During a busy political weekend at the College, a group of Hanover High School students surprised prominent politicians -- including U.S. Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) and U.S. Congressman Charlie Bass '74 (R-N.H.) -- by protesting a presentation of flags to several local schools.
Smith and gubernatorial candidate David Corbin also made less controversial appearances at a meeting of the Young Republicans, and Smith later won cautious support at a gathering of environmental activists from around the Ivy League.
The Hanover High students, bearing signs with slogans such as "Stop Mindless Nationalism" and "Flags Don't Make Patriots" stood outside of the school on Saturday to protest the donation of 89 flags by Americans for Victory, a local group founded after Sept. 11 to promote patriotism in the Hanover area. When the ceremony began, the students unexpectedly walked into the auditorium and stood silently near the stage, holding their signs.
Ansel Pelogg, a junior at Hanover High, said that the protestors were upset because, she said, Americans for Victory never asked any teachers or administrators about the proposed donations of the flag.
Pelogg was unsure if any members of the Hanover High faculty would have opposed the donation of the flags. But she was worried that Americans for Victory was "using the flag as a symbol of support for the government's policies in Afghanistan. And I know a number of students and teachers don't support those policies," she said.
Orrin Judd, Director of Communications for Americans for Victory, said that many members were concerned because Hanover citizens reacted differently to the aftermath of Sept. 11 than citizens in nearby communities did.
For example, he noted that a number of Hanover citizens had attended Dartmouth-sponsored panels on the war which "tended to enforce the idea that the events of Sept. 11 were America's fault."
Judd said that Americans for Victory wanted to foster greater patriotism by placing flags in every classroom in Hanover.
Like all of the other politicians who spoke at the ceremony, Smith said he supports the flag donation and regards the flag as a symbol of American liberty. He related the story of a prisoner of war in Vietnam who linked together pieces of red, white and blue thread during his captivity to make a flag.
State Sen. Clifton Below noted that the American flag is unique in that it symbolizes the unity of the United States as a single nation, yet the distinct stars and stripes symbolize the diversity among the fifty states of the union.
Several of the speakers addressed the protestors directly.
New Hampshire Executive Councilman Raymond Burton said that he welcomed the protestors. Pointing to a prominent flag onstage, he added, "That flag guarantees them the right to be here."
Corbin, who is running for governor, responded to the signs by saying, "It's true that flags don't make patriots. An understanding of what makes us free and why we are lucky to have such freedom makes us patriots."
During a later conversation with the College's Young Republicans, Corbin expressed ire at protests against the hanging of the U.S. flag.
"I imagined when I saw those signs that there must be no more endangered species," he said, lumping the flag protestors together with environmental activists.
Also on Saturday, Smith met with participants in the fourth-annual "Greening of the Ivies" conference. Roughly 100 students from around the Ivy League attended the conference, held this year at Dartmouth.
Jeffrey Kemnitz '03, co-chair of the conference's planning committee, described Smith as currently "improving his stance on the environment." The group wanted to "give him a little nudge in the ribs" to affirm his recent commitment to the environment, Kemnitz said.
Over the weekend, the participants in the conference instituted four major goals for the coming year. The most immediate of these plans, according to organizer Jeffrey Kemnitz '03, involves a "day of action" on Feb. 28 for Alaska's Arctic National Wilderness Reserve. Participants will call congressmen and engage in letter-writing efforts.
At the Young Republicans meeting, Smith said there was no inconsistency between his conservative Republicanism and what he called a strong voting record on environmental issues. His environmental positions square with party ideals because he favors action from state and local governments, which are more in tune with their region's respective issues, instead of federal intervention.
He also supports providing incentives to the private sector rather than overextending the federal government's role. The federal government should, however, step in for areas where it previously caused damage, such as Florida's everglades.
Smith added that he supports diversification in the use of resources -- such as the conversion of automobile power to fuel cells -- and disagrees with those who would stringently limit nuclear plants and other forms of power.
Smith also defended President Bush's controversial description of Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "axis of evil." Bush "told the truth, and it needed to be said," the senator said.
Much more is at stake in Afghanistan than there was in the Vietnam War or the Cold War because, Smith explained, the Russians were rational in their escalation of the conflict -- as evidenced during the Cuban Missile Crisis. By contrast, Smith observed that the United States is now fighting "a radical fundamentalism that transcends state lines."
Smith said that his experience in the armed forces affects his perspective in Congress. A student in attendance noted that less than 30 percent of senators and representatives have served in the military.
Smith said that it is "beyond comprehension that people who serve our country would have to be on food stamps," and called for higher pay for those in military service. He also worried that many people fail to appreciate the sacrifice which members of the reserves make when they go off to fight, as service can interrupt a reservist's professional -- and often highly-paying -- career and often separates a reservist from his or her family for long periods of time.
New Hampshire gubernatorial candidates John Babiarz, Mark Fernald and Jim Normand also spoke at the flag presentation ceremony.
