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From: Christopher Babiarz <[email protected]>
Subject: Here is da Knews!
To: [email protected]
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Hype!
Progressive Student Network
1993 Fall Conference

    Why "Hype?"
    Because it is the name of the beast.
    When lying is called for, the ad man answers.  Where
capitalism prevails, lying is called for 24 hours a day.
    As the veneer on our economic system wears thinner and
thinner, the need to keep selling it intensifies.  Modern
advertising, in conjunction with corporate ownership of news
organs nationwide, have cemented media control of the
culture in ways that serve power, co-opt oppositional
messages/attitudes, and make organized resistance
increasingly difficult.
    That the presidency is bought and sold is old news.  Thirty
three years ago, someone coined "Camelot," and John
Kennedy was packaged as a progressive (Last year,
incredibly, the trick was repeated).
    We've come a long way since 1960:  Racism (to take but
one example)  was a "clear-cut" issue in those days..... when it
was "OK" to be openly and overtly bigoted.  The civil rights
movement targeted and organized a powerful movement that
transformed society.  As a result, certain forms of speech and
action are socially unacceptable today, making overt racism a
less valuable tool for the elite to maintain their position.  Today
they resort to the spin doctors to purvey their malignant ideas
through a myriad of cultural images and code words.  How
does a term like "culture of poverty" come into use, and how
does it affect the perceptions of millions?  "Terrorist,"
"extremist," "middle class values" and other vagaries are used
effectively to keep people emotionally charged but ignorant of
the underlying political causes of events.  Somalian
"warlords," as we know, have dark skins, and Bosnian
"factional leaders" light ones.  The media can rely on using
"Muslim Fundamentalist" as an understood synonym for
"terrorist," but not "Christian  Fundamentalist" (regardless of
how many doctors are shot, or clinics bombed).  Other more
subtle and even unconscious messages bombard us
constantly in advertising images.
    With enough $$ and skill, you can sell hoola-hoops or even
pet rocks (..rocks, people....rocks) for a hefty profit.  Why can't
we sell a concept like "equitable distribution of wealth" when it
would clearly benefit millions?
    And not only does corporate/advertising control of the
culture make organizing difficult, it also constantly saps our
own ranks.  Every message we receive tells us we are naive,
idealistic, stupid, going through a phase, wasting our time,
etc.... It is no wonder many eventually suck up to power to
achieve middle-classdom.  Advertising is designed to dictate
our desires, and it does so effectively, even for the disciplined.
The suits use our money (it's in the price of every product) to
turn our hearts against our souls.
    But we will fight back.  We will regain control of our images
and our culture to forge a new activism.  We will remind the
opposition how crucial, timely, threatening, wise  and
committed the left really is.
    Revolution is not possible with a collective psyche
colonized by Madison Avenue.  So come to Madison
Wisconsin for the lucky 13th Annual PSN fall conference titled
simply: Hype.  We'll examine the ways in which money
controls our communal consciousness and culture, and how
control of these are used to inhibit organizing.  We'll share
information, strategize and conspire together.  We'll celebrate
activism, lift each others' spirits, create a sense of expanded
possibilities. We'll connect with like-minded groups, become
energized and enthused.
    One year after his election, we'll kick Clinton's butt and the
interests he is beholden to.
    Hope to see you there.

Here is a sampling of the workshops to be offered:

United Colors of Propaganda: Understanding the intersection
of race in the United States society.  An abridged list of topics
includes:

*Burn baby burn (LA Inferno)
         Building on the rebellion
*White Skin Privilege
         Recognize it, Renounce it!
*Illustrated Sports
         Fighting Native American Team Mascots
*Treaties, Land and Handshakes
         Palestinian sovereignty & US intervention



The Kitchen Corner: Practical tools, tactics, and models to
regain cultural ground and advance progressive  projects in
the Clinton era.  Sample topics include:

*Cyberspace!
         E-mail, Internet, & lower phone bills.
*Postcards from the G-men
         Surveillance, FOIA, & what's in our files
*Using the masters tools ...
         Daily forms of personal resistance
*Successful coalitions 101
         Models for uniting disparate agendas.


Progressive Potpourri: The sweet smell of multi-issue
organizing and the plethora of intriguing projects before
students today. Here are but a few of the titles:

*The Clinton 'do's: what do they really mean?
         Hair-raising class consciousness!
*Innocuous names; venomous agendas
         Corp. front-groups & their Achilles' heel
*NAFTA do we Hafta?
         Agenda for a Profit-ic fate


Other Highlights you won't want to miss!:

The Grainger Hall of
Business Administration

"Tour" UW  Madison's latest temple to corporate greed:  You
won't want to miss the daily sacrifice of labor to the gods of
profit.......  That venerable monarch King NAFTA will be
officiating.....Help us smash the altar of union busting
criminals.



Images of
Cultural Resistance
Studio:

An ongoing resource to combine and share cultural
ammunition, don't forget to bring your contribution (whether
found or created) to our conference's gallery of images.  Any
icon, cartoon, banner, foto, poster, video, slide, painting,
sculpture (etc.), that has inspired you to move forward is
welcome for exchange &/or display.  If you forget, don't
despair! Materials will be made available to unleash your
creative potential.

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What is the Progressive Student Network?

The 1990's promise to be an era of continued and growing
activism among students across the country.  Now more than
ever students need to find common ground and share both
their experiences and resources to have the greatest impact
on the future of this nation.  The Progressive Student Network
is committed to being a part of these struggles and building
the ties among the growing movement of progressive youth.
Since its founding in 1980, the Progressive Student Network
has always sought to build the student movement both as a
national force and at the local level.  Rooted in the anti-nuke,
anti-draft, and environmental movements of the late 1970's,
PSN has been a part of many of the struggles in which
students were active throughout the last decade.
    The PSN seeks to reach out to student activists and build
the movement through many of its activities.  The PSNews is
intended not only to reach out to new activists but also inform
all of us about the important battles that students are waging
across America.  PSN also builds ties among students on
different campuses by sponsoring annual meetings,
conferences, and demonstrations.  Every fall, the PSN
organizes a conference for student activists to educate
themselves and each other about issues of common concern
[see story page 1; registration form p5 & poster p7].  In the
spring, PSN hosts an annual membership meeting to analyze
the conditions that the movement faces and strategize about
the work we are doing.  At these meetings, all members of
affiliated groups have the opportunity to have their views and
ideas heard and discussed.
    Between the fall conference and the Spring membership
meeting, PSN has Steering Committee meetings in both the
winter and late summer.  PSN's Steering Committee is
composed of two representatives from each local affiliate who
meet to discuss upcoming activities, future projects, and other
topics.  Everyone is welcome to attend these meetings, which
are intended to make sure all of us stay in contact between
other annual events.  PSN also tries to build support for
national demonstrations and events that occur throughout the
year.  Many of these provide further opportunities for students
from different campuses to meet and forge stronger ties.
    At all of its events and activities, PSN attempts to
strengthen ties within the different sectors of our movement by
providing space for caucuses.  For example, PSN has
consistently had meetings of a women's caucus at our
conferences and events.  This caucus allows women from
different places to share experiences and unite to fight against
male supremacy not only in society but also within our
movement itself.  The caucuses are usually accompanied by
an alternative group for other participants.  The men's
alternative group meetings have often provided a unique
opportunity for male activists to learn about the oppression of
women and examine their own attitudes and actions.
Currently, PSN has active queer, women's and people of color
caucuses.  Besides acting as a source of empowerment for
their members, caucusesoften provide crucial leadership to
the larger organization.
    PSN is open to any and all student groups and activists
who share our goals of struggling for change and building the
student movement.  If you are not already a part of this
growing force, we'd like to invite you to come on board.  PSN
is unique both because of its long history of activism and
because it is a network of autonomous groups.  There is no
centralized organization telling you what to do or think, every
group has the final say over what they do and how.  But what
PSN does do is to put you in touch with literally hundreds of
other activists across the country who are part of the growing
student movement.  Through the network you can learn from
others who are involved in the same struggles and share your
experiences and ideas.  Participation in PSN provides
inspiration, strength and a sense of the struggle beyond your
campus.
    If you haven't already, affiliate now with the Progressive
Student Network.  All that is required is the interest and desire
to plug into the larger movement and a nominal affiliation fee
(waivers available).  All affiliates and members receive the
PSNews to distribute to activists in their area, notice of
upcoming meetings and conferences, and other mailings as
they are needed.  Affiliates also have the right to send
representatives to steering committee meetings and help
define the goals and plans of the organization.
Opression & injustice show no sign of abating as we head
through the 90's, and students are once again called to join
the fight for peace and social justice, don't fight alone; join the
PSN....................

Here is how to get ahold of us:

PSN Nat'l Office
2526 North Francisco #1
Chicago, Illinois 60647
(312) 278-5736

George Washington PSU
Marvin Center Box 6
200 21st Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052
(202) 994-7284
[email protected]

Louisville PSN
P.O. Box 4861
Louisville, KY 40204
(502) 634-8374

Madison PSN
731 State Street
Madison, WI 53703
(608) 257-7562
[email protected]

Kent State PSN
PO Box 35
KSU, Student Activites Center
Kent, OH 44242
(216) 672-2144

Minneapolis PSO
215 Coffman Union, 15 C&D
Minneapolis, MN 55455
(612) 626-7099
[email protected]

Baltimore PSN
8213 Church Lane Road
Ellicott City, MD 21043
(410) 461-3901

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N o t e s  a r o u n d  t h e  n a t i o n :


ASEED Holds
Strategy Session

    On Feb. 26-28 nearly 100 student and youth activists from
all over the U.S. gathered at the Heart of the Earth Survival
School in Minneapolis to discuss future campaigns in support
of indigenous rights and to oppose free trade.  While the
conference was largely organized by ASEED (Action for
Solidarity, Equality, Environment, and Development) and
SEAC (Student Environmental Action Coalition), it also
attracted representatives from PSN, ODN (Overseas
Development Network), the Campus Greens, and CISPES
amongst others.  Several "days of action" against  NAFTA (the
North American Free Trade Agreement) were discussed,
including March 23 targeting financial institutions, April  2-5
devoted to transborder protests, and May 1 focusing on labor
issues.   In support of these events a Youth Speakers Tour for
Fair Trade will also be traveling throughout  the U.S. in April.
Plans for forging stronger links between North American
activist groups and the Latin American Network of Youth
Organizations for Sustainable Development that emerged
from the Earth Summit in Brazil last June were also discussed.
    For more information on how you can get involved, please
contact ASEED, c/o SEAC, P.O. Box 1168, Chapel Hill, NC
27514 (919) 967-4600.  For a mere $5.00, you can also
subscribe to their new Continental Student Trade News.

Columbia U. Targets Student Protesters

    On Dec. 14, 1992 about 150 student protesters blockaded
the office of Dean Jack Greenberg of Columbia University,
demanding a halt to construction of a $6 million biotech center
in nearby Harlem.  At stake is one of New York City's great
cultural landmarks - namely, the Audubon Ballroom/San Juan
Theater where African-American leader Malcom X was
assassinated and Puerto Rican nationalist Don Pedro Albizu
Campos often spoke.  The entire scheme has smacked of
environmental racism since its first proposal, yet university
technocrats continue to ignore community concerns.  After
hiding in his office for seven hours, Dean Greenberg was
escorted to safety by campus security.  Using videotapes of
the protest, the university has since identified 40-50 of the
students involved and threatened several key leaders with
disciplinary action, ranging from probation to expulsion.  Other
students have been offered a "break," as long as  they
cooperate with the investigation.
    Letters protesting the administration's draconian treatment
of student protestors, as well as the university's construction
of a biotech center at the Audubon Ballroom/ San Juan
Theater should be sent to:  Michael I. Sovern, President,
Columbia University, 3001 Broadway, New York, NY 10027

Efficient Ticketing

    On April 7 thousands of students in over 200 cities
throughout the U.S. and Canada formed "green patrols" to
ticket gas guzzlers as part of the Ticket America Campaign.
Any 1990-1993 car, van, or light truck with a fuel efficiency
rating below the mandated national average was targeted,
older models being avoided so as to not discriminate against
people of lower income.  The purpose of the campaign was to
raise public awareness about  the lack of any comprehensive
energy conservation policy, which not only squanders natural
resources and destroys environmental quality, but also leads
to bloody overseas conflicts such as the Persian Gulf War.
Specifically, the campaign aims to build grassroots support for
legislation to increase the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel
Economy) standards from 27.5 to 45 mpg by the year 2003.
Unfortunately, the Big Three automakers have their swarms of
lobbyists poised to defeat any such measure - in 1991 alone
they spent $8 million on fighting political efforts to improve
vehicle fuel efficiency.
    Letters in support of increasing CAFE standards that will
force Detroit to build fewer gas guzzling automobiles should
be written to:  President Clinton, White House, Washington,
DC 20000, or to your own senators and representative:  Sen.
----, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC 20010; Rep. ----, U.S.
House, Washington, DC 20015.



PSN Round-up

     The campus PSU-affiliated groups that were represented
at October's conference kept themselves quite productive
during the two months preceding the Halloween gala at GWU,
working on a variety of social justice issues on their respective
campuses. Here's a rough, BRIEF summary of their focuses:

    Kent State University folks spent most of their time on
racism and sexism issues, particularly with a Take Back the
Night march. They also worked on educational rights for their
campus.

    Univ. of Maryland - Baltimore County  dealt with the issue
of political prisoners and political oppression, and featured a
Native American poet and poetry workshop.

    University of Delaware
is just getting off the ground, but the UD Queer Campus has
been raising hell in a most outlandish way, demanding
equality for lesbians, gays, bi's, and all others labeled queer.
UDSEAC has worked on an anti-CFC, anti-Dupont campaign,
and also held a Columbus Day vigil. Everyone in the UD's
PSU is involved in one or both of these groups.

Univ. ofMinesota Mnpls/Stpaul
was an active part of the twin-cities-wide fight-back against
Operation Rescue's evil anti-choice agenda.  They recently
rallied against UN troops being sent to Somalia.  And as if that
wasn't enough, they are currnetly working within a coalition
against an elitist restructuring of the university.

Univ. of Illinois Chicago-Circle Has been battling the powers
that be to get rid of the racist Chief Illiniwek mascot.

    University of Louisville activists spent last fall working on
the issue of rape, and on outreaching to other areas -
particularly with Chicago to protest the pro-Columbus parade.
They also devoted time to the November election, registering
students to vote, performing anti-Bush theatre, and supporting
Clinton/Gore - well, sort of:  they stress that they only
supported the ticket as the best of all evils.

    George Washington Univ. well, they busted their butts
working on the Conference. But as if that weren't enough for
them, they also postered the town on just what kind of a guy
Columbus was, brought to campus two presentations - one on
two Cuban student youth leaders and one by a Haitian radio
journalist  on Haitian media censorship and served leftover
cafeteria food to the homeless (not an easy task!)

    Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
Well, We've been busting our butts getting this years
conference together, and putting out this GIANT issue of the
PSNews.


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TA's strike at UC-Berkeley
Statewide organizing drive continues

By Zev Handel
UC-Berkeley

    This past winter hundreds of graduate student employees
at the University of California P Berkeley went on strike in an
effort to win union recognition from the university.  The failure
of the strike has not meant the end of union organizing efforts
by students at Berkeley, but it has led to a review of what are
now widely perceived as errors in the execution of the strike,
and to a rethinking of strategy for the future.
    Currently, about a dozen universities around the country
have recognized unions representing the interests of student
workers.  The situation at Berkeley is unique, however,
because of the peculiarities of California State law.  To
understand the often confusing issues at stake in the Berkeley
strike, it is necessary to know a little bit of history about the
organizing effort.
    The Association of Graduate Student Employees (AGSE)
was formed last decade to represent the interests of student
instructors (GSIs) and researchers (GSRs).  The founders of
AGSE believed that, although they are students, GSIs and
GSRs are also workers, and deserve the guarantees and
protections that unions afford to workers everywhere. The
university maintained that teaching and doing research are not
work, or at least not just work, but are part of a student's
academic training.  Furthermore, administrators held that the
introduction of a union would sour the "special mentor
relationship" that is enjoyed between employing professors
and their student employees.  These issues were further
complicated by a state law known as the Higher Education
Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA), which governs
labor relations on the nine campuses of the statewide UC
system.  Although the act guarantees a right to union
representation to workers on the campuses, and binds the
universities to bargain collectively with those unions, it was not
clear whether the law extended to student workers.
    In 1989, AGSE, now affiliated with the United Auto
Workers, struck briefly and won a recognition agreement from
the university. At the same time, the conflict between the
university and AGSE over the proper interpretation of HEERA
was brought to the courts.  It lingered there for three years,
during which time AGSE enjoyed collective bargaining rights
on campus, winning for its members tuition increase
remissions, health insurance premium waivers, uniform
grievance procedures, and other benefits.  This period of
"interim recognition," later described by both AGSE and the
university administration as a positive and productive time,
was brought to an end in mid-1992 when the California State
Supreme Court ruled against AGSE: under HEERA, student
workers were technically not "employees".
    In the fall, fearful that looming budget deficits might
seriously erode their working conditions in the future, the
AGSE membership authorized a strike should negotiations
with the university for a new agreement prove fruitless.  On
November 19, after many weeks of meandering talks, the
strike began.  AGSE's demands were simple: recognition of
the union, including a promise to meet regularly with the union
to discuss matters of employment in good faith, and to sign
legally binding contracts -- in short, a continuation of the
successful interim agreement.  Working conditions, pay, and
benefits were not an issue; the university was not being asked
to make a financial sacrifice.  The rallying cry of the strike was
simply, "Recognition!"
    At first, the response to the strike was tremendous.
AGSE's membership swelled, and most graduate students,
members or not, observed the picket lines.  Many
undergraduates did as well.  AGSE's contention that graduate
students do most of the actual teaching on campus was borne
out; in the first days it was estimated that up to 75% of classes
failed to meet.  The parents of undergraduates began to
complain to the school that their children were not receiving
the education they had paid for.  Drivers, honoring the picket
lines, stopped delivering packages to campus.  The university
administration immediately reopened negotiations.  When
students on the UC - Santa Cruz campus also struck for union
recognition, success seemed imminent.
    Before long, however, problems emerged.  First of all, it
became apparent that the campus administration was being
constrained by the UC system-wide administration.  The
system-wide administration, consisting of a board of regents
appointed by the governor and of the office of the university
president, oversees the operation of the nine-campus UC
system.  This body had never before interfered in Berkeley's
relationship with AGSE, but now, for unknown reasons, it had
essentially ordered the local administration not to sign a deal
with the union.  This was an unexpected development.  Under
intense pressure from the strike, Berkeley administrators had
suddenly seemed eager to make compromises; but AGSE
found that it was nearly impossible to bring the same sort of
pressure to bear on the system-wide administration.  The
regents, unelected, wealthy, and many of them sitting on the
boards of anti-union companies, were well insulated from the
needs and problems of the Berkeley students, and even of the
Berkeley administrators.  For them, the strike was merely a
far-off nuisance.
    In addition, the strike had started late in Berkeley's fall
semester. With classes drawing to a close and finals
approaching, the patience of grade-conscious undergraduates
began to wear thin.  Many graduate student teachers felt a
close natural bond with their students and were increasingly
uneasy about leaving them unprepared or disadvantaged, so
they reluctantly returned to the classroom.  In a factory strike,
the action hurts only the employers and the strikers; on a
campus, "innocent bystanders" such as undergraduates are
also affected.  Many strikers found that walking the picket lines
had turned into something of a moral dilemma.
    Final exams, due to start in the second week of December,
were a double-edged sword.  While the university could deal
with a breakdown in teaching on campus, the idea that final
exams might not be given, and final grades not issued, was
intolerable.  At the same time, students (both undergraduate
and graduate) were equally worried about the effect that
missing their exams would have on their transcripts.  The
administration carefully exploited this fact in their propaganda
in order to widen developing cracks in student solidarity.  If the
strikers' ranks could be diminished to the point where final
exams were by and large unaffected, the administration
reasoned, the semester would end and the strike would
dwindle away during the long winter break.
    Third, AGSE had failed to secure enough support from the
faculty.  Although many faculty members were sympathetic to
the students' cause, and felt alienated by the administration's
actions, AGSE was unable to tap this good will and transform
it into active support.  The result was that as the strike wore
on, the faculty, like the undergraduates, began to find it
tiresome and disruptive.  Many resented the extra workloads
they had been forced to take on.  The administration
succeeded in directing some of these negative feelings
against AGSE.
    As negotiations sputtered along, it became increasingly
clear that the administration, either would not or could not
(under orders from the system) make the concessions
necessary for an agreement. The AGSE negotiators had
compromised as far as possible, but were unwilling to
relinquish their most basic demand: a legally binding
recognition agreement.  And the administration proved to be a
ruthless and skilled opponent, well-versed in strike-breaking
techniques.
    The AGSE leadership had planned for a short strike and
lacked a contingency plan for dealing with an extended one.
Unable to come up with an alternative strategy, they simply
continued the strike.  The membership, driven by internal and
external pressures, fearful of administration threats to blacklist
strikers and cancel health insurance, and increasingly
concerned about their own classes and grades, became
paralyzed.  Union meetings became factionalized, often
turning into shouting matches, and defections increased.
Internal union democracy was collapsing.  By mid-December
the strike had clearly failed; most finals proceeded as
scheduled.  Even so, a substantial number of striking student
instructors never calculated final grades for their classes.  By
mid-March of this year, well into the spring semester, 2,100
fall grades still hadn't been issued.
    The AGSE has been forced to take a longer view of the
fight for recognition.  A strike in the near future is not in the
offing.  The membership is tired and would likely be
unresponsive, and the undergraduates and faculty would
probably react with hostility.  More important, there is no
reason to think the outcome would be any different.  On the
other hand, the union had demonstrated its power quite
effectively.  For two weeks, the campus had been effectively
shut down, and an unprecedented number of students (well
over 1,200, on a campus with 3,500 GSRs and GSIs) had
taken to the picket lines and shown impressive dedication and
resolve.  No one was more aware of the union's power than
the campus administrators.  If the problems that became
apparent during the strike could be resolved, there was every
reason to think a second strike would succeed.
    Efforts now are focused on several fronts:
first, organizing effective unions on all nine campuses of the
UC system.  In this way, pressure can be applied
simultaneously across the state on both campus
administrations and the system-wide administration.
    Second, improving outreach to faculty, graduate students,
and undergraduates.  One of AGSE's strike slogans, directed
at undergraduates, was "Our working conditions are your
teaching conditions."  This essential truth applies to faculty
members as well. If the graduate student employees are
treated fairly and are secure in their jobs, all groups on
campus will benefit, and education will improve.  The more
students and faculty learn about AGSE and its goals, the more
supportive they will be.
    Third, outreach to other unions.  The staff and workers'
unions on campus, as well as those in the community at large,
are natural allies.  Furthermore, student unions on other
campuses can provide invaluable advice and support.  While
financial and legal aid from the United Auto Workers was vital
to the strike cause, it was not sufficient on its own.
    Fourth, reform of the regents' selection system.  Many
organizations in the state have an interest in seeing the
regents become a more democratic, representative body,
which would be more responsive to the needs and concerns of
students and faculty on the one hand, and of the California
citizens who fund the universities and pay the regents' salaries
on the other.  By forming alliances with these groups, AGSE
can push for reform at the highest levels of the administration.
     The union has been dealt a harsh blow by the strike
failure. Morale and membership both suffered, and the
university has taken steps (such as ending automatic
paycheck dues deductions) that threaten to cripple the union
financially.  Nevertheless, the AGSE leadership has learned
important lessons that will ultimately strengthen the
organization.  The strategy described above is currently being
implemented.  Organizing drives on the other UC campuses
have been especially promising.  If the UC administrators
continue to ignore the needs of their student workers, they
may very well find themselves with a nine-campus graduate
student strike on their hands in the spring of 1994.

