MAGAZINE Vo l u m e 5 I s s u e 3
(the s-word)
In the Netherlands, Dutch eel fishermen have become just as endangered as their catch. As the North Atlantic eel disappears, so does the fishing tradition, a trend that mirrors the decrease in many European countries.
California’s prison system
now takes up over 10 percent of the state’s budget, and is ranked among the worst and most overcrowded in the nation. In April of 2009, a three-judge panel ruled that the state must reduce its prison population by onethird.
On February 27th, 2010, a 8.8 magnitude earthquake took about 400 lives in Chile. Although the earthquake was stronger than then the 7.0 magnitude quake that struck Haiti about six weeks earlier, the death toll will be less extensive because of strict building codes.
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The Department of Defense in Washington, D.C., has issued a new policy that will expand access to popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, allowing troops to access them from the front lines. Some of these sites were banned in the Marine Corps and the Army.
The death toll from the January 12th earthquake that hit Haiti is estimated to have reached 230,000.
The Enxet Indigenous communities in the Bajo Chaco region of Paraguay remain excluded from their lands and deprived of their traditional livelihood, despite rulings in their favor by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
The European Union is moving toward the first bailout in the history of its common currency, and will encourage the reluctant German and French governments to buy debt from Greece, which faces 23 billion in debt repayments.
China is facing an increasingly acute labor shortage, even as American workers deal with unemployment. Factories are struggling to find enough employees, and have raised their wages by as much as 20 percent.
The preliminary peace treaty signed on February 23, 2010, between the most powerful rebel movement in Darfur and the Sudanese government, could help bring Darfur’s conflict to an end. Yet many are deeply concerned about its follow-through.
Militant networks in Pakistan, bourgeoning with a new generation of young people, have become more sophisticated and tech-savvy. Internal attacks have killed more than 3,021 Pakistanis as the groups become better trained than the national police academy.
The rift between Rwanda and France, which stems from what French President Sarkozy admits were “grave errors of judgment” by France in the 1994 Rwandan genocide, have started to heal after Sarkozy made a diplomatic visit to Rwanda in February. Johannesburg, South Africa launched its Bus Rapid Transit system in August 2009, which hopes to link disadvantaged areas with business districts and suburbs. But wealthy South Africans are protesting the buses, claiming that the routes are ill-conceived and inconvenient. .
Australia’s Prime Minister has
threatened to take the Japanese Foreign Minister to the International Court of Justice if Japan does not stop whaling in the Southern Ocean. Japan harvests several hundred whales per year south of Australia. vol. 5 issue 3
EDITOR’S NOTE David Azevedo Editor In Chief
The S-word—service—is the least understood word on this campus. That’s cause for alarm, considering that the very identity of our school rests on this word. Whether or not this reliance is a good thing is not as important as the fact that there is no dialogue, specific definition, or central embodiment of the s-word anywhere on this campus. So what should your community’s social justice publication— which has repeatedly claimed to be the embodiment of the LMU mission statement’s “service of faith and promotion of justice”— say about this issue? We’re going as far away as possible from defining service, instead focusing on what we feel is at the heart of the matter: we have gotten too comfortable with letting such an important part of our heritage slide into a state of obscurity. This very obscurity threatens our education now and for future LMU students. Few universities in this country are so ambitious to claim they can give an “education of the whole person” to its students. Even fewer actually do it. I believe we happen to be one of those few. But how can we keep this reputation from sliding in this obscurity? Passion believes the best definitions are those that are experienced—most particularly, in conversation. Heather Moline takes the issue from a journalistic standpoint, gathering perspectives of the s-word from all corners of the campus community. I sit down with prominent leaders of the Greek and Service Org communities to get their top-down take on the issue. Sarah Carrett offers an individual experience that highlights how she connects with the
idea of service. It doesn’t just take a dialogue about the s-word to better define it--it also takes action. Annie Daly reveals just how effective writing a letter to your representative is, drawing upon her experience interning for a Member of Parliament. Russell Lum and Steven Ayala write about two men whose lives have been shaped by service— Greg Mortensen, who has built hundreds of schools for children in Central Asia, and Roy Bourgeois, founder of the movement to shut down the School of the Americas. Rihannon Koehler illuminates the dire yet relatively unreported condition of orphan trafficking in the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Haiti. Matt Rice, in photography and words, tells his story on the Alternative Break (AB) interfaith dialogue trip to India this past winter. Perhaps the most resonant piece to me, in the context of our struggle to understand our identity and relationship to service, is a special contribution by Larika Mailler, an Indian college student. In reflecting on how she met LMU students, she makes the powerful statement that “I believe in that ability to recognize in a stranger… the same beauty you wish to be seen in you”. This, at least for me, is the closest I’ve felt to defining service— because I’ve seen this ability in action on this very campus. What we are lacking is not the ability, but it’s use. When we find our own individual definition, it’s our duty to share it, in the effort of making the “s-word” become “service” once again.
WHAT’S INSIDE 4 EDITOR’S NOTE by David Azevedo
10 I See You by Larika Mailler
5 You Do: Bring some Passion into your everyday life with these tips.
11 You Speak: Poetic Justice
6 Passion Places: Businesses with our stamp of approval 7 The Spotlight: James Clements Christine Nangle 8 Glimpses of God: by Matt Rice
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12 Cover Story: The S-Word at LMU by Heather Moline 14 Passion Head to Head: Greeks vs. Service Orgs by David Azevedo 16 Children in Crisis: Adoption controvery in Haiti by Rhiannon Koehler
17 State of Emergency by Alex van Doren 18 The Meaning of Volunteering by Sarah Carratt 19
Why Writing Your Representative Works by Annie Daly
20 Texaco’s Toxic Legacy by Gabriela Dematteis 22 Visitors to LMU by Russell Lum and Steven Ayala
WATCH
The Hurt Locker (2009).
READ
Enough: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty
LISTEN GO CLICK
NO
This war thriller about an American bomb squad in Iraq is one of the most acclaimed movies of 2009. The movie condenses the agonizing psychological and moral complications of warfare, and has an unsettling but important theme: people often take pleasure in war.
by Roger Thurow and Scott Kilman. This absorbing and readable book explains the problems with the legacy of the Green Revolution and foreign food aid to Africa. It attempts to lay out an illuminating solution to the immensely complicated problem of world hunger.
Yellowbird. This is a CD of spoken word poetry from award-winning poet and activist Andrea Gibson. It deals with issues such as war, politics, rape, and homosexuality in a raw, powerful way.
Olvera Street. This site, now a California State Historic Landmark, represents a romantic vision of old Mexico. Try to go during traditional Mexican holidays such as All Souls Day or Cinco De Mayo, when the area is alive with rituals and activity.
www.causecast.org. This site describes itself as a one-stop-shop for philanthropy and activism. It helps visitors connect to the causes, charities, and issues that they care about.
PROTEST
Exorbitant bank fees and deceptive practices of credit card companies and mortgage brokers.
BOYCOTT
This company infamously markets breast milk substitutes to mothers in developing countries, effectively eliminating their dependence from the product and leading to the death and suffering of babies. My parents, who worked in Sudan and Somalia in the ‘80s, personally witnessed this happening.
SUPPORT
Sign a petition to start a Consumer Financial Protection Agency at www.change.org/action.
