Sponsored by the Department of History, the discussion will start at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 20, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, Campus Avenue.  The public is invited to attend free of charge

Leading the session will be Chris Beam, Trang Nguyen, Oliver Wolf and David Emery.

The current conflict in Iraq invites comparisons with the Vietnam War, says Beam.  “Numerous commentators on the Iraq war routinely refer to Vietnam to drive home their points, and the 2004 presidential candidates are engaged in a ‘battle of biographies’ over their respective military records during that divisive struggle,” Beam says.

A veteran of the Vietnam War and a native of Brunswick, Beam served in the Marine Corps from 1967 to 1970.  He is the Bates College archivist and a lecturer in history, who teaches a course on the Vietnam War.

Trang Nguyen is from Hanoi.  A Bates sophomore who plans to major in economics, she attended two years of high school in the United States and transferred to Bates from St. Norbert College in Wisconsin.

Oliver Wolf, a Bates junior, is a political science major with a double concentration in U.S. political processes and international studies. He is president of the Bates College Republicans and vice chair of the Maine College Republicans, in which he helped build statewide membership to 19 chapters with more than 1,300 members since September 2003. Originally from Pittsburgh, Wolf is currently an active volunteer with the Maine Bush-Cheney ’04 campaign.

David Emery represented Maine’s First Congressional District from 1975 to 1983, service that included a stint on the House Armed Services Committee. In June 1983 President Reagan appointed him deputy director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, a position he held until June 1988.  He is president and owner of Scientific Marketing, a public opinion consulting firm, and resides in Tenants Harbor with his wife, Carol, and son, Albert.

Each commentator will offer his or her perspectives on both conflicts. The panel will then invite the audience to participate in a general discussion.

International politics came home to Bates Feb. 10 when the Representative Assembly, the college’s student governing body, adopted a resolution condemning preemptive military action in Iraq after a heated debate that lasted nearly 90 minutes.

“The RA demonstrated that it can and will be deliberative, representative and willing to act,” said RA President Christopher Laconi, a sophomore from Leawood, Kan. The resolution came as a result of an on-campus petition drive that received 959 signatures, representing nearly 57 percent of the student body. Approved by a vote of 45 to 9, the resolution is the first of its kind in Maine endorsed by any college student government on the issue of Iraq, says Laconi.

The text of the resolution reads: “We, the students of the Representative Assembly of Bates College, on behalf of the majority of the students at Bates College, regardless of whether or not Iraq has fully complied with U.N. resolution 1441, oppose

military action in Iraq; moreover, we urge President Bush to seek a policy of non-violent conflict resolution, to continue to allow the inspections to take place and to work within the framework of the United Nations. We also urge Senator Snowe, Senator Collins, Congressman Michaud, and Congressman Allen to lead the President toward a policy consistent with these guidelines. We affirm our support for the men and women in our armed services; however we urge our leadership to do everything within its power to see that these lives are not risked unnecessarily.”

A group of students, deciding to act on their political beliefs concerning the potential conflict in Iraq, organized the petition drive and spent four days collecting student signatures in Commons and at various social events.

“I find it very encouraging that the RA would break from its introspection and answer the call of the 959 members of the student body to take a firm and public stance on an issue such as this,” Laconi said. “In doing so only after a healthy and constructive debate, we sent a powerful message that at Bates we aren’t afraid to speak out.”

Earlier this week, the Maine House, following in the footsteps of the Maine Senate, passed a resolution urging President Bush to use diplomacy rather than war to resolve the Iraq crisis. Should the Senate approve the House version of the resolution, the Maine Legislature would be the first in the nation to ask the president to avoid war by pursuit of diplomatic means.