FREE PRESS: So, what has happened to the people who burned
down the Bank of America and the leaders in Isla Vista during
the winter and spring of 1970?
FLACKS: For, the most part, these activists have spent 15 years
searching for a niche or role in society, experimenting with
many 
different life styles and occupational pathways. And, these
people are not, for the most part, doing what they were trained
for in college. And, their income per year is not impressive.
But, the group we followed in the study who were not involved
in the demonstrations, a lot of fraternity and sorority people
and athletes--the so-called "straights" of the time--who
were angry about the police brutality but who did not identify
with the rebellion of that winter and spring, these people are
for the most part still involved with the same occupational
field they chose coming out of college and their earnings are
in the six figures. And, most got married and settled down right
away.
That's why the movie, "The Big Chill," was such a
distortion, because it purports to tell the story of people
who were activists in the '60s and '70s, now turning Yuppies.
In fact, this movie told the story of the so-called "straight"
people of that era. The story of the generation that made the
events in Isla Vista has yet to be told.
FREE PRESS: So what happened after that spring? I mean, what
happened the next fall in Isla Vista?
FLACKS: The most amazing thing! The Apocalypse didn't happen.
The activists started building a community. There was a general
coming together of people to create some order in the chaos.
Not some kind of order imposed from outside but an order based
on self-improvement.
I really learned a lot from that experience. It seems that when
people get close to the edge, most of them draw back and ask
"Can we make something of what's here?"
Even that spring, some of this started when the Isla Vista Community
Council was established. Then came Regents funds in the fall
and a whole group of community institutions were established,
all on so-called "alternative" models--organizations
which hopefully reflected the new values being expressed by
this new generation.
Of course, the rest is history.
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