So, we have officially embarked upon our proposed mission; it is at first very exciting, but at the same time also sort of daunting. The Facebook group is up and running (almost 1000 members, a roiling conversation thread, and some first-rate pictures make it look very promising) in order to show interest. The problem, however, is that my first job, to contact and schedule a meeting with Dining Services director Patti Klos has become more drawn out than expected. The most current status after e-mails and a phone call are that she will get back to me when she returns to office; I tried to make it sound as pressing as possible without being overbearing, so we will see...
In a stroke of interesting coincidence (did we talk about this in class?) I discovered that a freshman senator is strongly promoting tray-free proposals in student government with the goal of instituting "Trayless Tuesdays" and a tray-free campus when students return from Winter Break. This seems to either present us with a safety net and support group - we may have the backing of the Senate and if our effort doesn't come to fruition in time, theirs might help finish off our goal.
The process of beginning to mobilize people has got me thinking about a number of issues regading instituting policies. The Facebook event has shown a lot of verbal support, but a fair amount of the vocalized opinions are questioning or contrary to our plan. I know that this doesn't reflect the general public sentiment, but is a problem for most plans - the most averse are often the most vocal, creating the misconstrued idea that more people are in opposition than really are. I guess the question is how do we address dissenters that enjoy rabble rousing? Do we just ignore them? or try to counter their arguments with counterarguments?
Also, psychologically people tend to be more in favor of things that they perceive to have chosen; this bears the question that if there is an action which is potentially controversial to start, does forcing it on people "for their own good" violate norms of democracy and free will, even if it is beneficial? This is just food for thought - perhaps more relevant on a larger scale - that our project has provoked for me.
All in all, I am excited, because I am now beginning to see how tangible our goal is - it is becoming something that I can easily imagine and I become emboldened when I hear students voicing support - I know that we are not preaching to deaf ears.
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"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history." - Mohandas Gandhi
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