New group promotes activism at King's

Action King's is changing the face of student activism

Sarah Manchon of the University of King’s College student union says the Action King’s initiative is designed to promote student activism on campus. ( Photo: Aurangzeb Qureshi)

Sarah Manchon shakes her head in disdain as she sees litter on the roadside. Without hesitation she picks it up and drops it in a trash can.

As she turns away, she sees teenagers smoking and throwing cigarette butts onto the ground instead of in nearby ashtrays. She ignores them and moves on only to see a car idling on the street.

She sometimes asks herself why people don't care. How can they be so blind? How can they be so ignorant?

Then all of a sudden it hits her. The real question she should have asked is: What can I do to raise awareness and educate people about the environment?

A second-year student at Dalhousie University and the sustainability officer for the University of King's College student union, Manchon is working hard trying to get students to support a cause they believe in.  It's not easy. Apathy among students appears to be a common problem. A 2003 Statistics Canada survey, for instance, found that only 59 per cent of young adults aged 22 to 29 have voted in at least one election.

Both Manchon and the student union's external vice president, David Etherington, are promoting activism on campus through Action King's, a new student-run group whose members use its resources, ideas and funds to jumpstart their own initiatives. About 20 students attended the first meeting in September.

"The idea is to try and encourage grassroots activism and to have students come forward, design campaigns and direct them," says Etherington.

The advice and guidance comes from the Canadian Federation of Students, an organization dedicated to providing students with a voice provincially and nationally. The organization lobbies for student needs and offers campaign tips. Student union members automatically become Federation members.

Manchon's job as sustainability officer involves pinpointing environmental issues and publicizing them, such as an ongoing drive to ban bottled water on campus.

"It's really a waste," says Manchon. She says the use of plastic is incredible and there are also questions surrounding whether bottled water is any different from tap water.

Action King's is not limited to environmental issues, Manchon says. The group also plans political discussion nights and anti-war protests.

Michael Cross, a retired English professor who teaches a course on youth rebellion at Saint Mary's University, says Action King's is an example of the "new" activism.

"I think these days younger people are more practical and don't have the same idealistic views about changing the world like we did back in the 1960s. At the same time, activism has gone beyond the universities and into the public sphere."

Sarah agrees and says Action King's members aim to take activism beyond the campus. For her, activism is neither a trend nor a fad - it's a reality she embraces.

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