michael@iris.berkeley.edu (Tom Slone [(415)486-5954]) (09/21/86)
(For follow-up, please read disclaimer at the bottom of this message first.)
tecNICA is an organization which provides technical expertise to the country of
Nicaragua. Typically, a volunteer will pay her/his own airfare to Nicaragua,
work for 2 weeks at a host agency in Managua and be given room and board by the
agency at a residential inn (or hospedaje). Tours of the countryside are
arranged for weekends and talks with officials and opposition leaders are often
arranged for evenings. Computer specialists, mechanics, economists,
agronomomists, telephone experts and other technicians have all made valuable
contributions to the Nicaraguan government under the auspices of tecNICA.
Current priority needs are:
Computer systems: UNIX, Kaypro, LANs, Monroe, Sharp SR80, Sanyo MBC550, TRS 80,
Tandy 1000
Computer programs: Condor, database design, Proplan, RATS, TSP, digital telex,
IBM DBMS, Lotus 123, Multiplan, Wordperfect
Engineers: hydrology, electronic composition, soil, telecommunications,
automotive, HVAC, mechanical, radio packet systems
Other: economics
If you have other technical skills, chances are, you could make a valuable
contribution to Nicaraguan society. I worked as a computer programmer (for the
Ministry of Health and for the telecommunications center) in Managua in the
Spring of 1985 and not only found that I was greatly appreciated, but found the
trip to be a great cross-cultural experience, kind of like a mini-Peace Corps.
If you have questions, you may address them to me or you may contact tecNICA
itself by calling:
Berkeley -- (415)848-0292, 2727 College Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705
New York -- (212)427-0634
Boston -- (617)782-0510
Seattle -- (206)321-1367
Chicago -- (312)524-0198
Los Angeles (213)394-1183
tecNICA is in the process for applying for tax-free status, until then tax free
contributions may be made out to: "tecNICA/Capp Street Foundation."
Disclaimer: If you wish to make follow-ups to this article, please do so to the
follow-up groups listed in the message header, not to the groups of the original
posting. I am not responsible for other people's diatribes.
michael@ucbiris.berkeley.edu michael%ucbiris@berkeley.arpa
{bellcore|cbosgd|decvax|hplabs|ihnp4| \
nbires|sdcsvax|tektronix|ulysses}!ucbvax!ucbiris!michaelmcb@styx.UUCP (Michael C. Berch) (09/22/86)
In <1315@jade.BERKELEY.EDU> michael@iris.berkeley.edu (Tom Slone) writes: >(For follow-up, please read disclaimer at the bottom of this message first.) >. . . >[Lengthy advertisement for TechNICA, an "opportunity" to go work for >the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, at your own expense.] > >Disclaimer:If you wish to make follow-ups to this article, please do so to the >follow-up groups listed in the message header,not to the groups of the original >posting. I am not responsible for other people's diatribes. Of course you are, Mr. Slone, when you post your political advertisement to a bunch of inappropriate newsgroups (the list on the original article included net.wanted, net.jobs, net.micro.trs-80, net.ham-radio, net.auto.tech, net.database, net.travel, and talk.politics.misc). And this is not the first time, either. Some people have the basic sense they were born with, and some just don't. Perhaps it's time to have a talk with the Usenet administrator at Berkeley... Michael C. Berch ARPA: mcb@lll-tis-b.ARPA UUCP: {ihnp4,dual,sun}!lll-lcc!styx!mcb
rupp@cod.UUCP (William L. Rupp) (09/24/86)
In article <1315@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>, michael@iris.berkeley.edu (Tom Slone [(415)486-5954]) writes: > > tecNICA is an organization which provides technical expertise to the country of > Nicaragua. Typically, a volunteer will pay her/his own airfare to Nicaragua, > work for 2 weeks at a host agency in Managua and be given room and board by the This is not a diatribe (I trust), but a genuine question which for some dumb reason just ocurred to me today, although I have read many postings re: tecNICA, both pro and con. The question is this: Why just Nicaragua? There are many countries, both in Central America and elsewhere, which could use the kind of help tecNICA purports to offer. Why, then, did this organization choose the one Latin American country (other than Cuba, of course) which, by any fair standard, leans toward the Marxist-Leninist world view? This organiziation has every right to carry on their work, and individual citizens have every right to participate. On the other hand, limiting the group's activities to Nicaragua leaves tecNICA wide open to criticism which could have been avoided by including El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. A truly non-partisan and non-biased group should be able to get along with authoritarian regimes of both left and right. After all, tecNICA is offering valuable help, right? If there is some reason why tecNICA can cooperate with the Sandinistas and not with the other Central American countries, perhaps someone from that group could explain that reason. This is not a challenge; I really am curious about this question. ------------ This has been a totally personal opinion of my own which has nothing to do with Computer Sciences Corp. or any other group. (Is that okay, Gary?)
