PCC CouKie/v
VOL. 32, NO. 3
PASADENA CITY COLLEGE, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA
FEBRUARY 26, 1970
in
GEORGE E. BROWN, Democratic Congressman now running for
a berth in the November senatorial race, spoke at PCC Tuesday,
Feb. 17. Brown commented on the role of youth in today's
politics, blasted current party leadership, and expressed views
on desegregation.
Brown Criticizes Leadership
of Both Parties: 'Horrible Job'
By DALE SPINNEY
George Brown, a candidate for
United States Senate, spoke to
PCC students last week in Har-
beson Hall. He was presented by
the Young Peace and Freedom
Party.
Brown said that he would be
running against Congressman
John Tunney in the primaries,
and against Senator George Mur¬
phy in the finals.
“We don’t know whether Sam
Yorty is going to run for gover¬
nor yet; we’re holding our
breath,” Brown said. As for his
feelings about Tunney, Brown
said, “He’d make a great senator,”
adding though that he should go
back to Connecticut and run
there.
Brown recognizes the fact that
many young people today hold
the opinion, “Why should I take
an interest in politics?” Brown be¬
lieves that it depends on the in¬
dividual and his interests, and
what he wants to achieve and
what will be achieved.
He feels that the leadership of
both parties has done a horrible
job of solving the problems that
face this country. There are fun¬
damental needs that have to be
solved, that the parties haven’t
been giving us, commented
Brown.
The altered power of the House
of Representatives has made it
of less help to the people. The
people who get in office are not
necessarily the best representa¬
tive of the people.
Youth Powerless
“Young people are the most
powerless in our society. They
want to have some voice in what
is being done,” asserted Brown.
Were 18-year-olds given the
right to vote, Brown feels that
it would result in some positive
change in the electorate as a
whole. He said that young people
today have an awareness of the
injustice in our society.
While in the Congress, Brown
has served as the four-term chair¬
man of the subcommittee for
Veterans’ Education, and was a
member of the space committee.
Away from his job as congress¬
man, Brown has been effective.
He was involved in various non¬
official groups and is proud of
his obnoxious resistance to the
Vietnam War to Presidents John¬
son and Nixon.
If he does become senator,
Brown hopes to change the views
of the people to what he believes
to be more sound. He said that
he has a lot of things he wants
to say.
there should be bussing in Los
Angeles if it is necessary. He
would like to see quality educa¬
tional opportunities in areas
where a certain group’s culture
will be recognized. Brown is very
much concerned about how to
resolve the problem of parent
resistance to bussing.
The space race is something
that Brown feels requires no more
funds. He said that an increase
in knowledge is fine, but for that
you don’t need the money you
would if you were planning a
Mars landing, which he thinks
would be needless at this time.
The last topic was what he
thought of the gradual withdraw¬
al of troops from Vietnam. He
said that he was highly skeptical
of it, but that he was glad for the
withdrawal to take place. He said
that President Nixon thinks of it
more in terms of an “American
Crusade” rather than that we
made a mistake. He thinks, how¬
ever, that Vietnam will continue
to be an issue until every soldier
is out.
Slave Sale
To Be Held
Controversial German Party Leader
To Address Tuesday Evening Forum
Former German defense minis¬
ter and finance minister Franz
Josef Strauss will address the
PCC Tuesday Evening Forum on
March 3, beginning at 8 p.m. His
topic will be “Europe: The Next
Decade.”
Strauss, considered by many
political observers to be the next
German chancellor, is one of the
most controversial statesmen of
our time. His strongly national¬
istic views have caused alarm
among many elements of the
European press and among other
politicians.
In 1965, Strauss wrote an im¬
portant book on the future of
Europe. “The Grand Design” was
Recently many politicians have
come out in favor of lowering the
voting age from 21 to 18, for var¬
ious reasons. Now, Assemblyman
John V. Briggs of Orange County,
along with five other assembly-
men, has co-authored a bill to
bring about such a change.
The bill’s main purpose is to
actually lower the legal age of
adulthood, which also includes the
right to vote.
The key difference between
Briggs’ bill and somewhat similar
ones previously presented is that
this particular bill would lower
the voting age to 19, not 18, and
would also make 19-year-olds to¬
tally responsible for all of their
actions. In other words, all treat¬
ment of those who reach the age
of 19 would be just as if they
were adults.
This bill in fact stipulates that
anyone, male or female, upon
turning 19 is an adult.
Briggs’ reasoning for making
the legal age 19 instead of 18 is
that at 18 many people are still
in high school and living with
their parents, but at 19 almost ev¬
eryone is out of high school, men
become eligible for the draft,
many people marry and begin
families, and many people start
work and pay taxes just as adults
do.