Nestlé.
The Right of American students to have healthy meals, including vegetarian choices, in their schools. Over 30 million children don’t have these options, and it shows in the childhood obesity epidemic. Go to www.SchoolLunchPetition.org to take action. By Naivasha Dean , Executive Editor of Content Senior, Film and TV Production
vol. 5 issue 3
S E C A L P N O PASSI THE ARBOR Pass ndly businesses with t these local eco-frie
oval! ion’s stamp of appr
Check ou
THE GREEN LIFE Founded on the Jesuit ideals of an LMU gradu-
ate, this store encourages eco-conscious lifestyles and is designed to be a “one-stop shop for lifestyle and home products made of organic or ecofriendly material.” In addition to being earthfriendly, all products sold in this store have been manufactured in a socially responsible manner as certified by reputable fair trade organizations or written supplier pledges. 2409 Main Street Santa Monica, CA 90405 (310) 392-4702
http://www.thegreenlifeco.com/green-goods
THE GREEN TEMPLE The Green Temple is a vegetarian restau-
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COLLECTIVE Arbor designs products with the goal of
replacing as many environmentally harmful materials as possible with ecologically based alternatives. The mission is to deliver performance, durability, and style in the most responsible way possible. Even the basics are important to Arbor. They print on recycled paper only, use soy-based inks; recycle all office waste; and build out retail/ office space and point of purchase displays with recycled and/or sustainable materials.
http://www.arborcollective.com/ ARBOR - RETAIL SHOWROOM 102 Washington Blvd., Venice, CA 90292 (310) 577-1131
TENDER GREENS A restaurant that supports small local
rant that works with local. This restaurant emphasizes healthy eating and living, not only preparing delicious food, but also taking conscious steps to help the environment. All of their “to-go” containers are either corn based or recycled.
farms, Tender Greens believes in using organic ingredients. They are also careful to make sure all of their meat was prepared humanly. All of their beef comes from grain-fed hormone free cows, and their chickens are raised on the range of Petaluma Poultry, not in cages.
1700 S. Catalina Ave. Redondo Beach, CA 90277 (310) 944-4525 http://www.greentemple.net/
9523 Culver Boulevard Culver City, California 90232 (310) 842-8300 http://www.tendergreensfood.com/
Mar. 2010
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT:
STAFF SPOTLIGHT:
& LMU LIGHTS OUT
CAMPUS MINISTRY
JAMES CLEMENTS
James Clements decided to take matters into his own hands. As he was living on campus over the summer of 2009, the junior Mechanical Engineering major noticed for the first time how brightly lit up UHALL was every night... at 2AM. “It didn’t make much sense,” he says. “For all of the green initiatives going on at LMU, lights are such a visual thing. It’s really obvious when you drive by on Lincoln that a lot of people with offices at LMU don’t care about leaving their lights on, and that is the epitome of non-environmentalism.” This sentiment is what spurred his first midnight roam through UHALL in August. “I wasn’t sure at first who was leaving them on, so I started writing down room numbers and collecting the data. I would go back a few times to make sure that it wasn’t a one-time thing, and that’s when I realized it was the same people leaving their lights on every time,” he explains. If you ever came across one of James’ polite notes outside of an office last fall, then you’ll know what happened next. James started the group “LMU Lights Out,” a “loosely based coalition” of students that periodically kept track of who was leaving lights on in UHALL, and left notes urging professors and staff members to turn off their lights to save energy. Amazingly, LMU Lights Out saw an instant effect. “About three-fifths of the lights that were on were turned off in the following weeks,” says James. Note recipients were given the opportunity to talk back through the LMU Lights Out e-mail posted on each note. The only concerns arose when his group began to post the same notes in the bathrooms. Some professors were worried getting lights turned off on them unexpectedly and the related safety issues. To address the problem, James talked to Energy Management, who installed efficient LED safety lights in the UHALL bathrooms. James and his group don’t do much midnight roaming anymore. “The change leveled off after a while. We figured that the people who were still leaving lights on just didn’t care. So we decided to do more of an internal campaign that is supported by the university’s staff.” The group, along with the Facilities Management, developed a sticker that professors can put up in their office windows to encourage energy awareness. It says, “I want a greener LMU. I conserve electricity, I don’t waste water, and I spread awareness.” The sticker should be up and around campus in the next month. James also plans to work with the new sustainability coordinator, Joseph Rasmussen, in the coming year. Beyond turning your lights off (and not using those automatic door openers for handicapped persons if you can help it – apparently, they waste huge amounts of energy), James has another request for the LMU community. “We don’t have more environmentalism on this campus because not enough people express that they want it. If you want something, go talk to the Dean of Students about it. That office is dedicated to listening to students, but they don’t get that much feedback.” So go do it! By Naivasha Dean , Executive Editor of Content Senior, Film and TV Production Picture courtesy of Bryce Graff
CHRISTINE NANGLE
“Be the change you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi spoke these words with the intention of inspiring people to change themselves as a means of impacting the world around them. Christine Nangle, the former Assistant Director of Communications and Media at LMU, has taken these words to heart by making a career change that is sure to positively influence the greater LMU community. In her former position, Nangle collaborated with top-level administrators to develop and promote the image and reputation of LMU. Her primary responsibility was to manage all external communication for the Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering and the College of Communication and Fine Arts. She did this by producing newsletters, drafting and distributing press releases, serving as an LMU spokesperson to the media, and developing marketing strategies. Although enthusiastic about public relations, there was something missing in her life. Inspired by a homily given by Father Erps, Christine Nangle realized she needed to embark on a new professional journey. She felt a call to incorporate her passion for social justice, service, and spiritual growth into her career. “We are all called to live our passions and do what we love,” explains Nangle. Her commitment to her community and faith was cultivated during her undergraduate years at LMU. While at LMU, Nangle was actively involved in Campus Ministry. She attended mass at Eastlake Juvenile Hall, tutored children in reading, prepared food for the poor, went on De Colores trips and spiritual retreats, and participated in CLC and Fright Night. In 2001, she received the James R. Loughran Award for Community Service, a testament to her dedication to community involvement. Her commitment to service stretched far beyond her time at LMU. At the USC Annenberg School for Communication, where she earned her M.A. in Broadcast Journalism, Nangle volunteered at Homeboy Industries, where she tutored former gang members. After graduate school, she worked in public affairs at the Alaskan Deptartment of Military & Veterans Affairs and was a reporter and news anchor at the #2 and #3 broadcasting stations in Alaska. In 2006, she returned to LMU and began her public relations career. For the past year and a half, Nangle has taught a class called “Writing for Public Relations,” an upper division course in the College of Communication and Fine Arts. As a teacher and mentor, she works with students and is able to become more involved in the LMU community. This interaction with students helped her realized she was ready to take on a new challenge that combined her love for communications, teaching, building meaningful relationships, and putting her faith into action through service. Nangle’s challenge took the form of the newly created Campus Ministry Outreach position. Her new job focuses on students, service and spirituality – her true passions. Not only is she a “million times happier,” she is also able to be an active agent of social justice and spiritual growth in the workplace. “Working with students is the best part of my job. I am able to help them find spiritual direction.” Christine Nangle is a true example of “being the change you want to see in the world” because she is living out her call to serve others and continuing her lifelong commitment to social justice. By Katie McGrath , Freshman, Political Science Picture courtesy of Katie McGrath
vol. 5 issue 3
