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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1985)
's®' Salvadoran missionary’s story is told By Paul Ertelt Of the Emerald Jean Donovan, "the original yuppie,” turned her back on a successful career to work as a Catholic lay missionary with the poor in El Salvador. In December, 1980, Donovan and three American nuns were raped, shot and buried in a shallow grave by members of the Salvadoran National Guard. Ana Carrigan, author of "Salvador Witness: The Life and Calling of jean Donovan," was on campus Monday to talk about her book and about El Salvador. Her visit was sponsored by the Latin American Sup port Committee and the Lane County Literary Guild. Carrigan says she was drawn to Donovan because, unlike the other three victimized women, she was not a nun. People often have higher expecta tions of nuns, and thus find it harder to identify with them, she says. Donovan also came from a typical, middle-class American background, Carrigan says. Carrigan helped produce two television films on Donovan, "Roses in December” for PBS and "Choices of the Heart,” an NBC-TV Movie of the Week. Her book is drawn from research she did for the films. Donovan led a sheltered life in a close-knit family in suburban Connecticut. Although she attended col lege during the days of Vietnam and Watergate, Donovan eschewed radicalism and rebellion and clung to her conservative upper-middle-class values. After receiving a master’s degree in economics, Donovan landed a high-paying job in accounting but was dissatisfied and confused about the direction of her life. Carrigan believes Donovan’s decision to go to El Salvador was influenced by her friendship with Father Michael Crowley, whom she met while she was an exchange student in Ireland. Crowley, who had spent 10 years in Third World nations, encourag ed her to try to do something to change the world before she settled down to become a “nice comfy capitalist.” When Donovan decided to become a missionary, she arbitrarily chose El Salvador after reading about it in a brochure on church missions. She knew little about this country, which would soon be embroiled in a civil war and which would become a heated issue back in the United States. Carrigan believes that there was an element of escapism in Donovan’s decision but that that later turned to dedication. She left a fragmented, isolated and competitive society in the United States and discovered a sense of community among the Salvadoran peasants, Carrigan says. When Donovan arrived in El Salvador in 1979, the stage was being set for future conflict. “All of the players who are on the scene today were there, on the side of the rebels or the side of the government,” Carrigan says. “All came to the fore at that period. Following Jean’s life is a chance to see all of that through her eyes. And since she is such a big American innocent, when she gets there her education, her discoveries, her responses are very ac cessible to everybody in this country.” One of the players was Archbishop Oscar Romero. Carrigan considers Romero to be the hero of her book and a major influence on Donovan. Before he was assassinated while delivering Mass in March, 1980, Romero was an outspoken critic of the Salvadoran government. Carrigan sees some parallels in the spiritual journeys of Romero and Donovan, who both went from uncertainty to a commitment that would cost them their lives. Romero also came from a conser vative background but was converted after right-wing death squads began killing his priests. It was because of the loss of these priests that Romero requested the missionaries be sent to El Salvador, Carrigan says. “They were all inspired by him, as were several other people. He was a voice for those without a voice. And he was without a question the greatest threat to the power structure of El Salvador.” In El Salvador, anyone who stood up for the poor and advocated social change was considered to be a dangerous subver sive by the oligar chy, Carrigan says. “He spoke the truth as he saw it, and he lived it. He really did live the gospel,” Carrigan says. “And in the conditions of life in El Salvador, the gospel message is more revolutionary than any communist tract.” Romero also urged U.S. policy makers not to send military aid to El Salvador, but he was ignored. “The war in El Salvador is a war of the military, the police and the National Guard against the population,” Carrigan says. “It has always been that. It is still that.” Ana Carrigan Carrigan sees little hope for any change in El Salvador. The Reagan administration, which gives military aid to El Salvador, is not interested in a negotiated peace but hopes for a military victory, and the Salvadoran people, tired of the long war, will soon be willing to accept peace on any terms, she says. But U.S. policy in Central America has not really changed much under President Reagan, she says. “It was no good under Roosevelt; it was no good under Kennedy; it was worse under the Republicans, but it’s still the same policy,” she says. Seeking new ways to spend a Friday night? Campus libraries extend weekend hours By Julie Shippen Of the Emerald Good news is here for students who want to get a real jump on finals or do some quick cramming for midterm ex aminations. Beginning Friday, the science, architecture, allied arts and main libraries will stay open longer on weekends, say library and administra tion officials. The four libraries will be open until 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings, says Pat Silvemail, assistant University librarian for public services. In the past, the libraries were open un til 6 p.m. on Fridays and until 5 p.m. on Saturdays. The new schedule will add 11 more hours of weekend study and research time in each of these facilities. ‘‘This is a real step in the right direc tion,” Silvernail says. ‘‘We have been wanting to do this for a long time. It comes at an opportune time (midterm time) for students. I know that the ser vice will be used,” she adds. Funds to keep the buildings open became available earlier this month, Silvemail says. The legislative Emergency Board allocated money to three Oregon institu tions of higher education after the State Board of Higher Education decided to use $900,000 of over-realized tuition to pay legal expenses. The University ad ministration then reallocated part of the University’s portion to include a boost in hours for the libraries, Silvemail says, although the specific amount has not yet been determined. Dick Hill, University vice president and provost for academic affairs, modestly states that student need and cooperation by library personnel — not administration — are to thank for this decision. Hill and University Librarian George Shipman decided earlier this academic year to increase library hours during the last three weekends of each term. The decision came in response to a survey by members of ASUO and the Student University Affairs Board in mid November that showed students were in terested in using the libraries for research purposes as well as for studying. “We’re very pleased that we are able to do this,” Hill says. “It’s one direct benefit of the recent action by the Emergency Board.” “1 think it’s a great idea,” says Kathryn Patterson, who is majoring in music, English and psychology. “I wasn’t able to get into the libaray last term on Friday nights, and I would have liked to. “If you take a lot of evening classes during the week as I do, it’s a good op portunity to make up,” she adds. Paul Hosey, an architecture major, says “I don’t see myself as using them (extended hours). However, I do think it’s a good idea that they stay open a lit tle longer on weekends, although I’m not sure if11 o’clock is appropriate. “I think it may be a waste of funds.” The new library hours are as follows: Monday through Friday from 8 am. to 11 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Be tween sessions and during summer ses sion, the libraries’ hours also will in crease. Those hours will be Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sun day from noon to 9 p.m. OPEN 7 D,AY5 TIL-3 AM Late Nile 4tgq CO OC 1 Lunch Daily • Bee» & Wine 669 E 1 ilh . Eug»n«» SKIER’S i $ SAVER | M; *2 Discount on any M Mi Room, Sunday thru 8j 81 Thursday, with ffi this coupon :j5 B HOLIDAY I § MOTEL S »!' 880 S.E. 3rd St. j* Aft Band. OR 97702 8J m (503) 382-4620 gg OPEN AIR SPA • SHOWTIME M TC FREE COFFEE and DONUTS 8) fft. QUEEN SIZE BEDS |!g KITCHEN SUITE |v| Good thru May 31,1965 _emu Food Service Our Chili is Hot! 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