The Midpeninsula Free University

MFU Articles Published by The Stanford Daily
1969

Controversy Arises Over Plaza Dance

A fight which erupted Saturday night during a free music concert in The Plaza (formerly Lytton Plaza) has developed into a minor controversy between the Palo Alto Times and the concert's organizers.

Yesterday's Times printed a story about the incident which many non-police observers feel is grossly misleading.

The fighting incident, which was interrupted by police almost as soon as it began and lasted no more than several minutes, was described by the Times as a melee.

The paper's report also gave prominent play to the purported rape of a 17-year-old Redwood City girl, which her father reported to police the following day. The incident was supposed to have occurred in a vacant lot near the Poppycock after the girl left The Plaza concert.

Police last night reported that the rape charge looks like kind of a farce. The medical report on the girl proved negative, and accounts of what happened to the girl were conflicting, according to the Palo Alto police.

The Saturday night concerts on Lytton Plaza have been held weekly this summer and last, and are organized by the Free People's Free Music Company, a group consisting mainly of Free University members and local high school students.

The Times account called the event an unauthorized rock music fest.

Police spokesmen have told the Music Company that they will be allowed to have the concerts until complaints are registered about the noise level or other disturbances.

At no time has there been any indication that the concerts themselves were illegal or that authorization was needed, according to concert organizers.

The Times did not indicate what authorization was required. It said that Equitable Savings and Loan, which owns The Plaza, has a rule prohibiting the use of the plaza by more than 25 persons at one time. Police have not tried to enforce this company rule this year at the concerts.

The Times quotes James Kemp, managing officer of the Equitable office in Palo Alto, as saying that he had written to the police Friday giving them permission to make arrests in The Plaza and to enforce the law. There will be another dance in the series this weekend.