    Zev Handel is a graduate student majoring in East Asian
Languages at the University of California at Berkeley. He will
be spending the 1993-4 academic year in Taiwan, after which
he will return to Berkeley to pursue a Ph.D. in Chinese
linguistics.

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Columbus Day '92  in Mexico

Itzamna  J. Arista
Progressive Students
Univ of Il - Chicago Circle

    Five hundred years after the unfortunate arrival of
Columbus in America, the struggle for liberation continues.
Last year, with the motivation from the 500th anniversary of
the invasion of the continent, right-wing groups began
organizing to celebrate the "discovery" (sic) of America. Not
even the government of Spain had the cynicism to celebrate
such an atrocity. In America, only the United States and
Canada dared to spend millions of dollars in parades of lies in
celebration of the massacre of Indigenous and African people
throughout the continent.
    By honoring Christopher Columbus we honor the genocide
that occurred and still occurs against people of color.  We
honor the establishment of the white hegemony and the
institutionalization of racism. Most of all, we ignore the fact
that America was already inhabited by millions of people. Our
current educational system focuses on the European
experience. It teaches, for example, that at the time of the
invasion, America was a virtually empty land with sporadic
groups of "uncivilized" people. One fact, however, is that at
the time of the invasion, the great Aztec city, Tenochtitlan,
consisted of about five million people. This would have made it
larger than the combined populations of Madrid, Paris, and
London. The "discovery" was actually an invasion.
    Last year I had the opportunity to participate in the March
for Dignity. The march did not glorify colonialism.  It did not
celebrate the murder of our brothers, nor the rape of our
sisters. Instead, we celebrated 500 years of Indigenous
resistance.
    On October 12, 1992, about 150,000 people from all over
Mexico and other parts of the continent came to El Zocalo, the
main square in Mexico City, to denounce the invasion. The
march began early in the morning. At about 7:00 am, some
people held a ceremony in Teotihuacan, an Aztec ceremonial
center, 30 minutes from El Zocalo. Others held vigils, gave
ofrendas (an Indigenous custom in which food, beverages,
and other foods are offered to the dead ones), or dances. At
about 11:00 am I started marching with a small group of
people to join other groups and my family.  Small groups of
people were all over the streets! All of a sudden I would see a
group of 20 to 50 people marching down the street. One of the
groups was very loud and clear: "We will not celebrate. We
will resist!". We headed towards the Columbus statue located
at the main avenue of the city. On my way there I met the
Frente Popular Francisco Villa, perhaps one of the largest
contingents, extending for over two blocks. They told me
about recent incidents they have had in their barrios. They had
been terrorized by pseudo-police squads that went into their
neighborhood to burn down their houses, beat up people, and
even kill their pets. The Frente Popular Francisco Villa
demanded solutions to their problems. They also emphasized
their support for the Cuban people, their struggle for justice
and a socialist society, and their committed fight against
imperialism, one of Columbus' legacies.
    The statue of Columbus was defaced with eggs and paint.
A sign was put on it that read, "500 years of the Indigenous
massacre." Then the people put flowers and ofrendas at the
statues of Cuitlahuac and Cuauhtemoc, the chiefs and
warriors who fought against the invaders. The walls of some
banks were used to spread some important messages:
"Freedom for all Indigenous political prisoners," "500 years of
injustice," "Stop torture practices."
    The streets belong to the people, and the government of
Mexico seemed to have understood that for the day. There
was very little police activity going on. In fact, I only saw about
four police officers during the march (besides all the soldiers
"protecting" the National Palace).
    As we headed for El Zocalo, many other groups began
appearing from all major streets. In less than five minutes, the
crowd went from dozens of people to thousands of them. Amid
the smell of incienso and the sound of the sea shells used by
the Indigenous people to create music, I saw many other
groups from all over Mexico.  Pictures of "Che" Guevara and
Zapata, as well as signs and banners in solidarity with Cuba,
were common throughout the march. The people felt a special
solidarity with Cuba for being the first and only country in Latin
America to gain independence from all imperialist powers. We
feel a strong commitment to our Cuban sisters and brothers
who struggle against the constant brutal acts of aggression
from the United States.
    The United States was also condemned for their NAFTA
project. As a man stated in the march, "We are moving to a
new form of colonialism." With NAFTA, the United States is
seeking to re-attain their economic hegemony at the expense
of the Mexican working people. In preparation for such a
treaty, the government of Mexico has already implemented a
monetary conversion. They are also talking about the
"restructuring" of labor unions and the nullification of the
constitutional right to strike.
    The very few objections to NAFTA that we have heard from
the U.S. government are the environmental catastrophes it will
cause. Although we too, are concerned about our
environment, our main concern is with the working classes of
Mexico. The corporate executives have not addressed the
semi-slavery conditions our people will be subject to under
NAFTA. It is clear that they do not care, for it is the nature of
capitalism to put profits over people.
    It has been 500 years since the Europeans began the
pillage of our continent. Today, we are witnessing the
legalization of such pillage with a treaty that will allow Anglo-
Saxons to exploit our natural resources and our people, for the
benefit of their Anglo elite in the United States.  Five hundred
years later, our resistance continues. As an Indigenous
Mexican living in the United States, I have had the opportunity
to realize the importance of Latin American unification, as well
as the unification of all people of color in the United States.
The demands in the March for Dignity reflected the
universality of our experience. We demand:
*Respect to all Indigenous Nations
     (Respeto a los pueblos Indigenas)

*The right to education in our own Language without
abandoning the universal knowledge.

*The teaching and preservation of Nahuatl (the Aztec
language) as a national patrimony.

*The return of the land
    (Devolucion de la tienas)

*A stop to US. terrorism (New World Order).  We demand Self
determination.

*That our history be told, No to Euro-centric curricula!
(Nuestra historia debe ser dicho.  No a los curriculos
eurocentricos.)

Hermanas, Hermanos, VIVA LA RAZA!
JUSTICIA, TIERRA Y SOCIALISMO

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Apathy today, Disaster tomorrow!
What's the future of PSN?

By Tom Burke, Progressive Students, UIC-Chicago-Circle


What we do makes a difference
    It depends on two things.  One is whether more struggles
break out on campus in the coming year.  The other thing is
how the core of the PSN and other student activists do their
organizing.  At this point it seems unlikely that there is going to
be any single unifying issue, like the Gulf War, which will
galvanize students to struggle.  So how the PSN activists do
their work takes on greater relative importance.

Slow growth is likely
    I think we may do relatively well in the next year if we
continue to do our work methodically and look for gradual
growth instead of great leaps.  In the past we have raised the
slogan "Boldly build the PSN!" and somewhat glorified the
student activism of the 1960's to promote organizing.  While it
is good that students want to build the PSN, it takes careful
work and painstaking gains in school years like 1992-1993.

Struggle builds the network
    The upcoming year, 1993-1994, looks to be one where
small cores of student activists build single issue campaigns
on their campuses.  This was done at a handful of campuses
in recent years, with some significant success.  Professors'
jobs were saved from a posse of racist administrators in
Louisville; a corporate bank was forced to institute racial
sensitivity training at Northwestern University;  students at
George Washington (slave owner) University held Clinton to
his campaign promises by hunger striking to end the military
imprisonment of Haitian people, while others fought a
homeless shelter from being shut down.  Last fall many PSN
groups and other student activists forced people to rethink
Columbus!  These were hard won skirmishes, but they provide
the basis on which we continue to build the PSN.

Campaigns are key
    The PSN is always good at showing the connections
between issues, but it is single issue campaigns which have
produced struggle, and struggle is what produces more
student activists.  These campaigns, involving tabling,
petitioning, postering, educationals, protests, demonstrations,
and boycotts, result in a campus where the changes we fight
for create broad discussion and the PSN group becomes well
known.  It is hard,  but satisfying work.  Sometimes we lose,
but more often we win.  We may appear "BOLD," but we
should be patiently systematic in our activism.  That is how we
will build the local chapters, the PSN, and the broader student
movement.

Leadership development
    As I said earlier, we have wanted new student activists to
look to the 1960's as a great period of student activism.  It
was.  We should not over do it, however.  The PSN should
validate and support the work we and others do now, as its'
importance when the next upsurge occurs, will be precious.
    What makes our activism precious is the experienced
leadership it develops.  Student groups develop leadership
when they struggle.  Leadership is not something people build
by reading a good book about past student activists while
waiting for the next upsurge.  While this can be helpful,  the
PSN should mainly be concerned with and focus on students
who want to engage the forces of reaction on campus and in
society today.   Yes -- today!  Students want to struggle
against the administration, bureaucratic and conservative
departments, well-entrenched miseducators (i.e. professors,
many whom pretend to be liberal), and those backward
boneheads -- the young republicans.  The PSN needs to
connect with students who actively try to change things such
as people concerned about the environment, the homeless,
U.S. interventions, racism, and other issues.

How should the PSN proceed?
    We should treat every hardworking activist with friendship
and respect.  We should encourage those who are organizing
and fighting to hold Clinton's feet to the fire and then fan the
flames and demand more.  People are not molded by our
society to have perfect politics, so we need to understand their
imperfections -- wrong ideas, bad dynamics,  etc..  The PSN
respects people enough to hear them out and then struggle
with them to improve themselves, their organizations, and
their society.
    The PSN really needs to concentrate on the tasks ahead of
us.  Building the campus struggles is so important, and we
need to promote this at our fall conference.  Student
organizers and groups need to understand that they are not
isolated.  That is what the PSN is for.  At each school, we
have to combine our particular camps and issues, with a
general call to stop Clinton's backsliding and demand more
than what he has promised.

Clinton the chameleon!
    We need to wage an ideological struggle against those, like
the College Democrats, who think Clinton and his regressions
are the answer.  Clinton's era may look politically correct, but it
is a mask for nearly the same policies as Bush.  Abortion may
not be under attack, but funding is not overflowing.  Clinton
tells Queers "Don't ask, Don't tell" and then bombs civilians in
Iraq.  Students should say "Kiss! Tell! and Stop U.S.
Intervention!"  Bill Clinton pushing George Bush's exact same
NAFTA plan with Mexico and Canada.  We want an end to
environmental destruction, healthcare for all working people,
and  more control over corporations eit-----her side of the  border.
When governors of Clinton's era say "Educational Cutbacks!",
students should shout "Fight Back!"  When they imprison
political refugees and immigrants, activists will demand that
they be set free!  While Clinton talks about the homeless, we
must fight to save their shelters.  If he wants students to work
for their student loans and grants, then why not give them jobs
organizing to empower people to control their own lives,
schools, and neighborhoods instead of governments and
corporations setting the agendas?
    We should challenge the College Democrats to become
activists and not just cheer leaders.  If their group is active on
campus,  then they should join the PSN and discuss what they
are doing to change things.  We are open to all sorts of
political views.  If their group isn't active, then individuals
should quit and start PSN chapters.  Either that or they will be
left behind by those who want real change.
Today's choices affect tommorow
    The future of the PSN is this.  We need to organize and
fight.  We need to build on our successes, no matter how
small.  We also need to understand our failures, which harden
us, and then move on.  Above all, we need to win.  If we do
not have successes now, we will be sorry in the future.  Very
sorry.  Not just for ourselves, but for all those who are
negatively affected by the structure of U.S. society, especially
those at the bottom.  Winning our struggles on the campuses
can only help empower others.  When we leave the campuses
there are other struggles where we are wanted.

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Womyn's Caucus Activities & Concerns

by Amy Allen &
Christine Jones
Univ. of Louisville--PSL

    We trekked through the marsh-like field on Sheltowee
Trace along Gladie Creek. That's what the PSN Womyn and
Queer Caucus did at our meet in the Kentucky hills in June of
'92. We hiked with our backpacks on and climbed the trace
that led up the mountain to Indian Stairway for about two
miles. The darkness which everyone fears so much did more
to welcome us into it's safety. We reached the top of this
horse-shoe ridge which floats in the sky like an island. In the
morning when we awoke in a rock shelter (bigger than a
football field), beneath the ridge, it was great to see that, we, a
group of mostly city-folk political activists, could overcome our
fear of the unknown and unseen and climb a mountain for two
miles in the dark.
    But then we are students and students learn, which is what
we did that weekend. And while we could have followed an
agenda of discussion about womyn and queer issues, we
were having such a good time, seeing and being, that we
scrapped the agenda. We walked in the dark, climbed where
most people don't climb, breathed air most people don't
breath, exercised the parts of our bodies that we normally
don't use. And this place, still intact, is life: creeks, arches,
caves, plants, trees, and animals of all kinds. All that is part of
learning and understanding how other people in the U.S. live,
as well as the rest of the world. We often forget that many
people don't live in the city and the woods has a lot to teach
us.
    The caucuses were of a completely different atmosphere.
We got to know each other better.  Even though we ditched
the agenda, we discussed our political activities and
ideologies, and the time we spent communicating in this most
peaceful environment was very beneficial to our minds and
our bodies. One of the purposes of this trip, particularly for the
womyn's caucus, was to encourage womyn of the PSN to
reaffirm our own strength. We can hike several miles, build a
fire, and feel good about having dirt on our faces. We can be
strong and healthy.
    One of the things we also do in the womyn's caucus at any
given PSN meeting or conference is talk about each other's
experiences,  successes, and failures within the student
movement and within our own campus groups. The caucus
tries to provide an atmosphere for womyn to discuss issues of
importance without the distraction of being interrupted or
intimidated by men. During the womyn's caucus at the Spring
Steering Committee meeting on February 6, 1992 topics
concerning womyn of color, individual group dynamics, and
suggestions for men in the left concerning sexism were
discussed.
    Since the Fall 1992 National Conference, some PSN
groups have made an effort to understand the reasoning
behind the lack of representation and membership of womyn
of color in our groups.  Many of the PSN groups have been
more successful at working in coalition with people of color
organizations, which coincidently have mostly male members,
on issues concerning racism. We also recognize that we as
individuals and members of organizations need to be more
educated about issues and history of women of color.
    All those in the caucus expressed concerns about relations
in their campus groups between men and womyn, as well as
womyn and womyn members.  Womyn members tend to get
less credit for work than the men, and they also tend to get
stuck with the unfavorable jobs, such as note-taking and
mailings. During meetings men often ignore the suggestions of
womyn, or don't give womyn time or an atmosphere in which
to express themselves.  The most common problem in this
respect is that some men tend to repeat themselves and
restate their point in several different ways rather than stop
after it is initially made. Even in the general political
community, blatant disrespect of womyn still plagues us, as is
evident when men make comments on how nice an estranged
womyn's body is.
    The womyn who were present at the caucus would like to
request that all men in the left examine their own actions.
Learning about sexism requires that men do more listening
than talking. They have to be willing to have many one-on-
ones with womyn about sexism, male supremacy, attitudes,
and so forth. Not only do they have to acknowledge their own
sexism, but they have to understand the different aspects of it,
and at the same time become more holistically-educated
about past and present womyn's movements and writings.
Also men need to be more willing to confront other men about
their sexism.
    We recognize that men must know how we feel and what
problems we see within our local groups, which is why after
the caucus we report back to the whole group.  However, in
order to preserve anonymity of particular womyn, it's difficult
sometimes to give specific examples which would be based
on personal experiences. Many men, left or right, think that
womyn must talk to them, tell them about how they feel, tell
men what is sexist about their actions. But that is not our "job."
Men created the ancient practice of sexism, so maybe they
ought to re-educate themselves about the history of womyns'
oppression. Most men could probably figure it out if they were
just more "aware" and would listen more, rather than thinking
about how they are going to defend themselves.
    A representative of the womyns' caucus reported back to
the whole group the key points of our discussion. One of the
main points is that men don't give womyn much room to speak
and that they have the tendency to repeat and restate things
in a circle. Rather than soak the criticism in, some men chose
to challenge the information and ask of other womyn in the
caucus, "well, what do you think? Tell us, what's your
perspective of the problem?" In other words, let's have a deep
drawn-out discussion -- when there is no time -- about the
discussion the womyn had in a womyn-only caucus.  It doesn't
work that way; you can't force someone to say more than they
want to.  For the record, the womyns' caucus did talk about
the problems they see in their campus groups. Apparently
some men did not hear the statements that were made...
maybe because they were too busy making their own
statements. They were guilty of doing exactly what some of us
were complaining about: not listening, talking in circles, and
making the situation very uncomfortable to be in.  To
understand sexism, it's not necessary to put us on the spot,
nor do we have to have forced discussions. We didn't initiate
the analytic discussion and the climate was one which many
of us womyn felt was controlled by certain men. This should
be taken as constructive criticism and not as "womyn
oppressing men," a theme from the latest men's "movement."
There's a reason why we have a womyns' caucus and why the
men don't.
    On a different Ievel, we all need to activate ourselves to
work to improve social attitudes about womyn. We have to
make our universities improve statistics concerning womyn.
We need to challenge our city officials to put up statues of
progressive womyn and anything else that does justice to
them. It is very complex, as we have all been conditioned for
so long by a backward western ideology, but the time for
radical understanding is way over due. Men and womyn, both,
must learn about the roots of male supremacy and of the
oppression of womyn and, ultimately, their ties to imperialism
and capitalism.

