opinions
editorial opinion
The Central America guessing game
Exactly what President Reagan intends
to do in Central America is not easy to ,
determine: He has developed a bad habit
recently concerning the area that of
saying one thing and doing another.
Even members of the Senate Intelligence
Committee seem confused. Last spring,
they voted to end covert aid to anti-Sandinis
ta rebels in Nicaragda on Oct. 1 unless
Reagan explained "in plain language just
what it is he wants to do relative to Nicara
gua and the other (Central American) coun
tries."
In a nationally televised news conference
Tuesday, Reagan seemed to be trying to do
this. "We want to see an end to violence and
bloodshed, to the export of revolution," he
said.
However, this is not the signal that his
administration is sending to Congress. The
Reagan administration has compiled a re
port advocating more covert aid for anti-
Sandinista rebels in Nicaragua, The Wash
ington Post reported yesterday. The in
creased aid would be used "to cause the
same kind of trouble for the Sandinista •
regime in Nicaragua as the leftist insur
gents are causing in El Salvador."
The Reagan administration hopes this
will slow the flow of arms from Nicaragua
to the leftist (communist) insurgents in El
Salvador, the reason aid was given to the
rebels in the first•place. But it seems like a
direct contradiction of his news conference
rhetoric.
.
At the conference Reagan said: "It's
especially important in our own hemisphere
for the United States to continue to be the
foremost protector of peace." But covert
aid to guerrillas trained in Honduras is
more like exporting revolution than protect
ing the peace.
Also at the news conference, Reagan
denied allegations that military exercises to
take place in Honduras and the Caribbean
over the next six months were aimed at
increasing U.S. military presence in Central
America. • .
Fighting on the Honduran/Nicaraguan
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Making excuses for who we are, what we do
As students of Penn State, fortunately we
have been presented with several examples
of rationalizations that we can use to justify
our behavior and lack of behavior. The
comedy film "Trading Places" and a recent
Collegian forum, "Women must prudently
rethink roles" by Holly Wilson, expose three
views of explaining away our mistakes and
our apathy: human nature, our environ
ment and gender differences.
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The premise of "Trading Places" con
cerns a bet betweep two gentlemen on
whether people's behavior is determined by
human nature or by their environment. The
premise of Wilson's article is that people are
biologically determined and that it may be
better for them to follow their biological
inclinations.
By adhering to any of these views, we can
appeal to a "higher" direction for our lives.
When we are asked, "Why did you lie?" or
"Why must women be confined to the tradi
tional roles of wife and mother?" we can
just answer, "It's just human nature" or
"I'm only a product of my environment." In
other words, we can make excuses.
Certainly I would not argue that our
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border has reached a fever pitch lately, with
Honduras suffering particularly large
amounts of shelling. Some ' Central and
South American countries, namely the Con
tadora group Venezuela, Colombia, Pan
ama and Mexico have called for the
United States to participate in negotiations
to avert an all-out war between the two
countries.
U.S. military exercises in Honduras, by
their very nature, increase U.S. military
presence in Central America. By placing 4,-
000 troops in a volatile area, with orders to
shoot back if fired upon, Reagan increases
the chances of the United States being
drawn into a war.
Reagan questioned why military maneu
vers "we have performed before and regu
larly" are suddenly the object of such
"suspicion." Maybe it is because chief U.S.
representative to the United Nations Jeane
J. Kirkpatrick said the operations were a
response to "a very clear and substantial
escalation in the importation of heavy arms
into Nicaragua this calendar year."
This is no way for an administration to
quell fears that military operations in a
guerrilla-infested area might lead to war.
At the news conference, Reagan said he
believed many people are upset about the
Central America issue "because of the
confused pattern that's been presented to
And answering a question concerning
whether people support his policies in Cen
tral America, Reagan said: "Those that
have been informed and understand it do.
"Now if we all get together and explain
what's happening down there, maybe that'll
resolve the situation in that regard."
Well, the "confused pattern" is largely
the result of mixed signals from his admin
istration. And the people who have to "get
together" are those in the Reagan adminis
tration.
If Reagan wants the public to trust his
policies, he should do a better job of inform
ing the people about what is actually going
on.
