STUDENT ACHIEVER NO. 1
Liz Moran, a local student activist, has been named one of three “National
Raise Your Voice” fellows by the National Campus Compact, a coalition of more
than 900 colleges and universities. Founded in 1985, the Compact promotes community
involvement by students.
Moran, who will be senior in the University of Illinois at Springfield Capital
Scholars program, will spend the summer working at the Compact’s national headquarters
in Providence, R.I.
Illinois Times readers will recognize Moran as one of seven Springfield
peace activists profiled by contributor Ginny Lee in the March 18 edition. Moran
serves on the volunteer teaching staff at Heartland Peace Academy and was part
of last year’s student delegation to the Oxfam American Free Trade Coffee conference
in New Orleans.
STUDENT ACHIEVER NO. 2
Confused about why we’re in Iraq? No wonder.
Devon Largio, a senior at the U. of I. at Urbana-Champaign, took at a hard
look at all of the public statements justifying the war that were issued by
the Bush administration and its supporters.
She discovered that at least 27 different rationales were given between Sept.
12, 2001, and Oct. 11, 2002. All but four came from Bush administration officials.
They ranged from the familiar (stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction) to the obscure (gaining favor in the Middle East by making Iraq
an example).
Political-science professor Scott Althaus calls his student’s 212-page paper
“the best senior thesis I have ever seen — thoroughly documented.”
He’s so proud of Largio’s work, the entire text is posted on the Web at www.pol.uiuc.edu/news/largio.htm.
This article appears in May 13-19, 2004.
