A OPINION A -Page 4 Friday, February 18, 1983 The Michigan Daily Nicaraguans vow to determine own fate h By Matthew P. Levine MANAGUA, Nicaragua - Like everybody else, the people of Managua lead regular lives. Restaurants, discos and roadside foodstands bustle with activity. Colorful and somewhat ttered laundry hangs lazily under the mid- ay sun, while sewing machines, power saws end diesel cars compete rhythmically for at- tention. There is average wealth and average poverty, yet even a transient glance finds there's something more. Here, after years of destruction, there is a process evolving that in some way touches most everyone, and it is ironic that these regular lives might have an opportunity for enrichment as a result. Certainly their collec- tive experiences are being consolidated by the threats of- more violence. AN ATTENTIVE walk down the sometimes rhetorical and sometimes inspirational avenues of Managua's compulsory reconstruc- tion can help reveal some motivations of these common yet uncommon lives. Banners and spraypaint are the most con- spicuous vehicles for the exchange of both in- stitutional and individual attitudes. Hanging from government buildings, offices, trees, and private homes, carefully lettered and seemingly sterile bedsheets casually state "with sacrifices, day and night, we will defend our happiness." These multi-denominational declarations refer to the many external threats made by neighboring Honduras to the north, and to the "Secret War-Strategy of Terror", as charac- terized by Newsweek in early November. This violence is professionally executed by Somoza's ex-national Guards and other Somocistas still fighting for the privileges they lost after the fall of the now deceased dictator. They cross conscientiously from Honduras, disrupting everyday life with the tacit approval and material support of the U.S. state depar- tment. BUT INCURSIONS and threats made with this bellicosity are serving only to create a focal point for communication and mobilization. Spraypainted evidence of this are the single- handed slogans spouting a spirit of deter- mination and cohesion. "Yankee that's right, all of Nicaragua will fight" poemically slants one. And it's not possible to walk one block in this caloric capital without encountering one variation of "they will not pass," slogans referring to whoever: the Somocistas, the Hon- durans, or the United States. Farther down the road, this rebuilding is depicted as a collective process, as a mural ad- jacent to the Ministry of Construction color- fully expresses. Here Nicaraguans are con- structing a new society, men and women working side by side, learning from each other, ideally paving the way to peace and sunshine. There have been many roadblocks and stormy times, but they seem to signify that there is no turning back. The memories of those who died along the way motivate the living. A wreath dedicated to the late editor of the mid- dle of the road newspaper "La Prensa", Pedro Joaquin Chammorro Cardenal who fell along with his paper to a line of National Guard tanks on January 10, 1978, stands timelessly at a busy intersection. Similarly, the eternal flame near- by, across from the National palace, reminds all that Carlos Fonseca Amador, the founder of the Sandinist Front (FSNL) in the early sixties, is according to the inscription "of the dead that never dies and is always present." HOWEVER, A realizable reconstruction needs to be a lot more than martyrdom and word building, for in Managua as in the rest of Nicaragua there are many problems to contend with. Throughout the city, there is a chronic shortage of adequate housing. Here there are several families living routinely in the crum- bling rubble of the many earthquake shaken edifices. One poor family seeks shelter under the multi-story First National City Bank, Managua branch skeleton, while others do their daily chores where people once happily bought Pontiacs, pianos, and office equipment. Information from the Housing Ministry shows that in 1981, there was a deficit of over 240,000 houses in Nicaragua. In its three years, the government for National Reconstruction (GRN) has built approximately 7,000 inexpen- sive homes. But they would need to build 3,000 annually for 80 years to resolve the current crisis. It is also estimated that there are 180,000 cuarterias in this poorly developed country. A cuarteria is a group of rented rooms that usually are overcrowded, have unsanitary conditions and insufficient facilities such as toilets and water supplies. You have to see one to believe it. FACING THESE enormous housing problems, a bill is, being prepared by the Ministeries of Justice and Housing to address this urgently needed urban reform. Domingo Sanchez, president of a citizens committee that will study the bill professes he knows what a cuarteria is because he "lived in one for many years. The rooms are about 5 or 6 square meters," he recalls. "And a whole family of six or more lives in that space. They are so small that for the family to sleep at night, they have to take all their belongings out of the room." "Housing will no longer be a business", San- chez continues. "If someone builds a house, it will be for them to live in." But finding out who is going to build enough houses will demand some creative solutions because nobody can wait a lifetime for a living space. As a result of a GRN decree in January 1980, rents were slashed by 40 to 50 percent and this new legislation goes further to call on plans to allow renters to own the houses they've been paying for after 20 years. According to a spokesperson for the Housing Ministry, the "new law defines housing as a vital necessity for social well-being", and the Sandinist police, in their East German trucks will protect renters in evictions and in problematic disputes with their landlords. In spite of the determination of the gover- nment to help its citizens, the violent acts are geared at paralyzing both the Nicaraguan people and their struggling economy continue unabated. The campaign of terror is successful in that there are almost daily reports of coffee cutters ambushed or technical workers mur- dered, but these terrorist acts are unsuccessful because these tragedies mean for most Nicaraguan people that there is no turning back. Levine is travelling in Central America and is afrequent contributor to the Daily. I YC Vol. E 4 N ITS discrimi set up a pol w at least 10 including veterans. I where are protected,a changed., A propo ministratic discriminal basis of s proposal p not