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The Daily Tar HeelMonday, November 13, 19899 Opinion i $ time to chain I was having a dream a night mare, really. I sat, cramped and sweat lng in a tiny office, surrounded by papers and worksheets and computer scanned forms. "Yes, Anthropology 41 fits nicely into your social science perspective," my adviser said of my current classes. "And Geography 10 ... I think we can slip that right into the junior-senior science requirement," he continued. That one nearly passed me by, as my subconscious swam through this Gen eral College Pre-Registration Hell. "Geography 1 0? What are you talk ing about? I'm not in that class!" I exclaimed, growing alarmed at the man's nonchalant manner. '. "Of course you are. It's on the print out." "I've never been! I picked it up and dropped it during DropAdd in Wool len! I don't even know where it meets!" I said, feeling myself growing hysteri cal. ."OK, OK. Head on over to the registrar's office and explain your situ ation," he said, moving on and trying to fit Econ, Psych and Soc 10 into my schedule. In my R.E.M. state, I drifted across the quad into Hanes Hall. Approaching the glass-enclosed office, the hum of computers reached my ears, and I sud denly had a premonition of dread. Steel ing myself, I entered and explained my case to one of the over-worked, har assed staff members, assured that she would immediately erase Geography 1 0 from any mention on my record. She shot me a practiced "you poor, naive little underclassman, Tm-sure-ril-get-all-the-classes-l-preregister-for fool' " look. ' "Social Security number?" (pause) "You'll have to bring me your pink DropAdd slip." Failure, despair ... for the moment. , As things often happen in dreams, I found myself immediately back in the registrar's office, damp fingers grasp ing my pink copy. Triumphantly, I UNC leaders support CD A Administrators - It is horrible that the UNC admini stration has made welcome on our campus an organization that has or dered the murder of some UNC stu dents. The CIA has ordered a proxy ''army to kill anyone from UNC's public health school, medical school or School of Nursing, if these people try to bring health services to some regions of the Third World. One such region is Nicaragua, where the CIA owned-and-operated Contras have a policy of killing public health work ers. I know of at least three UNC graduates, all health professionals, .who have gone to Nicaragua to prac tice their profession. These people have been in direct danger of being murdered by the Contras, agents of the CIA. Of course, not only UNC graduates are targeted. All health workers in Nicaragua are Contra tar gets. v Below are some examples of Contra attacks on civilian health . workers: In July 1986, Contras ransacked the health clinic in San Jose de las Lulas. The Contras asked for the health worker who ran this clinic by name. When they found him they tied him up and marched him away. His muti lated body was found nearby the next morning. In July 1986, Contras took four health workers from their homes in San Jose de la Mula, in Mategalpa province. One was the administrator of the local health program. Their bodies were found dismembered shortly after they were taken. In October 1986, Contras ran sacked and set fire to the health clinic at El Diamante. In October 1 987, Contras used two mines to destroy the health clinic in 'Cerro Colorado in Matagalpa prov ince. After destroying the clinic the Contras started asking for the clinic's director by name. The director ran from his house and stayed in the nearby hills until the next morning. 'The director told the Americans in vestigating this attack that people in jCerro Colorado will now have to travel at least eight miles to the nearest "clinic for health care. In October 1 988, one mile outside of Las Cuchillas, Contras ambushed an ambulance with gunfire and gre- .hades. The ambulance was clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem .and a white flag. The driver sped the ambulance to safety, but a Red Cross official riding along was wounded by shrapnel. The Contras attacks listed above are part of a Contra campaign against ' Nicaragua's health system. The 1984 book Health and the War Against Nicaragua, was written by two American health professionals, counted 31 clinics and one hospital destroyed or badly damaged from .1981 -84. In this same period, 1 9 sala ried health workers and 40 health vol-' '. unteers were killed Witness for Peace, Kelly Bruce Guest Writer presented the sheet to another lady. "Social Security number?" (pause) "Yeah, you're registered for Geogra phy 10, and this won't do you any good," she said, giving me the form, 'This has only been crossed out and never officially dropped. That's what the computer says, at least. You'll have, to go to the General College Office. Get anyone to sign