Classroom on the Quad

Student Activism: Ways to Be Involved

By Erik Fyfe and Rachael Spiewak, Emory Peace Coalition


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Classroom on the Quad
Welcome and Introductions
Bruce Knauft, Faculty Council

Jim Grimsley, Faculty Council

Purvi Patel, College Council

Donna Wong, Campus Life

Iraq: The Challenge of Responsibility
Rick Doner, Political Science

Weapons of Mass Destruction and U.S. Foreign Policy
Dan Reiter, Political Science

A Call to Words
Asanka Pathiraja, Foreign Policy Exchange

Hearing in Eqanimity: Deciding Your Path
Bobbi Patterson, Religion

The Necessity of War with Iraq
Bob Bartlett, Political Science

The Humanitarian Cost of War
Laurie Patton, Religion

A Man of Honor: The President's Noble Vision
Daniel Hauck, College Republicans

Women: War and Peace
Lili Baxter, Women's Studies

The Morality of War
James Tarter, Students for War Against Terrorism

Speak Up or Get Out
Erin Harte, Young Democrats

War Does Not Resolve Conflict, War Is Conflict
Mark Goodale, Anthropology

A War of Liberation
Frank Lechner, Sociology

A Call to Consciousness, A Litany of Questions
Juana Clem McGhee, Institute for Comparative and International Studies

Student Activism: Ways to Be Involved
Erik Fyfe and Rachael Spiewak, Emory Peace Coalition

Cross-Cultural Communication: U.S. and Iraq
Devin Stewart, Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies

The U.S. Has Never Been Alone in the World
William Chace, University President

 

Erik Fyfe
Our president declared the start of his war to "liberate the people of Iraq" during his speech last Thursday at 10:15 p.m. so what point lies in protesting a war that has begun already?

By remaining silent as homes, lives, countries are destroyed to protect our "freedom," we imply that the government designed to represent us is acting on our behalf.

• On our behalf, the administration has decided that the twenty million residents of Baghdad sould simply hide beneath their homes as British and American warplanes release thousands of bombs upon structures suspected to shelter influential members of the Ba'ath party.

• On our behalf, our president yesterday asked Congress to allow $74.7 billion to pay for the next six months of combat in Iraq.

• On our behalf, since November of last year, our Department of Justice has instituted the requirement that "nonimmigrant" men (primarily Arab) must register with our INS and be fingerprinted, photographed, and interrogated. For our safety, thousands of the men who have volunteered to cooperate have been detained, shackled—deported.

In participating in direct action, we are able to disclose the fact that our government is not acting on our behalf.

Because of the controversy surrounding this war, because the voices of dissent are being ignored and misrepresented, it is crucial that we work together to hold our government officials accountable for their actions.

Rachael Spiewak
So what can we do?

Register to vote, get online and contact your representatives, help put pressure on our government ot fulfill its promises to provide humanitarian aid to Iraq once our war is over. Congress is asking that we share our opinonis on the war with Iraq and www.congress.org. In addition to raising money for OxFam, the Emory Peace Coalition will make all of these activities available to you on campus every day.

• Later today, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., a citywide rally of opposition to the war will be held at Five Points in downtown Atlanta. Cars will lieave from the parking lot behind the DUC at 4:15 p.m.

• Please join us tonight for an overnight vigil between the DUC and C ox.

• Tomorrow, three speakers will be visiting Emory to discuss their experiences during their visit to Iraq in 1999. they spoke with Iraqi citizens beyond the rhetoric employed by our respective governments. It is an extremely gripping and informative program. It will be held in White Hall 208 from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.

• On Friday, there will be a student-led discussion from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on the lawn between the DUC and cox. The purpose of this event is to give each member of the Emnry community (students, faculty, and staff) a chance to voice his or her own thoughts and feelings about the war on Iraq. This will be a peaceful gathering and all opinions are welcome as long as they are conducted in a respectful manner.

• On Saturday, a teach-in entitled The Impact of War: The Human Perspective will be held in Harland Cinema from noon until 5:30. It features a panel of speakers and a series of eight workshops to choose from that involve various aspects of this war.

The war against Iraq did not begin on Thursday night. OUR bombs have intermittently fallen upon the Iraqi people since the end of the Persian Gulf War over ten years ago. We must not ignore our own government. It is time to act now.

On a final note, if our government was truly committed to human rights and stopping terror, it would shut down the School of the Americas.