The Student Green Party thought it found the perfect place to make a statement about the Olympics.
The strip of grass near Carlson Hall laid out the perfect course for a mock Olympic torch run.
According to the Greens’ plans, a six-pack of Coke, a Happymeal, running shoes and other products would weigh down an activist-torchbearer. The run would symbolize the corporate interests that the Greens feel have overcome the lofty ideals of the Games.
But U officials quibbled with the groups’ choice of location.
Intended for a high-traffic area near Rice-Eccles Stadium, the demonstration could pose a safety hazard for protesters and spectators, the administration said. So the Greens relocated to Presidents Circle.
After some initial frustration, Amy Hines, a Student Green Party member, feels Presidents Circle will provide an adequate venue for the mock torch run.
“We felt Carlson Hall would have been the premium area, but the Presidents Circle area does have international media shuttles and it can accommodate more people,” she said. “I feel that it is a compromise, certainly. But it is not a compromise of freedom of speech.”
The Greens and other activists want their voices heard. And the thousands of spectators and international media attending the Olympics create an irresistible arena. For many groups, plans are still crystallizing against the potentially daunting application procedures.
Last spring, Eric Ward, a founding member of Student Organization for Animal Rights, submitted an application for space to protest the rodeo planned as part of the Olympics’ cultural events.
SOAR and the Utah Animal Rights Coalition are limiting their approach to a more traditional demonstration?signs, chanting and maybe some literature?rather than the Greens’ street theater.
Ward turned his space request into the U’s Olympic Coordination Office in March. From there, it went to the Salt Lake Organizing Committee and then to Salt Lake City.
The city denied the request because the space SOAR wanted fell within a blast zone established by the secret service, according to Shawn McDonough, the city’s special events administrator.
SOAR is appealing the decision.
The space Ward requested sits right next to a protest zone managed by the state. Despite the restrictions placed on demonstrators within the zone, SOAR may apply to use it.
SOAR also hopes to stake out the Olympic rodeo in Farmington, as it does with other rodeos.
The Process
To make their statement to the world come spring, activists must navigate the complexity of application procedures.
Because SLOC’s secure areas have no space for protesters, the city has established six demonstration zones downtown. Another zone, this one managed by the state, is located on 500 South, east of 1300 East?near the stadium. Only 10 protesters can occupy the space at one time, and as with all other protest zones, groups are limited to 50 minute intervals.
If protesters want to demonstrate outside the zones, they must apply to the appropriate agency. For space on campus, that entity would be the U’s scheduling office.
The U’s standard policy toward demonstrations will remain intact during the Olympics.
“The U is essentially a free speech zone,” said Kay Harward, associate vice president of student affairs. “Anyone can come and speak at anytime.”
However, SLOC has assumed control of parts of campus, and other public security areas have been established?such as the one that kept the Greens torch run away from Carlson Hall.
Groups need only reserve space if they wish to erect a structure as part of the demonstration. However, the scheduling office recommends protesters?even those with no plans for a structure?make the office aware of their plans, according to Allison Arsenault, scheduling office manager.
Why Protest?
People wonder why anyone would want to protest the Olympics, they think protesters just hate everything, according to Hines.
“Well, if the Olympics were the way it was supposed to be then we wouldn’t have anything to say,” she said.
The Greens have given their efforts voice through public forums held at the Marriott Library’s Gould Auditorium over the past semester.
The forums have addressed issues such as the Games’ environmental impacts and corporate influences.
Gwen Springmeyer, associate director of the U’s Office of Olympic Coordination, attended two of the forums.
She was impressed with how panelists took issues like poverty and related them to the Olympics, highlighting potential problems.
“They were so different from the meetings I go to with SLOC and the U,” she said. “It was really refreshing to hear people talk about human issues.”
The Greens and other organizations want to continue that emphasis in February.
The several-day conference of social and economic justice will culminate in the demonstration planned for Presidents Circle, according to Hines.
Prior to Feb. 8, local and national activist groups will meet on campus to discuss a variety of issues, including access to higher education.
The protest will be anti Olympic, with an emphasis on poverty issues, she said.
Unlike the Greens, SOAR is unconcerned with the Games themselves. SOAR’s attention is focused on the rodeo, part of the cultural celebrations accompanying the Games. The rodeo is completely out of line with the rest of the Olympics, according to Ward, and SOAR wants the world to know about it.
The Falun Gong, a Chinese religious group, is also planning a silent, peaceful protest for Feb. 8. The details are still being worked out.