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Show Friday. February 8, The Daily Utah Chronicle - Page Five 1991 Letters Protests never spit on troops Editor: A student's letter ("Protests appropriate before, not during war," Feb. 1) in the Chronicle made an emotional appeal to "support our troops" and end anti-wa- r protests. The student proclaimed, "This is not Vietnam. I will not spit on our soldiers only to glorify them 20 years later because I feel guilty." As a veteran of the Vietnam era anti-wa- r movement, I am constantly amazed by this mythology of "spitting on the troops." I watched the anti-Vietna- m war movement develop while I was an undergraduate college student in Washington D.C. I saw the first national anti-wa- r demonstration and listened to the first national antiwar teach-in- s in the spring of 1965. These experiences, along with my academic studies of world politics, a summer spent in South Asia, and letters from a friend in combat in Vietnam, changed me from a supporter to an opponent of the U.S. military intervention in Southeast Asia. From 1967 on, I participated in the anti-wa- movement. r I became an movement organizer of the anti-wback home here in Utah from 1969 on and spent a year (1971-72- ) living the in San Francisco bay area where I participated in and helped organize ar some of the largest anti-wa- r demonstrations of those times. All through these years I never saw r nor heard of any incident of activists spitting on active-dut- y soldiers or veterans. The organized anti-wa- r movement certainly never anti-wa- encouraged or supported such behavior quite the contrary. The first" anti-wprotest I took leadership in organizing was held at Utah State University. The purpose of the rally was to support GI rights, specifically to defend a group of GIs at Fort Jackson in South Carolina who ar were being court martialed for meetings in their organizing anti-wfree time. Two of the speakers at our ar rally were local Cache Valley men who had just gotten out of the army. The support, legal representation and publicity generated by the anti-wa- r movement helped the "Fort Jackson Eight" successfully defend their rights to freedom of speech and assembly while in the army. Central among the leadership of the demonstration held in largest anti-wUtah during the Vietnam war was the Salt Lake City chapter of Vietnam ar Veterans Against the War. That demonstration on Armed Forces Day, May 15, 1971, was led by a contingent GIs from Dugway and of active-dut- y from a missile range base near Blanding. You can look up the large photograph on the front page of the local section of the May 16, 1971 Salt . Lake Tribune. No one I ever associated with in the war movement considered U.S. troops to be the We considered the enemy. anti-Vietna- m government to be the enemy. It was the U.S. government which ordered the troops into Southeast Asia and then kept sending more, using variations of the argument that we had to "support our troops." We had to reinforce the numbers already there so that they would be able to defend themselves, so that they could win and come home, so that we could "carry out our commitment" and "protect our investment." U.S. troops could not be withdrawn because that would dishonor the soldiers who had already served, especially the killed their lives would and wounded have been sacrificed U.S. government in vain and the would lose credibility. Dayne Goodwin University staff Chronicle needs to find a real theatre critic Editor: The practice of theatre criticism, a time-honore- discipline, d is predicated, firstly, on a knowledge of theatre in general, and secondly on at least a passing acquaintance of the play being criticized. The theatre critic of the Chronicle displayed an appalling ignorance on both counts in her review of "She Stoops to Conquer." It is worth noting that she did not attend a performance, but a dress rehearsal at which programs were not available. Since she admitted total ignorance of Goldsmith's great comedy, she naturally was unable to respond intelligently to the prologue written by DaVid Garrick. She stated she wished she had read the book first. This comedy exists in its original form; there is no book. Her opening sentence, with her total misuse of the word "premiered," confirmed her The ignorance. had seen an article in their Pocatello newspaper and knew the play. At its conclusion, they congratulated the director, who was also sitting near them, on a wonderful production which they thoroughly enjoyed. In closing, I have a suggestion for theatre your paper and for the Theatre department produced the comedy in department. The Theatre department should not permit critics at anything other than performances of their productions. And your paper should find a writer knowledgable enough about theatre to write theatre criticism. Anything less is irresponsible journalism. 1976. Had she been in the audience opening night, as I was, she would have seen a first-rat- e production of this hilarious English comedy that could easily have sold tickets for a Broadway run. The couple sitting next to me had driven down to Salt Lake City for a weekend of arts entertainment. They Shirley Clemens Students afraid to voice opinions about war Editor: am opposed to the brainless actions of our government in the Persian Gulf. Many students at the Univeristy of Utah feel this way. Unfortunately, many have yet to emerge from the closet, so to speak. For whatever reasons, be they intimidation from the current American mind set, or media hype that all who oppose this war are bomb-totin- g Bolsheviks; a of students number are afraid large to voice their opinions. I U. The greatest threat to Americans at home is not terrorism, propoganda. I represent it is a non-organizati- on of students dedicated io the dissemination of information. We need information from all facets r movement, from conservative to liberal to radical. Hell, we need anything we can get, of the anti-wa- including essays, editorials, personal view points, video tapes, and so on. We also need creative ideas and solutions for demonstrations, actions and vigils. On the 21st of February, an international student action will take place. And we would like to see a creative, new approach to this action. Because we are not an official organization, you can do whatever you want. So stand and be heard. You have less to lose than people on both sides of the front line, such as their lives. And more to gain than Bush, such as a deep respect for life and humanity. David Tucker Junior ............".4 art should have bins to recycle newspapers Editor: Having recently gone to work have become aware of the great need for recycling bins, especially for at the Union, I newspapers. pick up dozens of papers left on the tables each I night, and many more are deposited in the garbage cans when people are finished reading them. Bins in which to put glass, aluminum and whatever else there is a demand for would also be helpful. general populace will soon recycling efforts on campus Peter Coonrod follow. If whoever is in charge of It's Time to Talk About Student Financial Aid For 1991-9- 2 y, ee l ne would. print a response in the Chronicle, I would gladly donate my time toward this project. Hopefully, increased use by the ur ' Original Backseat Driver. Pulitzer Prize Winner Alfred Unry's Drmhg iiss Daish February 2 13-Mar- U RESERVED FREE STUDENT PREVIEW Applications for next year's student financial aid are now available. Priority filing date is February 15, 1991. Do you want more information? Students are invited to attend one of the following information workshops which have been scheduled by the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office: Medical Workshop Monday 21191, 12:10 p.m., Classroom A at Med Center General Workshop Tuesday 21291, Noon, Olpin Union Little Theater Pharmacy Workshop Wednesday 21391, Noon, Skaggs Hall 250 Tuesday, February 12. For U of U students witn activitics-pa- i dl.D. Tickets must be picked up in advance at tke kox office. 12 PRICE SEATS Reserved scats arc kalf price forU students any nigkt except Friday and Saturday. FREE OPENING NIGHT STUDENT RUSH Wednesday, February 13 Free tickets to tkc first 200 U students at tkc box office. Call Every nigkt at 7:30 all remaining scats go on sale to U students for $4. 581-696- 1. mn pioneer THEATRE I COMPANY I? roadway SEATS Wednesday and Tkursday, February 1 3 and 14 at 8 pm, and Saturday, February 16, 23, and Marck 2 at 2 PM. (300 S.) & University (1340 F.) |
