Tuesday, Nov. 26, 1974 | 2 a.m.
It was a granddaddy of all “rap” sessions when more than 800 Clark high school students met Monday at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The event was the 19th annual SUN Youth Forum sponsored by the Las Vegas SUN.
The exchange was lively and articulate as students from 15 area high schools debated issues of importance.
‘divided into 14 groups, the circular discussions brought out ideas of how juniors and seniors see the world, school and their peers.
An NBC television program on world hunger and overpopulation sparked a lively and informative exchange in one session dealing with the world.
Choosing India as a target country, students zeroed in on whether the United States should become involved in feeding the world’s hungry.
One student ask, how can we help a country that can’t help itself?
Nations are suppose to be civilized, offered another student, so there is a need to support them with education.
However, another said, each month a million people are born. You can’t expect to teach them when they are starving. So feed them first and get them back on their feet.
But we can’t force people to live they way we want them to, said an alert teenager, for we all have different cultures.
Several expressed distress with the government in India, saying money being used to get into the nuclear arms race could better be used to feed the hungry. Let’s worry about ourselves for once, said another. “We spent $52 billion in Vietnam and it was wasted.”
Don’t forget, one person said, we also have a leadership shortage, “We don’t have the leadership to keep our country going,” he added.
The students took very well aimed potshots at meaningless research projects which “waste money,” citing as an example a $250,000 project to see how people react to a frisbee.
They seemed to agree leadership is a key, with emphasizing on setting priorities and recognizing a sense of values. “We’re fat, lazy Americans,” said one student, “more concerned with our luxuries and necessities.”
United Nations debates were mild compared to the problem of opium production in Turkey.
Suggestions of offering the country aid or alternative crop that could be as profitable met with the comment, “We’ve already offered aid in exchange for promise not to grow opium, and the contracts have been broken.”
Defeatedly, they seemed to agree if it was not grown in Turkey, it would be grown somewhere else.
Another subjects considered by students was the problem of kidnap and murder of high government officials by racial groups.
They made a foreign call for foreign countries to take a moire active role protecting people, but said when dealing with brute force of a terrorist group maybe force is all they understood.
Students said terrorist have been made to appear as persons with a cause, but were actually “nuts” who wanted to hurt someone.
Part of the blame for perpetrating kidnapping was given to the media for publicizing the events. It should be kept under wraps they said.
While standing in line for the buffet lunch provided by the SUN, students talked about some of the ideas in morning session. Nancy Wize, Alice Rizardi and Kathy Edwards, all Western High School students, said in their session on crime and law enforcement students seemed to be against the curfew as it provided individual police officers the tool for harassment; were generally in favor of legalized prostitution; wanted more police protection - particularly foot-patrolmen; and would like to see a review board set up to speed rehabilitation.
Joan Clarke of Virgin Valley High School said the hottest issue in her session centered on whether Northern Ireland’s problems were political or religious.
Shannon Grimes of Western and Lanette Chaviers of Valley High School agreed foreign language classes should be mandatory in the lower grades, but not in high school.
They also agreed teachers should not pass students through and should tow the line and keep to academic standards.
Cathie Whitley and Deborah Thorne of Rancho High School commented their group debated the amnesty issue and generally seemed in favor of it.
A discussion on welfare requirements generated a heated exchange on whether a person should vote on an issue when his decision would be based on opinion not fact.
Because several students lacked information on welfare issues, they were reluctant to vote merely on what they had observed.
After the sessions, students nominated and voted in all 14 classes for a summarist to represent their group. Seven will appear on KLAS-TV at 4 p.m., Dec. 7 the other will write the consensus of the group to appear in the Las Vegas SUN.
Still talking about the debates, students filled into the Convention Center Gold Room to polish of the day with an entertainment session.
