Wednesday, Feb. 25, 1998
Freedom and justice must occur in Nigeria
Recently, many Penn State students participated in Amnesty International's National Day of Student Action rally in Washington, D.C. This year's rally focused on freedom and justice in Nigeria. As Nigeria is currently under the control of a military regime, Amnesty International is campaigning to return the country to democratic civilian rule.
Nigeria's present military regime seized control in November 1993
under General Sani Abacha, interrupting a peaceful transition
process to establish a democratic government. Since General Abacha
came to power, basic human rights in Nigeria have been flagrantly
ignored.
His regime has passed repressive legislation that includes decrees
that deny freedom of speech, provide members of the federal government
with legal immunity and prohibit the courts from reviewing any
decrees by the military government. Hundreds of students, human
rights activists, nonviolent pro-democracy activists and journalists
have been imprisoned under such laws, simply for speaking out
against their self-announced leader. Once imprisoned, they are
frequently subject to torture and execution. Social order, justice
and fundamental freedoms, which we often take for granted, are
absent under Abacha's reign.
Immediately after General Abacha seized power in 1993, the Clinton
administration imposed punitive measures on Nigeria, including
the suspension of all aid and military assistance. However, the
administration began reviewing its Nigerian policy in 1995 and
is presently considering a new policy of "positive engagement."
Basically, this means that the United States will close its eyes
to the atrocities of the Nigerian government and carry on with
business as usual. This is blatant hypocrisy coming from a country
that is supposed to advocate the ideals of democracy. As citizens
of the most powerful country in the world, we can use our voice
to help our less fortunate brothers and sisters in Nigeria. I
encourage you to write letters to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright. Urge her to make it clear to General Abacha that the
United States will not improve its relations with Nigeria until
all the country's political prisoners have been released and the
repressive laws that have granted the military government the
immunity to commit these abuses have been repealed. Please send
letters to: Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State, Department
of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20520 or fax them
to: (202) 647-1533.
Erin Colton
vice president of Amnesty International Penn State
AIDS Walk a chance to make a difference
While many people just got through listening to Earvin "Magic" Johnson talk about how well he is doing with his battle against HIV, not everyone is quite as fortunate. The bottom line is that four out of five Americans with HIV do not have the access to current treatments.
These are people who need your support, and now you can help.
Please join us April 19 for our first Red Ribbon AIDS Walk. The
event will kick off Spring Week and the proceeds will be used
to benefit the programs and services of The AIDS Project, located
at 315 S. Allen St. For those of you who were unable to participate
in the 1998 Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon,
here is a chance to make a difference. Individuals as well as
teams are needed to participate. The walk is guaranteed to be
lots of fun and your participation WILL make a difference.
If interested please contact Barb Burgie at 867-5156, bjb146@psu.edu
or stop by The AIDS Project. One out of every four people who
become infected with HIV are under the age of 22. In the United
States, one teenager is infected with HIV every hour. Currently,
there is no cure for AIDS. Medical advances are being made but
still many people do not have access to these new drugs or their
bodies don't respond to them. Take a moment to ponder what this
world would be like without AIDS. We need to all work together
to find a cure, and The Red Ribbon AIDS Walk is a great place
to start. Hope to see you there. If you need more information
about how the virus is transmitted, existing treatments, free
testing or protecting yourself please feel free to call 234-7087.
Bryan Gross
member of The Red Ribbon AIDS Walk Committee
Student death used as scare tactic
We are writing in regards to The Daily Collegian's coverage of the recent tragic death of Joseph A. Bettinger. It is very unfortunate that you chose to use this incident as a scare tactic about alcohol abuse. By doing this, you reduced Joe's death to a mere "This could have been you" story.
While it is true that alcohol played a part in Joe's death, he
shouldn't be blamed for what happened. He wasn't doing anything
reckless, such as driving drunk or starting fights. Nor did he
drink to the point of poisoning his body. He was simply walking
backwards and tripped. This could have happened just as easily
to a sober person.
Also, you only mentioned something about what kind of person Joe
was once when you included the quote from his mother in your initial
story. She was right; Joe was a very good person. He was always
happy and would never do anything to hurt another person. He deserves
better than to be treated as an example of the tragic effects
of alcohol. He is not a mere statistic, he was a real person who
is terribly missed by his family and friends.
Janine Greco
senior-microbiology
Sarah Walker
senior-psychology
