Disturbing Article on Peace Expo

As a member of the committee that helped plan Cal State Northridge’s Peace Expo, I am disturbed by the April 15 article by Bob Pool.

The Peace Expo was not a “rally,” nor should it be reduced to an attempt “to make an administration more accountable to the people.” While a few Expo programs did criticize the Bush Administration’s stance on Central America, to characterize the Expo as a protest of that policy misses the point. There were many more than the claimed 200 students in attendance, and they were joined by several hundred others--faculty, staff and especially community members.

Most importantly, I object to forging a story out of the coincidence of two very different events being held on the same day. It’s just bad analysis. I think Pool talked to the wrong guy about the Expo. He and The Times should be more careful.

The Peace Expo had broad-based support from CSUN’s administration, faculty, staff and students as well as close to 100 community groups, churches, synagogues and the Los Angeles Unified School District. It provided a range of speakers, panels, workshops, films and performances that dealt with reducing violence in a wide range of contexts from families to the international arena. Most of the programs were educational. None could be construed as “a rally.” Anyone who had an Expo schedule or spent any amount of time at the Expo would be impressed with the variety of issues, the abundance of information and the opportunities to talk with advocates of a wide range of actions.

Personally, I would have liked to have seen several thousand more CSUN students take advantage of the Expo, but we were pleased with the number that did attend. We were particularly happy with the connection that was made between CSUN and the broader Los Angeles community. Student apathy is an interesting phenomenon, and it deserves a place in the Expo story, but it should not be the lead nor the focus when so many other issues were there for the taking.

JIM HASENAUER

Northridge