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genders, our natures and our environments
do not affect us. It is easier for women to do
certain things, like having children, than for
men and vice versa. I cannot.deny that our
parents and our upbringing influence us;
that someone from a farm in central Penn
sylvania differs in many ways from some
one raised in inner city Philadelphia. But is
that all we are? Beings determined by
outside forces? Robots programmed by
biology, our environment or our "natures"?
I think not.
In fact, I think we have much more
control over ourselves and our lives than we
are willing to accept. This control is found in
our ability to choose and to act. Philosopher
Jean-Paul Sartre expressed our freedom
quite well. He said man "can choose to
accept his lot with resignation or to rebel
against it." Our genders, our "natural"
inclinations and our environmental influ
ences may limit us, but we have the ulti
mate authority to accept or to reject these
influences.
Wilson argued that we should probably
accept our traditional sex roles because of
our gender differences. In other words, we
should not rebel against our biological na
ture. Women should be wives and mothers.
Men should be wage earners. That is very
prudent advice. However, it is not necessar
ily justified.
If we can choose who and what we be
come, then why not really choose even if
that means to rebel. Women may be physi
cally inclined to be nurturing and, therefore,
inclined to stay at home, but that does not
mean they should stay at home. The same is
true for men: they need not have a job, when
• •
P , 0.3 iiprtwVt 1140 C gYkIYG,,r,%-
their wives could support them, just be
cause men have a greater biological tenden
cy to hold a job. If in fact, they do.
Insofar as people are biological creatures,
they are limited to biological tendencies.
But we cannot and should not ignore the rest
of our beings as this type of determinism
suggests. It is only conjecture that our
physical beings determine our psychologi
cal beings. Who can really prove that be
cause a woman can have children she is
more nurturing than a man? Perhaps wom
en have a greater authoritative ability in
order to discipline their children. What may
be true, we can only hypothesize. Indeed,
part of our difference from animals is that
we do not just follow our instincts.
Consequently, we should think again
about the Equal Rights Amendment now
before Congress. We can ask, are women
equal to men? But that's not really the
correct question. Instead we should be
asking, do women and men have the right to
the same opportunities? All the ERA would
secure is the possibility for that right of
opportunity.
If we are to believe that we are only
biological creatures, then perhaps we
should reject such a proposal of freedom of
choice. Let women be discriminated against
in their ability to have jobs and men be
discriminated against in their ability to
raise children. However, if we realize there
is more to men and women than the ability
to become pregnant or their hormone levels,
we can accept the possiblity of their poten
tial. We can allow people to choose their own
roles in life.
In addition, the danger of society's forcing
1 1 r/EIROT RIX MCA'
, 92;3 FiItSIMKE-owmt
daily Collegian
Thursday, July 28, 1983
Suzanne M. Cassidy
Editor
The Daily Collegian's editorial Opinion is determined by
its Board of Opinion, with the editor holding final
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pages are not necessarily those of The Daily Collegian,
Collegian Inc. or The Pennsylvania State University.
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Letters Policy: The Daily Collegian encourages com
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reader opinion
Control spending
Why can't the government (any
government) learn to live within its
revenue? I am specifically talking
about those governments whose
funds are based on a percentage of
someone's income.
The proposal by the Pennsylvania
House of Representatives, and signed
by the governor, raising the state
income tax from 2.2 percent to 2.45
percent sparked this letter. With the
state of the economy as it is now, a
al# r
C)1983 Collegian Inc
Judith Smith
Business Manager
few dollars here and there means a
lot to a lot of people.
With this idea, why should a gov
ernment be allowed to raise its per
centage take to cover its increased
expenses? I, as an individual, cannot
just plan what I want to spend and
then make my income match it by
raising my salary. I have to plan
what I am going to spend around
what my income is. The government
should work the same way.
Government income that is based
on a percentage of, say, personal
income will fluctuate with that other
men or women into "a conflict between
what is a natural tendency and what is
socially rewarded," as Wilson argued,
would subside. Looking at the 14th Amend
ment and the existing racial prejudice, we
see that legislation cannot immediately
change attitudes. However, this prejudice
has decreased since the Amendment's pas
sage, partly because of its ability to change
our nation's perception of itself. By appear
ing in the history books for children to learn,
racial equality is becoming an accepted fact
of life. In the same way, people's percep
tions of what men and women can do would
change following the passage of the ERA.
