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The College Mefcuty. VOL. IV. GETTYSBURG, PA., APRIL, 1896. No. 2. THE COLLEGE MERCURY', Published each month -during the college year by the Students of Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) College. STAFF. Editor: D. EDGAR RICE, '96. Associate Editors : EDNA M. LOOMIS, '96. GRAYSON Z. STUP, '96. HENRY W. BIKLE, '97- WEBSTER C. SPAYDE, '96. WILLIAM E. WHEELER, '97. HERBERT D. SHIMER, '96. ROBBIN B. WOLF, '97. Alumni Association Editor: REV. D. TRANK GARLAND, A. M., Baltimore, Md. Business Manager: WILLIAM G. BRUBAKER, '96. Assistant Business Manager: E. A. ARMSTRONG, '97- """. (One volume (ten months). . . . $1.00 iMtMb. jSin.gie copies 15 Payable in advance. All Students are requested to band us matter for publication. The Alumni and ex-members ot the college will favor us by sending Information concerning their whereabouts or any Items hey may think would be Interesting for publication. All subscriptions and business matters should be addressed to the business manager. Matter Intended for publication should be addressed to the I Editor Address, THE COLLEGE MEECUKY, Gettysburg, Pa. CONTENTS. EDITORIALS, 16 THE LOVE OF FAME AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS, - - IS THE RELATION OF THE STUDENT TO THE PROFESSOR, - 20 OBJECTIONS TO STUDENT GOVERNMENT, 22 "To THAHARCHUS," 23 COLLEGE LOCALS, -"* - - ' - 23 LUMNI NOTES, - ._._-_- 25 ATHLETICS, - 27 RATERNITY NOTES, --- 1 28 TOWN AND SEMINARY NOTES, - - ' - - - - 29 LITERARY SOCIETIES, - - --- 30 EXCHANGES, - - - - - - - - -'--30 EDITORIAL. THE time has almost arrived when the elec-tion will be held for positions on the MERCURY staff. With a 3'ear's experience on the staff we wish to make a few suggestions which we hope will commend themselves to the literary societies as at least worthy of their consider-ation. In looking over our exchanges we find that in a great many of the college journals positions on -the editorial staff are honors worth striving for, and that to be elected to such positions the applicants must have contributed a certain amount of acceptable matter to the paper, or in other cases the3r are-subjected to competi-tive examinations. In Pennsylvania College, on the contrary, work for the MERCURY seems to be considered as a burden, and instead of there being an over-supply of applicants, it is occasionally a difficult matter to get enough students who are willing to devote even a small portion of their time to our monthly: Without making any personal insinuations, the natural result of this arrangement is that oc-casionally some are elected to positions oil the staff who have really no interest in their work, and consequently do not put forth a great amount of effort. Another apparent defect in our arrangement is that positions on the staff do not continue for more than one year, and thus an entirely new board may be elected each year. Of course, where seniors are elected this is neces: sary, but in cases where under-classmen" are chosen, if they show ability in' their work* the)' should not be subject to an annual change. By the time a new staff gets accus-tomed to its duties; and is just in good run-ning order, it is again about time for an elec-tion and its consequent changes. ■mBBBM^^HMI 17 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 1 We believe these defects mentioned could be remedied by following the example of many other college journals, and making positions on the staff the reward of a little special effort in journalistic work. We feel safe in saying that no outside work in the whole college course is more profitable than work on the col-lege journal can be made, and we are quite sure that there are men of ability among us, who are not thought of as available for jour-nalistic work, who would devote their best efforts to it if some competitive system were used in selecting editors, and who would take so much interest in their work, that the stand-ard of the paper could be decidedly improved. We feely deeply impressed with the neces-sity of adopting some plan by which a greater interest in the paper may be created on the part of the members of the staff, and believing that the competitive system is best calculated to secure that object, we most earnestly com-mend it to the serious consideration of the literary societies at their next joint meeting. *** FROM the reports received concerning the Oratorical Contest at Swarthmore we believe our representative compared very favorably with those from some of the other colleges. Although we did not come in for a share of the honors, we need not feel so badly over it, when we remember that we made as good a showing as Franklin and Marshall, whose lit-erary societies receive such well deserved praise, and which was so confident of winning. The result is indeed encouraging, and snows us that with a little more effort we may hope to be winners. It is a fact that the proper interest was not taken in the preliminaries this year. Those who were willing to go in probably did their best, but the fact that there were only two entries from one of the societies makes us feel that the contest in college might at least have been made much more close. Not one of those who were recognized as the best speak-ers from that society at the Junior Oratorical last year entered the preliminaries, and neither was the Junior Class represented. We would urge on both societies that next year a greater effort be put forth and that preparation begin in good time. If we wish to continue our membership in the Oratorical Union, it is the duty of all those who can speak to take an in-terest in the preliminaries and see to it that all the oratorical ability in the college receives a fair test. If we do this, and yet are not suc-cessful, we can at least have the satisfaction of knowing that we were not defeated on ac-count of our indifference. For fear we may be misunderstood, we wish to explain that no implication is made that we were not sufficiently well represented in the recent contest, but simply that more students should have entered the preliminaries, and es-pecially that there should be more next year. * * * ONCE more vacation is over and work is be-gun. Once more the records of the term's work have been received and commented on. Another term lies before us and its record is to | be made. Although good resolutions are pro-verbially broken, there is much in a good be-ginning. A good term's work must be good ill the beginning, the middle and the end ; good throughout. The duties of every day must be met and fulfilled. It does not pay to depend upon a fine examination to make up deficiencies in recitation. Examinations are uncertain at best ; there is no depending upon them, and the safest way is to let the tens in recitations make up for possible or probable deficiencies in examinations. It is very true that ambition to earn a fine grade is, in itself, a childish and a vain thing ; but, on the other | hand, why do students go to college? Sup-posably, at least, to get an .education. Hon-est work, regularly done, must be shown in I the grade ; the grade is not the measure of the man ; far from it. It is only a measure of one side of the man, but that side is not to be de-| spised. L. THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 18 THERE is something interesting in the study |of class spirit and college spirit. On the one band, no class is so wonderful as our own be-cause we belong to it. No college is quite the Isanie as ours because that is our Alma Mater. |On the other hand, we are important because ve belong to such or such a class, and we [sometimes base our reputation on "Old Penn-sylvania." Yet, what gives a reputation to the class or the college if not its individual I members ? We give a reputation to the col-lege ; the college can not give us ours. Its [diploma may give us a start, but how little the [sheepskin is worth unless there is something jto back it up. If we have a real regard for our college ; if we have real college spirit, we |will take care that when we say "I am from Pennsylvania College" she will not blush to jclaim us. There is college spirit and again, jthere is college spirit. One kind is mere [empty talk and the other is what makes the j institution flourish. L. THE LOVE OF FAME AMONG} COLLEGE STUDENTS. That the desire for recognition exists in our college students, no one who has had even a slight acquaintance with them will deny. To understand fully the reason of this desire, it is lecessary first to consider the ultimate cause jof the love of prominence among men in gen-leral, viz: society. It is impossible to imagine how an individ-ual, alone, without intercourse with his kind, could advance far beyond his pristine condi-tion. To the formation of organized commu-nities, inducing an interchange of ideas, the riction of mental activity, do we owe the first larked advances in intelligence. From these communities have sprung nations, wealth, civ-ilization, learning, sympathy, reverence for the moral law, the spirit of leadership. As a rule, small communities and great cities are extremes which meet and agree in this: there is little incentive to achievement. In the one there is nothing to seek after ; in the other, every place has a host of appli-cants, and one is lost in the multitude. The peculiarity of college society is this: a com-munity not large numerically, but in which each member, since embarked upon the same voyage and stimulated by the same kind of activity, wears an exaggerated importance. Scarcely does a young man arrive at college before inquiry is made concerning him, his ac-quaintance sought, and his measure taken. There springs up immediately the desire to be of some importance, to command the respect of one's fellows, to be the object, at some time, of those exuberant bursts of applause of which the college students are so prodigal, no mat-ter how slight the occasion. The young man who can come to college and not feel well up within him the desire to become known in some sphere of college activity; who can be content to remain uuesteemed, insignificant, must be totally wanting in those qualities which characterize every noble human soul. Such a young man, we may safely predict, can never amount to anything anywhere. Despite the number of colleges which have sprung up over the enlightened world within the last fifty years, a thorough education is by no means a common possession. We have not yet reached that happy period when by an equality of opportunity every one who desires may get an education; later still will be the time when all shall desire it. Therefore, the world bows respectfully to the college student, acknowledging his superiority, and the student has accepted the homage as his due. The student is right; it is remarkable what a change takes place in the earnest student ; his development is not one-sided but complete in body and mind. Even on his return to spend his first vacation, do the parents and friends notice that he has changed; his manners are more polished, his speech can be weighty. It is strange that learning is not more com-mon. True, all have not the opportunity, but the majority do not possess it for mere want of effort. Of all the sins for which we will some day be required to answer, this one sin of lazi-ness is the most heinous. Placed here to de- MHHi^BiM^B 19 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. velop ourselves to the utmost, to enlarge the capacities of the mind and spirit for useful-ness ; how infinitesimal are the attainments of the many, how utterly unworthy of their powers ! It is the line of cleavage which sep-arates the successful and respected man from the worshiping multitude. For this reason is the student regarded with interest and treated with deference. Again, the association with exceptional men tends to develop a love for fame. Before the young man enters college, he bows with the multitude in deference to the learning and wisdom of his elders. At college he meets these men under the intimate relation of teacher and scholar. They slowly instruct him, give him the results of their thought and expe-rience, advise him, and later on acknowledge the value of his opinion. To the well-trained youth this familiarity is productive of the greatest blessings; while still reasonably ac-knowledging their superiority, his indebtedness to them, there has been begotten in him a cer-tain necessary degree of independence of thought and action, which shrinks not to en-ter whatever portal invites entrance into the kingdom of truth. Now will he be seen boldly, yet modestly, seeking the acquaintance of men wiser than himself, not fearing to hear them and ask questions. Familiarity, in its better sense, with learned and prominent men is one of the most useful of attainments, simply be-cause, other things being equal, it fits us for the same station with them, and produces the desire to occupy the position for which we are thus fitted. But while society is the ultimate cause of the love for fame, and the peculiar society found at college "tends to develop it, yet our best students, they who derive the most from their college course, are those who come impelled by a desire to rise into a higher sphere than the one in which they have been bred, and fill the measure of their usefulness in their gener-ation. Many, it is only too well known, are sent to college by parents who desire to get rid of them, or make something of them, whereas the youths themselves are indifferent and sim-ply allow their parents to do with them as I they please. These seldom make the most of their opportunities, but are simply carried along by the urging of others, content if they can secure a few temporary and empty lion-1 ors at college, and an easy means of living | afterwards. These two classes are nearly co-extensive I with two other classes into which students | may be divided, with the love of fame asfund-ameiitum divisionis, viz : Those who aim at I future and permanent distinction, and those| who desire merely present and temporary recognition. It is noteworthy how many of I our students are poor ; their education, ability, and earnestness are the only guaranty they have of future success, and they strain every nerve to attain that position to which these | alone can bring them. James shows that we may divide men into I grades according as they are influenced by considerations near or remote. The higher man ascends in the scale of intellectuality, the more he is guided in his thoughts and conduct by reasons which are more removed from pres-ent gratification. Undoubtedly, he alone is a true • student who looks forward to future achievement. He who is concerned only for his reputation among his fellows now, whether | in scholarship, athletics, or any other sphere, can hardly be said to possess a love for famel in the higher sense. And there is reason for! this difference of inclination ; it is the result of I that difference between men of which we I spoke above. The future recognition held up I as a goal to be attained, is so far distant that it requires perseverance, courage, confidence I in one's ability, in the favor of God and good I judgment of man, to keep a young man fromj fainting. Only a heroic spirit, one ready tol make sacrifices, ready to endure disappoint-ments and buffets, can ever hope to attain the| wished for success. The difference between these two classes | may be easily recognized. Few are the stu-dents who are so wrapped up in the desire tol THE COLLEGE MERCURY. Iknow, that they wear out their lives, dry up [their very heart's blood in the pursuit of [knowledge. This is often decried ; for fear {that a young man may go too far, he is urged too much the other way, and in excessive care-fulness for his physical well-being loses inter-est iu the pursuit of truth. It is an indubit-able mark of a noble spirit to wear away itself nn the thirst for knowledge ; to feel the over- [powering sense of limitation, and in the desire |to get free from restraint to mount on eagle's pings into the blue empyrean. But we do lave many young men who, while taking care lof the body, yet encroach upon their sleep and jburn the midnight oil. Of course, there is |some risk ; it may in a few cases be carried to the extent of bodily debility, but as a rule a lealthy young man seldom suffers from study-ing till midnight. It is still true, as Eongfel- |low said : , The heights by great men reached and kept, Were not attained by sudden flight, But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upwards in the night. iNever was there a time when success depended [so much upon extra work ; and the disposi-tion to do extra work is a characteristic of the imbitious and successful student. Probably the seekers after present distinc-tion are most easily recognized by their eager-aess for place while at college. It is marvel-lous how eager the least capable ones are to mold offices whether in the class, upon com- [mittees, or upon editorial boards. Athletics are a fruitful source of emulation. So luch is made of athletes, they are petted and courted, that to shine in athletics becomes lany a student's ideal, and the mirage carries aim away from those nobler pursuits and ngher aims which should alone dominate the pfe of a young man, especially of a student. Athletics have their proper place only when ^hey are regarded as of secondary importance. The difference in ideals manifests itself in the manners of their devotees. The earnest student usually is retiring, seldom demands recognition, does not obtrude his acquaintance, 3Ut lets his abilities speak for themselves. On the other hand, his opposite is bolder, more aggressive, more prompt to speak and act, seeking distinction among his fellow-students rather than the commendation of his instruc-tors. Here is one who seeks distinction as a base-ball, player, another seeks to shine as a singer, and so on as low as the aim to be known as a "sport" with a fine head of hair. Since youth, including the years spent at college is the formative period, the instructors may possess almost demiurgic power. This love for fame should be fanned and trained. Nothing makes study so pleasant, makes achievement so desirable, as a word of com-mendation. Our instructors owe a duty not to their scholars alone, but to the nation and world. Men look for great things from col-lege students, and society cannot afford to have those who possess the opportunity to educate themselves waste their abilities. Without the shadow of a doubt, the future of the world, its progress, its condition of freedom or of slavery, is in the hands of .its educated men. By all means then foster this love for fame, turn aside the inclinations from those objects which are not worth}' and enter them upon those paths which lead to greatness and use-fulness. G. F. A., '97. The Eslation of the Student to the Professor. The caption indicates that we have taken only the one part of an important question. The relation of the professor to the student we leave to be discussed by those to whom it be-longs. Therefore, whatever we say is from the student's point of view. When about to decide whether we shall at-tend one of the larger colleges, such as Har-vard or Yale, or some one of our smaller col-leges, such as our own, there is no stronger argument possible in favor of the smaller col-lege than that of the closer contact with the personality of the heads of the various depart-ments, afforded by them for their students. For it is in these institutions that the student may have the advantage of that peculiar trait— THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 1 the individuality of the teacher, whatever it may be, which distinguishes him from his fel-low man. Assuming that these chairs are filled by live and competent men, as there is no reason why they should not be, the student of such a college has at his disposal one of the greatest advantages offered by the best univer-sities of the day. It is the soul of the teacher that kindles the soul of the student ; and the nearer we can approach it the greater its in-fluence over us. The question is a grave one, and we fear that it must be answered negatively, whether the students of the smaller colleges recognize this opportunity. The conduct in our own college and that in others of a similar class seems to bear out the conclusion that they do not. Nor is it our purpose here to assign any reason for it that would take us beyond our subject. But it is only for us to say what, in our opin-ion, would be the proper deportment of the student in this particular relation. Is this ideal possible ? It is not an ideal ; but an actual possibility, a thing already real-ized by some, being realized by others and pos-sible for