Two Bowdoin first years who were recently removed from a Bush rally event in Florida say they have discovered how politics can be both empowering and discouraging.
Over break, Max Goldstein and Ruth Morrison attended Project Democracy, a conference on politics and the environment held in Gainesville, FL. A few days later, they tried to hear President George W. Bush speak in Orlando.
Before Bush spoke, Morrison, Goldstein, and four students from Ohio State were asked to leave the conference area. The students had shown up at the conference with entrance tickets, and were wearing T-shirts sporting the slogan "Some Things Were Never Meant To Be Recycled: Defeat Bush, Save Our Future."
After having spent five days at Project Democracy where the slogan was "Your vote is your voice," Goldstein was disappointed and surprised when asked to leave. "I figured if we stayed quiet and had tickets [we'd be able to stay]," said Goldstein.
"We're voters; just because we're young doesn't mean our vote counts any less," he said. "He's our president, and we had tickets to hear him speak."
Goldstein suspected that he and the others were asked to leave because of their shirts. However, the Orange County sheriff's office said otherwise.
Corporal Carlos Torres of the sheriff's office told the Orient that people were asked to leave the event after they refused to take their seats. "They were standing where they shouldn't have been standing, and they were told several times to take their seats. They refused to do so, so they were asked to leave," Torres said in a phone interview. "These orders came from the President's detail, and whatever they say we have to carry out.
"People were allowed to roam about before the President arrived, but when he came they were asked to take their seats," he said. "Once the president comes in, security tightens."
In response to Torres's allegations, Morrison said, "The word 'seat' was never said. If it had been, we clearly would have moved. The goal was not to get kicked out."
Both Morrison and Goldstein said that getting thrown out or creating any kind of trouble was never their group's intention.
"We were deprived of the opportunity to hear Bush because we were attracting attention. From a sociological point of view, I think it's interesting that we received so much attention. We wanted to talk to the media at the end, to give them our reaction to the speech. But we didn't want to be seen as the 'teen radicals,'" said Morrison.
The President's speech was in no way connected to the conference the students attended. Morrison and Goldstein found out about the Orlando event and got tickets from a representative at the Environmental Victory Project. "We wanted to attend because we wanted a close connection with national politics, not just what you get from reading the newspaper," said Goldstein. "We wanted to hear if he'd address the issues that concern youth: the environment and tuition among other things."
Since coming back to campus, Goldstein and Morrison have started looking into applying for a $2,000 grant to mobilize Bowdoin students. They also hope to speak to the administration about strengthening and increasing efforts at Bowdoin to follow the parameters set forth in the Higher Education Act of 1998 to make "a good faith effort" to register student voters. According to Goldstein, they'd like to include voter registration information in first-year packets handed out during Orientation. They also hope to create an internship position for someone to research local issues. Next Tuesday, Morrison and Goldstein are planning to hold a voter registration event to allow students to register.
For Goldstein, the conference also provided inspiration to continue doing environmental work and make more efforts to mobilize voters. "I want to get involved with a group in Los Angles doing environmental or voting registration work," said Goldstein, a California native. "If not, I just want to get my friends and everyone I know registered to vote. Even if it's small, if everyone did that, we would have so many more people registered."
Morrison came back to Bowdoin energized to implement change.
"It's sad that so many students are written off as not having a say. I think that it's really disappointing. In other countries, students are the voice of change and their issues are addressed. But as our numbers grow, we will start seeing the effect of our voice in this country. I want us to be taken seriously," she said.