We would learn that people can be given the
choice to decide their futures.
And in that way, men and women would
not be forced to be false to their biology or
their own goals.
But appeals to biological necessity are not
our only justification for continuing with our
outmoded behavior. We also appeal to the
effects of childhood and our environment.
Surely the effects of a parental divorce or of
poverty are constricting, but does that mean
that no one can ever rise above those ef
fects? In "Trading Places," we initially saw
how the environment affected the behavior
of both Dan Aykroyd's and Eddie Murphy's
characters. We laughed as Aykroyd fell into
the gutter and Murphy triumphantly suc
ceeded in the business world. But in the end,
we saw the final irony. They both succeeded
despite their environments to outwit those
who seemed to have it all.
Certainly, this story is only a film. But I do
not think it is far from reality. Some people
do surpass the negative effects in their lives.
The Daily Collegian
30 lines. Students' letters should include the term, major
and campus of the writer. Letters from alumni should
include the major and year of graduation of the writer. All
writers should provide their address and phone number
for verification of the letter.
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and to reject letters if they are libelous or do not conform
to standards of good taste. Because of the numbers of
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Mail letters to: The Daily Collegian; 126 Carnegie Build
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sity Park campus. The Weekly Collegian is mailed to
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party's income. Say that I get a 1.25
percent raise this year. That also
means that what I pay to the state
will increase by 1.25 percent.
In this way when the economy is
good, both the government and I
make out with larger raises, but when
the economy is bad and raises are
meager, the government should not
expect to maintain its increased
spending levels by increasing its per
centage.
Rex Knepp, senior systems developer
July 20
We hear of the success stories of people who
escaped from terrible environments or up
bringings. But it takes a lot of effort on their
parts. Maybe we cannot change our socio
economic level or some insecurity from
childhood, but we do not know unless we try.
And by believing that , we cannot overcome
those effects, we will be certain of not
changing them.
There is one final excuse one that is a
frequent but vague reason for what we do
wrong. Claiming that we do things because
of human nature implies that we have no
control over ourselves. It is the ultimate
rejection of responsibility. It is a cop-out.
Philosophers have argued for centuries
about the nature of man. What is man's
given nature? Does man have an intrinsic
nature? Yet, no one accepted theory of
human nature has resulted from this de
bate. So we are just relying on an excuse
that really has no accepted justification.
My invitation, then, is to believe that, we
can make ourselves: If we do not accept that
man is not just a mechanistic creation of
outside forces, we can realize that we are
already making ourselves; that only we
have responsibility for what we become. To
say that we choose our destiny is not some
trite, meaningless phrase. This responsibili
ty is important and even terrifying. But it is
one that we all share. And it is about time
that we accept it.
Linda Menghetti is a 7th-term political
science major and a columnist for The Daily
Collegian.
Thursday, July 28
..06 WE MU'
reader opinion
Permit parking
How would you like to have your
water supply cut off without prior
notice? This was precisely how it felt
when the residents of Graduate Circle
found their mobility impaired by the
cancellation of the Campus Loop for
the Summer Session.
I would like to bring attention to the
problem of residents of Graduate
Circle who have teaching and re
search responsibilities in the west
end of campus in the College of Earth
and Mineral Sciences and the College
of Engineering.
Most graduate students have cars
but cannot drive to work because of a
lack of parking in the west end of
campus, unless they choose to park
illegally. The 25-minute walk each
way from Grad Circle to, say, Deike
in the sweltering heat takes away a
lot of energy that would otherwise be
spent fulfilling one's duties.
The problem could be greatly alle
viated (not solved) if temporary
parking permits were issued to grad
uate assistants allowing them to park
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I spoke with one person responsible
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because of red tape and protocol. I
came to believe that issuing tempo
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required a major policy decision. A
decision that would take time . ..
enough time for the problem to solve
itself.
I would like something to be done
now, not when Fall Semester begins
and the Loop is back.
Shouldn't someone look into alter
natives before a drastic action is
taken? I really doubt if even an iota of
thought went into the effects of
canceling the Loop on the user. Ad
ministrators sure thought about the
money it has saved.
It is a real shame.
Indra K. Singhal
graduate-mineral processing
July 22
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Or would you?
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