[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index
][Thread Index
]
VOICES OF REJECTIONS TO INDIANA U.
- Subject: VOICES OF REJECTIONS TO INDIANA U.
- From: tmyint@xxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996 12:19:00
Subject: VOICES OF REJECTIONS TO INDIANA U. ALUMNI's TRIP
Dear ALL:
As you all know, Indiana University Alumni is going to leave USA for Burma
on Febuary 9, 1996. They will arrive at Rangoon on February 11 and spend
about 24 hours and leave Burma on Feb. 12. They called it "educational"
trip to Burma. It is wonderful that IU Alumni is going to learn about
Burma within 24 hours from handy lectures that will be given by dictators.=
=20
Indiana U. Alumni neglects the educational facts and materials that are
filed by scholarly respected international organizations and media such as
United States Department, United Nations, Amnesty International, New York=
=20
Times, The Wall Street Journal and etc.=20
Indiana University Alumni also rejected our appeal to cancel the
sponsorship of the trip to Burma. The following is the voicies from all
over the world to Indiana University Alumni Association.=20
Tun Myint=20
*************************************************************************
>From=20IU Free Burma Campaign Organizer
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 00:54:40 -0500 (EST)
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: pres@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, omeara@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx,
kenroger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, skirvinm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: APPEAL TO INDIANA UNIVERSITY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION=20
To: Mr. Jerry Tardy
Executive Director
Indiana University Alumni Association
President
Burmese Student Association December 7, 1995
Dear Mr. Tardy:
My name is Tun Myint. I am a Burmese student at Indiana University, and
the president of the Burmese Student Association. I am writing this letter
to express my concern about the IU Alumni Association's unanimous decision
to go ahead with its sponsorship of its trip to Burma.=20
As you know, Burma is ruled by a brutal and oppressive regime called SLORC
(State Law and Order Restoration Council). SLORC is one the most serious
violators of human rights in Asia, something that has been documented by
the United States State Department , the United Nations, Amnesty
International, Human Rights Watch (Asia) and other human rights monitoring
organizations. Among the human rights violations routinely practiced by
the government are forced labor, torture, rape and the complete denial of
civil rights and liberties to the citizens of Burma.=20
As a Burmese political refugee who was forced to leave my country in order
to avoid arrest, torture, and likely death, but also as a future IU
Alumnus, I am greatly troubled by IU's participation in SLORC's "1996
Visit Myanmar Year" project. I understand that the trip is intended as an
educational field trip. But I think it would be a great mistake to
participate in this kind of an educational process.=20
First, IU travelers are not going to see the true situation in Burma; they
will only see SLORC's distorted version of Burma. They will visit approved
sites and will talk only to officially approved people.=20
Second, by participating in SLORC's tourist project, the IU Alumni
Association will be furnishing SLORC with hard cash with which to continue
persecuting the Burmese people. By my calculation, the 25 tourists will be
providing SLORC with US $7,500 (25 x $3 00). With this money SLORC can
purchase 62,500 assault rifle bullets from mainland China, bullets which
can and will be used to shoot, and kill, those ethnic villagers whom the
SLORC government has made war on for the past seven years. This may seen
far fetched, but SLORC is a military dictatorship, it is starved for hard
currency, and it does spend most of this currency on military weapons and
supplies.=20
Third, by participating in SLORC's Tourist Project, IU Alumni Association
will be giving institutional support, and lending legitimacy, to an
illegitimate government, a government that has lost the support of its own
people and the support of the international community. SLORC has
consistently refused to recognize the legitimacy of democratic politics,
and it has invalidated an election, in 1990, in which democratic forces
were supported by the vast majority of the citizens of Burma. SLORC holds
political power in Burma for one reason--because it brutally wields
military power. On December 1, 1995, the White House issued a statement
deploring the current situation in Burma and calling on SLORC to transfer
power to the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the winner of
the Nobel Peace Prize. SLORC has consistently ignored such calls. By
participating in the Tourist Project, IU Alumni Association will be
lending SLORC's position credibility.=20
Fourth, it has been well-documented that SLORC has been using forced labor
at the tourist sites and railway stations through which international
travelers will pass on their trip through Burma. Hundreds of men, women,
and children have been forcibly conscripted into SLORC's effort to
improve its international image. IU Alumni Association should not support
such a use of forced labor.=20
As you know, the Alumni Associations of UCLA and Northwestern University
have decided for these reasons to cancel their trips to Burma. These are
major Alumni Associations of major American universities, and their
decisions were undertaken with seriousness and responsibility. As a
student of Indiana University I implore you to act with the same
seriousness and responsibility. Canceling the trip to Burma is the right
thing to do. Lending any kind of support or credibility to SLORC is the
wrong thing to do. Please do the right thing.
