Campus group focuses on Tibetan issues

Film releases, the Tibetan Freedom Festival Concert and the activism of top movie stars have all heightened public awareness of China's occupation of Tibet.

At its first mass meeting last night, the University of Michigan Students for a Free Tibet joined the ranks of institutions championing the cause of Tibetan liberation.

"Our primary purpose is to bring awareness about Tibet to the Ann Arbor and Ypsilaniti community," said LSA first-year student Erik Hofer, one of the group's organizers.

Students attending the meeting said the situation in Tibet deserved the attention of the University community.

"The atrocities are going on and on, but nobody seems to know," said Medical School first-year student Dan Hamburger.

Hofer said he and LSA first-year student Brian Siff established the group to "educate people about Tibet and the Tibetan people, and to nonviolently exercise their universal responsibility to assist the people of Tibet in their struggle for self-determination."

Siff, who is from Colorado, said he wanted to start the organization because he saw a lack of knowledge and involvement regarding the issue on the Ann Arbor campus.

"The Tibetan cause is pretty well known in Colorado. In Fort Collins and Boulder, everyone knows about it," Siff said. "Here, there's no awareness, and that really surprised me on a campus this size."

Students attending the mass meeting said they became aware of the Tibetan situation from many sources.

"I've always known about it, and then I wrote an article on it this summer, so I decided to come," said Emily, an Engineering sophomore who asked that her last name not be used.

The blitz of media attention about the issue has brought Tibet into national consciousness. Helped by such celebrities as Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys and actors Richard Gere and Brad Pitt, the issue has found its way into American entertainment, including Pitt's recent film "Seven Years in Tibet."

"Millions of people are about to become more aware of the situation in Tibet, and we believe many people will want not only to see the film, but do something about it," Lodi Gyari, president of the International Campaign for Tibet, said in a written statement. "Our job is to turn awareness into practical support for the people of Tibet, who have maintained a valiant non-violent struggle against China's brutal rule."

Siff said now is a great time to educate people about Tibetan issues. "I think it's a prime time to get a group going," he said.

Hofer said groups like Students for a Free Tibet can supplement entertainment with facts about the political situation.

"In the American consciousness, there's a separation between media and society, so we want to help build political pressure instead of just entertainment," Hofer said.

The two organizers said they see great potential in the University community to help raise awareness about Tibet.

"We've got a really positive, really strong response from students so far," Siff said.

The upcoming visit of Chinese President Jiang Zemin to the United States has made the focus on Tibet especially intense, Hofer said. The newest chapter of Students for a Free Tibet may assist in the national protests and demonstrations surrounding the visit, he said. Hofer said the group is considering delivering a petition to the Sino-American summit.

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