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The Staff:

The following is an attempt at a comprehensive list of members and contributers to The Only Alternative. This does not include pseudonyms and nicknames or the names of writers associated with the Liberation News Service or other underground newspapers. In addition to listing the members, any additional information about the members is also included. When analyzing this list, it became clear that there were definitely more men who were involved in the newspaper, with about 75% of the articles and poems written by men. This fact is illustrated in the graph on the left:

Ball State University Subject Files Box 1 Folder 1, "Total College Level On Campus 1918-1970,"Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries

This graph also illustrates that, while women made up about 25% of the membership of The Only Alternative, less than 15% of the articles were written by women. While it is impossible to know why this was the case, the fact that Sue Harriff was the only significant female contributer falls in line with much of the scholarship on the subject which suggests that the underground newspapers were heavily male driven. The lack of females involved in actual articles or poems is illustrated in the graph on the right.

These numbers become even more poignant when compared with this graph of the students at Ball State from 1966-1971 which shows that during those years the number of female students surpassed male students:

Ball State University Subject Files Box 1 Folder 1, "Total College Level On Campus 1918-1970,"Archives and Special Collections, Ball State University Libraries

Though the staff of The Only Alternative was heavily male, many of the females who did contribute to the paper were also heavily involved in other activities on campus, political and otherwise. The following biographies show that, rather than being "dirty-necked scum" like one Muncie resident stated, the staff of The Only Alternative were some of the brightest and hardest working students at Ball State University. (Letters to the Editor, Evening Press, March 22, 1969)

William Harriff - a Muncie native and graduate of Muncie Central was one of the founders of The Only Alternative. He and his wife Sue owned the house at 309 S. McKinley which served as the office for the newspaper. This was also where the first 3 issues were printed before moving to a professional printer. William (Bill) was also involved in the Student Liberal Action Movement and the Students for a Democratic Society at Ball State University. In addition his leadership positions in these societies, Harriff was involved in an investigation into the tactics of the campus police, authored multiple Student Senate bills, and contributed several letters to the editor printed in the Daily News. Harriff also participated in an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. in October of 1967. He and Sue left The Only Alternative and Muncie in October 1969, eventually moving to Oregon. William finally graduated from Ball State University in 1972 with a degree in Political Science.

William Harriff seen protesting student fee raises. (Daily News May 14, 1969 page 1)

Sue Harriff - was the wife of William Harriff and a co-founder of The Only Alternative. Sue contributed several articles and event announcements. She is also listed as assistant editor for several issues until she and William Harriff left Muncie and the paper.

David R. Auble - was an Indianapolis native and a co-founder of The Only Alternative. Auble served as co-editor with William Harriff for the first three issues. Auble was highly involved in campus politics, leading the protest about women's dorm hours, and the protest of a KKK march. Auble was elected a Student Association representative in April of 1966.

David Auble's Student Senate campaign photo. (Daily News 1966/04/19 page 3)

Carl Van Buskirk - a Muncie native who served as co-editor with Dave Johnson after the departure of the Harriffs. He began contributing as early as the fourth issue of the paper and contributed at least 13 articles to the newspaper. During his time as editor, his home served as the headquarters of TOA. Prior to his time with TOA, Van Buskirk worked for Republican Senator Barry Goldwater during his 1964 presidential campaign. He was also a veteran and leader of the Veterans for Peace in Vietnam Club. Van Buskirk also served on the Student Center Governing Board.

Carl Van Buskirk (Daily News October 29, 1969 page 5)

Dave Johnson - a Ft. Wayne native, wrote a couple articles about the Ball State administration and served as co-editor with Carl Van Buskirk after the Harriffs left The Only Alternative. He was on the Student Center Governing Board with Carl Van Buskirk.

Dave Johnson (DN October 19, 1969 page 5)

John Belcher - an Indianapolis native and member of SLAM, contributed several poems and articles to the paper over the first two volumes. He was also an editor of Stet, the Sigma Tau Delta English honorary literary magazine. Belcher was in support of Le Mar, the student association for the legalization of marijuana and wrote an article for the Daily News after the societies constitution failed to gain approval. He also wrote several letters to the editor which were printed in the Daily News. Belcher was an English major and won several English Department awards during his time at Ball State. He was also president of the newly formed Philosophy Club in 1966.

John Belcher (far left) seen at the Midwest Model United Nations. (Daily News February 9, 1966 page 1)

Thomas Hubbard - a Muncie native, contributed several articles on the administration at Ball State University. Hubbard was one of the Ball State students who traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in an anti-war demonstration in October of 1967. Hubbard was also one of the founders of Le Mar, a student association for the legalization of marijuana.

Larry Whitney - an African-American student and Muncie native who contributed several articles on the Black Community in Muncie and Ball State. He was also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi, a black fraternity at Ball State. Whitney graduated in 1969 with a degree in Social Studies and Business Administration. In 1972 he was given the Matthew Bender Award for outstanding law students at the Indiana University Law School Honors Day Banquet. He was also the first African-American student to be named to the staff of the Indiana Legal Forum, a scholastic periodical published by law students.

Larry Whitney (1969 Ball State Orient photo)

W.T. Quick - a Ball State student who wrote several articles about events and political associations on campus. Quick also wrote several poems for The Only Alternative.

Steven Stillwell - a New Castle native, wrote reviews for books, stage plays, and albums for several issues of The Only Alternative. He was involved in numerous musical productions and directed several plays and other theatrical productions at Ball State.

Lee Michael Hoel - a native of Marion, contributed several poems to the newspaper.

