The Red and Black

Issue date: 3/5/08 Section: Variety

Media Credit: SARA GUEVARA Marita Gronnvoll will give a lecture concerning U.S. torture at the SLC. [Click to enlarge]

The subject of torture is not exactly bus stop small talk, but the Athens Campus Green Party plans to try to change that.

Students can learn the "Truth About Torture" in a lecture sponsored by the Athens Campus Green Party and UGA Progressives. Marita Gronnvoll, who is working toward a Ph.D in rhetoric within the Department of Speech Communication, will speak about the "political and social ramifications" of the United States' use of torture within the nation and overseas, said Samiron Dutta, president of Campus Green Party.

"Our role as a third party ... is to bring up topics the Republicans and Democrats really aren't talking about," said Dutta, a senior biological engineering major from Martinez.

Gronnvoll has taught several classes at the University, including a special topics class called "The Rhetoric of Torture."


"I'll discuss the problems of defining torture, and the deceptively difficult question of if the ends justify the means," she said in an e-mail.

Gronnvoll hopes students will gain an increased awareness of torture, as well as a knowledge of their ability to effect change.

"What would've happened during the Vietnam War if college students hadn't raised their voices in opposition?"

Even students without a pronounced interest in politics should be concerned about U.S. policies on torture, Gronnvoll said.

"Torture is a human rights issue, not just a political issue. I don't agree with John McCain on many things, but I do agree with him that our policy on torture says more about us than it does the 'enemy,'" she said.

" ... If torture is something that becomes accepted by our citizens as part of our foreign policy, then we really are in no position to denounce other countries for their human rights abuses," Gronnvoll said.

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