1986_11 The Daily Collegian November 1986

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5
Reader
to Daiiy CoRegtan articles and opinion are
welcome. Send letter* no longer than 250
words in length to Daily Collegian. Keats
Campus Bleg.. CSUF. Fresno. CA 93740.
Letters must be signed and include Ihe
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number
MEChA defended
Dear Editor,
History speaks eloquently of the
unpopular task often involved with
confronting unjustice (even symbol¬
ically) at times that society is beset by
the prevalence of war abroad, attacks
upon the poor, and the enforcement of
racism domestically (the six-year exper¬
ience of Reaganism having given sober¬
ing recognition to the reality that these
. are not problems confined to history).
Case in point, the Nov. 4 letter by
Joe Ruelas wherein he assails MEChA
for taking a principled stand on the side
of peace and social justice, along with
many supporters, via the weekly silent,
protest against aid to the Nicaraguan '
contras-and our government's support
of unpopular regimes in El Salvador
and Guatemala.
Along with the outrageous charges
made against the members of M ECh A,
he assets the weakest of arguments, in
effect, parroting the official (il) logic
that the Reagan Administration shares
around justifying its war against the
people of Central America.
His first point, that the Salvadoran
government is "people elected" and
"democractic" immediately falls upon
its face. Many people, save for Mr.
Ruelas, are well aware of the/act that
the last trwo elections in that country,
while praised by the White House as a
model ofthe democratic process, were
roundly discredited by many observers
(such as former ambassador to EI Salv¬
ador Robert White) as fraudulent,.
Such views stemmed largely from
abuses such as ballot tampering, which
resulted in more votes counted *than
there were voters registered, transparent
ballot boxes, and the fact that many
Salvadorans were compelled by law to
vote in the first place or else risk
governmental reprisal.
Ruelas' failure to appreciate the
historical depth of the war further
illustrates his seeming incapacity to
fully comprehend reality. He disputes
the widely viewed parallel between the
experience with Vietnam and the pres¬
ent war in Central America with the
belief that "no U.S. military occupation
has occurred.**
How then does he-account for the
role that special forces advisers (num¬
bered at SO according to official figures)
play in directing Salvadoran armed
forces including complicity with death
squad activity? Does he likewise turn a
blind eye to the presence of 30.000 U.S
troops involved in Ocean Venture 84, a
two week joint Army, Navy, Air Force,
and. Marine Corps operation, which
included an aircraft carrier, 350 ships.
and 250 planes, or the 5,500 troops
involved in the Big Pine II manuevres
in Honduras along with more than
16,000 troops on ships and planes?
He then attempts to downplay the
toll of American lives already taken by
the war by cynically arguing that the
only such lives lost in Central America
are those "killed by the insurgents."
This may be true if one conveniently
excludesthose of Jean Donovan, Maura
Clar, Dorothy Kazel, and ha Ford (the
four religious workers who. for concen¬
trating their missionary work among
EI Salvador's poor and displaced pop¬
ulation, paid the price for such "subver¬
sion" with their lives as they were raped
and then shot by Salvadoran national
guardsmen)!
Likewise, Mr. Ruelas'ignorance does
not change the fact that a clear majority
of public opinion does not support our
government's interventionist policy in
the region ("Socialist" opinions not¬
withstanding, a Gallup poll releasee in
March showed popular sentiment
running 52 percent to 35 percent against
contra aid). One can also look,beyond
U.S. public opinion to observe inter¬
national opposition as expressed in the
June 27 verdict of the World Court,
which found the U.S. guilty of 15
counts of violating international law.
The contradiction Ruelas perceives
between our desire to see our nation's
resources utilized for social develop¬
ment at home as well as humanitarian
assistance (in the real sense of the
word) to other countries, rather than
for war. can only serve to betray his
truly backwards frame of reference.
He further exposes himself with the
sanctimonious claim that "the aid to El
Salvador is used to save human lives."
This view certainly wasn't shared by
archbishop Romero who, in his 1980
letter to President Carter, written a
month before his assassination, clearly
demanded an immediate end to U.S.
military aid. Since that time more than
50,000 Salvadorans have died at the
hands of their government with the
blessings of U.S. tax dollars.
Given his overall failure to adequately
serve any substance to his arguments
it's not surprising to see Mr. Ruelas
conclude JJJs letter by degenerating to
amateurish name calling. Certainly, if
denouncing war and genocide makes
us terrorists it is only because our work
strikes terror into the hearts of fascists.
