PROFESSOR BEGINS BOOK COLLECTION TO ASSIST STUDENTS IN CAMBODIA

Dr. Alan Naslund's feeling about reading and the English language transcend love.

It's passion.

So, when he heard about Cambodian students using empty cigarette packets as English flash cards, Naslund wanted to do something about it. While on vacation from his teaching job at Sanyo Gakuen University in Okayama City, Japan, the professor spent his time in Cape Girardeau trying to gather used English texts.

"I just can't stand to think of people without books that they want," he said. "These people paste words to bottle caps, and students take the caps home to study. That's pitiful."

Naslund remembered growing up on a ranch in Montana, craving time away from chores so he could read. He said his hunger for reading was nothing compared to Cambodian students' desire to learn.

The English professor learned of their plight when he attended a meeting of the Japanese Association of Language Teachers. Two Cambodian English teachers addressed the group, explaining what the Pol Pot regime did to education in their country.

Pol Pot lead the Khmer Rouge Communists, who took over the country in April 1975. He said Pol Pot's regime sent armed soldiers into schools to shut them down, killing teachers and other educated people. It forced Cambodians to move out of the cities and onto farms. Schooling was nonexistent.

Libraries were closed and educational books were burnt in huge piles.

By the time the regime was ousted in 1979, Cambodians were left with little to rebuild their country. Naslund said that teachers with the slightest knowledge of English, even a few words, are forced to teach at least one class on the subject. French, Vietnamese and even Russian are more commonly heard in Cambodia than English.

But the Cambodian teachers who addressed the language professors in Japan said fluency in English would be vital to rebuilding their country.

"It's the language used in government and business," Naslund said. "We are talking about a country that was deliberately destroyed and needs help."

In addition, Naslund said he would like to spend one or two summer months teaching in Cambodia.

The professor returned to Japan this weekend, but the Rev. Brant Hazlett is in charge of collecting used English texts to send to Cambodia. The texts may be for any grade level and come from school or university libraries or from private collections.

In addition, the project needs storage space and money for shipping the books to Cambodia.

To contact Hazlett, call the Christ Episcopal Church at 335-2997.

Books may also be sent directly to the Cambodian teachers at The Cambodian-British Centre for Education, P.O. Box 922, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Naslund said interested persons should ask about M-bags at the post office, which carry a reduced rate for sending books overseas.