Northwestern University - Syllabus Yearbook (Evanston, IL)

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Youth in Reaction The Northwestern student is a 19th century liberal. He agrees with the conservative position without being conser- vative. That ' s how one member of Northwestern ' s Young Ameri- cans for Freedom described the student body that elected Richard M. Nixon President in a mock election. John Jensen is president of Y.A.F. here. He maintains, as do all members, that his organization represents the true student interests. Late last school year, Jensen got tired of many things that are being done with my money, forcible cancellation of classes, the Daily Northwestern, and the whole posture of this campus. He acted. He recruited six members and put down his own $6 for a national charter. If you don ' t agree with the stand of national Y.A.F., you shouldn ' t be a member, one Y.A.F. said. So members of Y.A.F. adhere closely to national policy, defined in a paper called the Sharon Statement. The Sharon Statement was drafted by William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1960, the same year that the S.D.S. Port Huron Statement was written. Y.A.F. ' s are pro volunteer army and really big for laissez faire. They are against the minimum wage, compulsory So- cial Security, and East-West trade. A member will also have definite thoughts about the U.S. role against Communist domination in Asia and the union ' s exploitation of workers in the California grape strike, a complex issue, according to Jensen. Y.A.F. gives strong political support to men like Buckley, Ronald Reagan and Strom Thurmond. They in turn serve on the national advisory board. Y.A.F. ' s role on the Northwestern campus was to take a stance the majority of students would buy, Jensen recalls. 1 was paying into activities funds and got nothing out of it. I can ' t join F.M.O. and I ' m not interested in the Sailing Club. If an organization needs money it should raise it itself. I ' m against giving student government any money it doesn ' t raise itself. Jensen complained his money is being spent on organiza- tions and publications like the Daily Northwestern which don ' t express real campus sentiment. (Syllabus profits and Daily advertising support the Daily. — Ed.) He said student government doles out the funds and is full of liberal to left types with only a few conservative moderates. He and Y.A.F. here opposed cancellation of classes for the October K ..r r torium and proposed that students should request nds from the university. Jenseii , .,, J ihis cancellation of classes to no classes when students take over a building. A clear infringement of my rights. Y.A.F. ' s were thinking out loud about taking the universisy v.; coijrt for breach of contract. This brought hasty sympathy from Provost Payson S. Wild. Jensen, from Pdiatine, is a junior in history. He worked as a bank teller this summer and claims an equal interest in economics. As a Fiji, he wrestles, plays IM football and rode as a Fiji chieftain aiof; a sedan chair in the homecoming parade. His thinking, he believes, reflects the thinking of the American majority. LT ' ! It ' s a different America out there, he said. You hean about different feelings on American life when you talk to)| those in the manual trades, in trade and industrial schools ' and to those in junior colleges. . . . My parents are conservative — there you go saying ' oh,, that explains it! ' — they were really very open minded. I of-ji ten talked with them about it and reasoned it out with j them. I ' ve always been conservative. Jensen said when he entered high school, he discovered ■ liberal teachers who would present their own views as the consensus. He says you have to question your teachers to register that you think they are wrong and rise above their outlook. A good teacher to me was Mr. McGregor who taught Money and Banking fall quarter. I can ' t tell which side he ' s on. The types of things that should be taught are ideals, the democratic type, with learning for organic growth, learning