| Summary: | Walton hosts Campus Mike' By BARBARA EIDEN Editor Designed for "college students who would like to get dis-cussion going with other students about the relevance of the issues and concerns of today, in terms of their Christian faith," the Campus Mike Show is aired on KFNW, 97.9 FM. Brad Walton, Concordia senior, originated the talk program which runs from 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays. Thus far Walton's show has discussed open dorms, abortion, love, sex, marriage, discipleship, and the Bible. Early last fall representatives of Campus Crusade, Intervar-sity, Concordia Christian Outreach teams, and the Navigators each went out to seek airtime at KFNW, a listener-sponsored Christian radio station, one of four operated by Northwestern College, Rose-ville, Minn. Walton, acting as a catylst for the requests, applied for the job, which he describes as that of a "mediator," on the basis of his high school radio experience. The program got off the ground the last week in September with Walton hosting various guests speaking on relevant topics, including the Navigators on the cost of discipleship, Campus Cru-sade on the abundance of the Christian life, Pastor Lowell Almen and Jack Torgerson, Concordian senior, on the authority of the Bible, Pastor Art Grimstad on love, sex and marriage, and Grim-stad and Joe Bjordahl, Concordia sophomore, on the New Horizons Conference. The first few shows Walton threw open to the listeners to call in and voice their concerns. He hopes they will continue to take advantage of the show, which is the only student-centered Christ-ian program in the area, so that "they might develop it for their own good." This semester Walton's plans include programs with area campus pastors, circulating topics among the four original groups, and Concordia's, MSC's and NDSU's professors. The criteria for guests are that they must profess Christ and appeal to student interests. The current listening audience is "not widespread enough to do alot of people alot of good," according to Walton, and so he has plans for a publicity campaign to increase the program's sphere of influence second semester. Nader speaks out on the public interest January 12, 1973 Page 3 Brad Walton appears to be enjoying his job as host of the Christ-ian- orientated talk show, "Campus Mike/' aired on KFNW, 97.9 FM, at 10:30 p.m. Sundays. (Photo by Remi Brooke) Letters to the editor are welcomed. They must be typed on a 62 space line, double spaced and handed into the Concordian office, second floor Commons, by the Tuesday noon before the Friday they are to appear. All letters must be signed except for unusual circum-stances, and then only with the editor's approval. The Concordian reserves the right to reject letters which are libelous, in poor taste, or based on obvious factual errors. Longer opinion articles may be accepted, but should be discussed with the editor well in advance of the deadline. Announcements and class-ifieds must be received by noon Tuesday, in order to be printed Friday. By RALPH NADER Student activism has come a long way from that day in Feb-ruary 1960 when four Bible-car-rying black students sat down at a lunch counter in North Carolina and refused to move until served. They and the thousands of white and black civil rights workers who fol-lowed their example ushered in a decade of campus social con-cern about issues such as peace, ecology, and women's rights. This surge of activism af-fected colleges and universities themselves. At numerous cam-puses dress codes and parietal rules have been abandoned; courses are more diversified; and, in many schools, students have won a voice in policy mat-ters. Despite some successes, stu-dent activities are plagued by recuring problems. Students' lives suffer from gaping dis-continuities: activities follow the academic cycle. Campus-led voter registration drives, tutor-ial programs for the poor, and environmental projects are in-terrupted by examination per-iods and too often ended by summer vacations. Who ever heard of a July peace demon-stration? In addition to lack of con-tinuity, lack of know-how hampers student efforts. This is especially true when they at-tempt to deal with complex is-sues such as industrial contam-ination of the environment, employment discrimination on the basis of race and sex, in-equities in the tax 'laws' or de-fective consumer products. Such problems are not readily solved by symbolic demonstrations, marches or sit-ins. Scientific, legal, engineering, or medical expertise is needed to discover the extent of the problem and to bring it to a solution. In 1970-1971 students in Ore-gon and Minnesota developed a way to provide continuity and expert knowledge to their ef-forts and to enhance their ed-ucational experiences. The ve-hicle was a student-funded Pub-lic Interest Research Group (PIRG). The theory behind the PIRG was uncomplicated: stu-dents in schools throughout each state hired their own full-time staff of lawyers, scientists, and other advocates. These profes-sionals provided continuity and focus to student efforts. In turn, through class work and staff supervised projects, students learned the techniques of public interest research. Each participating school elec-ted student directors who set policy for the group. The money to pay for salaries and expenses came from stu-dent activity fees. However, students who formed PIRG in-sisted that the PIRG fee should be refundable, first, to protect those not wishing to support PIRG activities and, second, to give students a means of re-stricting the PIRG should it prove unresponsive and ineffec-tive. Fortunately, the first PIRGs have been so successful that in Minnesota, where the best fig-ures are available, refunds to-tal less than 5 percent of the money collected. Moreover, as word of the success of the first groups spread, new PIRGs were organized. All follow the same basic formula, but each is in-dependent and concentrates on issues within its immediate area. In Vermont, for example, stu-dents and staff have published