distribution only of “informative” literature (as opposed to “persuasive” literature) would be permitted on campus, giving rise to the Free Speech Movement, with thousands of students protesting the ban in the face of police billy clubs. Leary argued that such demonstrations played right onto the game boards of the administration and the police alike, and that the students could shake up the establishment much more if they would just stay in their rooms and change their nervous systems. But it wasn't really a case of either-or. You could protest and explore your 13-billion-cell mind simultaneously. | became intrigued by the playful and subtle patterns of awareness that Leary and Alpert manifested. If their brains had been so damaged, as mythologized by mainstream media, how come their perceptions were so sharp? | began to research the LSD phenomenon, and in April 1965 | returned to Millbrook for my first acid experience. Tim Leary was supposed to be my guide, but he had gone off to India. Dick Alpert was supposed to take his place, but he was too involved in getting ready to open at the Village Vanguard as a comedian- philosopher. | chatted with him for a while. He was soaking his body in a bathtub, preparing his psyche for the Vanguard gig. He had taken 300 acid HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_015303