Page 2 The Lance
OPINION
March 5,1991
Letters to the Editor
Censorship of Ideas Appalling
To The Editor: echoed in our own community. Jour
nalists abroad are prevented from pho-
Why did we use the causewali( to tographing bodybags and other ugly
voice anti-war sentiment? The wall facts about the war for fear of show-
was established as a medium for pro- ing the public something that is easier
test and was very effective twenty for it to ignore. Censorship on a na-
years ago. But today it serves little tional level is appalling, but no less so
more than a personal message board— is the oppression of ideas on a college
it has lost its impact. Desperate times campus, an environment designed for
call for desperate measures, and large- learning and free exchange of ideas,
scale bloodshed indicates desperate The many people of this campus who
times. We cannot go about our lives oppose the war are exposed everyday
normally, using normal procedures, to the sloganeering of the pro-war
when such a violent act is taking place, movement. “Desert Shield” and
Furthermore, we took into account “Desert Storm” are bandied about with
the plant and animal life on this cam- full realization that they are vague
pus by using non-toxic, water-soluble symbols for all to real bloodshed,
paint. There was nothing environmen- When people complain about our
tally irresponsible about our methods, calling attention to this issue, they
We are not hiding behind our complain about exposing of a truth,
anonymity, nor are we unsure about We find this truth important to con
cur convictions. All of us have taken vey: that war is bloody and harmful,
stands publicly against the war— you There is no moral wrong for express-
know who we are. Our intent in this ing a truth, especially in an institution
case, rather than to focus on the names of knowledge,
of individuals, is to concentrate atten- The United States administration’s
tion on the wrongs of war and the latest action proves that peace is not
strong anti-war sentiment that exists on the agenda. Their denial of the re
in our country. It is hard for us to vised Soviet plan appalls us. Not only
understand why someone whose will more Iraqi lives be lost, including
family is in danger would be against thousands of innocent civilians, but
pleas for peace. Everyday that one is those of U.S. citizens. One idea that
notremindedofthewar, withallofits aptly describes this short-sighted
suffering, pain and blood, is another policy: the U.S. prefers amputation to
day that ignorances breeds violence therapy. Perhaps we should leam from
in some, and apathy in others. The thatobservation,comeoutofoursafe,
whole of the United States media is comfortable holes, and open ourselves
devoted to the pro-war point of view, up to what is going on. The U.S. can
We, who are for peace, are constantly do wrong, we are not always the good
immersed in it, spoon-fed the idea guys, we are not perfect. Help stop the
that this war is okay, and the U.S. is suffering, help stop the war.
right in its actions. The inequalities of
the war’s coverage in the media are Name Witheld by Request
War is Not a Terrible Thing
To the Editor:
An open letter to the vandal(s)
who destroyed the causewalk:
When I walked across the cause
walk this morning, in the gray light, I
saw your handiwork, red and pink
tempera paint, scattered all over the
causewalk. My first thought was,
“Wonderful, another display of
peace.” As I noticed how much paint
you had spilled on the causewalk, our
causewalk, not yours, not mine, but
the community of St. Andrews, my
curiosity turned to anger. I like to
think that those of us here at St. An
drews care about each other, and would
not willfully destroy the property of
someone else. Well, you have done
that. Not only have you created an
expensive clean up for the school, out
of money that I paid for my education,
not to clean up your mess, but you
broke the understanding that if you
had something to say, you would use
the wall, or some other acceptable
means of expressing yourself.
I sincerely hope that you are caught,
and forced to pay for the cleaning of
the vandalism. In addition to the van
dalism, you have forced your views
on whomever chooses ,to visit this
school. Now, if paxents of prospective
students visit the school, and see your
handiwork, we may lose some very
valuable new students, ones whom
would contribute positively to the
college, and not detract from it.
Lastly, on this note, why are you
telling us that War is a terrible thing?
Many of us, probably more than you
could imagine, have lived on military
bases a good portion of our lives. We
have parents, life-long friends, and
acquaintances whom we think of daily
as they are risking their lives for your
freedom of speech, which you have
so blatantly abused. We, the children
of the military, have lived with acci
dents on bases, boats, and planes, and
every time a military man loses his
life, we feel sad, for we are pan of a
family that exists from the Saudi
desert, to the DMZ in Korea, and each
death diminishes us.