I would be happy to provide you and your colleagues with more information
about human rights abuses in Burma and about the use of forced labor in
the tourist projects. You can contact me by phone at 339-3888 or by e-mail
at tmyint@xxxxxxxxxxxx=20
Thank you very much for your patience.=20
Sincerely,
{signed}
Tun Myint
CC: President Myles Brand
Dean Patrick O'Meara, International Programs=20
Dean Kenneth A. Rogers, International Services
Mr. Max Skirvinm, Special Assistant to Executive Director of Indiana=20
University Alumni Association
*************************************************************************
>From=20a scholar from FRENCH
>From=20tmyint@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Jan 19 16:20:33 1996
Date: Thu, 07 Dec 1995 09:33:01 GMT
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: dhorne@xxxxxxxxxxx, tmyint@xxxxxxxxxxx, zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: IU Alumni Trip Burma=20
Mr. Jerry Tardy
Director, IU Alumni
Suite 219
Fountain Square
Bloomington
IN47405
Re: Indiana University Alumni's Decision.=20
ALUMNI GOING AHEAD WITH BURMA TRIP
cc: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
cc: iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxx
cc: Tun Myint President Burmese Student Association
Dear Mr. Tardy,
With all due respect, never did your name come to mean such significance
as now in the decision by the IU association to refuse the earnest and
historic request by human rights activists to withdraw its sponsorship of
the upcoming tour under IU colors.=20
Never before were the signals so clear and bright, and the need so dire,
in a time of darkness hanging over Burma. Perhaps there is still time to
shed some light on your fateful decision, as we are sure you interests are
good and your reasons obscured by conflict and interest.=20
The activists, including an IU student from Burma who fled his country's
bloody military crackdown in 1988, in which more than 3000 people were
massacred, tortured, raped and butchered. Survivors have come to you to
ask IU to withdraw its sponsorship on humanitarian grounds. But you have
snubbed them, and denigrated their request.=20
The association's seven-member board of managers voted unanimously in
favor of continuing the sponsorship. This is a grave insult to human
rights in Burma, the human rights movement in general around the world.
Unless of course, you too seek to carry a banner of Human Rights and
deliver it to officials there, from your personal non-political human
interests, as you need no political organization to stand up for human
rights.=20
You might even so wish to carry the United Nations Universal Declaration
of Human Rights of 1948 in your hand and give your tourist guests some
copies. "The purposes of the alumni tours are educational, not political,"
you declared, as executive director of the Alumni Association. Still, you
must surely know, that Burma officials care only about their brutal
politics, endorsing slave labor, rape and murder, and that for them,
tourism finances their military oppression.=20
"Our Alumni can choose from a wide array of Travel offerings and
visiting a country does not mean endorsing the policies of its
government," you said in a news release Friday. You even went so far
as to say that IU was one of the first universities to sponsor a trip
to China when travel restrictions were lifted in the late 1970s. One
has to wonder if you are proud of this adventure. "The university is
about communicating and exchanging ideas," said your news release.