another drop form and bring it back. Next!" Momentarily defeated, but with re lentless energy, I returned to the Gen eral College. Walking into the office, I faced yet another hassled lady whose desk was a tangle of papers, phone lines and a public address microphone. I explained my situation... "So if you'll just sign a drop form, I'll be on my way " She stared at me incredulously for a moment, as if she thought I just fell off the turnip truck in West Podunk, N.C. Well, I hadn't expected her to pick up the mike and announce: "Attention General College shop pers. Today's blue light special is drop forms. Just come by the main office" to Steele Building, but her surprise at my request was rather humiliating. "You're in the General College?" "Yes." No, actually, I'm from the Kiwanis Club, and I was just wonder ing if you'd like to buy some light bulbs. "Social Security number?" (pause) "You're going to have to go to the instructor," she said, handing me an other print-out, "and get him to write, on departmental stationery, a note saying you' ve never attended the class." So I confidently whipped over to Saunders Hall but ended up wandering aimlessly up and down the corridor for a while trying to find the office of the grad student who teaches the course. Finally, upon entering the grad lounge, allow CIA to Denis Thompson Guest Writer and American religious organization with representatives in Nicaragua, documented eight health centers burned by the Contras from 1 985-March 1 988. The Nicaraguan government reports that 50 health centers have had to be closed because of the Contra danger to health workers. These losses represent a significant reduction in health serv ices in the sparsely populated war zones of Nicaragua. Many people on campus might not link these Contra murders with the CIA. These people might reason "Sure the Contras are brutally murdering civil ians in Nicaragua, but what has that got to do with the CIA? Aren't the Contras an independent group of rebels whom the United States occasionally sup ports?" This view of the Contras is incorrect. Without U.S. interference, the Contras would never have existed. If the United States stopped interfer ing, the Contras would disappear. THe United States controls every aspect of the Contra organization. The United States picks the Contra leadership, directs the Contra's tactics and gives the Contras materials. The CIA is the governmental agency largely respon sible for these jobs. From the start, the Contras have been a U.S. invention. In 1981, the Reagan administration organized sev eral bands of deposed Nicaraguan National Guardsmen into the FDN, which is still the main Contra group. The parties in this organization signed papers formally constituting it at a mv&i jni "" -W AIM ME Ml V I cornered the sympathetic instructor. We trudged downstairs and picked up some elegant geography department stationery. "Social Security number?" (pause) "Well, there you are." 'Thanks. I appreciate it," I said, walking away. "You should really take Geography 10. It's a good course..." Ah, back to the GC (as I fondly referred to it now). I could tell the dream was coming to an end, for things were getting done. I held the letter in my fingers. "So you just take this to the basement of Hanes, and they'll straighten this out," the dean said, giving me a brand new drop slip. I left feeling joyous and free and giddy. "Wait! We've got to have that letter on file!" I dashed back into the office and handed the letter to the frowning secre tary, who looked at me as though I was going to run over to Kinko's and try to reproduce geography department sta tionery to sell on the mid-semester Drop-a-Class black market. I smiled politely and left, this time for good. I meandered over to the bowels of Hanes Hall and approached a line, thinking, "Why did I get sent here? Shouldn't I be upstairs?" Nonetheless, as cheerful and mindlessly accepting as I was, I dutifully waited in line and presented a lady with the form. "I'm supposed to be upstairs, aren't I?" "Yes," she said, looking at me as if I owned the turnip truck. Sighing, I turned and marched up stairs. In the registrar's office, I gave a lady the sheet, expecting the worse. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry for not doing whatever else it is I have to do to drop a class that I had no idea I was in and have never attended!" "But " kill health officials by proxy meeting in Guatemala in 1981. Edgar Chamorro, a later member of the Con tra directorate, described this meeting thus: "The meeting was arranged and the documents were prepared by the CIA. The name of the organization, the members of the political junta and the members of the general staff were all chosen or approved by the CIA." The Reagan administration also di rected a 1987 shake-up in the Contra' leadership. Newsweek magazine re ported on the shake-up by saying, "The change of strategy was designed by national security adviser Frank Carlucci, and by Assistant Secretary of State Elliott Abrams." The CIA even paid men on the politi cal directorate of the Contras, accord ing to Arturo Cruz, once a member of this directorate. When Cruz quit the Contra directorate in 1 987, he wrote, "It doesn't matter who leaves or who stays (from the Contra leadership). The Nica raguan resistance stays in the hands of the U.S." The CIA also directs the Contra's tactics. Again from Chamorro: "After our offensive at the end of 1982 was turned back, almost all of our troops in Honduras and our own officers believed that they needed more training and more time before they would be ready to return to Nicaragua. The FDN officers were overruled by the CIA, however. The agency told us that we had to send our men back into Nicaragua and keep fighting. We had no choice but to obey." The CIA also trains the Contras. The CIA prepared the infamous "Psycho logical operations in Guerilla Warfare" manual, which directed the Contras to assassinate local officials. The United States also manages the jit mm a Dish drop) mok TERfz m VHpr hORyiS tf OM Now that I was warning up, there was no Way of stopping me yet. "So where are you sending me now? South Building? I know where that is, and I've been inside before! Would this next step involve getting a certain chan cellor to send a Hallmark card over here releasing me from un-registration hell?" "It's all set," she said, puzzled, "You no longer have Geography 10." (pause) "Oh. OK." I went out the door, slightly dazed, certain that someone would run after me. I halted in the corridor, unsure of what to do next, when an angel de- horrors Contra's supply operation. Contra leader Eden Pastora testified in a sworn deposition in 1987 that George Bush was in the "Contra resupply chain of command." I hope that UNC administrators and students will seriously contem plate the information in this column, even though these facts are difficult to make sense of. These facts are scary in that they challenge our im age of our country. It is difficult to ask oneself "Why is my government intentionally murdering people?" It is much easier to accept the patriotic sounding excuses and the national security jargon. All countries use these excuses to justify their cruel actions. When the Czechoslovakians rose up against a U.S.S.R.-backed dictator in 1968, Pravda reported that the Soviet Un ion was crushing the revolutionaries to "restore order." They did not re port that the U.S.S.R. benefits eco nomically from domination of East ern Europe. Doubtless some people in the U.S.S.R. believed this conven ient excuse, and supported crushing the uprising. Ever since the Nicaraguans over threw a U.S.-backed dictator in 1 979, the American television news has told us that the U.S. government is attacking the revolutionaries because it wishes to "restore democracy" to Nicaragua. They do not report that the United States benefits economi cally from domination of Latin America. Currently, administrators at UNC believe this excuse and sup port the CIA. Denis Thompson is a graduate student in genetics from Chapel Hill. FyirSG - T"tf4A Ny scxBNCB. scended and proclaimed my journeys over. "You may return to North Campus," it said. Smiling serenely, I clicked my Tre-torn-encased heels together and slowly repeated "There's no pencil like a number two" three times. The funny thing is that I didn't wake up. It actually happened, well, more or less this way. But I finally have man aged to erase Geography 10 from my record, after nearly a week of running from building to building. Amendment would stifle the pa of U.S. flag burners Recently, quite a controversy has arisen around these few words, "The Congress and the states shall have the power to prohibit the physical desecra tion of the flag of the United States." This is the Constitutional amendment proposed by George Bush in an attempt to overturn a Supreme Court ruling. Because the thought of a burning flag fills most Americans with a sense of moral outrage, it is not surprising that the proposed amendment has gained so much support. Frankly, I am alarmed by the fervor with which many people are rushing to defend the Bush amend ment. The important issue of whether the amendment should be ratified should not be decided by simple response to emotions, but by calm, rational consid eration of several very important as pects of the controversy. After a careful weighing of the facts at hand, even those appalled by the act of flag burn ing will realize that the danger posed by the amendment is far greater than the good that it seeks to accomplish. Perhaps the most important argu ment in favor of the B ush amendment is that the flag is a symbol of what our country stands for, and, as such, it should be protected from the insult