With the death penalty controversy surfacing once again in the Iowa Legislature, members of the Iowa State community are voicing their concerns.

A rally called “Valentine’s Day Rally Against the Death Penalty” will be held today at noon in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

Guest speakers include Representative Bill Bernau, D-Ames, and Jim Benzoni, a Des Moines lawyer who will speak on legal aspects as well as personal experiences with the death penalty.

Benzoni was once accused of a double murder in Oklahoma. Although later acquitted, Oklahoma does have the death penalty for crimes like this. He will be present at the rally to speak about his experiences in opposition to the death penalty.

Several students will be speaking at the rally as well. Rob Ruminski, a sophomore in history who is running for GSB vice president, will be talking about Mumia Abu-Jamal, a man in Philadelphia facing the death penalty for killing an officer who was beating his brother.

Michelle Evermore, a senior in speech communication, will speak about inmates currently on death row that may, in fact, be innocent. Magnus Thernelius, president of the ISU chapter of Amnesty International, and Cynthia Tschampl, a senior in Spanish, will also be speaking.

Wayne Osborn, a professor of history, will talk about some legal aspects of the death penalty controversy. “Governments kill more people than wars. They kill more of their own people than outsiders,” Osborn said.

Interspersed throughout the rally will be solo music performed by Greg Frank, a songwriter who plays the guitar and harmonica, to add a musical dimension to the capital punishment debate. Background music will accompany the rally at other times.

Joanna Corteau, a professor of foreign languages and literatures, organized the event. Even though the reinstatement of the death penalty failed last year, Corteau wants to raise awareness on the issue so it will not pass again this term.

Corteau also urges people to contemplate and become aware of their personal responsibilities if the death penalty is reinstated.

“I think it’s wrong to legalize and give the state the power to kill other human beings. If this is a crime we abhor, how can we give the state the right to do a crime we abhor in our names? I personally do not want the state to kill for me, and when the state kills for me, I’m directly responsible. So in a way, the executioner may be only one person, but it’s 3 million Iowans that are pulling the lever,” Corteau said.

Valentine’s Day may seem an odd choice for an anti-death penalty rally. “I thought it would be nice to offer a celebration of life on the day of love,” Corteau said. Students and audience members are encouraged to get involved and share their opinions at the rally.

In relation to the death penalty controversy, the ISU chapter of Amnesty International will hold a screening of the critically acclaimed “Dead Man Walking” next Thursday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. in the Gold Room of the Memorial Union. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Bernau.