Do you remember last year at Macalester?

As the George W. Bush camp pushed for military war against the people of Iraq, Macalester students organized. We marched, spoke, wrote and camped in opposition to the war. This common cause united many student organizations and brought many students into political action for the first time.

Although Bush made a grand proclamation ending “major combat operations” in Iraq, the number of dead increases daily. Many of the activists of last year might wonder what more could have been done. Obviously, we failed to stop the war. But we made connections, we motivated newcomers, we united opposition to Bush’s agenda, we represented the dissent and resistance we were willing to employ against the slaughter. Let none of us forget the worldwide day of solidarity, Feb. 15, 2003, when the Twin Cities joined the world in declaring a popular challenge to the war.

Even more important than the history we helped to shape and create, there is work to be done today. Here in St. Paul, on campus, in our communities back home and all across the world we must seek radical changes in the system that thrives on repeated imperialist interventions.

We present a perfect way to further these changes. Rich Broderick is a candidate for School Board in St. Paul. He is a father of two students in the public schools, and he is the founder of Minnesota Poets Against War. His ideas are exciting: a peace curriculum, local and organic foods in school cafeterias, protecting St. Paul’s tax base against erosion via corporate welfare and investments in renewable energy to save the district millions in future years. One of the eight candidates to make it through the primary election, Broderick will face seven others in the general election November 4. This is a city-wide election; citizens may vote for up to four candidates and four will be elected.

While Broderick is by no means a single-issue candidate (he’s also concerned as to why the school district laid off its sole auditor while hiring many public relations specialists), Macalester students should be especially interested in his call for a peace curriculum. He seeks to establish a task force on the school board to implement a curriculum integrating the theory and history of nonviolence as well as establishing student-led conflict resolution programs. Not only will these changes reduce discipline problems within schools and serve as another check against school violence, they will train St. Paul’s youth to engage broader historical and current issues of war and peace.

Broderick’s other prominent proposals closely mirror the recent efforts of campus environmentalists. Just as student groups at Macalester pursue further energy policy changes after last year’s windmill construction, Broderick seeks to introduce renewable energy to the St. Paul school system. Just as students pushed for organic, fair-wage Peace coffee in the Grillé, Broderick proposes buying cafeteria food from local and organic sources as some public schools in Wisconsin and California have done. Not only do these ideas promote a more sustainable relationship to the Earth, they provide intrinsic benefits to students. Studies have found that fresh, organic food tends to be tastier; students eat more healthy food in the cafeteria and are thus better physically prepared for academics.

Most importantly, this is a fight we can win. Even a fraction of last year’s anti-war activism could put Rich Broderick into office. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor-controlled school board is not an impenetrable barrier against progressive change; it just needs a strong Green voice to provide new vision. To get involved contact Jesse Mortenson or Andy Haug (campus campaign coordinator and co-chair of Mac Greens, x7513). Even a couple hours of your time can be instrumental in what is likely to be a low-turnout election. Join us to drop literature, doorknock in the neighborhoods, or join the campaign planning team.

This is a new phase in the anti-war movement; only forward motion will create lasting changes at the local level.