Glimpses of God A student’s journey across the faiths in India by Matt Rice, Sophomore, Film and TV Production
India is considered the “Cradle of the World’s Religions.” Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism were all born within India’s borders. A census conducted in 2001 revealed that 80.5 percent of India’s population is Hindu, 13.4 percent is Muslim, 2.3 percent is Christian, 0.8 percent is Buddhist, and 0.4 percent is Jain. While visiting a village just outside of Pune, India, our Alternative Breaks group of 11 LMU students and two staff members was approached by a man in traditional Hindi clothing. He identified himself as the village’s education administrator, a position that he had held for over 50 years. Immediately after his introduction, he asked about the nature of our visit, which was to study inter-religious dialogue. 8
Mar. 2010
Then, he pointed out a building to us. “That building over there is an Islamic Mosque. Beside it stands a Hindu temple.” The buildings were close enough together to touch at the same time. Many Indian cities and villages like this one have been able to establish peaceful tolerance in a world that appears to be constantly tormented by religious persecution and violence. We were reminded in one of our very first lectures about Hindu-Muslim relations from Fr. Paul Parathazam, “Religion teaches peace, and yet has become one of the most potent forces of violence in the world today.” But how have varying religions been able to find this peaceful medium within India? Fr. Noel Sheth, director of Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, one of the most renowned Jesuit institutions, has devoted most of his life to studying Buddhism and Hinduism and is one of the leading scholars in translating Sanskrit. He strongly urges, “We need other religions, or glimpses of God, that we don’t have. Without other religions, I would not understand my own religion. It gives a richer, fuller version of who God is.” We spent a lot of time with Indian college students from a youth group called Searching and Service in Unity (SSU) that promotes integration despite differences in religious backgrounds. The students told us that even though there is a national call for religious tolerance, social groups at schools are often divided between religious affiliations. However, these students felt a call to serve and were more than willing to set aside their religious differences to work together under the SSU banner. Similar to SSU, many organizations that we visited showed the same respect and care for understanding the differing religions found in India. An organization called Maher, founded by a group of nuns, was a perfect example of this. Maher in Mahara means “Mother’s home”, a haven of hope and security for women and children that face domestic
abuse. No matter how busy Maher is, they will never deny any woman or child who comes to them for assistance. I personally remember the response I got when I asked Sr. Manju, a staff member, how religion was dealt with at Maher. “At Maher, we practice no particular religion. We only follow the religion of humanity.” She explained that everyone at Maher could freely practice individual worship. Despite the fact that Maher was started by a group of Christian nuns, it is maintained and serviced by Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians alike. Maher is denies all religious ties because the organization believes that forced conversion strips people from their religious identity. Being exposed to this overwhelming love and appreciation for all religions instilled a strong sense of hope in me that the violence engrained in the institution of religion could be replaced with something far more powerful. Organizations like the SSU and Maher prove that anyone can unite against a common enemy or social injustice, and still retain their own individual beliefs whether it be Christianity, Islam, or even Atheism. Only with the dedication of each individual’s humility for the greater good can cooperation be achieved within every union. Discovering knowledge of the unknown can only be gained by first admitting that which we truly don’t know. Fr. Noel fondly reminded us numerous times that “a fool is always smarter than a wise man, because a fool can always ask more questions than a wise man can answer.”
vol. 5 issue 3 Pictures courtesy of Matt Rice
vol. 5 issue 3
I SEE YOU. by Larika Mailler
T
oday I, along with some members of the S.S.U. (our inter-religious youth group), had an interaction with about 12 American students from the Loyola Marymount University. At first we just sat across from each other, uncertain about what to talk about and how to start. But as the discussion progressed from introductions, preconceived notions we had of each other's country and people to general opinions about life and religion, it just struck a chord with me how unbelievably "typical" and at the same time "unpredictable" we are as a race. The human race. If there ever was a paradox to compete! In every group of people no matter how varied or not, irrespective of their places of origin and what they do or do not believe, you find joy, you find warmth and a sense of recognition. How often do we pay attention to what it truly means to belong to and feel a part of a species?! We had expected to meet youngsters from a entirely different world. One we'd have to question deeply with a hope to understand. But instead, we connected with people our age, who only happen to live in a country a couple of oceans away, who have such similar thoughts, opinions, likes and dislikes!
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They, like us, are also searching. Searching for meaning. Searching for fulfillment. Searching for ways to make their lives, and the lives of people around them, better. Searching for truth. I honestly do not believe that there is any one answer to our many questions; Or that there is any one thing to find at the end of this search we're all partaking in. I believe only that there are lessons to learn along the way and love and goodness to discover and grow in. That, for me, is where the beauty of this life lies. I believe in that ability to recognize in a stranger or your closest friend the same beauty you wish to be seen in you, because you know deep within, without a doubt, it is there. I believe in seeing and being seenNo strings (and by strings I mean judgement) attached. And I hope the 'whole' world, sooner than later, will believe it too. Larika Mailler, an Indian college student from the Indian youth group Searching & Service in Unity (SSU), wrote this reflection after meeting the LMU students on the 2010 Winter Alternative Break trip to India.
POETIC JUSTICE I am in this aged world.
Jenna Knickerbocker, Junior, English
I am in this aged world. But I don’t fit In here with These alien faces. They tell me to be this and that. But I am there and then. I don’t recognize their eyes. They look at mine squinting at my smallness I look the other way To your direction But without an answer. Why am I trapped here. They even ask me The question I ask Myself. Yes, I believe I stopped aging seven years ago. But who cares. This number qualifies me For this life. am I ready To let go of that warm safety of that broken cozy clock. I believed you. It was to stay broken forever, But you fixed it. Now I am here, sleeping a Million years away with artificial time the time that tells me who I should be.
they don’t know who I am, fake everywhere can’t tell me what to do. But I can’t escape Them. I hear the ticking Telling me to grow up. For what So I can leave my past my life Make a new one With a stranger with the alien eyes Cause that’s what I’m supposed to do. Is that really how the world works, is that how I should be, become this outside on the inside telling me what to do, who to be. I know I am Not this. But over there with you. Where I left off, Where I pressed pause On our storybook fairytale For me, life. Laughs. Jumps, falls. Smiles, cries. Hugs. Songs, weirds. Couches. Friends, togethers, hands. Happies, bubbles, meows. Eyes, hearts, lips.
Unity Poem
Hannah Sheehan, Sophomore, English
We stand tethered, Our hands clasped, Our heartstrings tied together. I belong to you, and you to me. Love is a knot none but we can sever. You are a friend, my mother, You are a stranger, yet my brother. And so I find that we, we belong to one another. You are the brightest girl in my history class, Or the man who always wipes the window’s glass, My affection for you grows as the days and weeks come to pass. You are the ignorant, the selfish, the blind, You, my friend, are the woman next in line. You and I will see our lives begin to intertwine. You’re the child I played soccer with in Belize, You’re the aged man with arthritis in his poor knees. My friend, I promise, one day you will find peace. No matter who you are, Know that I am yours. I pray that you will find yourself by my side, If so, I hope we will not be untied. You and I can live in harmony if we please. It does not matter whether we live next door or across the seas. There is so much love to give, and so little time. We must count on each other to continue the rhyme.
