University of Virginia Library

Strike, Almost Dead,
Revived Thursday

demonstrators. He postponed
taking any decisive action and
waited for the deadline the next
day set by the strike committee to
respond to the demands.

I he disgruntled students massed
outside the library drifted away,
shocked by the President's brief
dismissal of the matter, anxious for
Wednesday.

Leaders Ahead

At the Wednesday morning
rally, the strike leaders moved far
ahead of the majority of the
demonstrators. The nine demands
gained more and more importance
in the eyes of the more radical.
Despite brilliant addresses by
Professor Charlie Whitebread and
William Harbaugh which tried to
restore the original war-related
issues, the crowd was waiting for
the Kunstler-Rubin speeches and
the response by Mr. Shannon.

The University's President made
yet another mistake. His efforts to
answer were quite satisfactory to
the overwhelming majority of those
present at the 5:30 address Wednesday
afternoon. Unfortunately, the
150 or so extremists who were not
satisfied called for acceptance of
the demands. President Shannon
never mentioned them, however.

Wise Move

About the first wise move Mr.
Shannon made was to ask the two
professors who had received the
great crowd reaction at the morning
rally to address the audience. Mr.
Harbaugh tried first to salve the
wounds opened by the President's
abrupt departure but fell victim to
the hostile mood.

Mr. Whitebread, however, responded
nearly perfectly. He explained
the injunction to the crowd
and then offered his views on the
strike. He stated that he wanted an
anti-Vietnam demonstration, and
that he felt that a majority of the
students were of the same mind.

Hadn't Studied Yet

While admitting that he had not
carefully studied the demands and
that he probably would agree with
a number of them, he asked why
they should be included in the
strike if, as it was apparent, their
inclusion was resulting in a sharp
reduction in support for the strike.

Although Mr. Whitebread failed
to calm the most extreme 150
students, his remarks made sense to
most of the students. The crowd
then prepared to march to the
Kunstler-Rubin addresses.

Yesterday morning's Maury Hall
take-over almost killed the strike,
but the decision to restrict the
issues to Cambodia and Kent State
should breathe new life into the
effort. The question arises for the
strike leaders, the more moderate
students, of how to keep the strike
going.

On Monday, a student referendum
is planned to decide what
issues to include in the strike. The
nine demands will be voted upon,
as will the war issues. Those that
receive majority support will be the
issues of the strike. That is, of
course, only if the moderates find
some means to continue the protest.