MISCELLANY Cancer, Disease and Society by Bernard Sanders Is it possible to disassociate civilization and the way we live from the causation of disease? Can disease be gn- derstood solely by looking into test tubes and micro~ scopic slides, while ignoring the emotional lives of the people who succumb to them? Is disease iust a tu- mor, or an ulcer, or a head- ache, or are those merely and manifestations of a persons whole state of have been organizing inde- pendently in antiwar commit- tees high school student unions, etc., could convene a prelim? itiary conference or a series of informal meetings to discuss the future. This initiative, which should come from out- side the factions. could invite members of the factions ready to subscribe to a series of prin- ciples to join in the regroup? ment discussions. ?There will probably emerge a series of independent s'udent to SDS which will not be ready for national or regional organ- ization for some time. It may not be easv for students burned by the bitter feuds of the past year to entertain new terms of national organizations at this point. -?The 'hiatus student organization should permit young adults in the movement to reassess their role in it. debacle of the past year was caused in part by the absence of an adult movement enjoying the con?dence of the youth The students have been burdened with too many - .For' rhany years they have been forced to act as a general movement. But this posture"th perpetual con- ?ict with their actual social base. which remains, after all, limited. The recognition by student revolutionaries that the campus 'could'not lead the movement was both a maturing and a demoralizing experience, because .there is no genuine working class radical move ment. The ability of the students to really get themselves together will depend on the outcome of the {all offensive in the anti- war 'rnovement as well as the ability of some intelligent forces within the existing SDS fac- tions to ?emerge relatively un- scathed from the fires of the internecine struggle. in national. being? And, if this is true. can a lasting cure be brought about b_v dealing with the alone. while leav- ing the basic causes untouch- ed? Why is it that A comes- down with a disease and not Does a?germ ?just hap- penare there deeper reasons than chance as to why some peo- ple are able to resist disease and remain healthy, while others sick? And. related to the abovr. and. most importantly. how will the future battle against disease be fought? Will drugs and surgery continue to be used against or will society. and the way we live, undergo radicn change so that the human Organism can flourish on this planet. In short, will society he changed so as to fit the needs of the human organism. or will the human org-Inism con- tinue to be adapted. molded and crushed to fit into basic- ally insane and disease pro- voking patterns. The following paper deals with the problem of cancer. In 1952 a study entitled Survey of Cancer of the Breast" was published in the mcdicnl journal. Merli- cine. The authors. thrce Chi- cago physicians .were Drs. Bacon. Renaeker, and Cut- ler. Their study attempted to determine whether or not it was possible to observe some characterological patterns in patients who had developed breast cancer. In other words. did women who de- veloped breast canoer have certain similar traits which might lead out: to see a connection between emotional health and cancer. The study states; ?Thirty nine of the group (out of the 40 women who were studied) received no sexual informa- tion from their parents. Thirty-three of the group were virgins prior to marri- age; 5 unmarried members of the group remain virgins. Twentv-five have never ex- perienced orgasm, did not enioy intercourse, and con- sidered it a distasteful, wifely duty. The 5 virgins are not included among these 25. Only 5 women were fresiy capable of orgasm; 5 more experienced rare to occasion- al orgasm. It is interesting to note that the ages of the six- u?Illy adjusted patients were 68, 67, 67, 59 and 4t; wheres those of the partially adiusted group were 54, 55, SS, 57, and "Ibis means that of the 14 patients 51 or more years old, 9 had some degree of orgasmic ability, whereas OF THE 26 TIENTS BELOW 51, ONE WAS SEXUALLY AD- The authors concluded their study by citing 6 char- acteristics which they feet were shared by the patients: 01) A masochistic char- acter structure. (The patients will to live appeared not very strong. Many of them dcl-t): ed going for treatment des- pite the fact that they had noticed lumps on their breasts and were aware of what they could mean). 02) Inhibited sexuality?? (as discussed above). 0 3) Inhibited motherhood 0-H The inability to dis- charge or deal appropriately with anger, aggression, or hostility, covered over by a facade of pleasantness. 