failed to touch any issues but the regional conference, which it debated for over an hour before the meeting ended.

Members of the Young Socialist Alliance and the Student Mobilization Committee supported a Boston antiwar gathering for the weekend of February 27. Others advocated the weekend of February 20 for the proposed conference.

As the meeting concluded following a long debate and a futile vote on the proposed date, several members expressed dissatisfaction with the meeting's inability to reach a decision.

"This scene, this competitive divisiveness, is totally crazy. I can see this kind of discussion happening in Congress!" he said.