2008 Woodie Awards
IDEA revamps agenda
Sara Thatcher
Issue date: 10/3/08 Section: News
The International Development Education and Action organization is back in full force this year and is planning several small conferences during the course of the year relating to international development.
By organizing activities on campus and in the community, IDEA wants to raise both awareness of and involvement in issues pertaining to developing nations. Last year IDEA poured all of its efforts into its week long event aimed at raising awareness and funding for microfinancing, a system of loans to small businesses in developing countries.
TheWeek 2007 generated a large amount of support on the St. Olaf campus and throughout the Northfield community. In all, $2,400 was raised.
"We raised a lot of money last year," executive Colin Halverson '09 said. "The campus wants IDEA as much as it needs it."
For that reason, this year IDEA plans to generate more sustained interest in their organization throughout the year. "Last year, we did TheWeek, and that's about it. This year, we want more," Halverson said.
To accomplish this goal, IDEA has decided to have two themes this year. First semester's theme focuses on the HIV/AIDS crisis while IDEA will explore economic development from the top down second semester, looking at large entities such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as well as small intra-community organizations.
The HIV/AIDS theme is especially important to executive Vera Belazelkoska '09 because she saw the devastation of the disease in her semester studying abroad in Namibia.
"In Namibia and South Africa over 30 percent of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS," she said. "The poor people of sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to medicine because of the injustices in the pharmaceutical companies."
While the IDEA executives agree that many people know about the devastation of HIV/AIDS in Africa, they want to educate the St. Olaf community on how the disease affects the development of third world countries.
By organizing activities on campus and in the community, IDEA wants to raise both awareness of and involvement in issues pertaining to developing nations. Last year IDEA poured all of its efforts into its week long event aimed at raising awareness and funding for microfinancing, a system of loans to small businesses in developing countries.
TheWeek 2007 generated a large amount of support on the St. Olaf campus and throughout the Northfield community. In all, $2,400 was raised.
"We raised a lot of money last year," executive Colin Halverson '09 said. "The campus wants IDEA as much as it needs it."
For that reason, this year IDEA plans to generate more sustained interest in their organization throughout the year. "Last year, we did TheWeek, and that's about it. This year, we want more," Halverson said.
To accomplish this goal, IDEA has decided to have two themes this year. First semester's theme focuses on the HIV/AIDS crisis while IDEA will explore economic development from the top down second semester, looking at large entities such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as well as small intra-community organizations.
The HIV/AIDS theme is especially important to executive Vera Belazelkoska '09 because she saw the devastation of the disease in her semester studying abroad in Namibia.
"In Namibia and South Africa over 30 percent of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS," she said. "The poor people of sub-Saharan Africa do not have access to medicine because of the injustices in the pharmaceutical companies."
While the IDEA executives agree that many people know about the devastation of HIV/AIDS in Africa, they want to educate the St. Olaf community on how the disease affects the development of third world countries.
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