myers@uwmacc.UUCP (Jeff Myers) (09/25/86)
> This is not a diatribe (I trust), but a genuine question which > for some dumb reason just ocurred to me today, although I have > read many postings re: tecNICA, both pro and con. The question > is this: > > Why just Nicaragua? The basic reason is that it is the only country in CA under attack by proxy forces of the United States of America. In that sense, it is an effort to allay the consciences of us God-fearing taxpayers. I'm serious. > There are many countries, both in Central America and elsewhere, which > could use the kind of help tecNICA purports to offer. Why, then, did > this organization choose the one Latin American country (other than > Cuba, of course) which, by any fair standard, leans toward the > Marxist-Leninist world view? This organiziation has every right to > carry on their work, and individual citizens have every right to > participate. But no other CA country is under official US embargo. Nicaragua suffers from severe spare parts shortages, exacerbated by an economy built upon American machinery under Somoza. This is less a problem now than it was, but the problem is still severe with respect to computers. The only American firm doing business there is IBM, which is only there in token force so that they don't piss off their other small client nations by leaving one totally in the lurch. To say that the `country' leans toward Marxism is an interesting semantic error. Even to say that the Sandinistas lean that way is an oversimpli- fication, as it is an amalgamation of people having very different political philosophies, including Marxist-Leninists. > On the other hand, limiting the group's activities to Nicaragua leaves > tecNICA wide open to criticism which could have been avoided by > including El Salvador, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. A truly non-partisan > and non-biased group should be able to get along with authoritarian > regimes of both left and right. After all, tecNICA is offering valuable > help, right? If there is some reason why tecNICA can cooperate with > the Sandinistas and not with the other Central American countries, > perhaps someone from that group could explain that reason. For one thing, tecNICA is not that big. Maybe someday it will be able to branch out, if political conditions warrant. Many CA groups have started out focusing on one country. For another, no group is truly non-biased. Frankly, most tecNICA volunteers are supportive of the revolution, and go to give support and find out what is going on. But we are not there to proselytize for anyone -- the documentation you get from tecNICA suggests that you play it cool with respect to your own political opinions. You go to work and learn, not to gain converts to any cause, religion, or party. > This is not a challenge; I really am curious about this question. Taken in that spirit. Thanks for asking. -- Jeff Myers The views above may or may not University of Wisconsin-Madison reflect the views of any other Madison Academic Computing Center person or group at UW-Madison. ARPA: myers@unix.macc.wisc.edu UUCP: ..!{harvard,ucbvax,allegra,topaz,akgua,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!myers BitNet: MYERS at WISCMACC
michael@iris.berkeley.edu (Tom Slone [(415)486-5954]) (09/25/86)
In article <143@cod.UUCP> rupp@cod.UUCP (William L. Rupp) writes: >In article <1315@jade.BERKELEY.EDU>, michael@iris.berkeley.edu (Tom Slone [(415)486-5954]) writes: >> >> tecNICA is an organization which provides technical expertise to the country of >> Nicaragua. Typically, a volunteer will pay her/his own airfare to Nicaragua, >> work for 2 weeks at a host agency in Managua and be given room and board by the > > Why just Nicaragua? tecNICA was formed during the Carter administration when the U.S. was not openly hostile to Nicaragua. It was believed that the new government in Nicaragua was the only one in Central America which had any hope of providing reforms so badly needed in the region -- both land reform and human rights. There was also an exodus of Somoza-cronies, some of whom had technical expertise. A need was seen, and tecNICA was formed to fill it. There has been talk within tecNICA of broadening the scope to other countries, but as with any not-for-profit organization, funding is always short. >A truly non-partisan and non-biased group should be able to get along >with authoritarian regimes of both left and right. Reactionary regimes have a vested interest in the status quo. Groups which give aid desire change. michael@ucbiris.berkeley.edu michael%ucbiris@berkeley.arpa {bellcore|cbosgd|decvax|hplabs|ihnp4| \ nbires|sdcsvax|tektronix|ulysses}!ucbvax!ucbiris!michael
devonst@burdvax.UUCP (Tom Albrecht) (09/29/86)
michael@iris.berkeley.edu.UUCP (Tom Slone [(415)486-5954]) writes: > >tecNICA was formed during the Carter administration when the U.S. was >not openly hostile to Nicaragua. It was believed that the new >government in Nicaragua was the only one in Central America which had >any hope of providing reforms so badly needed in the region -- both >land reform and human rights. ... ^^^^^ ^^^^^^ Oh, how wrong we could be ... Actually, when Carter was in office the Sandinista government had some outward suggestion of democratic tendencies (I guess that's why we gave them $200 million). In early 1980 they thumbed their nose at the US and began to openly accept aid from the Soviets. Many of the non-Marxists in the Sandinista movement quickly realized where the government was headed. That was a time of real exodus by the technically competent from Nicaragua. For all Carter's whining about human rights, he should have seen this one coming. He failed to appreciate that an imperfect pro-American government was far more desirable than a Marxist government. -- Tom Albrecht
lee@zymacom.UUCP (Lee Webber) (10/02/86)
> Reactionary regimes have a vested interest in the status quo. > William L. Rupp *All* regimes have a vested interest in the status quo, if that means conditions that allow them to govern. Most regimes, "reactionary" or otherwise, want to change the way things are; otherwise, they wouldn't bother to take power. E.g., Hitler's Final Solution: hardly a commitment to the status quo ante. More locally, reactionary Pinochet has recently changed the status of a number of his opponents from live to dead. Lee Webber