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Show Your Vote JomUs Does Count F ram The Westminster Forum welcomes all letters to the editor or other student or By NL Spackman So whats all the fuss about? ASWC Treasurer Mike Hansen resigned his office at the request of Executive members Tammy Hopkins, president; Noelle Frank, vice president; and Roxanne Mennes, secretary. This was after allegations were made that he had gone against the interests of his office and the ASWC Constitution. The story is that after voting for a proposed change in the intent of the ASWC Constitution, Hansen then told certain people that he was not in favor after all. Basically, he either changed his mind after the vote or he wasn't wholeheartedly with the change. Whatever the reason was, he apologized and that should have been the end of it. But when asked to resign, rather than take the implied impeachment, Hansen left office. Dissension in the ranks probably wouldnt be in the best interest of Westminsters studentbody leaders, or the studentbody for that matter. But shouldnt someone have the right to disagree or change their mind on an issue? Is the ASWC Constitution set up for democracy of totalitarianism? They will have a chance to vote on the proposed Constitution changes. One of the possible changes will affect the offices of Editor Jennifer Killian Managing Editor Ginny Gale V Business Manager N. L. Spackman Advertising Manager Laura Reeves Photo Director Karla Joost . faculty input. Letters will be subject to correction for journalistic style. Please bring all comments, letters or ideas to the ASWC box in the Dean of Students office. We want your opinions. Contributing Writers Cara Cahoon Karen Chamholm Myriam Hernandez Erick Scheen Randy Sullivant Laurie Staton-Carte- r Faculty Adviser Scott Cairns Forum of Westminster College of Salt Lake City will be published and distributed approx- The imately every other Tuesday throughout the academic year by the Associated Students of West- minster College. The newspapers address is 1840 South 1300 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84105. g The Forum is an member of the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Press Association. Typesetting and printing by Kimball Smith Advertising, 1059 E. 900 S., Salt Lake City, Utah 84105. The Forum welcomes letters from students and other readers. Submissions must be signed and include the authors telephone number (telephone numbers will be used only to verify the authenticity of letters). Submissions must also avoid the use of profanity and libel. Lengths may not exceed three-typedouble-space- d pages with lines 50 character spaces wide. Deliver letters directly to the Forum office (under the door if necessary) in the basement o Shaw Center by 3 p.m. on Tuesday one week before the date of publication, or mail them to the Forum office at the above address. Please be concise and to the point in your one-side- force-multipl- y long-accrue- six-fol- NOW HIRING MF Summer & Career Opportunities Excellent pay plus world travel. Hawaii, Bahamas, Caribbean, etc. CALL NOW: (Will Train). 206-736-07- Ext. 550 75 al J E ed N D O O . Associated Students of Westminster College or of the college administration, faculty or staff. Dear Editor, Though we all suppoort the President in renouncing war, the fact remains that nukes ended the last world war and the threat of their use has prevented another one for over forty-- two years. Supposing we could destroy technology and disarm back to sticks and stones, would there be peace? Or could we revert back to the rule of the tyrant and the horde? In going along with the Soviets on the Intermediate Nuclear Forces! INF! Treaty they would trade their excess for our essential. Asking the Senate to blindly ratify it just because the President signed it and the d media hype is public swallowed the the Predictably, European irresponsible. our dedication. is press questioning The Soviets want the Pershing II and cruise missiles out because they put Moscow at the same disadvantage Washington is by the our precoast; they could viously decimated theatre or strategic command, logistic weapons by taking-ou- t and air defense sites; they could take an attek on free Europe back to Soviet soil; and being mobile they would be difficult to target by a Soviet attack. All contribute to balance against overwhelming Soviet nuclear, chemical, and conventional forces and their thirty-millio- n plus reserve built by universal d militaiy training from youth and stockpiles of weapons to arem them. I understand this INF agreement requires the destruction of U.S. and Soviet missiles, the weapons of instan t war, ranging from 300 to 3000 miles. The Soviet Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM, of which our prior ICBM Salt I treaty gives them about a d not limiting size) can firepower advantage by with be little warning over these INF also used take-ou- t NATO targets and reto ranges forces. nuclear They can be maining bombardment battlefield in supplemented few miles by to a hundred ranges up air thousands of Soviet nuclear-optiondefense missiles. We may Trust but verify ad infinitum Soviet factories of deployments as these other missiles arent restricted by missiles one the INF. Trading medium-rang- e to four means nothing if they maintain theatre capability and we dont, rather our logic shoots NATO in the foot. Same thing with the strategic (START) treaty proposals - in trading our light ICBMs for their light, the firepower (throw-weighratio of their heavies to our remaining lights will jump to around ten to one, with comparable accuracy - not including their extensive reload capability. Such excesses