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Wasted Opportunity
By Annie
Jul 8th 2008
at 9:46 pm EDT
i just got back from the campus progress conference. ridiculous. SUCH A HUGE OPPORTUNITY WASTED! some of the most interesting students from around the nation in the room, and the whole conference revolved around adults. limited Q&A sessions was the closest anyone got to hearing the views of these students. from that and the limited amount of people i was able to talk to in the 30 min "networking" breaks, which were more accurately unorganized bathroom breaks, i could tell that the people running the conference and the students were not on the same page.
With the campus progress people and speakers (80% of which were WAY WAY WAY over 30) in charge, the conference went away from figuring out WHAT THE HECK us students are going to do with this horribly messed up world we've been handed and turned into some subtle obama/democratic/sign up on this webpage and vote fest. There should have been organized group discussions, student run workshops, a giant town hall meeting...ANYTHING to get these kids talking to each other.
however i DID learn two things today:
1) all the stuff these students are doing is connected and we are finally figuring it out. we really support each other, and realize that race, class, gender and sexuality all collide in our issues. The world is a messed up place, because our relationships with other people and the earth we live on is messed up. Our attitude as a society NEEDS to change. This is scary, but also promising. At this conference, a lot of students saw that we can use a global campaign for respecting human rights, and earth rights as a platform to support and promote each others campaigns and actually SOLVE all these problems. we just need to change the way we think.
2) it really is all up to us. the generation before us is trapped in the idea that voting will solve everything. VOTING MATTERS! WE NEED GOOD PROGRESSIVE CANIDATES IN OFFICE!!! however, at a national conference...this should NOT be our main focus. I, and so many other students wish that the organizers had discussed way way more radical ideas. the issues of today cannot wait for politicians to understand what we understand. THE WORLD IS DYING! WE NEED TO SAVE IT NOW! seriously, the conference did make me realize. this is our generation's time.
so much peace and love,
annie
ps- i knew the conference was not on the right track when i put up a "Why bottled water CP? Please Recycle" sign up near the EVIAN bottled water table and someone in a campus progress tshirt tore it down and threw it away. not. cool.
pps- i hope someone from campus progress reads this and thinks about it. you guys are doing great stuff, but seriously, listen to the youth. WE COULD DO SO MUCH MORE IF YOU JUST GAVE US THE CHANCE!!!
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John Edwards, Ryan Gosling, M-1, Adrienne Maree Brown: what else could you ask for?
Take it from me, if you only go to one conference, one event, this year, the Campus Progress National Conference is one to go to. Every year I'm more and more impressed with the energy and enthusiasm of the attendees, the breadth and depth of the discussions led by the speakers, and just by the fun atmosphere (and great food). But don't take it from me, hear what John Edwards has to say:
Don't wait, spots are filling up fast, so apply today!
Please remember that Campus Progress' terms of use do not allow promoting or endorsing any particular political party or candidate for office. Posts or comments that do this will be deleted.
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With the campus progress people and speakers (80% of which were WAY WAY WAY over 30) in charge, the conference went away from figuring out WHAT THE HECK us students are going to do with this horribly messed up world we've been handed and turned into some subtle obama/democratic/sign up on this webpage and vote fest. There should have been organized group discussions, student run workshops, a giant town hall meeting...ANYTHING to get these kids talking to each other.
however i DID learn two things today:
1) all the stuff these students are doing is connected and we are finally figuring it out. we really support each other, and realize that race, class, gender and sexuality all collide in our issues. The world is a messed up place, because our relationships with other people and the earth we live on is messed up. Our attitude as a society NEEDS to change. This is scary, but also promising. At this conference, a lot of students saw that we can use a global campaign for respecting human rights, and earth rights as a platform to support and promote each others campaigns and actually SOLVE all these problems. we just need to change the way we think.
2) it really is all up to us. the generation before us is trapped in the idea that voting will solve everything. VOTING MATTERS! WE NEED GOOD PROGRESSIVE CANIDATES IN OFFICE!!! however, at a national conference...this should NOT be our main focus. I, and so many other students wish that the organizers had discussed way way more radical ideas. the issues of today cannot wait for politicians to understand what we understand. THE WORLD IS DYING! WE NEED TO SAVE IT NOW! seriously, the conference did make me realize. this is our generation's time.
so much peace and love,
annie
ps- i knew the conference was not on the right track when i put up a "Why bottled water CP? Please Recycle" sign up near the EVIAN bottled water table and someone in a campus progress tshirt tore it down and threw it away. not. cool.
pps- i hope someone from campus progress reads this and thinks about it. you guys are doing great stuff, but seriously, listen to the youth. WE COULD DO SO MUCH MORE IF YOU JUST GAVE US THE CHANCE!!!