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This just in...
April 19, 2000
Two weeks ago I directed the first-ever Platypus Workshop held for undergraduates in the Journalism and Mass Communications School at Kent State. This was just a week after the completion of our second National Platypus Workshop in conjunction with the National Press Photographer's TV Workshop at the University of Oklahoma. The crash one week course teaches still photojournalists the principles and language of television news, to prepare them to face the world of convergence which is rapidly overtaking traditional print photojournalism. In this case, the workshop also has an end project in view. Since the workshop, the students have continued to film with their Canon XL-1s, and edit on G4s with Final Cut Pro, a series of short films on how the class of 2000 views the legacy of the tragic events of 30 years ago. On May 1st, I will be moving our editorial team of The Digital Journalist (http://digitaljournalist.org) to Kent where we will assemble the May issue, which will be printed on-line on May 5th. This special issue will be a huge one, and be almost entirely devoted to two epic bookend events, the Fall of Saigon in the last week of April, 1975, and Kent State, in May of 1970. Dirck Halstad
TIME magazine's senior White House photographer
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April 8, 2000
As the 1970 summer sessions began, four journalism students accepted the assignment to produce the university-sanctioned weekly KSU Summer News.
No one except security forces was permitted to be on campus after 5 p.m.
The journalists, led by Harold Walker, conducted interviews, attended meetings and lectures during the days. Many of these conferences had to be held off campus. The pace was hectic and tension was high. It was important to cover all the bases and to be absolutely accurate.
Every Wednesday night for three months, the four, armed with rubber cement, copypaper, copious notes, ruler, scissors and one ancient portable manual Royal typewriter, met around the dining room table of Nancy Cacioppo, editorial assistant. There they agonized over non-inflammatory language, meaningful content and column inches. These cut-and-paste sessions went on until the early morning. The following day, two or three of them would take the copy to the printer and then distribute the finished tabloid-sized paper around campus.
Some memorable feature stories concerned James Michener, who had come to Kent to write a book about the tragedy, and Leonard Bernstein, who conducted a performance at Blossom Music Center by chorus and orchestra of his mournful mass.
Regular school hours and publications resumed with the beginning of the fall quarter. It was time for SOME healing to begin.
Nancy Cacioppo
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Former Burr Advisor Charlie Brill in Paradise
March 2000
Thanks for the letter and invitation. Sorry I don't have e-mail, etc., but we are in the process of getting the tools to go on-line. Jan wants to join the 21st Century, I'd rather spend the twenty bucks on fly fishin' gear and other toys.
I'm going to miss the big reunion. Busy time: Jan's going to England with daughter and grand-daughter and I'm running away to the Red Lake Nation (reservation)... sort of a May 4th tradition.
I will miss all the good people from the '60s-'70s. Lots of sincere and real people in that crowd. It was a special time. Certainly in the history of the J-School (not JMC), the University and the Country. And we were in the front row. Certainly a time to bring people together.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL.
Sincerely,
Charlie Brill
Paradise, Michigan
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David,
I read your December 4 ,1999, article in the LA Times about the shootings at Kent State nearly 30 years ago. I was there. I now have two children 8 and 10 years old. I keep a journal for them and posted your article in it along with the following note to them:
*I was at Kent State when the shootings happened. I had graduated and had my own photography studio. I had been photographing behind police lines, onSunday night, 12 hours before the shootings, with a press pass. On Monday atnoon I was in my studio processing film when I heard the sirens. I took acity bus to the campus and got there at about 1:30. There were cars with windows blown out. There were pools of blood on the ground. People were walking around in a daze. Guardsmen were in clusters staying out of the way.
It was oddly quiet. The next couple of days were very bizarre. Armedsoldiers were posted at main intersections. Helicopters flew low at night looking for -- who knows what. Students involved in protests fled or hid away. 400 FBI agents arrived.
A lot has been written about the shootings. We have several books but noneof them explain why it happened, and no one has ever been help accountable.
I can*t explain it, although it still affects me nearly 30 years later. I do feel that the guardsmen murdered 4 students and are responsible for injuring 9 others and assaulting a college campus. Nothing that has happened sincethen has changed those feelings. I do not believe that anything will ever be done about it. Maybe we will talk about this some time. For now I just want to record these thoughts because they are important to me.*
There is a huge void when I think about this -- it was wrong and nothing was done about it. There is going to be a reunion of the Journalism School students from that era at Kent next May 4th, the 30th anniversary. I did not know why they chose that date to have the reunion until someone said that they all, we all, share the same void, and this is an attempt to deal with it.
