DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Student protests, May-December 1971 | 1971-05-13 Iowa City Press-Citizen Editorial: ""The Future Counts""

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Student protests, May-December 1971

1971-05-13 Iowa City Press-Citizen Editorial: ""The Future Counts""

IOWA CITY PRESS-CITIZEN
Editorial Page
Thursday, may 13, 1971

The Future Counts

Everyone who lives in this community has a stake in preserving its peace and order, for without them there can be no freedom and no justice. Everyone who lives here, hence, has lost something in the current series of disorders. 
But we have preserved much, too, despite the tensions which appear to most observers to surpass the levels reached last May. It is imperative that we guard against further losses. 
We have preserved, for example, the basic precept of maintaining order as best as is possible with the established police power of the community and the state. Maintaining this is essential. Every problem this community now faces would be magnified beyond measure were a band of vigilantes to decide "to take matters into its own hands." Citizens and officers then would be confronted with two mobs instead of one. 
Communications haven't been closed off completely, although certainly discourse between the organized government of the community and those who would disrupt it sees now to pass through intermediaries such as the press. But the feelings and opinions of all are available; we are not restricted only to the information that bolsters a particular viewpoint. 
The greater share of daily lives in Iowa City continue almost unaffected by the disturbances of the past week. Businesses remain open, the University of Iowa continues to hold classes, youngsters go to school, physicians see patients, banks make loans, buildings go up. 
This might not have seemed like much in the midst of disorder. But the rocks are not going to fly forever - indications from Wednesday night are that the disturbances may be over - Iowa City police will go back to the usual routine, highway patrolmen will be on the highways, and we'll all go back to living in the same city quietly together. It will be easier if we continue to rely on established procedures for containing disorder, if we continue to expose ourselves to viewpoints we question, if we continue to conduct ourselves as normally as possible. 
The future could be hurt, too, by yielding now to the passions and fears of the present.

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IOWA CITY PRESS-CITIZEN Editorial Page Thursday, may 13, 1971 The Future Counts Everyone who lives in this community has a stake in preserving its peace and order, for without them there can be no freedom and no justice. Everyone who lives here, hence, has lost something in the current series of disorders. But we have preserved much, too, despite the tensions which appear to most observers to surpass the levels reached last May. It is imperative that we guard against further losses. We have preserved, for example, the basic precept of maintaining order as best as is possible with the established police power of the community and the state. Maintaining this is essential. Every problem this community now faces would be magnified beyond measure were a band of vigilantes to decide "to take matters into its own hands." Citizens and officers then would be confronted with two mobs instead of one. Communications haven't been closed off completely, although certainly discourse between the organized government of the community and those who would disrupt it sees now to pass through intermediaries such as the press. But the feelings and opinions of all are available; we are not restricted only to the information that bolsters a particular viewpoint. The greater share of daily lives in Iowa City continue almost unaffected by the disturbances of the past week. Businesses remain open, the University of Iowa continues to hold classes, youngsters go to school, physicians see patients, banks make loans, buildings go up. This might not have seemed like much in the midst of disorder. But the rocks are not going to fly forever - indications from Wednesday night are that the disturbances may be over - Iowa City police will go back to the usual routine, highway patrolmen will be on the highways, and we'll all go back to living in the same city quietly together. It will be easier if we continue to rely on established procedures for containing disorder, if we continue to expose ourselves to viewpoints we question, if we continue to conduct ourselves as normally as possible. The future could be hurt, too, by yielding now to the passions and fears of the present.