By SCOTT HAYWARD

Across the nation campuses reacted spontaneously and violently against President Nixon's invasion of Cambodia. In addition, the killings of four students at Kent State University shocked many people into realizing what a sorry state our democracy is in. Moderates joined radicals in protests that were among the largest in our nation's history.

Schools have been shut down, ROTC buildings burned, and a couple of schools even symbolically withdrew from the Union in protest. This rebellious spirit did not escape Maine West, either.

On May 9, while millions of people participated in nationwide mass demonstrations asking their government to come to its senses, 100 Maine West students did their thing by picking tin cans out of the river.

In keeping with the times, while college campuses were holding a Strike Week, here at Maine West we had Ecology

Week. A few students who wore black armbands became discouraged when people thought they were protesting against litterbugs.

While our students' apparent lack of interest in national affairs was discouraging at first, I was pleasantly surprised by the juniors' sudden display of concern and involvement on May 14. Not only did almost the entire Junior Class strike on that day, but they went so far as to rent busses and take their cause down to the state capital in Springfield.

The students at Maine West have helped to show that today the younger generation is very much aware of the social and political crisis facing our nation. As one well‑informed sympathizer, commenting on Kent State, said, 'Those s got what they deserved."

Yes, the Maine West traditional spirit of apathy, so important to the educational process, held up true to form and survived one of the greatest crises of our time. Even the addition of another vital cause, ecology, could not topple the great proud walls of non‑involvement.