Last Friday, the Daily ran a story describing the events surrounding a meeting on an October 29th between university officials, members of The September 29th Movement and a conciliator from the U.S. Department of Justice. The meeting did not last long; however, the controversy surrounding Catt Hall continues and will not end anytime soon.

The revelation that the leaders of The Movement were taping the meeting forced Pascual Marquez, senior conciliator for the Justice Department, to conclude the proceedings. With this latest debacle, both groups seem even more determined not to compromise.

Both sides continue their belligerence and posturing, and the recent events question not only the motives of the university, but The Movement as well.

Going into this meeting, the members of The Sept. 29th Movement knew that tape recorders or stenographers would not be allowed. Despite this fact, they still brought a tape recorder and ended the first real chance at ending this standoff.

The meeting was intended to be confidential, and those present at the meeting could only take notes. The Movement further showed how unwilling they were to follow the rules when they published transcripts of the supposedly confidential meeting.

In the past the university was blamed for inflaming the situation in their treatments of The Movement. Last year, the university tried leaders of The Movement in secret, star chamber-like judicial proceedings.

This time it is The Sept. 29th Movement, not the university, who is to blame for this latest turn of events. Since Old Botany Hall was renamed, Movement members have continually pleaded their case for a meeting with the university and an independent mediator, conciliator or negotiator.

They got that opportunity in October, and they failed to show why they should deserve special consideration when meeting with the university.

The original purpose of The September 29th Movement was to change the name of Carrie Chapman Catt Hall.

The existence of that building, they believed, was insulting to minorities since Catt was alleged to have made racist comments during her struggle for women’s suffrage.

It’s unclear what their motives and ideas are now. In October Allan Nosworthy staged a hunger strike during which he asked the university for everything short of the kitchen sink, and many of his demands were a drastic departure from the original ideas of the group. Last month, The Movement had the opportunity to voice their concerns in an equitable meeting, then proceeded to get that meeting cancelled because they couldn’t follow the rules.

Milton McGriff and his cohorts have maintained that the university has been unwilling to budge and that university administrators have continually slighted the leaders of the student group. Now it could be said that The Movement is guilty of the same crime.

The Movement had an opportunity to have their arguments heard in the university negotiations by simply abiding by the rules and telling the conciliator their side of the story. Instead, they chose to break the rules by bringing a tape recorder and then publishing a transcript of the hearing.

The Sept. 29th Movement often complains that rules the university places upon them are unfair, yet they can’t follow regulations set by a third party they wanted at their meetings in the first place.

It will be hard to take The Movement seriously any more. Although I disagreed with their methods and their message, I always felt they could pioneer effective communication between students and the university. Now that ideal has sunk in a sea of tape recorders, mediators and empty rhetoric.

It appears now that they are no better than the university. The September 29th Movement has lost touch with their original ideas and intent, and seem no better to help students than the university.

The Movement wanted to be equals with the university, and it’s clear they are. The leaders of of The September 29th Movement now appear to be as selfish, closed-minded, self-serving and egomaniacal as the university leaders they so detest.

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Robert Zeis is a senior in finance from Des Moines.