Buchanan Appearance Canceled by School

This time the cheer wasn’t “Go, Pat, Go!” It was: “No, Pat, No!”

Students at Don Bosco Technical Institute in Rosemead had invited Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan to visit their campus on Sunday to call attention to a space technology project they’ve been developing. Buchanan, just beginning his campaign for the March 26 California primary, had accepted.

But on Wednesday, teachers told disappointed students that administrators of the Catholic school had canceled the visit, citing complaints from teachers and parents.

Instructor Peter Romero said school officials told him it would be bad publicity for a school that is more than 90% Latino to be host to a candidate whose hard-line views on immigration include pledging to construct a wall to separate the United States from Mexico.

“They didn’t want to be associated with Buchanan,” he said.

Father Nicholas J. Reina, president of the combined high school and two-year college, denied he had received complaints of any kind from parents or teachers. Reina said he canceled the visit because he didn’t want the school, a nonprofit institution, to appear to be supporting a candidate.

“I said absolutely no to any kind of student body rally,” he said.

Reina’s students had extended invitations to all presidential candidates, but only Buchanan--himself a product of a Catholic education--had agreed to come.

Students expressed disappointment with the administrator’s decision, saying that while they did not agree with many of Buchanan’s views, they wanted the opportunity to publicize their “Space Islands” proposal, in which the space shuttle’s fuel tanks could be reused and linked together to create a space station. The idea is the brainchild of West Covina author and industrial engineer Gene Meyer, who contends that it would be cheaper than current NASA space station plans and would preserve aerospace jobs.

Canceling Buchanan’s appearance is “a tragedy,” said student Craig Cocca, 17, a senior. “It completely goes against what the school stands for. We’re taught to explore new ideas, no matter where they come from. They’re not allowing us to learn for ourselves.” Cocca said students are hopeful other politicians will visit.

Last November, House Speaker Newt Gingrich sent instructor Romero a letter saying he wanted to visit the school to learn more about the project. In January, students delivered a petition with more than 1,000 signatures to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), and the congressman promised to support them.

Buchanan operatives were dismayed by the school’s move. Campaign workers had already visited the campus and the Secret Service had made preliminary calls to teachers to arrange the event.

“We thought [Space Islands] was an excellent idea for Pat,” said Don Tutich, a worker at the California headquarters for the Buchanan campaign in Monrovia. He said the candidate was interested in the school’s idea because he believes it would create jobs for American workers.

The Space Islands project started last summer when Meyer asked Romero if his students would be interested in participating. Don Bosco is working on the idea in conjunction with its sister school, Mission High School in Monterey Park.

Schools around the world, sparked by Don Bosco, are also studying the idea via the Internet. According to America Online, 300 schools in 38 cities and more around the world are pursuing various Space Islands projects.

Meyer said he believes Space Islands will continue to attract the attention of politicians, noting that GOP candidate Bob Dole’s wife, Elizabeth, and Gov. Pete Wilson’s wife, Gayle, have expressed interest in visiting the school.

Meyer said that the campaign stop by Buchanan would have been a boost for the students’ efforts, but he wasn’t surprised that the political commentator had been scratched.

“He’s a polarizing kind of guy,” he said.