Organizations around campus today will launch a week of events
to generate interest and discussion about global issues.
“Global Consciousness Week” will provide forums for
students to both learn about internationally pertinent topics and
share their opinions.
Events will focus on three main issues: the tsunami that
devastated South Asia in December, the Iraq War and child abduction
cases in Uganda. Organizations sponsoring the week’s
activities say they hope the information they present will help
students formulate informed opinions and understand issues
affecting other parts of the world.
“The whole week is about stories that are … not told all
the time,” said Dorothy Le, a third-year chemistry student
and member of the California Student Sustainability Coalition, a
co-sponsor of the week’s events.
This afternoon, students will be able to tell their experiences
regarding the tsunami in a “speakout” session in
Meyerhoff Park.
Additionally, in an effort to highlight the unfamiliar aspects
of a story, Geoffrey Robinson, the director of Southeast Asian
studies, and Nandini Gunewardena, an anthropology professor, will
discuss this evening the history of countries that were affected by
the tsunami.
The goal is to inform students that problems such as civil war
existed in the affected regions prior to the tsunami, said Neda
Dowlatshahi, a fifth-year French and biology student, as well as
the UCLA UNICEF representative to the committee that planned this
week’s events.
The exposure students have to international events is limited
and selective, Dowlatshahi said. “Global Consciousness
Week” will expand students’ perspectives on global
issues, she added.
The focus on Tuesday will be the Iraq war and what students have
to say about the position of American troops in Iraq. At noon, an
anti-war demonstration will be held on campus. Though this is a
demonstration, it is not meant to focus on criticizing President
Bush’s administration, Le said. Instead, the point of the
demonstration is to advocate the return home of U.S. troops, Le
said.
Later, students can participate in a student-led debate on
whether the troops should return home. This will be a forum open to
all students wanting to express their opinions.
Last November, Megan Carney, a third-year anthropology student
and member of the sustainability coalition, unsatisfied by the
campus community’s response to the Iraq war, contemplated
organizing an anti-war demonstration. One week after she began
planning, she found out a close friend, Andres H. Perez, had died
in combat.
Perez was a 21-year-old marine from Santa Cruz, due to return
home in January. The death of her friend fueled her motivation to
organize this demonstration even more, Carney said.
Soon, Carney’s envisioned anti-war demonstration evolved
to be part of a series of activities to discuss global issues.
Eligio Martinez, fifth-year history and Chicano studies student and
the Academic Affairs commissioner, said having a series of events
will help students understand the war in Iraq in a global
context.
Carol Levery, a UNICEF board member, will be speaking about her
experiences in Uganda on Wednesday evening. A film called
“Invisible Children” will also be shown Wednesday. The
film will discuss the abduction of children from their homes in
Uganda by a rebel group.
The sponsors of “Global Consciousness Week” also
include Amnesty International, Feminist Majority Leadership
Alliance, Muslim Student Association and United Arab Society.
Though these groups come from different backgrounds, they share the
common goal of generating interest among students about global
issues, Dowlatshahi said.
“We may be different clubs, but it’s really great to
come together on certain issues that we might … relate to or that
feel need to be exposed or expressed,” she said.
The series of events will end Wednesday night at the Cooperage
with performances by El Vuh, Bambu Fo Native Guns and Inner City
Soul, political hip-hop groups.
The concert will leave students upbeat, ending the scheduled
events of the week on a positive note, Dowlatshahi said.