College community enjoys talk by Amy Goodman

	Amy Goodman, host and executive producer of the national television and radio show Democracy Now!, spoke to students, faculty and community members at Connecticut College this week.

Award-winning journalist Amy Goodman, host and executive producer of the national television and radio show Democracy Now!, commanded an attentive campus crowd of more than 400 students, faculty and community members earlier this month.

Goodman stressed the importance of independent media by sharing a collection of captivating stories, including stories about the mothers of American soldiers killed in Iraq, stories about the siblings of victims of the World Trade Center attacks, and even her own eyewitness account of a massacre in East Timor by the occupying Indonesians.

Lauren Welch "07, founder of the campus chapter for Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND), introduced Goodman to the crowd. "I was hung up on her every word," Welch said. "I wish she could have talked for four more hours."

The event was spearheaded by a committee with leadership from Brendan Schwartz ´07 and the College's Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy. Schwartz had been working on bringing Goodman to the College for several years and secured sponsorships from 23 groups and organizations across campus and the New London community.

In return for their financial sponsorship, the groups, ranging from Amnesty International at Connecticut College to Connecticut Working Families, were allowed to have tables at the event, with information for attendees.

"The community and student activists really enjoyed the time together building relationships and discussing possibilities," said Tracee Reiser, associate dean of community learning and multicultural affairs and associate director of the Holleran Center for Community Action and Public Policy. "Everyone left the event high with hope and a re-energized commitment to active citizenship, community building, and promoting independent media."

Event organizers also passed petitions through the audience asking that the College´s campus radio station, WCNI 90.9, begin broadcasting the daily show, Democracy Now!. Despite being featured on over 500 radio and television stations (public, cable and satellite networks) across North America, Democracy Now! is not broadcast in southeastern Connecticut.

Following the lecture, Goodman signed copies of her New York Times best-selling book, "The Exception to the Rulers: Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love Them," and her most recent book, "Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People who Fight Back."

- Paul Dryden ´07