Please don’t turn the page.
vol. 5 issue 3
The Easy Way Out? The S-Word at LMU
By Heather Moline, Senior, English It began when we all tore open those manila envelopes to find our dreams either fulfilled or crushed.
That night, in the long, tense line that curved down from the Center for Service and Action (CSA), and through the years that have followed, I noticed too many of two particular tendencies. First, to toss that service org rejection letter and never mention the s-word again. Second, to take home that new-Marian-gleam, stick it on your wall, and think your job is done.
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It continued when I led an Alternative Break (AB) trip this winter to East LA. My co-leader Janine Jimenez and I were a little disappointed when all but a single freshman who was placed on our trip dropped it. No one wanted to go to East LA for a week. Could I blame them? I too had initially applied for the India trip—to soak in spice smells and Hinduism. I too was a little incredulous about taking not a plane, but a CSA van, down the I-5 to Boyle Heights—which was the defining week of my life. But this article isn’t about my AB experience. It’s about the misconceptions surrounding the S-word at LMU. From the second you arrive on campus and wander into Tom King’s office, or first get beaten over the head by the mission statement, you realize that service is going to either directly or indirectly play a part in the person you will become during your four years here. Sorry, but by choosing LMU, you (or your parents) have made it clear that it’s not going to be only about you. But in what way and to what degree do we live up to that expectation? Any answer to this question of service at LMU inevitably begins with the Orgs. With eight service organizations at more than 30 placements around LA, the notorious sweater societies certainly make their mark with “a commitment to service and fun,” as the websites of Sursum, Crimson, Gryphons, and Ignatians maintain. So why do people join these orgs? To do service? By definition, this can’t be the only reason, because (believe it or not), a person can “serve” without an application. Mary Hizon ’10, Gryphon Circle president for the 2009 school year, thinks students are attracted to “the very specific focus on camaraderie,” and to the idea of being “extremely respected on campus.” That’s the kicker. For doing service with one of these orgs, not only are you “helping,” you are receiving the support of a community, a nice sweater, and a resume item in exchange. Ohemaah Ntiamoah ’10, who never applied for a service org, is one of the many students to question this motivation. “It’s incentive-based service,” she maintains, “rather than service for its own sake. It’s volunteering with the intention of accumulating points on the feel-good scale,” she says, a scale which I find to be very visible on this campus. Nathan Mitch ’11, Sursum Corda’s Vice President for On-Campus Service, mentions another challenge in the service system, which is that “no matter where you go once a week, you’re always going to leave and come back to LMU, which is also a place you’re going to leave someday.” The effect is that we are all-too comfortable, falling back on the tendency to hang up that sweater and those thoughts until we comfortably return next week. We can forget that those whom we serve haven’t the luxury of setting suffering aside. Another visible and fun service outlet at LMU is the Alternative Breaks Program, which this year is sending
more than 200 students as far away as Vietnam. There is no doubt that these immersive trips, which, for a week, don’t give you the opportunity to hang up your sweater, are fantastic opportunities that have opened minds and hearts. But what does it say when an AB trip as phenomenal as the one to East LA (no bias here) pleads for participants, or when the chances are that you’ll never see that family you met in El Salvador again? It says that we can’t let the experience stop when we return to LA. Carlos Rodriguez ’11, president of the service organization Magis, who is co-leading the AB trip to Vietnam, stresses that such intense weeks must lead to “an active and intentional conviction to seek a life of service.” Sorry, but you came to LMU, or you joined a service org, or you went on an Alternative Break, and I hope that means the hardest is yet to come, and you may not get a tick on your resume for the effort. What is service, then, if not a few hours or a week among the needy? To Ross Bennett ’10, president of the Black Student Union, service has always been a “yearning to see people happy; to give back to others” without, of course, expecting compensation. BSU, though fundamentally a cultural organization, also co-sponsors Homelessness Awareness month in November with Magis. One of Bennett and BSU’s current projects is Black Family Outreach, a mentoring program that will motivate local high school students and their families to consider applying to college. The Greeks have their own interpretation, stemming from the ever-expanding term “philanthropy,” which can certainly go a long way. In the fall of 2007, Greek life at LMU raised over $148,000 for charity. This astounding amount certainly “served” a great number of needy people. But to what degree does this concept (which you could call partying for a cause), mesh with the S-word? For instance, to Sydnee Cordova ’11, president of Underwings Praxis, a mentoring program that works closely with Dolores Mission in Boyle Heights, service at its noblest is one and the same with solidarity, something that philanthropy, and perhaps even once-a-week placements, misses by a mile. “The word service implies doing for, rather than living with. I don’t mean to bash us at LMU—but it is much harder to live a life of unrecognized service than to go out and get your 20 hours to put on your grad school app.” So why should this perspective matter? Why isn’t it enough to stick $5 in the philanthropy hat, or to jump in the CSA van every once in a while, or even to come back beaming from India? This is certainly a start. But the reason it’s not enough is that the S-word won’t be so conveniently served on a silver platter after leaving LMU. In the real world, where global problems aren’t packaged into neat carpool boxes, making a difference signifies a change in perspective and lifestyle. Service becomes solidarity.
