February 7,1992
Cambodia
>■ continued from page 2
escorted Prince Sihanouk on visits outside
Phnom Penh, a duty once performed by
Prime Minister Sen. It appears as if Prince
Sihanouk has switched political alliances
before a national election scheduled for 1993.
If this is the case, the regent has moved his
support from Prime Minister Sen, who is a
moderate and a close friend of Transporta
tion Minister Phan, to the more authoritar
ian CheaSim.
The violence and political intimidation
that have occurred recently in Cambodia are
foreboding for several reasons, including
the fact that the transfer of political support
to the People's Party signals a new instabil
ity in Cambodian politics. The increasingly
volatile situation in Phnom Penh has not
gone undetected in the rest of the world; the
United Nations is quickening eployment of
a peacekeeping force of 10,000 troops to
augment the 300 observers already in place
in Cambodia. Although the purpose of this
force is to maintain order, it is extremely
Letters
>- continued from page 4
with the particular hall. We personally welcome
the diverse and refreshing view that Toiya will
bring to Hobbs from her experiences in other
halls. Granted, the community in Hobbs is unique,
but we mustnot narrow our definition of a "com
munity" and make it synonymous with "soror
ity" or "clique." Only when we welcome other
people into our community with open arms,
without passing judgments based on misinfor
mation and assumptions, will we realize our goal
at this school and in our lives and be truly free
from bias.
Cathy Canfieid
Terri Salmons
Benefit turnout low
To the editor:
The Guilford African American Cultural So
ciety attempted its first "party with a purpose,"
the Sarah T. Cur wood benefit dinner and dance,
formerly the Cupid's Cotillion. Although student
initiative behind this event was overwhelming,
community support was lacking. Curwood Com
mittee Chairperson, Allison Crawford expressed
disappointment at the low number of faculty and
administration in attendance.
"Even if they were unable to attend, I had
hoped to receive significant contributions from
this group, because of the nature of the fund,"
said Crawford.
However, regardless of the low turn-out, those
in attendance enjoyed an excellent catered meal
by the M arriott Food Service and words of reflec
tion and appreciation from Steven Curwood, son
of the late Sarah T. Curwood. In addition, inspi
rational musical selections were performed by
Richard Ford, associate dean of students, and by
Sweet Diversion, Guilford's answer to En Vogue.
As an attendee, I found the event to be a
likely that unrest will result from the pres
ence of the United Nations forces.
At this point, some apologies should be
made by those, including myself, who pre
dicted a peaceful and democratic Cambo
dia, resulting from the repatriation of Prince
Sihanouk. Instead of creating a new politi
cal order, the recent events in Cambodia
have reaffirmed the world's opinion that the
changes the West desired will not come in
the near future. Although the situation in the
country is far from hopeless, one can hardly
expect Cambodia to achieve political har
mony when its leaders are trying to kill each
other.
An examination of recent Cambodian his
tory reveals that authoritarianism, political
upheaval, and human rights abuses are a
common themes. With the creation of the
Free Democratic Society by Oung Phan, the
opposition movement in Cambodia created
the political turmoil that was always present
since Sihanouk's return but was ignored by
most Western analysts until the attempted
assassination of Phan. If reforms of any sort
are to be instituted in Cambodia, the Phnom
Penh leadership must address the problem
that Phan has brought to the forefront or face
another long period of coup d etats and
autocracy.
forthcoming tradition for the Guilford commu
nity. Hopefully, in the future this event will
prompt more campus-wide support. Although
over one thousand dollars was raised, the goal of
reaching the Committee's $50,000 bench mark
necessary for endowment, is far from attained.
However, it is not too late to make a contribution
to Sarah T. Curwood Scholarship Fund. For all
interested you can make checks payable to Guil
ford College (note: Sarah T. Curwood) at the
Business Office.
Chantelle Bynum
Criticism considered
slanderous,ignorant
To the editor:
I would like to respond to the letter of a certain
Jason Smith (who wrote to you concerning the
Gulf War panel), and in doing so, add a final note
to the topic.
While active-duty army members receive their
G.I. bill money after they complete their terms of
duty, reservists are entitled to their benefits
throughout, and after, their army careers.
It is interesting to note that Jason's slander
first-ask-questions-later style of commentary is
very similar to the attitude that characterized
much of the media during the Gulf crisis, and
helped to proliferate misinformation.
It is ironic that Jason's aggressive and misin
formed letter appeared in reference to the subject
of war, for it is this sort of mentality that has led
mankind into so many of these conflcits.
"The Dwarf of Reasonable Discourse"
Tim Holmes
Send your letter to the editor to
P.0.80x 17717.
Perspectives
On the life of Malcolm X
The tragedy of ignorance stems from not
knowing there is a wealth of information
that could liberate and enlighten. Black His
tory Month attempts to bridge the huge gaps
in our knowledge of African Americans.
One of the prime examples of our ignorance
is the life of Malcolm X.
The Autobiography of MaicolmX, written
by Alex Haley, gives a stirring account of
his life. The following is a brief segment of
an interview with Alex Haley about Malcolm
X, taken from the book Voices of Freedom
by Henry Hampton and Steve Fayer.
"When I came first to know Malcolm, my
perceptions were that most white people
probably nearly all, from the exposure I had
ranged from being very, very apprehensive
about Malcolm to hating Malcolm, the im
age of Malcolm which had been purveyed
by the media, of course. That was not too far
afield of probably the majority of black
people also. Nowadays you might hear a lot
of people talking about how they followed
him and so forth, but my perception at the
time was that the large majority were fright-
i Run for Senate j
j or Union! j
| Petitions to run for the 1992-1993 Sen- I
I ate and Union Executive Offices are due
by midnight, February 11, 1992 at the
: Information Desk. :
: Elections are on February 25, 1992. :
I I
• For more information, call Katherine •
• Schnorrenberg at 316-3196. •
Richard Ford
Guest Writer
THE GUILFORDIAN
encd by things Malcolm said. They were so
extreme, it seemed, and so radical by com
parison with what others were saying. But
there were those who were empathetic with
the Nation of Islam, or were feeling they had
felt or which they wished somebody would
say. So the blacks' reaction was a mixed
one, from some who were terrified by what
he was saying to those who cheered and
applauded when his name was mentioned,
let alone when he came into sight.
' My own perception of Malcolm bor
dered on fascination, because I was looking
at him and reacting to him as a subject. I was
a young writer, most part, and finally was
beginning to get assignments. I saw him as
someone who was hard to top as a subject. I
like to say of Malcolm he was just simply
electric. Almost everything he did was dra
matic—and it wasn't that he was trying to
be, it was just the nature of him."
If you want to know more about Malcolm
X come to a discussion on his life in the
Walnut Room of the Cafeteria on Sunday
February 9 from 5-6 p.m.
Richard Ford is Associate Dean of Students
5