REFERENDUM'DAY MAY
Vol. 4. No. 28
North Carolina School of the Arts
Mio
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A statement deli
vered by Duane Draper, President of
the Association of Student Governments
of the United States:
The rising tide of national horror
makes passivity a difficult option for
any American. Tragic situations leave
little opportunity for indifference or
the luxury of indecision. This is
especially true on the campus.
The American student is an ano-
malie. Perhaps no group in society
so passionately craves institutional
change yet remains too pathetically
organized to produce it. Students de
dicated to social progress cannot es
tablish their own priorities, let
alone those of society. Students so
skeptical of the functioning of Amer
ican democracy have yet to establish
their own. America's response to the
student community has been equally
confused and inconsistent. Students
receive congratulations for question
ing, but admonitions for action. Stu
dents have shed the silence and anony
mity of the "fifties" which was label
ed "consensus" for the era of protest
and mobilization which is being label
ed as the minority voice of a small
core of extremist radicals.
The time has come for American
students to rise above the labels im
posed on them by both the self-styled
student spokesmen and national poli
tical leaders. No longer can students
be merely spoken for or spoken of. NO
longer should students be merely pol
led or randomly sampled. Students,
independent of the middle men, should
resolve their own minds concerning the
issues that plague us and proceed to
the work of their resolution.
The lack of unity and organiza
tion that denotes the American stu
dent community is the key to our im
potence. The expressions of dissent
are often regarded as minority 'atti-
tues; the expressions of silence are
often regarded as majority attitudes.
American society can no longer sur
vive that dangerous delusion that the
majority of students are passive
creatures intent on "gaining an edu
cation" and remaining relatively pas
sive to the perils that engulf us.
Students must seize and destroy that
pernicious assumption which stymies
our effectiveness.
I wish to stnnmon all students to
discard our individual penchant for
for ideological independence and to
submit the great immediate issue of
our day to a democratic and unques
tionable verdict b6 the students.
For America's students to finally
submit to a rational and fair deter
mination of our opinions would be a
significant step toward the results
we envision. Demonstrations somehow
become twisted as the product of the
minority, opinion polls are suspect
and assailed. Nothing short of a
broad movement of individual student
expression can shake the myths about
the student community.
The Association of Student Gov
ernments will sponsor May 15, Refer
endum Day, for a national referendum
on President Nixon's decision to be
come militarily engaged in Cambodia.
Referendum Day will and must be con
ducted in a fashidn of total fairness.
The question has been worded in fair
and unbiased fashion: Bo you ag^ee
with the United States decision to
dispatch ground troops to Cambodia?;
The election will be conducted by
student governments and campus news
papers across the nation. Today,
information and instructions were air
mailed to every Student Body Presi
dent and student Newspaper editor in
America. We call on every group and
faction on American campuses to sup
port and actively participate in Re
ferendum Day. The procedures of the
operation are contained in this arti
cle. The results will be made public
at the earliest possible time.
It is our goal not to prosely
tize, but to provide a broad, open
and democratic channel for students
to convincingly express themselves.
The direct action to bring our visions
of change to reality will be done by
others; but the mission of getting
students together in an unimpeachable
democratic process must begin. If
students lack the courage to test the
rhetoric of change to a massive vote
of the student community, then we
shall continue the labor without suc
cess. True democracy funtions only
on the grounds of mass participation
in its voting process. We ask the
national student community to demon
strate its effectiveness on this sin
gle issue.
Voting for the Referendum Day
will take place by secret ballot.
The ballots will be distributed in
the mail boxes of all students at
the North Carolina School of the
Arts. Only students enrolled in
the school of the arts will be al
lowed to vote.
Students will be asked the
question:
Do you agree with the deci
sion to dispatch United States
gound troops to Cambodia?
You may answer yes, no, or
no opinion.
Tabulations will be sent im
mediately to the Association of
Student Governments in Washington,
D.C.
THIS INFORMATION IS FROM
THE PRESIDENT OF THE AS
SOCIATION OF STUDENT GOV
ERNMENTS IN THE UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA. PLEASE
READ CAREFULLY AND TAKE
ACTION.