Activists musn't hide behind flyers - Guest Column

I saw the first one posted on a door of Remsen Hall, a bright lime-green flier that read: "I-ran: n. the only country in the world overtly developing an illegal nuclear program while supporting terrorism abroad and suppressing human rights at home. See your conscience." It was signed "The Iran Awareness Project" and bore the Office of Residential Life's stamp of approval.

In the past couple weeks more fliers have been posted, each one repeating another inflammatory statement about Iran. What is the Iran Awareness Project? There is no indication of the organization's purpose or their motivation for posting the contrived statements.

Their fliers are both ambiguous and trite, simply restating a few ideas that have come out of the mouths of politicians. They clearly care enough about Iran to put forth the effort to circulate these fliers, but what awareness are they trying to promote?

On a campus where many complain about the lack of student involvement and political demonstration, active groups should be commended for their efforts to rouse the student body. But such a hit and run campaign is disheartening and reflects a propensity to talk without speaking.

Freshman Sam Chester responded to my e-mail inquiry on behalf of the Iran Awareness Project. "Our group of concerned student activists have different ideas regarding the best path Iran and America should take to resolve their differences," he said. "With the flyer campaign, we are seeking to share elements of the challenge of Iran with students."

Aside from asking what is "the challenge of Iran," I ask that these "concerned student activists" step out from behind their ambiguous fliers and make clear their viewpoint and their message to the student body. The fliers grabbed my attention, but if that is the group's only purpose, then its members cannot call themselves activists. Activists look to effect change by spreading awareness about an issue to other people. More importantly, activists have a clear vision of what they hope to achieve, and design campaigns specifically geared towards the achievement of that vision.

As they are, these fliers recall images of Colin Powell preaching about nonexistent WMD and riding on the willingness of the general population to accept truths without question.

By sporadically presenting charged statements, the group is paving the path to another war built on false pretenses and half-truths. I hope that Hopkins students are not swayed to support a cause that has not even been established by the fliers.

Not only are they ambiguous, and thus impractical as a means to further a cause, but the fliers are also posted illegally. The Office of Residential Life denied having approved the posters, saying that the group must have cut and pasted their stamp onto the flyers. Director of Residential Life Shelly Fickau said, "We have not approved such a thing." Now, how can an organization hope to effectively promote their agenda on campus without following the correct guidelines?

I do not think the fliers are unworthy of approval. They are not offensive; they are merely meaningless. In the context of student activism, they are ineffective for promoting change or spreading awareness.

When I saw the flier, my first thought was, "What?" I hope an activist organization would want a more meaningful response.--Mitra Heshmati is a freshman neuroscience major from Columbus, Ohio.