vol. 5 issue 3
HEAD
TO HEAD
with Carlos Rodriquez and Sean Grant: Picture courtesy of David Azevedo
“How Greeks and Service Orgs Differ— Or Do They?” 14
Mar. 2010
The last few months have been eventful for LMU, as the campus mobilizes its students to join every organization possible. Whether we join them to meet people, for a cause, or procrastination on Spanish essays (guilty as charged), LMU has a curious tendency to over-stimulate its students with its abundance of extracurriculars. This phenomenon can be seen especially in the culture that our Greek communities and Service Organizations—“Service Orgs”—have produced. For the first three months of the year these two communities are the most prominent recruiters of students. This prominence, for better or worse, has made them to many the representative sample of university extracurricular involvement. With the university’s self-proclaimed inclination toward social justice and service, this limelight position has created somewhat of an ill-defined and murky rivalry between the Service Org and Greek communities. Words like service, social justice, and philanthropy have become mired in the bashings Greeks take from people who say getting drunk for a charity doesn’t count as social justice. Conversely, Service Orgs are accused for being too exclusive for a community that is supposed to inspire its campus to service. In the interest of getting a better perspective of the issue (and continuing my stalwart effort of putting off that essay), I sat down with Sean Grant, ‘10, ex-president of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and Carlos Rodriguez ‘11, current president of Magis, to get their take. I started off by asking Sean how he defined the Greek community’s approach to social justice in the context of its signature philanthropic events. He began by defining both philanthropy and service as tools used to achieve social justice, saying that the difference was in the approach: service is more hands-on and direct, and philanthropy is geared towards fundraising. “What I like about philanthropy is that it’s something that brings out the biggest crowds of students,” Sean said. “That says something about the benefit of it, because people can enjoy what they’re doing in the moment and be able to feel good about it afterward.” This of course opened the door for discussing the criticism that this kind of service really isn’t service. “You always get knocked for what people see,” Sean pointed out. “When you go to a party, you never remember the 95% of people just standing around—you remember the 5 percent who were crazy that night. People who say we’re throwing money at a problem don’t see beyond those 5 percent and what good that money does.” I thought that was especially interesting, considering that this visibility aspect is at the heart of criticism people have for Service Orgs being too exclusive. As part of the service community myself,
those not in Service Orgs have told me that being rejected actually turned them away from doing service. If this is a common complaint, I asked Carlos, is this a healthy reality for the Service Org community—especially when we should be inspiring others to do service? “What might be at the heart of this attitude is that these people use Service Orgs as a way of validating themselves to do service— but I think the majority of people who apply for Service Orgs aren’t like this,” Carlos said. “To be honest my greatest progress towards defining service has been my experience mentoring at El Espejo [a program at nearby Lennox Middle School], and that’s not necessarily something I need Magis for. Magis did develop my ability to reflect on what I did, but without me going out there and actually doing service, Magis wouldn’t have helped anyway.” At this point I saw an opportunity for dialogue between the two. I got the feeling that, despite having a different approach, they shared the same commitment to social justice, and used this to develop the members of their community. “I see both Greek life and Service Orgs as places to be free to discover who you are,” Sean said. “I joined because I really felt like these people would complement my college experience and not supplement it. In the context of philanthropy, knowing what the world’s needs are is important to knowing how you can help better it.” Carlos agreed. “That is definitely what we in Magis want our guys to find. We literally want to be the personification of building men and women for others. We might start in different places, but just hearing Sean now really puts into perspective how similar Greek life and Service Orgs—at least, SigEp and Magis—are in their goals and purposes.” When asked about how both communities could take advantage of building on their shared values and goals, Sean and Carlos were excited about the possibility. “We actually have the structure in place with the Service Org and Greek Councils,” Sean said. “We just need our leaders to step up to the plate and see this through.” “Having staff advisors like Dan Faill [Greek Life Program Coordinator] and Tom King [Assistant Director of Campus Service] keep on us too is essential,” Carlos added. It was a breath of fresh air to know that these two very different peers of mine were actually brothers-in-arms in a worthy cause. Shaking their hands and saying a reluctant goodbye—my Spanish essay beckoning—I walked past the clock tower back home and realized just how lucky we are to be at a campus where we can be different in definition, yet find similarities in dialogue.
These two very different peers of mine were actually brothers-in-arms in a worthy cause
By David Azevedo, Editor in Chief Junior, Political Science and History
vol. 5 issue 3
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Children in Crisis: Adoption Controversy in Haiti
By Rhiannon Koehler, Sophomore, History he 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12th 2010 wreaked havoc on more than the country’s infrastructure and the ability of the government to retain control: it also created family crises, especially post-earthquake, strengthened the barriers had an obscenely large national surplus, have in the case of orphans. for foreign adoption to prevent child-trafdonated inconceivable amounts of money to Haiti is not a newcomer to having a large ficking—which is exactly what the group in countries suffering from national disasters and orphan population: in 2007 UNICEF estiquestion is being accused of. A few different political upheaval, and when countries have mated that Haiti housed 380,000 orphans. stories exist about the missionary group’s asked the US for aid, we have usually acquiThe system was, even prior to the earthintentions and the parents’ knowledge of esced (note our 2001 loans to a now hopequake, clearly overwhelmed: Haiti only had their procurement, but regardless of which lessly debt-ridden Greece). So shouldn’t we, about 100 licensed orphanages (each with a is true, the Idaho missionaries clearly did on a micro-level, help disaster struck orphans, capacity of 150) and 67 adoption facilities. many who live on less than one US dollar a After the earthquake hit, families awaiting not follow the law. The real dispute lays not over their actions but over their motives. For day? finalized adoptions in Haiti were sometimes they came in the guise of foreign aid and The clear counter-argument to allowing granted expedited adoptions. In fact, over left embodying the aura of the worst kind individuals to proceed is the suggestion of 500 children were sent to the United States of neo-colonial nationalism. Only, rather mandating government intervention. But to be with their families, as many of the exthan exploiting a war-torn country for the governments are slow to act, and developing isting adoption agencies were incapacitated. raw materials that the country could offer, countries are protective of their sovereignty. Yet many more children were left behind the missionaries would have been trading in And often, orphans or other vulnerable peowith no one to care for them. ple cannot afford to This is where the Idaho-based Baptist Often, orphans or other vulnerable people cannot afford to wait for negotiations group New Life Chilwait for negotiations to play out on the international stage. to play out on the international stage. dren’s Refuge decided But should we engage in more deregulation, we would In this case, some of to step in. They sent almost certainly see more cases of human trafficking. the alleged orphans’ ten representatives lives were precarious to Haiti to take 33 at best. “orphans” across the people. There is no way to deny that there were border by bus to the Dominican Republic. This story made news because it is unand are orphans in Haiti without prospects, Group leaders reported that they planned usual: American’s don’t have a propensity without hope for a better life, and without on keeping the children in a newly leased for going into foreign countries and engagthe promise of a home or formal schoolhotel while building a safe orphanage for ing in human trafficking. We like to believe ing. Should they be left behind in the sea of them. that that sort of thing is reserved for Eastern paperwork and bureaucracy that comes along Unfortunately, the people in question with most adoptions? The accused individuals didn’t seek permission from officials in Haiti, European countries like Moldova, where women constitute one of the nation’s largest from Idaho plead ignorance and the accusers have passports for the children, or make worry about the transparency and oversight sure that all of the children in question were exports. Yet this incident is emblematic of a larger present in the current adoption system—and actually orphans. According to New York national problem that the US faces: a probof course, what would have happened to the Times reporter Mark Lacey, several of the lem of knowledge and influence. And who children if the missionaries had made it over children have “at least one living parent.” can blame us? With nearly unlimited rethe border. It is also noteworthy to mention that kidsources, the US has a history of insufferable Beyond the troubles of both the missionnapping is a crime punishable by 5-15 years economic entitlement: we have, in the past, aries and the Haitian officials, and even the in jail in Haiti, and that Haitian officials,
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Mar. 2010
State of Emergency
By Alex van Doren, Junior, English and Theatre Arts
“QUIT GIVING MONEY TO HAITI!! Just cause you think you are all high and mighty and better than everyone else because you joined a group that gives pennies to a bunch of people that are broke doesn’t mean s***. Want to help them? Give em a job. Ever heard ‘Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.’” This was the status update that popped up on my Facebook News Feed a few weeks ago. Needless to say, I was deeply disturbed by the level of ignorance displayed by this statement and felt the need to address the issue with the man that wrote it. He, however, refused to discuss it, so please allow me to respond in this way. We have all become familiar with disaster, regardless of generation. Whether natural or manmade, we are all vulnerable to the devastating impact that follows an unforeseen catastrophe. On December 26, 2004, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, and other countries within the region were ravaged by a ruinous tsunami that resulted from a 9.1-9.3 magnitude earthquake in the Indian Ocean. This natural disaster ended in an estimated 230,000 fatalities and another 1.69 million people displaced. As an immediate response to this event, USAID invested $8.2 million into constructing wells, transmission lines, treatment plants, storage, etc. as a means to provide the people affected by the tsunami with clean drinking water. Several million dollars were then directed to medical needs and rescue efforts. The U.S. has seen an increase in the number of fatal natural disasters within the last several decades, but in order to understand the deaths of the innocents
involved, we must look at the effects of action vs. inaction. In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in Skamania County, Washington, killing 57 people, destroying hundreds of homes, and earning the title of the deadliest volcano eruption in the United States’ history. Fortunately, the U.S. was able to predict this occurrence and called for an evacuation of the area immediately surrounding the active volcano. As a result, minimal casualties ensued and the safety of civilians living within the area continues to be closely monitored. The victims of the infamous Hurricane
delayed and contributed to the roughly 1,800 casualties within the affected region. The issue at hand is simple: when human lives are compromised, politics become irrelevant. Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent, or in the Green Party, we all have a responsibility and an obligation to lend assistance. An entire country has been utterly immobilized and relief efforts have one purpose: saving lives. Haiti continues to be one of the world’s poorest countries, and was never equipped to deal with such a catastrophe. The money we donate is not being fed into their economy or used to improve their overall financial situation. Our funds are being directed to mobilizing organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, providing essentials like food and clean water, and funding search and rescue operations. The people affected are suffering and cannot be “taught to fish” when their entire means of livelihood, mainly Port-au-Prince, have been demolished. So, until they are able to “fish,” we have a responsibility to contribute to feeding and assisting them for as many days as it takes to save as many lives as possible. Our monetary and manual aid has helped to save thousands around the globe. We have seen the aftermath of inaction in the face of disaster after Hurricane Katrina. Let us not repeat this error. When there is a call for help, we must answer it, and above all we must remember that human life does not have a price tag.