05) The unresolved hos- tile conflict with the mother. handled through denial and unrealistic sacritiCe. .6) Delay in securiae treatment. In another article in the ioumal Mealt- cine, Vol. 16 (1954), P187. entitled ?Life Stress and Cancer of the Cervix." it is stated that ?sexual adjust- seemed to be very pear in those with cancer of the cervix were found to have a lower incidence of orgasm during sexual intercourse than patients in the control groups. Dislike for sexual intc course. amounting to ac- tual aversion for the act, oc- curred far more frequently in the patients with cancer of the cervix than in patients with anccr of other sites." In a book entitled ?The Variables in Human Cancer?. by Ginger- clli and Kit-kner. an interest- ing study is discussed. researchers, stationed in th: cancer section of a hospital. attempted to discover wheth- er ?there was a relationship between factors and the growth of cancer" The) cnnc!uded that. in fact. there was Such a relation ship. ?Characteristic of the fast cases are greater defen- siveness. more anxiety. and less ability to release tension through motor discharge. either verbal or physical. when compared to the slow cases". They also state that the ?Patients with rapid growth were more. inhibited in outward expression.? In a book entitled Psy- . chological Approach to Can- cer?, by Jacob 5. List. the author quotes Dr. James Ja- cobs to the effect that ?the more the appearance of ?goodness? because of the in- ability to discharge these (hostile) impulses, the short- er the life span of the cancer patient". The author quotes another physician, Dr. Byron Butler, that the cancer personality ?represses hate, anger, dis- satisfaction, and grudges, or on the other hand, is a very '200d' person. who is cut-.? sumed with self?pity and sul- fers in stoic silence." A three day conference sponsored by the New York Academy of Science on the Aspects of Cancer was covered by the New York Times of May 23. 1968. Dr. Clauss Bahn- son reported a study of 200 lung cancer patients with 200 patients sutletutg from. other disorders. "lhc results indi- cated that the Cancer patients were less emotionally reac- tive and lacking in outlets for emotional release." 'lltc '1 -Ilau reports of the tint", "several s.ud:cs, nittoug hundreds of cancer patients, were conduc- try a University of R0- chester medical team. These studies lamented that most DI the patients contracted the UIbCLlac when they were re? acting to a loss or separation, with inner feelings oi help? tesness and hopelessness. A study by Lawrence Le Shun is atso mentioned. Le Sitan studied 500 cmcer pa- tients concluded that "the cancer patients were charac terized by early loss bringing pain and feelings of descr? tion, loneliness, and often guilt and self?condemnation.? Dr. Bahnson was quoted by the Times as stating that; ?In the cancer patients' back? ground were parents and par- ticulatly mothers. who were "there" physically but not emotionally. As a result, the children learned to deny their emotions rather than to dis- charm them.? .. In a book published in lqd? by Dr. Wilhelm Reich entitled "The Cancer Bio- :Lth?. Reich is very definite the link between emo- ?ian-il .sz sexual health, and waver. many of the references deal cancer in women. Reich felt that exactly similar pro- cesses tuck plan: in men. T?ln st-I'cs that; ?L'p to now, the :onne-3tion between dis- turbances in discharge of Sex? energy and cancer have rut" hecu investieated. Esper- lCT?Ci?d gynecologists arc wel' a New York, aware that such a connection exists. Respiratory distur- bances and muscular spasms are the immediate result of a fear of sexual excitation (ore gastic impotence). Organs with poor respiration, organs which are spastic and insuf- ficiently charged, are biolo- gically weakened. thus, they are highly susceptible to can- cer-producing stimuli, what- ever they nt'dy be. On the other hand, organs which function biologically normal- ly are not affected by these same stimuli. This is .a nec- essary and logical assump- tion.? ?These clinically well- established incur?deficient biological charge. muscular spasm and deficient external and internal respiration, give the concept of ?cancer dis- position? a tangible context. I shall now attempt to show how sex-economic clinical experience led to cancer re- search." ?Sex-economic observation of character neuroses showed again and again the signifi- cance of muscular spasms and the resulting dcvitiliza- tion in the organism. Muscu- lar spasm and in bio-electrical charge are sub- icctively experienced as "be- ing dead". Muscular hyper- tension due to sexual stasis regularly leads to a tion of vegetative sensations; the extreme degree of this is the sensation of the organ ?being dead". corre- sponds to a block of bio- logical activity _in the respec- tive organ. For cit-Ample. the blocking of bioscxual excita? tion in the genital aleys goes with a spastic tension of the pelvic musculature. as is re- gularlv seen in the uterine spasms of frigid women. Such spasms often result in men~ struai disturbances, men- strual pains. polyps and fi- brotnata. The spasm of the uterus has no other function than that of preventing the bicscsunl energy from malt- ine itself felt as vaginal sen- sation. Spasms representing inhibitions of vegetative cur? rent are seen p'trtiCularly frequently whereevcr we find annular musculature, for ex- ample. at the throat. at the entrance to and the exit from the stomach. at the anus. etc. These are also the places where cancer is found with particular ?Many women who suffer from genital and virginal an- aesthesia complain of a feel- ing that 'something is not as it should be down there.? They relate that during pu- berty they experienced the well known Signs of biosex. an] excitation:. that later they lrarncd to fight these sensa- tions by way of holding their breath. ?Later. so they relate in a typical manner. they be- gan to experience in the g:n? ital a sensation of ?de'ulness' or ?numbness' which. in turn. them, As th: veg- etative sensation in the organs are an immediate cxnrussion of the actual biological state of the organs. such state- are of extreme im- portance for an evaluation ol somatic processes." (End ol quote from Reicht Page? WEEKEND DECEMBER 19-22. 1969 VERMONT MISCELLANY Cancer, Disease and Society by Bernard Sanders Is it possible to disassociate civilization and the way we live from the causation of disease? Can disease be gn- derstood solely by looking into test tubes and micro~ scopic slides, while ignoring the emotional lives of the people who succumb to them? Is disease iust a tu- mor, or an ulcer, or a head- ache, or are those merely and manifestations of a persons whole state of have been organizing inde- pendently in antiwar commit- tees high school student unions, etc., could convene a prelim? itiary conference or a series of informal meetings to discuss the future. This initiative, which should come from out- side the factions. could invite members of the factions ready to subscribe to a series of prin- ciples to join in the regroup? ment discussions. ?There will probably emerge a series of independent s'udent to SDS which will not be ready for national or regional organ- ization for some time. It may not be easv for students burned by the bitter feuds of the past year to entertain new terms of national organizations at this point. -?The 'hiatus student organization should permit young adults in the movement to reassess their role in it. debacle of the past year was caused in part by the absence of an adult movement enjoying the con?dence of the youth The students have been burdened with too many - .For' rhany years they have been forced to act as a general movement. But this posture"th perpetual con- ?ict with their actual social base. which remains, after all, limited. The recognition by student revolutionaries that the campus 'could'not lead the movement was both a maturing and a demoralizing experience, because .there is no genuine working class radical move ment. The ability of the students to really get themselves together will depend on the outcome of the {all offensive in the anti- war 'rnovement as well as the ability of some intelligent forces within the existing SDS fac- tions to ?emerge relatively un- scathed from the fires of the internecine struggle. in national. being? And, if this is true. can a lasting cure be brought about b_v dealing with the alone. while leav- ing the basic causes untouch- ed? Why is it that A comes- down with a disease and not Does a?germ ?just hap- penare there deeper reasons than chance as to why some peo- ple are able to resist disease and remain healthy, while others sick? And. related to the abovr. and. most importantly. how will the future battle against disease be fought? Will drugs and surgery continue to be used against or will society. and the way we live, undergo radicn change so that the human Organism can flourish on this planet. In short, will society he changed so as to fit the needs of the human organism. or will the human org-Inism con- tinue to be adapted. molded and crushed to fit into basic- ally insane and disease pro- voking patterns. The following paper deals with the problem of cancer. In 1952 a study entitled Survey of Cancer of the Breast" was published in the mcdicnl journal. Merli- cine. The authors. thrce Chi- cago physicians .were Drs. Bacon. Renaeker, and Cut- ler. Their study attempted to determine whether or not it was possible to observe some characterological