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    This is the text from Tricia Arrington's keynote address to
last year's Conference, held at George Washington University.


-When I was little my favorite expression was, "I can do it
myself!" I often had temper tantrums, and was prone to
holding my breath until my face turned blue. I was angry. I was
misunderstood, and I wanted to do things myself because I
was the only one who knew what was best for me. This past
summer I remember having a conversation with my mother
that ended when I exclaimed with the same clenched fists,
foot stomp, and anger of when I was five, that "I can do it
myself!" We were both a little shocked because I had always
been somewhat quiet and compromising, and if I got angry I
didn't show it. This time I was angry, and I wasn't holding my
breath.
    The reason I was angry had to do with my health care, or
lack there of. I had just come from my last official doctor's visit,
and I realized that my doctor once again did not answer any of
my questions and was no use to me. But, that wasn't the real
fire inside. My doctor had tried to give me a pap smear for
about the fifth time, and I refused. Why? Because I was
scared. Because no one bothered to explain to me what one
was, and because I didn't want a male doctor that I didn't like
or trust putting his hands inside me. So, I didn't get the pap
smear, but I did realize how much I don't know about my body.
What makes me physically a womyn.
    After my little episode I made it a point to try and educate
myself about my own health. The more I read the angrier I got.
This was the first time I felt dominated by a male society.
Since then I have been trying to gain control of my health
care. I don't have health insurance. This was not originally by
choice, but I think that now it is. I don't see how giving large
amounts of money to people who don't understand or fulfill my
needs does me any good. Now that i have been taking over
my life and destroying the myths created by the medicalized
society and the meat centered food industry, my health has
improved and i feel better about myself as a person. But the
important thing to note is that I wasn't doing this all on my
own. I got a lot of help from my friends, mostly wimmin with
the same problems, and most of whom are in the PSU.
    I think progressive groups and the Progressive Student
Network is important for several reasons.  It's important to
focus on what a network is. I have heard it described as a net
that works. It is helpful because it can save us, it holds us
together, it keeps us from falling out, but at the same time it
allows us to breathe. Because it is a network it brings people
together who share common ideas. It makes our work as
small groups much easier because we can compare and
combine our efforts with the much larger web. We can reach
out to many more people. There is also a freedom in our
network, because we are not a mass, crowd or mob. We are a
group of individuals working together. We don't lose our
identity within the group; in fact we gain more of an identity
through learning and discussing our ideas.
    We should also take into account our motto: study and
struggle. We all know how important it is to have our voices
heard. To stand up for our rights, to fight and to yell. I have
had the opportunity to study with an incredible Latina womyn
who, like me, is just learning to use her voice, to yell. She was
brought up in the silence of a convent, was married, had four
sons and a daughter. With the death of her daughter, Elena
found her voice as a womyn. She returned to school and was
amazed to find people studying wimmin, when her previous
experiences taught her that man was the center around which
wimmin revolved. With her new found voice, Elena has gained
the courage to speak and be heard, even at the cost of her
marriage. People like Elena remind us of the fact that students
aren't always between the ages of 18 and twenty-one. We
should also remember that not all students go to school. Elena
reminds us that we should look to ourselves for support and
inspiration in our struggle.
    It is also important to remember the study part of our
struggle, and I don't mean homework. I mean educating
ourselves and other people on issues. We should never
assume that everyone in the group knows the details of a
particular issue. I remember seeing a graphic that said
information is power, share it. This is an important factor that
can make our voice larger and louder.
    We also need to make sure that we cover all aspects of the
issue. A lot of things can get lost inside an issue. Reproductive
freedom is a perfect example. The catchword "choice"
adopted by the media and politicians overshadows other
equally important issues. Choice is a bleached word that
ignores the racial, economic, and heterosexist blockades to
real choice, reproductive freedom. Reproductive freedom
means the right to choose to have a child or not to have a
child. Rape, forced sterilizations, inadequate health care and
inadequate social services prevent wimmin from having
complete control over their bodies.
    As wimmin we must to regain control over our lives and our
bodies; as students we must regain our voice and our power
within society. We shouldn't be afraid to realize that the adults
and the institutions of our society have failed us. We need to
take it upon ourselves to create change, to challenge
patriarchal society and institutions. We shouldn't be afraid to
work outside of the system. We don't have time to wait around
for the system to change. Racism is killing people today,
inaccessibility of health care --  reproductive health care -- is
threatening wimmin's lives. Our needs are now!
    We need to take back our lives. We need to empower
ourselves. We need to inspire each other and regain our
voices (loudly). These are all things we need to do in order to
move forward, lifting as we climb. Those who have already
failed us, those who would have us sit idle watching TV, tell us
that we are going too far, that we are wrong in our struggle. I
would have them listen to these words by June Jordan:

    I am not wrong, wrong is not my name
    My name is my own, my own, my own
    And I can't tell you who the hell set things up like this
    But I can tell you that from now on my resistance
    My simple and daily and nightly self-determination
    May very well cost you your life.


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Las indicaciones ambientales de NAFTA

by Jen Sikorski - PSN, UW-Madison

NAFTA, acuerdo norteamericano de librecambio, seria dos
pasos para atra s en cuanto a las normas ambientales que
mucha gente ha sido tratando de elevar por muchos anos.
NAFTA es un acuerdo entre los Estados Unidos, Mexico, y
Canada  que manda librecambio entre los tres.  Es decir que
no habria las restricciones de cambio que existe hoy entre los
paises norteamericanos.

    En cuanto al medioambiente, el problema ma s grande es
que todas las normas ambientales que tienen los Estados
Unidos y Canada , no valera n nada cuando hay otro pais en
librecambio que no tiene las mismas normas.  Y aunque
Mexico, en   ciertos lugares, tenga restricciones exactamente
como en los Estados Unidos, hay un gran problema en hacer
cumplir con los leyes.
    Por ejemplo, las maquiladoras, fa bricas de duenos
extranjeros, en la zona fronteriza de Mexico y los EEUU
causan muchos problemas con el medioambiente.  En 1990,
solamente veinte porciento de las fa bricas pudieron mostrar
que han despachado sus desechos toxicos en la manera
legal.  En 1983, un tratado entre los EEUU y Mexico demando
que todas las companias que exportan quimicos toxicos a
Mexico, deben transportar los desechos toxicos que resultan,
de vuelta a los Estados Unidos.  La agencia de proteccion
ambiental mostro en 1988, que solamente 20 de ma s que
1600 maquiladoras habian devuelto sus desechos toxicos a
los Estados Unidos.  Si se pone NAFTA en efecto, creo que
haria ma s problemas como esto, pero con ma s intensidad.
Es una situacion que podria elevar a un nivel muy serio y
peligroso.
    Hay otro acuerdo que tiene las mismas implicaciones
ambientales, pero es mucho ma s peor porque es un acuerdo
mundial.  La realidad es que con ma s paises en el acuerdo,
probablemente ningunas restricciones ambientales van a ser
impuesto.  Este acuerdo se llama la parte Uruguaya de GATT,
acuerdos generales sobre tarifas y cambio.  Probablemente
las normas ambientales del acuerdo va a diminuir a las
normas del pais ma s indulgente del mundo.  Y los leyes que
tienen los paises estrictas sera n considerados "cambio
ilegal."  Por ejemplo, los Estados Unidos no queria permitir la
importacion de atun que no es seguro por les delfines, esto
fue ilegal en cuanto al cambio libre.  Ahora los EEUU tiene
que importar el atun de Mexico que no es seguro por les
delfines.  Como resultado, los consumidores no tienen una
voz tan fuerte como antes.  Si los EEUU van a aceptar la
parte Uruguaya de GATT, deben cambiarlo para cumplir con
las restricciones ambientales.
    Es mi opinion que NAFTA no es buena idea a causa de las
implicaciones ambientales.  Falta de restricciones significa
que la gente comun va a perder en este caso, y los ricos van
a ganar como siempre.  Librecambio subvierte la abilidad de
cada nacion sustentar sus proprios leyes, como cada es
compelido relajar las normas al menos denominador comun.
NAFTA y GATT son planeados de satisfacer la necesidad de
las corporaciones - no la necesidad humana.


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Corporate cocktail on the rocks?
Seagrams  imbibes in Dupont stock: Boycott aggravates
hangover

By Patricia

    In 1992, hundreds of activists around the country began a
major campaign targeting the DuPont Company as the world's
#1 ozone destroyer.  DuPont, the largest industrial polluter in
the United States, is also the leading global producer of ozone
depleting chemicals, primarily chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
Production has been justified by a supposed reliance on these
chemicals in the cold storage/refrigeration industries.
Contrary to popular belief, refrigeration-type use of CFCs only
comprises 6% of the total market, and----- safe, viable alternatives
to these destructive chemicals exist.
    Scientists believe that the destruction of the ozone layer
will lead to an increase in the rate of skin cancer, including
more cases of cataracts, and a greater susceptibility to
infectious diseases, as exposure to UV radiation weakens the
human immune system.  Oceanic phytoplankton, the base of
the marine food chain, will be affected as well, and wide-
spread crop failure will occur should UV radiation rise to its
predicted levels.  In some countries, scientists have already
begun to issue warnings about the increased UV radiation,
advising people to take precautions when going outside on
days when ground level UV reaches extreme levels.
    Over the years, DuPont has built up a reputation of profit-
driven avoidance of environmental issues, and has evaded the
CFC crisis for some time.  As threats of massive ozone
destruction intensify, DuPont continues its production of ozone
depleting chemicals.  In 1991, DuPont manufactured 170
thousand tons of CFCs, approximately 25% of the global
market.  Demands have been made on DuPont to put an
immediate halt to the production of CFCs.
    Last fall, the ongoing Ozone Campaign announced a new
tactic--a boycott of the Seagram Company Ltd.  The
connection between DuPont and the Seagram Company is
outlined in detail below.

The Seagram Company owns
24.4% of DuPont stock

    In 1991 the market value of DuPont's CFC production was
approximately $425 million, and throughout the 1980's DuPont
maintained an average of $600 million a year in sales.  The
Seagram Company owns 24.4% of DuPont's overall stock or
164 million shares, and in 1991 profited $4.5 billion alone from
these shares.  Simply put, because Seagram's is profiting
from its investments in DuPont, they are profiting from ozone
destruction.

7 members of DuPont's Board of Directors sit on Seagram's
Board

    The Seagram Company is the largest single shareholder in
the DuPont Company, and through this connection has the
leverage it needs to influence DuPont and their ozone
destroying policies.  Seagram's controls 5 of the 18 seats on
the DuPont Board of Directors, while 7 of DuPont's Board sit
on Seagram's Board.  The Company has also consistently
supported DuPont and its position on CFC production, and
believes that DuPont is seeking a solution "in the most
humanitarian way possible."  Because of these strong
corporate/political ties between DuPont and Seagram's, and
the undeniable loyalty that the Seagram Company has shown
for DuPont, Seagram's will be as guilty as DuPont to the
charges of ozone destruction.  As long as these two
companies continue to profit at the expense of ozone
destruction, they will be held accountable to stopping it.  Key
actors in the corporate connection include:
    Edgar S. WoolardJ-- CEO of DuPont
    Edgar M. Bronfman Sr. -- Chairman,Seagram Company Ltd.

Corporate Responsibility

    The Seagram Company has a corporate responsibility, as
a large and influential consumer-oriented company, to make
headway on environmental issues like the ozone crisis.  Over
the past ten years, Seagram's has been attacked for its stance
on various environmental issues and the Company's current
connection to ozone destruction is by far the most serious.
Now it is time for Seagram's to make a real commitment to the
environment and to the ozone layer by recognizing its
influence in policy-making at DuPont.

    This new tactic in the campaign will require widespread
support and unified action to make it work, and as always,
communication is vital.  Now available is an Organizing Packet
on the Seagram's Boycott. It details the connection between
ozone destruction, DuPont, and the Seagram Company and
outlines strategies for action.  Get in touch with us if you would
like to get a copy. And, don't forget that we're here to answer
questions on the ongoing Ozone/DuPont Campaign -- so USE
US!! Good luck and keep it wild!!

Please write or call us at: Seagrams Boycott P.O. Box 181
Newark, DE 19715-0181 (302)453-9702

Patricia is a junior at the University of DuPont...oops, that is,
Delaware.


Seagram Company Product List

Products are manufactured under the trademark "Tropicana:"
Tropicana Twister & Tropicana Twister Light Tropicana
Twister Frozen Concentrate Orange Juice Frozen Concentrate
Chilled Beverages Single Serving Juices and Beverages
Ready-to-Serve 100% Pure Orange Juice From Concentrate--
100% Juices

Seagram Mixers, including: Ginger Ale & Raspberry Ginger
Ale Tonic Water Collins Mixer Half and Half Club Soda
Sparkling Waters Seltzer Orange, Lemon-Lime, Raspberry &
Black Cherry Seltzers

Assorted Spirits, including: Seagram's 7 Crown Whiskey
Seagram Extra Dry Gin Captain Morgan Rum Original Spiced
Rum

Scotch Whiskey, including: Black Douglas Chivas Regal Royal
Salute

Canadian Whiskey, including: Crown Royal Seagrams V.O.

Wine, including: Sterling Vineyards Barton & Guestier The
Monterey Vineyard Julius Kayser

Mumm & Perrier-Jouet Champagnes

Seagram Wine Coolers


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Free Silvia!
Robert McClure
PSN - Madison

    Silvia Baraldini is a political prisoner currently being held at
the control unit prison in Marianna, FL.   She was convicted of
conspiring to rob a bank (the robbery never actually
occurred...)  and to free Assata Shakur - herself a political
prisoner at the time - from prison.  Silvia is an Italian citizen
(and former Madison SDSer, we proudly note) and is therefore
eligible to be repatriated to Italy under the Strasbourg
Convention, an international treaty to which the U.S. is
signatory.
    Nonetheless, the U.S. has repeatedly refused to live up to
its international obligation. (Honoring treaties was never
exactly our government's strong suit.)  The Bush regime - a
fine bunch to talk, after slaughtering a hundred thousand
Iraqis - claimed that Silvia had "blood on her hands" (facts
were never their strong suit...), and that she would never be
returned to Italy.  They also claimed that there was no public
support for her repatriation despite 10,000 U.S. petition
signatures and massive public support in Italy.
    Now that the necrotic boil of Bushism has been excised
from the body politic, there is at least some possibility that the
U.S. will actually honor its international obligation.  A
delegation of women members of the Italian Parliament is
slated to meet with U.S. Congresswomen in the near future.
This could constitute a significant point of pressure on the
Clinton regime.
    People have been asked to:
         -Suggest potentially sympathetic members of the
Congress and Press for the Italian MPs to meet with;
         -Contact both Big Bill and Janet Reno in support of
Silvia's repatriation.  (If you have more $$ than time, this can
be done automatically by calling 1-800-888-5284 and asking
that Message #41 be sent.  Cost: $5.50 on plastic, $6.50 if
billed.)
    Financial donations to Silvia's campaign are also needed.
To contribute, or to receive petitions or more info, contact:
Release Silvia!, 294 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY, 11201.
    Support those who have gone before us in resistance!


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Out from the walls


    On April 3, 1993, an  unusual display of artwork opened for
a month-long run at a gallery in downtown Madison,
Wisconsin.
    Out Through the Walls: Expressions of Resistance by
Prisoners in the U.S.  brought together prisoner art from
around the country, including several pieces by well-known
political prisoners and POWs.
    Solicited and presented by Free U.S. Political Prisoners
and POWs --  a local Madison group that counts several past
and present PSNers in its ranks --  the show was conceived as
part of a longer range goal of putting prison issues out to the
public in ways that are unusual, compelling and which serve to
break stereotypes about prisoners and the typically racist and
classist notions which underlie them.
    The show was comprised of several dozen pieces.  Works
ranged from pencil drawing and acrylic-on-canvas to pottery,
bead-work, and crewel embroidery.  Some -- for example, pen
& inks  rendered on handkerchiefs, scratchboard carved with
safety pins smuggled in an inmate's underwear, two picture
frames painstakingly assembled from wood carved with a
prison-issue razor -- were indicative of the extremely limited
access to art resources that many prisoners face.  (Apropos of
this, hanging from the ceiling at the center of the gallery was a
submission from a prisoner in the Marion control unit, which
was simply a memo from the warden -- enlarged by FUSPPP
for all to read -- describing in Orwellian terms how the
Recreation Dept. had been charged with the removal of all
inmate art supplies, owing to the security threat they posed.)
    It was clear -- just from the detail and attention and care
with which works were composed or assembled -- that each
and every piece constituted a significant act of resistance, an
expression of humanity and care in the face of the
facelessness, irresponsibility and inhumanity that characterize
and drive the U.S. prison system.
    A handsomely bound collection of poetry and prose that
accompanied the show is available for $10.  Send your check
to: FUSPPP, PO Box 545, Madison, WI 53711.

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Fucked again! (Did you all get off?)

By sue Jeffers
Kent State PSU

    Yip Yah! It's finally over. After a year long mind fuck, the
orgy of presidential campaigning climaxed on the 3rd of
November. According to the board of elections, more people
got off in the polls this time around than have in a long time.
Whispering sweet nothings into folks' ears paid off for Bill, and
in January he'll get his chance to fuck us. It's time for us to
light up and figure out how to get on top.
    Since someone declared Ohio a "swinger" state, we got to
get in on the foreplay. Bozoes for Bush were born at Kent
State U., and dressed up to blow kisses at the secret service
in Ravenna when Quayle came, and behaved in what various
editorials called a "totally disrespectful manner."  Even though
the Clinton campaign misinterpreted the whole affair as
support for their guy, we finally decided to go to Bowling
Green to greet Bush, where having one of our flyers
confiscated at the gate led the secret service to hunt down the
clowns and ask us if we were planning to kill the president. I
guess they were afraid I was going to shove my wig down the
guy's throat.
    On election day, we held a presidential gong show where
the candidates had one last chance to perform tricks for us.
The gong was held out for the audience to bang on, and all of
the candidates got gonged off the stage. First came the
musical selection (Bill played "You're in the Army Now" on the
sax; George tried to sing "Yellow Rose of Texas."  Perot didn't
have anything prepared - he would only sing what the people
wanted to hear).  The candidates tried money juggling,
balancing the budget (on their heads), and also did a song
and dance for folks.
    Afterwards we hung out and gave out free nausea bags
and had three boxes of shit for folks to come up and figure out
which type they liked best. We had little bags for folks who just
felt kind of queasy, and big bags for folks who felt really sick. I
wasn't too surprised that more people wanted big bags. The
shit was in three appropriately labeled boxes, so folks could
come up and smell it, pick it up and play with it, step in it, or
whatever they needed to do to figure out which kind was their
favorite. Once they made their choice, we offered to bag it up,
but reminded them that they had to carry it around with them
for the next four years. Maybe that's why only one person took
our shit. The rest went to the polls to get their shit.
    There's been some talk about what to do for the inHOG-
uration in January. If anyone out there has any televisions
they don't need, let us know. We have our pickaxes ready.

    Sue Jeffers, a senior at Kent State University in the Peace
& Conflict Studies program, has been a pain in the ass
(activist) for the past 10 years.  She is not a liberal.