everyone. However, to accomplish this the student must see in his teacher a true friend, anxious to promote his welfare and better his condi-tion ; he must see in the subject pursued a means to some useful end ; and he must real-ize that his obligations to his teacher cannot be measured by money but are payable only by respect and gratitude, and that the careful and faithful prosecution of any subject will bring a return far greater than the time and energy spent on it. In short, the student must have his heart in his work. It is not so much his ability to learn as his love, which makes his relation to his professor a pleasant and a profit-able one. Let the student then love and re-spect the professor and be interested and de-voted to the subject studied and his deport-ment in this relation will not be far from right. "At the feet of Gamaliel," said Paul, speak-ing of his education, "Twas brought up." The very thought of one like Paul placing himself in such a position to his teacher ought at least arouse in us a profound respect and a | reverence for those who are our instructors. And so we find the best young men in the days I of Socrates willing to humble themselves be-fore him, despised and ridiculed by the leaders| of the city, in order that they might be in-spired by that same powerful influence which I distinguished Socrates from other men. The| objection may be made that we have no Gam-aliel and no Socrates these days ; but we have I those who are their peers ; for when was there ever such wonderful achievements in science as to-day, and when had the world ever a bet-ter knowledge of the classics than at present? The trouble is this : we are not looking for a Gamaliel or a Socrates, nor would they, if it were possible to'find them, be able to influence us even as much as some of our present teach-ers. For, sad as the fact is, a large number of | our students have developed a disposition al-most insensible to the most powerful influence I which the best teacher can exert. And what is this strange influence which deprives us of I our greatest privilege? Is it a thoughtlessj error, is it a legacy bequeathed to us by our predecessors, or is it pure indifference ? May it be hoped that it is one of the former, for the latter is worse than suicide, strange as it mayf seem. . Let it be what it may, it is the deadliest en-emy to the possible and complete efficiency of I our smaller colleges. Its presence in the class- \ room is as destructive as water in a powder I magazine. It forbids the instructor laying! aside the secondary matters in the class-room I and the concentrating of all the power and en-ergy of body and soul on the subject underI consideration. It refracts, distorts and almost! obliterates those rays of genius radiating from! the mature and master mind, which alone are! able to fire the dormant energies of the un-| tutored student. Will the students ot these institutions never | awaken to a proper appreciation of their owr interests and advantages until they are foreverl R0ffi> THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 22 lost ? Can generation after generation be nur-tured and sustained by a delusion? The life of an error may be long, but its death is cer-tain. So in this abuse which means so much to the success and life of the student a reform is inevitable. And may the time not be dis-tant when the students of these institutions shall again assume the proper relation to their instructors, and restore to these colleges in actual fact what is to-day only a cherished tra-dition. Let each student then ask himself these questions: How far have I unconsciously been led by this delusion ? What have I lost myself? What have I robbed others of? What is my duty? And let him be a man, who, when he knows his duty, has moral cour-age enough to do it. L., '98. OBJECTIONS TO STUDENT GOVERNMENT. In a recent number of the MERCURY there appeared quite an extended article on ' 'Stud-ent Government," in which mainly the de-sirable qualities were set forth. It may be of interest to those who are strongly advo-cating the system to give a moment's time to a few of the obstacles which will be in the way of the new system. But it may be added, however, that these hindrances are not of such a nature that they cannot be overcome. The main feature of this system of students' self-government, which had its origin at Am-herst College, is a student senate, the members of which are elected from the four classes by the entire student body. Just here is the first and greatest draw-back to the success of the system, viz., the election of the members of the senate. Among college students espec-ially, there are all classes and every tempera-ment. Among them can be found those who were "born with a silver spoon in their mouth," as also those born of the humblest parentage in the land ; those clothed in "soft clothing," who have all the luxuries and en-joyments that kind parents and wealth can give, and who consider it their great pleasure and privilege to deride and unsympathetically to embarrass their less (?) fortunate fellows, as well as those who wear plain yet neat attire and who, wholly unwilling to offend or dis-obey, put forth an honest endeavor to make the best of their great privilege, which has been bought with many years of hard manual labor. With such a difference the election of the members of the senate will always be one-sided. It will be a source of continual wrang-ling, and instead of uniting the student body it will only increase the ill-feeling among the different classes. Usually in setting forth the advantages and benefits of the system Amherst College is cited as an example to show that the system can be made successful. But here the senate ceased to act more than two years ago. It was not suppressed by action of the Faculty, but by the action of the students themselves it has been given up. And again the decisions of the senate are to be referred to the Faculty for approval or dis-approval. That the decisions of the senate will seldom if ever be reversed by the action of the Faculty is not quite so sure, since stu-dents are too much inclined to make their tasks as light as possible, whether it will be of most advantage to themselves or not. Measures have already been undertaken by the student body to induce the Faculty to yield to their de-sires, but in almost every instance nothing was gained thereby ; and it may be added that in many cases it would have been folly to grant the requests. Often the poor plea is made that under the present system the students' truth and honor receive so little recognition that there is very little occasion, if any, to preserve them. But certainly there is none whatever for breaking them. Can the Faculty be ex-pected to trust the students in the new system if they are unfaithful in the present ? Only he that is faithful in the least will be faithful in that which is greater. Our worthy president has given the students full opportunity to 23 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. prove themselves obedient and trustworthy. Has the recent attitude of the students been such as to warrant his full confidence in them ? If students' truth and honor are sacred enough to be kept in the greater are they any less sacred in the less ? Only he that is faithful in a few things will be made ruler over many. Gold is tried in the fire to test its quality. Only where the students are mature, manly and morally thoughtful, does such a system have any decided advantages. N. "TO THALIARCHUS. Behold the snow-clad mountains, and observe The force of frigid Boreas' driving sleet O'er all the landscape ; then divert Thy gaze into the forest where the trees Labor 'neath the burden of the snows. The river, too, is frozen, and instead Of sparkling liquid surface, which beneath The sun and moon doth oft transparent seem Thou seest a stream congealed, upon which oft The maiden and the youth in pleasure glide Upon the crystal ice. But coldness, too. Within my dismal chamber reigns supreme ; And bids thee, Thaliarchus, forth to bring The wood from its receptacle to feed The dying embers and thaw the nipping cold. Then bring forth,Jrom Sabiuejars, the ruddy Vine-juice, four mellowing summers old, 'twill cheer The dull despondent mind, and cause the soul To live in pleasure To the gods resign Whatever else there be ; for unto them The winds pay tribute ; quick at their command They cease to war on oceans or among The ash and cypress trees. In thought be young ; Nor think of doubtful future ; and when days Are in succession on thy life bestowed. Count them as favors worthy to commend. Despise not youthful loves, nor yet refuse To dance, to court, to love as long as age Withholds its grip from thee. Skip to the park And meet the girls; then through green lanes and pleas-ant walks. Where merry laughs betray them, let thy steps Conduct thee ; nor forget the whispered word Which often in their bosom does inspire Responsive love. Think of how the ring "Upon her dainty finger will attest And prove thy plighted love ; then think of how The bashful maiden will approve and smile, And, by an anxious look, ask for the day J. H. K./99. COLLEGE LOCALS. GKAYSON Z. STUP and ROBBIX B. WOLF, Editors. At last it came—the snow. In spite of all the vain wishes for a good sleighing snow dur-ing the Christmas holidays and the earlier part of last term it came not until all hopes were buried in the final work of the term. But just as the boys were getting ready for base ball and the campus walks fit to be trodden upon, along came the snow and spread a white cover-ing of about eighteen inches over our part of the earth. Then buried hopes revived and merry sleigh bells announced that the boys were making the most of the occasion. Not only sleighing but all the other features of winter sports were seen—snow ball fights, broken windows,' smashed hats and umbrellas. Then ye pestiferous town boys got in their licks. But they were soon careful enough at whom they fired, after one, a Senior, nick-named Eddie, displayed his foot-ball courage and skill. In the language of Eddie, "They were cooled." We all gloried in the lesson thus given. It is a shame that students can-not wear decent hats up town, nor use their umbrellas without some lawless pests pelting them with snowballs. It went too far and the boys can take care of themselves if necessary. With the great fall of snow came the cor-responding amount of mud, and now, though the campus walks are being constantly im-proved, we shall have to tread muddy paths until April showers shall be dispelled by May sunshine. Vacation gave us a chance to prac-tise on country roads and other places. We were peculiarly unfortunate in the latter part of the term in our entertainments. The last of the Y. M. C. A. course was postponed once, because of a failure to get Dr. Willitts, and finally by the sickness of Representative Howard. The lecture will be given this term, and if possible Dr. Willitts will be procured. The Sons of Hercules were equally disap-pointed by the inclement weather. The ex-hibition was postponed twice on account of the drifting snow. They were in good con-dition to give a first-class entertainment. But they have decided to give it early in the term and hope to do better than they would have clone before. There are thirteen in the crowd and every one has some specialties. The work on the mats and in pyramids will be especially good. It is encouraging to find so many tak-ing an interest in these manly contests. What is better than a sound mind in a sound body? In spite of the falling snow on Wednesday, March n, the Senior dinner, given by the President to the class, came off and was a suc-cess in every particular. The boys were afraid a chill would be put upon it by the blizzard, 111 e n 6 .; r( K lii ■1! it] ai ; •s. til 'CM x !ei Jut Kill ■ '' tain Tun tot: wa\ you THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 24 It when iu the genial presence of our host forgot the storm without. The dinner be-lli about 8.30 P. M., and every member of [6 was present. The affair was unique in §tny ways. The class, as a whole, was at- ■red in evening dress, and made a good ap pearance around the convivial board. The dinner was very tastefully served, in six R)iirses. The table was beautifully decorated With roses and evergreens. ■ At each one's place was a white carnation, and a card bear-ing his name, tied with a bow of the class col- H-s. After partaking of the .sumptuous ban-quet, the following toasts were responded to. ■Our Host' and Hostess," Ship ; "Ninety-six in Athletics," Moser ; "Our Sports," Menges ; "The Faculty," Reitzell ; "Our Future," Rice. Then Toastmaster Eisenhart called upon the Doctor to give his impressions of '96. It w:as then that we learned for a cer-tainty of his intention to leave the college in Tune. He spoke very tenderly of his relations to us as a class, and said that he would be al-ways interested in us as his youngest boys and youngest girl. We feel very sorry to know that the Doctor is going to leave. We also feel that we are quite fortunate in being al-lowed to sit at his feet and receive instruction. His generous hospitality to the class endeared us still more to him, and we shall often refer, in talking over reminiscences, to our days spent with Dr. McKnight. The dinner was a very pleasant occasion, and in the future when we shall look back over the dim past it will be an especially bright one among the many happy clays we spent together in '96. I The musical organizations have been doing faithful practice during the past term, and if it is kept up during this one, there is no doubt but that the commencement concert will be Rry good. I Now is the time for out-door sports. Every fellow who can play base ball ought to be out trying for the team. Let us get up an in-vincible one and have some exciting games on our new field. Tennis, too, should be made a great deal of. We want good contests, and, if possible, track athletics at commencement. I The fourth annual contest of the Pennsyl-vania Intercollegiate Oratorical Union was held at Swarthmore on Friday, March 20th, in the presence of a large audience. Swarthmore ffiad spared no efforts to make the contest a Success, and it was undoubtedly the best yet held. - The colleges represented, the contestants and their subjects were as follows: Swarth-more, F. Grant Blair, "The Function of His-tory; " Muhlenberg, John F. Kramlech, "Liberty and Revolution;" Franklin and Marshall, S. H. Stein, "Education Obliga-tory;" Lehigh, Ross N. Hood, "The Pre-server of Religious Liberty;" Lafayette, Ellis H. Custard, "What will Europe Say?" Ursinus, A. C. Thompson, "The Revival of American Patriotism;" Gettysburg, I. O. Moser, "Lafayette, a Champion of Liberty." The judges of the contest were Dr. J. Max Hark, President of the Moravian Seminary, Bethlehem, Pa.; Professor George Bible, Prin-cipal of the State Normal School, Strouds-burg, Pa., and Rev. Luther S. Black, of Get-tysburg, who awarded the first prize of twenty-five dollars to Swarthmore and the second of fifteen dollars to Muhlenberg. Who said that Eddie did not own college on Thursday evening, March 19th? The Fresh-men looked upon him with a holy awe, and wondered if they could acquire such bravery by playing foot-ball. No doubt we shall have a strong team next fall. J. S., '99' has a great desire for ladies' rings. Some time ago he received one, after assurance that he would not lose it or be un-true to the owner. Now he is in quite a pre-dicament, for he has either lost it or given it to another girl. But he has overcome all dif-ficulties by buying another and asking her to keep quiet about it. H., '99—"Do you know what you are? " S., '99—"I am in bed." He must have been in that semi-conscious condition which psychologists say we are when we are enter-ing the realms of sleep. If anybody is looking for trouble he wants to call around to fourth floor. West Div. There he will find F., '98, ready to settle all disputes. All that cannot be amicably settled will be mended as well as possible with the fist. E., '99, has a very flattering opinion of him-self. The other day he said that he would go with whatsoever girl he pleased, and stay as long as he wished. In that case I guess the girl doesn't have much to say. K., '99, said that Mercury's mother was Jupiter. Mythology must be revised. Mr. S., '97, who was playfully invited by a 25 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. lady to take a ride on a child's bicycle, said, in his dignified air: "Indeed, I would, but I'm afraid it would lower my humility." Z. '98, in English Bible, said that they were going to concentrate the spoils of war. F. '98, said that the Caspian Sea is south of Palestine. Mr. A., '97 (returning from a sleigh'ride). "I didn't get to Two Taverns." S. '99. "I suppose one tavern settled you." H., '99. "This Lutheran Quarterly costs pretty much." S.'i '99 (Looking at the price). " 'Tis rather steep." H. "Why, one copy alone costs seventy-five cents." S., '99- "More than that, there are only three quarters in a year." The Phrena reading room is completed and ready for use. It is quite an improvement over the former room. Both the Philo and Phrena reading rooms are now in first-class condition and the boys, whether members or not, should take care of them and keep them in good order. The popular electives for the spring term are Baseballology and Tenni(y)s-on. Never did the boys feel happier over the ap-proach of vacation than last term. The term was a long, dreary one, and the lessons were hard and kept the boys studying hard. There were no out-door sports, and gym. work is not very refreshing to young men accustomed to play foot-ball, base-ball, etc. All however look forward to this term with pleasure. It will be only ten weeks long, and will be at-tended with all the joys of spring and summer. Don't fail to attend the exhibition to be given in the gymnasium by the "Sons of Hercules." Go both for the merits of the ex-hibition and because the proceeds are for the benefit of the Athletic Association. We are sorry to hear that one of Dr. Nixon's brothers died during the vacation. The MERCURY extends heartfelt sympathy to him in his bereavement. The Pennsylvania College Alumni Associa-tion of Western Pennsylvania will hold their annual meeting and banquet at Pittsburg, on May 5th. The annual Pen-Mar Lutheran re-union will be held Thursday, July 23rd. Y. M. C. A. NOTES. At the final business meeting of last teniij March 26th, the following officers were elected! for the ensuing year : President, G. F. Abelf Vice President, R. W. Woods ; Corresponding! Secretary, E. W. Meisenhelder; Recording Secretary, A. M. Stamets ; Treasurer, C. J.l Fite; Reporter, W. R. Stahl ; Organist, W,| C. Spayde. The schedule for the term has been preparedl and can be obtained from members of the De| votional Committee. ALUWINI. H. D. SHIMER AND H. W. BIKLE, Editors. '41. Col. C. H. Buehler died on March 24th! at his home in Gettysburg, Pa. He had beeil for many years a Trustee of Pennsylvania Colj lege. '53. Rev. Peter Begstresser, D. D., has book in press entitled "Baptism and Feet! washing." '57. Rev. H. L. Baugher, D. D., Presideul of the General Synod, will preach the baccaj laureate sermon for Irving College, Mechanics] burg, Pa. '57. Rev. L. A. Gotwald, D. D., of Wit| tenberg Theological Seminary, we are please to learn, has rallied from a recent relapse and] is enjoying about the same degree of strengtt| as before. '57. Rev. D. M. Gilbert, of Harrisburgl Pa., was in Gettysburg on Mar. 26th to atj tend the funeral of Col C. H. Buehler. '62. Rev. M. L. Culler is having success; pastor at Apollo, Pa. During the summd about $1200 are to be expended on the churclj building of his charge. '64. Geo. M. Beltzhoover, whose son wasd member of the class of '97, is very much in| terested in Gettysburg College. He writes tj the MERCURY, and wishes to be' rememberei kindly to all his college friends. '69. Rev. G. F. Behringer, of the class ol '69 till the end of the Junior year, has a verf interesting article in the April Lni/if/ui Quarterly on Luther's pecuniary resources dull ing the Reformation, and the way heexpendef his income. '70. F. J. Kooser, Esq., carried his count!! MMM THK COLLEGE MERCURY. 