Backpacks Speaking Politics - Wake Forest University

From November 28th through November 30th, several members of Democracy Matters as well as personal friends of Jessie Vogel (one of our members) wore 10 different backpacks around campus. Each backpack illustrated a different political issue, from stem cell research to gay marriage to the war in Iraq. There were conservative and liberal issues represented, and the backpacks themselves did not support one side of an issue over another. The idea behind the project was to connect the quintessential image of a student, the backpack, to the many issues that students are passionate about. The project was designed to remind people that students today care about many issues, and that we are not as apathetic as many cynics say we are. Furthermore, the backpacks were all connected by Democracy Matters. Although many students have strong beliefs about the environment, health care, or the death penalty, under the current political system, students are powerless. The backpacks were intended to be a way to start discussions among those wearing them and other students about the need for change.

In this way, the purpose of the project was two-fold. It was designed to illustrate particular issues and encourage thought and dialogue about these issues; it was also designed to educate people about Democracy Matters and the need for campaign finance reform.

For three days, I wore a backpack around campus. I wore the Environment backpack for the first day, and then I wore the Immigration Reform backpack over the final two days. In addition to the backpacks, everybody also wore a blue hat with a red star on it to connect all those participating together. Wearing the backpack was an interesting experience. Many people asked questions about it, and I was able to discuss it for a few minutes in three of my classes (none of which relate to politics, sociology, or a similar area). Most people that I talked to were curious about what the backpack was and why I was wearing it. Many of them wanted to know what the purpose of the project was, and while I rarely got to discuss the particular issue (people were generally fairly set on their opinions), I was able to talk about bigger issues.

The project concluded on Friday, and the backpacks all being displayed in the library. They are in a high-traffic area, so even though nobody is wearing them around campus, they will still be seen by a lot of people. I had previously mentioned that the backpacks were going to be displayed with a video discussing the project, but as far as I'm aware, this is no longer the case. The library moved the display area, and it's now in a point where an audible video would be inappropriate. At the moment, I don't know of any plans to still have the video, but that could change.

Finally, the project got a lot of good press. Unfortunately, in most cases, the reporters were more interested in the artistic side of the project, so Democracy Matters is not central in any articles. The project was also featured in two TV news stories, and in at least one of these, they did include Jessie talking about Democracy Matters and its goals. (I was unable to watch the other bit.) The Winston-Salem Journal ran a piece on the project that appeared on the front of local section and included several full color pictures (the online version is here). Also, the Window on Wake Forest, the Wake Forest news service, ran a piece on it that appeared on the Wake Forest home page (the article is here). A photo gallery of the project can be found underneath the picture in the Wake article.

Benn Stancil
Democracy Matters Campus Coordinator
Wake Forest University, NC

Art and Democracy - University of Minnesota

We produced this event to unite the worlds of social justice action and art on campus, build coalitions, and increase awareness of Democracy Matters on campus. We partnered with Substance and the Arts Quarter Collective. The venue was the Steak Knife, a small restaurant off campus with a small stage which brought the social justice scene to the night life scene of Dinkytown. We had students come in and out all night and we counted 150 heads at one point. Because there was no cover, students stopped by to check out the art and grab some good food and beer and listen to some of the music before heading out to other venues nearby. Our visibility also attracted people off the streets to come check it out. There is no way we would have reached as many people with an on-campus location.

One of the highlights of the nights actually started off as a disaster when a mic broke and a group of actors had no room on stage to perform a piece about the hunger struggle in America. They decided to move the play out to the parking lot and the audience followed them out. It was cold, but the performance was so moving it didn’t matter. The fact that it was a play about homelessness and hunger and it was performed in a parking lot added an element of ironic reality.

The planning of this event was difficult because we had no experience putting on an art show. We learned a lot and formed a new coalition with a student art group on campus that helped us with artistic direction. We had some no-shows for artwork and problems with getting funding for an event at a venue that serves alcohol but it was worth it in the end because we reached a new audience.

Sarah Emmel

Democracy Matters Campus Coordinator

University of Minnesota

NEC College Convention in New Hampshire

On November 27th - 30th I had the pleasure of attending the NEC College Convention in New Hampshire. Every presidential election year, college students gather in large numbers to learn more about the issues that are being discussed during the campaigns and to meet the candidates directly. Unfortunately, this year because of they way the primaries were scheduled, the convention had to take place during the month of November as opposed to in January, when it has traditionally taken place. As a result, there were not as many students and colleges as they would have liked. After all, this is the prime exam and final paper period for college students so I am sure that it was very hard for most people to make the trip.

Even though the numbers were low, I was still able to meet a lot of great people, some of the presidential candidates, attend some issue specific workshop, and help lead some workshops. On Wednesday, I manned a table at the Opportunity Fair, where I spoke with about twenty people, most of whom were in high school. After giving them the rundown on Democracy Matters and the money in politics issue, some of them even signed form letters to their senators asking them to support the Fair Elections Now Act. I was able to get 11 people in all to send letters.