"We know form experience that alumni who have visited a country are better
informed, ask more questions and help contribute to the free flow of ideas
that is essential both to democracy and the educational process." Better
done said then said. What are you going to tell your guests about =AB
democracy and the educational process =BB that they don=92t know already? A=
re
you going to help stop the killing, the rape of young children, the murder
of their fathers, or are you going to simply be a =AB nice complacent rich
smiling tourist =BB, duped and conned by the Asia warlords? Is that the
image you wish to send their ignorant masters? Is that how you wish to
represent Americans on an educational mission?=20
To date, 25 IU alumni have made reservations on the 18-day tour which
includes visits to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong. Visitors
will spend less than 24 hours in Burma. One day more of hell for the
Burmese. One more day of indifferent self-smugged tourism for you and your
trip. And at $6,000 to $8,000 a person, what a fine day for the Burmese
Mafia to take your easy money. We understand that Kenneth Beckley,
president of the 60,000-member Alumni Association, said that sponsorship
underscores the educational nature of the trip. "We are very sympathetic
to the concerns voiced by the representatives of the Free Burma movement,"
Beckley said. But we must ask, what is the nature of this strange =AB
sympathy =BB? Will you be sympathetic =BB when you see photos of dismembere=
d
men, women and children, or the living survivors who have had their lives
scarred forever.=20
The lecturer on the Burma part of the trip is an international management
consultant who has worked in Southeast Asia for the State Department and
the United Nations, Beckley said. That consultant will inform travelers
of the political situation in Burma. Let us hope he speak of his
experience for human rights, or else he has no right to cite these
institutions on his professional resum=E9.=20
The U.S. State Department's 1994 report on human rights practices in Burma
said that despite "an appearance of greater normalcy fostered by increased
economic activity, in fact the Government's unacceptable record on human
rights changed little in 1994." Human rights activists are especially
concerned about the use of forced labor on several projects in Burma.
Under pressure from California based Burmese activists, the UCLA Alumni
Association withdrew sponsorship from the same alumni tour. Northwestern
also withdrew sponsorship of a similar trip to Burma.=20
Knowledge grows with experience. I graduated from Yale where I was taught
kindness, reciprocity, honesty and sound values and traditions that have
upheld American institutions throughout its history, travelled widely,
actively on human rights struggles for freedom and democracy, worked years
at the United Nations in the Department of Public Information, attended
Johns Hopkins School of Advanced Studies in International Affairs, with
President Carter=92 Secretary of Defense Harold Brown and Paul itze,
senior Advisor to President Ronald Reagan.=20
I strongly encourage you to reconsider your decision, or at best cancel
your voyage to Burma. And in the worst case, if you must go there, to go
as an American who first and above all, brings a word of freedom to the
Burmese people, and not a signal of benevolence to its killing masters who
ignore re world opinion and outrage.=20
Christopher Dietrich=20
Free Burma Action Group France=20
cd@xxxxxxx
Christopher Dietrich=20
Chief Editor=20
What is the world waiting for?
UVI.net PREMIER MENSUEL CYBERNET CULTUREL ET HUMANITAIRE=20
II bis rue du colisee , 75008 Paris, FRANCE=20
tel. (33 1) 43 29 27 18 ;=20
43 29 50 71
*************************************************************************
>From=20an IU Law Student:
Subject: IMPORTANT ACTION HERE !!!PLEASE READ AND ACT
=20
The IU Alumni Association will soon be voting on whether to send a=20
delegation of IU alumni to Burma to assist the illegitimate military run=20
Burmese government (a.k.a. State Law and Order Restoration Council or=20
SLORC) in promoting tourism in Burma in 1996. =20
=20
I am writing to urge all concerned students, faculty, and staff to voice=20
your opposition to what would amount to IU's support of a military regime=
=20
that has oppressed and massacred thousands of its people. =20
=20
SLORC has improvished the Burmese people and their country for the past 33
years. In 1988, SLORC massacred some 3,000 pro-democracy demonstrators in
the capitol of Rangoon. And when the Burmese voted in 1990, the Burmese
people overwhelmingly rejected SLORC with an 85% mandate to the National
League for Democracy, the party led by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung
San Suu Kyi. But in light of this, SLORC annulled the results and placed
Ms. Suu Kyi under house arrest, from which she was just recently released
under mounting world pressure.=20
=20
Presently, SLORC is largely being funded through business ventures with
petroleum companies (among the largest supporters being Unocal and
Texaco), which are presently building a $1 billion pipeline running
through Burma to carry gas from the Gulf of Martaban to Thailand. This
energy deal currently provides SLORC with an annual national budget of
$400 million, half of which is spent to procure weapons (Wall Street
Journal, February 10, 1995) used against the Burmese people. These
companies have demonstrated that it is "business as usual" by turning a
blind eye to the human rights atrocities supported and promoted by their
dealings with SLORC.=20
=20
I am asking you to voice your opposition to the IU Alumni Association's
sponsorship of a trip that will, in essence, show support for an
illegitimate Burmese government that has continued to commit human rights
atrocities against its own people. Only after a democratically-elected
government is reinstated in Burma should IU even consider such a decision.=
=20
The telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of the people you should
contact are listed below. Please forward this message to others in the IU
community. And if you would like more information concerning the Free
Burma campaign, please feel free to contact me via email.=20
=20
Thank you for your time and consideration.
