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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The independent student publication of The University at Buffalo, since 1950

Letter to the editor

The Young Democratic Socialists of America at UB have chosen to demonstrate on Friday because the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has made it clear that they feel no guilt about association with and promotion of war profiteers.

The SEAS displays with pride on its website its partnership with Lockheed Martin, a company which manufactures Hellfire missiles and rocket artillery systems for use by the Israeli military in war criminal operations which caused thousands of civilian casualties through recklessness and outright cruelty. The fact that the 40 Yemeni children killed in 2018 when the air force of Saudi Arabia decided their school bus was a worthy target in their criminal war in Yemen were killed with a laser guided bomb supplied by Lockheed Martin clearly does not bother the SEAS. 

The school equally sees no shame in advertising that they accept the blood money of the Northrop Grumman Corporation, which rakes in billions from their lucrative arms deals with the U.S. military and the totalitarian Saudi monarchy. Nor does the SEAS seem bothered by the massive contributions of these two companies to lobbying groups which promote conflict and American imperialism abroad so as to ensure a continued market for their war profiteering.

The SEAS has amply demonstrated their own feelings on the subject. This leaves conscientious students with a choice: either protest, or surrender. Surrender to UB promoting war criminals. Surrender to war profiteers using our campus as a recruiting ground. Surrender to imperialism. We choose to protest.

There are those who will complain that these partnerships offer good jobs and lucrative careers. To them we pose a simple question: how much civilian blood is too much for a six-figure salary? What war crime will it take before you can’t find an excuse? How much blood is too much before you refuse to accept blood money?

If you wish to protest our university’s partnerships with war profiteers, please join us in the Student Union Lobby at 12:45PM this Friday.

Calvin Camodeca-Schmitz on behalf of the UB Young Democratic Socialists of America Central Committee

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