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Columbus, Ohio -- At 8:30 PM today The Ohio State University's Undergraduate Student Government Senate passed a resolution calling for a peaceful solution to the conflict with Iraq, and condemning an unprovoked attack on Baghdad and the Iraqi people.
In the previous USG Senate session on Wednesday, February 12, a similar anti-war resolution was not voted on by the USG Senate because senators cited a lack of student support.
Following a flood of phone calls and e-mails from students supporting the resolution, the primary sponsor of the resolution, Senator Dan Ramos, reintroduced a revised version of the anti-war resolution and again asked the USG Senate to consider the proposal.
At today's USG Senate meeting on Wednesday, February 19, over 30 students in support of the anti-war proposal attended the meeting and engaged the senators in a discussion lasting nearly two hours. One student and several senators opposed to the resolution also voiced their concerns, and helped to round out a vigorous, balanced discussion on the issue.
Following the lengthy dialogue, the USG Senate voted to pass the resolution with 12 senators in favor, four opposed, and four abstaining. Per requirements of the resolution, letters to key decision makers in the White House and the U.S. Senate will be delivered notifying them of the decidedly strong opposition to war of the students of The Ohio State University, and urging our leaders to take a more peaceful course of action to disarm Saddam Hussein and to resolve the conflict by means other than war.
Text of the approved resolution 35-R-30, entitled "USG Stands Against Unprovoked War With Iraq," is available upon request, and follows below.
USG Stands Against Unprovoked War With Iraq (35-R-30)
Whereas, The Undergraduate Student Gov't represents over 40,000 students from all across America and the World, and,
Whereas, The Ohio State University (OSU) community by its very nature is a part of the world community, and,
Whereas, As members of the American and Global Community and as members of academia we have a right and responsibility to stand for or against certain actions taken within those communities,
Whereas, Pres. GW Bush has made it clear that he is, at the very least, considering an unprovoked attack against the sovereign nation of Iraq although said nation has not attacked the sovereign soil of the US or its overseas territories, dependencies or those of the allies of the US, and,
Whereas, such an attack would likely have far reaching effects and precedents around the world which could very well hurt the US standing as a leader in the world, discredit and nullify wholly or partially such international organizations at the UN and NATO strain US diplomatic ties in Europe, The Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, and even set a dangerous precedent which could give nations the "right" to pursue unprovoked wars against other sovereign nations including but not limited to the allies of the US as well as the US itself, and,
Whereas, Such an attack would have far-reaching negative effects upon Americans in general such as the greater likelihood of terrorist activity from Iraq if Saddam feels cornered and from radical fundamentalist groups who may construe such an attack as an attack on Islam, and,
Whereas, Such an attack in the Middle East on the nation with the second largest oil reserves in the world would send gas prices skyrocketing, hurting the all ready tight budgets of college students at OSU and elsewhere, making it harder for them to [Travel] due to higher costs of transportation,
Whereas, The estimated cost of war has been projected upwards of $200 billion, which very well could put a strain on an already strained system of educational subsidies by the Federal Gov't as well as causing harm to the work study program, Pell Grants, and student loans, and,
Whereas, The Undergraduate Student Gov't at OSU is proud of the fighting men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line to secure freedom as well as those who have all ready done so, and,
Whereas, Many reservists may be called into active service having to forgo their educational opportunities and may loose credit for classes in progress, and,
Whereas, Many of the fighting peoples are of the same traditional age as many of the members of the Ohio State Community and indeed many members of our community are also members of the Armed Services, as such they are our brothers and sisters, our cousins, our boyfriends and girlfriends, our wives and our husbands, and,
Whereas, Over 6,000,000 people all over the world in cities and villages on all 6 inhabited continents of the world came together on Saturday, February 15, 2003, to ask the American and British gov'ts along with the coalition of the willing to give the inspectors time and give peace a chance, and,
Whereas, members of the OSU community participated in such friendly rallies in various places around the US, and,
Whereas, Precedent has been set for a student gov't taking a stance on this issue by such schools including, but not limited to, The University of Cincinnati, Ohio University, and The University of Michigan,
Therefore Let It Be Resolved, That the Undergraduate Student Government of The Ohio State University stands against an unprovoked invasion and war with Iraq,
Furthermore Let It Be Resolved, That upon passage this Resolution shall be sent to The President of the United States, Members of Congress, and any and all other Federal Government Officers deemed involved in making decisions of this nature.
