Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 21, 1981)
n o0 O tuesday, april 21, 1981 lincoln, nebraska vol. 106, no. 67 U.S. is part of genocide in El Salvador speaker By Beth Headrick The United States is not only stopping El Salvador from achieving democracy, it is participating in the genocide there, Juan Ramon Cardona said. Cardona, spokesman for the Democratic Revolutionary Front (FDR), said 18,000 Salvadorans have been killed by the govern ment since January, 1980 and the junta's totalitarian is growing. Repression has escalated in the past year, with the United States helping to perpetuate violence against El Salvador by sending arms and training the military, he said. Governments around the world are warning the Reagan administration not to intervene, he said. The United States shows no respect for Central America or for the global complications that are in volved, he said. "The United States should get out and let us decide our own destiny and our own solutions," Cardona said. The United States supports the Christ ian Democratic junta, led by Jose Napol eon Duarte as the moderate, centrist force between the left and right extremes in El Salvador, and claims the general population is behind it. Cardona said that's a lie, and the majority of the people op pose the junta. "The junta is a mask for the armed forces. They are together," Cardona said. The U.S. government and the U.S. media try to discredit the FDR and portray it as an extreme leftist Communist organ ization, when the FDR really has the broadest base of support in the country, he said. - -- Describing the- FDR -ay "apluralist ic coalition fighting against the junta and military, Cardona said it is made up of members of the church and labor unions, teachers, university students, farmers and representatives from small and medium sized businesses. The FDR represents all parts of El Salvador except the mili tary and the wealthy, Cardona said. Guill ermo Ungo, once the vice-presidential candidate wKo ran with Duarte in 1972, leads the FDR. In December, 1980 the United Nations, by a vote of 70 to 12, condemned the junta as corrupt, and asked all countries to stop any support of it, Cardona said. The junta has since lost its base of internal support and is denounced by many governments around the world. But the U.S. government still supports it, he said. On March 24, 1980, Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero was assassinated by the government for speaking out against the junta. Seven days later the United States approved $5.5 million for "non-lethal" arms to the junta, he said. The Reagan administration plans to send $20 million more in military aid and already has sent Green Berets to train the government troops, Cardona said. The Salvadoran military uses napalm and is massing people together in villages, much like the military hamlets that were established by U.S. troops in Vietnam, he said. The presence of U.S. troops has been felt for at least 10 years in El Salvador because 90 percent of the military has been trained in the United States, he said. Two weeks ago the largest atrocity took place when some people were crossing into Honduras from El Salvador, he said. Half of them passed through but helicopt ers were sent out to find the others. They -weir found hidmgincove;"andalH,50i people were gased to death, Cardona said. The government blames these killings on the extreme left or extreme right, but the junta is only protecting the mili tary, he said. The junta gives false interpretations of what is happening and these are repeat ed by the United States government and the media, he said. On May 14, 1980, 600 peasants were killed between the border of Honduras and El Salvador. This was reported throughout the world, Cardona said, except in two countries, El Salvador and the United States. w" -.4, r aa to Vf;t. v iP I Photo by Mark Billingsley Juan Ramon Cardona Child care project survives despite money woes By Tricia Waters As the University Child Care Project celebrates its 10th year, financial problems keep workers busy raising money to supplement subsidies, said Valdeen Nelsen, administra tive director. The project originally consisted of a preschool care center a Commonplace Church". Later, infant care was offered at First Plymouth Congregational Church. In 1979, the infant center was moved to Faith Lutheran Church. When the project started in 1971, the UNL financial aid office, ASUN and United Ministries in Higher Educa tion financed it, Nelsen said. The children's parents were staff members for the project, she said. During the first 10 years, the staff has grown from a part-time administrative director and center supervisors to a full-time staff with an assistant to each center supervisor and a VISTA volunteer, she said. Now, about 50 work-study students help at the centers, a condition that will change soon, Nelsen said. "Work-study money is not going as far as it used to," she said. Hiring more workers Beginning this summer, she said, the project will hire more students on a hourly basis. The project contracts through the Lancaster County Welfare Department for child care subsidies, Nelsen said. More than half of the families using the child care receive subsidies, she said. Nelsen said the U.S. Department of Agriculture reimburses the project for its food costs. However, the subsidies don't cover total costs, she said. "Our actual cost per child per week at the infant care center is about $50 and we charge $35," Nelsen said. The cost for preschool students is comparable to what the project charges, she said. The rest of the money comes from Commonplace and fund-raising projects, such as bake sales and a bike raffle. "We are hoping to raise $2,000 with the bike raffle this year," she said. Fees to increase However, child care fees will increase for the coming fiscal year, probably to $40 a week, Nelsen said. The pro ject's $35 infant fee is the lowest in town, she said. Originally, the project survived without the need for fees, Nelsen said. But after a couple years, the university's financial aid budget grew tighter and parents had to pick up the costs, she said. The full-time staff, employed by the university, gets a salary increase each year, Nelsen said. This year, their salaries probably will increase by 7 percent or 8 percent, . Although parents no longer work at the project, they still are involved in money-making projects, making and repairing furniture, policy making and financial decisions, Nelsen said. Hearings begin on five year plan By Kim Hachiya Attendance was sparse at the first of five hearings on the newly released UNL five-year plan Monday, but the Academic Planning Committee chairman said he was pleased with the initial response. John Scholz told the audience of seven that the re cent appointment of Martin Massengale as chancellor had delayed the plan's release but the hearings were scheduled to solicit input now before the semester ends. The 31 -page plan, drawn up by Interim Chancellor Robert Rutford's office, outlines six major problems with in UNL three major goals, five program priorities and four support priorities. The fusl pioblem identified was the growth in demand for services and research despite the probability that the university will not grow significantly in available re sources. The second problem is enrollment fluctuations and in creasing numbers of non-traditional students. Other prob lems are the effect of continued inflation, the probable diminution of federal dollars and that support levels must remain secondary to teaching, research and service. The final problem is to restore collegiality, a sense of com munity, to UNL The first program priority is faculty development; the second program priority is student recruitment, admis sion, advising, retention and enrollment controls; the third is strengthening the core curriculum in liberal arts; the Continued on Page Parents and workers can get acquainted through pot luck dinners and summer picnics, she said. Activities planned Various daily activities are planned for the children, but the staff responds to a child's spontaneous idea to play a game or go for a walk, she said. "We try to get the children out of the center and into the community as much as possible," Nelsen said. Besides the regular centers, a summer day camp for grade-school children is provided at St, Mark's On-the-Campus Episcopal Church. The infants at the project range in age from 6 weeks to 3 years and the preschoolers are 3 to 5 years old, she said. About 10 percent of the children have parents who aren't students, but many of those parents are former students, she said. Many of the children have foreign parents, Nelsen said, 3ecause foreign students aren't eligible for much financial aid, many are on limited incomes. These kinds of families are given top priority on the project, she said. Money has been a problem during the 10 years of the project's operation, especially when the university deter mined that the project was ineligible for student fees, Nel sen said, She said the decision probably was made because the child care project serves a limited portion of the univer sity's students. But the service is growing more valuable, Nelsen said. "I believe the trend in enrollment is going to be more and more toward part-time non-traditional students,' she said. "And we're a service to them," fiyssday Predicting Poland: Former State Department official Clay ton Mudd said he is afraid the Soviets may invade Poland within three months , Page 3 Heavy Reading; New book explores the notion of over weight Americans as an oppressed minority . , , Page 5 Jamaican Cruise: The only times left for UNL track star Merlene Ottey to break are her own world records