2008 Woodie Awards
IGC Student Council organizes three-week Iraq War Series
By: Amy Ledig, News Editor
Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: News
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The council has put together a three-part, three-week series exploring the themes of education, engagement and action as they relate to the Iraq War. The first segment had professors who chose to be involved include issues related to the Iraq War in their classes last week. The second portion was a panel of Iraq War veterans who came to address students on Tuesday. The final portion, the Action and Discussion Panel, will take place on Tuesday.
"I think that we want to engage students in a different way because the political discourse at Macalester seems to be fairly repetitive," said Hector Pascual Alvarez '08, a member of the student council, adding that students seem to be growing apathetic as a result.
The classroom portion involved professors in fields ranging from the predictable, including political science, psychology, art and theater, to the more unconventional such as biology, geology and environmental science. Fourteen classes participated, according to a list compiled by the Student Council.
"I was personally a little disappointed at the level of response from faculty," Pascual Alvarez said. "There were constant reminders sent to faculty; we [the students on the council] went personally to talk to faculty, but there was [little] response."
Natalie Locke '11 is in Daniel Hornbach's environmental studies class, which she said took one of the days to look at the environmental impact of the war on Iraq.
"I thought it was interesting because it was a perspective on the war I'd never thought about or heard about," Locke said, adding that although the ecological impact was not as important as the human impact, it was still significant.
Tuesday's Iraq War Veteran's Panel brought together Maj. Lisa L. Carter of the U.S. Army and Technical Sgt. Paralyn W. McClain of the U.S. Air Force, both part of the Department of Defense's "Why We Serve" program and Wes Davey, a veteran of the U.S. Army Reserve and member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.
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