not only support medium ranging, but also proportionately more warheads and biological and chemica loadings. Our recent repeated rocket failures to get a satellite up, even by using a Minuteman booster, and Pershing and Trident reliability problems also illustrate the need of maintaining numbers for CRUISE SHIPS d, Opinions expressed on the Forum editorial pages are those o the writers and are not to be construed as the opinions of the Back to Sticks and Stones? Secretaiy and Treasurer in that they will no longer be voted by election but appointed by the Executive Cabinet. These offices would not be able to vote in Executive decision, but the chief justice of Judiciary and the speaker of the Legislative Assembly would. Under the present organization the Judiciary and the Legislative Assembly branches do not have the power to vote on Executive Cabinet decisions. If the new system is passed, added input for the students would supposedly be one of the benefits. So what the studentbody has to decide is, whether to continue with the current system of government or accept the proposed change. The decision should be an informed one and not based on popularity counts. So lets all read the ASWC Constitution, vote for our individual choices and leam to play nice with each other. award-winnin- letters. Letter to the Editor t) eg R SOCCER 8 WEEK SESSIONS LEAGUES OF credibility. CO-E- D BOYS, GIRLS UNDER 19, 16, 14, 12, 10 $50 DEPOSIT $250 WOMENS $300 PER TEAM $35 PER INDIVIDUAL $10 DEP 486-908- 1222 East 2100 South simply lost our perspective at the improvised Iceland summit. The Soviets negotiate like they play chess, three steps ahead. There is no need to loosen our pants eveiy time we parley with them if we first expect them to reduce their firepower to the Wests. Over 1700 retired flag officers prevented Carter from likewise stampeding SALT II (which also ignored overall balance Now the French through the Senate. President equates this INF fiasco with Chamberlain's patronizing Hitler at Munich - "Peace in our time." Caveat emptor? Robert D. Vesser We MENS A, B, C, & OVER 30 WOMENS OPEN, C, & OVER 30 6 Salt Lake City, Utah 84106 What About the Home Front? By Laura Reeves The man's clothes were dirty and tattered as he stood on a street in an American city. He was desparate for a solid meal and a future. He had neither. Thousands of miles away, another man walks the streets of his village. His condition is also deplorable. He has no future; his wife and children are starving. The two men search the same night sky for the answers to their common dilemma. Little does either man know, there is a common answer. The United States has been interfering in Central American policy since the Monroe Doctrine was signed, but now it is different. International law has been violated, and American citizens are suffering from domestic budget cuts resulting from, among other militaiy expenditures, continued aid to the Nicaraguan Contra rebels. President Regan has earnestly pushed aid packages for the Contras through our legislative branch equalling close to 200 million in Just two years. At the same time, proposed spending for the homeless In the United States has been "trimmed by 300 million. President Reagan appeared repeatedly on television to appeal for; Contra funding approval. In contrast, he signed the approved funding for the homeless at night. His point was clear. He wanted to show his lack of ' enthusiasm for the bill. While the president sees funding for three million homeless people in the United States as a state problem," he has translated internal strife in Nicaragua into a United States problem. Although the United Nations World Court ruled in June of 1 986 that the United States law and had violated international Nicaraguas sovereignty by backing the Contras, President Reagan rejected their decision. Meanwhile, the numbers of the American homeless increased by an average of 20 from November of 1986 to March of 1987. Moreover, homeless families with children now constitute 35 of the over-a-ll homeless figures. According to the Partnership for the Homeless, in New York, the Reagan Administration in and ci it'Hfw, an active and distinct cause of this hr n Me, ness." In January 1986, ioe exampiC, Congress and the Senate finally approved 35 million in emergency funding for the homeless that winter. The money was not distributed for 1 4 months, due to a debate over who the homeless are and why they are homeless. According to the Los Angeles Times, that 35 million is only enough to renovate 1 .000 beds and subsidize them for 10 years. That leaves 2,999,000 people out in the cold. Though Reagan tells the American people that he wants the Sandlnistarf to create a democratic state, he also has said he wants Daniel Ortega out of office by next January." ' And despite his assertions that he is concerned about the homeless, he has stated that other priorities come first. His primary concern is the effort in Nicaragua. The people of Nicaragua have been devawar. Right stated by this American-backe- d here in the United States, hundreds, even thousands of people have been economically devastated by a war being waged in another country. A war funded by money which could have fed their children. Instead of educating our children, instead of feeding our hungry and housing our homeless, we are sending guns and bombs to other nations, to be used against the hungry, homeless people there. Unfortunately, it is likely that many more children will starve to death; many more old men and women will freeze to death; many more people will die in Nicaragua, before our priorities are set in a conscientious order. -- 3 March 1 , 1988 Issue 12 Forum 7 |