Signed,
Eddie Pauline
USG President
Chris Hempfling Speaker of the USG Senate
In the previous USG Senate session on Wednesday, February 12, a similar anti-war resolution was not voted on by the USG Senate because senators cited a lack of student support.
Following a flood of phone calls and e-mails from students supporting the resolution, the primary sponsor of the resolution, Senator Dan Ramos, reintroduced a revised version of the anti-war resolution and again asked the USG Senate to consider the proposal.
At today's USG Senate meeting on Wednesday, February 19, over 30 students in support of the anti-war proposal attended the meeting and engaged the senators in a discussion lasting nearly two hours. One student and several senators opposed to the resolution also voiced their concerns, and helped to round out a vigorous, balanced discussion on the issue.
Following the lengthy dialogue, the USG Senate voted to pass the resolution with 12 senators in favor, four opposed, and four abstaining. Per requirements of the resolution, letters to key decision makers in the White House and the U.S. Senate will be delivered notifying them of the decidedly strong opposition to war of the students of The Ohio State University, and urging our leaders to take a more peaceful course of action to disarm Saddam Hussein and to resolve the conflict by means other than war.
Text of the approved resolution 35-R-30, entitled "USG Stands Against Unprovoked War With Iraq," is available upon request, and follows below.
USG Stands Against Unprovoked War With Iraq (35-R-30)
Whereas, The Undergraduate Student Gov't represents over 40,000 students from all across America and the World, and,
Whereas, The Ohio State University (OSU) community by its very nature is a part of the world community, and,
Whereas, As members of the American and Global Community and as members of academia we have a right and responsibility to stand for or against certain actions taken within those communities,
Whereas, Pres. GW Bush has made it clear that he is, at the very least, considering an unprovoked attack against the sovereign nation of Iraq although said nation has not attacked the sovereign soil of the US or its overseas territories, dependencies or those of the allies of the US, and,
Whereas, such an attack would likely have far reaching effects and precedents around the world which could very well hurt the US standing as a leader in the world, discredit and nullify wholly or partially such international organizations at the UN and NATO strain US diplomatic ties in Europe, The Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, and even set a dangerous precedent which could give nations the "right" to pursue unprovoked wars against other sovereign nations including but not limited to the allies of the US as well as the US itself, and,
Whereas, Such an attack would have far-reaching negative effects upon Americans in general such as the greater likelihood of terrorist activity from Iraq if Saddam feels cornered and from radical fundamentalist groups who may construe such an attack as an attack on Islam, and,
Whereas, Such an attack in the Middle East on the nation with the second largest oil reserves in the world would send gas prices skyrocketing, hurting the all ready tight budgets of college students at OSU and elsewhere, making it harder for them to [Travel] due to higher costs of transportation,
Whereas, The estimated cost of war has been projected upwards of $200 billion, which very well could put a strain on an already strained system of educational subsidies by the Federal Gov't as well as causing harm to the work study program, Pell Grants, and student loans, and,
Whereas, The Undergraduate Student Gov't at OSU is proud of the fighting men and women who are willing to put their lives on the line to secure freedom as well as those who have all ready done so, and,
Whereas, Many reservists may be called into active service having to forgo their educational opportunities and may loose credit for classes in progress, and,
Whereas, Many of the fighting peoples are of the same traditional age as many of the members of the Ohio State Community and indeed many members of our community are also members of the Armed Services, as such they are our brothers and sisters, our cousins, our boyfriends and girlfriends, our wives and our husbands, and,
Whereas, Over 6,000,000 people all over the world in cities and villages on all 6 inhabited continents of the world came together on Saturday, February 15, 2003, to ask the American and British gov'ts along with the coalition of the willing to give the inspectors time and give peace a chance, and,
Whereas, members of the OSU community participated in such friendly rallies in various places around the US, and,
Whereas, Precedent has been set for a student gov't taking a stance on this issue by such schools including, but not limited to, The University of Cincinnati, Ohio University, and The University of Michigan,
Therefore Let It Be Resolved, That the Undergraduate Student Government of The Ohio State University stands against an unprovoked invasion and war with Iraq,
Furthermore Let It Be Resolved, That upon passage this Resolution shall be sent to The President of the United States, Members of Congress, and any and all other Federal Government Officers deemed involved in making decisions of this nature.
Signed,
Eddie Pauline
USG President
Chris Hempfling Speaker of the USG Senate