A war is being waged on the Georgetown campus, a war for the hearts and minds of students, a war over, well, war. In the weeks before a Thanksgiving cease-fire the action intensified with new rounds of flyers fired off daily by Georgetown Peace Action and the College Republicans.
Despite impassioned efforts over the past year to elevate the level of discourse and fabricate meaningful dialogue, Georgetown Israel Alliance and the Young Arab Leadership Association oddly have yet to see concrete results in their rhetorical struggles for justice in the Middle East. Apparently, building a friendly and constructive relationship does not always achieve the desired results.
Enter the newly resurrected Peace Action, dying (and “dying in”) to save Iraqi children-452.5 of whom die every day due to American sanctions-countered by the heretofore typically moribund Republicans, protesting the evil dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. Now both are zinging hard-hitting factoids back and forth across a line of control stretching from Leavey to Red Square.
True, “War = People killing people.” But isn’t Soylent Green people killing people too? What about that? Preliminary reconnaissance of that banner drop revealed that at least 47 people changed their minds about war right there on the spot.
“Dude, war is people killing people, I guess looking at it that way puts it in a whole new light,” said one bystander. “Yeah man, what were we thinking? This badly drawn nearly-illegible oversized novelty flag hanging limply from the ICC underpass has really touched my heartstrings.”
Like little cluster bombs, the smaller flyers deceive innocent passersby with their puny countenance. But beware: They pack a powerful argument: “The U.S. must not attack Iraq.” Whoa. Hold on a sec. Let’s get Donald Rumsfeld on his celly right here, hit him with the news flash. Whew, close one. Good thing Peace Action tipped us off to the finer intricacies on the use of military force in foreign policy. That underlined, italicized 38-point Helvetica really drove their point home.
While the Republicans’ original and potentially non-standard strategy of protesting the protesters is sure to see meaningful gains soon, the seasoned flyering aces of Peace Action won’t be ambushed easily. This is a conflict that could drag on for an extended period of time, resulting in a lengthy and costly occupation of Red Square by large numbers of well-written flyers and artistically-designed chalkings that all students will likely take the time to read and digest. (coloredmanga.com)
By underutilizing the university broadcast e-mail system, these groups risk reducing their effectiveness in delivering critical messages to the student body. Ignoring the awesome power of this medium could spell disaster for any group engaged in battle for ideological hegemony on campus. Zinging hard-hitting factoids across the ether with a 100% hit-rate and minimal collateral damage will undoubtedly strengthen their efforts, and ultimately sway the vitally important tilt of student opinion on this issue. We should give them all access to the gustud email list immediately so this issue can be conclusively resolved.