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Organizing The Left Under Clinton: Not
By Tom Pearce
PSL - Louisville, KY

    So you're walking around campus wearing a Kafia, playing
hackysack, and thinking "wow," what a beautiful, wealthy,
liberal, democratic nation America is now that Clinton is in the
White House; Meanwhile, L.A. is still a total wreck. As you sit
with a smile drinking coffee in the student center, you think,
I'm so glad I did my part to save America from those fascist
conservatives, by voting and telling others to do the same.
Meanwhile the Clinton folks talk of total aid to Israel. Your
sitting around watching TV when a reporter breaks in and says
an explosion just ripped through the World Trade Center,
Jesus is holed up with a machine gun in Waco, and you
remark "bummer."
    Is this you? Are you one of the "Great Society" socialites
who just can't bring themselves to do much more than study,
fuck, and have a good time? Wake the fuck up!!  Please. This
era of new liberalism could be over faster than you can say
Jimmy Carter. If we sit back and trust Mr. Bill to push a
progressive agenda we could be waiting the rest of our lives.
    Yes it is true that many of us voted for the man from Hope
who promised us everything, from socialized medicine to
socialized education to reproductive freedom. We voted for
change; anything but George Bush. We now know that Mr.
Bill's education plan will help 1000 students this year and
150,000 next year. I'll  bet you money I won't be one of the
151,000 to go to school and neither will you. It is obviously Hip
to be a liberal again. This takes about as much effort as it did
to be hip and conservative in the 80s. For some this means
having faith in the man from Hope and his plan. For most
people though, the promises mean life or death. Thirty five
percent of Americans have no health care. There are more
African-Americans in prison than in college. Millions are being
laid off. Pine Ridge reservation is still the poorest community
in the nation with 80% unemployment. The environment is
almost apocalyptically damaged, and women still don't enjoy
equality in the work force.
    You trust the man from Hope? I can't. I need health care
now. I need a good job now. I need to finish school to get a
job. So what if he promised all these things, Bush said "read
my lips." The language of back-sliding, posturing, and good
old southern used car sales rap is starting to soften us up for
the "I wanted to give the American people all these things but"
syndrome. We have a crisis now. I can't wait four years to get
to go to school. So, for those of us that call ourselves activists,
how do we make sense of all of Mr. Bill's corn pone politics?
How do we take the Clinton years and turn them into real
political gains for the left? On a more realistic level, how do we
chart a strategy to activate all these people who at this time
seem to be quite content with Mr. Bill? A lot of people say "He
lifted the ban on reproductive freedom and he's going to lift the
ban on gays and lesbians in the military; let's give him a
chance."  If these two issues were the only crises we had in
America, that would be fine, but these issues seem to be tailor
made pacifiers for the left.

Organizing Struggle in the 90's
    Clinton is a politician. He is a capitalist politician. He is
trying to back out of 75% of the promises he made during the
erection (don't men always?). More importantly, he doesn't
begin to approach real progressive socialist policies on a level
which would create real relief for people of color, the third
world, and real change for women. At the recent PSN Steering
Committee meeting we had a long discussion of these issues
and came up with some creative strategies to activate on
some issues. Here are some of our observations. Remember
how Reagan and Bush courted the religious right on the
abortion issue? Remember how Operation Rescue and the
extreme right used "presidential" backing as an excuse to
block clinics? Remember how the right used the 80s to roll us
back to the 50s on a fast track and dominated America for
twelve years? Well they wouldn't have had right wing control
for twelve years had it not been for right wing activist and
idealists on the ground across America. Our call to
progressive minded people should be that this time should be
used to build working class, urban, and student uprisings to
demand left changes on all levels of society to roll America up
to the 90's. A reverse fight must be waged. We must have
national socialized medicine and socialized education. The
ban on gays and lesbians in the military must be lifted. One
PSNer heard a real good quote on that one: "Queers should
have the right to serve and the sense not to.
    We must demand that Clinton cut the military first anytime
he talks about the deficit. We must have the religious right
completely out of our personal lives. Our government must
withdraw its military power from support of all third world
dictators. We've got to be willing to block businesses that
discriminate against gays and lesbians. We must block the
embassies of all foreign imperialist dictatorships. Let's cut
them down. Let's block the doors of businesses that don't pay
equal pay for women, let's block military bases and demand
cuts in funding. Let's block private wealthy hospitals until we
have health care for all. Let's support the homeless squatting
in unused buildings. Let's wage a relentless campaign to shut
down corporations which are shamelessly destroying the
environment in our communities. It is our turn to shift America
and we don't have long to do so.  Four years is a very short
time when you stay inactive.
    Granted, all these suggestions might not work, but it's a
good answer to all these folks out there, who think that faith in
the man called Hope is enough to pull us out of the right wing
tailspin we are in. We've got to make people realize that if they
don't make it happen nothing's going to happen. Let's force
the man from Hope to make real changes.

The Left, Where Have They gone?
    Have we forgotten about El Salvador, the Philippines,
Cuba, Palestine, Indigenous America, Nicaragua, South Africa
and the countless other oppressed peoples Clinton didn't even
begin to address? He is currently refusing to allow Haitians
with or without AIDS into the U.S.   The Gulf War seems to
have left the Left in a stagnate state. It seems like we're
caught in a vacuum. We should probably at some point try to
deal with the current injustices the U.S. caused and continues
to cause in the Middle East. We should also try to diligently
organize and educate on the current situation. We must make
our case. Clinton is a capitalist. He says he must cut spending
but will only cut the military budget by 100 million (Peanuts!).
We have to continue to wage a campaign against U.S. and
world imperialism in order to be able to look ourselves in the
mirror and call ourselves leftists. We are still living in the most
corrupt, evil, and oppressive society in the world. We are 2%
of the world's population and we consume 46% of the world's
resources. China, on the other hand, constitutes 26% of the
world population and consumes only 2% of its resources. On a
world scale we are holding the entire earth hostage. We are
the "SUPER Power" and when we say jump you better ask
"How high?" When we say we want cheap Mexican labor they
better ask "how cheap." When we want to cause rampant
environmental destruction in a third world nation they better
ask "how much?"  We are the worlds largest terrorist
organization. We cause the clear majority of mass murder
across the globe. We have no shortage of issues to activate
around. We could all work 24 hrs a day for the rest of our lives
and there would still be about 3 zillion things left. We must be
inspired by the struggles of the people to survive against the
onslaught of Imperialism. We are after all people struggling to
survive... or we are part of the problem.
    We must, within our own boundaries, fight to open up our
own government, schools, and institutions to include
oppressed nationalities' from the top down. We must support
and fight for all of the lands seized from Native Americans
(legally bound to them by treaty) and total nation to nation
respect for their sovereignty. Even on the left certain
humanists still have the racist gall to insinuate that Indian
people are somehow flawed because they don't want to
assimilate into the grinding box of Amerikkka. What ever
happened to the 40 acres and a mule settlement for African
Americans? Do you even know what that is? There is a real
growing voice of oppressed peoples evident in the L.A.
uprising, the Mohawk uprising at Oka, and many other events
which represent very serious concerns that capitalists in this
country are afraid to address. These struggles aren't going to
just go away because some white guy from Arkansas got
elected.

Progressive Ideals In The 90's
    At no time should the left in the 90s allow itself to be
subservient or pacified by capitalist Democrats throwing bones
to the masses. The more bones they throw the more we
should demand real power. Our demands should consist of
reparations to those who have and continue to be the targets
of the genocidal war of capitalists against all people of color in
this country. The All African Peoples Revolutionary Party, the
American Indian Movement, the Puerto Rican Independence
Movement, Latin and Chicano organizations, Queer Nation,
leftist women's agendas, and many other struggles will never
be touched by a Clinton administration caught  in its "love Bill,
America" campaign. To see issues in the forefront we have to
push them there.
    How long do we rest easy on the mere fact that Bush is out
of office?  If we rest too long, what will we have left to work
with? On the other hand, if we act now we could win
significant long term gains.


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New! Different! Better!
Party Time for the Student Left!

by Stuart Eimer
Students for the new party

    While President Clinton and friends were partying at the
inaugural celebration last January, thousands of his fellow
citizens were working to reinvigorate what they feel is a
moribund political system which will not be revived by any one
president.  They aren't forming watchdog organizations or
financing a new lobby on the hill, but instead are building a
new political party.  They've aptly named this party The New
Party (NP), and intend to do nothing less than change the way
politics is done in the United States.
    Their aim is to build an institution capable of aggregating
and representing the interests of the nation's forgotten half.
Who are these forgotten citizens?  They're the 45 percent of
the electorate who decided it wasn't worth the effort to go to
the polls last November.  They're the 47 percent who told
pollster Gordon Black that a new political party is needed to
reform politics in the United States.  They're the millions of
men and women who are fed up with business as usual and
who have little faith that either of the two major parties really
has what it takes to facilitate the kind of changes needed in
the U.S. today.  Basically, they're people like you and me.  In
fact, I'm one of them, so from here on in it's "we" not "they."

An Electoral Vision...

    Progressives in the United States lack a serious electoral
strategy.  Each election cycle we either slave away for
Democrats, only to be forgotten after the election, make
suicide runs for offices we have no hope of winning, or simply
opt out of elections to focus on our non-electoral work.  New
Party organizers feel it's time to reconsider these approaches.
We think its time to build a party that can serve as the
electoral arm of our many movements.  We're building a party
that will enable us to implement the sorts of social policy
needed to redistribute power, wealth and opportunity in the
United States.  And, perhaps most importantly, we're building
a party that can win elections.
    Creating such a party is, to say the least, a challenging
project.  There have been over 1,000 third party attempts in
US. history.  If nothing else, this teaches us that for many
reasons, most of them very rational, it's tough to convince
people to vote for a third party.  This is understandable in that
a vote for a third party candidate, who is more often than not
making a suicide run for an office which she or he has little or
no chance of winning, is often seen as a wasted vote.  This is
a problem since, simply put, most people don't want their vote
to be wasted.  They'd like to think their vote counts, and are
understandably hesitant to cast it for a candidate with little
chance of winning.  Facing this fact in no way necessitates
surrendering to it.  It simply means that if progressives ever
hope to be a serious electoral force in US. politics, they must
carefully consider their strategies.
    With this in mind, the New Party has developed some fairly
straightforward guidelines to inform our electoral efforts.  First,
we won't run candidates with no chance of winning.  This
means avoiding costly runs for Congress and the presidency
until we have the organizational base and the material
resources to do so seriously.  Until then, we'll focus our efforts
on municipal, county, and state elections where it is much
easier to wage serious campaigns.  Although these local
offices lack the glamour and publicity garnered by the federal
government, they nonetheless make countless decisions that
effect the everyday lives of all people.
    It's at this level that New Party activity thus far has been
centered.  Our victories include electing four people to the
county board and one to the state assembly in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin.  In Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the NP elected two
council people.  In Altheimer, Arkansas, three city council
seats.  The list of victories goes on, with more anticipated this
spring.  Slowly but surely, one community at a time, the NP is
building a national base from the bottom up.
    As the local work has progressed, the NP has also
attracted some support from a bunch of prominent national
figures.  A few of them include; Ed Bruno, vice president of the
United Electrical Workers; Noam Chomsky, professor; Ellen
David-Friedman of the Vermont National Education
Association; Barbara Ehrenreich, author; Francis Fox Piven,
CUNY; Maude Hurd, ACORN; Manning Marable, University of
Colorado; John O'Connor, National Toxics Campaign; Major
Owens, US. Congress; and Tani Takagi, Ms. Foundation for
Women.

Students for the New Party

    So, how do students fit in to all this? Well, if you're reading
this paper you probably already know that despite the lack of
attention paid to it by the national news media there currently
exists a large and diverse student movement in the United
States.  This movement has been expanding since the
campaigns to force university divestment from South Africa
swept the nation in the mid 1980's.  Driven largely by
successive Republican administrations and economic
recession, this growth has entailed the broadening of
movement activity beyond foreign policy concerns to a wide
range of domestic issues.  Today, college campuses are
home to groups working on abortion rights, rape prevention,
homelessness, environmental degradation, access to
education, curriculum reform, gay and lesbian rights, third
world solidarity and many other issues.
    A recent survey administered annually to 200,000 first year
students by the Higher Education Research Institute at
U.C.L.A. suggests that campus activism will continue to
increase in the 1990's.  The 1991 survey found that 40
percent of incoming students had taken part in demonstrations
during their last year in high school.  This compares with 37
percent in 1989, and is more than double the number that
reported doing so in the late 1960's.  The survey also found
that an all time high of 7.1 percent said they planned to
demonstrate in college.  Again, this number compares to 6.3
percent in 1989 and 4.1 percent in 1968.  Other interesting
findings include the 88 percent who feel that the government
"is not doing enough to control environmental pollution."  All in
all, the findings led the director of the survey to suggest that
"...there is a rapidly expanding number of American college
students who are dissatisfied with the status quo and who
want to become personally involved in bringing about change
in American society."
    Unfortunately, these students will be entering a student
movement that is much less than the sum of its parts.
Although we're large and diverse, we're not as well organized
and coordinated as we could be.  Efforts by groups to forge
multi-issue regional and national networks and organizations
have met with limited success.  In general, they've had
difficulty garnering the resources necessary to overcome the
organizing obstacles that such a huge and diverse nation
throws in our path.  As a result, most of the student activism in
the United States is not hooked up to any of the national or
regional networks or organizations.
    The decentralized and local nature of the contemporary
student movement limits its ability to foster change.  Since
much of the organizing action remains at the local level,
activists are often unaware that students down the road, and
people in surrounding communities, share our concerns.  As a
consequence, student groups frequently take part in isolated
yearly cycles of protest.  This cycle finds us mounting
campaigns in the fall, gradually exhausting our repertoire of
educational, mass, and direct actions during the year, and
ultimately ending up in somewhat of a dead end by the close
of spring semester.  Come the next fall, this lonely cycle
begins again, albeit with some new organizers who were
trained during the previous year.  The continual repeat of this
drama leaves many activists cynical, believing that nothing
can ever change.  Others continue to plug away, often to the
point where protests become "routine-ized" and unappealing
to other students.
    Although victories and trained organizers do emerge from
these cycles of protest, I think it's fair to say that we can do
better.  Often-times we simply lack the resources and
connections to move beyond our schools in order to mount the
broad-based grass-roots campaigns necessary to challenge
the external economic and political forces that condition our
campuses.
    The New Party offers students a way to overcome the
above mentioned limits.  It promises to provide an institutional
framework through which our concerns can be linked to those
of other like-minded individuals and groups.  Having student
demands integrated into a progressive policy platform will
provide a way for campus activists to meaningfully address
the external forces shaping our world.  It will help lift us out of
the semesterly cycle of protest by situating us in a long term
project capable of actualizing serious societal transformation.
    In addition to the benefits we stand to gain at the local level
by being part of the New Party, we'll also gain at the national
level.  The NP promises to provide a national organization with
the resources needed to facilitate national dialogue and
organizing among students.  Like our brothers and sisters
throughout the world, we'll finally have a progressive party to
aid us in our attempts to heighten our level of organization and
effectiveness.
    Student New Party organization are already cropping up
around the country in places like the University of Wisconsin
Madison, the University of Minnesota, and Rutgers University.
These campus organizations complement the work being
done in their respective communities and are a vital
component of the party building process.  They're working
hand in hand with community organizers, labor activists and
an array of other people whom students don't ordinarily
organize with.
    So, let me take this opportunity to invite you to the party.
Take the time to get acquainted with the New Party chapter in
your area.  If there is none, help to start one.  You can write
the national office for more materials about the New Party at
the following address: The New Party, 227 West 40th Street,
Suite 1302, New York, NY 10018  (212) 302-5053.


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King verdict is half justice

by Lamoin Werlien-Jaen

    At long last the LAPD, the local political apparatus and the
establishment they represent, can relate.  The verdict in the
Rodney King case is in: two convictions and two acquittals.
Apparently, African-Americans now get half the justice others
get.  You see ... things are getting better! We'll see what kind
of sentences they get; we'll see how much time they serve;
we'll see what happens in the Reginald Denny case.
    The "Powers That Be," I'm sure, are relieved by this turn of
events.  They have come through one more ordeal relatively
intact, or so they think.  Now they can go about bolstering their
legitimacy by offering the verdict as evidence that indeed
some white cops can be convicted in the United States in
1993.  They can now bombard the airwaves with the promises
about how "things are going to get better," about how they will
create new programs to rebuild the inner city.
    Same old song and dance.
    While the verdict was certainly a partial victory in these
troubled times, it provides little consolation.  One thing is
certain: JUSTICE HAS NOT BEEN SERVED.  The Rodney
King trial was about the hundreds of cases of police brutality
which happen every year in this country.  It was about how the
state views people of color and what it's prepared to do to
"keep the peace."  It's about the violent police response to an
urban crisis which engulfed millions of people:  poor whites,
Blacks, Latinos, Asian Americans and others.  We must face
up to the fact that there are oppressed communities all across
the United States.  In particular, people of color are oppressed
all across the United States.
    One aspect of the crisis in L.A., which the mainstream
media ignored, was the effects of the massive show of force
mobilized for the trial.  Things have sure gotten heavy.  Six
thousand police officers deployed, hundreds of National Guard
troops garrisoned in the city, the Army put on alert.  Talk about
overkill.  What are they afraid of? Do they fear people will treat
them as they have treated others? This threat of violence
could in itself trigger confrontation.  Especially if you
considered there are other "Officer Powells" out there, a fact
not lost upon the residents of South Central.  As numerous
residents of the area pointed out in interviews, any
confrontation would lead to a massacre.  The image of
National Guard troops chanting their cadences and pounding
their rifles on the ground couldn't have been clearer.  As one
person pointed out, the rioting last time began after the police
attacked protesters.
    Unfortunately, little is likely to change as a result of all this.
We would be naive to believe that the authorities will now
launch a reform process to overcome the problems faced by
South Central.  Naive to believe that they will attack poverty,
that racism will be rooted out of the system and that the urban
centers will be rebuilt.  Naive to believe "Rebuild LA" will
amount to much.  Who's going to pay for it? The folks in Maple
Bluff? The federal government? The one that is practically
bankrupt after countless wars and conquests? More likely we'll
see the same damn crisis, the same police and the same
corrupt politicians, singing the same old tune.  As long as
these conditions prevail, the next rebellion will always be
around the corner.
    The truth is that nothing is going to change until a
fundamental transformation of this society occurs.  In fact, the
most measurable government initiative towards the crisis in LA
will not be Clinton's "Jobs Program;" rather it will be more
funding for the police departments.  As long as the
government remains under the influence of big money,
corporate interests, real-estate developers, bankers, and their
lobbyists and PACs, things will remain the same.  In response,
we must build the unity of our individual communities and then
the unity of all oppressed communities.  We must build a
movement which can unite African Americans, Latinos, Asian
Americans, Chicanos, committed whites and working people
in general -- a movement based on self-determination and
justice for all.

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We were right

By Lamoin Werlein-Jaen


    On March 15, 1993, the UN. Commission on the Truth in El
Salvador released the results of an investigat ion into human
rights abuses during that country's civil war.  The report
confirms what many people knew all along -- that the
Salvadoran army, and its oligarchic allies, are responsible for
the overwhelming majority of the 75,000 civilian casualties
registered during the conflict.  Specifically, it holds that the
military and right-wing death squads are responsible for 95
percent of all non-combat deaths.  "The army, security forces
and death squads linked to them committed massacres,
sometimes of hundreds of people at a time," the report stated.
    The investigation is a striking vindication of all those people
who argued that the Reagan and Bush administrations were
arming, training and financing a genocidal regime with the
most sophisticated weaponry and financing to the tune of $6
billion.  The probe exposes the fact that the US. government
aided and abetted one of the worst massacres in Central
American history.
    As for the FMLN (the Salvadoran rebel front), the report
singles out two major cases of civilian killings.  One involved
bomb attacks in which several off-duty US. military personnel
were killed.  The US. soldiers were in the country assisting the
Salvadoran army as trainers and with logistical support.  The
other was an FMLN assassination campaign against small-
town mayors during the mid-1980s.  During this period the
ARENA Party (representing the extreme right-wing) was
attempting to consolidate its control over "contested zones,"
which the FMLN infiltrated.  The army would sweep through
an area, and ARENA would follow closely behind to set up
administrative control.  It should also be noted that some of
these "civilian" mayors were ex-military or death squad
members and all were involved with the government war.  All
told, the report holds the FMLN responsible for 5 percent of
non combat deaths.
    The FMLN's attacks against ARENA's party infrastructure
should not be confused with, nor compared to, the massacre
of thousands of innocent people.  As for U.S. military
personnel killed while dining in downtown San Salvador, I can
see how the FMLN would consider them legitimate targets.
We must not forget that they had a mission and an agenda.
They were assisting the army in its prosecution of war.
    The U.S. government was the main source of support for a
corrupt military which should have  disintegrated a long time
ago.  The Salvadoran military exists today because the
Republicans in the White House and Democrats in Congress
kept them afloat.
    Unfortunately, the United States has done virtually nothing
to make amends for its past actions in El Salvador.  In fact, the
United States has done nothing to make amends for the many
repressive regimes it bolstered and supported during the "cold
war:" the military governments of Chile, Argentina, Brazil,
Guatemala, the Middle East, Zaire, South Africa, Somalia,
Vietnam, South Korea and Indonesia, to name a few.
Perhaps someday all the massacres -- those reported, as well
as those still buried -- will be exposed to the light of day.
    Until then we must continue to struggle.  If they can hide
the past, they will be in a better position to obscure the
present, better able to obscure today's events behind a cloud
of "soundbites" and double-speak.  Better able, for instance, to
justify accommodating the Haitian military coup which
overthrew President Aristide.  Easier to justify deporting
Haitian citizens and holding them in "detention" centers.
Better able to justify choosing repression over justice,
choosing "stability" over democracy, elites over the
disenfranchised millions.