human life does not have a price tag Katrina were not so fortunate. Although the potential effects of the hurricane were determined well before the storm hit, and it was known to the federal government that the levee systems were inadequate, Louisiana was not declared to be in a state of emergency until two days before Katrina destroyed and flooded New Orleans, coastal towns, and other surrounding cities. Although the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and various volunteers were quick to lend assistance with the help of some foreign monetary aid immediately following the storm’s initial impact, government response to the flooding in New Orleans was inexcusably
vol. 5 issue 3
[ Be a friend to those you serve.] The Meaning of Volunteering: Service Is More Than Just Showing Up By Sarah Carratt, Freshman, Biology
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he twelve year old had rendered me speechless. I hadn’t been trying, and she knew it. She was challenging my passion, my dedication. Within my mind, instincts waged war with calculated thoughts. What could I tell this little girl? When I didn’t respond, she glared at me and asked yet again, “Why did you let me win?” I was stunned. In all my years of volunteering with these medically fragile children, Julia was the only one with enough cognition to understand simple games. I looked around. While other children were confined to their beds, only this little girl had the ability to explore the home in her wheelchair. While many other children couldn’t breathe without the help of technology, this girl could speak, laugh, smile, and—as she was proving now—she could glare furiously in my direction. Unfortunately, the home itself was not a hopeful place for children: life support machines and alarms that go off at intervals, the nurses hustling to and fro, and the seemingly endless tubes that connect these children to their life sustaining equipment. Twelve years old and confined to the few rooms that housed her medical equipment, she was always looking for people to entertain her. I thought I had been making her day a little brighter by showing up to volunteer, but now I wondered if I should have done something differently. I glanced down at the table where Monopoly pieces were casually scattered. Bright red houses lined the board. It was a new game to her, one I had deemed sufficiently entertaining and easy enough to explain. It had been fun at first, but after four hours of circling the imaginary world of Park Place and Connecticut Avenue, I was beginning to regret opening this door for her, and was doing anything I could just to keep her happy as I hurried to finish each game. I didn’t cheat, per se, but I withheld from making any investments that would significantly damage
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Mar. 2010
this girl’s chance of winning. Until she confronted me, I had thought I was doing a good thing. Now, helpless against her judging blue eyes, I merely mumbled some incoherent defense. She frowned. “I may not be able to move the pieces, Sarah, but I still want to play. Now please, play with me.” The full weight of her question settled in my chest as I realized what she was asking of me. This little girl had had the courage, the audacity, to demand that I enjoy my volunteer work and throw my whole heart into my service, even when I am just playing games with kids. She demanded that I look at her not just as a kid I volunteered with, but as a friend with whom I could have fun. She didn’t care about winning. I cannot imagine living in a nursing home or hospital. Think dorms are plain? Imagine living in a residence hall without your friends to surround you: whitewashed walls and the constant hum of life-sustaining technology; little human interaction except for nurses checking your status. As a volunteer, every little thing you do in the name of these people contributes to improving their quality of life. While it is not entirely necessary to love those you serve, it is immensely important to care for them and have them care about you. They don’t need your pity. They need your friendship, support, and the ability to enjoy yourself as you serve. My little girl was bold enough to challenge my view of what it means to be a volunteer, and now I challenge you to follow that same advice. Showing up and going through the motions is not service. If I have learned anything through my volunteer work, it is that real service isn’t measured in hours. Choose service opportunities that will mean something to you, where you will be able to have as much fun as the people you volunteer with.
Why writing letters
to our
representatives works By Annie Daly, Junior, Environmental Studies
photo courtesy of flickr commons
L
ast semester I interned with a Member of Parliament (MP) in London. At work I answered letters from residents in my MP’s constituency who were concerned about large political ideals and policies, such as education, cap-and-trade, and budget issues and about tiny, mundane issues, such as disputes with neighbors over poorly behaving pets. Sometimes responding with a formal letter to address as silly an issue as a neighbor dispute felt ridiculously tedious. Similarly, responding with a formal letter to a mass-produced postcard upon which a constituent lazily scribbled an illegible signature also felt like a huge waste of time. While I loved responding to these letters, sometimes I would thinkreally? Do you really think your Member of Parliament cares about this trivial stuff ? Part of why I loved responding to those letters though was because the answer to that question was yes- your Member of Parliament does actually care. I will happily admit many of the letters from my MP’s constituents were complete crap. But I take great pride in reporting that each letter was meticulously entered into a data system that listed every letter, email, postcard, telephone call and personal visit a constituent made to his or her MP’s office. Each letter was then researched heavily, responded to and reviewed twice before being mailed to the constituent. All letters received and all letters written in response were kept in hard copy on file under the constituent’s name. A constituent could expect a response to his or her letter within three to four weeks. While my experience is specific to the British political system, there are aspects that are transferable to the American political system. In both systems there is a great respect for educated, non-standardized letters from constituents. Where you did you get this impression that the offices of American politicians work simliarily? We know you personally saw the Briitish MPS working, but how do you know this?
