After a Friday night Society of Physics Students’ social, my friends and I conspired a stand-in in front of a security camera, using a white board to communicate to whomever watched on the other side. I suggested that while we were at it, we should make some sort of political statement with the otherwise seemingly foolish action, a substitute for campus safety or more meal plan nights at Salsarita’s, perhaps.

The idea didn’t bode well with the others. Damn us political science majors, adding political statements and taking political stances on events specifically designed for pointless, harmless fun.

So not to worry: The Department of Public Safety will not find such a stand-in on campus anytime soon. We actually have better things to do. My friends, the work of construction of the SPS pumpkin launcher. Me, the work of human rights of Amnesty International.

Wednesday, Oct. 24, was United Nations Day, a day of solidarity and activism to bring attention to the crisis in Darfur. After more than four years, this conflict has left more than 2.5 million civilians displaced and hundreds of thousands killed by deliberate and indiscriminate acts. A petition, delivered on Sept. 24 to the White House, demonstrated the concern of more than 500,000 people for the Darfur crisis.

I signed the petition and sent an e-mail to the presidents of the U.N. Security Council to authorize the full deployment of the “heavy support package” and of 26,000 peacekeepers to the region. I also helped put together a table for the Saint Louis University Amnesty chapter at the United Nations Darfur event on campus the day before. I pretty much did the “Amnesty” thing to do.

Amnesty International also writes letters, lots of letters, to lots of different places. I have six letters currently sitting on my desk, all destined for different locations, and they need to be sent out as soon as possible. My roommate says that these letters are the biggest thing wrong with Amnesty, that “honestly, they just don’t work,” even though I have an e-mail currently in my inbox congratulating the Urgent Action Network (we letter writers) for writing numerous letters to the Iranian government to release four joint Iran-United States nationals imprisoned for peaceful activities. They were freed about a month ago, and two of the prisoners have since left Iran.

Over the course of history, those who have said that something won’t ever work or won’t ever happen have usually been proven wrong. I admit I have such doubts of the feasibility of SPS launching a pumpkin all the way to Grand Boulevard, but the physics majors and their “leaf spring” fervor to launch that pumpkin all the way to Grand to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” will-in the targeted interminable end, in the cranked-backed long shot-prevail. I can doubt, the same way my roommate can doubt my “crunchy-granola” fervor. Yet, at the end of the campaign, those who actually write the letters to the song “Galileo” see the intersection of Grand and West Pine.

It then occurred to me, over the course of Fall Break that it’s the motivation and passion that counts. I can be skeptical of the launch of the pumpkin as long and as much as I wish, but the work of SPS will continue with much effort on their part and little on mine. As a student of the arts and sciences, I could not possibly understand all the physics contained in such a contraption, but I can recognize hard work and genuine passion. It is those who strive to achieve against the ill will of others that send additional peacekeepers to the Darfur region and get the Mexican government to respond to an account egregious abuse of human rights on their soil.

So damn SPS, building this pumpkin launcher and planning the launching of pumpkins. Damn Amnesty International, making big noise about big things and creating so much attention. Damn political science majors, unable to grasp the aesthetics of torque and force. Damn the skeptics of those trying to make some sort of small difference in the world in issues one cannot change alone. Damn those who do not write the letter and do not launch the pumpkin.

Damn those who do nothing, who have no passion, no stance, not a contraption to build. It is them who “honestly … just don’t work” and not those who try and don’t succeed.

Even so, don’t expect a stand-in in front of any security cameras anytime soon. DPS can have a breather.

Allison Reilly is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences.