arder and harder for most americans to keep events in perspective. They tended to forget that most of the nation's 6,700,000 collegians were studying hard at school and not causing trouble. An underlying pattern emerged in the american university. The university suddenly became a political arena. The students wanted to address the national problems of war, race, and poverty. as a result, the university lost some of its neutrality. Students created a new u.s. institution: the political university. However, another element among youths was also emerging. They were called hippies. This movement marked another response to the decade as the young experimented with music, clothes, drugs, and a "counter-culture" lifestyle. In 1967, hippies preached altruism and mysticism, honesty, joy and nonviolence. They had a child-like fascination for beads, blossoms, and bells, strobe lights, ear-shattering music, exotic clothing and erotic slogans. They wanted to profess "flower power" and love. They were predominantly white, middle-class, educated youths, ranging in age from 17 to 25. Perhaps the most striking thing about the hippie phenomenon, is the way it touched the imagination of the "straight" society. Hippie slang entered common usage and spiced american humor. Boutiques sprang up in urban and suburban areas to sell the "psychedelic" color clothes and designs that resembled art nouveau. A major development in the hippie world was the "rural community," where nature-loving hippie "tribesmen" escaped the commercialism of the cities in an attempt to build a society outside of society. Another development was the illicit use of drugs, creating the slogan, "tune in, turn on, drop out." "Better living through chemistry" was another advertising slogan that was a sly joke to the young, but a real worry to their parents. Marijuana was their favorite preparation. however, some were smoking hash, taking mescaline, peyote, lsd, barbiturates and sedatives. Th...