26 (Somerset) by a majority of 1300 at the Re-publican primary election for Congressman from that district. '73. In looking over the Lutheran Woild for April 2, 1896, we found the portrait of Rev. W. S. Freas, D. D., president of the Board of Church Extension, York, Pa. '73. Rev. L. L- Sieber recently closed a series of meetings in St. John's Church, Steel-ton, Pa., which resulted in the conversion of some seventy persons. '74. Rev. F. W. Staley is a very energetic and successful minister at Middletown, Pa. During his pastorate at that place his good in-fluence ha3 been felt, not only in his congre-gation, but also in the town. '74. Dr. Geo. E. Titus writes to us from his home in Hightstown, N. J., that he is well and prospering, and extends a cordial invita-tion to his classmates and college-mates to visit him whenever convenient. He has not lost interest in them, or in the old college at Gettysburg, and does not wish any one to think that he has. '76. Rev. Geo. C. Henry has not lost inter-est in his class. In his last letter to us he writes: "I am hoping 'only that and nothing more' as yet, for a reunion of '76 at Gettys-burg this summer." '77. Rev. H. B. Wile has been pastor of the First Lutheran church, Carlisle, Pa., for ten years. During that time he has done a very encouraging work. '77. Rev. William M. Bamn, Jr., recently celebrated the thirteenth anniversary of his pastorate at Canajoharie. '78. Rev. A. R. Glaze was recently elected pastor at Maple Hill, Lycoming county, Pa., and has accepted the call to begin work April 5th. '80. Rev. G. W. McSherry, pastor of the Lutheran church atTaneytown, Md., preached his farewell sermon on Sunday, March 22d. '80. David McConaughy, of Madras, India, spent a short time in Gettysburg during last month. '83. Gov. Drake, of Iowa, lately sent to the Senate the appointment of Luther A. Brewer to be State Oil Inspector. The Senate in ex-ecutive session confirmed the appointment. '83. R. M. Linton, editor of the Somerset Democrat, delivered an address before the Pio-neer Lodge, K. of P., at Meyersdale, on the occasion of their fifteenth anniversary, March 25th. '83. Rev. H. L. Yarger, the efficient col-league of Rev. Weber in the Church Exten-sion work is doing excellent service as an evangelist among the western frontier mis-sions. '84. Rev. L. M. Zimmerman is a very en-ergetic minister of Baltimore, Md. He has lately prepared a series of "Stray Arrows," in the form of small cards, attractively printed, in several colors, for use among the discouraged, bereaved, convicted, etc. '86. Rev. W. F. Berger has been called from Camden, N. J., to Fairmount, Ind. '87. James S. Croll was in Gettysburg for a few days in the early part of March. '88. Rev. J. Milton Francis is now in Columbia City, Ind. Rev. Francis thinks that the MERCURY is a good tonic for his "home-sickness" out in that Wittenberg territory. '89. Rev. R. F. Fetterolf was installed as pastor of St. Paul's church of Millersburg, Pa., on Sunday, March 8. '90. We are glad to learn that Rev. L .T Snyder, of Orrstown, Pa., is getting along well, and doing good work. '91. Rev. M. L. Tate was married Thurs-day, March 12, to Miss Florence Heisler, of Harrisburg. Rev. Tate has just accepted a call to Millersville, Pa. '91. Prof. E. J. Wolf is the most popular Principal the schools of his native town ever have had. At the recent election for city councilmen he was elected to that body, re-ceiving the highest vote cast for any one on the ticket. '92. Rev. C. G. Bikle has changed his ad-dress from Hagerstowu, Md., to Glen Gardner, N. J. '92. E. W. Herman writes to the MERCURY from Annapolis, Md. We appreciate the kind interest he still has in our college paper, as well as in the college. '92. Rev. G. A. Getty has changed his ad-dress from Baltimore, Md., to East Schodock, N. Y. '93. Walter S. Oberholtzer has been seri-ously ill for some time. We are glad to re- ■■■■■■ THE COLLEGE MERCURY. port that he is getting very much better, and hopes to be out again in the near future. '93. William J. Gies is co-editor with Prof. Chittenden, of a biological magazine, recently established at Yale University. '93. Rev. Geo. Beiswanger, pastor of Cal-vary church, Baltimore, Md., is doing a noble work. The congregation was organized Sept. 22, 1895, with forty-six members, and one week later the Sunday school was organized with eighty-five scholars and teachers. There are now fifty-nine members of the congrega-tion, with a Sunday school of one hundred and eighty. The congregation recently purchased the lot on which the chapel is located for $4,000. The MERCURY extends to him its best wishes. '93. Rev. F. Hilton has accepted a call to Martin's Creek, Pa. He will begin his work at that place, some time in June. '94. C. F. Kloss is very much interested in Gettysburg College, and has paid us several visits this year. '95. Ivan L. Hoff is pursuing law at West-minster. '95. H. W. Shinier expects to take up a course of study in some western university next fall. '89. The success of Rev. J. F. Seibert in the organization of a church at Sedalia, Mo., is a source of much gratification to his friends. ■ During the recent meeting of the Kansas Synod an impromptu alumni banquet was held after one of the evening sessions. Those par-ticipating were Rev. H. L. Yarger, '83; J. N. Lentz, '84; J. F. Seibert, '89, and R. B. Wolf, '9i. ATHLETICS. WILLIAM E. WHEELER, Editor. The base-ball team and its prospects have been the principal topic of conversation since the opening of the term on April 7th. Some difficulty has been met and overcome, result-ing from the fact that several of the best ap-plicants have not permission to play. At this late date other players have been substituted and at the practice games during the past week, have shown up very well. A little weakness is noticeable in the infield, but this will be remedied by the time for the first game on April 17th, with Washington and Jefferson College. A good game is expected as both teams are about evenly matched, and this be-ing W. and J.'s first game at Gettysburg, each team will put forth every effort to win. Cap-tain Leisenring has the team out on the field each evening for practice and considerable anxiety is manifested as to the showing of the team. The field is being put in fine condition. The fence and backstop are being strengthened and the field rolled. The Athletic Association desired to enter the relay races to be held at Franklin Field,U. of P. on April 25th. A team composed of four of our best runners will represent us, and it is hoped that Gettysburg will make a good show-ing. Teams from the best colleges in the country will compete, and some surprises are looked for. Our team has been running daily, and the men are in fine condition for the race. This part of our athletics has not received the attention it should during the past, and the in-terest now manifested shows that the possibili-ties of a good track team are the very best. Tennis will soon become the leading event along a lighter athletic line. All the courts are being put in good condition, and several new ones are in course of forming and leveling. Manager Lark is now busy securing entries for the tournament, which will be held during the latter part of the term. These tournaments have always been a means of bringing out the best men and, at the same time, developed new ones. On the whole this season's work will without doubt be the best. Owing to a deficiency in the treasury of the association a plan was devised by several of the members by which money can and is be-ing laised. Weekly contributions, no matter how small, are paid by each college man. A man from each class makes these collections, and by the end of the term enough money will have been secured to place the association upon a sound financial basis. A new era is undoubt-edly dawning here along athletic lines, and from the interest taken in all measures to further the athletic spirit, there is no doubt that Gettysburg will be heard from oftener in athletic circles than ever before. "Prep" is filled with the athletic spirit to the extent that a base-ball team has been or-ganized, which promises to be an exception-ally strong one. Dates with other teams will be arranged if permission is obtained. Al-ready the prospects of a Prep track team and THIS COLLEGE MERCURY. 28 foot-ball eleven are being discussed. This is the true athletic spirit and speaks well for the [future college team. The exhibition which was to have been [given by the Sons of Hercules last term was : postponed, on account of the inclement weather, 1 to this term. A definite date has not yet been decided upon, but it will be given within the next few weeks. At a recent indoor contest, Grazier, '98, I broke the college record for the standing broad jump, making 10 feet 3^ inches. The interest manifested in cricket at Haver- I ford is shown by the contemplation of sending a team abroad this summer to compete with [the English public schools. A new feature of Harvard's foot-ball prac-tice will be inaugurated next fall. The eleven will line up for actual play but three times I a week, alternate days being given to some light form of exercise as different from actual [foot-ball as can be devised. Yale will send a crew abroad this summer to I enter in the Henley regatta which will be held |'on July 7, 8 and 9. T. Conneff, the champion mile runner of the world, has entered Holy Cross College. There are 230 men in training for Harvard's I track team. The University of Chicago will send a team feast this spring, and games have been ar-ranged with Yale, Princeton, Harvard, U. of 1. and others. FRATERNITY NOTES. PHI KAPPA PSI. ^ R. M. Culler, '98, visited Carlisle Indian School recently. L. P. Eiseuhart, '96, represents our chapter fat the Grand Arch Council, now in session at Cleveland, Ohio. F. M. KefFer, '95, also ex-pects to be in attendance. L. S. Weaver, '99, spent the vacation very pleasantly at Washington, D. C. E. C. Stiteley, '92, is studying law at the University of Maryland. C. T. Eark, '98, spent a day in Mechanics-burg, Pa., at the close of last term. PHI GAMMA DELTA. Bro. Neudewitz preached in Brooklyn on the morning of March 29th, and in St. John's Church, New York, in the evening of the same day. He also assisted his pastor in commun-ion on April 3rd. Bro. M. E. Young, Ph. D., had an article in the April number of the Reformed Quarteily Review on the subject, "Preaching Christ— the Theme and the Times." Bro. Fite visited Bro. H. L. Stahler at his home, at Norristown, for a few days during vacation, and with him spent a short time in Philadelphia and New York Bro. Baum reports a very pleasant time with friends in Harrisburg on his way back to col-lege. PHI DELTA THETA. W. G. Souders, Pa. Epsilon, Dickinson Col-lege, paid the chapter a visit the beginning of the term. G. W. McSherry has resigned the pastorate of the Lutheran Church, at Taneytown, Md. J. N. Lentz and R. B. WTolf are the Execu-tive Committee of the Luther League, of Kansas. E. J. Wolf is a candidate for Superintendent of the Public Schools of Centre county. Frank Barndt has been compelled to give up his studies at the University of Pennsylvania on account of his health. ALPHA TAU OMEGA. Charles B. Erb, '97, and William E. Wheeler, '97, were initiated into the Frater-nity March 14th. Charles W. Spayde, '99, spent part of his Easter vacation in Philadelphia. TOWN AND SEWJINARY NOTES. WEBSTER C SPAYDE, Editor. TOWN. A bill was introduced in the Maryland Legislature recently for the consolidation of the four electric companies that have secured the privilege of conducting lines between Bal-timore and Washington. The move for con-solidation is said to be part of the scheme for 29 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. the construction of an electric railroad system from Washington through Baltimore to West-minster, over the Blue Ridge, to the Cumber-land Valley and Gettysburg. Widener, El-kins and other capitalists interested in rail-ways are said to be connected with the pro-ject. Paul L. Levin, of Philadelphia, representing the Daughters of the American Revolution, was in Carlisle several weeks ago seeking per-mission to remove the body of Mollie Pitcher, which is buried there, to the Gettysburg battle field, where it is proposed to erect an expen-sive monument to her memory. Senator Cullom, of Illinois, introduced a bill on Friday, March 13th, appropriating $50,000 to the erection of a statue to Abraham Lincoln on the' battlefield at Gettysburg. The Secretary of War is authorized to con-tract for the erection of this statue, after a de-sign for the same and a suitable site on the battlefield have been selected. The selection of the design is entrusted to the Secretary of War, the commander-in-chief of the Army, the commander-in-chiefof the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Governor of Pennsylvania. In speaking of this bill, Senator Cullom stated that he thought there was no spot more suitable for a statue of the martyred President than Gettysburg. Rev. Dr. H. W. McKnight preached in Messiah Lutheran Church, Harrisburg, on Sunday morning, March 29th. It is said that the United States Battlefield Commission has notified the Gettysburg Elec-tric Railway that it holds no title to a part of the land on which its tracks are laid. A new route will have to be constructed, and the road may not be operated this summer. Mrs. Sarah Tawney-Robson will give an en-tertainment in Brua Chapel, "Angels, or the * Actress of Padua," a four-act play, by Hugo, under the auspices of the students of the Semi-nary, on April 16th. SEMINARY. On Thursday evening, April 2d, W. I. Red-cay preached at Watsontown, Pa. Rev. F. Hilton was assisting at the Cold Springs mission on Easter. Rev. J. M. Guss preached at Duncaunon, Pa., on Easter. Rev. H. E. Clare preached for his father, Rev. R. H. Clare, Abbottstowu, Pa., Sunday, March 29th. Rev. A. A. Kelly filled the pulpit of the Trindall Springs church, Mechanicsburg, Pa., on Easter. He confirmed 43 members. Rev. M. G. Richards preached at Round- Top, Sunday, March 29th. The Rev. Dr. Charles William Schaeffer, chairman of the faculty of the Lutheran Theo-logical Seminary at Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, died at his home in Germantown on Sunday, March 15th, from heart disease. He was born in Hagerstown May 5, 1813. He studied theology at the Seminary in this place, gradu-ating in 1835. During his life he was presi-dent of the General Synod and also of the general Council of the Lutheran church. For a number of years he was a trustee of the col-lege. Rev. W. F. Bare, of York, has been elected pastor of St. Mark's Lutheran church, Steel-ton, Pa. A committee of the West Pennsylvania Synod, appointed at its last session, to devise means for the liquidation of indebtedness of the Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, met recently in York. The members of this com-mittee are: Revs. W. S. Freas, D. D.; A. G. Fastuacht, D. D., of York; H. L. Baugher, D. D., of Gettysburg; D. T. Koser, of Arendtsville; Chas. M. Stock, of Hanover; Messrs. J. Burr Reddig, of Shippensburg, and J. L. Shelly, Mechanicsburg. A plan for the procuring of the necessary means was sub-mitted by Dr. W. S. Freas and after some dis-cussion it was adopted. The plan will be put into operation at once and it is believed will be very successful. The four speakers selected by the faculty from the graduating class of Gettysburg Semi-nary for Commencement day exercises to be held June 4, are: Revs. H. B. Stock, Car-lisle; M. J. Kline, Frederick, Md.; C. P. Wiles, Thurmont, Md., and J. T. Huddle, of Virginia. The graduating class consists of 23 members. Rev. A. J. Rudisill assisted Rev. Marion J. Kline in the Easter service at the Tabernacle church, Harrisburg, on Sunday, April 5th. Rev. E. H. Delk, of Hagerstown, will de-liver the annual address to the C. E. Society of Irving College, Mechanicsburg, on Sunday evening, June 7, and make the address before THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 30 fthe students, faculty and friends on Saturday [evening, June 6. [ Rev. A. R. Longanecker supplied the Shen-indoah charge, Virginia, on Easter. We are glad to hear that Rev. W. S. Ober-loltzer is convalescing. LITERARY SOCIETIES. EDNA M. LOOMIS, Editor. PHILO. The following members were initiated into Philo Society on Friday, March 13th : Albers, [99; Beerits, '99; De Yoe/'gg; C. H. Smith, [99; Weaver, '99. The Senior valedictory program will be jiven on Friday evening, April 17th. PHRENA. The reading room is now ready for use. It las been entirely remodeled, and presents a irery beautiful and attractive appearance. The bid carpet has been removed and the floor ptained. Wainscoting several feet in height aas been placed around the whole room. Ar-rangements have been made for better lighting ijy the introduction of Welsbach burners. With |he present system of arranging papers and periodicals, we think the reading room must Irove itself a very desirable and profitable place to the students. Phrena will render a special program in ibout two weeks. EXCHANGES. We are very sorry we have been unable to pay the attention to our exchanges which they deserve. We receive a large number of excel-lent journals, and enjoy reading them very luch, but want of both space and time pre-sents us from giving notices to even a limited lumber. We will try, however, to do so vhenever we are able, assuring all our ex-changes that they are highly appreciated. The Dickinsonian for March contains an _ litorial which strongly advocates the teach-ing of hypnotism in the regular curriculum. Another new exchange of considerable merit Is the Metceisburg Monthly, published at Mer-cersburg College. Among our new exchanges is the Holy Ghost College Bulletin, published by the stud-ents of Holy Ghost College, a Catholic insti-tution, located at Pittsburg. The article on Napoleon Bonaparte, which has been running in the College Student for several issues, strikes one as being just a little "heav5r" for a college paper. We have recently received a copy of the Waste Basket, a paper published monthly at Detroit, Mich. It is made up of contributions from writers who aim at journalistic work, but who do not yet show sufficient literary merit to have their articles accepted by the better mag-zines. The first number of the Orange and White has come to us from York Collegiate Institute. . If it is kept up to the standard of the initial number, the students of the Iustitue may feel well satisfied with their endeavor. The Wittcnberger of March 24th contains an excellent sketch of Pennsylvania College, by Prof. G. D. Stahley. WHAT HAVE I DONE? [Julie M. Lippmann, in The Sunday .School Times of April II, 1896.I Day after da}' Heaven, listening, hears men cry : "What have I done that such a fate as this Should follow me? What have I done amiss That clouds of Care should darken all my sky? That Pain should pierce, and that shrewd Poverty Should pinch me in that grievous grip of his, What time I tremble over the abyss, And long for death, yet, longing, dare not die? But when does Heaven, listening, hear men saj': "What have I done that in the blue-domed skies The evening star should shine, the spring clouds move, The world be white with innocence, that May Has set afield, and God in children's eyes, To win our hearts to wonder at his love?" NEATNESS. Without her leave he stole a kiss ; He did. Oh ! bliss ! A sharp command was promptly his, "Just put that back," I tell you this, "Where it belongs," spoke haughty miss. He did. Oh ! bliss. 3' THE COLLEGE MERCURY. Once a Freshman was wrecked on an African (70LLBGB OF coast, Where a cannibal monarch held sway ; And they served up the Freshman in slices on toast, On the eve of that very same day. But the vengeance of heaven followed swift on the act, And before the next moon was seen, By cholera morbus that tribe was attacked, For that Freshman was dreadfully green. PHYSICIANS i SURGEONS, 'Hast thou a lover," asked he, "Oh maiden of the Rhine?" She blushed in sweet confusion And softly faltered "Nein." He felt rebuffed, and knew not What best to say, and then A sudden thought came to him He pleaded, "Make it ten." THE EDITOR. The editor sat in his sanctum Letting his lessons rip, Racking his brains for an item, And stealing all he could clip. The editor sat in his class room As if he was getting over a drunk, His phiz was clouded with awful gloom For he had made a total flunk. His love, he said, was like the sea ; The maiden answered quick, She thought that he was right in that, Because it made her sick. Parvus Jacobus Horner Sedebat in corner, Edeus Christmas pie. Inserint thumb Extraxit plumb Clamarit, qui puer am I. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Balti-1 more, Maryland, is a well-equipped school. Four ses-sions are required for graduation. For full informa-tion send for the annual catalogue, or write to THOMAS OPIE, M. D., Bean, Cor. Calvert and Saratoga Sts. c_£=aEstablished l8y6.t^r-^ WATCHMAKER AND JEWELER, Gettysburg Souvenir Spoons, College Souvenir Spoons, | No. 10 Baltimore Street, GETTYSBURG, PENN'A. WEIW 111 riowii& DEALERS IN Fresh Beef, Yeal, Lamb, Pork, Pudding, Sausage, HAMS, LARD, &c-., GETTYSBURG, F>E!MIM'A. ADVERTISEMENTS. YOU CAN EARX 840 TO $100 MONTHLY AND EXPENSES IF YOU WORK FOR THE NURSERY CO. Stock sold with a guarantee and replaced. [DURING VACATION GO TO CHAUTAUQUA F~F? ElE FULL INSTRUCTIONS. NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED. H. B. WILLIAMS, Secretary, Geneva, N. Y. The Athletic Association of the Univercity of Pennsylvania n. LAU5S.V-- (acram. 'n c OIO. WHARTON PEPPER. ■»; C. JOHH NULL, 'n C PffiLADELrnu Mar* -7th, 189$ Messrs A. G. Spalding & Bi*0* 12IC Chestnut Stre«t Philada. Gentlemen: - I take pleasure in informing you that the Athletle Association of the University of Pennsylvania has again awarded you the contract for furnishing the Uniforms etc., for the base ball team during the coming season of 1896, at the prices and upbft the terms and conditions set forth in your estimate of Feb. 5th. The quality of the goods*furnished the base ball team and the prompt-manner in which you filled our orders wore entirely satisfactory last year and we therefore confidently renew our contract with you this season. Yours truly ^^-—J csh$£zU ~R.$H.$RE1NINGER,~ MERCHANT TAILOR. fIr?g tot Work at % Lowest fWces. Suits from $12,01 to {40,00. Pants from $4,00 to $12,00, Centre tSqixai-e.tiS^D NEXT DOOF{ TO POST OFFICE, UPSTAIRS. J. A. TAWNEY Is ready to furnish clubs and boarding houses BREAD, ROLLS, J) No. 6 S. Baltimore Street, GETTYSBURG, PA^ por all the lalesl styles in Suitings andTrousers, AND FULL LINE OF Gents' Furnishing Coods,| Call or, T). H. WELSH, York, F=a.