    The Clinton administration's lukewarm response to
President Aristide and the repressive actions against those
Haitians fleeing the military is truly alarming.  It appears that
the Clinton administration has learned little from the mistake of
its Republican predecessor.  This course of action signals that
the U.S. government, regardless of a change in leadership,
continues to view the Caribbean and Latin America as its
"backyard," its "sphere of influence," subject to the same old
politics of "national security" and militarism.
    Now is the time to join the people of Haiti and raise our
voices in protest.  We cannot allow the past to be repeated,
this time in Haiti, tomorrow somewhere else.  We cannot allow
the new administration to settle into "business as usual." If it
does, we can look forward to more military coups, more
repression and greater social crisis.  Which in turn could lead
to more U.S. military intervention.  And all of which serves to
reinforce the rule of despotic elites willing to do anything to
maintain their privileges.  Hopefully, the UN's report on El
Salvador will affect the collective consciousness of the new
administration.  Hopefully, it will strengthen the case for peace
and justice in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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What is next for Panama?

by Lamoin Werlein-Jaen

    "This massacre of the civilian population, of children,
women and the old, will someday be divulged by history ...
some day justice will be done and the entire world will know
what happened the 20th of December in the barrio of
Chorillo." So said Rafael Olivardia, a dirigente of the
Committee of War Refugees, a group representing the people
most directly affected by the U.S. invasion of December 1989.
    With the Academy Award for Best Documentary going to
the film Panama Deception, perhaps this day has arrived.  The
film, and the Oscar award, has helped break the silence which
has pervaded the mainstream media concerning the invasion.
The limelight surrounding the film has also exposed the fact
that the film has been censored in Panama by the Endara
government.  However, a public outcry in Panama will soon
change this.
    And why are Endara and his allies so fearful of this film?
    Because they have earned the contempt of most
Panamanians and are now losing their last shred of
legitimacy.
    Because they have no plan for governing the country and
as a consequence, have virtually no base of support.
    And on top of it all, they have been paralyzed by internal
splits and power struggles.
    For example, a state magistrate investigating corruption
under Noriega has accused Foreign Minister Julio Linares of
obstruction of justice for covering up evidence.  In April 1991
the Christian Democrats were ousted from the ruling coalition,
eventually leading to the resignation of the First Vice-
President, Ricardo Arias Calderon.  The latest victim of these
internal splits was the Attorney General, Rogelio Cruz, who
was forcibly removed from power last December for alleged
misappropriation of public funds.  As it turns out, he was about
to indict two cabinet members, Juan Chavalier and Ruben
Dario Carles, on corruption charges.
    Referring to this dismal situation, Panamanian sociologist
Marco Gandasqui says that "What best characterizes the
present regime is not only that it is incapable of governing, but
that it has no plan to govern.  Not only that it can't do anything,
the government doesn't want to do anything."
    This is but one of the consequences of the U.S. invasion.
Another was the immense amount of destruction and social
dislocation caused by the attack.  Hundreds, if not thousands,
of innocent people were killed, 6000 were wounded and over
15,000 were left homeless.  In addition, entire neighborhoods
were burned down under the weight of the 400-plus bombs
which hit Panama City.  Furthermore, the National Council of
Private Enterprise (CONEP) estimates that over $2 billion in
damage to property and infrastructure was incurred.
    It should also be pointed out that there have been several
serious U.S. Military actions since the invasion. For instance:
    *From February-- June 1990, U.S. troops carried out a
"pacification" campaign which included mass arrests in military
operations in poor neighborhoods;  the violent dislodging of
200 squatters in Coco Solo;  and attacks against popular
organizations such as the Interamerican Cooperative Council
and the La Esperanza cooperative.
    *Then on December 5, 1990, some 500 U.S. troops moved
into Panama City to crush an alleged coup attempt.  Two
Panamanian police officers were killed as a result.
    *Next, in November of 1991, in response to the killing of a
U.S. soldier, forces from the U.S. Southern Command
surround and menace a Panamanian police installation.
    *Finally, in response to the killing of a US soldier and riots
during Bush's visit in June of 1992, U.S. troops in battle gear
carry out house-to-house searches in the area of Chilibre.
    An important contribution of "Panama Deception" is that
the film re-opens the debate around the invasion at a crucial
time for Panama.  Economic crisis, paralysis in public
administration, intense pressure from the United States and
elections in 1994, are combining to de-stabilize the nation.  In
fact, during this entire period Panama has been rocked by
large and small protests, strikes, riots, armed confrontations,
police repression and three alleged coup attempts.
    Unfortunately, Panama's crisis puts the country on a
collision course with the United States.  In the coming period
Panama will likely become embroiled in a battle with the
United States over the future of the canal and the U.S. military
complex on the isthmus.  The Panama Canal treaties, which
are supposed to govern these matters, are no longer
functioning legal documents.  And it is clear that the United
States intends to maintain a military presence in Panama.  If
the invasion tells us anything, it's that the US government will
go to extreme lengths to achieve its objectives.
    By raising the public's awareness of the invasion and its
consequences, "Panama Deception" does a great service to
the Republic of Panama.  We must use this awareness to
mobilize public opinion against a future U.S. invasion -- and
intervention which in light of recent events, seems inevitable.

    This article originally appeared in The Daily Cardinal, UW-
Madison's student newspaper, and is reprinted here by
permission.

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U.S. Hypocrisy Towards Haiti - More of the Same Old Uncle
Sam Shit

by: John E. Peck  PSN-Madison

Yon sel nou feb, ansanm nou fo; ansanm ansanm nou se
lavalas
"Alone we're weak, together we're strong;  altogether we're a
deluge"

    Thousands of people in dozens of cities across the United
States participated in protests and events during Haiti
Solidarity Week, Feb. 7 - 13, putting pressure on the Clinton
administration to abide by its campaign promise of restoring
democracy to the beleaguered island.  It wasn't until a month
later, though, and a full year and a half since he fled to the
supposed land of freedom, that Jean-Bertrand Aristide finally
got an audience at the White House.  Unfortunately, the
Clinton team was not prepared to issue an ultimatum to the
Cedras dictatorship, having already waffled on its pledge to
reverse Bush's merciless policy of refugee deportation.  In
fact, Clinton's advisors rejected virtually all of Aristide's
proposals, including a  financial freeze on overseas assets of
coup supporters and a tighter blockade against imports of
weapons and petroleum.  Instead, the White House offered to
bribe Haiti's ruling elite with $1 billion in foreign aid over the
next five years in exchange for their political cooperation.
While Washington pundits argue whether a tougher stance
may provoke more violence, their mythical fears offer little
solace to Haitians who are already suffering the worst
atrocities of their living memory.

    On April 13 Harry Fouche, Midwest Coordinator of the
Dixieme Departement, Haiti's overseas solidarity network,
spoke at the Univ. of WI--Madison.   According to Fouche, the
victory of Aristide's Lavalas  or "Deluge" party in Haiti's first
ever free election in Dec. 1990 caught U.S. policymakers by
surprise.  Former World Bank econocrat, Marc Bazin, was the
clear favorite of the Bush administration, and close to $40
million had been pumped into his campaign through a White
House front organization known as the National Endowment
for Democracy.  Even a supposedly impartial observer, such
as former president Jimmy Carter, expected Bazin's easy
victory.  Yet, it was a poor parish priest by the name of Jean-
Bertrand Aristide who eventually won the election with a
whopping 67% of the vote by official accounts.

    In a bold effort to wipe clean the legacy of decades of U.S.-
-backed dictatorship, Pres. Aristide promptly dismissed and
demoted army officers known to be gross human rights
violators.  The military's infamous Fort Dimanche torture
facility was closed and converted into a memorial for victims of
the Duvalier regime.  For the first time ever, Haiti's elites were
also put on notice that their "tax-free holiday" was about to
end -- market women were no longer expected to finance the
government singlehandedly.    Refusing to accept his own
$10,000 per month salary, Aristide tackled institutionalized
corruption, sacking 2000 bureacrats within months of
obtaining office.  External confidence grew in step with
grassroots support for Aristide's program and by July 1991
foreign donors had pledged over $500 million for fresh
development efforts in one of the hemisphere's poorest
countries.  Then Veep Dan Quayle even paid a visit to the new
Haiti upon Aristide's invitation in August 1991.

    Haitian hopes were rudely shattered on Sept. 29, 1991,
however, when disgruntled military officers staged a coup
d'etat, bank-rolled by wealthy cocaine traffickers.  While
Aristide's life was somehow spared, a mistake coup
supporters now admit, many other prominent figures of the
Lavalas  movement were hunted down and summarily
executed.  Members of Duvalier's infamous secret police
force, the Tontons Macoute,  reemerged to attack those
involved in community organizations, trade unions, and base
communities of the Ti Legliz  or "Little Church" liberation
theology movement.  Joining in this campaign of terror were
also the zinglando -- unemployed young men -- who had been
recruited and transformed into drug addicted thugs by the
Haitian military.  Within a year over 3000 Haitians were dead
and another 400,000 had been driven into internal exile, hiding
in remote rural areas from the regime's security forces.  Close
to 50,000 refugees have been intercepted by the U.S. Coast
Guard in their desperate attempt to flee oppression, while
another 10,000 have successfully found asylum in Cuba.
Discounting the argument that these are just "economic
migrants,"  an estimated 25,000 Haitians have even escaped
to the neighboring Dominican Republic, where they are often
forced to work under horrific conditions on sugar plantations or
face torture and expulsion.

    Even if a Haitian refugee is one of the lucky few to be
recognized by the U.S. government as fleeing political
persecution, that is by no means a ticket to freedom.  Over
300 Haitians have been languishing at Guantanamo Naval
Base in Cuba because they tested HIV-positive.  According to
U.S. gay and lesbian activists, conditions in the detention
center are so deplorable that several Haitians have since
committed suicide.  African-American leaders are equally
furious with Clinton's decision to uphold Bush's infamous
"Kennebunkport Order" of forced repatriation.  "The policy is
both inhumane and cruel," said Rev. Benjamin Chavis, newly
appointed head of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), "Innocent people
including children are being returned to certain death, torture,
and imprisonment."

    In a recent letter to Lies of Our Times (Feb. 1993), Prof.
Noam Chomsky revealed the awful truth behind U.S. policy
towards Haiti - namely an overriding interest in restoring
business as usual.  Shortly after the Lavalas  party swept into
power, USAID launched a "Democracy Enhancement"
program to encourage "moderate" Haitian political elements in
their opposition to Aristide's "radical" policies.  Following the
coup the U.S. State Dept. also began circulating a dossier of
alleged human rights abuses byLavalas  supporters,
conveniently provided by the Haitian military itself, in order to
undermine Aristide's legitimacy overseas.  While the
Organization of American States (OAS) sought to impose a
trade embargo, the U.S. Commerce Department instead
granted sweeping exemptions to corporations with assembly
plants in Haiti.  Consequently, between Jan. and Oct. 1992
U.S. companies enjoyed a brisk business worth $265 million
with Haiti's generals.  In order to portray the ruthless regime in
a better light, the White House even convinced Gen. Cedras
to install rejected presidential contender, Marc Bavin, as his
token prime minister.  Elliot Abrams, Bernard Aronson, and
Alven Adams figure prominently among the former Bush
administration officials who have been hired as D.C. lobbyists
by the Haitian military.  Regime apologists, such as New
Yorker reporter Anna Husarska (New York Times, March 16,
1993) have even gone so far as to pronounce Aristide
expendable to the "democratic process" in Haiti.
    In early April U.S. diplomats cooked up a sweeping
amnesty offer for Haiti's coup leaders, which Aristide was
pressured to endorse despite its clear violation of Haiti's own
constitution.  Revealing where its true loyalties lie, however,
the Cedras regime rejected the deal on April 16 out of fear it
would no longer enjoy the estimated $500 million the Haitian
army gains from cocaine dealings each year.   Once again, it
appears that U.S. officials are willing to tolerate drug trafficking
overseas as long as it serves U.S. interests.  The hypocrisy of
the Clinton administration policy towards Haiti is woefully
obvious P to quote Rev. Chavis once again "the only solution
to the refugee crisis is democracy and the return of the elected
Pres. Aristide.  The fact that we can move so resolutely in Iraq
and are dragging our feet in Haiti hints at a racially-biased
foreign policy."
    If the Clinton administration is to be held accountable to its
democratic rhetoric, people everywhere must lend their
support to the ongong struggle of the Haitian diaspora to
restore democracy to their homeland.  When Toussant
l'Ouverture first led African slaves in a war for Haitian
independence nearly two centuries ago, it was surely not to
swap 19th century French colonialism for 20th century
American imperialism.  What a shame it would be, Mr. Fouche
concluded, if Haiti were to find itself no better off on the eve of
its bicentennial birthday then it was two hundred years ago.
There is a popular Creole saying in Haiti  Yon sel dwet pa
manje kalalou    "you can't eat okra with one finger."   The
time for global solidarity for freedom and justice in Haiti is long
overdue.
    Thanks to Jill Kelner and Beth Kanter, PSU-- George
Washington Univ., for the following list of invaluable Haitian
resources:

Haiti: Killing the Dream--  a powerful video documenting Haiti's
history and current political crisis.  Length - one hour.
Available for $25.00 (postage included) from:  Crowing
Rooster Productions, P.O. Box 1944, Canal St. Station, New
York, NY  10013  tel. (800) 424-0305.

Haiti: A Look at the Reality -- a primer covering all facets of
Haiti's social, economic, political, religious, and cultural
situation.  For copies contact: Quixote Center/Haiti Reborn,
P.O. Box 5206, Hyattsville, MD  20782  tel. (301) 699-0042.
FAX (301) 864-2182.


Haiti: Resistance and Democracy --information bulletin
produced clandestinely in Port-au-Prince three times per
week.  For copies contact:  Haiti Communications Project, 11
Inman St., Cambridge, MA  02139  tel. (617) 868-2900.

Haiti Info -- published biweekly, "news directly from the people
and organizations of Haiti's grassroots movement."  For
copies contact:  Newslink, 67 Pleasant St., Cambridge, MA
02139  tel. (617) 661-7592.


Haiti Insight -- monthly bulletin that is a good resource for
refugee-related issues.  For copies contact: National Coalition
for Haitian Refugees (NCHR), 16 E. 42nd St., 3rd Floor, New
York, NY  10017  tel. (212) 867-0020.


Haitian News and Resource Service -- monthly update
containing news clippings, press releases, reports, bulletins,
events, etc.  For copies contact: Washington Office on Haiti
(WOH), 110 Maryland Ave. N.E. #310, Washington DC
20002, (202) 543-7095.

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Dark Shadows in Peru

Andres Hernandez

    Many cling to the notion that the Shining Path (Sendero
Luminoso)  is the problem in Peru, rather than the terrors of
the government -- with the complicity of the United States and
its financed institutions -- hidden in the dark shadows of Peru.
Many reports from various sources focus too much on the
guerrillas and turn away from harsh criticism of the Peruvian
government.  Many often forget that imposed horrid
conditions, centuries old, are the breeding grounds of
revolution.  It is not revolution which creates horrid conditions.
    I recently asked a friend to an international conference on
Peru held in Germany.  Although he supports me as a friend,
he could not support this activity.  After watching a mini series
on PBS, "Americas," he thought the Shining Path was too
sectarian and as a result couldn't be supportive of my
activities related to the movement in Peru.
    Like my friend, many of the misinformed (or disinformed)
are ignorant of the facts.  Marc de Beaufort and three
colleagues who shot the footage of the segment regarding
Peru, "Fire in the Mind," were disturbed that the "film was
being watered down, the creators of 'Americas' sought to
avoid... sympathy for rebels."  Beaufort charged, "that the
movie was being edited to conform to prevailing academic
views, diluting his efforts to present the rebels fairly (The
Boston Sunday Globe, January 10, 1993)."
    Even the television that most of us thought could be trusted
is not serving the public.  "PBS tends to run for cover at the
slightest hint of potential controversy (The Progressive, March
1993)."  It is being attacked by right wing organizations,
individuals, and Congress with charges of airing "blatantly pro-
communist propaganda (The Progressive, March 1993)."
There is a call to withdraw funding for PBS, and PBS has
chosen to retreat from its public responsibilities.
    Ramsey Clarke, former U.S. Attorney General, recently
stated, "Hatred and demonization create the excesses."  He
added, "The media control what the world opinion knows (The
Nation, March 15, 1993)."  We have seen this with such
"demons" as the Viet Cong, Fidel Castro, the Sandinistas,
Saddam Hussein, the I.R.A., Noriega, Khadafi, the A.N.C, and
Maurice Bishop.  We rarely heard bad things about the "good
guys" like the Somozas, Marcos, the Shah, U.N.I.T.A., the
Contras, or Israel.  What is it that we don't know about Peru?
    For starters, according to UNICEF, over 70,000 children
died last year before the age of one, due to conditions of
poverty.  One in four children in the highlands dies before the
age of five.  One in six in Lima also dies before his/her fifth
birthday  (Revolutionary Worker, February 7, 1993).
    Overall, the population has grown more vulnerable to
diseases because critical social services and means of
employment to provide decent living standards have been
reduced greatly due to the austerity measures imposed by the
Peruvian government.  In 1992 cholera swept through Peru
killing over two thousand.  Tuberculosis, a disease related to
poverty for which Peru has the highest incidence rate in all
Latin America, is ending the lives of scores of people.  There
have even been cases of bubonic plague reported.
    Approximately 10% of the population is fully employed.
More than half the population lives in absolute poverty and a
third in extreme poverty.  While the people suffer protein
poverty, the fish industry of Peru exports the majority of its
tuna to feed our (U.S.) cats!  The indigenous people of 500
years ago had a better diet than the Peruvians do today which
averages 400 calories (Revolutionary Worker, February 7,
1993).
    Peru ranks as the second poorest nation in this
hemisphere, behind Haiti, yet, it has the third largest army.
The government maintains an army of 130,000, mainly by
forced recruitment, while it is crumbling under a massive debt
of $20 billion.  Peru is now paying out more to service its debt
than it is receiving in new investment and new loans.  To prop
up the regime (as it usually does), the U.S. took part in a $2
billion loan program.  The majority of loans tend to be in the
form of military aid while calling for brutal austerity measures.
    People rebel for reasons.  According to a report from the
Ad Hoc International Lawyers Delegation to Peru, September
30 P October 9, 1992, "There is no dispute that the Fujimori
government and its predecessors have created conditions that
have resulted in great suffering for the vast majority of the
Peruvian population."  Part of this great suffering has also
been in the form of repression.
    Since April 5, 1992, when Fujimori announced the
dissolution of Congress, reorganization of the judiciary, and
the suspension of the constitution, abuses by the government
have greatly increased.  Politicians, journalists, labor leaders,
teachers, lawyers, students, and others have been detained
without charges and disappeared.  Prison massacres like the
one at Canto Grande, launched by the armed forces, have left
hundreds of prisoners dead, many shot in the back of the
head.
    The military is responsible, according to the Peruvian
Defense Minister, for at least 12,000 civilian deaths who had
been labeled as subversive individuals.  Not included in this
number are the civilians that the army rounds up in "rondas"
and uses as cannon fodder when engaging Sendero.  These
incidents are then used to show the world the atrocities
committed by Sendero.  Troops also have the job of occupying
campuses, classrooms, and newspaper offices to prevent
criticisms of the government and dispersion of "terrorist"
propaganda.
    "Terrorism" is the word du jour.  But who are the real
terrorists? The definition of terrorism has been changed from
violent acts to ideas and writings.  An "apology for terror" law
has been created but not defined.  (The second delegation to
Peru was detained by DINOTE, the special police, for being
"apologists").  "Terrorism" defendants are subject to
mandatory arrest and pre-trial detention.  Military tribunals
have jurisdiction over civilians charged with "treason."
    Secret trials, with no right to present evidence or
witnesses, or cross examination, are being carried out under
the guise of democratic rights.  In Peru, there is, in effect, no
right to public trial and defense for those accused of
"terrorism."  In short, there is no due process.  To ensure the
completion of the "judicial" process, the Peruvian government
is attempting to institute the death penalty, making it
retroactive and applying it to prisoners whose associates may
be implicated in "terrorist" acts.  This constitutes premeditated
political murder.  These acts are contrary and in direct
violation of the Peruvian constitution, the San Jose Human
Rights Accords, and the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights.
    Of course, many people, including progressives, feel that
Dr. Abimael Guzman, the head of the Shining Path, and the
other members of the Path should be executed.  These people
claim that Sendero doesn't represent the masses.  The Ad
Hoc International Lawyers Delegation noted, "It is clear that
the movement has mass support within the country and Lima
(Ad Hoc Report)."  This is consistent with a report from the
Rand Corporation, a Pentagon think tank.  "The Shining Path's
ability to operate on a military plane is a function of the
strength, scope, and diversity of its popular base.  It is a
movement, as suggested elsewhere, that clearly understands
the value of political work  (McCormick, From Sierra to the
Cities)."  "Yes, undeniably, people were of afraid of Sendero,
at first, but once the masses became familiar with it they
accepted Sendero's work (The New Yorker, February 8,
1993)."
    The Communist Party of Peru has continued to gain
support as a result of the human rights abuses committed by
the government, such as the raking (seal, search, and seizure)
operations in the barrios and the violent measures against the
people.  Academic observers have contrasted the
indiscriminate use of violence by the military and police with
the more limited and focused use by Sendero (David Scott
Palmer, ed., Shining Path of Peru).  The Ad Hoc Lawyers
Delegation noted that the "Communist Party of Peru has been
mis-characterized as an organization that relies on senseless
violence (Ad Hoc Report)."  Despite this, organizations such
as Amnesty International have not done enough to denounce
the abuses of the Peruvian government.
    The press and the public continuously denounce Sendero
and not the Peruvian government.  We are silent as the U.S.
increases its involvement from military aid, advisors, and
Vietnam-style firebases, to direct intervention under the guise
of "the war on drugs."  We sit by while Peruvian authorities
attempt to execute Dr. Abimael Guzman whose only crime
according to the military tribunal was being the head of the
Communist Party of Peru.  We allow many others, after being
tortured, to be sentenced by kangaroo courts like Dr. Abimael
Guzman.  The tables are being turned on political prisoners,
currently over two thousand, in Peru, and we turn our heads.
Nobody screams about the rights of all those Peruvian
children who die each year from poverty.
    Worldwide protests are coming from parliamentarians,
judges, lawyers, teachers, ministers, unions, and artists.  And
here, we are hiding in the dark shadows of Peru.  "The
international community should be reacting very strongly to
this because we haven't seen anything like this in decades
(Ad Hoc Report)."  As a result of this position people like
Simon Strong, Robin Kirk, and various progressive groups call
me an "apologist for terrorism."  Well, I guess that makes them
"apologists for fascism."

