I am very disturbed by the MEChA advisor’s letter regarding the U.S. Army’s activities on campus on Oct. 18. Her attempt at propaganda is so blatant and obvious that it is sophomoric. There are so many items in it that are, or should be, offensive to anyone who cares to read the letter. I scarcely know where to begin.

In her first paragraph, she states that certain items were “blatantly omitted.” Foremost among them: why the Army would be there. You will perhaps excuse my obviousness in pointing out that on a university campus, most students who possess even a modicum of intelligence would surmise that the U.S. Army is on campus for the purpose of generating awareness of the ROTC program, a program with a very long and honorable tradition on college campuses throughout the United States. I would think they would like more people to be voluntarily involved in becoming U.S. Army officers. I think it would be obvious. Apparently, it is to the Sundial, but evidently not to you. Apparently, you hold that CSUN students are not intelligent enough to come to that determination on their own.

I have it on good authority that the “loud protest” that was elicited from her students was in reality a small protest from a rather limited number of students with an anti-U.S. agenda, who were subsequently and spontaneously counter-protested by a more substantial number of students visiting the Army’s display. Their only agenda was to freely explore all of the options available to them after their graduation from CSUN.

Here’s a hint for you Ms. Pellarolo. This is what we in the United States call “freedom of choice.” Of course, any mention of your anti-U.S. protest in the newspaper would be remiss in omitting such things, as well as that your protest subsided very quickly.

Also offensive in the letter is your grandstanding language of a “forceful military occupation,” as I noted no mention of loaded weapons being used by the military against the campus police. Using terms such as “heavy-duty gear” and “gargantuan big rigs” is also offensive. Yes, I am aware most 18-wheelers are designed to carry heavy loads across the Interstate Highway System, making it necessary for them too be large and heavy-duty.

Your juvenile attempt at propaganda is lost on all except the most indoctrinated of your MEChA followers.

Suffice it to say that, in general, your implication that the student body at CSUN, and in particular your statement regarding the “sizeable Hispanic campus population,” indicates your belief that these young adults are incapable of coming to their own conclusions. If that is the case, perhaps those students that you feel it is incumbent for you to protect should not be and are not qualified to be on a university campus.

I will further suggest that, historically, the U.S. military, an organization of people who have served their country and sacrificed so that you could be free to spew your anti-U.S. hatred, has more validity on college campuses than does your sorry excuse of an organization, existing solely for the purpose of undermining the ideals and values that make the U.S. the greatest country in existence.

If you doubt that this is the case, feel free to visit any other country in the world. Better yet, try protesting the military in many of those countries and see how receptive they are to dissent. I am a former Army soldier who has visited many such countries.

I will also mention that to become a U.S. Army officer is more honorable than what many CSUN students would otherwise achieve.

In conclusion, before berating the Sundial for their lack of coverage of your sorry excuse of a protest, perhaps you should organize a protest that is worthy of mention. In this country, that’s OK.

The U.S. Army, despite its general disdain for people who undermine the country from within will still fight, and will still die for your right to do so.

Good day, professor Thomas Hart Father of a CSUN Freshman and ROTC Cadet

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