The Mercury October 1893 ADVERTISEMENTS. IReafring 1Ratlroa6 "The "Royal ■Route" New and Direct Line To and From QETTTSBURQ. Fast, Frequent and Superbly Equipped Train Service Between , NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, Allentown, Pottsville, Williamsport, Reading, Harrisburg and Interior Pennsylvania Points, with through connections to and from all parts of the Middle States, New England and the West. Visitors to America's Greatest Battlefield can obtain through tickets and baggage checks, via this new and most picturesque route, at all principal stations and ticket offices throughout the country. I. A. SWEIGARD, C. G. HANCOCK, General Manager. Gen. Pass. Agt. Berber Sfyop, CHARLES C. SEFTON, PROPRIETOR. BALTIMORE STREET. THE PLACE FOR STUDENTS TO GO. ONLY FIRST-CLASS WORK. Chartered 1850, offers Classic, Normal, Music and Art courses for Diploma and Degrees ; comprises three large brick buildings, situated on a beautiful eminence, a lovely campus, library, apparatus, hot and cold mountain water, steam heat, gas light, electric bells, a suite of rooms nicely furnished for every two or three students, music lessons on Pipe Organ, Reed Organ, Piano, Violin, Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, and Cornet. Lessons in Drawing, Crayoning, Pastel, China and Oil Painting. German and French languages taught and spoken. Special attention paid to Elocution and Voice Culture. Normal course with Diploma for teaching. Strict attention given to Physical, Social, and Religious culture. Kee Mar College is located in a most attractive, refined, and healthful city of 14,000 people. SEND FOR CATALOGUE AND JOURNAL TO Rev. C. L. KEEDY, A. M., M. D., President, Hagerstown, Md. To th£ S^Ud^s oF QANDERS & OTAYMAN Beg to call attention to their splendid exhibit of the leading makes of Pianos and Organs Including the famous ESTEY ORGAN, WEBER, DECKER BROS., ESTEY, FISCHER, AND IVERS AND POND PIANOS. Also a full line of Sheet Music, Music Books, and Musical Instruments of all kinds, including Violins, Mandolins, Banjos, Guitars, Cornets, Autoharps, &c. SANDERS & STAYMAN, 13 NORTH CHARLES ST., BALTIMORE, MD. 934 F STREET, N. W-, WASHINGTON, D. C. Music Sent " On Selection." Catalogues Free. We are Sole Agents for the Wonderful ".^OLIAN," an Orchestra in Your Own Parlor, With You as Musical Director. Spalding's Livery Stable, STRATTON ST., GETTYSBURG, PA. Branch Office, E. S. Faber's Cigar Store. Hacks, Carriages, Wagonettes, Double Teams, Riding Horses, Large Wagons Capable of Holding Sixty Persons at a Time. COMPETENT GUIDES FOR THE BATTLEFIELD. CHAS. J. SPALDING, Proprietor. -SIimiiiiiitlliiiim; .:i',iiiiiniiiiiiuii 'Hii|iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiini (§"" Gettysburg Carriage Works, CHAS. J. SPALDING, Proprietor. WEST MIDDLE STREET. BUILDER OF ori3e8 Society Baboes H^ti3e flfoebals Stationery The most successful designers of College and University Badges in the Country Estimates Designs on Application ■$f£ ■$• 3f£ BAILEY BANKS BIDDLE Chestnut and Twelfth Streets Philadelphia, ?a. Mary had a Little Lamb, amp jour Memory.) It's wool was all the go— We make it up in BUSINESS SUITS for $1 5.00 you know. These Custom-Made Suits are popular throughout America— because they represent the very Quintessence of Nobby Dress, and are essential to every | business man who cares one lota for economy and APPEAR-ANCE. Send us 6 cents in stamps, stating kind of gar-ment or suit desired, and we Will forward you SAMPLES of Cheviots, Cassimercs, etc., Self-measurement rules and fashion plate. YOU DO THIS; and we do the rest. Balti more cheapest market. KEELER the largest custom producer. Full Dresi Suits, Trousers, - - Frock Suits, • Overcoats, - - JO,iN M. KEELER, 5 N. Calvert St. Baltimore, rid, "Suffer no longer the extortions oflocM tailors '" $25.00 Up. ■ $4.00 Up. $18.00 Up $18.00 Up. OEM'S AGME HALL @MIIV Hirnm 5 and 7 W. Baltimore Street, Annex 6 and 8 S. Charles St., BALTIMORE, MD. NEW SPRING STYLES Of Suits and Overcoats now ready at 20 to 30 per cent, under com-petitors' prices. Write for Samples and Price List. WILLIAM SMALL, DLFIIIK D0OR IlMER AND DOOR DIM 6 WEST MARKET STREET, YORK, PENNA. w. s. SCHRODER, -&>• DEALER IN Correspondence Solicited With Responsible Parties Desiring to Act as Agents, Hats and Caps? Boofrs and Shoes? No. 6 Balto Street, Gettysburg. IV ADVERTISEMENTS. F. D. SCHRIVER, Draper, Importer, - fl^D JVLerehant Tailor, 23 Baltimore Street, GETTYSBURG, PA. The College Mercury. Vol. I. Gettysburg, Pa., October, 1893. No. 6. THE COLLEGE MERCURY, Published each month during the college year by the Students of Pennsylvania (Gettysburg) College. STARR. Editor : JULIUS F. SEEBACB, '94. Associate Editors : FRED H. BLOOMHARDT, '94. FRANK E. FICKINGER, '94. HENRY E. CLARE, 95. WALDO D. MAYNARD, '95. PAUL W. KOLLER, '94. ROSCOE C. WRIGHT, '95. WILMER A. HARTMAN, '95. Alumni Association Editor : D. FRANK GARLAND, Baltimore, Md. Business Manager: BENJAMIN R. LANTZ, '94. Assistant Business Manager: CHARLES F. KLOSS, '94. TERMS * / ^ne vo'ume Cten months), . . . . $1.00 ' (.Single copies, 15 Payable in Advance. All Students are requested to hand us matter for publication. The Alumni and ex-members of the College will favor us by send-ing information concerning their whereabouts, or any items they may think would be interesting for publication. All subscriptions and business matters should be addressed to the Business Manager. Matter intended for publication should be addressed to the Editor. Address, THE COLLEGE MERCURY, Gettysburg, Pa. CONTENTS. EDITORIALS," 91 THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 93 SEITEMHER, 94 COLLEGE LOCALS, , 94 ALUMNI, 100 FRATERNITY NOTES, 102 ATHLETICS,' 103 TOWN AND SEMINARY, . 104 LITERARY SOCIETIES 105 EDITCrRIAL. IN days long since gone, when the simple great of earth believed and doubted not— in the days when the gods ruled the universe, Mercury was their chosen messenger, carry-ing the expressions of their will wherever sent. He was a jovial fellow, ever ready to respond to the happier moods of those around him ; nor did he deem himself superior to the mor-tals he often visited. Indeed, so well did he endear himself to them by his cheering, help-ful ways, that images of himself were used along roadsides as .finger-posts to guide trav-elers, and the first thing to greet the way-farer at gate of city or door of house was the smiling face of Mercury bidding welcome to its portals. But now all is changed. Men, in the haughty superiority of their knowledge, have dethroned the gods. Mercury alone re-mains. Offered the freedom of the world by its grateful inhabitants, he accepted it, settling down at length to his old occupation as an index to travelers and welcoming host to the. guests who arrive at this city of learning. He it is who, in the name of the older citizens, in his modern form bids a hearty welcome to the class of '97 and all new guests. You have indeed well come. * CLASS of '97! THE MERCURY congratu-lates you on your numbers and oppor-tunities. In these times of stringency in the money markets of your land, you have come as pure gold from your monometallic homes to replenish anew the circulating medium of these classic halls. Your Alma Mater, con-scious of the charge given her, is proud to direct your course. Your elder brothers, though they affect contempt for your " fresh- 92 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. ness," think with pride of the name your presence will help to give our common mother. The Faculty—what can it do but be pleased? You may be offended at times by the strictness of your instructors, by the rigidness of your discipline, and think the Mater has received the wrong appellation, but after years will teach you better. What seems strictness now will then appear the truest kindness, while words of rebuke will be treasured up as incen-tives to better endeavors where mistaken kind-ness will be forgotten. * * * " A SPLENDID opening at Gettysburg " is fl the way to put it this time. And we are glad to see it. With a Freshman class number-ing 55 or more, and additions to other classes we have an assurance of what the future will bring for our Alma Mater* Let all the friends of the college rally with increasing devotion to her support, and give to her that large-hearted sympathy and encouragement which shall make her strong. These large acces-sions, we take it, give assured evidence both of the deep interest which the sons of the college take in her welfare, and also of the unwaver-ing confidence which she inspires. This is as it ought to be. Let the work go on. Give us more students—more endowment—still better equipment for the work, so that at Gettysburg may be found all the advantages which the very best institutions of the landfumish. There ought to be, for a Church which takes fourth rank in America, at least one powerful university, and where else than at Gettysburg ? We ex-pect to see that realized in our lifetime. Hasten the day. G. * ■ * * THE editors of THE MERCURY desire to ask the indulgence of their readers for whatever in its present columns does not approach its usual high standard of excel-lence. The staff is laboring under the de-cided disadvantage this month of having several new associate editors who are entirely unacquainted with the requirements of their respective departments. In addition to these, the editor of the Alumni department was un-avoidably delayed in his return to college, and his work has suffered in consequence. This explanation is made at the request of the new staff members, who wish at the same time to assure the subscribers of a better showing next month. In this connection it may be well to reiterate the request that has been made in these columns at different times for contributions and news items from students and Alumni. THE MERCURY is the best, indeed the only true representative of the interests of the college and student-body, and should, therefore, be upheld by all who are interested in the advancement of old " Pennsylva-nia." * * LET there be no hesitancy among the new students in joining one or the other of the Literary Societies. No one can at all afford to miss the advantages which these afford in the direction of literary culture. There will be a rich return rendered if these societies are in any measure what they ought to be. And we are led to believe that never in their history have they been so excellent as now. The croaker will be around, of course. He has no interest in them, except to revile their work and their methods. Don't listen to the croaker, he is at college for the fun there is in it, or to spend his father's money; he is not one of the progressive, wide-awake boys who will use every advantage afforded for intel-lectual'culture. Don't listen to this fellow, but go into a literary society and work there four years, and you will spend the remainder of your life in thankfulness that you did so. G. * * * THE MERCURY desires to call the atten-tion of the students to the advisability of establishing a second-hand book-store within the college walls, in which those who wish to dispose of and those who wish to THE COLLECxE MERCURY. 93 buy books may find a ready medium of exchange. All know what trouble and delay was caused at the beginning of this term by the inability of the majority to ob-tain books. Nor is this merely an occasional occurrence—every term witnesses the same confusion. There would be no need of this, if system were introduced into the exchange. The plan has much to recommend it, and has been successfully put into operation at other institutions. Let some one take the matter in hand, establish headquarters for exchange, and the boys will soon recognize the benefits of the plan. Those who wish to sell can bring their books with the prices marked therein; those who wish to buy will find at such a place whatever books they need. Of course, the one in charge will have to receive a moderate commission, but, in view of the time, trouble, and temper saved there can be no objection to this. The plan is worth a trial. AS the libraries of the institution are for use, they ought to be opened daily to the students. - The old custom of opening twice each week is out of date now that the college has advanced to the front rank in' other directions. It was in the past the experi-ence of the writer that the society libraries were used more largely than the college library. And it is likely so now. But these store-houses are locked up to the anxious reader now, except on two occasions each week. He may look through the iron bars at the treasures stowed on the shelves, but he must not touch, taste, or handle. It ought not to be so. Let it cost a small sum each month, but by all means put some one in charge who will open these libraries several hours each day. Make it convenient to the students to get books and they will use them. Settle this at once, as there is no question about the wisdom of it. Let the most pro-gressive Society move first in this direction. We wait the issue. G. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. ALL bustle, excitement, hurry, business pressure, quick disappointments, short joys, feverish desires, insatiable ambition, all these are characteristic of the great Amer-ican nation. Never since time began has there existed in any country or in any clime such a being as the American. He is denominated by fellow-countrymen as morbid, petulant, and excitable. Why all this speed ? why all this hurry ? Is it an intuitive desire to do such things, or is he so influenced by his surround-ings ? The word^ hurry has become synony-mous with the term American. In comparing the life of a business or professional man in Europe with that of types of the same class of persons in our own country, a marked dif-ference is observed. There is not a moment in which American men seem to be unem-ployed. They rush along the streets like ani-mated wagon-wheels. From early morn until dewy eve there is a constant rush and bustle. This drive and excitement of business often continues far into the night. The lawyer, after leaving his office, merely transfers his work to the quieter surroundings of home. The mer-chant, after closing his place of business, burns the midnight oil over his day-books and led-gers ; and while half the world is wrapt in the sweet embrace of slumber, the financier is planning fresh business schemes and is study-ing the fluctuations of stocks and bonds. The silence and rest of the Sabbath is broken by the shrieking and howling of the trains carry-ing perishable freight, such as lumber, soft coal, and coke. We travel by lightning ex-press, correspond by telegraph, talk through the telephone, and the time is not far distant when mighty vessels shall rush through the hazy atmosphere carrying both passengers and freight. The American widower of to-day, deprived of a gentle, peaceful, and loving wife, buys for himself a phonograph, in order that he still may have something to talk back to him. The 94 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. American baby of to-day will scarce repose in its cradle long enough for its foot to grow to sufficient size to wear a number naught shoe. At the age of three it will talk politics with its father, and at six will want to vote. Everything is hurried. Men will rush for the trains. Men will rush to the lunch-counters. Men will rush to the stock exchanges with a bundle of stocks in one hand and a roll of bills , in the other. If one is successful, he ventures again; if he fails, he is in a hurry to die, and no matter if the office is Russell Sage's, he will blow to atoms, with a dynamite bomb, the office, with its inmates and himself included. He is in a hurry to get rich, consequently he besieges the race-tracks and gambling dens, and stakes his money with the insane idea that he can beat the gamblers. He is in a hurry to get married,- which necessitates the building of a church on one side of the street and a di-vorce court on the other; and it very often happens that the bridegroom stands before the judge in a divorce court with the same bouquet in his button-hole that he had when he stood before the' parson at the bridal altar. The children of the present generation are scarce able to know they have a mamma until they are placed behind the walls of a kindergarten, and a few years later, by undue mental develop-ment, possess heads like pumpkins, bodies like radishes, and a dyspeptic stomach in the bar-gain. The American women besiege our bar-gain dress-goods counters in ceaseless streams, and array themselves in such fantastic shapes that philanthropic persons have been forced to organize societies of dress reform. We have societies for the prevention of cruelty to ani-mals— let the good work go on—and, if the dress-reform movement continues, perhaps we will have some more. Although death should end the hurry of the American, yet even after death he is hurried. He is either placed in a crematory and his mortal remains all consumed in the brief space of forty-five minutes, or the hearse in which he is placed to be conveyed to his last resting-place is driven at such a tre-mendous rate of speed over the cobble-stones that the black ornaments on top of the wagon of death float to the breeze like the plumes on the helmet of a mounted warrior. Finally, he is placed beneath the green sod, and on the tombstone, reared to his memory, is inscribed the very appropriate motto, " Died through too much hurry. The American takes a vaca-tion at last. May his rest, indeed, be sweet." J. S. E., '94. SEPTEMBER. Gold that fades into misty pink, I'ink that melts into tender blue, I >eep in the west where the mountains sink, Like gates that close when the sun goes through, Glowing to rest like a dying ember— And that's September. Mist that floats in the valley at eve, Frost that gleams on the grass at morn; Insect voices at dusk that grieve ; Gathered sheaves of the ripened corn; Hearts that yearn and hope and remember— And that's September! M. R. H., '94. COLLEGE LOCALS. FRED H. BLOOMJIARDT and WILMER A. HARTMAN, Editors. COLLEGE opened Thursday morning, September 7th, at 8 A. M. Many famil-iar faces were missed from each class, while many new ones were seen filling their places. The prospects for a successful year were never brighter in the history of the institution. After an address of welcome by President McKnight, the customary announcement to the assem-bled students of the order of their recitations and the books required was made by the pro-fessors, after which the boys were released for the day, in order to give them a chance to ar-range their rooms, and prepare for the real beginning of the college year on the morrow. On Monday night, September nth, the Sophomores and Freshmen had their annual rush. It was so dark that one could scarcely distinguish faces, so that it is difficult to decide THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 95 to whom the victory belongs, but the general opinion seems to be that, although '96 was outnumbered more than two to one, it won the greatest number of rushes. It may not be out of place, in this connec-tion, to suggest to those who may take part in future rushes that they have them during the day. The advantages to be derived from this are numerous, while the disadvantages are almost nil. Both classes can then see what they are doing, and not be guilty of the re-cently- observed absurdity of pushing their own men around the field. It will also do away with the incentive to unfair play which the darkness of night offers to those of both classes whose sense of right is feebly devel-oped. Besides, it will make it more of a class affair, compelling the upper classmen and townsmen to hold aloof. All these objection-able features were in force in the last rush, and the time is at hand for reform. The college musical organizations lose two very valuable members in Hoffman and Ma-dara of the class of '95. The former enters Yale while the latter goes to the University of Pennsylvania. Notices were placed On the bulletin boards by the manager of the Glee, Banjo and Man-dolin Clubs calling for candidates for the sev-eral organizations. The answers to the call were encouraging and Prof. Miller considers the present status of the applicants, without any joint practice, almost, if not altogether, equal to that of last year's clubs with all their train-ing. Manager Duttera is pleased with the out-look and feels confident of success. Ninety-three was well represented in chapel on the morning of September 19th by Messrs. Kline, Bare, Ehrhart, Oberholtzer, Parsons, Neudewitz, Kelly, and Enders. " Fads " re-ceived his usual share of attention. President McKnight was in attendance at the Allegheny Synod September 9th, at Hunting-don, Pa. Dr. Huber attended the meeting of the Board of Publication at Philadelphia last week. In a meeting, held September 23d, the class of '95 elected Mr. Witman as Business Mana-ger, in place of Mr. Hoffman, now of Yale. Mr. Newcomer was also elected Assistant Business Manager, and Mr. Eckels as Asso-ciate Editor to fill .the vacancy caused by Mr. Witman in that department. Freshman yell: 'Rah! 