    Andres Hernandez has been involved in various
organizations such as, CISPES, INFACT, and the Chicago
Homeless Coalition.  Currently, he has been active in the
International Emergency Committee to Defend the Life of
Abimael Guzman -- Chicago Chapter.  The IEC statement of
unity calls for 1) The defense of Dr. Guzman's life, 2) Stopping
U.S. intervention in Peru, 3) Holding the Peruvian government
accountable for its rights violations, and 4) Pressuring
Amnesty International to exert more pressure on the Peruvian
government.  Interested persons should call the national office
in Berkeley at (415) 252 - 5786.


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Why England Must Leave Ireland

American Irish Political Education Committee (PEC)

    Torture -- physical and mental.  Innocent men, women, and
babies turned out of their beds in the dead of night while their
homes are literally smashed to pieces.  Wanton and cruel
beatings with rifle butts.  Special single judge, non-jury courts
where convictions are based on uncorroborated confessions --
often coerced -- and where refusal of a defendant to testify is
used as evidence of guilt.  No, this is not Hitler's Germany.
This is Northern Ireland under British rule TODAY!

    Even murder by British forces routinely goes unpunished.
Hundreds of innocent Irish civilians have been killed by British
forces.  The only case in which a British soldier was convicted
and condemned turned out to be a mockery.  Although
sentenced to life imprisonment, the soldier was released after
twenty-six months and reinstated in his army unit.  All told over
33,000 people have been killed or injured by all sides during
the past twenty years of war in Northern Ireland (population
1.5 million).  A comparable number of fatalities in the United
States (population 260 million) would exceed 5,700,000.
British policies in Northern Ireland have been condemned by
Amnesty International, Helsinki Watch, the European
Community, and other human rights groups.

    Why do we seldom hear of these horrors?  Why aren't
there protests against Britain by our government like those
against the Serbs in Yugoslavia?  Two reasons: a deliberate
blind eye by U.S. policy-makers and almost total British
domination of news coming out of Northern Ireland.  All this
suffering and injustice so that Britain can continue to rule over
Ireland.  Britain divided Ireland in 1921 against the expressed
wish of more than 80% of the Irish people, who had voted in
1918 for independence from 700 years of colonial oppression.
This forced division keeps the nationalist and unionist
communities apart and prevents them from reaching a
peaceful settlement.

That the imposed division of Ireland is wrong is best described
by the well-known Anglican theologian, John Austin Baker.
The former Chaplain to the Speaker of the British House of
Commons pointed out in Westminister Abbey (Dec. 1, 1980):
"No British government ought ever to forget this perilous
moment, like many before it , is the outworking of a history for
which our country is primarily responsible.  England seized
Ireland for its own military benefit; it planted Protestant settlers
there to make it strategically secure; it humiliated and
penalized the native Irish and their Catholic religion.  And
then, when it could no longer hold on to the whole island, kept
back part to be a home for the settlers' descendants, a non-
viable solution from which Protestants have suffered as much
as anyone.  Our injustice created the situation; and by
constantly repeating that we will maintain it so long as the
majority wish it, we actively inhibit Protestant and Catholic
from working out a new future together."

The silence of U.S. politicians has permitted the British
government to maliciously and wrongfully depict American
opponents of British colonialism in Ireland as supporters of
violence and terrorism.  In the wake of the recent election, it is
time for all supporters of democracy to demand that President
Clinton and the U.S. Congress reconsider American policy
towards the division of Ireland.  It is time that our government
did more than simply condemn violence; it is time to take
action against British injustice itself.

The American Irish Political Education Committee (PEC),
founded in 1975, is a non-sectarian organization that seeks
the help of all Americans in hastening Britain's withdrawal
from Northern Ireland and the reunification of the Irish people
through peaceful means.  Your help and support are needed
to continue our work.   For more information, please contact:
American Irish Political Education Committee (PEC), 18 Route
9W, West Haverstraw, NY  10993  telephone: (1-800-777-
6807).

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Sarajevo & L.A.: A Tale of Two Cities

By Zolta n Grossman

    The cities of Sarajevo and Los Angeles are about 8000
miles apart but they share a lot in common.  They were both
sites for the 1984 Olympics -- pageants of "peace and
brotherhood" in cities of striking ethnic diversity.  But eight
years later parts of both cities were simultaneously aflame,
Army troops patrolled their streets and ethnic groups battled
with guns.
    What happened? That question can't be answered with a
look only at those eight years without a look at the setting of
the crises in both cities and the ethnic groups that carry
centuries of history with them.
Sarajevo
    Sarajevo -- the capital of newly independent Bosnia-
Hercegovina -- is a mosaic of Muslim Slavs, Catholic Croats,
Eastern Orthodox Serbs, and Jews.  Their differences would
seem to be insurmountable given their deep historic roots in
the Great Christian Schism, the Ottoman Turkish occupation,
and the two world wars.  Yet until recently Sarajevo was
known as an oasis of diversity where interethnic marriages
were common and different ethnic groups worked side by
side.
    However, Sarajevo was in Yugoslavia, (whose identity has
centered on the Serbs since the country was founded after
World War I).  Resentment against this control fueled the
Croat Ustasha Nazis who committed genocidal acts against
Serbs in World War II.  In the 1950s communist leader Josip
Broz Tito made Yugoslav unity his top priority and -- in an
undemocratic way -- spread political and economic power
more equally among the republics.  But Serbs continued to
dominate the Army and Serbian nationalist sentiment
remained strong in the countryside.  We may be poor, the idea
went, but at least we're Serbs.

Los Angeles
    Los Angeles is similarly a mosaic of European Americans,
Latinos, African Americans, Asians and Native Americans.
Their conflicts date from the days of slavery, from the U.S.
annexation of Mexican and Native lands and the different
waves of immigrants from Asia, Latin America, and Europe...,
each given their own place in the pecking order.  While there
has been less interethnic contact than in Sarajevo, in recent
years L.A. has been seen as a sort of multi-cultural Mecca
where Americans could glimpse their future.
    However, Los Angeles is in the United States, a country
where one racial group has predominated since the late 17th
century.  After English and Irish indentured servants joined
with African slaves in uprisings against plantation owners, the
owners freed the servants, and gave them relative privileges
to win their loyalty against the Africans.  Europeans of all
classes were then grouped as "whites" for the first time.  We
may be poor, the idea went, but at least we're white.  This
system of white racial solidarity survived civil war and
reconstruction, and was most strongly challenged by the civil
rights movements founded in the l950s by African-Americans,
but followed by other groups.  Despite some meaningful
victories, most centers of power --such as some police
departments --  remained under white control.

The Backlash in Yugoslavia
    In both Sarajevo and L.A., some progress had been made
by the 1980s, but it was threatened by economic troubles and
the emergence of new national leaders.  Ethnic tensions in the
former Yugoslav (and Soviet) republics are often presumed to
have always been boiling under the surface, with state
repression keeping the lid on until the collapse of
Communism.  But a more complete picture shows the new
republican leaders stoking prejudice into full-blown hatred --
playing the ethnic card in order to cling onto power during hard
times.  The leaders want war, even if the people don't.
    Tito died in 1980, and the resulting power vacuum was
largely filled by republican governments.  While he had kept
power through national unity, they claimed power through
national disunity.  Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and
Croatian President Franjo Tudjman skillfully played the game
of divide-and-conquer during the economic downturn of the
early '90s.  Their TV stations broadcast hate propaganda
against the rival republic, and the "hooligans" in rival ethnic
movements.  Turning public anger away from a domestic elite
and toward a foreign enemy is a skill used by leaders from
World War I to the Falklands, but this time it was used against
ethnic groups next door.   Serbians and Croatians, who had
never been nationalistic, backed their armies against
secessionists, and their armies were sent into newly
independent Bosnia.  TV war coverage highlighted only the
atrocities committed by the other side.

The Backlash in the U.S.
    The 1980 election of a Republican administration in the
U.S. similarly brought racial tensions into full view.  The verbal
assault by presidents Reagan and Bush against so-called
welfare queens, racial quotas, and Willie Hortons represented
a turning back of the civil-rights movement.  TV and Hollywood
showed even stronger images of African Americans and
Latinos as gang members, and focused almost exclusively on
the white victims of black crime.  Many urban whites backed
tougher police action against black 'criminals.'  The logical
result was the police beating of Rodney King, the acquittal of
the police, and the violence that followed.  Though the
violence had the marks of both a spontaneous riot and a
political uprising, TV images emphasized looting and the
beating by blacks of a white truck driver.

Who's at War in Sarajevo?
    However, the violence in Sarajevo and L.A. cannot be
easily dismissed as a conflict between ethnic populations.
The New York Times reports that Bosnian civilians still have a
"striking lack of animosity" toward civilians in other ethnic
groups, even as they are being shelled by a rival ethnic army.
Serb civilians are victims of Serbian shelling, and some serve
in the Bosnian army and government.  Bosnian Serbs are
regularly beaten by Serbian forces when they refuse to join
their ranks.  Serbs, Croats, and Muslims alike express dismay
at the war, given the relative tolerance that preceded it, and
most oppose an ethnic partition of Bosnia.
    In the Yugoslav capital of Belgrade, tens of thousands of
Serbians have demonstrated for peace, and groups of
soldiers' mothers have urged the government to bring their
sons home.  A few brave Serbians are even backing ethnic
Albanian autonomy in Serbia.  A good number of Serbs
oppose Serbian expansion, knowing full well that dominating
other peoples does not ultimately bring economic security.

Who's Really at War in L.A.?
    Similarly, the events in Los Angeles can't be seen simply
as a race riot.  From the first minutes of the rebellion, it was
clear that many Latinos, and some whites and Asians, were
participating.  They didn't simply take part in the looting, but
expressed their outrage at the jury verdict and the
pervasiveness of urban poverty.  A multi-racial crowd
besieged police headquarters on April 29, overturning squad
cars and fighting police  (It says something about our political
culture that the crowd didn't stay at Parker Center to force
changes, in the style of Beijing's Tienanmen Square in 1989
or Moscow's Parliament building in 1991).
    Photos of handcuffed arrestees and curfew violators show
that not only African-Americans were involved in L.A.  In San
Francisco, whites were the largest group in a series of militant
demonstrations (one of which was banned under a state of
emergency -- a ban that did not happen even in wartime
Belgrade).  A good number of whites in California began to
look up the social scale, rather than down, to find the source
of their problems.  A study could probably prove that what
happened in California was the most multi-racial civil unrest in
this country since the late 17th century.

Ending Artificial Hatreds
    The lessons of Sarajevo and L.A. are only now emerging.
Such conflicts don't come out of disagreements over skin
color, cultural norms, or religious doctrine, but out of the
uneven spread of economic development and political power.
There are some Yugoslav Serbs and U.S. whites who can
play a key role in breaking these vicious historical circles.
    Prejudice is always simmering somewhere, but violent
conflicts rarely originate from people simply not liking each
other.  We are not floating around the universe, accidentally
bumping into one other.  The violence at its core is an
exercise of power by a dominant group -- through a Yugoslav
Army or LAPD -- which is met with resistance by other groups.
Racial, ethnic, and religious hatreds are not innate human
traits.  They have to be taught, sustained, and kept in reserve
to be used at the most opportune and divisive times.



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More Blood For Oil? - Hapless Somali Extras in Gulf War
Rerun

By:  John E. Peck, PSN - Madison

It was to be the icing on the cake for the lame duck Bush
administration -- one last military fling by a kinder gentler
America.  Yet, the belated expose of Corporate America's
stake in Operation "Restore Hope" left a foul taste in many
people's mouths.  As Somali graduate student, Omar
Mohamed, explained at a UW-Madison presentation Feb. 10,
U.S. economic and strategic interests had run roughshod over
humanitarian concerns in his strifetorn homeland.  "The U.S.
needs oil, oil, oil, all the time," Mohamed emphasized,
"especially when the Middle Eastern oil is not coming."

The LA Times was the first to reveal that four U.S.
corporations -- namely Conoco, Chevron, Amoco, and Phillips
-- have exploration rights covering two-thirds of Somalia.  As
these favors had been granted in the waning years of the
U.S. supported dictatorship of Muhammed Siad Barre, Big Oil
was understandably anxious for the restoration of enough "law
and order" to guarantee their potentially lucrative investments.
In fact, following Barre's overthrow in Jan. 1991, Conoco
maintained its Mogadishu office and entered into negotiations
with the different factions behind the brewing civil war.  When
Bush's special envoy arrived to clear the way for the Marine
landing, Conoco's posh complex even became the de facto
U.S. embassy.  John Gaybauer, Conoco's public relations
mouthpiece, explained that his company was only serving as a
"good corporate citizen and neighbor" by letting officials crawl
into the same bed with executives.

    Early in the 1980's geologists had discovered a vast
petroleum pool stretching from southern Yemen beneath the
Gulf of Aden to northern Somalia.  The Yemeni reserves alone
were estimated to contain a billion barrels.  Texas-based Hunt
Oil Corp. was the first to take advantage of this untapped
resource.  Then Vice-President George Bush was on hand in
April 1986 for the official dedication of Hunt's $18 million oil
refinery in the Yemeni town of Marib.  Hunt's operation was
soon pumping 180,000 barrels of oil per day -- more than the
entire annual production of such petroleum-producing
countries as Cameroon and Brunei.  Hunt's American
competitors hoped to discover a similar "black goldmine" in
Somalia and scrambled to acquire concessions.

Strategic concerns are closely linked to economic interests in
U.S. foreign policy, and the Somali situation certainly follows
this pattern.  When the USSR switched its support from
Somalia to Ethiopia in 1977, turning the tide of the Ogaden
War, the U.S. promptly signed a $100 million deal for military
access to the Somali port of Berbera overlooking vital Middle
East shipping lanes.  In 1983 and 1985 the U.S. held joint
military exercises, codenamed "Bright Star," with the Somali
army, while 300 Somali officers received special training at
Fort Leavenworth, TX.  By 1985 the Barre dictatorship had
received over $600 million in U.S. military and economic aid,
as well as an unknown quantity of weapons from Israel and
South Africa.  When armed secessionists began to pose a
political threat, South African pilots and American technicians
even assisted the Somali army's ruthless bombing of northern
towns such as Hargeisa where 50,000 were reportedly killed.
Popular opposition to Barre's dictatorship grew, however, and
the Pentagon eventually shifted the bulk of its operation to
more stable client regimes in Kenya and Oman.  Not
surprisingly, the lavish U.S. embassy with its swimming pools
and office space for 200 staff people was one of the first
places ransacked in Mogadishu following the regime's
downfall.  The Bush administration quietly allowed war
criminals of the Barre dictatorship to escape to the U.S. on
tourist visas and then helped them seek permanent asylum in
Canada.

Adding another cruel twist to the Somali nightmare is the
country's increasing popularity amongst western capitalists as
a toxic waste dumping ground.  In 1987 and 1988 several
shipments of incinerator ash were exported from the U.S. to
Somalia, ostensibly for use in road construction, and were
transported to top secret military bases at Gardo, Dus a
Mareb, and Iscia Baidos.  In 1988 the Agriswiss Corporation,
with headquarters in Panama, signed an agreement for
storage and "treatment" of foreign municipal and industrial
waste in Somalia.  There have also been rumors of a standing
arrangement between the Barre dictatorship and the Bush
administration for the dumping of nuclear wastes in Somalia's
coastal waters.  In 1992 a deal between one of Somalia's
present strongarm rulers, Ali Mahdi Mohamed, and Archer
Partners was uncovered, involving construction of a toxic
waste incinerator and 11 million ton capacity landfill near
Mogadishu for "treatment" of industrial and medical wastes.
Italian companies were also caught trafficking toxics to
Somalia, Mahdi allegedly using the proceeds to purchase
more weapons.

The preeminent purveyor of rightwing realpolitik, Henry
Kissinger, once said that "to give food aid to a country just
because they are starving is a pretty weak reason."  In the
case of Somalia, the official humanitarian rationale for fullscale
military intervention sounds particulary flimsy.  As U.S. troops
hand over a "pacified" recolonized Somalia to U.N. forces, one
could argue that Operation "Restore Hope" was a great
success in at least one aspect - Corporate America will now
be able to sleep well at night knowing that "our oil" is safe and
secure, despite poverty and despair half way around the
globe.   The New World Order has once again reared its
hyprocritical face, and if the rude reality is enough to turn the
stomach of starving Somalis, it should cause most Americans
to pause and think as well.

