Students are planning to Occupy Iowa

State for noon on Thursday, Oct. 13.

Two graduate students at Iowa State,

Carol Oliveira and Angie Carter, who are part of the “99 percent”

and plan to attend Thursday’s event, believe Occupy Wall Street

will be historical.

The two said it’s a chance for

people to get involved in participatory democracy in a time where

many of them are fed up with the election cycle.

“I feel really lucky to be in school

right now,” Carter said.

Carter said that students need to do

something at the state level, “especially because this is what

we’re going to be dealing with for the rest of our

lives.”

Carter said she hopes the whole

community joins in. She said she got her undergraduate degree at

the University of Iowa, and there wasn’t as big of a divide between

the city and the university.

“Wouldn’t it be cool if we had an

occupy Ames that started at the Ames City Hall?” Carter asked.

[Corrected from the courthouse]

Both agreed that a lot of people

involved with Occupy Wall Street have been criticized for a lack of

control and a lack of demands, but the public needs to see the

magnitude behind the movement first, then a list of demands will

follow.

They said it is a beginning of a

process. People are usually given things in a top down way, but

this will hopefully get people energized and motivated.

“We want to write down everything.

We don’t want to just write down what signs say but what the signs

mean,” Oliveira said.

They said if the demands need to

come locally, then democracy will come.

“The disenfranchisement people are

feeling are from the national structures,” Carter said.

Oliveira mentioned the bank bailouts

as well.

“No one has been held guilty yet,”

Oliveira said. “People are being left behind from decision

making.”

Both Oliveira and Carter spoke about

more of the criticisms the Occupy movements have been facing. They

said part of the criticism from this is that it’s a bunch of lazy

students, hippies and even a group of students who are looking for

dates.

Carter said that isn’t

true.

“So many students who are looking

for jobs did it right. They went to school and did the

internships,” Carter said.

They said they want to be involved

in the movement because they feel it is a responsibility to

represent the 99 percent.

“It’s the future of our country.

Even if you’re part of the lucky one percent, you have to be …

looking at the future for your kids.”

Warren Blumenfeld, associate

professor in curriculum and instruction, said he plans on attending

Thursday’s event.

“I think it needs to be a top down

and bottom up movement on all levels,” Blumenfeld said.

He said that people need to be able

to talk about inequities at the local level.

Blumenfeld said young people

organized the first social movements.

“Young people want to have more

voice in their own future. They’re the ones challenging to make

government give freedom and liberty,” Blumenfeld said.

According to the Occupy ISU Facebook

page, “We are exiting our classes and work on the ISU campus at 12

p.m. and moving toward Lincoln Way. The more people that gather at

once, the better! We will know who you are if you have a sign, so

please hang it up high and proud. We will start marching towards

Lincoln Way. We will not be assembling on ISU grounds, rather

moving from campus to the community.”

More Occupy ISU events may be

decided during Thursday’s march.