University of Virginia Library

Protesters To Boycott Agnew
In Opposition To Vietnam War

By TONY ANIKEEFF

The Union of University
Students (UUS) and The
Charlottesville Resistance have
announced plans yesterday for
a boycott of the upcoming
speech by Vice President Spiro
T. Agnew scheduled for May 8,
"to protest the continued
American involvement in the
Indochina war."

Continued Bombing

Explaining the reasons for
the boycott, second-year
graduate student Richard
Watkins, a spokesman for the
UUS, said "We are opposed to
all forms of the Indochina War:
The continued bombing of
Laos and Cambodia, our hiring
of mercenary soldiers, our
supplying of weapons, and the
use of money to capture and
incarcerate thousands of
civilian political prisoners. The

Nixon Administration in
general and Agnew in
particular must be held
responsible for these criminal
acts."

The boycott, which will be
accompanied by picketing
before the speech and a press
conference during it, was
explained by Mr. Watkins as a,
"Different way of protesting,
since previous speeches have
found Mr. Agnew to be adept
at handling conventional
disturbances by the usual small
bands of hecklers."

Referring to the Vice
President as a "senior
spokesman for the
administration," Steve Squire,
spokesman for the
Charlottesville Resistance, said,
"One cannot divorce this
person from the actions of the
Administration."

While emphasizing the key
role of the war in causing
problems in the United States,
Mr. Watkins pointed out that it
is really only part of the
problem. "We, as Americans,
are willingly accepting a veneer
of freedom rather than the real
thing. We are letting the
Administration make too many
decisions that gradually reduce
our rights and powers as
individuals."

Watergate

"The same authority from
which the administration finds
itself free to continue the
bombing in Cambodia with
only the sketchiest of
explanations by Secretary of
State Rodgers, also seems to
provide it with the authority to
engage in such activities as the
bugging of Watergate," Mr.
Squire said.

It shows that as far as they
are concerned the law and
justice stop at the White House
Gate," he concluded.

"Agnew has repeatedly
supported the concept of free
speech," while working to
legally prevent people from
hearing such speech. His
attacks on the press and T.V.
are one aspect of this.
Government efforts to
discredit individuals are
another," Mr. Watkins said.

Mr. Squire, stated that, "Mr.
Agnew can stop the war. Why
make him look good? I want to
be as rude to him as I can."