Dr. Richard Hardesty - was an assistant professor of Political Science. He contributed several articles on politics and the New Left.

Richard Hardesty (Daily News September 6, 1967 Special Edition page 17)

Patrick McBride - an Indianapolis native, contributed several poems and articles to the newspaper, ranging from critiques of the Ball State administration to poems on Women's Liberation. He was one of the leaders of The Only Alternative after the departure of Carl Van Buskirk and Dave Johnson.

Charlie Heitkamp - an Indianapolis native who contributed articles on the Moratorium and the local community's reaction to rallies.

Charlie Heitkamp (seated) at the Vietnam Moratorium activities sign-up booth in the Tally Student Center. (Daily News October 14, 1969)

Dave Kitts - a Marion native and leader of the John Brown Society at Ball State. Kitts wrote several articles about the society and the Counterculture Movement. Kitts worked with the Black Panthers to hold a memorial service in honor of Fred Hampton.

Angelo Franceschina - a Lafayette native, contributed several articles about racism in Muncie and the problems with housing in the city. He was a member of the Tenant's Rights organization dedicated to the improvement of housing conditions in Muncie. This organization was formed after a four year old girl died because of a gas leak which was reported but not fixed. He organized an anti-Vietnam strike on campus in May of 1970 and a week long peace rally in May of 1971. He also helped organize the 1969 and 1970 Newman Apostolate
Folk Festivals on campus. He graduated from Ball State with a bachelor's degree in Regional and Urban Planning in 1971 and a master's degree in the same field in 1973.

Angelo Franceschina (right) and Mike Povolec, director of the Friends of Folk festival. (Daily News October 1, 1970 page 8)

The following people contributed at least one article or poem to The Only Alternative but were not major contributers:

Steven Vaughn - was also a writer for the Daily News.

Virginia Powell

Nicolia Summers

Charley Ellis

Randy Harris - a theater student from Marion. He starred in several stage productions of plays which he directed.

Randy Harris (right) in "The Zoo Story" (Daily News October 13, 1967)

Harris (right) as Joshua in "The Examination." (Daily News March 19, 1968)

Ron Payne - an Indianapolis native, organized a student book exchange program with Dave Auble. Payne was also the University Political Party policies chairman, Student Senate member, and Internal Affairs Committee member.

Ron Payne (Daily News February 21, 1969 page 3)

H. Kenneth Walker

Peg Yoder - a Ft. Wayne native and member of the Student Publications Committee. She was the Senior Class Treasurer in 1968. She also contributed articles to the Daily News.

Peg Yoder (Daily News April 24, 1968 page 3)

Jeff Thomas

Liz Brown - a Gary native, wrote an article about the changes which needed to occur in order for true racial equality to exist at Ball State. She was the Muncie Inter-Relations Council Secretary in 1967.

John Bagely - a student who dodged the draft. Bagely wrote an article about this experience for The Only Alternative. He was also at the anti-Vietnam rally in Washington, D.C. in October of 1967.

Dr. Harry H. Taylor - an associate professor of English at Ball State who contributed to The Only Alternative.

Harry H. Taylor (Daily News Roll Call 1970, page 53)

Sandy Spiker - a Ft. Way native who contributed two articles about Women's Liberation. She was a Student Orientation Corps leader. Spiker was also the chairman of the Association of Women for Awareness, Responsibility, and Equality (AWARE) on campus. Spiker participated in the Vietnam Moratorium Committee "Fast for Peace" in 1970.

Sandy Spiker (left) (Daily News January 13, 1970 page 1)

Tony Favaloro

Martha Burk - a Muncie native. Burk was an Off-Campus Council Member and co-chairman of the Peoples' Peace Treaty Committee.

Martha Burk ad (Daily News April 29, 1970 page 4) and Burk at the People's Peace Treaty Committee meeting (Daily News March 25, 1971 page 1)

Joe Delaney

Dave Porter - an Anderson native. Porter was an Off-Campus Student Senator in 1970. He led a "Boo the Band" protest of the United States Air Force band in September of 1970.

Mike Kelly

Paul Rozycki

Mark Sharfman - an Indianapolis native and member of the New Left Coalition. Sharfman was also a Student Activity Committee member and Student Senate member in 1970 and 1971. Sharfman was also the co-director of the Aquarius House Crisis Hot-line which was advertised in The Only Alternative.

Gene Wilson - also wrote articles for the Daily News. Wilson was also the Orient business manager in 1970 and 1971.

The following people are listed as working for the paper, though they did not contribute in the form of articles or poetry.

John Pressler

John Pressler in the Jook Boys folk band. (Daily News October 8, 1969 page 3)

Carter Wolf - an Art major from Hammond and member of the Ball State University soccer team in 1967 and 1968. Wolf was on the Student Center Governing Board committee in 1967.

Carter Wolf on the 1968 Ball State soccer team. (Daily News September 27, 1968 page 10)

Judy Merrit

C.S. Snyder

Gregory Adams - a Muncie native who edited Stet with John Belcher.

Steve Glass

Linda Maddox

Carol Hanley

Diane Ferree

Tom Helmsing

Mary Keirns - a Ft. Wayne student who sold The Only Alternative in the Student Center. Keirns was also the Student Senate Educational Affairs Board member. Keirns also contributed articles to the Daily News.

Nancy Stearman - a member of the John Brown Society at Ball State University.

Mike Glasser - an Off-Campus Senator.

Chris Farabaugh

Tom Beall - was the art editor for RAP, a supplement to the Daily News.