Following in the footsteps of Green Party presidential candidate Ralph Nader, Northwestern’s Campus Greens had to deal with a low turnout after holding high expectations for their first meeting Wednesday night.
“I have hopes and dreams and I’m not going to be discouraged,” said Kristina Berta, the group’s founder and a Weinberg junior.
Berta said she decided to start the group to fill a hole in party politics at NU.
“We only have the College Democrats and (College) Republicans on campus and that doesn’t represent many young people’s views,” Berta told the meeting’s six attendees. “Other people are thinking the same things about how cool liberal politics are.”
Though the group is based on a movement supported by Ralph Nader, the Greens have no official ties to the national party, Berta said. The group took its cue for a lack of national ties from NU’s College Democrats, who lost national support for refusing to support the Vietnam War.
National politics will not be the group’s focus, Berta said. The organization instead will concentrate on local politics with an emphasis on improving student life.
The group’s original goals included campaigns for instant runoff voting in Associated Student Government elections and for 24-hour purple line El service. The group abandoned the purple line cause Wednesday in favor of lobbying NU for a shuttle running between the Howard Street El stop and Evanston.
“Who’s going to do something about this if we don’t?” Berta asked her organization. “Old people in Evanston don’t care about 24-hour service.”
Instant runoffs could be a welcome change to what the Greens said is a tainted election process at NU. Under the proposed format, voters would rank candidates rather than vote for just one. If a majority is not immediately achieved, the votes for the last place candidate would go to his supporters’ second choices. This process would continue until a majority is achieved.
“Under this system, no one can tell you your vote was wasted,” Berta said.
The Greens’ long-term goals include campaigning against the “corporatization” of NU, gaining ASG recognition and raising money to bring speakers to campus.
“I want to have a fund-raising party with green beer and green tea ice cream,” Berta said.
The meeting’s attendees were anxious to take on the leadership of these tasks, and as the meeting ended, Berta expressed optimism for the future.
“We’re supposed to proliferate from here,” she said in reference to the group’s size. “We’re free to do whatever anyone wants.”
Eliina Viele, a Weinberg senior, said she attended the meeting because she is interested in the environment and would like to see more political action on campus.
“I think the group will fill a niche that’s not being filled,” she said.
Berta said the group needs to be available to the large number of students who do not feel they fit into the two major political parties.
“We’re a group for positive politics,” she said. “We believe in improving things, not complaining about them. As Nader calls the Green Party, we’re the politics of joy and justice.”