=20
Sang H. Kwon
email: sakwon@xxxxxxxxxxx
*****************************************************************
=20
IU ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
1. Jerry Tardy, Executive Director, 855-5700, email: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxx
2. Max Skirvin, Special Assistant to Executive Director, 855-5579,=20
=09email: skirvinm@xxxxxxxxxxx
=20
PRESIDENT'S OFFICE
1. Dr. Myles Brand, 855-4613, email: pres@xxxxxxxxxxx
******************************************************************
=20
The Letter from a Burmese professor:
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 95 17:44:51 PST
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: IU Alumni Travel to Burma
Dear Jerry Tardy:
I am disappointed that your office has refused to omit Burma from the=20
alumni association organized tour of Burma.
Your argument that alumni should be allowed to go anywhere in pursuit of=20
truth is indeed noble. But, in Burma, they would only be seeing what=20
SLORC wants them to see. Truth? You must, I am sure, be aware that SLORC=
=20
is proceeding at frantic pace to tidy up the country, dislocating huge=20
numbers of citizens (estimated at up to 500,000) from their homes which=20
have been destroyed to make way for construction. Slave labor has been=20
employed to build roads, structures, and other sites and places tourists=20
would be seeing, travelling on, or staying in.
The US$300 each tourist must has exchange for foreign exchange=20
certificates of equal value go directly into SLORC's coffers which=20
finances their heavy weapons and military hardware purchases to further=20
enslave the people and keep them at bay. You should be reading recent=20
statements from the White House, US Ambassador Albright's piece in The New=
=20
Republic, Amnesty International's documentation of atrocities being=20
committed by SLORC.
I have been an academic for thirty years. True, the purpose of academe is=
=20
the pursuit of truth. But embellishing the coffers of a repressive regime=
=20
is an extremely high cost that is totally unconscionable. If truth is=20
indeed your goal, please invite the Burmese ambassador in Washington to=20
make an appearance on your campus and grant equal time to others who have=
=20
been monitoring the Burmese scene. Such persons/organizations are Human=20
Rights Watch/Asia, Amnesty International, Physicians for Human Rights,=20
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, AFL-CIO. Leave out dissident-exiles=20
and Burma scholars Josef Silverstein, and a few others like me.
If you wish to check my bonafides, you had only to speak to Ken Rogers on=
=20
your campus.
I hope you saw the motion picture "Beyond Rangoon" for which I was special=
=20
advisor to Director John Boorman and his cast and crew on location in=20
Malaysia. I also acted in two very small, different parts (Buddhist monk=
=20
at the Reclining Buddha and as Aung San Suu Kyi's attorney/aide at the=20
night rally). I also refer you to the "Portrait" on page 8 of The=20
Chronicle of Higher Education, 29 September 1995. I have a nephew, U Mya=
=20
Win, an MP-elect, who has been sentenced to 25 years in Insein Prison. =20
Are your alumni visiting Insein Prison? Perhaps they can inquire into my=
=20
nephew's condition. The International Committee of the Red Cross has=20
been denied access to all the prisons in Burma. I may never see him again=
=20
on this earth.