Politicians like to know the constituent writing about an issue knows what he or she is talking about. Both British and American? Politicians like to know time and thought was put in to write an individualized letter. Lastly, politicians like to know that the person writing the letter has some say in whether he or she will be re-elected. When everyday individuals take and interest in politics; politicians take note. Even the most basic mass-produced postcards and stock-letters, though not an ideal form of communication, are acknowledged and show a constituent somewhere is paying attention. Bono once said, “ The world is more malleable than you think and it’s waiting for you to hammer it into shape.” Passion is a magazine about discontentment and a sincere desire to change injustice. Find what makes you passionate. If you are reading this magazine, it is likely you already know this is. Take this fire of passion inside you and put it into action. Go hammer the world into shape with a letter to your representative.
things to remember when contacting your representative: 1. Write to your representative. If you write to a representative who does not represent your district, chances are your letter will be sent to the representative who does. Show you have knowledge of the political system by contacting the correct representative initially. Don’t know who your representative is? Go to www. congress.org to find out. 2. The MOST EFFECTIVE way to contact your politician is through a PERSONALIZED LETTER. This letter can be mailed, emailed or faxed. The mode of delivery matters less than how WELL WRITTEN the letter is, and how knowledgeable you are about the content of your letter. 3. While petitions are effective, if each person who signed a petition were to write a letter about the issue, the movement would be much more powerful. 4. Form letters, though better than no action, are the LEAST effective. They come off as uninformed and indicate you were not willing to invest a great deal of time into writing the letter and therefore are less committed to the issue. If you care about an issue, do some research and write a personalized letter. Your letter will gain much more significance in the eyes of your representative. 6. You have power to change the world simply because you have the ability to read and write. The power to make the world better is inside of you. Go write that letter!
vol. 5 issue 3
t e x a c o ’s
TOXIC G
legacy
By Gabriela Dematteis Freshman, Film and TV Production
rowing up with a photojournalist for a father has exposed me to many different realities. This is something I didn’t comprehend until the summer of 2007, when I got the chance to travel to South America to experience firsthand the devastation I had seen in so many of my father’s pictures. For many years, my father, photojournalist Lou Dematteis, has made trips to the Ecuadorian Amazon to document the oil pollution caused by Texaco, which is now part of Chevron. He first traveled to Ecuador in 1993 to investigate reports of extensive environmental contamination and to photograph its consequences. In 1967, Texaco (part of the Chevron Corporation) went in to drill for oil in the Amazon, promising handouts in the form of big sums of money to the people who lived there. Those handouts were never given. Instead of re-injecting the oil waste back into the earth, a practice required by law in United States, Texaco chose to dump it into open pits in the forest. After seeing these crude oil pits, which he describes as “infected sores on the floor of the rainforest,” my father decided to travel to the nearby villages to hear
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Mar. 2010
Pictures courtesy of Gabriela and Lour Dematteis
the stories of the people who are caught in the middle of this war on the earth. “We often hear of environmental catastrophes,” said my father in the introduction to his book Crude Reflections, “but we almost never meet the people who suffer the consequences. In Ecuador’s case, I was determined to give a voice to the people who were living with the impacts of this ecological tragedy.” During my trip in 2007, I was able to travel with my father to visit some of the oil pits. Imagine walking through a forest of beautiful trees and then walking into a clearing and seeing something that at first glance could be a lake of water, but as you get closer, you realize is a lake of thick, black oil waste. The air becomes thicker and hotter as you get closer because towering above the pit is a gas flare that burns off gas emitted from the pit. I remember breathing through my mouth because the smell of the pit was so awful, but then as I got
closer to it, it became harder to breathe at all because the air was so thick and polluted. My brief encounter with the toxic waste sites in the Amazon is daily reality for the people who live in the Amazon region. On my trip, I was privileged to meet the indigenous leaders of the Cofan, the Siona, the Secoya, the Kichwa, and the Huaorani and to hear the stories of their struggle. Their people are sick from drinking the contaminated water because the crude oil that has been sitting in unlined pits all these years has seeped into the nearby rivers and streams, which are their only sources of water. Many people suffer from birth defects and others suffer from cancer and skin and respiratory disorders as a result from drinking and bathing in this polluted water. Texaco left Ecuador in 1992, but they also left their toxic legacy in the forest. Now, all the people want is for the mess that Texaco left to be cleaned up. They want to preserve their homes and their cultures for generations to come, just like any other culture would. The parents want their children to grow up without having to worry about what water is safe to drink and what water is not. “Our struggle is not for money,” said Secoya leader Humberto Piaguaje at a Chevron shareholders meeting, “we want you to repair the damage so our children do not have to continue suffering.” In 2003, a legal case against Chevron opened up in Ecuador. Chevron launched a campaign to prolong the case as long as possible. Although the case is ongoing and will take many years to be decided, the people have not given up hope that one day they will win and Chevron will be forced to clean up its mess. Many indigenous groups have taken action to prevent more oil companies from coming into their lands and drilling for oil. During my trip, a campaign was launched by the Kichwa and Achuar peoples of the Amazon to save the Yasuni National Park from oil development. Organizers and supporters of the campaign are seeking international monetary support for a plan to forgo oil extraction and protect the rainforest. Over 8 billion gallons of toxic waste has been dumped into the Amazon rainforest. The Amazon rainforest is one of the main sources of oxygen for the earth, so this issue is not one that we are far removed from. This issue directly affects us right now. If we continue to allow practices like this to occur in other places in the world and if we do not call for Chevron to clean up its mess in the Amazon, our world and our generation will be on the road to total destruction. If we do nothing, then we are simply condoning the activities of unethical businesses and industrial practices. As co-founders of the Rainforest Foundation, musical artist Sting and his wife Trudie Styler said in the foreword of Crude Reflections, “Our reliance on oil has created the problems these people are suffering. Now we have a responsibility to become part of the solutions.”
1 2
Boycott Chevron. Buy your gas at any other gas station. Support bills and laws in Congress that advocate sustainability and alternative energy research, such as H.R.3909
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Get involved with the campaign to provide clean water to the indigenous peoples of the Amazon by visiting: http://www.rainforestfoundation.org/ Sign the petition to get Chevron to clean up its toxic mess in Ecuador: ga3.org/campaign/ chevron_ Support the campaign to protect the Yasuni National Park from oil exploitation by visiting: http://www.sosyasuni.org/
Here are the ways we can become a part of the solution.