of desecra tion. I agree with this line of thinking, to an extent. I do not enjoy watching Old Glory being consumed by flames; however, I do not believe that the Constitution should be tampered with to extinguish those flames. To me, the flag symbolized not only the strength and greatness of our na tion, but also the basic freedoms upon which this country was founded. Many people think that a person who chooses to burn the flag is saying that he doesn't respect "the republic for which it stands." This is not the case. When a person burns the flag as a means of calling attention to a specific grievance against the government, he is demon stration that he loves and respects his country enough to want its wrongs to be righted and that the freedom repre sented by our flag is more important to him than the (physical) flag itself. He is also stressing the importance of up holding the Constitution.' The Constitution protects our freedom; shouldn't we think twice about altering it in a potentially harmful way? A portion of the Constitution spe cifically threatened by the proposed amendment is the First Amendment, which states that, "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech." Clearly, the two amendments can not be reconciled when one consid ers two facts: that flag burning exists mainly as a form of protest, and that protest, being the expression of dis senting ideas, is a manifestation of free speech. Granting Congress and the states power to outlaw flag burning allows them to abridge our right to free dom of speech, while laws that do so are explicitly forbidden in the text of the First Amendment. If we allow this process h E. LL-i The next night, I dreamt of a differ- . ent UNC a UNC not mired in beau-' . rocracy, even if it is to ensure that students don't just drop a class mid- ' semester because they 're fail ing or want to sell the book back. I saw a UNC populated with cheerful, appreciated administrators: A UNC where these ' same administrators all agreed on the-4 correct procedure for rectifying an er ror. Unfortunately, this time, I woke up. Kelly Bruce is a sophomore English major from Windsor, Conn. ' ' triotism Cheryl Elia Guest Writer blatant contradiction to be worked into our most important governing doctrine, . where will be draw the line on future; amendment proposals? ' Another problem lies in the Bush amendment's wording. It is danger-; ously vague and very vulnerable to a wide range of individual interpreta tions. Allowing it to be ratified would be like writing Congress and the states, a blank check. To begin with, the amend-. ment does not specify in what manner, Congress or the states may prohibit flag , desecration. For example, would the amendment allow a state to make flag burning penalties tougher on a person who burns the flag in protest of govern-' ment policy than on one who does so for some other reason? Secondly, and I" believe that this is most important, it is" left up to individual discretion to de-; cide exactly which actions are to be. considered desecration. What would, be included? Sewing a garment from, the flag? Wearing a flag lapel pin? Or. worse yet, would it depend on the arbi-" trary perceptions of one judge or an-, other to decide what message is being conveyed by the actions of the defen dant? If this vague, and therefore weak amendment were introduced into the Constitution, it would produce the familiar effect of the weak link which undermines the strength of the whole chain. In light of the possible damage that will be done to the Constitution if this' amendment is ratified, does the current situation merit taking such a risk? I say" no. People simply are not running" rampant in our streets burning flags wholesale; conversely, each and every, citizen of this country relies daily on the strength of the Constitution. Better that we should suffer a few insults to our sensibilities, in the form of flag burning, than alter the Constitution and face the possibility that someday we will turn to it for support and find it no longer able to hold our weight. Martin Luther King has said that person who breaks a law that he feels is" unjust, and suffers the punishment, is" actually displaying the highest respect for the concept of law. I hold that the; same applies to flag burning. An indi vidual who acts against an action or policy of the government even by. burning the flag is in actuality dis4 playing a great love for his country in; wanting to right a specific wrong. This, to me, represents a higher degree of patriotism than does waving the flag and saying that everything is all right. Can we really allow a form of patriot ism to be outlawed by the Constitution? Cheryl Elia is a sophomore philoso phy major from Wilmington.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Nov. 13, 1989, edition 1
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