Campus Activism on the Upsurge

Campus Activism: What's Hot for Back-to-School

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EMS Offers a Guide to the Top Issues, Protests and Students

WASHINGTON, DC, Aug. 29 -/E-Wire/ --National forests, international
trade protocols and coffee farmers in Latin America will be at the top of the
list for campus activists this fall. Protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge,
protesting World Bank policies and getting dining halls to go vegan are also
among the nationwide campaigns students will undertake.

College students have wholeheartedly embraced activism again. And Environmental
Media Services has put together a guide to the hot issues on campus this fall and
contacts on campus, at http://www.ems.org. Much of this activism focuses not just
on government actions the focus of earlier generations but on corporations and
corporate accountability. This is seen in the nationwide efforts to end Boise
Cascade's use of old growth wood and work to ensure that free trade benefits
the world's poorest citizens. The sophistication of student activism has increased
as well as the volume.

Thousands of students are expected to descend on Washington, D.C., to
participate in protests and teach-ins during the World Bank/International Monetary
Fund meetings at the end of September. "When I got involved (five years ago), we
were this scrappy band of student environmentalists," says Oberlin College senior
Dave Karpf. "A lot more people are involved now and they take what they do
very seriously it's very professional."

Across the country this summer, thousands of students attended leadership training
sessions and workshops on conducting grassroots campaigns, political strategy and
working with the media. Armed with this training, they head back to campus ready
to enact high-visibility campaigns on a variety of issues.

The dining hall, surprisingly, is the center of much activism. Recent student efforts have
succeeded in getting campus dining services to offer fair trade coffee and vegetarian
and vegan meals, with more campuses targeted this fall. Student protests in at least two
schools have prompted college administrators to sever ties with the largest campus
food service company, Marriott Food Services, because its parent company also
owns the Corrections Corporation of America, the controversial for-profit prison
operator.

"I think we're seeing greater sophistication in activism," says Aaron Gross, a part-time
Harvard student and the college coordinator for People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals. "There's a lot better organization, better grassroots and national advocacy."
And colleges are leveraging their purchasing power to buy only recycled and
sustainably harvested wood products, thanks to the Tree Free Campus campaign
and other student efforts.

"The Sierra Student Coalition is taking up forest protection as one of its
priority national campaigns this year," says Jim Steitz, a senior at Utah State University.
"On the consumer side, our goal is to rid all institutions, university and otherwise,
of Boise Cascade products." President Bush's numerous efforts to roll back
environmental protections will no doubt spur more students to action this year as well.
As soon as students get back to campus, they will work to gather comments before
the Sept. 10 deadline for public input on the Bush administration's efforts to limit the
new roadless area protection rule in national forests. Working to get the Senate to
ban drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will also be top-priority.

"Every student in the Sierra Student Coalition is going to drop whatever they're
doing to make sure the refuge does not get drilled," says Karpf, a member of the
group's executive committee. "If we can't stop (Bush) there, where can we stop him?"

For more information, go to http://www.ems.org.
SOURCE: Environmental Media Services
08/29/2001
CONTACT: Ryan Walker, EMS, 202/463-6670/