WesPeace, a University faculty and staff anti-war group, met with students Wednesday to discuss election-related issues. The agenda included planning for last minute voter recruitment efforts as well as a post-election demonstration, scheduled for Nov. 3.
Professor of sociology Robert Rosenthal argued that Senator John Kerry might win, citing a recent poll of American children.
“Most children want Kerry to win, and children usually get their opinions from their parents,” Rosenthal said.
With most national polls predicting an extremely close finish for the presidential election, WesPeace began the meeting by discussing how to get registered voters, especially from areas that tend to vote for democrats, to go to the election booth on election day.
According to David Weiner ’06, many people in Philadelphia have removed their doorbells to mitigate contact with people urging them to vote. Because of this, WesPeace plans to target the cities surrounding the Pennsylvania metropolis.
“The election in Pennsylvania may be won or lost in the suburbs,” Weiner said.
At the meeting, students debated how WesPeace might rouse the patriotic spirits of registered voters to visit the polls. Ideas included getting Wesleyan students to support a road trip to swing states. Also, students could align with Democratic or progressive organizations based in Connecticut that are also attempting to increase voter turnout.
“It is important to the world that Bush be denounced by his own people,” Rosenthal said.
For WesPeace, the issue of voter turnout is secondary to peace in Iraq, especially as the Iraqi people become increasingly virulent in attacking the United States military occupation.
The second part of the meeting focused on how to mobilize Wesleyan students to take a proactive stance against the Iraqi war and to educate themselves and others about the consequences of the war and violence in general.
Rosenthal made a list of people’s different ideas for how to organize a demonstration on Nov. 3. Members of WesPeace hope to reserve the Olin courtyard for their demonstration, with a possible rain site in the Alumni Gymnasium. According to Rosenthal, he hopes to attract a speaker for the event. Members also plan on setting up an information table to educate the Wesleyan community on peace, Iraq and perceived threats to international relations.
Other possible plans include getting a band to play at the demonstration and providing Aramark bagged lunches for students. Weiner and Mike Butterfield ’06 are assigned to do student outreach, and Rosenthal hopes to reach the faculty by putting notices in their mailboxes about the event.
“We want to wake up a sleeping campus to the fact that a war is going on,” Butterfield said.
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