 |
|
COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy
|
| Former United States senator and 1972 presidential candidate George McGovern speaks about global hunger Wednesday at the University of La Verne. |
Former US senator, presidential candidate comes to town
There has been plenty of buzz at the University of La Verne throughout the week. The reason—the return of former United States senator and 1972 presidential candidate George McGovern.
Having spoken on issues of diplomacy at ULV back in April 2006, Mr. McGovern returned to the campus for a 3-day stay from Tuesday to Thursday, giving a lecture on global hunger, participating in a panel discussion of the same subject and also interacting with the school community.
As ULV President Stephen Morgan gave an introduction at Mr. McGovern’s lecture on Thursday entitled “Ending Global Hunger,” he mentioned how honored he was to interact with the man whom he had voted for during the 1972 presidential election.
“What a privilege it is to have him on our campus—a chance to really get acquainted with the man and see what makes him tick,” Mr. Morgan said. “And George McGovern—since running in 1972—has certainly earned the distinction as senior statesman for the United States of America. He has traveled the world and he has fought for the causes that are important to him. George McGovern has spent his life, particularly I think since he left Washington, fighting for the things that you and I believe in—that we think are right for society. And it is a privilege to have him here.”
For 50 minutes, Mr. McGovern reflected on his days as a bomber pilot in World War II, his 18-year tenure in the US Senate, his presidential election run in 1972 and his ongoing efforts to combat global hunger. He also talked briefly about the wars in Viet Nam and Iraq, two wars that he strongly opposes.
“I had no hesitance [during World War II]—when I volunteered to serve—and I don’t have any regrets for it today,” Mr. McGovern said. “What I object to are these foolish, unnecessary wars like the one going on now. I’ve had people say to me when I make a statement like that, “Well don’t you support our troops?” And I say you’re damn right I support our troops and that’s why I don’t want them sent to die needlessly.” (story continues below)
 |
|
COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy
|
| Wednesday’s panel at the University of La Verne included former United States senator George McGovern and several leading authorities on the issue of global hunger. |
Most of Mr. McGovern’s lecture focused on the hunger issue. He and former presidential candidate Bob Dole shared efforts in providing nutrition to millions of school children around the world. He also spoke on what can be done in order to solve the problem of hunger and malnutrition.
“We can beat that problem largely by two rather obvious steps,” Mr. McGovern explained. “One is to increase the coverage of the Food Stamp Program. Secondly, beyond the Food Stamp Program, there are a lot of low-income people who are not getting food stamps but just don’t have the income to buy a decent diet. What I would recommend is a modest increase in the minimum wage. If you did those two things, hunger would largely disappear in the United States.”
Mr. McGovern’s solutions resonated well with students like sophomore Katherine Kimble, who found the advocate of global nutrition easy to understand.
“Sometimes being simplistic is the step to take instead of making things more complex than they should be,” she said. “And even if the solutions are simple, the steps still need to be done.”
The lecture on Thursday in ULV’s La Fetra Auditorium, which also was attended by Fox 11 News and KTLA News, was just one of the events that Mr. McGovern was part of during his visit. The former presidential candidate also participated in a panel discussion with 4 university professors that focused on global hunger and was also a special guest in ULV Professor Richard Gelm’s Congress and the Presidency course as well as the school’s Campus Times newspaper staff.
“It’s a great honor having him here,” said Ken Marcus, ULV associate professor of history. “He’s had a chance to participate on one of our panels, interact with our campus and discuss the issue of global hunger.”
Although many of Mr. McGovern’s political accomplishments took place during the baby-boomer generation, ULV sophomore Briana Pride found the former Democratic Party presidential candidate’s visit to be a good way to preserve his history to people of her generation, and also educate them about what he did before they were born.
“I think it is a privilege that the university can get a person like him here,” Ms. Pride said. “This is a great way to keep his history alive and it is very beneficial for us.”
—Landus Rigsby
