'Lost the High Ground' 

Editor:

The purpose of peaceful assembly, protected by the Bill of Rights, and proven effective in struggles from Indian independence to the Civil Rights Movement in America, is totally lost on the "protesters" at Cal Poly Humboldt.

The point of peaceful protest is to highlight an issue, gain sympathy from the citizenry and promote change. But most importantly, it is to reveal the violence of the state when it forcibly responds to peaceful protesters. By occupying buildings, vandalizing and destroying property and physically resisting removal, these students lost the high ground, and were actually preparing for violence with the police, using head gear and shields. These activities are not protected by the First Amendment's freedom of assembly, because this was not a peaceful protest.

The activists of today have lost the plot. They will only encourage a more violent response in future and a lessening of rights, while attaining little success in their mission. That is unless their mission is actually chaos and disruption. And considering their behavior, and the fact that most of those arrested were not students, but outside agitators, one must wonder if that is in fact the case.

Julia Scott, Eureka