Sincerely,
U Kyaw Win
Professor/Counselor
Orange Coast College
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
win@xxxxxxxx
(714) 432-5860
***************************************************************************
The Letter from STRIDER:
>From strider Wed Dec 6 19:04:18 1995
Received: (from strider) by igc4.igc.apc.org (8.6.12/Revision: 1.16 ) id TA=
A07526; Wed, 6 Dec 1995 19:04:18 -0800
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 1995 19:04:18 -0800
Message-Id: <199512070304.TAA07526@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Burma trip
Cc: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
Status: R
Dear Mr. Tardy,
I read with disappointment of your decision not to pull IU out of the
Burma trip. Before coming to Georgetown Law school this year, I spent two
years in SouthEast Asia as a journalist, writing primarily about Burma and
Thailand. I am disturbed by IU's involvement in the trip to Burma is
because the regime running that country is using slave labor to build the
roads and renovate the tourist sites for its Visit Myanmar Year 1996.=20
I've seen the laborers first hand and it is inescapable that there is a
direct connection between slave labor and tourism in Burma. Bringing
tourists to Burma under these conditions is naive at best and at worst,
rewards those who use slave labor.=20
I grew up in Indiana and my mother, one brother and a sister are IU alums.=
=20
I'm sorry to say it, but I'm ashamed of IU for participating in this trip.=
=20
Is it possible at least to drop the Burma leg of it from the itinerary?=20
Sincerely,
Douglas Steele
16 Franklin Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 234-0427 Home
(202) 441-0187 Mobile
Internet: strider@xxxxxxxxxxx
or
douglas.steele@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
***************************************************************************
The letter from Stanford Free Burma Campaign=20
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 11:10:12 -0800 (PST)
To: zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: letter
Unless you have any comments or suggestions, by the end of the day this=20
will be on the stanford email web page and everyone who logs on will send=
=20
this message to Jerry. it usually generates a hundred messages an issue a=
=20
day. (http://cedar.stanford.edu0
Dear Mr. Jerry Tardy,
I am appalled that the University of Indiana Alumni Association has
refused to cancel its trips to Burma (Myanmar). As you surely must know, th=
e
money spent in Burma goes directly to the SLORC and thus directly to the
forces oppressing the people, destroying the environment, crushing
democracy and violating any standards of human decency. As long as the
SLORC continues to have the financial support and tacit approval of
internatinal institutions like the University of Indiana, the democratic
forces and the Burmese people will never be able to even get to the
bargaining table to work for peace and justice in their country.
***************************************************************************=
**
Nick Thompson=09 Stanford SEAC
(415) 723-3307 (415) 725-7339 (fax)=09 =20
nickt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx seac@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
***************************************************************************=
*
***************************************************************************=
**
The Letter from North Western U.
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 1995 11:16:23 -0600
To: iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: tmyint@xxxxxxxxxxx, zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Indiana Alumni letter
Dear Indiana folks,
This is a copy of the letter I am sending to the Director of the Alumni
Association at IU. Good Luck!
Brad Simpson, Northwestern
Brad Simpson
Department of History
Northwestern University
2533 Jackson St. Apt. 2=
W
Evanston, IL 60201
Mr. Jerry Tardy
Director, Indiana University Alumni Association
Suite 219
Fountain Square
Bloomington, IN 47405
Dear Mr. Tardy, December 10, 1995
I am greatly disappointed to hear that, after meeting with concerned
students at Indiana University, the Indiana University Alumni Association
has decided not to drop its sponsorship of the Road To Mandalay tour
program. As a member of the Northwestern University Free Burma Coalition,
I have been involved in similar discussion with our own Alumni Association.
The Northwestern Alumni Association, recently joined by the Art Institute
of Chicago, decided to discontinue its sponsorship of the Road To Mandalay
program after being informed of the connections between tourism and human
rights violations in Burma.
As human rights monitors, refugee rights organizations, and virtually all
independent observers have documented, the State Law and Order Restoration
Council (SLORC) in Burma has pressed tens of thousands of Burmese civilians
into forced labor gangs. These virtual slaves grow food for the army,
porter supplies in the army's war against indigenous guerrillas, and, most
importantly, are preparing tourists sites for "Visit Myanmar Year."
Indigenous peoples have been forcibly relocated to sites accessible to
western tourists, including sites located along the route of the Road To
Mandalay tour. Hard currency brought in by western tourists directly funds
the SLORC, provided much-needed funds for the purchase of weapons and
ammunition, primarily from China.
Nearly all observers, including the US State Department, agree that the
State Law and Order Restoration Council is among the world's most brutal
and illegitimate regimes. Human rights abuses in Burma are a direct
function of the SLORC's need to control and terrorize a hostile civilian
population, as well as to provide means of economic support, including
tourism. Many western corporations, including Levi Strauss, have withdrawn
from Burma, observing that it is impossible to do business in Burma without
directly supporting the SLORC. Universities which continue to support
tourism to Burma, despite the overwhelming evidence of direct connections
to massive human rights abuses, are making a conscious decision to lend
support and legitimacy, however indirect, to a wholly corrupt, illegal, and
appallingly brutal military dictatorship.
