University of Virginia Library

Student-Senate Column Sought

—ed.

Since I began working in the
Senate, one of my major concerns
has been the lack of means for any
real communication between students
on the campus and government
officials here in Washington.

First, it has become clear to me
ha if true communication is to be
attained, it must be two-way. It is
not enough to have a government
official state his position and a
student state his. There must be a
true exchange of ideas; when one
party expresses a view, the other
party should respond. If this does
not occur, people can talk "past"
each other endlessly.

Secondly, it seems to me that if
a new method of communicating is
to be tried, it should be as personal
as possible. When a Congressman
issues a press release or when a
student group submits a petition, it
is indeed true that a position is
expressed. Yet I have found, and
many people have agreed with me,
that thee methods can often be
quite impersonal.

As a substitute, I submit the
following idea: Each week this
column will appear in your school
paper. At the end of each column, a
request will be made of readers to
write to Washington and express a
viewpoint o ask a question about
some specific issue. Then, in the
column of the following week,
government officials will respond to
as many of these student views as
possible.

In practice, this would work out
something as follows: This week I
am extending an invitation to all of
you to write me in Washington and
express what you feel should be
done about some specific issue,
such as the draft, civil rights,
marijuana, Vietnam, or anything
else which is of concern to you.
After receiving your letters (which
may be from either individuals or
groups), I will approach a Senator
from your state or any other
official you might designate and ask
him to respond to your observation.
Then, in the paper that comes
out a week from now, this column
will relate all that has taken place,
presenting both the student
opinions and the specific governmental
responses.

This plan offers many advantages.
First, the communication is
two-way. Secondly, the method is
personal, at least as compared to
methods of the past. Third, besides
giving students an opportunity to
be heard by their government
leaders (and also receive a response),
it also enables them to
share their views with students on
college campuses in every part of
the country.

It should now be apparent what
this column is all about. I would
now like to once again ask as many
of you who are interested to write
me and discuss how you feel about
some specific issue, or even the
state of our country in general. In
your letter, please specify which
government official you would like
to deal with. Also, please note your
school and indicate whether or not
you would like your name or the
name of your group to appear in
the column. Send all correspondence
to: