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`` Conservatism '' and `` traditionalism '' seem implied by what has just been said.

But these terms are treacherous.

In the field of political values, it is certainly true that students are not radical, not rebels against their parents or their peers.

And as they go through college, the students tend to bring their political position in line with that prevalent in the social groups to which they belong.

Yet they have accepted most of the extant `` welfare state '' provisions for health, security, and the regulation of economic affairs, and they overwhelmingly approve of the traditional `` liberalism '' of the Bill of Rights.

When their faith in civil liberties is tested against strong pressures of social expediency in specific issues, e.g., suppression of `` dangerous ideas '', many waver and give in.

The students who are most willing to acquiesce in the suppression of civil liberties are also those who are most likely to be prejudiced against minority groups, to be conformist and traditionalistic in general social attitudes, and to lack a basic faith in people.