ISU students campaigned against oil drilling in South America by asking students to sign letters in the free-speech zone Tuesday afternoon. Students collected the signatures from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. between the Hub and Beardshear Hall. The student letters were addressed to Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore, asking him to stop the drilling planned for sometime this week by Occidental Petroleum. Students from Grinnell College, Drake University, the University of Iowa and Simpson College also protested Tuesday. They stood outside the Iowa Democratic Party headquarters in Des Moines. Literature from the Rainforest Action Network, which was passed out at the ISU protest, said Gore has taken campaign contributions from Occidental Petroleum and owns $500,000 worth of stocks in the company. According to the pamphlet, the drilling will be done on the traditional grounds of the U’wa people, a group indigenous to the Colombian Andes. The drilling will result in about 1.5 billion barrels of oil. Katie Theisen, senior in environmental science, said if the project moves forward it may result in a mass suicide of the U’wa people. “The U’wa believe oil is the blood of the earth and they are here to protect the oil. They do not want to see their land, people and culture destroyed by oil companies,” she said. “The minute the drilling begins, 5,000 men, women and children will walk off a cliff.” Theisen said the group chose to target Gore instead of other stockholders because of his influence and the immediacy of the issue. “Al Gore is the biggest name of all the stockholders, he has the most power, and since this is happening maybe in the next 24 hours, we need the most effective person,” Theisen said. “We are trying to collect as many student signatures as we can, and we’ll mail them via overnight mail.” Angela Sokolowski, senior in animal ecology, said she found out about the campaign through Iowa Students Toward Environmental Protection, a coalition group of Iowa college and university environmental groups. “I learned about the issue a while back, but it was the first time I was aware that the cause was so big and so immediate,” she said. “I couldn’t stand by and watch it happening.” Sokolowski said she was disappointed in the actions of Gore, who has emphasized his concern for the environment in his campaign. “I’m outraged. I think it’s another example of an American corporation acting without conscience, and American politics are `business as usual,'” Sokolowski said. “I think voters deserve to know that Al Gore picks and chooses his environmental fights even though he’s running for `environmental’ president.” Theisen wore a shirt with the words, “Al Gore’s policy: Oil profits before human rights.” “I feel this is a horrific social and environmental injustice. Al Gore has the opportunity to make this end, and hopefully he will,” Theisen said. The group had collected about 150 signatures by 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, and the students hoped to have 200 by the end of the day. “I have no idea [of the success of the campaign], but I had to try,” Sokolowski said. “We are not going to give up on this.”