News Briefs

Two Obies to attend peace conference

The same week of the Kosovo Teach-In, two Oberlin students, senior Melvin Rader and sophomore Juliana Keen, will be attending the third international assembly of peacemakers at The Hague.

Next week marks the 100th anniversary of the first International Peace Conference at The Hague.

The Hague Appeal for Peace is a major end-of-century campaign dedicated to the abolition of war and the construction of a culture of peace. At the heart of the campaign is the Hague Appeal for Peace Civil Society Conference, which will be held next week, from Wednesday to Sunday in the Hague, Netherlands.

To date, over 1,000 organizations have endorsed the Hague Appeal. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, UNICEF's Carol Bellamy, Pierre San of Amnesty International, several Nobel Peace Prize laureates, and the Dali Lama are all expected to attend and speak at the event.

"The conference will concentrate on four main areas," said Keen, "the International Criminal Court, nuclear disarmament, child soldiers and land mines."

"There will be a lot of workshops and discussion groups there," said Rader.

In addition to participating in the main conference, Rader and Keen will take part in a youth conference which will address its own issues such as education and children's rights. "War policies affect youth and education," said Rader. "I'm going to put a lot more effort into the youth conference."

After the main conference, many participants, including Keen, will further demonstrate their conviction for peace by walking the 250 mile long road from The Hague to NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. "This 'Walk for 2000' will take 16 days," said Keen. "We'll camp along the way. I'm excited, but a little scared too."

"We can never define what peace really is," said Rader, "but you most definitely can try."

--Jon Thurn

Death Row activist to speak

Dead Man Walking author Sister Helen Prejean will speak about the death penalty in the United States on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in King 106. Prejean, who is a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, will give a talk entitiled, "Dead Men Walking - The Journey," in hopes of educating the public about the problems surrounding the death penalty.

Prejean has been a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille in Louisiana since 1957.

Her work in the prison ministry inspired her 1993 Pulizer Prize nominated book Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States, and she has been lecturing, organizing and writing ever since. The book was made into the Academy-Award winning film Dead Man Walking.

Prejean has counseled death-row inmates and witnessed numerous executions while befriending murder victims' families.

She has received national and international recognition for her work and been the subject of profiles by 60 Minutes and Frontline.

She is chairperson of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

--Abby Person