'Rah! Rah! 'Rah! 'Rah! 'Rah! '97 Siss ! Boom! Yah! The banjo and mandolin clubs have been partially organized and consist of the follow-ing members. The positions and names of the former are Banjeaurines: HERSH, BAUM, ECKELS. Second Banjo : COBEAN. Piccolo Banjo : HEINDEL. Guitars : BlKLE, ZEIGLER, FICKINGER. Mandolin: EHRHART. Another guitar will be added in a short time. The positions and names of those on the mandolin club are as follows : First Mandolin : EHRHART, WERT, RICE. Second Mandolin : BAUM, HEKR. Guitars: BlKLE, ZEIGLER, FICKINGER. Flute : SMITH. The clubs, in conjunction with the glee club, will give an entertainment in Brua Chapel, on the 23d or 24th of November. This will be their initial concert, perhaps the 96 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. only one given during the term, but there is every assurance given of an extended tour of the clubs during the Christmas holidays. The musical talent of the college will not suffer total annihilation for awhile, at least, since the " Count" has his new guitar, " Sweitzer " his mandolin, " Sheckels " his banjo, while " Plainfield," in the absence of a violin, makes use of " the instrument nearest it," the human voice divine (?). The artists on the staff of '95's Spectrum have begun active work in their department. The associate editors have also been assigned to their various departments, and the Spectrum may now be expected to move on to glorious success. The courtesy of the new treasurer, Mr. Pick-ing, and the convenience of having his office on the college grounds are greatly appreciated by the boys. Even Seniors make mistakes. One defines " Political Economy " as the " Gospel of Mor-mon." Va(i)n are our strivings toward per-fection. And now the innocent Freshman speaks about the " Livy" exercises of the class of'93. Our c(l)ute Freshman says he has a dead " kinch " on a horse to the French alphabet. " Our James " says the early races " culti-vated " animals. The dear little fellow thinks he can give them pointers on keeping stock. " That same old smell."—Kloss. The Juniors have succeeded in convincing Dr. McKnight that it is too hot to study Psy-chology. The "clbetrich " season has opened with many devotees. Several " Preps " have been out on the hunt for the mysterious animal, but without success. Dr. B. (in Lab.)—" Mr. J., in what are you heating that substance ?" Mr. J., '95 (knowingly)—" In an indignation tube, of course." Dr. B.—" Give me the parts of sum!' M., '96 (after much hesitation)—"Amo, amarc, amavi, amatum." S., '94, whose knowledge of transportation is limited to horse-cars only, answers the trol-ley- car conductor's query, " Where do you want off," by "Oh! I only want five cents' worth of ride." " Remsen" (while napping over his Political Economy and reveling in dreams of his be-loved Chemistry)—"Dang it! what experi-ment's that ?" S., '94—" What's wrong)?" " Remsen" (rubbing his eyes)—" Oh ! I was just reading over a line here, and all I could get out of it was, 'And he had a cheerful, frank, sodium countenance.' " Respectfully dedicated to the co-eds. of '94: " Little Miss Muffet Sat on her tuffet, Studying Theistic Belief, When along came a spicier And sat down beside her, And brought her nigh unto grief." Mr. W., '95 (translating *f:i-! 4>tS!)—"Alas! Alas !" Dr. B.—" How is that ?" U.,'95—"Alas! Alas!" Dr. B.—" I guess not." U., '95—"A lass!! A lass !!" C, '97, to H., '95—" Don't you know, I was filling my student's lamp to-night, and it all ran out before I knew I was filling the wrong end." " Ursinus " (waiting at Y. M. C. A. reception, greatly excited)—" We've only got two kinds of vanilla—peach and ice-cream." " Buckskin " says he hardly thinks Governor McKinley can be re-elected Governor of Cali-fornia. "Kid" H., '94, during his visit to Chicago, had quite an experience. When the bell-boy answered the continuous ringing of the call- THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 97 bell, he heard the " Kid " murmuring, as he held the pitcher under the button, " I have been pressing this button for fifteen minutes and haven't got a drop of ice-water yet." Every Senior class has its married man, and '94 is no exception. .Arthur Deisroth, Hazleton. E. M. Duck . Spring Mills. J. H. Eckert, Gettysburg. Charles Emmert, . Hagerstown, Md. George Englar, Linwood. Joseph Enniss, Burkettsville, Md. Charles Erb - Boyertown. .Frank Fegley Allentown. C. E. Fleck, New Kingstown. Dr. B.—" Have you ever heard any Chinese^ w ^.^ Jefferson, Md. music?" ■ John E. Gable . •. Lititz. B.,'94 (suspiciously, after a summer's ex- ,4 Carroll Graff, Dululrnft perience)—" Do you mean chin music, doc-tor?" Hanover. University down to 16 to o. More will be '/j. p. Michler, ." Easton. given in next number. Hurrah for Gettys- { burg! The following are the accessions to each department. There are several others who contemplate coming, but who have not arrived as yet. Their' names will be published in our next issue. , Senior Class. Orville Sigafoos, Easton. Junior Class. George Eckels Shippensburg. J. C. Fassold, Sunbury. Harry Mohn, Adamstown. Sophomore Class. C. W. Rank, Williamstown. ■ D. E. Rice, . ' Chambersburg. C. J. Stephenson, Pervin. Freshman Class. George Abel . Philadelphia. E. A. Armstrong, Hellam. A. R. Aukerman, Altoona. W. M. Aukerman, Altoona. E. D. Bankard Taneytown, Md. F. E. Beltzhoover, Jr Shepherds Town, W.Va. Henry Bikle, Gettysburg. John Cable, Smithsburg, Md. Horace Clute, Harrisburg. Roy Coble, Lykens. Arthur Coble Lykens. K. M. Culp, Gettysburg. Walter Monath; Chambersburg. Charles Nicholas, . • West Fairview. Harry Olewine, Hazleton. J. W. Ott Rocky Ridge, Md. Harry Sheely, Gettysburg. 1 Pearlie Shriver Fairplay. W. M. Shoop, . Colebrook. H. R. Smith, . . Chambersburg. C. G. Smith Beaver Springs. "^M. L. Smyser, Wellsville. W. R. Stahl, Hays Mills. Robert Stahle Gettysburg. -J. Emory Stockslager Funkstown, Md. Lillie Tipton ' Gettysburg. -{(. G. B. Trimmer, Union Bridge, Md. John Turnbach Hazleton. W. E. Weikert, Green Mount. 4 C. G. White, Manheim. Robin Wolf, Gettysburg. Preparatorians. Ralph Buehler, Gettysburg. James Burrell Williamsport. Howard Erdman, Macungie. Chas. W. Earnest, Mifflinburg. Roy Geesy, Altoona. George P. Grammer, Gettysburg. Harry Hardman, Littlestown. Chas. B. Kephart, Harney, Md. William Kepner, Gettysburg. J. W. Krafft Glenrock. John Le Fean, York. Blanche Minnich Gettysburg. 98 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. H. J. Musselman Fairfield. Naomi Myers, . . Gettysburg. J. Henry Raffensberger, Gettysburg. Norman H. Swartz, Gettysburg. Samuel F. Tholan, Merlin. Chas. H. Tilp, Myersdale. Carl Tipton, Gettysburg. Joseph Trimble, Ansoiiia. Geo. H. Watson, Fairfield. Charles Wendt, New York, N. Y. John Wendt New York, N. Y. Annie Wible, Gettysburg. Leland Wilson, Philadelphia. Guy Wisotzki Gettysburg. Samuel K. Yaukey, Fayetteville. Y. M. C. A. NOTES. The College Y. M. C. A. has begun the present school year under the most favorable circumstances. Being the only Christian organization among the students, it naturally expects the support and attendance of all. To make its success in religious work equal to that attained last year will be indeed a grand accomplishment, but why should we not exceed the amount of good done last year, and build up our Association in influence and numerical strength ? The reception to the new students, which took place in Recitation Hall, Friday evening, September 8th, was an exceptionally pleasant affair, and we believe was thoroughly enjoyed by all the persons present, especially by the new men. Short exercises were held in Philo. Hall previous to the serving of refreshments in the large room just below it. Mr. Ibach, '94, opened the exercises with a piano solo. Dr. Martin then led in prayer, after which Dr. Huber filled the place of President McKnight, who was unable to be present, in extending a cordial " Welcome to College." Then fol-lowed a banjo and guitar duet by Mr. Baum, '96, and Mr. Herr, '97. The President of the Association, Mr. C. F. Kloss, '94, then ex-tended a hearty welcome to the Y. M. C. A in a few appropriate words, urging all to great zealousness in the work. These exercises were concluded with a piano solo by Mr. Erb, '95. The effort which was put forth by the Reception Committee and. the old students in general to make the evening one of great enjoyment was well repaid. According to custom, the Biblical hour of the first Sabbath ' was given into the hands of the Y. M. C. A. The meeting was conducted by Rev. L. S. Black, '88, Pastor of the College Church, who addressed the students in Brua Chapel on the three-fold claims of the Chris-tian religion upon the college man. It was just such an address as a college boy needs before he begins the work of a new year, and was listened to with much appreciation by the entire student body. The first regular meeting of the Y. M. C. A. was held on September 14th at 7 p. M., when some considerations were presented " Why the New Men Should Join the Y. M. C. A.," by Mr. C. F. Kloss, Dr. Baugher, and a num-ber of the students. At the close of the meet-ing, some Association business was transacted, quite a number of new members were elected, and Mr. S. C. Burger, '95, was elected to fill the vacancy in the office of Corresponding Secretary. Bible classes are being formed among the students, and all are earnestly requested to identify themselves with the classes in " Bible Study." Many of the lecturers and musical organi-zations which have entertained us in former courses have been so delighted with their kind reception here that they are making ap-plications to the " Lecture Course Committee " for engagements on the coming course. Since the above was written, the Lecture Course Committee has selected its course for next term, which is superior in talent to any which has ever made its appearance before a Gettysburg .audience. The attractions will be "The Temple Quartette," Robert J. Burdette, John Temple Graves, Major Henry C. Dane, and the "John Thomas Concert Company," THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 99 with a possible engagement of " The Lotus Glee Club," or "The Mendelssohn Quintette," about the middle of November. The course will be looked forward to with great interest, and those who have never as yet enjoyed the pleasure of attending such a course will surely not be disappointed in this initial series. Of course everyone will attend. The subjects of the lectures to be delivered will be given in a succeeding number. GENERAL COLLEGE NEWS. The students at Amherst are making a big fight for the abolishing of compulsory chapel. The college senate recently unani-mously adopted a resolution asking the Faculty to abolish compulsory worship. The reso-lutions were vetoed by the president, Prof. Gates.— University Courier. President Schurman, of Cornell, recently made an eloquent address to the Freshman class, calling upon them to produce a crew that would be a credit to Cornell. Would that there were more professors in the college world like President Schurman, who can rec-ognize the value of student life to the Uni-versity he represents, and who lives among his students, not above them.— University Courier. The University of Chicago has the largest library of any American college; it contains over 225,000 volumes. Yale has 200,000 vol-umes, and Columbia, third in size, has 140,000. —Excliangc. Harvard has graduated fourteen Cabinet officers.—Red and Blue. A young colored lady took the first prize for the best entrance examination to Chicago University.—The College Forum. This year, Johns Hopkins, for the first time in-its history, conferred the degree of Ph. D. upon a woman. Miss Florence Bascom is the one thus honored.—Bates Student. As this is the time when many of the pre-paratory students are discussing the question as to whether or not it will pay them to join a literary society in college, the following from Hesperian will be of interest: " Every student intending to pursue a col-lege course should by all means join a literary society. It is in the literary work of these organizations that we put into use the learning acquired by the study of the class-room. One of the most important characteristics of an educated and refined personage should be ab-solute ease and grace of manner—the ability to impart the brilliancy of intellect to others in a fascinating, yet unaffected manner. The prac-tice afforded by society work is certainly a great help in the acquisition of ' address, man, address.' "—The Occident. A court has been established at Princeton, composed of under-graduates, to try men ac-cused of dishonorable conduct in examinations. The court was given power to impose penalties according to the nature of the offense.— Uni-versity News. Dartmouth is considering various plans of student self-government. The plan recently instituted at Cornell will probably be adopted with some slight modifications.—The Occi-dent. This year Tuft's College adds a course for the degree of A. B., which will substitute mod-ern languages for Latin and Greek.—Bates Student. The students in Iowa College have sub-scribed over $10,000 for a Y. M. C. A. build-ing.— Bates Student. The plan of college government at Wes-leyan, in which the under-graduates are ad-mitted to a share, has been definitely framed by the Faculty. Four Seniors, three Juniors, two Sophomores, and one Freshman will be associated with not more than five members of the Faculty.—Bates Student. IOO THE COLLEGE MERCURY. ALUMNI. FRANK E. FICKINGER, Editor. THE amount of matter in this department is unavoidably small for this issue, for which the editor makes due apology. It is not our purpose to slight our Alumni in any particular, and we promise, that in the future this department shall be given as much prominence as in the past. All communica-tions are thankfully received and greatly appreciated. '39. During the summer we noticed an ac-count of the tragic death of Rev. Philip Wil-lard, who was struck by a railroad train, near his home, at Mexico, Pa., along with his little grandson Allen, both of whom died within a few hours after the sad catastrophe. Father Willard was for many years at the head of the Tressler Orphans' Home, at Loysville, Pa., and his memory will ever be most fondly cherished by not a few of our Alumni. '42. Rev. Henry Baker, D. D., celebrated his golden wedding, in the First Lutheran Church of Altoona, Pa., on August 25th, 1893, of which church Rev. Baker was pastor for thirty years. '42. Grace Lutheran Church, of Round-town, York County, Pa., Rev. M. J. Alleman, D. D., pastor, was dedicated on Sunday, September 10th. Services were held all day, and the pastors of York assisted the pastor in the feast of dedication. The church is only a few miles from York. '53. Rev. Peter Bergstresser, D. D., has ac-cepted a call to Rockwood, Somerset County, Pa. He is already on the ground. '57. The Elmira, N. Y., Gazette and Freie Presse, of September 5th, contains a very full sketch of the life of Prof. H. L. Baugher, D.D. '57. Hagerstown Female Seminary, Rev. C. L. Keedy, M. D., principal, has had, since [853, about 5,000 students in attendance from all over the country. The total number of graduates is 318. This next year it will have a faculty of 18. '63. Dr. G. U. Wenner will complete the 25 th anniversary of his entrance into the min-istry, in November next, and, at the same time, Christ Lutheran Church, of which he is the honored pastor, will celebrate the 25th an-niversary of its founding. '65. Rev. J. W. Henderson was installed as pastor of the First Lutheran Church, of Phil-lipsburg, Pa., on Sunday, August 27th. The charge to the pastor was delivered by Rev. E. E. Hoshour, of Bellefonte, Pa., and the charge to the people by Rev. Chas. B. Gruver, '73, of Lock Haven, Pa. '70. The Rev. G. F. Behringer has declined the Professorship of Dogmatic Theology in the German Theological Seminary, at Chicago, to which he was elected by the Board some time ago. '70. Rev. S. A. Ziegenfuss, A. M., of Ger-mantown, Pa., delivered the opening address to the students of Muhlenberg College, Allen-town, Pa., on September 7th. '70. Rev. J. T. Gladhill, of Jersey Shore, Pa., spent a few days of the past week in town, visiting friends and relatives, leaving on the 21st inst. '71. At a meeting of the Board of Managers of the Pennsylvania Chautauqua, held in Har-risburg, Pa., September 4th, Rev. Dr. William H. Dunbar was elected a member of the Ex-ecutive Committee. '72. Rev. W. A. Trostle has resigned the Boalsburg, Pa., pastorate and will leave there October 1st. '72. Rev. W. E. Fischer left his charge at Centre Hall, Pa., September 14th, and has gone to Shamokin, Pa. '72. The address of Rev. Sylvanus Stall, editor of the Lntlicran Observer, is changed from 2127 Gratz to 1468 North Fifty-fifth Street, Philadelphia. '74. Rev. F. W. Staley, pastor of St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Middletown, Pa., is on a visit to the World's Fair. A check to pay his expenses was left at the National Bank at Middletown by three sisters, who. are now in the city of Chicago. This was an unexpected surprise to Mr. Staley, and he appreciates the generous gift with profound gratitude. '74. Rev. W. L. Remsberg, Beatrice, Neb., publishes a neat and attractive parish paper, Trinity Lutheran Quarterly. THE COLLEGE MERCURY. IOI '74. During the summer Rev. J. B. Focht dedicated his new church at Lewistown, Pa. 'jy. Rev. W. L. Seabrook, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church, Abilene, Kan., was elected President of the Law and Order League of that city, and recently preached two very powerful sermons there on " Shameful Reve-nues." 