Our Alumni Association has contended that tourism benefits both nations by
exposing citizens to different cultures and keeping the government open to
democratic influences. This argument misses the essential point, that the
SLORC's need to attract western tourism is one of the primary sources of
human rights abuses -- forced labor, forced portage, and forcible
relocation of indigenous peoples. The SLORC has already proven itself
oblivious to foreign criticism so long as hard currency and a handful of
western corporations permit the regime to retain its stranglehold on power.
I strongly urge you to immediately announce that the Indiana University
Alumni Association is withdrawing its support from the Road To Mandalay
tour. As a socially responsible educational institution, Indiana
University has an obligation to its students, its alumni, and to the
community at large to sever its ties to activities which contribute to
human rights abuses in Burma and elsewhere. I eagerly await your reply.
Sincerely,
Bradley R. Simpson
--
Bradley R. Simpson
Northwestern University
simpsonb@xxxxxxx
***************************************************************************=
*
-From California
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 1995 22:44:18 -0800
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: No Subject
Mr. Jerry Tardy
Director, IU Alumni
Suite 219
Fountain Square
Bloomington, IN 47405
I am very disappointed that the Alumni Association decided to go ahead with=
=20
their alumni trip to Burma. Every tourist who steps off the plane in Burma=
will
fork over foreign currency that will help bankroll the SLORC dictatorship's=
=20
reign of terror.
Thousands of Burmese have been enslaved in order to "clean-up" the
country's tourist attractions.
This trip shows a complete lack of conscience on the part of the=20
administrators at Indiana University.
Alan McCann-Sayles
McKinleyville, CA 95519
***************************************************************************=
*
>From___
Date: Thu, 21 Dec 95 12:28:08 -0600
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Alumni's trip to Burma
Mr. Tardy,
I have been told that although the Alumni Association has been
informed about the heinous human rights violations, murders, rapes, and
other crimes inflicted on the Burmese people by SLORC, you still are going
to let the Alumni Association take it's trip to Burma next year. Are you
really that apathetic? Doesn't the fact that you are going to be supporting
and condoning the human rights violations in Burma by traveling there bothe=
r
you at all? How can it not? The SLORC is going to use all the money made b=
y
this "Visit Myanmar Year" to buy weapons and other superfluous items,
instead of giving it back to the people who have earned and deserve it.=20
Thousands of people are being (and have been already) put into
forced labor to restore the country's infrastructure and rebuild historica=
l
sites so it will "appear" to be a great place when you visit it next year
with the Alumni Association. You are directly supporting this, and I don't
understand why. The Burma activists on campus have filled you (and all the
administrators) in on the situation, so why are you still going? I just
don't understand your apathetic attitude. I guess words can't describe how =
I
feel right now---I'm just appalled, even horrified, that you would still
consider going to Burma. Do you realize how many Burmese people you are
killing, raping, torturing, by visiting Burma? I don't think you do. It's a
gigantic number, though, more than your apathetic mind can imagine.=20
Apathy is a mystery to me. I just don't understand how people can
find out about a horrible situation (take the human rights violations in
Burma for example) and then not do anything to help make that situation
better, or at least educate others about the situation so they can try to
improve it. I'm just curious as to your reasoning in this decision. Please
tell me why the Alumni Association is still planning on visiting Burma next
year. I really am interested in your reasoning. Like I said, it's a mystery
to me. I'll be waiting for your reply.
Jeff Morawetz
***************************************************************************=
**
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996 10:14:51 -0500 (EST)
To: iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: trips (fwd)
FYI
Mr. Tardy,
I'm writing to express my dismay at your selection of destinations for=20
the IU Alumni trips. Asia is a wonderful place with so many=20
internesting, politically and environmentally viable destinations,=20
there is no reason to to go to Burma. In doing so, you provide the=20
resources which enable an oppressive regime to continue an unconscionable=
=20
form of government. The killing, torture, and imprisonment have been=20
well documented. The ability of the developed countries to influence=20
change has also been well documented. The end of apartheid came from=20
within and without.
