clarion
Brevard College, Brevard, N.C.
Monday, January 29, 1990
Volume 57, Number 6
by Laura Woodrum
Clarion Editor-in-Chief
When Jose Lasa, a Panamanian
Brevard College student, returned home
forChristmas vacation, he arrived in the
midst of a country in turmoil and
transition.
Not only had his country been
invaded by American troops, but the
dictator Manuel Noriega was hiding out
in the Vatican embassy, less than two
blocks from Jose’s house.
And just getting home was a story
in itself.
With his country embroiled in the
midst of an American invasion, Jose
was forced to spend his holidays with
Panamanian friends in Miami while he
awaited the reopening of the Panama
City airport. While other BC students
were home celebrating the holidays,
Jose had to celebrate Christmas, New
Year's Eve and his brother's Dec. 22
birthday away from his family and
country.
But Jose says he didn't mind staying
in America because, "Noriega was not
there." After two weeks of waiting,
Jose finally arrived home in Panama on
Jan. 1.
Jose says it was risky business
living so close to the Papal Nuncio,
where Noriega had been granted political
asylum. He says the area was combed
through by the U.S. military and that
his neighborhood was very sensitive.
When he came and went from home,
"everything of mine was checked, my
car, ID, everything!" he says.
During the time before Noriega
surrendered to U.S. authorities, there
were some tense and violent times in
Panama City. In one incident, Jose and
some friends came across a car driven by
a man they assumed to be a journalist.
When Jose's friends began yelling
protests against Noriega, they realized
the man in the car wasn't pointing a
camera but an assault rifle.
"We took off, man!" Jose recalls
with a nervous laugh. "It was so scary."
Another time, Jose and four men
were standing innocently on a comer.
Suddenly, a tear gas bomb exploded
nearby. Jose and his friends rand for
safety. Later, when he returned to look
at the bomb, Jose says he read the
inscription on the cannister and had to
laugh, "...it was made in Pittsburgh!"
he says.
On the day when Noriega
surrendered, Jose was in the crowd that
loudly protested outside the Vatican
embassy in Panama City. Later, after
learning that Noriega had surrendered,
Jose says his fellow countrymen
celebrated as though they were at a
carnival.
Jose says that after Noriega
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DECEMBER
PANAMJ>
surrendered, tensions eased and
Panamanians set their sights on the
rebuilding of their society. A new
president was named, and the
dictatorship no longer exists in Panama.
Jose thinks the American military
pjesence in his homeland is important
to the country's economic future, and
he says he hopes the Americans will
stay until the new Panamanian
govemmern is stabilized. "Every^y
there loves the American army," he
says. , , r
When it comes to the future of
Manuel Noriega. Jose is not so
charitable. He is glad his old dictator
must face U.S. justice for his crimes.
Jose says Panamian justice would be
swift and terrible. "He should be tied to
a piece of wood and driven through the
streets of Panama; he would not make it
through the first block."
Jose, a native Panamanian,
describes his country as a beautiful place
with a single dictator who brutally
dominated its citizens. Jose says he can
never forget the demonstration he
attended as a 15-year-old when he saw
old ladies being beaten. With a grim
smile, Jose says, "That will happen no
more."
When asked how he felt when he
learned of Noriega's surrender, Jose
reflected, and said, "Free at last!"
New SU could
be ready
by March
Construction on the new Coltrane
Student Union is clipping right along,
according to BC administration reports.
President Greer says that the
construction chief of Triad Construction
Co. has promised that the building will
be completed by mid-March. If that
happens, says Director of Financial
Affairs Dale Wiener, then the decoration
phase can begin immediately after that,
and the SU could be ready for occupancy
by late March or April.
Currently, the paving and sidewalk
work is underway. Wiener says the new
lot will be reserved for SU employees,
faculty and staff. Also, he announces
that when everything is completed this
spring, that the road between the SU and
the cafeteria will be repaved.
This week, the sidewalk between
West Beam and the SU is closed for
construction, and is projected to reopen
no later than Feb. 3.
With signs of the times on door and shirt, BC student Jose Lasa is glad
to be back "home" to Taylor basement after a harrowing Christmas
Vacation adventure to his native Panama, (photo by Laura Clark)
Christmas vacation put BC's Jose Lasa in...
the Eye of the Storm
What's happening
this weekend
Sports, entertainment, special
events scheduled at Brevard College for
the weekend of Feb. 2-4, according to
the official BC Campus Events
Schedule.
Friday, Feb. 2
Video: "Witness" -- Taylor Lobby,
7-9 p.m.
Sports: Women's Basketball at
Peace College in Raleigh, 7 p.m.
Men's Basketball at Louisburg
College in Louisburg, NtC.
7:30 p.m
Special Interest: BC Jazz Ensemble
at Grove Park Inn Jazz Festival in
Asheville, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 3
Sports: Doubleheader Men's and
Women's Basketball at Chowan
College, Murfreesboro, N.C.
Indoor Track: Clemson Invitational,
10 a.m.
Sunday, Feb. 4
Twister Tournament, sponsored by
the SGA, 7-9:30. Location TBA.