exposes on the ski industry, Blue Cross health insurance, and are in the process of creat-ing a statewide lobby. The Western Massachusetts PIRG has sued a large utility. In Minnesota MPIRG took action on more than 60 projects during its first year of opera-tion. The Missouri PIRG drafted a new consumer code to protect poor people in St. Louis. The fledgling New Jersey PIRG, with only two staff members, led a fight against a transportation bond issue which ignored mass transit needs. advice to the system By GEORGE WASHINGTON PLUNKITT Just before the holidays our office received a rather interesting telegram from Washington, D.C. Despite the post-Christmas letdown, if you grit your teeth hard enough maybe you all can stand just one last jingle-bell reminder of Christ-mas. Then perhaps Ms. Eiden will see fit to use the ink to print this. Dear Mr. Plunkitt, Help!!! It's the night before the night before Christmas and I haven't done my shopping yet! Picking out presents is a real chore, especially with all the newsmen taking pictures as I riffle through the Sears Catalog. And buying things for Tricia and Julie is tough enough without the Secret Service men following me into the lingerie department. There's a jillion folks I have to get things for, and no ideas. Can you help me? I need a bunch of gift suggestions quick. Pat Nixon Dear Patsy, I can imagine your difficulties. In order to help avoid a national crisis, I managed to put together a few stocking-stuffers. For William Porter, U. S. negotiator at the weekly Paris Peace Talks: a copy of How to Win. Friends and Influence People. For the citizens of Massachusetts, who voted for McGovern: diplomatic recognition as an in-dependent People's Republic. For William Ruckelshaus, head of the Envi-ronmental Protection Agency: a non-recyclable copy of the Whole Earth Catalog and a cabin on the scenic shores of Lake Erie. For George McGovern: appointment as the first American ambassador to the People's Re-public of Massachusetts. For Spiro Agnew: a pocket-sized Roget's Thesaurus, a ticket to the 1976 Republican Na-tional Convention, and an annotated copy of The Selling of the President. For Mrs. Agnew: the keys to the White House broom closet and a list of all the milkman who deliver. For son-in-law David Eisenhower: a two-month pass to all the rides at Disney World. For Bernard Barker, who led the Watergate bugging and break-in team: the collected films of James Bond and Mission: Impossible. For Martha Mitchell: a princess phone with a built-in continuous busy signal. For Washington Redskins Coach George Al-len: appointment as American ambassador to the N.F.L. For the Democratic National Committee: all their correspondence, letters, and documents for the past year, with a card of thanks. For daughter Tricia Nixon Cox: a lifetime sub-scription to Seventeen magazine. For consumer activist Ralph Nader: a fifty-year supply of cyclamates. For the International Telephone and Telegraph Company: ten shares of stock in the Department of Justice. For Angela Davis, the Berrigan brothers, and Daniel Ellsberg: autographed photos of J. Edgar Hoover and Sen. Joseph McCarthy. For the Republican National Committee: an authentic Teddy Kennedy voodoo doll for use in four years. For Teddy Kennedy: a do-it-yourself toy bridge construction set. For actress Jane Fonda: a co-starring role in John Wayne's remake of The Green Berets. For John Connally, who headed Democrats for Nixon: a copy of I'm O.K.—You're O.K. and a new oil depletion allowance. For the residents of Hanoi and Haiphong: a free showing of the movie Dr. Strangelove, or. How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. For President Nguyen van Thieu: ten shares of stock in the Department of Defense. For Henry Kissinger: a small apartment for two in Paris and autographed 1939 photo of Nev-ille Chamberlain as he predicted "peace in our time." For the members of the United States Con-gress: a four-year fact-finding trip to Iceland. For the American people: a generation of peace and 200 million copies of Chester Bowles' Promises to Keep, And last but not least, for hubbie Dick: to continue the successes of his trips to foreign lands like China, Russia, and Rumania in search of a better understanding of the natives—a tour-ist- class ticket to Watts. Hope I've been of some help, Pat. Have a very Merry and a Happy and Prosperous. Sincerely yours, Plunkitt In each case student research-ers gathered data and prepared reports and, when necessary, the professional staff drafted new legislation or filed suits. In some states, within a few months of their establishment, PIRGs became important re-presentatives of citizen inter-ests. When the PIRG concept first was proposed on campus, skep-tics wondered whether students would support the program or whether regents or boards of trustees would grant their ap-proval. Both questions repeat-edly have been answered yes. Others feared that professionals wouldn't work for students, but most PIRGs have had their pick of qualified applicants. Some people worried that PIRGs were not legal or would endanger un-iversities' tax status. However, favorable opinions by state attorneys general and approval of tax-exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service elim-inated these concerns. Today in state schools such as the University of Minnesota, Oregon State, the University of Massachusetts, and Rutgers and in private schools such as St. Louis University, Syracuse, Rice, and Williams, students and PIRG professionals are working on projects designed to make government responsive, preserve the environment, pro-tect the consumer, and guaran-tee equal opportunity to all. News of engagements and weddings of Concordia students and personnel will be carried by the Concordian. When you hear of a person getting engaged or married - think of us, and let us know, even just one name. We will contact them with a form to fill out, giving us per-mission to print information about the couple and their plans.
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