REDLANDS TEACHER HAS HOPE IN CAMPAIGN FOR CAMARENA STAMP

REDLANDS - At Lugonia Elementary School the life of slain Drug
Enforcement Agency officer Enrique "Kiki" Camarena has been virtually
immortalized: his visage peers down from a wall overlooking the
school's garden. His bust, unveiled during Red Ribbon Week in 2004,
graces the school library.

In keeping the spirit of his life's work alive, fifth-graders in
retired teacher Diana Holly's classes - and as many community
supporters - have signed dozens of petitions and sent countless
letters over the past several years encouraging the Postal Service to
issue an Enrique Camarena stamp.

It is a campaign that Holly, who retired from teaching in 2003, has
not given up on.

And almost every other year, it seems, the Postal Service offers
Holly and her followers a glimmer of hope, exchanging its own
correspondences acknowledging her efforts. The most recent one
arrived last month, dated Jan. 16.

The Postal Service seems to agree that Camarena is worth
consideration for a U.S. postal stamp.

Camarena was an undercover agent for the Drug Enforcement Agency who
was kidnapped, tortured and killed while on assignment in
Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1985 by drug traffickers. His life was the
inspiration behind October's Red Ribbon Week.

His widow Mika and his sisters Niki Jimenez, Myrna Camarena and Bertha
Tamayo have visited Lugonia School on a couple of occasions to
recognize the school's dedication to remembering Camarena's life.

The Postal Service informed Holly in January that her proposal has
been passed on to the Citizen's Stamp Advisory Committee - as it has
twice before in the past seven years.

"I was shocked" to receive the latest letter, Holly said. "I felt
something good about it before I even opened it."

According to Holly, "Every year when we send in signatures and
letters - usually after Red Ribbon Week - we receive a letter
acknowledging our stuff."

To add incentive for the Postal Service's consideration, Lugonia
School has sent along signed red ribbons, T-shirts, newsletters and
newspaper articles.

Alex Romero, a former colleague of Camarena's, first contacted Holly
after a newspaper story appeared in 1998 highlighting the initial
efforts of Holly's class to write to the Postal Service on behalf of
Camarena. At the time Romero, an alumnus of Lugonia School, was an
agent for the DEA in Fresno. It was through him that Camarena's
family came to know the Lugonia School community.

In its latest letter, Terrence McCaffrey, Postal Service's manager
for stamp development in Arlington, W. Va. wrote, "You may be pleased
to know that this proposal will be placed before the Citizen's Stamp
Advisory Committee. The Committee is responsible for reviewing stamp
proposals and making subject and design recommendations to the
Postmaster General ' Currently, the 2007 and 2008 stamp programs are
completed, and stamp subjects for the 2009 program and subsequent
years are being selected."

Edward Carmona, a diversity development specialist for the San Diego
district of the Postal Service, which covers Redlands, shares in
Holly's enthusiasm.

"Postal employees are not allowed to campaign" for stamp designs or
commemorations, said Carmona, who has met Holly and follows her
progress. "It's supposed to be strictly a public activity, but I'm
certainly in support of this worthy cause."

According to Carmona, the U.S. Postal Service receives nearly 10,000
submissions for stamp ideas every year. "I wish I had a mathematical
formula for the chances" that a stamp for Enrique Camarena would be
issued, he said. "They issue 20 to 30 stamps a year, and chances for
selection are small. But she made it to the actual board, which is a
promising event."

Perhaps "three time's a charm," as the saying goes. Holly certainly
hasn't lost hope.

"We're looking at a time frame now of maybe 2009," Holly pointed out.
"I've noticed before when they're selecting stamps they tend to do a
theme for the whole year. I once received a letter telling me they
were working on stamps to honor all law enforcement."

Holly has received subtle hints, though she declined to say from who,
that this time is for real.

"I know they're working on a stamp. I know a design has been approved
for 2009," she said. "Maybe that will be the year for community."

Whether a stamp is issued or not, Holly simply hopes that future
generations remember the man behind Red Ribbon Week.

"Most kids thought it was just about drugs," Holly said. "His name
would be mentioned here and there, but kids didn't really know much
about him. Every year I did my best to let them know there was a real
person behind Red Ribbon Week, and that it was more significant than
wearing a ribbon."

If readers wish to campaign for a stamp honoring Enrique "Kiki"
Camarena, correspondence may be sent to the Citizen's Stamp Advisory
Committee, c/o Stamp Management, U.S. Postal Service, 475 L'Enfant
Plaza, SW, Room 4474EB, Washington, D.C. 20260-6756.