Protest Violence in Albania

To the editors:

Regarding "Albanians Evade Serb Authorities" (News, March 4): Many people do not know that since October ethnically Albanian students in Kosova have been organizing peacefully to protest the Serbian government's refusal of education and other basic human rights. Students at campuses across the nation are rallying in support of this non-violent protest movement in an effort to stop the violence.

Albanian students in Kosova have been denied access to universities and secondary schools for the past seven years. Although these protests have been non-violent, they have met extremely violent responses from the military and the police. Students have been assaulted by police with guns, tear gas and nightsticks. Some students and professors have been killed during police raids of their "classrooms"--rooms in houses where, without textbooks, chalk boards, or even pencils and paper, teachers and student gather in an attempt to learn.

In preparation for a peace vigil, a 15-minute video documenting one of the protests in October will be playing in Loker Commons at 7 p.m. on March 10. The vigil will be held in front of the John Harvard statue in the yard beginning at 7 p.m. on March 12. MIRANDA WORTHEN '01   March 5, 1998