The assassination of John F. Kennedy '40 must be investigated further to uncover the truth about his death, proponents of conspiracy theories told an audience of more than 100 last night at Langdell Hall.

Their lectures opened this weekend's teach-in and symposium on the 30th anniversary of the president's death. Lectures, panel discussions, and slide presentations will continue throughout the weekend at Langdell and in Science Center B.

Speakers said the purpose of the symposium is to bring the controversy surrounding the assassination to the attention of the public, the media and politicians.

"The assassination transfixed the people and still seems dominant in the American sensibility," said Carl Oglesby, co-founder of the Assassination Information Bureau and keynote speaker at last night's program.

He recommended that President Clinton name a special prosecutor to mount a new investigation.

If Kennedy had not been assassinated, Oglesby said, escalation of the American military intervention in Vietnam might not have occurred. "We are drawn to think about [the assassinations] and study them because the one and a half million Vietnamese and the 58,000 Ameri- cans who died in Vietnam are also the victimsof the killers, whoever they were," he said. Hegave no evidence that Kennedy would not haveescalated the conflict in Vietnam.

Speaker Theresa Seay said that the U.S.government's unwillingness to re-open theinvestigation shows contempt for the public.

Seay said she believes it was impossible forLee Harvey Oswald to fire all the shots atKennedy. She called the conception of the eventson which the Warren Commission based itsconclusions the "magic bullet buffs' myth."

She said she advocates exhumation and a"complete, professional autopsy" of Kennedy'sbody.

Other speakers said that the government'scover-up has poisoned its relationship with thepublic.

"We're trying to build a future," said RobertGroden, an expert on the photographic evidencerelating to the case. "It's as though we're tryingto build a skyscraper, and there's a crack in thatfoundation, and that crack is the WarrenCommission's report.