Looking back at Watergate

Friday, Nov. 18, 2005 | 8:52 a.m.

Lisa Rottunda Johnston

School: Western High

Sun Youth Forum year: 1973

Graduation: 1974.

College: University of San Diego (1978).

Occupation: Director of development services for the Bishop School in La Jolla, Calif.

Accomplishments: Member of the La Jolla Recreation Center Board.

Editor's note: This is the fifth in a series about students who participated in past Las Vegas Sun Youth Forums. The 50th anniversary of the forum will be Tuesday at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

"Watergate resulted in a severe loss of trust in the government ... It has also shown us the tremendous need for campaign reform and how fortunate we are to live in a country that gives people the right to question the practices of government ... Some students felt that President Nixon was innocent of all charges, but most of us were under the impression that he knew of the cover-up and the scandal." -- Lisa Rottunda Johnston, Dec. 16, 1973.

The Watergate scandal was foremost on her mind when Lisa Rottunda Johnston was writing a column for the Las Vegas Sun about her group's discussion at the Sun Youth Forum 32 years ago.

"Watergate just dominated everything at that time because it created a disillusionment," she said. "A number of us could not believe that someone at that level of power had done that, which I guess shows we were a bit naive."

Johnston, who today votes as an independent, grew up in a home where both parents were Republicans who believed in President Richard Nixon. They influenced her at the time to at least be "not sure that Nixon had done it."

At the Sun Youth Forum, however, the exchange of ideas gave Johnston a broader picture and more information to consider about the scandal, which resulted the next year in Nixon's resignation.

"It was good for us to lose our innocence over Watergate," Johnston said, noting that youths of that era were "bombarded with so much," including the end of the Vietnam War and the escalation of the women's liberation movement.

"It was a turbulent time."

Johnston said the forum gave students from different schools an opportunity to meet in a rare, nonsports rivalry situation to discuss issues on an intellectual level. The discussions were primarily philosophical and students respected each other's differing views, she said.

"Perhaps for the first time in our lives, we were being taken seriously on some level," she said.

Asked what she thought about the Sun Youth Forum reaching its milestone 50th birthday, Johnston said it has been a great opportunity for several generations of local teenagers.

"I'd urge students attending this year's event to listen to what others are saying," she said. "Don't be constantly filtering out your opinions without considering what others have to say. You can learn so much from listening and having an open mind."

SATURDAY: A 1974 Sun Youth Forum participant who became a scientist and played a role in the nation's defense against bioterrorism talks about hijackings and Middle East oil issues.

Ed Koch can be reached at 259-4090 or at koch@lasvegassun.com.