Now, concerning your views on
the war. I do not support war as a
general method of solving problems.
But, I do support this war. As I recall,
one of the slogans of the 60’s anti-war
movement, was love your fellow man,
and support your friends. Kuwait has
been a friend of the U.S. since the end
of WWII. They have been one of our
best allies. But now that their country
has been taken over, and their citizens
slaughtered, you’re saying that the
U.S. should turn its back on a friend
of 40 years. I think not.
In addition to protecting a friend,
there is a measure of self-defense
t inVblved. Just about every nation in
(thfe world including ARAB COUN
TRIES, have joined forces to oppose
unwarranted aggression. Hussein is
known to have chemical weapons,
which he hasn’t used, yet. In ten years,
when we get NUCLEAR MISSILES,
do we want to have ICBM’s coming
down on Philly, L.A., D.C.? No. And
the presence of the Arab countries in
the allied opposition to Hussein shows
how real many countries take that
threat. What if the SCUDS that have
been falling on Israel were nuclear?
Would you still be anti-war? What if
those flying bombs had been falling
on your family and friends? It’s a hell
of a lot different sitting over here in
the U.S. We are doing this so that the
people of Kuwait can have their homes
back, and not live with a government
that they have no say, no representa
tion in. We are doing this so that
Kuwaiti children don’t have to cry
when Iraqi soldiers kill their father
and rape their mother. WE are doing
this to protect the children of Israel,
and the U.S., so that in ten or fifteen
years, it won’t be American children
in gas masks.
If we were there for oil, don’t you
think that when the oil wells were set
on fire, and rendered useless, we would
have pulled out?
GOD BLESS THE USA, AND
MAY HE WATCH OUT FOR OUR
MEN AND WOMEN FACING
DEATH TO PROTECT YOU.
Sincerely,"^’^ ■>
Matt Clark t(
Kevin Buckley
Charles Wheeler
Scott Spencer
Heather Jenkins
Students Ignorant of History
To the Editor:
This notice was posted several weeks
ago, but it’s message needs to be heard
again.
To Michael and Laura,
Your act of burning the flag on the
evening of January 17 was entirely ir
responsible and has served only to
display your ignorance and self-cen
tered lack of concern for others. Your
transparent statement of interest and
support for the troops easily conveys
your feigned sincerity (or are you
honestly so dimwitted that you do not
recognize how detrimental your ac
tions could be to their morale and con
fidence?). Perhaps you haven’t been
listening to the troops themselves.
They have so much pride and love for
their country and believe so strongly
in the reasons for their fight. They
support their leaders, and need most
from you confidence in their abilities
and their leaders. The only way to
support them is to support our country
with the same passion with which
they will fight for it.
Your statement also displayed your
lack of knowledge of the situation and
its history, making your actions en
tirely irresponsible. We are not caught
up in “patriotic rhetoric”; rather we
are the ones who truly know the se
verity of the situation. It is you who
are obviously caught in a cause you
do not understand. With family and
friends already fighting, we under
stand the reality of war far more fully
than you ever will. I support your
right to your own opinions, as well as
your right to express them responsi
bly with a full knowledge of the cir
cumstances. But I will never stand
silent as you maliciously inflict them
upon those around you with an act so
vulgar as the one you carried out.
I pity you. It is a sad thing not to
understand the greatest symbol of our
country- the American flag. It stands
for more than you realize, and your
actions stand for far more than your
unfounded reasons for burning the
flag. It din’t take guts to do what you
did. It took a naive, selfish, egotistical
desire. When you burn the flag, you
denounce not only the actions of our
leaders, but also the love, pride, hope,
freedom, concern, responsibility,
courage, honesty, history, tradition,
beauty, and unity of our country. Next
time you take up a cause, make sure
you understand it with all of its impli
cations.