have to1 any longer. fear their s job dismiss Unfortun group of pe decision m University rights it ma Pentagon-s ROTC stude The P homosexua make good join the an Thus if ther sity could n recruiters t of the Pen generals i mad and v Edited and managed by student XCIII, No. 115 ditorials represent a majority op sa gan s at The University of Michigan Wasserman 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 LADIES AND~ GENTLEMN- NERES T IE STAR MISS~ f N fw. co 1000 inion of the Daily's Editorial Board Gays deserve rights QUEST TO bar invidious University research. nation, the University has But the crux of the issue boils down icy to bar such treatment of to just one question and one answer: separate groups of people, When should monetary concerns blacks and Vietnam trump basic human rights? Never. [n spite of this policy, no Homosexuals are a small group on the rights of homosexuals campus and their support among a situation that needs to be students probably is dubious at best. There probably would be no large sal is before the ad- student uproar if the proposal were on that would bar turned down. But student support - or tion at the University on the lack of it - is not in question here. The exual preference. If the central point is that a group of in- asses, homosexuals would dividuals on campus are facing ar- hide in the proverbial closet bitrary discrimination. Right now, And they would not have to there is nowhere for them to turn for sexual habits could lead to support. al or harassment. That the U.S. military chooses to in- ately, securing rights for a sist that homosexuals not serve in the ople isn't the only thing the armed forces should have no bearing akers will consider. If the on the decision to adopt or reject the votes to guarantee gay proposal. Just because the Pentagon iy lose millions of dollars of discriminates against homosexuals is ponsored research and its no reason for the University to do the ents. same. entagon doesn't like In these tight financial times, the ls. It doesn't think they University finds it hard to turn down soldiers so it won't let them any money for research. But when med services or the ROTC. monetary concerns get in the way of rule is adopted, the Univer- human rights and academic integrity, lot allow ROTC or military the University has no choice but to o work on campus because preserve the rights of those who, tagon's policies. Then the because of their minority status, can- n Washington would get not adequately protect their rights withdraw their support of themselves. ii 'llllllill i I I III U Mu~W1.. rie STA of OUR &IoW- MI1S& ECO N4O~A1 RECO'iJil i I Ry1 III11 II I I 75T- £14ThEART- I/I WAITING-~ 'l II I 4 11 MODET T COVF~y , ~ '/1 '~{ ~II~#hIJI~f 11 'I III WI 4- V 01 LETTERS TO THE DAILY: r 1 /A'C.a'EP US. 4ksfsT4AICE' TI 'THE /AffERMA1TOA L f'1CXVE1' FLIAI 1 S PoSEor KEG IF PPAY T I RPDWL51 D E5s... . 'tfI Y V / Vt" .t " dr- To the Daily: Tuesday's article about the so- called inefficiency of the Univer- sity's Plant Department was poorly researched and terribly unfair. Although it may indeed by possible to cite examples of jobs that may not have been done as well as one would wish for, all the tasks that get done smoothly and efficiently are not even con- sidered. I submit that the University's maintenance and construction personnel are at least as efficient and competent as any other segment of its population; that for every worker who takes an extra coffee break there is a teacher who comes late to class or a secretary who makes per- sonal calls on company time and equipment; that for at least half the problems that- occur when a maintenance or construction project is undertaken there is a manager or administrator who communicates poorly or doesn't have the time to see that things go as well as they should. In the fifteen years that I have studied and worked on this campus I haven't met a more decent and hard-working group of men and women than those plant depar- tment people I've been fortunate enough to know. Let's demand quality and ef- ficiency from everyone who benefits from an association with this institution, and not just from those who are continually targeted and put down by peevish elitists.. -Sam Ferraro February 16 Engineering for LSA types ,I laic ut tc. ta W Maintenance begs to differ To the Daily: Last week a well-formulated opinion was offered on the topic of humanities for engineering students ("Fighting the death of liberal education," Daily, Feb. 8). The thrust of the article sup- ported the idea of retaining the specialized humanities program now a part of the engineering college. The question still remains as to who could teach humanities to engineers most effectively: LSA or the engineering college. It seems quite appropriate for engineers to have a broad view of the impact of their profession and that the way to keep their interest in humanities courses would be to tailor coursework to appeal to their sensibilities. However, I see no reason for allowing engineers to be exempt from the rigorousness required of all University graduates in their to complacency with regard to the social impact of their work. I agree, but I'd like to take this sentiment and go just a bit fur- ther to advance the argument to its next logical step, only in reverse. There is no reason why liberal arts students shouldn't have a tailor-made program to give them a good hard look at the technology those engineers are working with. These citizens can just as easily be lulled into complacen- cy, allowing the decisions about the far-reaching impact of our advancing technology to be made by a small handfull of specialists who may not be able to view their advances from all angles. We cannot relegate respon- sibility for control of technology only to engineers, computer ex- perts, etc., and still remain a democracv. Prof. gkolimowki.. To the Daily: In regards to your story "University maintainance: A high cost for inefficiency" (Daily, Feb. 15) I would like to comment. I'm an area maintenance man who happens to cover the East Engineering Building. I have worked there for over a year and I had never heard of Prof. William Ribbens until I read the central order and asked them if there had been any "too hot" complaints regarding that room. The secretary went all the way back to July of last year and found nothing recorded. I don't know who Prof. Ribbens called, but it wasn't anyone in, plant maintenance or the com- plaint would have been taken care of. Either the reporter wrote out of context or Prof. Rib- '3i 46l