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Navy Brats Leave Behind Dirty Laundry at Subic Bay

By:  John E. Peck, PSN-Madison

Last Nov. 24, the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet finally packed up
and shipped out from Subic Bay, fourteen months after the
Philippines Senate had refused to renew their lease.  Having
occupied the site since the end of the Spanish-American War
in 1899, the foul legacy of the American presence is bound to
linger for awhile.  Of special concern to many Filipinos are all
the toxic chemicals and throwaway kids left behind by the
departing troops.  Unfortunately, as the toll of the extended
party comes to light, the U.S. Navy is adopting a typical "frat
boy" attitude by refusing to accept responsibility for its boorish
behavior.
In early May a $68 million lawsuit was filed against
the U.S. military by a group of Filipino women, demanding
child support and unemployment compensation for their work
as "hospitality girls" in Olangapo, the town immediately
adjacent to the Subic Bay Naval Base.  An estimated 30,000
prostitutes once provided "R & R" for a daily clientele of 7,000
U.S. troops.  Now they, along with 30,000 other regular
employees of the Subic Base, have found themselves out of
work.  The women's lawsuit contends that the U.S. Navy's
precipitous departure constitutes a "breach of contract" and
thus necessitates financial compensation.    The sexual
entertainment industry was not just condoned but actively
promoted by top Navy brass, who even had the women
screened and certified as free of venereal disease.  Biweekly
checkups did not prevent disaster, however, and an outbreak
of VD hospitalized 12 girls between the ages of 9 and 14 in
1982.  A priest, who documented and publicized child
prostitution in Olangapo, was at first reprimanded and later
expelled from the Philippines by U.S. military authorities.
Thanks to this approved recreational activity, over 8,000
Amerasian children have now been abandoned in Olangapo.
    An even higher price could be exacted by the toxic wastes
that have come to permeate the 40,000 acre complex.
Dumpsites brimming with the likes of asbestos, lead, and
PCBs have now contaminated the base's topsoil and
groundwater.   Wastes from paint scraping and sand blasting
were also routinely flushed into Subic Bay itself.  The Navy's
power plant emitted airborne toxics without any restrictions,
while the waste water facility dumped five million gallons of
sewage into Subic Bay each day -- only 25% of which was
even treated -at a rudimentary level.
    The U.S. military has a notoriously sloppy track record both
at home and abroad -- in fact, it is the largest producer of toxic
waste in the world, far surpassing any multinational
corporation.   When asked in June 1990 why this was
particulary apparent at Subic Bay, one officer casually
explained to the LA Times that "we comply with host country
laws.  In the Philippines there are none, so we are not in
violation of any."  The same year Rep. Richard Ray (D-GA)
visited the base and was told quite a different story -- namely
that the U.S. Navy was waiting for English translations of
Philippine regulations prior to implementing better policies.
Oddly enough, Philippine laws have always been written and
published in English since the U.S. seized the colony from
Spain almost a century ago.  According to the U.S. embassy
in Manila, though, "hazardous waste at Subic Bay Naval Base
has been handled in an exemplary manner" with over $1
million being spent "to make sure the place was cleaned up to
standard."  In apparent contradiction, the U.S. Navy's own
environmental experts estimated in 1991 that it would cost $15
million to decontaminate the site.  Obviously, the Pentagon
has a hard time getting its story straight.  Filipino
environmentalist Jorge Emmanuel, is mobilizing grassroots
pressure on the U.S. Congress to ensure the U.S. military
deals with its mess at Subic Bay, just as it has been forced to
do after base closures in Germany and Japan.
    While many residents seem justified in their fears that
Olongapo will become a toxic ghost town, some officials are
more optimistic.  The $8 billion complex includes a 9000 ft.
runway, 1800 bungalows, riding stables, an officers' club, a
golf course, even a tortilla factory.  Walt Disney was reportedly
interested in the base's potential as a tropical amusement
park, while companies in Singapore and Taiwan are eyeing
the site for a taxfree industrial zone.  To "prove" that no
chemical threat exists, local leaders have even appeared on
national television, drinking the base's water and wading in the
base's lagoon.   It is hard to imagine a less convincing or more
foolhardy display of political machismo, but then again they
had the best male role models that Western Civilization could
muster over the last century.  Now if only the U.S. Navy
offered a diaper service to its boys overseas...

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QUEERS IN THE MILITARY:
THE RIGHT TO BE IN, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS TO STAY
OUT

    The issue of queers in the military is, perhaps, the national
issue of the moment.  It's being discussed on campuses, at
workplaces, and on the street by everyone from nearly all
sides of the issue.  It presents itself as a way to push the
entire lesbian\gay\bisexual\tran-sexual agenda forward, and to
bash back at the growing tide of right wing attacks.  There
has, however, been some ambivalence around the issue from
progressive anti-intervention activists, both queer and straight.
This isn't really surprising.  For many activists, the issue of
repealing a ban so that queers can serve openly (but not
necessarily without fear) for the United States military is
difficult to advocate while maintaining an anti-interventionist
stance.  Does supporting the lifting of the ban have to mean
that we come off looking like we support the military?  Do we
want to assimilate into the military? How does fighting the
military ban further the queer liberationist agenda?

    So far the media has presented two sides of the debate.
We're going to pretty much ignore the homophobe arguments,
except to say that their main premise, their fears of bad
morale and "shower exposure," are nothing but manifestations
of sexual insecurity (mainly straight male's).  These arguments
are easy to take apart and are partially addressed and
discredited in a recent report by the United States General
Accounting Office entitled "Defense Force Management:
DoD's Policy on Homosexuality" (copies of this report,
GAO/NSIAD-92-98, can be obtained by calling the GAO at
(202)275-6241 -- first copy is free!).  Obviously, the main
cause of the military's problems around this issue is
homophobia and its subscribers, not its victims.  It is
unfortunate, but not very surprising, that Bill Clinton is unable,
or perhaps just unwilling, to extinguish this paranoia by
presenting reality to the public, rather than just talking of new
and improved behavior codes.  The real issue here is, as the
media would have it, one of not allowing one group to have
special rights over another.  That's why we should demand
that the military stop allowing special rights for bigots by giving
them preferential treatment in all aspects of military life, while
denying the very same rights to others of a different sexual
orientation and lifestyle.

    When closely scrutinized it is not difficult to see how the
religious right tends to use these fears and insecurities as a
tool to coax people away from their growing acceptance of
varying sexual orientations and as a propellant for their own
ideologies and understandings of "deviance."  If not
immediately countered such misinformation and popular
confusion will be used to wage more state-wide initiatives
against l\g\b\t rights, as has already occurred in Colorado and
Oregon.   Similar institutional attacks are currently being
planned for Ohio and other states.

    The other side of the debate is that of mainstream liberals
who say that the issue is simply the right of every red-blooded,
god-fearing (no matter what god it is) American boy and girl to
go off to foreign countries, meet interesting people and kill
them. The issue is not that simple for progressive people who
are opposed to militarism and are pro-queer.  It involves
complex and sometimes contradicting questions about not
only the military, but also the media, the queer and peace &
justice movements and what kind of work we do on our
campuses.

    The question of queer civil rights, in every realm of our
society, is the crux of the debate.  In this context it is important
to ask whether the present debate over access to and equality
within military ranks is a step in the right direction. Odd as it
may seem, the answer is- probably "yes."  Right or wrong,
mainstream society still generally views military service in a
positive light.  What we need to ensure is that the queer
agenda is not co-opted or sold down the river for this one
demand.  Thus far the fight to lift the ban, and even to enact a
federal civil rights bill, has been assimilationist in character.
As we know from the struggles and history of our sisters and
brothers of color, civil rights does not guarantee or even imply
liberation.  Liberation struggle will only succeed if it is not
bound by compromise or confused by reformist tactics.
Liberation is what we should struggle for, while at the same
time eliminating the barriers which inhibit a stronger
movement.  We are all well aware of the threat of losing your
house, job, and health (or ROTC scholarship) simply because
you are queer and outspoken.  We should look at the lifting of
the ban in this context and see it as a baby step forward and
not an end in itself.

    The long road to liberation can be hard to keep sight of if
we don't consider some of the short term benefits of lifting the
ban. We all know that the military can be a way out of poverty
for working class people.  As students we should acknowledge
that it is a pathway to school for many people.  This should not
be denied to people just because they are queer.  The effort to
lift the ban will also make a real difference in the lives of
queers who are already in the military and now live in fear of
losing everything if they are discovered.

    Even though we support lifting the ban we can and should
do it without an ounce of support for the military itself.  Many
right wingers and even some liberals will try to dismiss
progressives by pointing out perceived inconsistencies
between anti-militarist and pro-queer positions.  It is critical,
then, for us to expand the fight to include both the broader
liberationist demands and the demand for a military which
serves the interests of the people and not the interests of the
ruling class.  The military as it exists is deadly not only to the
peoples of Iraq, Panama and Grenada, but also to the people
at home as it sucks money away from things like housing,
healthcare and education.  We need to develop and push
forward our ideas of what the military should be, while also
fighting for one which reflects all segments of our society.
    Gays and lesbians in the upper echelons of the military
today, and even many veterans, will be just as right wing as
Stormin' Norman Schwarzkopf.  We can't be fooled, though
we will oppose it just the same.  The time is long past due to
demand a military that's functionally non-imperialist, which
requires a significantly smaller share of our national
resources, and that exists only for defensive purposes.
Demanding a military which is free from official and unofficial
discrimination and harassment should be projected as a first
step towards dismantling one which was built for and protects
ruling class ideology and interests.

    A change in policy, especially one which drags the top
brass along screaming and kicking, will not make the military,
or our society for that matter, a more hospitable place for
queers.  This is evidenced by the recent murder of a gay sailor
in Japan.  Queers better think twice before joining the military,
only to be trapped in a bunker with some ignorant bigot with a
loaded gun.  Besides, the military is one of the most blatantly
patriarchal of all societal institutions -- and the destruction of
the patriarchy is central to queer liberation.  This brings us to
our main position.  As one small portion of a queer liberation
agenda, queers should have the right to be in the military; as
part of a progressive agenda, queers should have the
righteousness to stay out.

    So what do we do then?  Clinton ain't making this push
because he's our saviour.  He's making it because the
grassroots queer activism of the last 10 to 15 years forced him
to take this stand. We're activists; we shouldn't sit by and
watch things happen.  If we do, the media will continue to set
our agenda for us and the news stories and human interest
pieces will continue to look like a recent 20/20 story, which we
have titled, "Lesbians Who Drive BMW's; Amazingly similar to
everyone else -- and just as greedy and materialistic (quick,
let's co-opt them before they realize they're getting the short
end of the stick)."  We can demand that, at the very least,
Clinton hold to his campaign pledges which went beyond
merely lifting the ban.  During the campaign Clinton also
promised to:
    * Issue an executive order banning anti-Gay/Lesbian
discrimination in federal jobs or by federal contractors;
    *Support a federal amendment banning discrimination
based on sexual orientation;
    *Appoint Lesbians and Gay men to Administration posts;
    *End the INS policy that denies visas to foreign nationals
who are HIV+;
    *Implement all the recommendations of the National
Commission on AIDS;
    *Fully fund the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS
Resources Emergency Act, which provides money to cities
hardest hit by       AIDS;
    *Develop a "Manhattan-type project" to find a cure for
AIDS.

    It is important to watch events at the national level closely.
The April 25 March on Washington was a good opportunity for
us to make it clear that we will not accept any backsliding or a
"love the sinner, hate the sin" Pentagon policy.  We can affect
this, while at the same time making sure that the policy does
get changed by doing things like petitions, calling senators
and getting our schools to officially endorse a policy change in
writing.  In our organizing for the March, we kept in mind the
large amount of press it would receive, which Clinton could
use to his advantage, and which would be to our advantage.
It's called a tactical alliance and allowed us the opportunity to
expand the national focus.

    Closer to home, we can make sure bashing queers does
not become the fad of the brain-dead for the nineties, and that
any basher is stopped beforehand due to fear of a community
which doesn't hesitate to defend itself.  We can also, as
feminists, point out the huge disparity between the number of
women discharged on the grounds of being lesbian and the
number of men discharged for being gay.  Since 1983,
Defense Department statistics show women have been
discharged for being or allegedly being queer at a rate almost
10 times that of military men.  This stands as a very concrete
example of how homophobia is also used as a weapon of
sexism.

    In addition, many of us have been doing ROTC OFF
CAMPUS work for a long time, with many successes.  No
need to stop now.  This will actually open up new frontiers for
us.  If your campus doesn't already have an anti-discrimination
policy they're quickly losing grounds for their justifications not
to.   Demanding queer studies is also an integral part of the
campus agenda.  Many campuses already have programs
established, or are in the process of doing so (contact the Gay
and Lesbian Caucus of the Modern Language Association for
their newsletter and resource guide on Lesbian and Gay
Studies).  The administration at the Univ. of MN., as well as
the military itself, has always claimed that the military is on
campus to help liberalize it and sensitize the officers-to-be to
civilian, and, presumably, military diversity.  Well, make them
put their money where their mouth is.  There are soon going to
be queers in the military, "officially," which ROTC cadets will
one day be commanding.   If the concern is with "morale,"
then certainly we would want officers commanding who have a
grasp on reality and who will help eradicate ignorance rather
than just look the other way.

    The bottom-line amounts to this: now more than ever we
must turn up the heat and demand that Clinton stick to his
stated promises.  If we let the opportunity pass us by, we'll find
the old policy replaced with one that merely continues
institutional discrimination, where queers are "separated,"
given shit jobs and face the very real possibility of prosecution
based on bogus charges.  Not that queers in the military would
step out of the closet after the policy is changed and
announce boldly their true self; ignorance and hate will keep
those doors shut for some time.  For this reason alone we
should be in the streets, outspoken and vigilant.  But even
more, our collective fight is now needed to seize this
opportunity, to draw attention to the variety of changes which
need to occur, and to demand Liberation!

Love,
Stephanie and Tom
Queers Deluxe!

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Some facts about the treatment of service-members
suspected of homosexuality

* While both heterosexual and homosexual sodomy is a crime
under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, it is selectively
enforced against lesbians and gay men.
* The military separates between 1000 and 2000 members
annually as a result of charges of homosexuality; between
1973 and 1983 DoD separated 14,311 members for
homosexuality (US GAO, letter to Congresswoman Sala
Burton, October 11, 1984).
*The members discharged from 1973 to 1983 had served an
average of three years each. The cost to train each one was
at least $12,300, and the cost to discharge each one was
$250. In this ten year period, the military spent $180 million on
training and then discharging 14,311 service-members for
suspicion of homosexuality (Comptroller General Report,
1983).
* Over 4300 men and women were separated from the military
for homosexuality in the three-year period ending September
30, 1987 (Grant Willis, More Women Than Men Discharged as
Homosexuals Navy Times, February 29, 1988).
* Since 1983, Defense Department statistics show, women
have been discharged for homosexual conduct at a rate
almost 10 times that of military men (Tamar Lewin, Gay
Groups Suggest Marines Selectively Prosecute Women, New
York Times, December 4, 1988).
* From 1985-87, women were three times more likely than
men to be discharged for homosexuality; five of every 10,000
men and 16 of every 10,000 women on active duty were
discharged annually for suspected homosexuality (Grant
Willis, More Women Than Men Discharged as Homosexuals,
Navy Times, February 29, 1988).
* Pentagon statistics show an increase in the percentage of
female service members discharged. While women comprise
only ten percent of the US military, they comprise 26 percent
of the 1050 service members discharged due to allegations of
homosexuality between September 30, 1987 and October 1,
1988 (Lisa Keen, Women are separated-from military at a
higher rate, Washington Blade, March 3, 1989).
*Department of Defense figures show that during the three-
year period 1985-87 approximately one third of the
investigations conducted by the Naval Investigative Service in
the Marines involved women (Marine Officers investigate
Lesbianism at Parris Island, Trentonian, April 8, 1988, p. 16).
*The Naval Investigative Service discharged approximately
50% of men and women investigated in the past three years.
In the Navy, the branch where investigations most lead to
separation, 81% of the 2,293 men investigated and 58% of the
661 women were discharged (Cindi Ross, Sex Cases Often
Fell Women in Marines, The State, April 8, 1988).
*In 1987, the Marines discharged over 8x as many women as
men; the Army discharged 4x as many women as men; the
Navy discharged 2x as many women as men (Christina Smith,
The Military's Plan to Straighten Up, Coming Up, December
1988).
* Although women made up 13% of Air Force personnel, 55%
of Air Force members discharged for homosexuality in fiscal
year 1988 were women; female Marines represent 5% of the
Corps, but 14% of those discharged in the same year for
homosexuality were women (Lisa Keen, Women are
separated from military at a higher rate, Washington Blade,
March 3, 1989).
* According to the Department of Defense, during the three
federal fiscal years 1985-87 more than 40% of those
discharged from the Marines were women, though women
represent only about five percent of the Marine Corps
strength. (Marine Officers Investigate Lesbianism at Parris
Island, Trentonian, April 8, 1988, p. 16).

    This list was compiled by the Gay and Lesbian Military
Freedom Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
1517 U Street NW, Washington, DC 20009

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From a December 24, 1941, Navy Department memorandum
outlining the basis of the military's exclusion of blacks:

"The close and intimate conditions of life aboard ship, the
necessity for the highest possible degree of unity and esprit-
de-corps; the requirement of morale - all these demand that
nothing be done which may adversely affect the situation. Past
experience has shown irrefutably that the enlistment of
Negroes (other than for mess attendants) leads to disruptive
and undermining conditions. It should be pointed out in this
connection that one of the principal objectives of subversive
agents in this country in attempting to break down existing
efficient organization is by demanding participation for
'minorities' in all aspects of defense, especially when such
participation tends to disrupt present smooth working
organizations."

". . . It is considered also that the loyalty and patriotism of the
minority should be such that there be no desire on their part to
weaken or disrupt the present organization."


The military's present policy of homosexual exclusion:

"Homosexuality is incompatible with military service. The
presence of such members adversely affects the ability of the
Armed Forces to maintain discipline, good order, and morale;
to foster mutual trust and confidence among the members; to
ensure the integrity of the system of rank and command; to
facilitate assignment and worldwide deployment of members
who frequently must live and work under close conditions
affording minimal privacy; to recruit and retain members of the
military services, to maintain the public acceptability of military
services; and, in certain circumstances, to prevent breaches of
security."

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Ten Reasons Why Straight Men Should Not be Allowed to
Stay in the Military

    I propose that all problems with the military now are
because of straight men.

1. Straight men constantly flaunt their heterosexuality, and
make gay men uncomfortable.
2. Because of fear of being branded gay, straight men refrain
from forming truly close relationships with other men. This
interferes with the bonding and loyalty essential to military
teamwork.
3. Straight men are directly responsible for the movie Top
Gun, the TV show Major Dad and camouflage as a fashion
statement.
4. Straight men are not used to seeing other men naked, so
they are not psychologically equipped to shower with other
men.
5. Straight men are militant about converting others to their
lifestyle, which includes unwanted pregnancies, diseases, and
cheap cologne.
6. U.S.O. shows could stand some improvement.
7. Straight men don't look as good with short hair and combat
boots as gay men do.
8. Straight men never get harassed, so they don't have
well-developed defense techniques.
9. Straight men's repression leads to an overabundance of
phallic symbols such as large guns, rockets and bombs.
10. Currently, the words "naval seamen" have no ironic
implications.

    Carol Magary writes for Prairie Fire, a publication of the
Freedom Coalition at the University of
Florida, PO Box 12266, Gainesville, FL 32604.


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DoD Discrimination Articles:

*For Gay People in the Military, Lives of Secrecy and Despair,
New York Times, 4/10/90, p. A-1, D-20.
*Gay Groups Suggest Marines Selectively Prosecute Women,
New York Times, 12/4/88.
*Justices Refuse to Hear Challenge to Military Ban on
Homosexuals, New York Times, 2/27/90, p.A-1, 18.
*MIT Provost Urges Defense Secretary to Drop ROTC Ban on
Homosexuals, Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/25/90.
*Students Give ROTC the Boot Over Anti-Gay Policy, The
Advocate #561, 10/9/90, p. 42.
*The Pentagon's Fight to Keep Gays Away, U.S. News and
World Report, 11/20/89, p.57.
*Navy is Urged to Root Out Lesbians Despite Abilities, New
York Times, 9/2/90.
*Challenge to Military's Anti-Gay Stance Found in Report
Dismissed by Pentagon, Los Angeles 7imes, 10/23/89.
*Rethinking DoD Policy on Gays: Studies Shelved by
Pentagon Suggest Blanket Exclusion is Unjustified,
Washington Post, 11 /6/89.
*ROTC Under Siege for Ousting, New YorkTimes,  5/6/90.