To continue my address to those
incredibly naive students on this
campus, I have a few comments and
questions for those who continue to
protest the war. First, to those of you
vandalized the causewalk on the nights
of February 22 and 24, it makes me
sick to have to walk over that filth
every morning. Putaside Bush’s“ego
trip.” Once again, a couple of cowiu'ds
have gone on an ego trip of their own
through this gross vandalism. But
rather than gaining respect, they have
only reestablished their ignorant, bull
headed, pitifully childish ways. The
military members can’t wait to go to
Saudi, and they do not want to come
home without finishing their job. So
much for the causewalk’s “dead sol-
ider comments.”
As for the rest of the protesters, I
have just one question; Where the hell
were you when Iraq attacked Kuwait?
You didn’t seem quite so concerned
about the value of human life then! I
certainly didn’t see you holding peace
rallies, posting notices, and vandaliz
ing school property then. My best
guess is that you plain did not care
until you were afraid that you might
become the casualties. No one is ask
ing you spineless cowards to fight for
our country. But keep in mind that the
soldiers are dying not for oil, but to
give the Kuwaitis the same freedom
that you are using to protest. Think
about this as well: If successful, what
good will your peace rallies serve 10
years from now when Hussein pres
ents his new nuclear and chemical
weaponry along with his overwhelm
ing insensitivity for human life? Thank
goodness we won’t have to face that;
a lot more people would have been
dying. But I wonder if that will con
cern you even half as much as the fact
that in that case, you probably would
have been among them.
And a final note to Abe Walston
111: My father, uncle, and several close
friends are now fighting in Saudi
Arabia. Your statement that military
personnel in that area have become
dehumanized is not only offensive, it
is entirely untrue. Yes, I am calling
you a liar. Through their letters, I feel
as if I am beginning to know these
people better than I ever have. Tell
your father that I am sorry he has such
an ignorant son... and tell him that
even if you do not support him, I do.
Semper Fi
Laura Anne Van Riper
Graffiti Unjustified
To the Editor:
In the past week I have heard many
explanations for the sorry state the
causewalk was put in. Some of these,
I believe, came from those respon
sible. I would like to take the time to
answer the reasons I have heard.
Reason #1: To draw attention to
the war in Kuwait and make people
think about it.— To my knowledge,
there is not anyone who is not aware
of the war. Many people have family
in Kuwait and think nearly continu
ously about it. Even those who would
rather forget about the war entirely
are unable to do so, as there are con
stant reminders such as television,
newspapers, magazines, and other
students who are concerned about
this situation. There is and was no
need to deface the causewalk to draw
attention to the war; attention is al
ready drawn to it by people compe
tent to do so without alienating an en
tire school campus.
Reason #2: To try to get more
people involved in the peace ef
fort.— Throughout history, violent
or vandalistic protesting has done very
little to bring people’s opinions into
agreement with the protestor’s views.
In fact, as was demonstrated by this
act on the causewalk, it tends to have
the opposite effect on those who might
have agreed with those protesting
without inducement, causing them to
recoil and rethink their views.
Reason #3: To protest the war -
There can be no doubt that this was
accomplished in defacing the cause
walk. But was it truly worth getting
the majority of the St. Andrews’
campus angry, not at the war, but
rather at those who committed the
vandalism? There are more effective
means of protesting the war than treat
ing the causewalk as a dump site. The
most obvious outlet is the wall. A
letter, evidently written by the same
people who trashed the causewalk,
states that the wall is no longer an
effective way to express one’s opin
ion and that the students at St. An
drews are too used to the wall to pay
attention to what is written on it. I beg
to differ. My friends and I wrote re
sponse to the graffiti on the causewalk
and I am still hearing responses to
what I wrote.
I do not intend to disparge the
opinions written on the causewalk,
merely to disparge the means in which
these opinions were expressed. I die
not appreciate the first thing I saw as
I crossed the causewalk being t-shirts
with red paint on them and red paint
and chalk marks all over the blacktop
and cement. If I wanted to see that
type of trash, I could have stayed in
Charlotte. I feel that I speak for many
of us who attend school here, and I
think that everyone would appreciate
it if things such as this were never to
occur again!
Sincerely,
Sean Clinton Nolan
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