'yj. Rev. J. J. Young, D. D., late of Rich-mond, Ind., preached his first sermon as pastor of St. John's, New York city, on Sunday, September 3d. '■jy. Prof. G. W. Gross is this year Principal of the York County Academy, in which insti-tution he had formerly held the position of teacher for a number of years. '80. The Independent for August 17th has an excellent article from Rev. C. W. Heisler, of Denver, entitled "A Voice from Denver." '80. Rev. L. B. Wolf sailed for India on September 13th,by the steamship " Majestic," of the White Star Line. He will again en-gage in his missionary labors, his family re-maining here at Gettysburg. '84. A Pittsburgh paper of September 6th contained the item that Rev. H. L. Yarger, of Lawrence, Kan., has been called to Braddock, Pa. '85. Rev. A. S. Fichthorn, at present secre-tary of the Y. M. C. A. at Tyrone, Pa., has declined a pressing call to the Brushton Ave-nue Church, Pittsburgh, Pa. '85. The address of Rev. H. M. Heilman is changed from Barlow, Md., to 214 Second Avenue, Altoona, Pa. '85. We were pleased to see on the campus recently, Rev. E. G. Miller, of Easton, Pa. During his absence from home, we understand, his church has been repaired and the interior handsomely decorated. '85. Rev. E. E. Hoshour's new church at Bellefonte, Pa., was dedicated on September 3d with imposing ceremonies, in which Presi-dent McKnight and Dr. Wolf took part. '86. Rev. J. G. Traver has been elected Prin-cipal of Hartwick Seminary. '87. After a long and continued illness of over eight months, Rev. Cyrus G. Focht died at his home at Centerville, Pa., on Sunday, September 17th. '87. Dr. I. N. Snively was recently elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Medi-cine— quite a distinguished honor—on which we congratulate the doctor heartily. '88. Rev. J. M. Francis, pastor of the Fourth Lutheran Church of Louisville, Ky., has been called to the Lutheran Church of Columbia City, Ind., recently served by Rev. C. H. Rockey. He has accepted the call. '88. Rev. John J. Hill has resigned at West Camp, N. Y., to accept a unanimous call from the English Lutheran Church at Canal Dover, O. He will enter upon his labors there about the middle of October. '89. St. John's Lutheran Church near Bar-tonsville, Pa., Rev. Cyrus E. Held, pastor, was dedicated solemnly to the worship of Almighty God on Sunday, August 6th. The dedicatory sermon was preached from Psalm lxxxiv, 1, by Rev. Charles E. Hay, pastor of St. Mat-thew's Lutheran Church, of Allentown, Pa., and President of the Eastern Conference of the East Pennsylvania Synod. The General Secretary of Church Extension had charge of the finances, and under his management all the debt was provided for, and the church dedicated free of all incumbrances. '89. Rev. W. L. Rutherford has resigned as pastor of St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Steel-ton, Pa., to take effect October 1st. '89. John R. Scott is the Republican nomi-nee of Adams County for the office of District Attorney. '90. Rev. H. C. Bixler, the new pastor at Manchester, has taken unto himself a good Lutheran helpmeet. We offer congratulations and best wishes. '90. Mr. Charles Foger, of Harrisburg, Pa., has been chosen professor of chemistry in the High School of that city. '90. The new pastor of Trinity charge, Rev. Fred. Geesey, has entered the field and is busily at work. At Stoverstown, he has started a class of over thirty catechumens. - He has moved his family to Spring Grove. 102 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. '90. The Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette of Monday, August 28th, gives an excellent ab-stract of a sermon by Rev. S. T. Nicholas, on " Christian Contentment." '90. Rev. G. H. Reen, late of the Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa., has begun his work as pastor of St. Luke's, Mansfield, O. '90. Rev. H. C. Reller, a recent graduate of Gettysburg Seminary, has accepted a call to the Lutheran church at Freeport, Pa., and en-tered upon his duties there the first Sunday of September. '90. Rev. W. J. Wagner, of Center Hall, Pa., a member of the last Senior Class in the Gettysburg Seminary, has been engaged to supply the Center Hall charge until a pastor shall be secured. '90. Mr. S. B. Martin left on the 25th of September for Yale, where he will enter the present Senior Class. Mr. Martin graduated last June from the Yale Law School, receiving the degree of Master of Laws. '90. Geo. W. Rowe is teaching in the High School at Muncy, Pa. '91. Mr. Wm. Hersh, of this city, after hav-ing recently passed a very creditable final ex-amination, was admitted to practice in the courts of Adams County. '91. J. Bradley Markward, of the Seminary, supplied the pulpit of Rev. W. E. Stahler, '80, at Shippensburg, Pa., during the vacation of the latter this summer. '91. Mr. A. C. Stup, who has been working up a new mission at Riverside, Cal, during the summer, arrived at his home in Frederick, Md., ' on 22d of September, and will soon resume his ' duties in the Seminary here. '92. Rev. F. D. Hesse visited Taneytown, on September 3d, and preached twice for Rev. McSherry, soliciting funds for the new church which is in process of erection at Brunswick, Md., quite a sum being realized. '92. Mr. E. O. Keen has entered the Ger-man Reformed Seminary at Lancaster, Pa. '93. A majority of the members of the class of '93 have returned to the Seminary. Of those who have not, we have been able, in part, to learn the whereabouts. Mr. Bortner is clerking in his father-in-law's store, at York, Pa.; N. L. J.Gron, W. J. Gies, J. F. Kempfer, and R. R. Miller enter Yale; H. E. Gettier, F. G Turner, and F. S. Hedges enter Johns Hopkins University; and A. S. Hain is Assist-ant Professor of German in Hartwick Semi-nary. FHATE-R/NITy 7NOTES. PAUL W. ROLLER, Editor. PHI KAPPA PSI. We are glad to welcome back Bro. R. E. Miller, '94. Bro. Reitzell, '94, was not able to return to college on account of sickness. Bro. Russell, '95, has left college to engage in business with his father. Bro. S. Duncan, '91, is engaged in post-graduate work at Harvard. Bro. R. R. Miller, '93, is continuing his studies at Yale. Bro. G. Frank Turner, '93, is pursuing a post-graduate course at Johns Hopkins. Bro. E. S. Duncan, '82, is the Democratic nominee for district attorney of Adams County. PHI GAMMA DELTA. Bro. S. B. Martin,'90, is spending a'few days at home. He will return to Yale at the opening of the session, and enter the Senior Class. Bro. Miller, '83, is visiting his father-in-law, Dr. Valentine. Bros. Anstadt,'90, Knubel, and Neudewitz, '93, have entered the Seminary; Bros. Fair, '94, Madara, and Hoffman, '95, failed to return at the opening of the session. Bro. Fair is teaching at Altoona. Bro. Madara will enter the Medical Department of the Uni-versity of Pennsylvania. Bro. Hoffman will enter Yale. Bros. Shaar and Hoffer represented the local THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 103 chapter at the Phi Gamma Delta banquet at the World's Fair. The fraternity enjoyed the exclusive right of the New York State build-ing for the evening. PHI DELTA THETA. Bro. A. S. Cook, '95, who enters Princeton this year, spent a few days among his friends at the college, at the opening of the college year. Bro. G. H. Eckels, '95, was initiated into the mystic order, September 16th. Bro. Ehrhart, '93, is engaged in the whole-sale grocery business at Hanover. Bro. Brallier, '93, is principal of the Berlin Public Schools. Bro. Lantz, '94, won the Junior oratorical prize, contested for during Commencement week. Bro. Van Camp, '94, received the Hassler Latin medal for the best scholarship in Latin. Bros. Maynard and Eckels, '95, are on the editorial staff of the Spectrum. Bro. Gettierj '93, will enter Johns Hopkins for the purpose of pursuing a course in medi-cine. Bro. J. K. Cook preached in the Methodist Church of this place, September 10th. Bro. Forney, '96, was initiated September 23d. Bro. Peffer, of Allegheny, made our chap-ter a very pleasant visit September 16th. Bro. Hoick, of the Seminary, has been sup-plying St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Asheville, N. C, during the summer. ALPHA TAU OMEGA. Alpha Upsilon begins the new year with 11 brothers. Bro. Bortner, '93, is engaged in business in York, Pa. Bro. Vastine, '93, is teller in the Catawissa National Bank, Catawissa, Pa. Bro. Hipsley, '93, is engaged in business in Baltimore, Md. Bro. Joe S. Hay, '95, enters the Medical Department of the University of Pennsylvania. Bro. Ammon, '93, is studying law in York, Pa. Bro. White Hutton, '97, was initiated June 22d of last term. Alpha Upsilon made an addition to the fur-niture of their hall in the shape of a pool and billiard table. ATHLETICS. HENRY E. CLARE, Editor. THOSE interested in athletics can certainly feel gratified by the promising prospects for the coming season. Probably no collegiate year in the history of the college has opened so auspiciously as the present. Enthusiasm sways the boys ; and the one absorbing topic is foot-ball. The new men are interested as well as the old. All await with eager expec-tations the coming games as tests of the mate-rial in hand, hoping, and with much confidence, that they will rather raise the interest to a higher pitch than lower it. From present in-dications, we feel that the confidence has not been misplaced, but that the coming season will add fresh laurels to those already won by former teams. The new men have furnished much promis-ing material for the team, and by it the vacant places are being creditably filled. Under the able direction of Manager Kloss, quite a number of games have been arranged, some of which promise to be more than ordi-narily interesting. Below is a list of scheduled games together with some probable ones : September 30th, at Ithaca, N. Y., CORNELL UNIVERSITY VS. GETTYSBURG COLLEGE. 104 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. October 4th, at Philadelphia, Pa. UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA VS. GETTYSBURG COLLEGE. October nth,at Carlisle, Pa. DICKINSON COLLEGE VS. GETTYSBURG COLLEGE. ((ctober 141I1, at Getiysburg, Pa. FRANKLIN AND MARSHALL COLLEGE VS. GETTYSBURG COLLEGE. October 21st, at Lewisburg, Pa. BUCKNELL VS. GETTYSBURG COLLEGE. October 28th, at Harrisburg, Pa. WASHINGTON AND JEFFERSON VS. GETTYSBURG COLLEGE. November 4th, at Gettysburg, Pa. DICKINSON COLLEGE VS. GETTYSBURG COLLEGE. The probable games are Haverford, Swarth-more, a second game with Franklin and Mar-shall College, and Baltimore City College on Thanksgiving. In view of these approaching games the team is getting into trim by daily practice and training-table diet, the practice offered by the scrub teams becoming at times very formidable. A second team will be organized in the course of a few days. Considering the material from which choice is to be made, it is likely that a very good team will be selected. An effort will be made to arrange games with distant teams. The Gettysburg base-ball team, wishing to try its luck against a college nine, made its wish known, and was gratified. The regular college team having disbanded, a team was made up, consisting of four old players and five new ones. . The game was played on September 16th, resulting in a victory for the college by a score of 7 to 1. The game was a very interesting one, and many fine plays were made by both teams. The fielding was exceptionally strong. Judging from the dis-play of skill by the new men in this game, we look forward to an excellent team next year. The college can boast of four or five good pitchers and much other good material. At a recent meeting of the Athletic Asso-ciation, Messrs. Roller, Keefer, Moser, and Aukerman were placed on the Board of Con-trol. ■ At the same meeting it was decided to pro-cure the services of a " coach " for the foot-ball team, but at present such services arc very ably performed by Mr. Harry Buehler, of Gettysburg, and Mr. Gehrhart, an ex- Lehigh man. Under their directions, the team is learning a little more of the science of foot-ball. As we go to print one of the Athletic Asso-ciation officers informs us that a large number of names will be proposed for membership at the next meeting. It is gratifying to notice this evidence of interest on the part of the new men, and it is to be hoped that the old students ■who have not as yet identified themselves with the Athletic Association will follow their ex-ample. If we are to make any great headway, every one must co-operate with the Athletic Association. With such glorious prospects for good work, it is anything but pleasing to report that not a cent has been added to the athletic field fund. It was earnestly hoped that the means proposed last spring for raising funds would be successful, but it appears that no attempt has been made. This is the pressing need at present, and, if any friend of the insti-tution wishes to make his.name illustrious, let him remember us in our need and do the deed of beneficence. TOWN A/NTD S EMI /N TVRLj. ROSCOE C. WRIGHT, Editor. c TOWN. OL. OWEN, of the Quartermaster-Gen-eral's Department, was in town about the middle of the month completing arrange-ments for marking the forty regular commands. An iron tablet will be erected at the location of each, and when Congress appropriates sufficient funds these iron tablets will be re- THE COLLEGE MERCURY. 105 [placed by monuments. A cannon will be placed at each of the twenty-five battery posi-tions, and granite posts will be erected at the [corner of each lot. The dedication of the Minnesota monument has been postponed until July of next year, in order to secure a sufficient appropriation for the transportation of veterans. Duvall's Federal Cavalry, attached to the Purnell Legion of Maryland, held its Fourth Annual Reunion at the Washington House, September 16th. One hundred and twenty-five veterans of the Thirteenth New Jersey Infantry arrived here on the i8th, on a special train. A camp-fire was held in the court-house, at which a number of speeches were made. The Gettysburg Land Improvement Com-pany has laid out two streets at the foot of Seminary Ridge. One of these is called Hay Street, after the late Dr. C. A. Hay. Mrs. Sarah R. Hay, widow of the late Dr. Chas. A. Hay, has moved from Gettysburg to Harrisburg, to reside with her son, Dr. John W. Hay. SEMINARY. Dr. Wolf delivered the address at the lay-ing of the corner-stone of the St. James Luth-eran Chapel, at Frederick, Md., September 17th. Dr. Richard supplied the pulpit of Dr. A. W. Lilly; of York, on Sunday, September 17th. Drs. McKnight and Valentine preached at the dedication of the Lutheran Church at McSherrystown, September 24th. At the Religious Congress, held in Chicago September 13th, Dr. Valentine read a paper on " The Harmonies and Distinctions in the Theistic Teachings of the Various Historic Faiths." He was introduced as the distin-guished professor in the great Church of the Reformation—the Lutheran Church. He compared the universal beliefs in a God, and gave the monotheistic conception of a God, the conception of a divine personality, the cre-ative idea, the ethical conception, and the re-demptive view. The Chicago Inter-Ocean de-voted considerable space to his paper, which it considered an able and scholarly address. Rev. Prof. Richard has been appointed cura-tor of the Historical Society. The Seminary opened • Tuesday, the 19th. Dr. Valentine presided at the opening service. Dr. Wolf delivered an address upon " The Encouragements for Young Men to Study for the Lutheran Ministry." In the afternoon of the same day, Dr. Billheimer was installed Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Exe-gesis. Rev. Boyer, President of the Board of Directors, presided, and delivered the installa-tion address. There are in the Seminary 23 Seniors, 25 Middlers, and 25 Juniors. LITE-R7VRy SOCIETIES. WALDO D. MAYNARD, Editor. THE interest shown in the societies at the opening of the term was very marked; . may it continue throughout the year. Let the enthusiasm be kept up, for there is no depart-ment which affords a better opportunity for practical work. The work performed in the societies and the debating clubs develops self-reliance in the student, and one who does his work faithfully is preparing himself for more usefulness than he would be able to render to the world without such a training. How often we find well-educated men who are unable to make a speech ! Why ? Simply because they have never been trained in this especial line, and consequently do not make as useful citizens as some who have accustomed them-selves to public speaking in their early training. In view of the great importance of the work done in the literary societies, we would urge every new man to become a member of one of the societies, and join early in the term, just as io6 THE COLLEGE MERCURY. soon as he has determined from which of the two societies he may be able to derive the most benefit. It would seem to be needless to remind the older members to invite others to come to the meeting, yet we were informed that last year there were good men who were never asked to join a society. Possibly this may have been an oversight, but it shows that we might be more active in our society work. We would not only advise the new men to connect themselves with a literary society, but also to join one of the debating clubs, since they afford an opportunity for one to do better work in the societies themselves. Following a long-established custom, the Adams County Teachers' Institute has pre-pared a series of evening entertainments to be given in connection with the Institute held in Gettysburg during Thanksgiving week. The enterprise of those in charge in affording us such a literary treat is to be commended. All of the speakers are known outside of our own State, many of them being even of national repute. The lecture of Will Carleton will be beyond doubt the main attraction of the series, and many will avail themselves of this rare opportunity of hearing one of America's widely read and highly appreciated poets. The following is a complete list of speakers : Monday Evening, . Tuesday Evening, . Wednesday Evening Thursday Evening, . Friday Evening, . . DR. L. B. SrERRY. WILL CARLETON. THEO. F. CLARK. . MRS. H. E. MONROE. I.OVETT'S BOSTON STARS. The music for the week will be furnished by the musical organizations of the college, which expect to be in good working order by that time and ready for anything along their line. PHRENA. NOTES. A very interesting programme was rendered on the evening of September 15th, consisting of instructive and entertaining essays upon im-portant subjects of the day. Phrena. intends having a series of meetings to be known as historical evenings, when his-torical subjects of importance and interest will be taken up. The first subject to be considered is the " American Revolution," October 6th. The society hopes by this course to awaken an interest in an important topic which is often considered dull and uninteresting. The following are the officers of the society: President, Barndt; Vice-President, Hartman; Recording Secretary, Jones ; Corresponding Secretary, Spayde; Librarian, Maynard; As-sistant Librarian, Brubaker; Treasurer, Miller; Monitor, Wright. The following have been elected members of the society: Hollinger, Bell,'95 ; Wolf, '97, and Duck, '97. Mr. Hartman, '95, has been elected one of the editors of THE MERCURY in the place of Cook, '95, who goes to Princeton. The following have been elected officers of I Phrena. Debating Club: President, Miller; Vice-President, Moser; Secretary, Spayde; Treasurer, Diehl. PHILO. NOTES. The society gave an exceedingly interesting literary and musical treat at its first meeting of the term. The society for the present will continue its series of" Authors' evenings," which have been found to be so interesting and profitable. American authors only will be considered during this term, the first one to be discussed is Bryant; The following have been elected members of the society: Mohn, '95; Heindel, '96; Swartz, '96 ; Olewine, '97 ; McCartney, '97; Culp, '97; Englar, '97; Sigafoos, '94, and Fassold, '95. Philo. Debating Club has organized with the following officers : President, Brosius ; Vice- President, Byers ; Treasurer, Loudon ; Secre-tary, Crilly ; Critic, Manifold. ADVERTISEMENTS. Wanamaker's. Sporting goods of every sort. Sporting wear of every sort—Goats, Trousers, Caps and such a gathering of Shoes for every indoor or outdoor game :n as was never before seen in America, And Wanamaker prices—as low as anybody's, very likely lower than any-where else. ATALANTA was the swiftest girl of antiquity. The myth has come true to-day in a Wheel. Our ATALANTA is a Bicycle as fast, as strong, as simple as any on the market; faster, stronger, simpler, safer, better than most of the " first-class" machines. 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VI ADVERTISEMENTS. DECKER BROTHERS' PIANOS. Absolute Evenness of Touch, Richness and Brilliancy of Tone, Extraordinary Singing Quality, Unequaled Workmanship, Power of Standing in Tune longer than any other Piano made, are among the characteristic qualities of DECKER BROS. PIANOS, 33 Union Square, Jieixx York. Used in Philo. Hall at Gettysburg College. GO TO C.A.BLOCHER'S Jecueli*y Stove fot» Souvenir * Spoons, ^ Sword * PTVins, &c. ReparWng a specraTty. DEEKA Fine Stationery and Engraving House, 1121 Chestnut St., Philadelphia. COLLEGE INVITATIONS CLASS STATIONERY SOCIETY STATIONERY PROGRAMMES, BADGES WEDDING INVITATIONS VISITING CARDS BANQUET MENUS DIPLOMAS AND MEDALS Post Office Conor, Centre Square. STEEL PLATE ENGRAVING FOR FRATERNITIES, CLASSES AND COLLEGE ANNUALS. All work is executed in the establishment under the personal supervis-ion of Mr. Dreka, and only in the best manner, Unequaled facilities and long practical experience enable us to produce the newest styles and most artistic effects, while our reputation is a guarantee of the quality of the productions of this house. ADVERTISEMENTS. VII R. H. REININGER, Merchant * Tailor. )K ^ X X THE BEST WORK AT THE LOWEST PRICES. Suits from $12.00 to $40.00. Pants from $4.00 to $12.00. NEXT DOOR TO POST OFFICE, UP-STAIRS. CENTRAL SQUARE. PETE THORNE, Shaving $ Hair Cutting Parlors. FI-RST CLASS 7VRTISTS. CENTRAL SQUARE. FLEMMING & TROXEL, Billiard AND Pool 'Rooms. BALTIMORE STREET. RJVIOS ECKE^T, DEALER IN Hats, Shirts, Shoes, Ties, Umbrellas, Gloves, Satchels, Hose, Pocket Books, Trunks, Telescopes, Rubbers, Etc., Etc. AMOS ECKERT. SPECIAL! TO STUDENTS. Fine Tailoring. JOSEPH JACOBS, Merchant Tailor, Chambersburg Street, (Mow Eagle Hotel) GETTYSBURG, PA. Red Front Cigar Store R. H. RUPP, Proprietor. |4o. 8 fialtimore St., Gettysburg. The place for a fine Cigar or a good chew. Solid Havana filler, 5 for 25c. An elegant article. A FINE ASSORTMENT OF PIPES AND SMOKING MIXTURES. ^■■■^■■■^■■■B V1I1 ADVERTISEMENTS. ESTABLISHED 1876. PE/N-ROSE MgE-RS, JEWELER. Ltapge Stock of LUatches, Clocks, Jeuiclfy, etc., on Hand. That Man is Out GETTYSBURG SOUVENIR SPOONS. COLLEGE SOUVENIR SPOONS. 