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What do you think?

Opinions from college students who believe what their parents
tell them to believe.

A Few Gay Men

Openly gay people are currently banned from the U.S. Military.
President Bill Clinton has already reneged on his pledge to lift
the ban.  Do you think lifting the ban on gays in the military is
a good idea?


Tom Hallick
Sophomore
"I'm gay, and I like to shoot people.Where else can I turn."

Marjorie Wallace
Senior
"Gays in the Military? For heavens sakes, what's next -- gay
drag queens?"

Dixie Whatley
Freshman
"Gays just want to learn military secrets so they can sell them
to the government of Queer Nation."

Robb Weller
Junior
"If we got more gays in the military, the commies' giant
infatable Joan Crawford weapon would be rendered useless."

John Tesh
Sophomore
"Maybe they should start a special Gay Brigade, which could
specialize in getting beaten up by the other soldiers."

Ron Hendron
Freshman
"I think gays in the military could teach us alot about how to
pummel the enemy more sensitively."


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KitchenCorner"Sometimes friends like to cook all together,
particularly if they love cooking and like to experiment with
new dishes.  If it's your first attempt at puff pastry, for instance,
it is reassuring to make it with someone who has done it
before; we learn a lot from each other in the kitchen."
                             --Fanny Farmer

Once again, Fanny offers words of wisdom for would be
kitchen revolutionaries.  Working together can be a lot funner
and safer, whether you're constructing a souffle or
overthrowing the state.  The following recipes work best en
masse, particularly if you don't want unwelcome visitors
crashing your party.Fossil Fuel Alternatives:

    If there is one thing the internal combustion engine hates
most, it would have to be nonpetroleum contaminants in its
digestive system.  Forget about the idea of pouring sugar or
syrup into the fuel tank of obnoxious vehicles -- all that does is
clog the filter.  Much cheaper and nastier alternatives exist...

Ingredients:

large funnel
heavy gloves
sharp knife
water
brine
dirt
sand
salt
gasoline
battery acid
quick rice
spray lubricant (for example "WD 40(")
strong adhesive (for example "Super Glue(")
drain clog opener (ie "Liquid Plumber(") grinding compound
(ie "Carborundum(")

    After selecting an easy target (undercover police car,
rampaging bulldozer, etc.) and posting watch, you can begin
your force-feeding session.  The menu will depend upon
which tanks you can locate and whether the caps are
removable.  Wear gloves so as not to leave behind
incriminating fingerprints.
    For fuel tanks -- pour in water or brine.  A couple of gallons
is good, depending on the size of the vehicle.   Pouring regular
gasoline into a diesel tank can also cause problems.

    For oil tanks -- pour in water, brine, or gasoline.  A couple
of quarts is usually enough for a V8 to maintain the illusion of
"oil pressure" when actually very little is being lubricated.  An
even better option is to pour sand, salt, or a grinding
compound into the oil tank using a funnel.  Squirting spray
lubricant down the tube afterwards will wash away any traces
of the abrasive.  By the time the operator is aware that
something is awry the engine could be literally grinding to a
halt.

    For radiators -- pour in battery acid or drain clog opener.
The larger the cooling system, the more corrosive you will
need.  Another idea is to pour quick rice into the radiator.  The
grains will circulate, swell, and eventually shut down the
engine through "constipation."

    If your best efforts to locate tanks and/or remove caps fail,
you can still temporarily immobilize many vehicles by jamming
ignition and door locks with adhesive or slashing tire sidewalls.
To paraphrase another American radical, Henry David
Thoreau, it is your right to make your life a friction against the
machine.     Once back from a strenuous evening of vehicle
maintenance, your group will be ready for a hearty snack.  Be
sure to wipe the grease off onto your overalls first, though.

Cajun Cake:

Ingredients:

    2 cups flour     1 & 1/2 cups sugar
    2 eggs          2 tsp. baking soda
    16 oz. can of crushed pineapple

Mix together and pour into a pan.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45
minutes.

Ingredients for icing:

    1/2 cup sugar     1/2 cup margarine
    1 cup shredded coconut
    1/2 cup evaporated milk
    1/2 cup chopped nuts

    Bring sugar, milk, and margarine to boil in a saucepan.  Stir
in coconut and nuts.  Pour icing over warm cake and enjoy!


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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

Dear PSNers,
    Congratulations on the PSNews!  It looks better than ever,
is more informative, and keeps me smiling - hey, a sense of
humor is vital for any serious movement for social change.  I
enclose $40.00 on behalf of others at MiraCosta College who
support PSN and want to stay in touch.
    The Progressive Student Network, once having begun to
get a foothold on the West Coast, is now dormant out here.
The California Statewide Progressive Alliance, CAPSA, is also
nonfunctioning.  I hope new efforts will be made by PSN to do
mailing outreach to West Coast and Southwest schools to
expand the network.  Count on me among others for support
of that effort.  It is to PSN's credit that it remains the oldest
and most activist network in the country.
Let me offer a few wishful suggestions:
    1.) It would be great if the PSNews solicited more articles
from the South, Southwest and West to round out its
coverage.
    2.) A column of shorts about the student movement
throughout the country would be inspiring - for example, just a
line or two about protests against budget cuts, anti-colonialist
(Columbus) events, blurbs about students around the world,
statistics on dropout rates or tuition hikes, tidbits of news from
other groups like USSA and SCAR, perhaps even a calendar
of events of interest to students.  I'll contribute some, if others
will also take up the call.
    3.) It would be great to encourage PSNers to dedicate one
semester to the movement by traveling in small groups from
campus to campus and spreading the network.  If PSN grows,
it will eventually need to have more regionally-based
conferences instead of one national conference.
    4.) There should also be a PSNews column on culture.
Rap music, for example, is the primary source of social
awareness for many African-American and Chicano/a youth.
We need to promote the political culture which is spreading
amongst peoples of color.

In unity and struggle,
Martin Elder
SanDiego, CA


PSNews,
    It's interesting how my own perspective on the strike has
changed  with time [see TA's strike at UC--Berkeley, page 3 P
eds].  What I've written seems much more negative than the
actual  event.  At first I thought I'd put in the kind of heroic
anecdotes that bolster your morale when you're walking picket
lines in the rain. (A bunch of hardy math grad students stayed
up all night--till 7 am--maintaining a skeleton picket line on one
side of campus to prevent a union-driven 18-wheeler from
delivering some canisters of liquid helium to a campus lab.
Two nights in a row.)  But on reflection they weren't really
relevant to the larger issues.
 I'm also afraid the article might not accurately convey how
impressive the strike was, despite its failure.  The AGSE was
perhaps more amazed than anyone at the incredible devotion
and dedication of the strikers, at least for the first few weeks.
After all, we're all soft middle-class academic types, not
hardened factory workers.  We weren't supposed to last as
long as we did.  But I digress ...

Zev Handel
Berkeley, CA




Hi
   I hope y'all know that all your work on the PSNews is much
appreciated by us all. I'd have to say that UW-Mad. PSU
rocks.

Martin Anderson,
University  of Deleware


Dear Progressive Student Network,
    I'm only 13, but would like to know how to better my future.
I've gotten my school to start recycling, but that's about it.
Although we have a recycling program and a newsletter, we're
not really reaching all the kids.
    Please tell me how I can teach other students my age of
the enormity of our ecological situation and what to do about
it.
Thank you.  Sincerely

Ryan Kelly
Bloomfield Township, MI


G'mornin'
     Wha'? 'k. 'm half 'wake. Whew. Nightmare las' night. Didn't
make sense. Seemed to go on forever. Dreamed a bad movie
actor became president, then 'is sidekick. Promised to trickle
down on people, and t'keep doin' it.  Dragon lady.
Conservative spendthrifts.  Law-and-order felons. Patriotic
fascism.  Peacemaker nukes.  Vegetable condiments.
Democratic totalitarianism.  Vice-presidential illiteracy.
Hawkish draft-dodging. Useful racism.  Tree pollution.
Morning in America, The Day After.  Ugh. Scary. Wet my
pants.       Wha'?

Andrew Thomas-cramer
Madison, WI


Dear Membership of the P.S.N.:
RE: Sundiata ACOLI
a.k.a. Clark Squire

    This will acknowledge receipt of your recent
correspondence dated January 4, 1993, regarding Mr.
Sundiata Acoli, a.k.a. Clark Squire, who is presently confined
at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas.
    Please be assured that your correspondence will be placed
in Mr. Acoli's file for review by members of the State Parole
Board during deliberations on his case.
    Thank you for taking the time to write.
    Sincerely yours,

Joyce Arciniaco
Director, Division of Hearings
New Jersey Parole Board


Dear Progressive Student Network:
    I am writing to your organization to obtain information.  I
found a mention of the organization in the Audubon Activist
Magazine in an article about college students and the
environment.
    I have been interested in preserving the environment for a
long time.  In high school I was involved in the Natural
Resources Group. I've graduated and will be attending college
this fall.  I plan to be a part of the environmental studies
program and be active in environmental groups.  I would
appreciate any information that would be of help to me.
Thank you,

Katherine E. Lawn
Doylestown, Pennsylvania



Dear PSN Comrades!
    Yes they still call people by such names here P
    Though the IMF/World Bank imposed austerity program
has sort of put a damper on the socialist agenda.  There are
so many street kids in Harare now it reminds me of New York
[a sure sign of capitalist progress].
    I find out next week whether I'll be going to Mozambique or
not as part of  a rapid rural appraisal team checking out
agricultural possibilities for relocated refugees.  Unfortunately,
the RENAMO rebels have not yet turned in their weapons, and
some observers fear the peace process could relapse into civil
war as in Angola.
    Meanwhile I'm helping some grassroots groups edit project
reports for donor agencies.  I'm also hoping to visit some
organic farms -- part of the new peasant permaculture
movement here.
    Tomorrow may be the 4th of July but I'm planning to skip
the party at the U.S. embassy in order to see the  World Cup
match between Cameroon & Zimbabwe!
              Bye

John Peck
[Postmarked from Harare, Zimbabwe - eds.]



Hi PSN!
    We love y'all, we've talked to you before and we love to
promote you like crazy.  What we need is the PSNews, maybe
some back issues, and any printed material we can share with
student activists and wannabes who want to jam with you!
    Thanks for your work, stay pissed!

James
Progressive Resource Service
Somerville, Massachusetts



Dear Friends,
    Enclosed is a $3.00 contribution toward the publication
expenses of the Progressive Student Network.  Thank you for
attention to this matter.
Sincerely,

Todrei Sanders
Pendleton, IN



To the PSNews:
The idea [of Take Our Daughters to Work Week] is to take
your daughter to work so she can boost her self-esteem.  It's
been on the tube and in the papers -- got a lot of attention.
America was turned overnight into a country of middle-class
office rorkers and professionals.  The rest of us disappeared
as if we didn't have kids or little ones needing self-esteem.  I
supposed that's because of the reaction you're likely to get
from a kid when you take them into the bowels of a food-
packing plant, plastics factory, assembly line or textile mill.
Self esteem at $6 an hour and no union?  Line waiting to
snare your job?  Non-existent or inefficient medical coverage?
Might end up fielding a whole division of Red Stockings.

Ray Luc Levasseur
Marion, IL



Dear Editor,
I've been disturbed by differences in media coverage of
Somalia and Bosnia.  The terminology seems to reflect a
larger attitude about wars involving black Africans and wars
involving white Europeans.  For example, why is it always a
"warlord" in Somalia, but a "militia leader" in Bosnia? Why are
Somali fighters dubbed "bandits" in "gangs," when the Serb or
Croat "guerrillas" in "irregular forces" also confiscate food
shipments? Why do Somali fighters drive "Mad Maxlike
vehicles" that are the same as the Bosnians' "armored jeeps"?
African conflicts are blamed almost psychologically on
"anarchy," chaos," or a "tribal culture of violence." European
conflicts are tied to a more solvable "political turmoil" or
"ethnic civil war," with "deep historical roots."
    The same trend carries over into discussion of U.S. military
"operations."  Somalia was a "relatively easy," "humanitarian
intervention," whereas Bosnia would certainly be a difficult
"potential quagmire." In Somalia, we have a "need to display
force," but in Bosnia we are fearful of "civilian casualties" from
bombing.  Somalia is depicted as having a "vacuum of
leadership" (even though clan leaders still negotiate and exert
influence), but Bosnia is a dangerous den of "disputed
sovereignty" between leaders.  Africans are shown as passive
victims who need outside help to organize their own societies,
but Europeans are shown as people who after a war can
again govern their own affairs with new leaders.
If "helping starving civilians" is really a doctrine of U.S. foreign
policy, why has Washington not even used its political
influence to stop war-related famines in Mozambique, Sudan,
and other countries? But in Somalia, we have stepped
militarily into a civil war with multiple sides.  To see one
reason why, just look at a map.  Whoever controls Somalia
controls access between the Suez Canal and Persian Gulf.
When the U.S. backed the dictator Mohammad Siad Barre, he
gave back basing rights at Mogadishu and Berbera, as a key
military springboard to the Middle East and the rest of Africa.
Such a huge U.S. role in the UN intervention may ensure that
a similar deal will be made with a future Somali "leader."
Sincerely,

Zoltan Grossman
Madison, Wisconsin

DIFFERENCES IN MEDIA COVERAGE

    Black Africans               White Europeans
    (Somalia)                       (Bosnia)

    Warlords                        Militia leaders

    Gangs                           Irregular forces

    Bandits                         Guerrillas

    Tribal warfare               Ethnic secession

    Clan feuds                   Ethnic cleansing

    Anarchy                        Political turmoil

    No government            Disputed sovereignty

    Chaos                          Civil war

    Culture of violence     Historical conflict

    'Mad Max'                   Armored jeep

    Humanitarian              Potential
    intervention                quagmire

    Keep U.S. military          No strategic
     bases                      value

    Need to display force            Avoid harming
                                     civilians

    Easy victory               Difficult situation



Dear PSN,

    For some time, consumers have been feeling the pinch of a
tough economy.  Some experts are predicting better times just
around the corner.  Others think we may have a bit longer to
wait.

    In light of this uncertainty, our company has decided to do
what we can to make our products a better value for smokers.

    Therefore, effective immediately, Philip Morris has reduced
the everyday selling price to wholesalers of the brands listed
below.

    The price in your store may vary at the discretion of your
retailer.  But based on the new manufacturer's list price, you
should soon see lower prices on Philip Morris brands where
you buy cigarettes.  If you don't, I have enclosed a special
retailer information card which you can give to your retailer.

    If you currently smoke another brand, perhaps you'll enjoy
this opportunity to try one of ours.

    Regardless of your decision, our company is proud to lead
the industry in making quality products an even better value
for you, the consumer, in times like these.


Sincerely yours,

Bill Campbell
President
Chief Executive Officer
Philip Morris Incorporated

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Progressive Student News
Volume 10, Numbers 1, 2, 3 & 4


The Progressive Student News is a compilation of stories
written by members of the student movement across the
nation. The Progressive Student News  will not intentionally
publish anything of a racist, sexist or homophobic nature, and
is committed to respecting the dignity, self-determination and
autonomy of all those groups involved in the struggle for
fundamental change.

PRODUCTION AND CIRCULATION
Christopher Babiarz  * Laura Hengehold * Robert McClure *
John E. Peck

CONTRIBUTORS
Tom Albanese * Amy Allen * Martin Anderson * Itzamna  J.
Arista * Tricia Arrington * Babz Babiarz * Scott A. Boswell *
Tom Burke * Stuart Eimer * Zolta n Grossman * Zev Handel *
Andres Hernandez * Sue Jeffers * Christine Jones * James
Ketola * Carol Magary * Robert McClure * Patricia * Tom
Pearce * John E. Peck * Chris Smith * Lamoin Werlien-Jaen *
Stephanie Yorek

THE PROGRESSIVE STUDENT NEWS is published quarterly
by the National Progressive Student Network. Four thousand
copies are circulated from more than 40 campuses in the US.
Bulk copies of the News and individual subscriptions (see
page 20) are available at reasonable rates (free to prisoners in
the US). Drop us a line at the address below. Large supplies
are kept at these outposts: University of Wisconsin/Madison;
University of Minnesota/Minneapolis; University of
Illinois/Chicago-Circle; University of Illinois/Urbana-
Champaign; Illinois State University/Bloomington-Normal;
Illinois Wesleyan University; Northwestern University;
University of Louisville; Kent State University; University of
Pennsylvania/Philadelphia; George Washington University-
DC; Baylor University; University of Louisiana-Lafayette;
University of Houston; Georgetown University-DC.

YOUR STORIES of fewer than 1000 words are welcome in
the Progressive Student News.  Coverage or analysis of
campus activism is preferred.  Stories should be clearly handP
printed or typed on double spaced lines.  At the top of page
one, please include the authors' name(s) and affiliation as
they desire them to appear in print.  We would also appreciate
two descriptive headlines (1 short, 1 longer) that succinctly
encapsulate the story.  At the bottom of the last page, please
include a brief (1 to 3 sentence) biography of the author.
Consider including a graphic to run with the story as well (see
below).  If you've taken the time to write the story on a
computer, please save us the effort of retyping it by submitting
a diskette (Macintosh or IBM compatible..... please use tabs
(not spaces) to indent paragraphs and indicate the program
used to create the file on the label).  We cannot guarantee
publication, but someone will try to make contact.  Deadline
for the Jan/March '94 issue is Dec. 8 for hard copy (i.e. faxed,
handwritten, or similar stories that will need to be keyed into
the computer).  The deadline for items submitted on a diskette
is Dec. 15.

GRAPHICS are always appreciated.  Newspaper print is
kinder (more forgiving) to pieces that are black-and-white and
of high contrast.  Avoid using the color blue (it is invisible to
the reproduction process) or transparent tape (which is not
invisible to the reproduction process) unless, of course, this is
the desired effect.  Your works should be marked clearly on
the reverse with the artists' name (as it is to be published), a
brief description  (including dates, location, persons depicted
etc.... this is especially important for photos), and an address
(if you want the originals to be returned).  Deadline is Dec. 15.

MONEY is always in short supply...  $ woes have us down, but
not out.  Regrettably -- and needless to say, ironically --
opposing capitalism from within capitalism is a rather costly
business.  If you've noticed the absence of this publication
over the last year,  you know how a lack of $ can affect the
movement.  We begged, borrowed and ... uh, sold donuts and
coffee.... to cover our last printing bill.  This took time & energy
away from putting out the current issue (let alone campus
activism).  Subscriptions and payments from affiliate
campuses cover only a portion of each edition of the PSNews
(Affiliate campuses actually paying us for their bundles would
help...).  We've received many small donations & subs over
the years from folks who could hardly afford it [see letters this
page], and for that we are grateful.  But we do especially call
upon those of you who can afford it, to send us a contribution
of whatever size.  We are absolutely dependent upon these
funds for our continued work (And remember, any contribution
over $7 will get you a subscription to the PSNews.  Which,
hopefully, will return to a quarterly, rather than yearly, format
next issue.....) Deadline is Dec. 31.

DISPLAY ADVERTISEMENTS are accepted at $5 per column
inch. Deadline for the Jan./March '94 issue is Dec. 15, 1993
for a letter of intent and Dec. 31 for hard copy. The News staff
will happily design your ad for a nominal fee.

Send all correspondence to:
Progressive Student News
731 State Street
Madison, WI 53703.
Phone (608) 257-7562
email: [email protected]

Printed with soybean ink on recycled paper by the University
of Wisconsin-Extension Printing Services, whose workers are
represented by AFSCME Local 171.

Copyright 1993 by the National Progressive Student Network.
In the interest of furthering the Revolu... er, ahh Movement,
contents of The Progressive Student News may be
republished without the written consent of an editor. Please
give an appropriate citation.

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