Perhaps I spoke too soon about our near-total apathy regarding tomorrow's events. But any changes in our position could only be based upon subjective observation - so would we yet have an ideological stance concerning the attitudes being played and vitriol being spewed around us? Not really.

Still, while speaking about the stress of this whole deal with another member and friend on the Political Committee, she brought up something interesting: the politics surrounding the coming of the Iranian president are all based on various feelings about terrorism, Zionism, the Middle East, war-mongering, etc. Feelings that perhaps people become more attached to than is healthy or necessary. For us, this is a bit of a problem.

In the past few days, student of color groups have been struggling to meet the unspoken demands for relevancy in the events of the 24th. Thus, it's hard not to say with some cynicism that these debates occurring right now would never have happened if student of color groups brought up the events of mode. If you think our apathy is something awful, let us tell you how we see things every day other than when an Iranian president arrives at Columbia.

Hence, what we see happening is that these groups marginalized by this debate are bringing their issues into context of the only debate some people are willing to listen to: LUCHA brings up distinctions to the Minutemen protests last year. CQA cautions against media usage of certain terms as political identity. As possibly the most relevant voice in this debate, the MSA expresses concern about the fair representation of Islam in this debate around Ahmadinejad. All of these points are exceedingly relevant, but none are being actively listened to. We're all waiting for cues from other, more "mainstream" groups.

This is the case as well for the Asian American Alliance. We do not let this inundation of political opinion drown our voices surrounding other issues that we care about - issues that don't ordinarily receive the light of day. In our statement, we make a point of highlighting the disconnect between the administration and the students. This is a problem that manifests itself in countless ways other than through the invitation of Ahmadinejad.

In any case, all of this is a bit dense if you don't understand the politics of student groups. But the heart of the issue is more than this - we hope that issues of race, power, and identity can receive equal airtime when this campus is not hijacked by news media. Some things deserve to be discussed as much as, if not more than, the arrival of Ahmadinejad.