As part of an institution dedicated to teaching, you have a duty to lead,=
=20
to teach by example. To invest in SLORC is a breach of that duty. You=20
encourage violence and fear. =20
I've lived in Asia and traveled in Asia. The quiet of a temple, the=20
remains of colonial grandeur, the scent of durian, and the bustle of an=20
Asian city, can all be found elsewhere. It can be found in countries=20
more respectful of the rights of their populace.
Andrew Pardieck=20
***************************************************************************=
**
>From a studnet from Taiwan:
Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 09:13:48 -0500 (EST)
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Stop official sponsorship for trip to Burma
Dear Director,
=09As a Taiwanese, I have empathy with the Burma people who strive
for their democracy and freedom, because Taiwanses have been through the
same hardship for democracy. In order to support the "International Free
Burma Movement", I urge you to stop official sponsorship for the trip to
Burma that is still controlled by autocratic dictators.=20
Sincerely yours,
Shou-Chien Lee
MPA Student, SPEA
***************************************************************************=
*
>From an IU student:
Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 12:04:20 -0500 (EST)
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: alumni trip to Burma
Mr. Tardy -
For what it is worth, I must stand in total opposition to an IU alumni=20
trip to Burma,a trip which would support the financial means of an=20
oppressive, undemocratic regime. Please reconsider.
David M. Pantos
JD/MSES `96
dpantos@xxxxxxxxxxx
***************************************************************************
>From an IU student:
Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 13:44:53 -0500 (EST)
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: IU Alumni Burma trip
Mr. Tardy:
I was very disappointed to hear that the IU Alumni Association decided=20
not to cancel sponsorship of the trip that will visit Burma. The=20
infrastructure the tourists will be using and paying for was built with=20
slave labor and political repression. The profits gained by SLORC will=20
be used to buy more weapons. The tourists will see only what the=20
military regime wants them to see, and the presence of U.S. tourists and=20
corporate investment legitimizes SLORC's position of power. As an Indiana=
=20
alumnus working on my 2nd degree from IU, I strongly urge you to reconsider=
=20
your decision.
=09Thank you,
=09Donald Winslow
***************************************************************************=
**
>From an IU Student:
Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 14:19:03 -0500 (EST)
To: iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Dealings with Burma (fwd)
Mr. Myint
=09I received your message regarding the situation in Burma, and the=20
plans of the IU Alumni and sent this message to Mr Tardy and Mr. Skirvin=20
in response. I hope it will help.
=09=09=09=09Chaim Julian
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 11:58:51 -0500 (EST)
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: skirvinm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Dealings with Burma
Dear Mr. Tardy,
=09In light of the terrible human rights violations pereptrated by=20
the current military junta in Burma, I think it would be exceedingly=20
inappropriate for the IU Alumni Association to support that government by=
=20
helping them promote tourism.
=09=09=09=09Chaim Julian, Graduate Student
***************************************************************************=
*
>From an IU student:
Date: Mon, 4 Dec 1995 15:44:28 -0500 (EST)
To: iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Burma trip
It recently came to my attention that the Alumni Association which=20
represents the university which I attend, and will soon represent me as=20
an individual, will be taking a trip to Burma. I find this very=20
troublesome, and to be truthful, it angers me greatly. I want make you=20
aware that I think this a terrible act on the part of a group which=20
should pride itself enough to visit areas not known to torture its own=20
citizens. If Burma is a beautiful enough place for you to visit with=20
your group, then you should be hoping more than anyone that it can be set=
=20
free from an oppressive government. Your support does not show this, in=20
fact it shows you encourage such behavior. =20
I do not want to be part of such an affair, and this single act would be=20
enough for me to never become part of the IU Alumni Association. I would=
=20
find it very difficult to support a group with my dollars, knowing the=20
people who profit from my generosity think this way about such a terrible=
=20
situation. I ask you, on behalf of a tortured land, please do not send=20
IU alumni or dollars into such an area. Thank you.
Brad Horn
Class of 1999
***************************************************************************
>From a student from Japan:
Date: Tue, 05 Dec 95 20:06:41 EST
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: IU Alumni Association's sponsorship of trip to Burma
Dear Mr Tardy:
I do not understand why IU Alumni Association decided to
continue the sponsorship of trip to Burma.
