On Aid to the Contras in Nicaragua

Frankly, I’m scared. Some people may think I’m crazy, but I can’t help it. I am a white middle-class college student attending the University of Southern California. What could possibly be wrong at a upper class conservative, pro-Reagan university? By reading the newspaper and watching TV, I get this growing fear that the full U.S. military involvement in Nicaragua is a distinct possibility.

The Reagan Administration has requested $100 million in aid for the contra forces saying that if we don’t prevail in Nicaragua we may end up fighting communism in San Diego. It certainly appears that America has forgotten the Vietnam War. In addition, another Red scare is taking hold. What worries me more than the possibility of a senseless war is that many college students are apathetic, if not oblivious, to the situation in Central America. Several of my colleagues don’t know the difference between the Sandinistas and the contras.

I thought it was bad enough when Reagan cut student loans and my fellow students voted him back into office. Now here we are inching toward another Vietnam and many students don’t seem to care one way or the other.

We, the young Americans of draft eligibility, will be fighting this war should it occur. Therefore, it is up to us to protest Reagan’s foreign policy. We owe it to ourselves, our country, and our conscience. But right now, I hardly hear a whimper from the college campuses. Well, let me assure Ronald Reagan that if San Diego is invaded, I’ll be the first out my door to enlist in the Army. However, I steadfastly refuse to fight in someone else’s war.

GLEN WANNER

Los Angeles