patterns in patients who had developed breast cancer. In other words. did women who de- veloped breast canoer have certain similar traits which might lead out: to see a connection between emotional health and cancer. The study states; ?Thirty nine of the group (out of the 40 women who were studied) received no sexual informa- tion from their parents. Thirty-three of the group were virgins prior to marri- age; 5 unmarried members of the group remain virgins. Twentv-five have never ex- perienced orgasm, did not enioy intercourse, and con- sidered it a distasteful, wifely duty. The 5 virgins are not included among these 25. Only 5 women were fresiy capable of orgasm; 5 more experienced rare to occasion- al orgasm. It is interesting to note that the ages of the six- u?Illy adjusted patients were 68, 67, 67, 59 and 4t; wheres those of the partially adiusted group were 54, 55, SS, 57, and "Ibis means that of the 14 patients 51 or more years old, 9 had some degree of orgasmic ability, whereas OF THE 26 TIENTS BELOW 51, ONE WAS SEXUALLY AD- The authors concluded their study by citing 6 char- acteristics which they feet were shared by the patients: 01) A masochistic char- acter structure. (The patients will to live appeared not very strong. Many of them dcl-t): ed going for treatment des- pite the fact that they had noticed lumps on their breasts and were aware of what they could mean). 02) Inhibited sexuality?? (as discussed above). 0 3) Inhibited motherhood 0-H The inability to dis- charge or deal appropriately with anger, aggression, or hostility, covered over by a facade of pleasantness. 05) The unresolved hos- tile conflict with the mother. handled through denial and unrealistic sacritiCe. .6) Delay in securiae treatment. In another article in the ioumal Mealt- cine, Vol. 16 (1954), P187. entitled ?Life Stress and Cancer of the Cervix." it is stated that ?sexual adjust- seemed to be very pear in those with cancer of the cervix were found to have a lower incidence of orgasm during sexual intercourse than patients in the control groups. Dislike for sexual intc course. amounting to ac- tual aversion for the act, oc- curred far more frequently in the patients with cancer of the cervix than in patients with anccr of other sites." In a book entitled ?The Variables in Human Cancer?. by Ginger- clli and Kit-kner. an interest- ing study is discussed. researchers, stationed in th: cancer section of a hospital. attempted to discover wheth- er ?there was a relationship between factors and the growth of cancer" The) cnnc!uded that. in fact. there was Such a relation ship. ?Characteristic of the fast cases are greater defen- siveness. more anxiety. and less ability to release tension through motor discharge. either verbal or physical. when compared to the slow cases". They also state that the ?Patients with rapid growth were more. inhibited in outward expression.? In a book entitled Psy- . chological Approach to Can- cer?, by Jacob 5. List. the author quotes Dr. James Ja- cobs to the effect that ?the more the appearance of ?goodness? because of the in- ability to discharge these (hostile) impulses, the short- er the life span of the cancer patient". The author quotes another physician, Dr. Byron Butler, that the cancer personality ?represses hate, anger, dis- satisfaction, and grudges, or on the other hand, is a very '200d' person. who is cut-.? sumed with self?pity and sul- fers in stoic silence." A three day conference sponsored by the New York Academy of Science on the Aspects of Cancer was covered by the New York Times of May 23. 1968. Dr. Clauss Bahn- son reported a study of 200 lung cancer patients with 200 patients sutletutg from. other disorders. "lhc results indi- cated that the Cancer patients were less emotionally reac- tive and lacking in outlets for emotional release." 'lltc '1 -Ilau reports of the tint", "several s.ud:cs, nittoug hundreds of cancer patients, were conduc- try a University of R0- chester medical team. These studies lamented that most DI the patients contracted the UIbCLlac when they were re? acting to a loss or separation, with inner feelings oi help? tesness and hopelessness. A study by Lawrence Le Shun is atso mentioned. Le Sitan studied 500 cmcer pa- tients concluded that "the cancer patients were charac terized by early loss bringing pain and feelings of descr? tion, loneliness, and often guilt and self?condemnation.? Dr. Bahnson was quoted by the Times as stating that; ?In the cancer patients' back? ground were parents and par- ticulatly mothers. who were "there" physically but not emotionally. As a result, the children learned to deny their emotions rather than to dis- charm them.? .. In a book published in lqd? by Dr. Wilhelm Reich entitled "The Cancer Bio- :Lth?. Reich is very definite the link between emo- ?ian-il .sz sexual health, and waver. many of the references deal cancer in women. Reich felt that exactly similar pro- cesses tuck plan: in men. T?ln st-I'cs that; ?L'p to now, the :onne-3tion between dis- turbances in discharge of Sex? energy and cancer have rut" hecu investieated. Esper- lCT?Ci?d gynecologists arc wel' a New York, aware that such a connection exists. Respiratory distur- bances and muscular spasms are the immediate result of a fear of sexual excitation (ore gastic impotence). Organs with poor respiration, organs which are spastic and insuf- ficiently charged, are biolo- gically weakened. thus, they are highly susceptible to can- cer-producing stimuli, what- ever they nt'dy be. On the other hand, organs which function biologically normal- ly are not affected by these same stimuli. This is .a nec- essary and logical assump- tion.? ?These clinically well- established incur?deficient biological charge. muscular spasm and deficient external and internal respiration, give the concept of ?cancer dis- position? a tangible context. I shall now attempt to show how sex-economic clinical experience led to cancer re- search." ?Sex-economic observation of character neuroses showed again and again the signifi- cance of muscular spasms and the resulting dcvitiliza- tion in the organism. Muscu- lar spasm and in bio-electrical charge are sub- icctively experienced as "be- ing dead". Muscular hyper- tension due to sexual stasis regularly leads to a tion of vegetative sensations; the extreme degree of this is the sensation of the organ ?being dead". corre- sponds to a block of bio- logical activity _in the respec- tive organ. For cit-Ample. the blocking of bioscxual excita? tion in the genital aleys goes with a spastic tension of the pelvic musculature. as is re- gularlv seen in the uterine spasms of frigid women. Such spasms often result in men~ struai disturbances, men- strual pains. polyps and fi- brotnata. The spasm of the uterus has no other function than that of preventing the bicscsunl energy from malt- ine itself felt as vaginal sen- sation. Spasms representing inhibitions of vegetative cur? rent are seen p'trtiCularly frequently whereevcr we find annular musculature, for ex- ample. at the throat. at the entrance to and the exit from the stomach. at the anus. etc. These are also the places where cancer is found with particular ?Many women who suffer from genital and virginal an- aesthesia complain of a feel- ing that 'something is not as it should be down there.? They relate that during pu- berty they experienced the well known Signs of biosex. an] excitation:. that later they lrarncd to fight these sensa- tions by way of holding their breath. ?Later. so they relate in a typical manner. they be- gan to experience in the g:n? ital a sensation of ?de'ulness' or ?numbness' which. in turn. them, As th: veg- etative sensation in the organs are an immediate cxnrussion of the actual biological state of the organs. such state- are of extreme im- portance for an evaluation ol somatic processes." (End ol quote from Reicht Page? WEEKEND DECEMBER 19-22. 1969 VERMONT "Now," someone may say, ?this is all very interesting, but why isn't it put into some cancer research journal or something? What does it have 10 do with me?" The answer, my friend, is obvious. It has every?tilg to do with you. The above referenCes, in no uncertain terms, state that you might very well be the cause of cancer. ?What!? says the upstanding citizen and head of the P.T.A., ?ab- surd, preposterous. I don?t know anything about cancer (exbept that aunt Millie died of it and that the Cancer So- ciety will eventually prevent it). Ridiculous, me being the cause of cancer.? Not so fast, my friend. Read the above statements by the researchers again.? this time more slowly, and bear in mind that the physicians who wrote the above (with the exception of Reich) are not social critics. They write gently and matter of factly. What do you think it really means when 3 doctors, after intense study, write that ?fof the 26 patients (who deve? loped breast cancer) below 51 (years of age). one was sexually adiusted.? It means, very bluntly, that the manner in, which you bring up your daughter with regard to sex? ual attitudes may very well determine whether or not she will develope breast cancer, among other things. How much guilt, nervousness have you imbued in your daughter with regard to sex? If she is 16. 