“Caribbean Legion.” Both the man andrnthe organization were later acknowledgedrnto have been under CIA control.rnOther information in the handbookrnmade it clear that in the 1950’s Castrornhad received both financing and favorablernpublicity from the United States,rnas well as conceptual and organizationalrnhelp. Washington’s response was to retrievernall the copies of the Cuba handbookrnthat had already been sent out tornnumerous university libraries and to orderrnthem pulped. Even the President ofrnthe United States would not be able tornget ahold of a book that “didn’t exist.”rn1 had just completed the supervisionrnand editing of the Ared Handbook forrnGuatemala and was proceeding withrnCosta Rica when I found out that myrnnext job would be to produce a sanitizedrnversion of the Cuba handbook. Afterrnlearning about the full-scale “disinformation”rneffort in progress—to insertrnfalse information into the handbookrnchapters after they had left the author’srnhand—I handed in my resignation, withrna multi-page letter (which went to thernPresident of American University) explainingrnwhy so many of the very bestrnpeople were leaving. He had previouslyrnbeen clued-in to the situation and hadrntried to stiffen our resolve to resist thernpressures we were under. He told our assembledrnorganization, “Doctors hiderntheir mistakes, undertakers bury them,rnbut your shame is there for all the worldrnto see.” After some unpleasant encountersrnwith at least three agencies of BigrnBrother as a magazine editor, I left therncountry with my family for nine years.rnIn 1991, after working for nine years asrna government documents specialist atrnWake Forest University, 1 returned tornWashington at the invitation of a friendrnwho had been familiar with both myrnwork and the problems I had encounteredrnduring my last sojourn there in thernI960’s. He wanted me to put into readablernform the information his organizationrnhad collected through psychologicalrntests administered to both American andrnChinese (Hong Kong, Taiwan, andrnMainland) college students. His firstrnchoice for the position, Dr. Francis Hsu,rna renowned expert on the differences inrnChinese and American thought processes,rnhad declined for reasons ofrnfrail health and advanced age.rnAmong the more interesting resultsrnof the study comparing Chinese andrnAmerican thought patterns was the conclusionrnthat Chinese Mainland studentsrndo not consider Marxism relevant to economicrnquestions but do consider communismrna faith. On the other hand,rnthey do not consider Confucius or Confucianismrnto belong to the realm of religion.rnThe main focus of their lives isrntheir family, and they all but worshiprntheir mother. There is no tolerance forrnmisbehavior in children past the age ofrnfive, and selflessness is the norm.rnPornography, and behavior related to it,rnis contemptuously dismissed as spiritualrnpollution. Women may legitimately userntheir charms and sex appeal in only tworncontexts: relations in, or leading up to,rnmarriage and prostitution. Partly for thisrnreason, women in the professions findrneasy acceptance strictly on their professionalrncompetence. Not only parents,rnbut also professors, university administrators,rnemployers, and others in positionsrnof authority over unmarried personsrnin their 20’s consider it a solemnrnobligation to safeguard the sexual moralityrnof their charges. Misconduct by eitherrngender can result in the destructionrnof careers. There is serious concern at allrnlevels of society that Western influencesrnare undermining the moral fiber ofrnChinese youth. Marriage is the almostrnuniversal goal of all young people, andrnwedding-night virginity is expected.rnSchoolwork is a serious focus for urbanrnyoung people who have the opportunityrnto study. Western-style dating is taboornbecause it would be a distraction for secondary-rnschool students.rnAmerican college students contrastedrnsharply with the Chinese inrnvirtually all of the above areas. The studyrnshowed that “health, sex, and sports” arernthe major focus of education for Americanrnstudents. Hedonism and self-indulgencernare prominent. College conjuresrnup “sports, football, fraternities, andrnparties” more than anything else. Thernword “classroom” did not even appearrnamong American free-association responsesrnto the stimulus-word “college.”rnIn great contrast to the Mainland Chinese,rna significant minority of Americanrncollege students had very ambivalentrnfeelings toward their mothers. The wordrn”mother” evoked responses such asrn”f—ker,” “strange,” “abusive,” “bossy,”rnand “pushy.” The students resentedrntheir mothers’ tendency to nag, fight,rninflict pain, and instill fear. Of the fourrngroups studied (students in China, Taiwan,rnHong Kong, and the UnitedrnStates), Americans were the least inclinedrnto consider their mothers as gentlernand kind. While Mainland Chinesernindicated a respect verging on awe andrnreverence toward their fathers, Americansrnindicated no strong feelings, eitherrnpositive or negative—with alcoholismrnand divorce being the major complaintsrnagainst them.rnAlthough I had been given very strongrnassurances that I would be independentrnand free from pressure in reaching myrnconclusions, the reality turned out otherwise.rnSince I was not amenable tornmodifying my sources and conclusions, Irnfound that my job had been terminatedrnin June 1992. I was offered renewal ofrnmy position on the condition that I writernwhat I was told to write. My responsernthat this would be prostitution was regardedrnas incomprehensible.rnThe Department of Education, thernformal sponsor of the study, informedrnme that it had been given the names ofrnall the persons who had worked on itrnand that mine was not among them. Inrnfact, the study came out under the authorshiprnof Dr. Hsu, who, as far as Irncould determine, had not even seen it. Irnam told that the new, anonymouslyrnmodified version of the study bears virtuallyrnno resemblance to the work I leftrnat my departure. No doubt it will bernpolitically correct—and very pleasing tornthose who ordered it. It will also bearrnvery little resemblance to the researchrnon which it is supposed to be based.rn]ohn Dombrowski writes from Rockville,rnMaryland.rnNew CovenantrnHigh School, 2040rnby Robert WestmorelandrnNew Covenant High Dialoguing instructistrnHarold Schroeder-DeweyrnVCRed a Shakespeare Video Classicsrntape from yoredays—^Alan Alda as a nonconfrontationalrnLear—for his/her classrnand egressed to interface with ResourcernPerson Vita Burning-Bed, who wasrncogdissonancing over the fact that thernRelease Room was processing 27 percentrnmore of the student anthropopulace thisrnfall than last.rnThe Jocelyn Elders Release Roomrninstances indirect lighting, cots withrnstrategic oil cans to minimize squeaks.rnSEPTEMBER 1994/47rnrnrn