One year ago, in the weeks before the U.S. entered into war with Iraq, the nation was in a state of turmoil.
On March 5, 2003, more than 2,000 students, faculty and community members gathered at the OSU Memorial Union for the "Books Not Bombs" student strike to express their thoughts on the impending war.
Now the student and community group Wrench, one of the sponsors of last year's strike, is holding "Books Not Bombs Reloaded," a two-day sequel to stimulate reflection on the impacts of local, national and global events of the past year.
"It's a year later and a lot has happened, yet a lot of the motion and commotion of right before the war started has died down in the public eye," said Gabriela Helfgott, a graduate student in public and minority health and Wrench member. "We want to revisit the event from last year that was so successful and brought so many people together, and present what has been going on since then."
"Last year 'Books Not Bombs' was to emphasize the fact that money was being spent by the government on bombs -- death -- versus education and social spending -- life-giving things," said Dennis Dugan, a junior in philosophy who has been active in Wrench since the student strike. "Really that hasn't changed a lot since last year -- if anything, it's gotten worse."
While perhaps best known around campus for the student strike, Wrench is not limited to anti-war activism. The group formed in 2001 to support and promote the global justice movement.
The global justice movement is a very diverse topic.
"It's about recognition of humanity; it's about acknowledgement of a whole array of issues -- racial issues, women's issues, labor issues, human rights issues," Dugan explained. "It goes all the way down from the abstract and grandiose to getting food and water for a fair price that's not contaminated."
"Part of the global justice movement is breaking down boundaries," added Lisa Gonzales, a graduate student at the University of Oregon and community member of Wrench, "so that you see the connections between labor issues and child care, for example."
The diversity of its unifying purpose has made Wrench a group with a diverse membership and a wide variety of interests and activities. While an officially recognized student group at OSU, Wrench is very much a community group, focused on issues and events that affect the entire Corvallis community.
"It's located at the university, but it's consciously been a community group, to get more cross-fertilization between the university and the community," Gonzales said.
Wrench's first planned event was a protest against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in September 2001, but was called off due to the Sept. 11 attacks. In October of 2001, the group held a forum discussing the impacts of 9/11.
Other Wrench activities have included labor issues, such as supporting steel workers in Albany and janitors and graduate students at OSU, and the anti-war activities of last spring.
The group's name is not an acronym, but rather a metaphor representing its ultimate objectives. The name evokes the image of factory workers halting their machinery by throwing a wrench between the gears, and striking to demand better conditions. A wrench, then, can serve to halt political machinery and support global justice.
The metaphor doesn't end there, for a wrench is also a tool often used in construction.
"You can use a wrench for building up as well as tearing down," explained Tony Vogt, an OSU philosophy professor and faculty advisor for Wrench.
In keeping with this goal of "building up," the group has devoted much time to developing a model form of governance based on consensus decision-making.
"In our first year, a lot of energy went into creating a kind of structure for the group to function within, which could be as democratic and inclusive as possible," Gonzales said.
Leadership positions, such as facilitator for the weekly meetings, are rotated among the members so that everyone is equally involved. Any member can submit a proposal at the meetings, followed by group discussion. Members cast votes favoring or rejecting the proposal based on how well it fits with the group's Statement of Purpose, a manifesto that is read at the opening of every meeting.
"We arrive at much better decisions," said Steve Hoops, a community member of Wrench for over two years. "It's kind of like a mosaic, when all the little pieces fit together -- the voice that has the tendency to be quiet will speak up and has that perfect little piece that completes everything."
In contrast with majority-rule governance, adoption of a proposal in consensus decision-making requires unanimous agreement.
"We think of it as a radically democratic way to make decisions," Vogt said.
"And participatory, too -- it's almost hard to be passive because we make an attempt to get everyone's opinion," Dugan said.
"In the long run it doesn't make sense to be a passive member of the group," added Henri Saucy, a mechanical engineering graduate student from Switzerland who joined Wrench last year before the student strike.
The consensus decision-making model has spread to other campus and community groups. Wrench is encouraging that movement by passing on knowledge through a 74-page PDF document known as "The Atlas of Practical Imagination," which was created last summer through the efforts of Dugan and other Wrench members.
The "Atlas" contains information about Wrench, a handbook on consensus decision making and a wealth of information on resources and requirements for student organizations at OSU. The ambitious document creates a framework not only for other organizations to build on, but also for future members of Wrench to maintain the group for years to come.
In keeping with its goal of promoting global justice, Wrench is hosting an informational meeting this evening at 5 p.m. in MU 208 entitled "Killer Coke." The event will expose recent deaths and torture of union workers in the Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia, and the company's refusal to change business practices to avoid these incidents. Because OSU has an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola, awareness of this issue is of particular interest to Wrench.
"Books Not Bombs Reloaded" will begin tomorrow at noon on the MU steps with an open mic session and impromptu "die-in."
A series of sit-ins will be held in meeting rooms in the MU from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday. For the full schedule of events, and more information about Wrench, visit its Web site at http://wrench.mahost.org.
Brenna Doheny is a staff writer for The Daily Barometer. She can be reached at dohenyb@onid.orst.edu.