Friday. January 27, I967 ICAILE‘I’ AND ILACK Howard Motfett. Vietnam War Correspondent. Writes First Article of War Evaluation Series By Howard Moltetl The Collegiate Press Service 15]). NOTE: Howard Mol- lett, 1965-66 editor at the Yale Daily News, has, for several months, been a full-time cor- respondent in South Vietnam for the Collegiate Press Serv- ice. This article is a compila- tion or his early impressions. His report will appear period- Ically in the 5&3. SAlGON (CPS) — Last year at this time I was writing edi- toriols calling the American war in Vietnam unjust, illegal, and antidemocratic. I could Still make a case for the last two (it has occurred to me since that a just war is a con tradiction in terms). But alter a month in Vietnam 1 am clear on one thing: nothing here is that simple, nothing is that black»and-white. Those who talk about Viet- nam in these terms, and on the other hand those who mouth cliches about defending democ< racy and treedom against Com- munist aggression, have re- duced one of the most compli- cated and agonizing situations in modern history to shihbo» leths. Worse, they have suc- ceeded in making these Shib- boleths virtually the only terms of the public debate on Web nam. There is a struggle going on in South Vietnam between two groups of people, each of them numbering several million. Two separate societies coexist within the same national boun« daries. Each is trying to or- ganize, strengthen and sank tion itself while weakening or destroying the other. Saigon Life Saigon itseli is a jaded city oi 2.5 million people crammed into space meant tor halt that numberr There are no innocents here, not even little kids. Ev- erything happens in the streets. and a ten-year-old Vietnamese girl is likely to know more about the way adults behave in the dark or under Stress than a zoyearold American college boy. For lack of private toilet fa- cilities, many urinate or defe- cate in alloys and streets A year ago piles of garbage lay rotting on Saigon’s main boule- vards, and even now in some places the trucks can’t can it away last enough. Saigon wakes early. Curlew ends at 4 a.m. and the ten great markets of the capital open tor business A stream of peasants brings chickens, pigs, rice, vegetables and lruit into town. By noon all the food has been bought, the central market is deserted, and rats the size ol kittens scuttle along the cement gutters gnawing on vegetable nuska and other refuse. G.I. Burs 0n Tu Do (Freedom) Street, once a fashionable office and shopping district, scores of bars now cater to American 51's. The dull, inevitable pump of Nancy Sinatra or the Beatles lasts lrom three in the after noon to eleven at night, when military police move through to hustle Iingerers home beiore curfew. Inside, a young air cavalry- man down from An Kile tells a sadrlooking girl the same war story he told another girl last night, and wishes he were telling it to the girl back home, For her part, the bar girl tells him in broken English about her divided iamily — maybe the same story she told last night, maybe not — and won- ders it he wtll take her home. She made more money last week than her lather did last year. Prices are higher now though Outside, teenage boys peddle pornography and young men with motor scooters and old men With pedi b5 offer a ride home, and a “nice young girl — cheap." Refugees The refugees and the poor live in their alleys on the per- imeter oi the middle-class city. These thoroughtares, some ol them all at three feet wide, wind in interminable mazes wherever there is ground to build a house. Despite the wear- iness, the closeness and the heat, Saigon’s culture has a / fl ‘- 51/! V; For All Your SMOKING SUPPLIES Hustle Down To The VARSITY ’17 Irood spontaneity that twenty years or war has not stamped out. French influence is still evi- dent everywhere. These city boys who have managed to avoid the draft oiten affect French styles in dress, hair- cuts, and speech. Well-stocked French bookstores hear testi- mony to a large class of people who continue to enjoy European literature for its own sake. At this moment. controversy rages over whether to permit the French to maintain their pres- tigious lycees, and whether or not (0 substitute Vietnamese ——- or English — tor French as the language of instruction in the universities. Performing Ans The periorming arts have been hit hard by the war, but every week or so a concert or recital is announced, and Viet- namese plays draw large audi- ences. Buddhist activity has waned considerably since Prime Min- ister Ky‘s successiul crackdown on the smigglc Movement in Hue last spring. Political Interns’ Applications Due Grihhell students interested in practical politics may apply for two internship programs in the near future. Students whose home residence is in Iowa are eligible for one of sixteen politi- cal internships providing tor an expense-paid week in Washing— ton, DC, at some time between March 15 and September 1, 1967. As guests of Iowa Con- gressmen, the interns will ob- serve activities in congression- a1 offices. attend committee meetings and sessions of the U.S. Congress, meet political leaders of the legislative and executive branches, and visit the national headquarters of the party or their choice. The dead- line tor applications is Feb. lo. Juniors and seniors interested in a career in local government are eligible to compete for 20 internships in city government ottered by the International City Managers’ Association {or this summer. The internship will he designed to provide a meaninglul work experience in actual operations of city gov- ei‘nment. Applications should he submitted by March 1. For turther inlormation stu< dents should contact C. Edwin Glimuur (political science). TO PLAY t‘ ‘ fgé one today- serenade her next week LEEI’ER MUSIC CO. Who Spoiled Country Set Girls? We did -- a'l' Poyn'l'er's See the New Spring Things At Poynter’s Today and Every Day POYNTER’S 4TH AVENUE FASHIONS "SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY" Pogo hvan Air Conditioned SERVING l4 KINDS OF PIZZA HOIIIS Mon. "III 5:9. —. 4 In. to 1 mm. Sun. —- 4 Dan. to Midnight FREE DELIVERY TO ROOMS 2222’?“ 125 PAGLIAI’S PIZZA WEDNESDAY ONLY Salad PHONE 236-5331 927 Broad — Guiana" around it dost or us M II: soon...“ e s imported inner waistband —4’ or elastic recedorn—a actually pow-s like your own skin Shirt stays put. your middle stays out. You havotouy‘emoutobelicve. PPESION’S ”-