Al Robles
MEChA Member!
(terrorist for Peace)
Writer thanked
Dear bditor,
I would like to begin by thanking
Avoid Hectic Christmas Shopping!
Shop on Campus!
College Union Programming invites you to the
HOLIDAY CRAFTS BAZAAR
44 Craft Vendors from all over California
selling specially handcrafted items.
Great for X-Mas Gifts
Satellite College Union
December 10 & 11
10a.m.-7p.m.
George Kostyrko for his article (Nov*
24,1986) on studying overseas. I feel he
was quite conscientious about accurate¬
ly recording our interview. There are,
howeven^ercouple of things I would
like to clarify. First, the town I lived in
when 1 first arrived in Denmark is
called Olstykke. not Lystekke,
Second and more important, alth¬
ough I did not move to a kollegium in
the second semester. theCSU program
in Denmark requires that students live
with host families the entire year except
when an unusual situation arises. This
requirement varies from country to
country. Although I did indeed feel
isolated in my first home, it was not
because of my host family or the fact
that I lived out in the country. Rather,
it was because I had little opportunity
to meet people my age in our kommune.
i want to stress that this is not the case
for all students, most of whom have
wonderful experiences with their host
. families.
The article also mentioned the cost
of programs and I would like to
emphasize that persons who are eligible
for financial aid may apply that aid
toward the costs of the study overseas
program. Scholarships are also avail¬
able. Finally, I would like to encourage
those students who want more informa¬
tion on studying overseas to come to
Jpyal Administration #211 and speak
to either Sonya Hildrcth or myself. We
have pamphlets that describe the
individual programs and financing and
we also have a short slide show for
students to look at, at their leisure. The
application deadline for all programs
except Australia and New Zealand is
February 1,1987 for Australia and the
deadline for New Zealand is May 1,
1987.
Louri M. Bradford
Alumni Assistant
International Programs
Chaps zap sap
Dear Editor.
A few weeks ago, there was an article
in The Daily Collegian which told us
about the complaints of the residents in
the dorms. It was about the trees which
are leaving sap all over the cars.  ,
The authorities on campus, which
you brought this problem to, say it
would cost money to remove these
trees. But they aren't considering the
amount of money the students paid on
their cars.' paint jobs. Some of the
students have spent from S500 to $1,500
on a paint job, which they want to keen
looking good. These students get tired
of wasting their limited time on washing
and waxing their cars to protect its
paint.
I've talked to many of these students
They dont like spending time two or
three times a week washing their cars.
They dont see why the authorities
couldnt have these trees moved out of
, the parking lot, the trees producing the
sap that is. They could replace them
with other types. Even though this
campus is an arboretum, a place with
different types of trees, they could
relocate these trees somewhere else on
the campus.
People tell us not te park under the
trees, but to find a place close to the
dorms is almost impossible. Many
people dont want to walk very far. The
places near thc dorms where there are
no trees are usually taken. Plus, many
people dont like the sun to directly hit
their cars all the time because the sun
rays oxidize the paint.
While some students have invested
in car covers, others dont have the
money to because a good car cover
costs any where between S70 and $ 100.
It seems as if they should be able to
afford one because if they can pay for
an expensive paint job, they could
afford to buy one. But after paying for
the paint job. school tuition and
housing, money is scarce. Plus car
covers do get stolen very easily.
Money, the authorities don't want to
spend, to move these trees comes mostly
from the students' tuition fees anyway.
The money they dont use to move the
trees ends up costing the students more
money, which we cant afford, most of
us anyway. The trees 'can be moved
somewhere else; it would be easier than
moving the parking lot. Even though
this campus is an arboretum, which
makes this campus very beautiful, they
could move these trees in exchange
with some others on the campus.
David Brooks
Rape story lauded
Dear Editor.
I'm writing in response to an article
that was published in The Daily
Collegian a few weeks ago about a
young woman who experienced an
attempted rape. The article was great.
It explained what happened one night
to a woman from CSUF as she drove
home from school. Because of the
mood and detail ofthe article. 1 believe
it was a great "scare tactic." I dont
know if the article was intended to
scare anyone or not. but I do know that
if I were a woman and 1 read the article,
I would think twice about walking
anywhere at night without an escort.
The young woman in thc article
escaped the rapist but only after a long
struggle with him. She was a lucky
victim, odd as it jhay seem.
See RAPE, page 4
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