I’ve always been interested in politics, and I like to be involved in my community. I’m a school board member in my hometown and I make the 3 ½-hour trip once a month for meetings. Here, I’ve been with the Bates Democrats and the Bates College Student Government all four years.

Last year I was elected Student Government president. Our most challenging issue is disbursing $300,000 among the more than 100 student clubs. Our decision has a direct impact on the community. That’s one of the most interesting things about Bates: we have a voice in important matters affecting students’ lives and the college’s future.

I’m a politics major. Two summers ago I apprenticed with Professor John Baughman, conducting research for his book on the development of Congress. Last summer I interned in Washington, D.C. for Maine Congressman Mike Michaud. They had me doing a lot of writing. The only other intern who did that much writing was another Bates student, Michael Petrick ’09. That’s when it hit me how Bates, by challenging us to write at a high level, prepares us for the real world.

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Inviting attendees to pen letters to their congressional representatives for or against invading Iraq, the Bates Democrats will host a tribute in words and song to the life and accomplishments of the late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone of Minnesota at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave. Refreshments will be served, and the public is invited to attend free of charge.

The voice of populism, Wellstone died in an Oct. 25 plane crash in northern Minnesota with his wife, Sheila, his daughter Marsha, three of his staff and two pilots just days before the conclusion of his closely contested Senate re-election campaign.

“In his tenure as a selfless public servant, he fought hard for the poor, the disenfranchised, the disabled and for the well-being of all,” said Bates senior Matt Scherzer of Simsbury, Conn., co-president of the Bates Democrats.

Wellstone always voted on his principles, said Scherzer, even when it jeopardized his political career. For instance, Wellstone was the only U.S. senator seeking re-election who opposed President Bush’s resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq, said Scherzer. At the Bates tribute, participants will have the opportunity to write their congressional representatives to voice their support for or dissent from war in Iraq. “Like Sen. Wellstone, we will not shy away from what we believe in. We will not be afraid to speak our minds,” Scherzer declared.

William Hiss, vice president for external and alumni affairs at Bates College, will discuss Wellstone’s legacy and greatest accomplishments. Christopher Beam, archivist at the Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library at Bates, will follow Hiss’ remarks with comments about war with Iraq. The Deansmen, an all-male a cappella ensemble at Bates, will perform a patriotic song.

In sponsoring the tribute, the campus Democrats hope to inspire future political activists with Wellstone’s example. “High school and college students must understand the importance of living up to their goals and principles, even when it is inconvenient to maintain those principles,” said Bates senior Erin Russ of Buffalo, N.Y., co-president of the Bates Democrats.

Panelists include Aslaug Asgeirsdottir, assistant professor of political science; William Corlett, professor of political science; Francesco Duina, assistant professor of sociology; and Dan Dargon, a Bates junior from Jacksonville, Fla.

Asgeirsdottir teaches courses on the international political economy and international cooperation. Her research interests specifically include who gets what in international negotiations.

Interested in community education and organizing for economic justice, Corlett’s current research includes studying the promise and limitations of Western liberalism. His recent publications include two books: Class Action (Cornell, 1998) and Community Without Unity (Duke, 1989, 1993).

Duina’s research and teaching interests include economic sociology, globalization, the nation-state, the European Union and South America’s Mercosur (an economic integration project involving Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay). His most recent publications include a book, Harmonizing Europe: Nation-States Within the Common Market (State University of New York, 1999), co-authored with John Hall, as well as articles on the question of social contexts and legal implementation in the European Union, the relationship between the nation-state and the European Union, and the drivers of European integration.

Campus organizers hope to provide the opportunity for a nonpartisan exploration of the restructuring of global politics and economics, a controversial and important topic for many on campus, said Erin Russ, co-president of the Bates Democrats, who is a senior from Buffalo, N.Y.