|
Students research ideas for Iraq |
|
|
|
|
Thursday, 01 March 2007 |
by MILLIE TOLLESON
News Reporter
A group of 23 freshmen, who have named themselves the Watauga Iraq Study Group, will descend on Washington, D.C., in April to share their ideas.
The group’s members, also students in the Watauga College core curriculum class Exiting Iraq, will visit Washington April 4-7 to meet with policymakers, Jessica D’Englere, a freshman journalism major and group member, said.
“At the beginning of the class, we had a choice of going [to D.C.] to
research or to lobby. The class voted almost unanimously to lobby,”
D’Englere said.
The professor for the course, Dr. Joe Gonzalez, said the group hopes to meet with “people who make decisions about Iraq.”
That group of people will hopefully include local representatives,
including Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) and U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Dole
(R-NC) and Richard Burr (R-NC), Gonzalez said.
Freshman sustainable development major Emily L. Schreck said the group
has not developed a solid strategy to present in Washington yet, but is
“opposed to the way the war has been handled so far in Iraq.
“So far we have been gathering information and educating ourselves on
what has happened, so we can look at what needs to happen now,” Schreck
said.
Class members have also been responsible for reporting back to the
class on the Iraq coverage of various news sources, D’Englere said.
“We are really focused on helping with social issues, rather than only building a democracy,” D’Englere said.
Gonzalez said a teaching institute he attended last summer on problem-based learning inspired him to develop the course.
Gonzalez said he chose the situation in Iraq because “policy makers are
very confused as to what to do about Iraq. It is important for students
to be heard on the issue of Iraq.”
Schreck said it is important to “realize that students have an opinion and want to be heard.”
“If this goes on much longer, it may be a problem we inherit one day, so what we say matters,” Schreck said.
The group will hold a feast to raise money for the Washington, D.C.,
trip today at 6:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Living Learning
Center.
The group is asking for donations of $6 per person.
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Show/Hide comments