Your article said that 8 guardsmen were indicted. Has anyone located them recently? What are their lives like? Do they -- presuming that they are the ones who fired the rifles that did so much damage -- share the void with the rest of us? Are they sorry? Do they remember? Do they have children they tell the story to?
Richard Margolis
Rochester, New York
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March 3, 2000
Just a note to update you on things. I will be at the reunion April 29 to May 6.
Last December, after 30 years, I finally worked an agreement with the KSU Archives and turned over five boxes of May 1970stuff. It included about 50 tapes and several thousand pages of my newscasts at WKNT AM&FM, hundreds of documents, files, notes, AP/UPIcopy I sent in, my personal card files I kept on everyone involved in the incident, plus photos and items collected I found on the grounds.
One of the most valuable was the tape recording I made of Gov.Rhodes when he came to Kent. It's the only tape in existance.
In the last couple weeks, I signed an agreement with CBS. Mike Wallace is doinga special on the Kent incident and is using my tapes. They will let me know the air date. Also, I signed an agreement with The Learning Channel/Discover Series. They are doing a one-hour documentary with my sound cuts on May 5.
Remember the record I put in the 1971 Chestnut Burr?
I am working a legal agreement with KSU Archives now for them to keep the entire collection. They are currently digitalizing my tapes and making copies of every document/paper. I will retain the copies, they get the originals and will preserve every page from further deterioration.
I'll see you on campus, I'm speaking on a panel May 3, 1 pm on Media & Democracy.
See you all in May.
Bob "Carp" Carpenter
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March 5, 2001
BC-Obit-Rhodes,0535
Former Ohio Gov. James Rhodes, who sent troops to Kent State, dies
Eds: PMs.
AP Photo NY20-25,NY126
By MARK WILLIAMS
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — As Ohio’s longest-serving governor, James A. Rhodes left an indelible imprint across the state with the highways, colleges, airports and industry he championed.
But his legacy was overshadowed by his decision to send National Guard troops to Kent State University in 1970 to quell an anti-war protest. Four students were killed when the troops opened fire.
Rhodes, who served 16 years as governor, died Sunday at Ohio State University Medical Center of complications from an infection and heart failure. He was 91.
The son of a coal miner, Rhodes rose from poverty to become Columbus mayor when he was 33. The election marked the beginning of a political career that spanned nearly 50 years.
Rhodes, a Republican, was credited with bringing many industries to Ohio. During his four terms, the state built highways, expanded the university system and put an airport in almost every county. The college dropout also was credited with making Ohio a leader in vocational education.
On May 2, 1970, he decided to send the National Guard to Kent State which, like campuses across the nation, was in turmoil over the incursion into Cambodia during the Vietnam War. Protesters had vandalized businesses in downtown Kent and the campus ROTC building was burned.
On May 4, four students died and nine were wounded when troops opened fire. The reason behind the shootings was never fully learned.
‘‘I’ve always blamed Rhodes more than the triggermen. I think James Rhodes should be remembered forever as the man most responsible for the Kent State massacre,’’ Alan Canfora, one of the students wounded in 1970, said Sunday.
Lawsuits against Rhodes and other officials ended in January 1979, when the victims’ families agreed to settlements totaling \\$675,000.
Those close to him said he was saddened by the tragedy but blamed the turbulence of the war era and believed his action was necessary. Already that year there had been three riots on Ohio campuses.
‘‘The Kent State call came from the merchants and county commissioners because of the conditions that were existing the night before,’’ Rhodes said years later. ‘‘You see, it was a consensus.’’
In 1999, Rhodes still believed the protesters were misguided: ‘‘It was people who thought something was wrong with America.’’
Rhodes was governor from 1963 to 1971 but was prevented by law from seeking a third consecutive term.
When he ran in the GOP Senate primary on May 5, 1970 — the day after the Kent State shootings — he lost to Robert Taft Jr., the father of current Gov. Bob Taft — by 6,000 votes out of about 900,000 cast.
He made a comeback in 1974, narrowly defeating Democratic Gov. John Gilligan. He served two more terms, then tried another comeback in 1986, but lost.
In later years, Rhodes was an Ohio presidential campaign adviser to Ronald Reagan and the elder George Bush, who said he helped them carry the state.
Rhodes’ wife, Helen, died in 1987. His survivors include two daughters.
AP-WS-03-05-01 0540EST
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