3 years beyond puberty and the time which nature set forth for. chum. bearing. and spent a night out with her boyfriend, what is your reaction? Do you take her to a because she is ?maladjusted,? or a "prostitute," or are you hap- py that she has found some- one with whom she cun share love? Are you cuncerned about HER happiness, or about your ?reputation? in the community. With regard to the schools that you send your children to, are you concerned that many of these institutions serve no other function than to squash the lite. joy and curiosity out of kids. When a doctor write that the can- cer personality ?represses hate, anger, dissatisfaction and grudges. Or on the other hand, is a ?good? person, who find, is a ?good? person, who is consumed with self pity, suffers in stoic silence". do you know what he is talking about, and what this has to do with children, schools. It means this quite simp- ly. A child has an old bitch of a teacher (and there are many of them) or pehaps he simply is not interested in school and would rather be doing other thing. He com- plains and rebels against the situation. which is the heal- thy reaction. When a person is hurt. no matter what age, he SHOULD rebel. And what happens the child rebels against adult world? Here he is. a little guy, complaning against a teacher who has been in when the the school for 47 years, or maybe against the whole school system. Who listens to him, who takes him, and his feelings, seriously? Who de- mands that a teacher be fired ?iust because? she makes little kids miserable? Who demands that compukory schooling be eliminated ?just because" millions of kids don?t want to go to school The child rebels but, be- cause he is a child, nothing happens. His rebellion is im- potent because, being a child, people feel that he doesn?t know what is right for him and that the major decisions in his life have to be made for him by adults: Some childens. despite all the ob stacles in their way, continue to rebel and assert their rights. Others, in one form or an- other, give in and 'become resigned to the situation, and this is what the cancer per- sonality as described above is all about. The child be- comes resigned by repressing his natural anger and feelings about the situation he irnds himself in. Outwardly ,he be- comes a ?good boy", con- forming to the rules and reg- ulations of the system. In- his spirit is broken, and his soul seethes with hat- red anger which is un- able to be expressed. He has learned to hold back his emo- tions and put on the phony facade of plcasantness. Thir- ty years later a doctor tells him that he has canoer. What the above research into the as- pects of cancer shows us is that. in terms, resignation is the other side of the coin to the somatic breakdown called cancer. Simmons, among other, in his short work entitled "The Aspects of Cancer" cites several in- stances when famous person- alties developed cancer after suffering serious emotional traumas or dissappointments and felt that their future was hopeless. Wnen the human spirit is broken, when the life force is squashed, cancer be- comes a possibility. The cancer problem, like disease in general, poses an extra-ordinary dilemma for society. How painful it is to face up to the truth, and how easy it is to place a label on something, can er, raise a hundred millio dollars for research and give it to a handful of Specialists to work on, we .say, "solve the cancer problem. Prevent can- ccr. Tell me about the little virus that- causes an iniection to cure it. and everything will be iust fine." ?While you?re at it, tell you friends at the other laboratories to invent an in- iecllon to cure neurosis and heart condition and ulcers, asthma and rheu- matic fever. sexual impotence and frigidity alcoholism and drug addiction, obesity and insomnia. etc, etc, and etc". Life is very simple. All we . need is lots of moncv, well trained technicians? and a steady output of new drugs. an editor?s note The Good Cops In the months past, I?ve had occasion at times to be quite critical of members of the State Police, includi the top leadership. I?ve t'ed applying to per? formance or non-perform- ance, and not a blanket can- demnation, but I'm sure this has been misunderstood. The misundersranding would be logical. The failure to correct police abuses and discipline violations of police ethics has left a cloud of doubt over all the members of the force. and unjustly. Two incidents in recent months offer an opportunity to try to redress this iuius- rice. The first was in the course of our travels. We're on the road a lot among the School- house, Enosburg and God- dard bases. We log well over 2,500 miles a month. There are times when either [taste or carelessness takes me over the speed liluit. Some miles south of St. Albans, a Trooper?