14
World News
Reports
♦Americans fly overseas to
join Kosovo Liberation
Army
Yonkers, New York (AP)
Hundreds of Americans in
store-bought camouflage uni
forms stood in the parking lot
of a suburban New York hotel,
volunteering to fight the Serbs.
"Albanians are willing to
die for freedom!" yelled Joseph
DioGuardi, head of the Alba
nian-American Civic League, to
the more than 400 recruits in
military formation.
About 500 family members
and friends watched, weeping
and cheering, in the lot outside
the Albanian-run Royal Regency
Hotel.
The volunteers are to be
trained in Albania before at
tempting to cross the mountain
ous border sprinkled with land
mines to join the Kosovo libera
tion Army.
"I'm very happy I'm send
ing my son, I'm very proud/' said
Elfet Kodra, a mother clutching
her youngest son's camouflage
jacket.
Some recruits spent time in
the U.S. military or in the
Yugoslav army, but most are un
trained. Their uniforms from
Army-Navy surplus stores were
brand-new.
They planned to join the
Kosovo rebel force in a last-ditch
effort to save hundreds of thou
sands of Albanians who have
fled their decimated towns and
villages. Most in the Yonkers
parking lot had relatives there
who are either dead or missing.
♦ Report: Two-thirds of
Singapore parents have
caned their children
Singapore (AP) Two-thirds
of Singapore parents have pun
ished their children by caning
them, according to survey re
sults published Sunday in a lo
cal newspaper.
Singapore grabbed world
headlines for its use of caning
as a criminal punishment in
1994, when authorities flogged
U.S. teen-ager Michael Fay for
vandalism.
Many parents in the South
east Asian nation believe the
rod is an effective form of disci
pline, the report said.
Rattan canes used for
swatting children are widely
sold in Singapore. Sales are
most brisk during school exami
nations, the newspaper said.
The survey questioned al
most 400 parents with children
ages 16 or younger.
Exploring undisturbed nature
By Andrea Dodson
STAFF WRITER
Two American tourists were
murdered in Africa while observ
ing gorillas in the Ugandan moun-
tain ranges. What
is wrong with that
picture? It is part
of the latest grow
ing trends of trek
king, Eco-tourism,
and adventure
travel.
What is Eco
tourism? It is a bil
lion-dollar indus
try and many
Guilford College
students take part
in it every year.
"(It) relates to
the study of natu
ral history of the
area that they
(tourists) are
studying," according to Lynn
Moseley a Biology professor at
Guilford College, "Eco-tourism
takes place in areas away from big
cites and in more natural areas,"
"Eco-tourism...focuses not on
amenities like hotels but rather
on getting people to see and en
joy nature in an undisturbed con
dition as possible. In fact, the
more amenities available the
more of a turn-off it is for the
eco-tourist," said Nigel Austin
a Justice and Policy studies pro
fessor who is an expert in eco
tourism.
The first type of Eco-tour
ism was started in the nine
teenth century when people
used to go on hunting safaris.
People shot and collected ani
mals. In the late 1960'5, a change
occurred and people became
more aware of the relationship
that the animals have with the
environment.
"After Earth day in April of
1969, that really caused a nation
wide consciousness raising.
Eco-tourism greatly increased
in popularity after that date,"
said Moseley.
Photo safaris then became
much more popular than going
out to hunt animals
However, now there is a
problem with an increase in the
number of people that visit the
tourist sites. So what happens
to the people of that culture
when there are other people
coming onto their land?
A competition for the use of
the land becomes prevalent.
Some of the land that had been
used by farming is now being
used as a site for preserves and
areas for tourists to come and
view the native wildlife.
World
Another problem that
takes place within certain tour
sites is the relationship be
tween the tour groups and the
native people of the country.
"Ideally income of Eco-tour-
W MKK \ 1
p.™ *
Hope Donkin and Brian Colletta in Africa JENNY CRAIGIE
ism goes into the pockets of the
people who live near the parks
and refuges so that they benefit
in a direct way from eco-tour
ism. Realistically, I know that
the ideal is not always met.
Some of the income goes to
American and European tour
companies," said Moseley.
A positive side is that some
tourists do understand the situ
ation and some find companies
to deal with that reassure that
some of the profit goes directly
to the people of the country.
Adventure travel is an
other type of eco-tourism that
is rapidly growing. This is
where people get hurt the most.
Tourists will travel to remote
places of the earth to hike or
white-water raft or do anything
that could possibly place them
in danger.
The mountain that the
tourists in Africa were climbing
is a very steep mountain; how
ever, the main purpose of their
trek was to observe gorillas in
their natural habitat.
"They were ambushed by
Hutu 'rebels' who are fighting the
government armies of Uganda
and Rwanda comprised of Tutsis
(the Hutu rivals) and people who
are sympathetic to the cause of
the Tutsis. These Hutus fighters
are based largely in The Demo
cratic Republic of Congo.
This bitterness and rivalry
has been continuing since the
Hutus committed genocide in
Rwanda about five years ago
murdering an estimated
800,000 Tutsis, who are in the
minority. The Hutu fighters, by
killing these eco-tourists,
wanted to send a message to all
those countries, including the
THE GUILFORDIAN
APRIL 16, 1 999
United States, who are support
ive of the governments of
Uganda and Rwanda in their
pursuit of peace and democracy.
The Hutus feel that outsiders
supporting these countries are
essentially demon
strating their op
position to them,"
said Austin.
"I was very
disturbed to hear
about the death of
the tourists, but
any tourist is so
vulnerable," said
Moseley.
Guilford Col
lege has a summer
program that is
led to East Africa
every third sum
mer. There,
Marl en e
MacCauley and
Lynn Moseley take
students to study the wildlife
and the culture of Kenya and
Tanzania.
"When I thought of Africa I
usually thought of political un
rest between tribal peoples. I
knew it was all going on around
us, I mean, we were told a war
was going on like a hundred
miles away or something, but we
were so sheltered in a beautiful
country with great people. It
was obvious that we were tour
ists being shown the best parts
of Kenya but for the most part
they weren't selling us a myth.
It was a great experience," said
Jenny Craigie who attended the
Africa trip last year.
The leaders assure that the
money that is spent on the trip
goes to the people of that native
country. The group also carries
school supplies with them to the
schools that the tour company
has adopted to provide for. The
purpose of the Guilford spon
sored trips is to study animals
not readily found here in
Greensboro and to study the
relationship between the ani
mals and the people.
"It just seemed so much
more relaxed and peaceful. To
be able to live that happily with
out processed foods and Gap
dresses and action flicks was
refreshing. I couldn't imagine
living that simply here in the
States," said Craigie.
Despite the potential dan
gers, traveling is a wonderful
experience. Many Guilford stu
dents take part in it every year.
Many involve the study of na
ture and the wonders around it.
If you would like to find out
more about some of the projects,
contact the study abroad office.