10 BALTIMORE STREET, GETTYSBURG, PA. Students' Headquarters IS AT J. R. STINE S, SON'S CLOTHING STORE The Cheapest Clothing and Gents' Furnishings in Gettysburg. WHO BUYS HIS BASE BALL, . BICYCLE, . . LAWN TENNIS ^2^ <-^ OUTING, YACHTING AND BOATING ELSEWHERE SUPPLIES, . THAN AT . A. Q. SPALDING & BROS. CHICAOO, NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, TO8 Madison St. 243 Broadway, 1032 Chestnut St. MERCHANT TAILORING A SPECIALTY. COME AND SEE US. J. R. STINE & SON, THE LEADING CLOTHIERS, MAIN STREET, GETTYSBURG, PA. DnTTLETIELD LlVEKT. Rear of Washington House, Opposite W. M. R. R. Depot. 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ABSTRACTThis study offers a comprehensive overview of the Norwegian involvement in the Venezuelan peace process as a facilitator of the peace talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition. It explains what Norway does as a facilitator (the process), as well as how (approach) and why (characteristics of Norway as a suitable mediator, and possible interests), not only in terms of the characteristics making Norway a suitable facilitator, but also its interests and motivations. The main goal is to draw attention to the importance and the usefulness of soft power tools for the achievement of foreign policy objectives and, in particular, peace-making. The study concludes that, for Norway, mediation as foreign policy is, in general but also in the case of Venezuela, the result of a combination of idealist, value-oriented motivations (humanitarian reasons and international stability), and realist, non-altruistic interests (status and access) arising from its constructed national identity and role conception. 1. INTRODUCTIONSince the early 2010s, Venezuela has been embroiled in a grave economic, political, and humanitarian crisis resulting in institutional disarray that reached critical point in 2017. It was in this year that the constitutional order was broken after Decision 156 of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice in Venezuela, whereby this organ attributed to itself the functions of the National Assembly, the country's legislative organ. Deemed unconstitutional by the political parties with a majority in the National Assembly, this move led to mass protests. The government reacted by calling for a new constitution to be drafted by a newly created Constituent National Assembly which, in August 2017, granted itself powers to pass legislation, thus overriding the National Assembly (Bronstein & Cobb, 2017). This was not recognised by the National Assembly but, in 2018, the Constituent National Assembly went ahead and blocked the participation of the main opposition parties in the presidential elections that year. These elections were rejected by a broad sector of the international community, among them the European Union (EU) and the Lima Group.1From 2017, Norway, with a population of just 5.5 million, has been exploring possibilities in Venezuela for political dialogue between the government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition, first through the Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution (NOREF), an independent foundation that receives funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), and later, after 2019, with direct state involvement. Norway has built an image as a peace broker with its success in processes like the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and in the talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). But why did Norway decide to facilitate the peace talks in Venezuela? How does Norway approach peacebuilding in this conflict? This article aims to analyse the causes, process, approaches, and motivations for Norwegian mediation in Venezuela, in order to draw attention to the importance and the usefulness of soft power tools for the achievement of foreign policy objectives and, in particular, peace-making. I therefore explore the comprehensive role of Norway in the Venezuelan peace talks, the background, the process, and Norway's possible interests as a facilitator. I argue that,for Norway, mediation as foreign policy is, in general, but also in the case of Venezuela, the result of a combination of idealist, value-oriented motivations (humanitarian reasons and international stability), and realist, non-altruistic interests (status and access) arising from its constructed national identity and the way it perceives its role as a peace-making nation. As mentioned above, the Norwegian state became officially involved in the Venezuelan conflict in 2019. The domestic situation had come to a head on 23rd January when Juan Guaidó, leader of the opposition and president of the National Assembly, rejected the authority of Nicolás Maduro and declared himself acting president of Venezuela. However, the strategy failed when the military remained loyal to Maduro. Negotiation then became a last resort (NUPI 2020) and Norway began to facilitate negotiations between government and opposition, first in Oslo and then in Barbados, in 2019. These efforts led to further discussion between the parties through 2021 and 2022, in Mexico. In 2022, the war in Ukraine prompted changes in the positions regarding Venezuela of certain actors, notable among them the United States (U.S.) and the EU. As the Spanish Institute of Strategic Studies (Remacha, 2023) points out, U.S. concerns about energy security made it necessary to find a way of guaranteeing the international supply, and Venezuela was (and is) considered to be a strategic source. Contacts between the U.S. and Venezuela were made in 2022, and talks began about removing the sanctions imposed on the country. Given its economic situation, and the presidential elections due in 2024, Venezuela welcomed the rapprochement. If the sanctions were to be removed (at least partially), it was necessary to resume dialogue with the opposition, so in November 2022, negotiations recommenced in Mexico with Norway's mediation. Significant progress was made, and the release of previously frozen international funds was agreed upon (up to 3,000 million dollars earmarked mainly for public health, education, and food), as well as the lifting of some sanctions. Maduro's government is also aware that the 2024 elections should be held according to a model that respects democratic safeguards, with unrestricted participation by the opposition, so that results will be internationally recognised. Venezuela would then be able to resume relations with countries and regions like the U.S. and the EU, thus enabling international investment, particularly in the oil industry, and an improved economic situation (NUPI, 2020). Although the presidential crisis formally lasted until 5th January 2023 when Guaidó's acting presidency was abolished by the National Assembly, the political crisis with the opposition continues to the present day, in November 2023. 1.2. Research goals and objectivesThis study aims to explore the role of Norway as a facilitator in the Venezuelan peace talks, focusing on what it does (the process), how (approach), and why (characteristics of Norway as a suitable mediator, and possible interests). It seeks to demonstrate that, given Norway's national conception as a peacemaker, its strategy in Venezuela expresses a broad foreign policy endeavour that has humanitarian but also reputational and political motivations. More broadly, the importance of soft power tools for state actors to achieve their foreign policy objectives is discussed. Constructivism and Holsti's theory of National Role Conceptions (NRC) help to explain Norway's self-image as a peacemaker, while idealism and realism, together with Touval's "mediation as foreign policy" theory shed light on Norway's use of mediation as a foreign policy tool. Qualitative methods based on analysis of primary and secondary sources, complemented with semi-structured interviews with experts and officials of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have been used. 1.3. Relevance and justificationNorway is a small country in terms of population but one with a notable ability to influence international affairs thanks to soft power. One of ways it exercises its influence is its internationally recognised image as a peacemaker, evidenced through its involvement in several peace processes. Indeed, since 1993, Norway has been engaged in 11 different peace processes (Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2019) with some major successes but also others that were limited. The case of Norwegian facilitation of the Venezuelan peace talks is studied for two main reasons. First, is its relevance in terms of policy significance, as it is an ongoing process, which leads to questions about why Norway acts as a facilitator, and the possible interests it has in doing so, apart from the goal of peace itself. Second, is the practical reason of the author's knowledge of the three languages relevant for this research (English, Spanish, and Norwegian), which is a valuable asset in terms of good understanding of the information from primary and secondary sources written in the three languages. This is an advantage in the research, as it allows cross-checking of information, and offers a broader perspective on the topic. 2. NORWAY AS A PEACEBUILDING NATIONScholars offer several explanations of Norway's involvement in peace processes arising from international conflicts. The result of a pragmatic foreign policy, it combines idealist and realist elements in a seemingly contradictory policy which, in fact, accommodates different domestic interests and maintains inter-party foreign policy consensus (Riste, 2001; Ekengren, 2022).From a constructivist perspective, the notion of Norway as a nation for peace partly comes from its conception of its role as a small, rich, peaceful state, with a clear focus on human rights and humanitarian assistance (Leira et al., 2007). While it is true that the so-called value-oriented (idealist) diplomacy wasstrengthened, above all in the 1990s, with the increased involvement of Norway in several peace processes, its self-image as a peacebuilding nation has always been present (Leira, 2015). The Norwegian peace activist and later Foreign Affairs Minister, Halvdan Koht (1873-1965), argued in 1902 that, although the fact of its being a small state could limit its flexibility in foreign policy actions, Norway could and should secure its status by promoting peace and development. More than 80 years later, in 1989, Jan Egeland, who would become State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 1997, argued that a small, rich country like Norway could be more effective in promoting human rights and peace than old colonial powers or superpowers with their historical baggage and policies based on self-interest and dominance (Sørbø, 2018).Moreover, the notion of status, which is closely linked with the concept of identity, has been prominent in Norway since the nation's beginnings. Leira (2015) describes the pursuit of status as a peace-making nation in the 19th and early 20th century as a way of achieving independence (through moral authority), a means of saving money (as the policy for peace was cheaper than power politics), and as sound realpolitik for a small state. He also refers to the words of Ole Jacob Broch in 1864 when he argued that, when small states need to "engage in the strife of other states", they should do it decisively because, "for them, honour and prestige are even more important than for the greater powers" (Broch cited in Leira 2015, p.22).The role performance of Norway, or itsbehaviour with, and approach to foreign policy actions is, according to Gulbrandsen (2022), influenced by the logic of appropriateness (March & Olsen, 1998), dictated by the image the state has of itself, and constituting a basis for adopting a role in any specific context. In Holsti's view (1970), the main explanation for the role performance of a state arises from policy makers' conceptions of the role of the nation in a system (National Role Conception), but adoption of a role is also influenced by what he calls role prescriptions, which come from the external environment. In this case, if the Norwegian government and the Norwegian people have an image of Norway as a nation for peace, and if the external image they project in other countries is also that of a nation for peace, the logic of appropriateness and the role prescription will dictate that Norway will have to behave as a nation for peace, and thus engage in peacebuilding policy.For Skånland (2010) the Norwegian involvement in peace processes is the result of a discursive construction, amplified by the media, above all after 1993. Media coverage of the Norwegian involvement in the Middle East peace process gave a very positive picture of Norway in general, an image that was strengthened thanks to the perceived successes in the peace processes of Sri Lanka, Guatemala, and Mali. All this crystallised into three main discursive constructions: (1) the decisive significance of the Norwegian contribution for the outcome of peace processes, (2) the importance of peace promotion as a foreign policy tool, and (3) Norway's distinctive approach for peace promotion.Other authors emphasise Norway's peace engagement efforts from a more realist perspective and, in particular, as a policy instrument in its own right (Touval, 2003). Some, like Matlary (2002) argue that mediation is used as an institutionalised strategy for dealing with some of the challenges of being a small state, as well as for promoting Norway's interests in the international arena, and having some influence in international relations. As Stokke (2014) notes, although it has a small population, Norway has a disproportionate importance in other areas (fishing, oil and gas, shipping etc.), thus implying interests beyond its borders as well as influence in other domains because of this prominence. According to Matlary (2002), some Norwegian interestsidentified from a realpolitik standpoint are security (addressed through NATO), economic interests vis-à-vis the EU, access to political decision-making power in the EU and, outside the West, considerable economic interests in oil prices and oil export. Matlary, who collected data through a series of anonymous interviews with diplomats and politicians, alludes to the effects of value-oriented diplomacy in matters of matters and concludes that, apart from a good image and profile, what value-oriented diplomacy provides is access to other arenas where one needs the best possible entry. Her interviewees referred, above all, to access to the leaders of the U.S. Department of State through the policy of peace engagement, especially in the Middle East and, to a much lesser extent, to leaders of EU states. However, she says, it was difficult to collect specific insights into the effects of such access, a perspective shared by Stokke (2010, p.166) who argues that "the extent and manner in which recognition is translated into international influence is complex and may vary from one policy field to another and between different arenas of international relations. This means that it is notoriously difficult to detect and measure the direct benefits from peace engagement". Finally, another interesting perspective is that provided by Neumann (2011). For him, the peace and reconciliation efforts of medium and small countries are a means to maintain a system with which they are reasonably satisfied, because they are not as well equipped as bigger powers to deal with other (more violent) types of conflict resolution methods, and he refers specifically to the institutionalisation of peace and reconciliation efforts by Norway.To conclude, Norway's peacebuilding policy may be understood as apparently idealist (value-oriented diplomacy) and based on a self-image as a nation for peace, which includes both idealist (moral responsibility) and realist (influence in the international arena and security) motivations. Until now, there have been no major conflicts between those two angles (Stokke, 2014), but in an increasingly polarised world, it is becoming more and more difficult for Norway to maintain a balanced policy in peacebuilding processes. 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKThis study draws on the theory of constructivism to explain Norway's national role conception and considers the notions of idealism and realism to explain mediation as its foreign policy. A theoretical framework based on such apparently antagonistic ideas is, perhaps, not very common but, as Barkin (2003) puts it, a constructivist epistemology and a classical realist theory are, in fact, compatible and, moreover, this kind of framework can be useful in International Relations (IR) theory, as it can specify the relationship between the study of power in IR and the study of IR as social constructions. Indeed, constructivism and perceptions can—and are—often applied to fulfil or justify realist objectives and policies.For the purposes of this study, I consider that mediation as foreign policy is a result of idealist (value-oriented) and realist (power) motivations arising from a constructed national identity and role conception.3.1. Constructivism and national role conceptionFor Barnett (2018), constructivism as an international relations social theory is "concerned about how to conceptualise the relationship between agents and structures, but it is not a substantive theory" (p.88). The basic premise is that the world is socially constructed, which means that "social reality is a product of human consciousness. Consciousness is created and constituted through knowledge that shapes meaning and categories of understanding and action; such knowledge and meanings can be institutionalised in social life; and this institutionalisation, in turn, shapes the construction of social reality" (p.88). These categories shape not only external reality but also its actors, which is an indicator of the importance of the social construction of interests and identity. For example, Norway's identity may shape its national interests, and one of those interests might be security, but the concept of security and how it can be achieved may be linked to Norway's identity.National Role Conceptions, a concept first developed by Holsti (1970), is defined as "the policymakers' own definitions of the general kinds of decisions, commitments, rules, and actions suitable to their state, and of the functions, if any, their state should perform [...] in the international system" (p. 245-246). These are, as mentioned in section 2, the main explanation for the role performance of a state, understood by Holsti as the "general policy behaviour of governments" (p. 245). Role performance is also influenced by what he calls role prescriptions, which come from the external environment and have, as some of their sources, system-wide values, the structure of the international system, and the traditions, rules and expectations of states expressed through various legal instruments (p. 246).The notion of national role conception is related to that of politics of identity, which, in Aggestam's words (1999), is a set of ideas that policymakers use to create a sense of solidarity and cohesion and thus to legitimise general trust in a nation's foreign policy. She argues that speeches sometimes reveal subjective we-feelings of a cultural community related to territory, myths, rituals, institutions, and customs, and she refers to the "institutionalisation" of national identity, which makes identity constructions relatively resistant to change. Moreover, citing March & Olsen (1998), she indicates that certain practices and rules of behaviour that legitimise and explain specific identity constructions are reinforced by such institutionalisation.The starting point of the present study is, therefore, the idea that Norway's national role conception is that of a small, rich, peaceful, democratic state, whose official discourse in peace engagement, especially since the 1990s, emphasises its altruistic contribution as a "peaceful nation that has the values, competences and economic resources" for such an endeavour, but whose work is also "beneficial for Norway's own interests" (Stokke, 2014, p.8).3.2. Idealism, realism, and mediation as foreign policyThere is no generally accepted definition of idealism because there is no settled ontology of the term but, according to Wilson (2012), it generally refers to any goal, idea, or practice that is considered impractical from a state perspective, for example the prohibition and disarmament of nuclear weapons, or global eradication of poverty. In IR it is normally used in both the broad and narrow senses. Broadly speaking, idealism seeks to transcend anarchy to create a more harmonious world order while, in the narrow sense, it is a doctrine tied to the inter-war period (1919-1939) and seen as emphasising the growing interdependence of mankind. I shall focus on the first meaning, which refers to "an approach to international politics that seeks to advance certain ideals or moral goals, for example, making the world a more peaceful or just place" (Wilson, 2019).Realism is a substantive theory of IR that considers states to be the main actors in the international arena, and mainly concerned with the pursuit of their own national interests, security, and struggle for power. Realists view the international arena as a sphere without justice, and with active or potential conflict among its members. They show scepticism about the relevance of ethical norms (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017). This theory has a variety of ramifications but in this study I consider, first and foremost, classical realism because, although idealism is usually heavily criticised by realists, according to Barkin (2003), classical realism perceives the art of international politics as "the practical balancing of the demands of power on the one hand and morality on the other—a dialectic between power and morality [...]