* Crude Reflections is a book by photographers Lou Dematteis and Kayana Szymczak that chronicles the human and environmental impact of oil drilling in the Ecuadorian Amazon. For more information, please visit: http://chevrontoxico. com/crude-reflections.html
vol. 5 issue 3
VISITORS Fr. Roy By Russell Lum Junior, Political Science
In the circles of people who are trying to build a better world, “movement” can mean slightly different things. In some cases, it means only an organization—in other cases: a particular school of thought, a centralized campaign for a specific measure, or disparate groups simultaneously touching a common issue. Whatever is meant, it is rare that one can say of a movement that there is one person who embodies it. Sometimes an organizer—whose job it is to encourage populations to adopt or take seriously certain positions on social issues—want the convenience of being able to say: “Here, I present the founder of the movement, its undisputed face, and its primary driving force.” Calling me an organizer is a bit of a stretch but I did have this experience, since it is no stretch to say that for the movement to close the School of Assassins that key figure is Roy Bourgeios. Bourgeios is a peace-and-justice activist who visited our campus in January to speak to LMU students about his central issue—the closing of the School of the Americas/Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (SOA/WHINSEC). Soldiers from other countries in the hemisphere attend that school—which is run the by the Defense Department and housed by the U.S. Army in Ft. Benning, GA—to receive a military training imbued with a United States vision for how such things should be carried out. The SOA (more properly, WHINSEC, due to a 2001 name change) claims to respond to the various military challenges of the twenty-first century, such as narcotrafficking, terrorism, and border disputes. Now a U.S. vision of the of the acceptable times and places for military use allows for deployment only in international contexts, whereas—at the SOA¬—the U.S. instructs Latin American countries in military use. Broadly speaking, these are
countries that have learned to use their militaries on their own people, and have no such posse-comitatus-like restrictions. This contradiction mixed with a bloody history of U.S. support of right-wing governments in Latin America threw Roy Bourgeios into a fierce resolve to close the school and close the book on U.S. sanctioned torture, kidnapping, assassination, and military mass murder in the Americas. Roy began his campaign in 1990, when he founded the SOA Watch—an organization whose annual protest at the gates of Ft. Benning is the reason why I too have come to detest and resist the school. WHINSEC is still in operation (despite the emergence of H.R. 2567), and so his work continues today and includes giving countless talks. In his presentation to us that afternoon, he stressed his identity as a Maryknoll priest and as a Catholic, as well as his status as a veteran of the Vietnam War. His year of Naval shore duty in Vietnam left him with the deep conviction that God does not bless war. As a newly ordained Maryknoll, Roy brought this truth with him to his ministry in Latin America, where it translated to an unequivocal disgust with the injustices endemic to so many countries. It came to mean a very personal cry for justice, as first Oscar Romero and then six Jesuits were slain in El Salvador. Roy spoke also of his more recent activism in the church—of his public stance that women should be allowed to be ordained. (While still supported by his Maryknoll community, he is considered excommunicated by the Vatican.) He insists on gender equality in the church on account of broader beliefs about equality and the need to fight injustice wherever found. Roy Bourgeios is a significant public figure and someone who displays a unique, heroic leadership. Some have said that he will be remembered though for his disobedience and excommunication. I find this view lacking in the area of hope: I think Roy will be remembered by the world for his critique of U.S. foreign policy and for his founding—and sustaining for decades—a movement for an international justice. Whatever the case, the Spring of 2010 can be etched in our memory as LMU’s chance to host him and hear from him.
God does not bless war.
Picture Courtesy of Eva Leiva
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Mar. 2010
TO LMU
Greg Mortenson By Steven Ayala, Senior, Political Science
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here have been many people who have called Greg Mortenson crazy. From his decision to title the first chapter of Three Cups of Tea “Failure” to his being harassed at age 15 for saying he was “African,” Greg can best be described as unconventional. On February 2nd, 2010, LMU welcomed and engaged the unconventional author, humanitarian, husband, nonprofit entrepreneur, US Army veteran, father, and former mountaineer. Firstly, it is quite apparent that Greg intrigues those of us here on the bluff. With our three-fold university mission statement emphasizing the encouragement of learning, the education of the whole person, and the service of faith and the promotion of justice, Greg fits the ideal mold of a Lion. In his dedication to honoring the sudden death of his younger sister Christa, Greg set out to climb the second highest mountain peak in the world to hang Christa’s amber necklace at the top. Misfortune would have it that he failed to reach the top of the massive K2, leading to his choice of “Failure” as the first chapter of his book. In gratitude for the hospitality he received by the Pakistani locals as he made his way home, Greg pledged to build a school for the villagers of Korphe, particularly for its noticeably large number of illiterate girls. The founding of the Central Asia Institute afforded Greg the ability to make his pledge a reality. With the funding he received, he often visited the region and forged invaluable relationships with local boys and girls, high ranking Taliban leaders, and even higher ranking government officials across the globe. These relationships gave insight to Greg on how he could make a prominent difference in the status quo of this area’s illiteracy epidemic, which directly translated into a prominent step towards easing the area’s long-afflicted military violence. Greg’s visit to LMU greatly influenced the audience’s awareness of
the urgency to reach peace through education, but it also granted a firm sense of empowerment to both student and community member alike. In Greg’s efforts to challenge LMU, one line that he made clear in his speech was the statistic that 50% of university graduates want to serve the world. Greg was supplied with the LMU statistic that 80% of our students engage in some kind of service in our community. With these statistics making LMU a prime location for Greg to impart his knowledge and inspiration, the Question and Answer part of the night was packed with students waiting to find out how to do their part. To the surprise of many, Greg shied away from support for students forming immersion groups to witness the progress of his schools. Instead, Greg emphasized that nonprofits like his are not looking to expand what they are doing. His message to LMU was a bold encouragement to go out on your own and find what your heart is in. Greg iterated that, “when your heart speaks, take good notes.” The Central Asia Institute,and his other nonprofit, Pennies for Peace, are well established and are always looking for more funding, but he gladly cheered on students to “use and abuse academic advice” and to dream big and start small in their own endeavors. Greg’s fascinating story made the fruits of being unconventional known to the LMU student body. intriguing and challenging visit to LMU, the fruits of being unconventional were made known through his fascinating story. He pushed LMU students who were ignited by his speech to not jump on board with him, but rather to run with their own torch and not fear failure. Greg’s speech included details of failures he has had to overcome, but immediately countered them by informing us that the Balti language he was immersed in does not even have a word for failure. Greg cited a Persian proverb that he has made popular among fans that he has inspired at LMU, in Washington, D.C., in Pakistani villages and elsewhere; “when it is dark, you can see the stars.” Greg Mortenson has profoundly left his mark on the LMU community through his fearlessness to serve, and his words will most certainly resonate with those seeking where to run with their torch. Picture Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
vol. 5 issue 3
OUR MISSION PASSION MAGAZINE, believing in the interconnectedness of humanity, seeks to encourage all members of the LMU community to find their place in the fight for social justice. Being a voice for those who go unheard, we a¬im to stir the passion of our readers to commit themselves to helping renew the lost voices of our society. Being a champion of the outcast, we publish articles that put a face to the struggles of the forgotten, in the effort to reveal their dignity as human beings. Being a place where our stories are shared, we encourage a cycle of inspiration in our community—where one student’s experience in social justice can inspire another student to seek his/her own.
Volume 5, Issue 3 March 2010 PASSION MAGAZINE is a social justice magazine published by the Human Rights Coalition at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. We are entirely student-run and operated. Our publication year starts in October and ends in April. We want to hear your thoughts! Send your letters to the editor to the below contact information with your name, class year, and major. Letters may be edited for space and clarity. PASSION MAGAZINE, while affiliated with Campus Ministry and Loyola Marymount University, in no way represents or reflects the opinions of these two institutions. Additionally, all articles included in this magazine are the views of their authors and not of Passion Magazine.
These goals together create our overarching theme of bringing together our community to be aware of injustice and act for a more socially conscious global society. No matter where our futures take us, no matter what occupation we pursue after college, justice must always be on our minds, in our actions, and in our hearts. Passion Magazine is the place where our conversation as to how we can achieve that justice begins. It is our deepest desire, then, that what we learn from each other will stay with us throughout our lives as leaders in our broken, yet hopeful, world.
PASSION STAFF
PASSION MAGAZINE Loyola Marymount University 1 LMU Drive, Malone 210 Los Angeles, CA 90045 office: 1.310.338.7546 email: passion@lmu.edu
David Azevedo Editor in Chief
Dani Dirks Executive Editor of Layout
Steven Ayala Public Editor
Naivasha Dean Executive Editor of Content
Megan O’Malley Business Editor
Russell Lum HRC Coordinator
Marty Roers Staff Advisor Design Editors Petra Hui Amanda D’Egidio
Copy Editors/Staff Writers Ohemaah Ntiamoah Heather Moline Sarah Carratt Katie McGrath Tiffany Altig