editorial
Duarte’s offer to
rebels unexpected
After five years of civil war which has left over 59,000
people dead , El Salvador might be on the road to peace.
During an address on Monday before the U.N. General
Assembly, Salvadoran President Jose Napoleon Duarte in
vited guerrilla leaders in El Salvador to meet with him for
peace negotiations.
Spokespersons for the coalition rebel group known as
the Faribundo Marti Liberation Front and the Democratic
Revolutionary Front, accepted the invitation and asked that
President Belisario Betancur of Colombia act as mediator.
The Colombian president promptly agreed.
This will be the first time since the civil war began that
leaders of the government and rebel forces will meet for
peace talks. Two previous requests by the guerrillas to start
negotiations earlier this year were turned down by Duarte.
The meeting is scheduled to take place on Oct. 15 in the
town of La Palma in northeastern El Salvador. Both sides
have been asked to come without weapons or military back
ups.
While hopes are high that the meeting will yield
positive results towards peace, there are some serious ques
tions about the nature of Duarte’s request. Why didn’t
Duarte make the invitation to meet with the rebels in private
as is normally done in these mattters, rather than announc
ing it at the United Nations with a big media display?
Also, why did Duarte pick the town of La Palma? To get
there it is likely that rebel leaders in exile will have to first
fly into San Salvador or Honduras where they would be easy
targets for assassination.
The Salvadoran rebels have every reason to be
suspicious of the meeting with Duarte. In 1980, several rebel
leaders came to San Salvador to participate in elections at
the invitation of the government. They ended up being kid
napped and killed by the military.
Despite the precarious circumstances surrounding
Duarte’s request, the meeting will be a hopeful moment for
those who wish for peace in El Salvador. By agreeing to meet
with Duarte, the rebels have confirmed their eagerness to br
ing an end to the civil war and to work out a political solu
tion with the government. Whether Duarte is serious and
whether he has the political control to back-up any promises
he makes remains to be seen.
Mopeds riders need to
pay attention to rules
Five years ago mopeds were a rarity on campus. Today
they can be found all around the University. This increase
has resulted in a number of recent complaints.
Bicyclists have complained that mopeds speed along
bike lanes, creating a danger to the slower moving bicycles.
Pedestrians say that mopeds carelessly ride in and out of
walkways between University buildings, and car drivers
complain that mopeds regularly move between street and
bike lanes, making it difficult to judge their actions.
While mopeds can be a lot of fun and serve a useful pur
pose for those who own them, they must be used with care.
Moped riders tend to see themselves as something between a
car and a bike,and as a result they don’t follow any one set of
rules.
On East 13th Avenue between the EMU and Kincaid
Street, moped owners have been riding up and down the
road with little care that they are breaking the law. This por
tion of 13th Avenue is open only to bicycles and
pedestrians. It was made that way after a truck hit and killed
a student there fifteen years ago.
More and more students are making complaints about
the use of mopeds in areas reserved for bicycles and
pedestrians. Mopeds are motor vehicles and must follow the
same set of road rules as a car or motorcycle. This means ab
solutely no mopeds on the closed section of 13th. To make
sure that these rules are obeyed, campus security must step
up its effort to ticket violators.
Bicyclists must also be careful. Many bicycle riders ig
nore the signs on campus that tell them where they must dis
mount and walk. Last year this resulted in several accidents
when bicycles collided with students who were walking.
The campus can be a safe place for mopeds, bicycles,
and pedestrians only if people are willing to follow the safe
ty rules established by University students and the
Administration.
letters
Check it out
Let’s look at the facts and
blow away the smoke from
Reagan’s record on crime. The
Reagan Administration has a
weak history of criminal pro
secution, and a definite tenden
cy of working against law en
forcement. Specifically:
1. Today the U.S. has the
highest crime rate of any in
dustrialized democracy in the
world. It is 20 times higher than
Britain’s, and 100 times that of
Japan.
2. No active measures have
been taken to protect the public
from the repeated crimes of
“career criminals.”
3. White collar crime con
tinues to expand with no
significant Justice Department
intervention.
4. Reagan Republicans pro
posed budget cuts in 1981 of
12% for law enforcement agen
cies like the FBI and Drug En
forcement Agency.
5. Reagan has cut drug and
alcohol prevention-treatment
programs by 25% in the past
four years.
6. 50 individuals in the
Reagan Administration have
been charged with professional
improprieties as public
officials.
7. Newer crimes such as child
pornography have flourished in
America in the past four years.
8. All statistical declines in
crime rates in America in the
past four years have been linked
to social factors having nothing
to do with any Reagan Ad
ministration actions.
9. Organized crime influence
in business and government has
proliferated.
This should make it very clear
that the Reagan Administration
can be expected, if re-elected, to
continue its laissez-faire at
titude on crime. Regardless of
its get-tough talk, this Ad
ministration will continue to do
nothing to make streets safer for
average Americans. The only
Americans safer today than they
were four years ago are the
criminals.
Kenneth Hacker
Springfield
Free speech
An event occured last Thurs
day which might have been
described as two groups exer
cising their right to freedom of
speech. What occured was one
group attempting to exercise its
right, while another group in
evitably denied them that right.
The United States Marine
Corp had set up a rather unim
posing forum, out of the way of
traffic. A military protest group
appeared and set up their forum
directly in front of the USMC
table, in a manner which was
r
soon to block traffic. A debate
arose quickly and yvith the
gathering crowds easy access to
the USMC table was closed. The
Marines allowed the protest
group to express themselves
freely and uninhibitedly. while
the protest group denied that
same right to the Marines.
Free speech is one of the great
myths in American today. Like
a myth, it exists in our minds,
but it is not to be found in the
real world. Everyone seems'
willing to profess their support
for the concept of free speech,
but no one is willing to promote
the practice of it.
Contrary to popular belief, as
exemplified by students' ac
tions, freedom of speech is not
the right to out shout your'
neighbor if you disagree with
them. The intolerance of this
student body to allow opposing
views to be expressed is what
has killed free speech. We can
not arbitrate between who is
and who is not to be heard. The
moment you censor someone
with your shouts, is the moment
you become that person who
you fear.
Donald Dysart
Political Science
letters policy
The Emerald will attempt to print all letters containing fair com
ment on topics of interest to the University community.
Letters to the editor must be limited to 250 words, typed and
signed, and the identification of the writer must be verified when the
letter is turned in. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for
length, style or content.
Letters to the editor should be turned into the Emerald office.
Suite 300, EMU.
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