The first workshop that I helped lead was called, "Student Organizing on Campuses," and I co-facilitated it with Maya Enista from mobilize.org and Ian Storrar from Common Cause. We had a great discussion with the 15 or so students who attended. We talked about there responses to the following two questions: 1. How frustrated are young people (15-30) about political issues that affect their lives (education, environment, health care, civil rights, the War in Iraq, etc.)? and 2. How political active and engaged are young people (15-30)? The interesting thing about these responses is the disconnect that was apparent. Essentially, students feel like their peers are frustrated and care a lot about a variety of issue but at the same time feel like they are not politically active. In an ideal world your level of political engagement would match your level of concern about specific issues. We talked about how the reason for this disconnect is the fact that money in politics makes our democracy an unfair process and turns people cynical. Until we address the money in politics issue, people will continually feel cynical and turned away by their own government. The students at the end felt like this was the best workshop they had attended during the convention. Sometimes people just want to share their own experiences and the learning comes from that.

The other workshop I helped out with was, "Public Financing of Campaigns: How Students Can Bring About Change." This was moderated by Dan Week from Just6Dollars.org. There were a lot of people on the panel. Not too many people attended this one, unfortunately, due to a dead time during the day. We did get a few people to sign and send some form letter though.

I attended two workshops: one was about forgiven foreign debt and the other was about health care. The foreign debt one was facilitated by two poeple from Jubilee USA Network, which is advocated for all foreign debt to be forgiven to the 67 most highly indebted developing countries. The other workshop was facilitated by New Hampshire for Health Care. The interesting bit of information I learned from this workshop is that the largest and fastest growing population on uninsured people are between the ages of 19-24.

Finally, I was able to ask some of the presidential candidates and/or the representatives questions about money in politics and the Fair Elections Now Act. First, I asked Joe Biden the following question: "Senator Biden, your life story is a testament to the fact that young people do care about a variety of political issues and that they can look to public service as a way to affect change, but a lot has change since you first won a senate seat at the age of 29. Young pepple look at policy that just doesn't make sense anymore: an expensive and deadly war that gives away billions of contracts to private firms like Halliburton and Blackwater, billions of dollars of farm subsidies that go to large corporate agribusinesses instead of family farms, and our efforts to bring about sound environmental policy is constantly being stonewalled by the big oil and gas industries. The one thing that ties all these things together is money in politics. How has the issue of money in politics changed since during your time in office and what are you doing to bring about a system of full public financing so we can make get big money out of politics?" The first words out of his mouth were, "This is the single most important issue you can focus on because, as you said, it affects everything that is done in Congress. Don't expect any significant policy changes until we can ensure that money no longer determines policy."

The second person to which I was able to ask a question was Senator Lindsey Graham who was there to represent John McCain. I praised him and McCain for being bi-partisan leaders in the Senate and working across the aisle, something that we need more of. Since John McCain a co-sponsor of the Bi-Partisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (BCRA) I asked if the two of them would be willing to take the next step to curb the big money influence in politics and support the Fair Elections Now Act. Senator Graham said that he was not in favor of full public financing, although his reasons for supporting BCRA are the very reasons the Fair Elections Now Act is needed. So I think he may be able to make a turn around.

I also got to ask Tom Tancredo a question about immigration; essentially calling him out for demonizing immigrants and turning the work immigrant into a bad work and how he does a disservice to himself and the debate by doing such things. Ian Storrar from Common Cause got Mike Gravel to sign the public financing pledge. And I got to see Ben Cohen (from Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream) give his presentation on the bloated Pentagon spending in the federal budget and his famous Oreo presentation.

All in all, this was a great experience. I wish there had been more students there but what are you going to do.

-peace-

Daryn Cambridge
Assistant Director
The Democracy Matters Institute

Diane Feinstein Lobby Day - University of San Francisco, CA

On November 15th, the Democracy Matter coordinators from the campuses of University of San Francisco, UC Davis, and San Francisco State University lobbied Diane Feinstein in her downtown office in San Francisco. We (Dallas Cole, Constance Gordon, and I) met with Feinstein’s aid and explained the basics of the Fair Elections Now Act. We refrained from asking for direct endorsement, but felt very good about relaying the important information so that Feinstein could make a knowledgeable decision when it comes time to vote on the Act. The aid, Assistant Field Representative John Murray, was very receptive and we were able to answer most of his questions.

We spoke about FENA from the perspective of political science college students who wish to first, vote for more clean election candidates right now because we believe they represent our interests better than dirty candidates and second, hope to have the option of running for office in the future because of the clean elections system. Also, we spoke about the connection between clean elections and the rise in women’s involvement in government. We believed that Feinstein would be particularly interested in this statistic because she supports women in politics.

Lacy Clark
Democracy Matters Campus Coordinator
University of San Franciso