ASG is not an appropriate forum for student activism.
The referendum on the war in Iraq, initially intended by Peace Project and other affiliated activist or cultural groups to be a resolution expressing ASG’s stance on the war, now allows students to voice their opinion on the war in an on-line poll.
The purpose of the original resolution was to get ASG to take a vocal stand against the war, perhaps to attract media attention, and to spark dialogue on campus.
NOWAR activist Naureen Shah expressed disapppointment regarding ASG’s insistence on debating the constitutionality of the resolution instead of discussing the merits of the war in Iraq. She said that NOWAR had hoped to incite a dialogue at the ASG meeting March 12, but the discussion bogged down as senators advised them to tone down their language and soften their stance.
“We weren’t allowed to [express our views] because of the maneuvering [required by] ASG,” she said.
She was also disappointed that ASG has not actively supported the referendum by calling attention to it using flyers or advertisements in the Daily.
Some senators felt that they did not have the authority to vote on such a weighty issue because they are not elected seriously by their constituents.
Peace Project and its affiliated groups also organized teach-ins, encouraged letter-writing campaigns to congressmen, and held rallies and protests, but in addition to protesting the war as citizens, they felt it was important to protest the war as college students.
“I sent letters to my congressional representatives, but ASG is the only group that directly represents my interest as a student,” said Bassel Korkor, President of and Senator for the Middle Eastern Students Association.
“[The resolution] shows that a chunk of educated society is against the war,” concurred Naureen Shah.
It seems, however, that writing to congressmen and protesting are a more effective means of demonstrating one’s political views. ASG has no power to do anything about the war.
What will be the result of the referendum? Will it be cited in the Tribune, or used to justify a campus-wide flurry of activism sponsored by ASG? None of the senators seem to know.
What would have happened if ASG had passed the original resolution, speaking out against acts of hatred and against the march towards war?
Has Vietnam given college students an exaggerated sense of their own importance? Is it undemocratic [another word here?] to consider an educated student’s view on the war to be somehow more important than a farmer’s or a factory worker’s?
Didn’t President Andrew Jackson give the right to vote to all men, both property owning elite and working-class alike?
But if they want to spark dialogue on campus, Peace Project and its parnering institutions only have to call up David Weigel at the Chronicle or a member of ROTC here at NU for a different perspective on the war.
ASG isn’t a forum for idealistic dialogue. It’s a haven of democracy, a place of lukewarm compromise and warm but meaningless fuzzy speech.
A group of concerned citizens blocking traffic on Sherridan Road would be a more effective anti-war gesture.
Stephanie Spadaro is a Weinberg senior. She can be reached at [email protected].