-l think his name was Williamson, stopped us on the Interstate. We'd been going too fast, and this time didn't know it, because I was tired. The trooper had neither anger or sarcasm to otter; iust some good advice. My recollection is that it was either foggy or slippery or both, so that even the 65 speed limit would have been hazardous, and I was over the limit. The trooper pointed out these things to me in a thoughtful warning that Linn and I both appreciated. That?s all. In 27 years of driving, I've been stopped "Go ahead. take all the mon- ey you need; invent all the dogs you Want BUT. under no circumstances. TELL ME THAT ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE WAY I LIVE. TELL ME THAT SOCIETY HAS GOT TO ?Don't tell me,? we say, that the cancer problem might be related to people wasting away their lives be- fore the television screen for 50 hours a Week. to stupid iobs which people do with no desire or interest. to dead m?rriag'estv? unhappy sexual lives to children falling asleep and telling dirty jokes after? wards. to people getting drunk and "stoned" in order to forget that they're alive, and to people iust "killing time". ie.?their lives. Please don't tell me these don't get me too worried I need another tran- qumzer." things.' per tips a dozen times and tten three tickets. The about excessive speed, or a burned-out taillight. or a soft tire, and once erratic driving because I was falling~ asleep. This was one of the other times. I?m glad he stopped me. He did his iob intelli- gently. The second incident was iust last week. Driving home from an evening meeting we came 0n the some of a rather .nasty accident. A father and his five-year-old son had left the winding road that leads to Huntington. The car mashed into a tree iust be- fore it would have tipped into the Huntington River. When we got there a minute or two after the crash the father was standing clear. with a broken l'lh, gushed chin and' tongue and a bunch of busted His son was still in the car, pin- ned under the Iront seal. We were later lo'learn that he had breaks in his right leg above and below the knee, as well as the very visible gash on his head. When Trooper Edwards arrived he very calmly took charge. With quiet words and gentle hands he extricatthe front seat when a nearby doctor arrived to as- sess the emergency. With the boy in the doctor's care, he turned lo the father, did some first-aid bunduging, asked someone standing near to stay with the distraught man \vl?liic he returned to the hurting, frightened son. In a matter of minutes, the ambulance Trooper Edwards End called for on his way :tr- rived. Father and son were on their way to the emergen- ev room at the Fletcher unit of the Medical Center in Burlington. Then the trooper commissiOned the doctor and two others to go to the lam- ily and let them knnw_ what had "happened. As I passed the scene per- haps 20 minutes later taking the little boy's mother the hospital. Trooper Ed- wards was still there, super- vising the removal or the wreck and the gathering up of. the possessions that had been sczattercd? around in ?thc accident. Still later. he ioined the family in the room to finish noting the facts for his report and in- quire abcut the condition of father and sort. ,As left it? was snowing. He was expecting more ac- cidents before his 'tour of duty was over for the night. He was :arubably tired, but he didn?t show it. Trooner Edwards was cf- ficicut. but he was more than that. He was human and kind. Although he knew i' 1 had been only a few minutes from the time he was called till he arrived 'at the accident scene, he knew it had set-tn- ed like a long wait to us, and he? apologized for taking so long. He cared. He was. for us. giving more than just what doing a job requires. Happily, these two are not isolated incidents. Much more, for me, they represent the typical experience. If they were the experience of the students in Berkeley, the Black Panthers in Chicago, the Negroes in the South, and poor people in many places, then ?lawnorder? wouldn't be a national issue. In fact. if the Rev. Dru-id LH. Johnson in had had this kind of experi- ence with the Vermont htuc Police, then Vermont would not have been subiectetl to nnliunrll notoriety, and its police to ugly suapicrons. In my opinion. Governor Davis and his top cop. (fol. Erwin Alcxandc did must unfortunue to crumble men like Trooper Williamson and Trooper Ed- wards in not hecding the clear findings of police negli- gence and even harrussment in tlic Irushurz business. 'lhcy should have cleared the rcnutulions and competent service of the many good men by taking disciplinary .rclions against the low ?ho or wcre incom- With such thoughts in miml, these paragraphs are a welcome chance to exer- cise the editor?s prerogative, and write some well-earned praise for the able, thought? ful men who don?t make verv ofttEn. and who do serve ?Ell with iutle thanks. - Read the VERMONT FREEMAN . an indppendent iournal of analysis growing medium for inter-campus communication .at your bookstore or newstand VERMONT FREEMAN WEEKEND DECEMBER 19-22, 1?969 Page 7