I am sure you're aware that UCLA and Northwestern alumni
associations canceled sponsorships of similar trips.
Please explain the reason for IU Alumni Association's decision
in IDS or elsewhere.
;;; (Mr.) TANAKA Tomoyuki (Tanaka is my family name.)
;;;
;;; mailing address:=09TANAKA Tomoyuki
;;;=09=09=09Eigenmann Hall 393
;;;=09=09=09Bloomington, IN 47406, USA
;;;
;;; phone: (812) 857-2603
;;;=20
;;; e-mail address: tanaka@xxxxxxxxxxx
***************************************************************************
Voices from UCLA:
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 1995 16:40:36 -0800
To: Peter <peter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, Dinh Le <dinh@xxxxxxxxxxx>,
Cindy Lin <cjihlin@xxxxxxxx>, Dawn Mortazavi <sepideh@xxxxxxxx>,
David Rice <drice@xxxxxxxx>, Jay Santiago <jayloc@xxxxxxxx>,
Ilya Sharapov <isharapo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Pushpa Venkatesan <pushpa@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Russ White <whiter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxx, zni@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: IU Alumni Going Ahead With Burma Trip
Hello EC Folks,
I hope you all are doing well despite this unfortunate time of the quarter.
I just got word that Indiana University Alumni Association refused to
withdraw from the same Burma tour that UCLA Alumni Association pulled out
of.
The director of IU's Alumni Association, Jerry F. Tardy argued that "the
purposes of the alumni tours are educational, not political."
Unfortunately, by continuing to sponsor this tour, they ARE being
political. Every tourist who enters Burma pays $300 which is mandatorily
exchanged into kyats (Burma's currency) at an overinflated rate. The
revenue from this skewed exchange rate goes directly to the SLORC in
support of their illegal rule and brutal treatment of Burmese people.
Additionally, as you all know, it has been documented that forced labor is
being used to prepare for "1996 Visit Myanmar Year." By participating in a
tour to Burma, the IU Alumni Association is endorsing such practices. Is
this not political?
Tun Myint, an IU Burmese student is asking IU students to write letters to
the IU Alumni Association director. I thought that letters from other
students, especially UCLA students because of the linked tour, could also
be useful. So if you could take a 10 minute break from your studies to
write a little note to express your concern.
Please either write your letter to:
Mr. Jerry Tardy
Director, IU Alumni
Suite 219
Fountain Square
Bloomington
IN47405
or send an e-mail message to:
jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
If you send an e-mail, please send a copy to me (yuki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx).
Also let me know if you write a letter. Thanks! - Yuki
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Yuki Kidokoro
UCLA Environmental Coalition
308 Westwood Plaza / 300KH
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 206-4438
(310) 206-3755 fax
yuki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Never doubt that a small
group of thoughtful, committed
[people] can change the world;
indeed, it is the only thing that
ever does." - Margaret Meade
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
***************************************************************************=
*
>From an IU student:
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 1995 08:41:33 -0500 (EST)
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: I object
Mr. Tardy,
I write to urge you to reconsider your planned trip to Burma. In order to
express support for democracy and human rights in Burma, we should not=20
provide hard cash to a oppressive regime.
Brad Smith
M.A., Sociology 1995
PhD Candidate, Sociology
***************************************************************************
>From an IU student:
Date: Thu, 7 Dec 95 15:34:05 EST
To: jtardy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: iuburma@xxxxxxxxxxx
As an official IU alumnus (MS '92) and continuing graduate student,
I would like to register my 100% opposition to Indiana University's
participation in the so-called "1996 Visit Myanmar Year" program.
IU's involvement serves only to prolong, sustain, support, and =20
justify in the eyes of the world the criminal activities of Burma's
military dictators. The IU Alumni Affairs office should take the
time to enlighten itself as to the true nature of the situation in
Burma by reading a few of the UN or Amnesty International reports =20
available. In any case, IU's disgraceful sponsorship of this program
should be immediately discontinued.
-Jim Marshall
Department of Computer Science
Cognitive Science Program
***************************************************************************
=20
=20