Page 20
• News
Oct. 19, 2000
Students for Peace and Justice join other protesters at debate
Rady Large
The Pendulum
Students for Peace and Jus
tice left from Boney Fountain in
two waves to protest the presiden
tial debate at Wake Forest Uni
versity last Wednesday.
They were fighting against
the exclusion of the Green Party
Candidate, Ralph Nader, from the
presidential debates, the same is
sue that sparked protests in Mas
sachusetts at the last debate.
Other issues were addressed
at the protest. Such issues as corpo
rate support of the two major party
candidates and unfair treatment by
the police forces in Winston-Salem
were also of major concern to the
people at the protest.
The police forces of Win-
ston-Salem had set up a “pen and
chorale” system for the protestors
permitted on the actual campus of
Wake Forest. Protesters had to go
through bag searches, metal de
tectors and were forced to wear
ID bands on their wrists if they
wanted to go through the chain
link fence that lead to the pre-set
protest area.
The protest began at noon
with workshops on topics that
concerned the participants, such
as the immediate reduction of
nuclear weaponry, abolishment of
the death penalty, the effects of
the World Trade Organization and
International Monetary Fund on
third world nations and the cor
porate sponsorship of both of the
major party candidates.
After the conclusion of the
workshop sessions, the demon
strators rallied around speakers
who voiced the opinions of the
crowd.
One such speaker was Heidi
(who didn’t want her last name
published), a North Carolina high
student who attended the protest
against the last presidential de
bate in Boston. In her speech to
the crowd, Heidi stated that she
was there because of “a duty to
represent others who can’t repre
sent themselves.”
David Solnit was the orga
nizer of the protest. “I am not a
protester. I am an artist doing
street theatre. I am here to show
people how culture can be used as
a weapon in creating a new
world,” he said.
At 7 p.m., the crowd esti
mated at over a 1,000, rallied and
took to the streets. The police forces
of Winston-Salem attempted to
keep the protesters on the side
walks by threatening to arrest any
one marching on the streets. The
attempt was thwarted by chants
of “Whose streets? Our streets!”
“It was phat! The march
was so cool,” senior Andy Morley
said. “In Philly we were con
fined all over the place.” The
march that Andy is referring to in
“Philly” was a protest against the
Republican National Convention
, this past summer.
Upon arrival at the protest
site the peaceful demonstrators
were greeted with a coalition of
police forces outfitted in the riot
gear. Approximately 500 police
force were armed with riot shields,
pepper spray guns, tear gas canis
ters and tear gas cannons.
The confrontation between
the police and the protesters was
one of uneasy duty and uneasy
peace. Both sides seemed to be
not at war, but in negotiation.
The protesters on the front
Jennifer McCort/r/ie Pendulum
Protesters delivered an “in your face” message to
police and the public on Oct. 11 at Wake Forest
University during the presidential debate.
line delivered an “in your face”
attempt at opening the eyes of the
public to their cause. The people
towards the back communicated
the message of the protest to pass
ing motorist.
The people sat down in a
display of civil disobedience as
the police attempted to move them
out of the area. The peaceful
process of the protest kept the
police at bay.
Elon College student, Nate
Frigard, summed up the protest,
“It was full of spirit and positive
energy. A happy place to be.”
Rock the Vote combines political and
musical influences to encourage voting
Faith Gaskins
The Pendulum
This year’s presidential
election should be one of the
closest in decades. It will deter
mine the path that our country
takes for the next four years.
Yet, college-age people are in
the age demographic that is most
likely not to vote. One event
seeks to change that statistic.
Rock the Vote was estab
lished as a sort of common ground
between political and musical in
fluence. It is a forum for young
people to hear about the issues
that are raised by the presidential
candidates and hear how those is
sues will affect their lives.
“I believe that this event
will help to get people our age
excited about voting and about
politics,” Courtney Titus, a
sophomore at Elon, said. “I
think that they accomplish this
goal by presenting the candi
dates and the issues with the
audience of college-age stu
dents in mind.”
There are brochures avail
able at the events that provide a
youthful impression of the issues
and a breakdown of where each
candidate stands on that issue.
“Another great part of this
event is the bands,” Titus said.
The fact that many popular
groups show up to play at the
concert attracts even more
people our age,
“Some of the people who
come may not get any other ex
posure to politics so it is excit
ing for them,” Titus said.
Another facet of this event
is the opportunity to hear about
the third-party candidates and
where they stand on the issues.
“Hearing about the other
candidates was very interest
ing to me,” Titus said. “I mean,
on the news, the only candi
dates you hear about are George
W. Bush and A1 Gore.”
Recently Rock the Vote
was held in Winston-Salem,
N.C. last Wednesday and fea
tured popular recording artists
Hootie and the Blowfish.
“Another great thing
about it being a concert atmo
sphere is that you get to hear
opinions of other people your
age,” Titus said. “There were
college students there from
Wake Forest, Salem College,
Elon and many other places. It
was fascinating to hear what
other people who go to school
in the triad thought thought
about these national issues.”
Missouri Governor
killed in plane crash
Malcolm Garcia
and Deann Smith
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
KANSAS CITY - Missouri
Gov. Mel Carnahan, a two-term gov
ernor in the middle of a heated battle
for the U.S. Senate, was killed Mon
day nightin a plane crash in Jefferson
County, Mo., south of St. Louis.
The Associated Press reported
early Tuesday morning that
Carnahan was killed, along with
one of his sons and a campaign
adviser, according to relatives of
the campaign adviser.
Sen. Harry Wiggins of Kan
sas City said a spokesman from the
governor's office had confirmed that
the plane was Carnahan's, and that
the governor was on board.
The National Transportation
Safety Board confirmed that the tail
number on the plane was registered
to a Rolla law firm of which
Carnahan's son was a member.
Reports said the others on the
plane were Carnahan's son, Randy,
who often served as pilot for his
father on campaign trips, and Chris
Sifford, 36, Carnahan's campaign
adviser and his former chief of staff
His nephew, Frank Sifford, con
firmed the deaths.
Carnahan, 66, was one of
three persons on board a Cessna
335 that crashed west of Pevely,
Mo., after 7:30 p.m. Monday.
The plane that crashed was
reported lost at 7:33 p.m. Shortly
after that, residents near the crash site
heard an engine sound, as if a plane
was diving, and some reported a ball
of fire, Jefferson County Sheriffs
Capt. Ed Kemp said.
He reporteid that searchers
found some remains among pieces
of the wreckage.