According to Briggs, just low-
featured in an article in Life mag¬
azine, which described it as
“sweeping in concept ... In it
Strauss proposes a United States
of Europe, dominated by France,
England and Germany, as a third
and equal nuclear deterrent force,
though still allied with America
. . . His grand design is probably
well ahead of its time, but other
voices of the campaign show he is
not alone in thinking unthinkable
thoughts.”
Controversy
One controversial quotation
from the book, however, raises
questions about just how much
power Franse and England would
ering the voting age is not
enough. He explains that if the
voting age is lowered, the age of
adult responsibility must also be
lowered. “We can’t create a spec¬
ial class of citizens,” he comment¬
ed.
“The great majority of people
believe that if we lower the vot¬
ing age, we must also lower the
age of responsibility. They see
the responsibilities of adulthood
as the price a citizen pays to vote.
I think by approaching the issue
on this basis, we enhance its
chances for passing because we
broaden its base of support.
“We are now dealing with a
broader question of adulthood,
because I don’t believe we should
treat young people as adults on
some matters and as juveniles
on others. We should not give
them the right to vote without
requiring that they be fully re¬
sponsible for their actions.”
As a constitutional amendment
(California State Constitution),
the Briggs bill must pass the
State Legislature by a two-thirds
margin and be approved by the
voters in the November election.
Last year Briggs carried a bill
aimed solely at lowering the vot¬
ing age and testified at hearings
of the Assembly Elections Com¬
mittee in favor of extending the
franchise to younger citizens.
have under Strauss’ plan. On
page 21, he wrote, “It must be
our task now to create a belt be¬
tween Russia and Western Eur¬
ope, which might be called ‘buffer
Europe,’ which is not under Rus¬
sian domination and not under
German domination.”
The Washington Post contained
an equally interesting evaluation
of “The Grand Design” and its
author. “Time and again, when
Strauss rises to speak, his fierc¬
est foes listen most intently, his
hecklers give ground . . . He is
the most capable of German poli¬
ticians . . .’There has never been
any doubt that Strauss as chan¬
cellor would get Germany ‘moving
again.’ The question has always
been ‘moving in which direction?’
This absorbing, provocative essay
provides, on the whole, a most
reassuring answer.”
Strauss Unique
Strauss also is unique in one
other major way. Unlike most
present German politicians,
Strauss has no past formal links
with the Nazis. During World
War II, he was drafted and serv¬
ed as a soldier on the Eastern and
Western fronts, rising to the rank
of first lieutenant.
Within the present coalition
government in Germany, Strauss
plays no official role; his party
is out of power. He remains
chairman of the Christian Social
Union, the Bavarian affiliate of
former Chancellor Kiesinger’s
Christian Democratic Union.
Strauss is also a member of the
German Parliament, the Bunde¬
stag, and serves on the Finance
Committee and the Foreign Af¬
fairs Committee.
Although only 14 out of 2113
tickets for the Tuesday Evening
Forum remained unsold last Fri¬
day, according to Marilyn Still-
waugh of the PCC Bank, not ev¬
eryone is expected to attend. In
addition, all seats not taken by
8 p.m. will become available for
general admission without charge
until the auditorium is filled. No
standing room vyill be allowed be¬
cause of fire regulations.
Lower Legal Adult Age To
Be Major Point in Campaign
One question was, “Are any
pollution laws being enforced?”
He said that there were some
that have not been enforced, and
there were some that have been
inadequately enforced. There is
no legislation to prevent all pol¬
lution. Standards and forces are
not strong enough.
Brown said that the main pollu¬
ters are power plants and steel
mills because of what they do to
the water.
Backs Pay Raise
Where has he stood on the con¬
gressional pay raises? “I sup¬
ported every one of them.”
School bussing was an issue
that Brown had mixed feelings
on. He said that he had devoted
his life to trying to secure racial
justice.
It is Brown’s belief that if
there is bussing in Birmingham
A slave sale will be conducted
by the Junior Executive Club
tomorrow.
Beginning at noon in the Cam¬
pus Center lounge, famous stu¬
dents who just happen to be mem¬
bers of the club will be sold to the
highest bidders for the return in¬
vestment of two hours of work.
The minimum bid will be 50
cents, the maximum as high as
the bidders want to go. The work
involved may be anything from
shining shoes to mending fences —
all the club asks is that the tasks
be in good taste.
According to the rules of the
contest, any work which the slave
considers to be in bad taste will
allow him to break his agreement
with the buyer. The time and lo¬
cation of the two hours of labor
will be determined by the pur¬
chaser and the buyer.
• Continued on Page Four
FRANZ JOSEF STRAUSS, leading German politician and head of
the Christian Social Union, will address the Tuesday Evening
Forum on March 3. A dynamic speaker and public figure, Strauss
has been active in efforts to speed German reunification and
European unity.