Students tire of the "national circus
by BYRON WEST
'7
/3 wearily flickered after episodes of violent gunbattle and a scarred 74 face emerged only to be emeshed in scandels and shortages. A recap of last school year's headlines tells the story.
Former Secretary of State Dean Rusk told UK students on March 7 that Watergate-related events have occupied too much space in the news, leaving too little room for issues of greater importance.
Watergate held prominent position among the year's headlines. The nation wa'ched as a number of allegedly responsible officials lost their jobs under the pressure of
Senate and grand jury investigations. The FBI lost an acting director; the Justice Department, three attorney generals and an assistant; and Spiro Agnew's name ceased to be a household word.
Three men of unquestioned integrity were among the casualties: Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, Attorney General Elliott Richardson, and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus.
The fact that a man could lose a high government position for doing what appeared to be the right action, contributed greatly to what Ruckelshaus called, during a campus appearance, "a crisis of trust." Questions were raised about Mr.
Nixon's ability to govern without the trust of the people. Posters and bumper sickers appeared on campus, saying things like "Impeach Nixon: Now More Than Ever"; "Honk for Impeachment"; "Impeach Agnew Too"; "Say Goodbye, Dick"; and "Don't Blame Me, I Voted For McGovern." The posters fell; the bumper stickers turned white and peeled, and the impeachment question worked into the House Judiciary Committee. The campus attitude turned to apathy, as a child grown tired of watching a circus.
Antiwar protests faded into the background as the Pentagon announced just before fall semester that there would be no more US bombings in Indoch ina. Doubts lingered, however, as several authoritative sources informed the nation that there was no peace in Vietnam.
Dr. Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame told UK students April 3 the bombings had never really stopped. The military continued to spend over $3 million annually in Indochina.
And President Nixon set the nation on edge for a few days as he put all US forces on standby alert while the Soviet Union decided not to intervene in the Mideast.
Sometime in the fall of 1973 the cost of living moved just out of reach. Various and sundry shortages moved meat and milk prices to record   levels;   a  paper shortage
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