. Idealism, for the classical realist, is necessary to inform our actions and underlie our interests in the pursuit of international politics, but realism will always remain a necessary part of relations among states" (p.333). Also relevant is the perspective of neoclassical realism because, while classical realism focuses on the system-level factors, neoclassical realism considers domestic-level factors as variables that can shape foreign policy, which is highly pertinent if NRC theory is used to explain Norway's behaviour in the international arena. Neoclassical realism considers that "objective reality exists, but decision making is impaired by uncertainty and the complexity of the environment" (Rathbun, 2008, p.296).According to Touval (2003), mediation as foreign policy needs to be understood as a policy instrument, as distinct from mediation theory. He argues that it derives from the mediator's perception of the international system, its foreign policy objectives and strategies, and domestic needs. I would also argue that it stems from the mediator's own national role conception and self-perception. Touval (2003) considers that ending a conflict is no longer the main concern of the mediating state, but only a part of a broadly conceived foreign policy as the mediation is also shaped by affairs that are external to the conflict. He highlights three issues arising from a state's international and domestic concerns: (1) mediation is perceived by the public and the officials engaged in it as a moral obligation, which is seldom criticised; (2) foreign and domestic motivations, apart from being an incentive for states to engage in mediation, also shape their strategies and tactics of the mediation; (3) the mediation is evaluated not only in terms of settlement of a dispute, but also the primary goals motivating the mediation. Beriker (2017) offers an expanded perspective of Touval's work, arguing that once mediation is proven to be a viable foreign policy tool, engaging in mediation enables medium-sized powers to create a political space that otherwise would not be available. 4. METHODOLOGYThis study is both descriptive and explanatory, as it inquires more deeply into the events as well as exploring why and how Norway became involved in the Venezuela peace process from 2017 to May 2023. In a deductive approach, existing theories —NRC, mediation as foreign policy, idealism, and realism— are drawn on to explain Norway's behaviour in its peacebuilding policy. The epistemology used is empiricism, since the focus is explanation rather than interpretation, and the ontology is pragmatist because, while the world is understood as existing independently from social actors, the influence of these actors to shape social realities should also be taken into account, together with the fact that, in some cases, this may affect realities existing independently of them.The methods are qualitative, as information provided with quantitative methods would be too superficial for a study that seeks to determine the existence and the characteristics of Norway's engagement in the Venezuelan peace process. The analysis is primarily based on a range of online primary and secondary sources, including government reports, memorandums of understanding, recorded interviews, articles, and academic publications. I consulted these sources, first, for better understanding of the issues and to organise this material around the research question, as well as to identify possible gaps of knowledge. I then conducted semi-structured interviews, with an official from the Norwegian MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and a Norwegian academic, to fill some of the previously identified knowledge gaps, to record their perceptions, and to triangulate the documentary information thus gathered.The first interview, conducted by videoconference on 2 August 2023, was with Professor Benedicte Bull, from the University of Oslo and, inter alia, president of the Nordic Institute for Latin American Studies, whose research has been focused on Venezuela in recent years. The second was with David C. Jourdan, who coordinates the Norwegian MFA's facilitation team in the Venezuelan peace process. This interview was conducted in Oslo on 8 August 2023. Both Bull and Jourdan have given their consent to use their names in the present study. NOREF was also contacted but stated that it could not give interviews on the Venezuelan peace process. 5. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION5.1. Norwegian involvement in the Venezuelan peace processNo official documentary information about the specific manner Norway engaged in the Venezuela conflict during 2017 and 2018 has been found, apart from the mere fact stated in the NOREF website that it was engaged in talks on the conflict in those years. According to its strategic plan 2019-2023, NOREF is a "non-state actor that is able to complement formal Norwegian peacemaking efforts [... and] build directly on the Norwegian tradition of informal conflict resolution". This makes it possible "to support formal peace processes (track I), and informal back-channel conflict diplomacy (track 1.5 and 2)" (NOREF, 2019). This institution has a permanent staff of professionals, experts in conflict resolution, and is governed by a board whose director is appointed by the Norwegian MFA, and whose members come, in general, from different areas of the public sector. In the interview with David C. Jourdan of the Norwegian MFA (2023), he confirmed that NOREF's engagement consists of track 2 approaches. Moreover, he stressed that, although NOREF receives public funds and works closely with the Norwegian state, it is a separate, independent institution. Norway's involvement in the peace process after 2019, when it became public, is described in some detail below. 2019: the first official talksAccording to the Norwegian MFA (2023), Norway has been involved in Venezuela since 2018. However, it was only in May 2019 that talks between the Venezuelan parties, facilitated by Norway, first became public. In this early stage, the negotiations between the delegations of Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó lasted until August 2019, and although significant progress was made, no agreements for solving the political conflict were reached. However, the Norwegian MFA (2023) stresses that these negotiations were a stepping-stone for further talks between the parties, which signed a collaboration agreement in June 2020, with the objective of using frozen funds in the U.S. for a joint response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with support from the Pan American Health Organisation. Several newspaper articles describing the negotiations during that year provide additional information that has been used in this study.In May 2019, Juan Guaidó sent a delegation to Oslo to participate in exploratory talks with representatives of Maduro's government to try to find a solution to the political crisis the country had faced since Guaidó declared himself acting president of Venezuela at the beginning of that year (NRK, 2019a), information that was confirmed by Jorge Valero, Venezuela's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, and the UN spokesperson in New York, Stephane Dujarric. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) reported the talks for the first time on 15 May but, according to an anonymous source, this was the second time that the parties had been in Oslo, and negotiations had previously been taking place in Cuba.Shortly afterwards, on the night between 16 and 17 May, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release confirming that there had been contacts between key political actors in Venezuela as a part of an exploratory phase aiming to find a solution to the country's situation. The Maduro government representatives present at the talks were Héctor Rodríguez, governor of the province of Miranda, and Jorge Rodríguez, minister of Communication. The opposition representatives were Gerardo Blyde, member of parliament, and Fernando Martínez Mattola, who had been minister during the government of President Carlos Andrés Pérez.In the last week of May 2019, the Norwegian minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the parties would travel again to Oslo during the following week to continue with the process (NRK, 2019b). Almost at the same time, Juan Guaidó insisted that the meetings in Oslo were not part of a dialogue or negotiation, but a mediation in Norway (El Nacional, 2019). According to Voice of America/Voz de América (VOA) (2019a), Nicolás Maduro appeared a few days later on the Venezuelan public TV channel after the opposition declared that the conversations in Oslo that week had ended on 29 May without any agreement being reached. Maduro stated that conversations had been taking place in secret during the three previous months, that he was proud of his delegation, and that dialogue with the opposition had been constructive. Moreover, he insisted on his wish to find a peaceful solution for Venezuela. Indeed, VOA pointed out that Dag Nylander, a Norwegian diplomat who would become chief facilitator of the Venezuelan peace process, had been travelling to Caracas and meeting with the political actors involved in the crisis since January 2019.The peace talks resumed one month later in Barbados. On 11 July 2019, after three days of conversations, Norway announced that the negotiations would continue (Reuters, 2019). Yet, only a few weeks later, the Maduro government withdrew from the talks when the U.S. president, Donald Trump, announced his decision to block U.S. citizens from engaging in business in Venezuela and to freeze the country's assets in the U.S. According to the Venezuelan government, this had been instigated by Juan Guaidó, while the opposition accused the government of reneging on its commitment to dialogue. Norway's facilitator, Dag Nylander, took note that the planned meetings would not take place and emphasised Norway's role as a facilitator acting at the request of the parties and planning the meetings according to their availability. He added that the facilitation process would continue as long as the parties wished, and provided that there was a realistic position on a solution in the best interests of the Venezuelan people (VG, 2019).According to Bull (2023), Norway, as the facilitating country, was displeased when the talks went public in May, believing that this was premature and that it would complicate the peace process. She also stresses that the Trump administration had no clear strategy for ending the conflict and that, when the U.S. sanctions were announced, there had not been any proper coordination with Norway. She also notes that mentions of the U.S. seem to refer to a single homogeneous actor, when the reality is that there are many actors involved, among them the Pentagon and the Department of State, and these actors may work in different directions, sometimes disrupting a given policy. The Norwegian MFA (2023) confirms it was not aware of the U.S. sanctions that were announced in early August 2019. Both parties and facilitator were taken by surprise.2021: The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and negotiation rounds in MexicoA year and a half later, in March 2021, new exploratory talks began after the Biden administration's position on Venezuela allowed the parties to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which led to the launch of a new negotiation process, starting in August that year. On 5 August, the Mexican President, Manuel López Obrador confirmed that Mexico would host talks between the government of Venezuela and the opposition (Reuters, 2021) and, a few days later, the Norwegian government confirmed its involvement with a tweet (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2021a). The new negotiation process was launched in Mexico City on 13 August, with Dag Nylander as chief facilitator, Jorge Rodríguez representing the Venezuelan (Maduro's) government, and Gerardo Blyde representing the Unitary Platform (the opposition). A MoU —which I refer to in more detail in section 5.3— was released, defining the objective, agenda, method, and composition of the negotiation team. The Norwegian minister of Foreign Affairs, Ine Eriksen Søreide, declared in a press note that the parties were ready to negotiate constructively and that, in the process, they would consult members of civil society as well as political actors. She also noted that there was mutual agreement on the sensitive nature of the negotiations, which was necessary for giving the parties space to make progress (Norwegian MFA 2021b).A second round of negotiations took place at the beginning of September 2021. The parties released a joint statement reporting that two agreements had been reached, the first being to act jointly in the claim of Venezuelan sovereignty over Guyana Esequiba, and the second, a "partial agreement on the social protection of the Venezuelan people". The parties conveyed that the points to be addressed in the following round of negotiations would be "respect for the Constitutional Rule of Law", protection of the national economy, and measures for the social protection of the Venezuelan people.Between the second and the third rounds of negotiation, Erna Solberg, the Norwegian Prime Minister, spoke at the UN General Assembly on 21 September, referring to Venezuela as a country where human right violations were occurring. Her comment was criticised by Dag Nylander as it could, he said, damage the credibility of Norway's role. In a tweet on 25 September, the MFA reaffirmed its commitment as an impartial facilitator in the negotiations and declared that the statement in the UN should not be interpreted as being inconsistent with that (NRK, 2021). The Venezuelan government responded to this diplomatic hitch with a slight delay in proceedings when its representatives arrived one day late at the negotiation round scheduled in Mexico from 24 to 27 September, but which finally took place after 25 September (Euronews, 2021).After this third round of negotiations, the parties released a new joint statement, focused this time on the issue of inclusion and, specifically, on the need for a gender focus in the negotiations, identification of inclusive consultation mechanisms for political and social actors, and condemnation of xenophobic attacks on Venezuelan migrants that had recently occurred in Chile. According to an article by Diego Santander in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo (2021), this third round was so fraught with problems that no specific agreements were reached. Maduro's delegation insisted on its plans to include Alex Saab in the negotiation. Saab, a Venezuelan businessman, was accused of being Maduro's front man, and a key figure in the international economic and financial activities to circumvent the U.S. economic sanctions against his government. However, Saab had been arrested for money laundering in June 2020 in Cabo Verde and was extradited to the U.S. on the weekend of October 16.Negotiations, set for 17 October, were suspended on 16 October when the Maduro government decided not to participate in the next round of negotiations, because of Saab's extradition, which Jorge Rodríguez referred to as a "kidnapping" as it had been carried out "without a warrant and without due process" and accused the U.S. of trying to prevent the dialogue (Gilbert, 2021). The Norwegian government then tweeted that it was still convinced that the negotiations were the only solution for Venezuela, and that it would keep working to encourage the parties to continue (Norwegian MFA, 2021c). In Bull's opinion (2023), while the U.S. system may have its faults, the legal proceedings are independent from political powers so, on that occasion, there was little that U.S. politicians could do to stop the extradition.2022 — 2023: talks after the beginning of the war in UkraineIn March 2022, a new chapter of the dialogue began after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A U.S. delegation formed by members of the Department of State visited Caracas to meet with the Venezuelan government and discuss an eventual isolation of Vladimir Putin. Some analysts also indicated that Venezuela was seen as a possible alternative oil supplier if the U.S. opted to restrict oil exports from Russia, which meant that removal of the sanctions on Venezuela could be considered (VOA, 2022a). Indeed, in May 2022, the U.S. announced that economic sanctions against Venezuela would be eased as a gesture in favour of reactivating the dialogues and also allowing the U.S. company Chevron to negotiate potential future activities with the state-owned oil and natural gas company PDVSA (Agobian, 2022). According to the Norwegian MFA (2023), these actions were a catalyst for the reactivation of the negotiations.Immediately after the announcement, Jorge Rodríguez and Gerardo Blyde met to discuss renewal of the talks (Ocando Alex, 2022a) but, by the end of May, according to Reuters, the Venezuelan government had demanded the withdrawal of Norway as a facilitator, and the presence of Russia (formally an accompanying country in the negotiations after 2021) as conditions for reactivating the negotiations. However, convinced that the Norwegians were their only guarantee for a successful process, the opposition disagreed (Oré, 2022). Bull (2023) specifies that the stance of the Venezuelan government might have been because it saw Norway as taking an excessively "pro-allies" position after the start of the war in Ukraine. She adds that Norway prefers to involve Russia and other big powers in the negotiations rather than excluding them, as they would provide legitimacy to the Mexico talks as the only acceptable platform for solving the Venezuelan political crisis. When interviewed, David C. Jourdan of the Norwegian MFA (2023), made it clear that Norway was never asked to relinquish its role as facilitator. Management of the process resides with the parties, which have remained committed to the MoU that names Norway as the facilitating country.On 21 and 22 June 2022, the Norwegian government held the Oslo Forum, an annual retreat focused on conflict mediation and peace processes. Around 100 conflict mediators, experts, peace process actors, and high-level decision makers from around the world gathered at Losby Gods Manor with the goal of sharing their experience on conflict resolution and peace diplomacy (Norwegian MFA, 2022). Among the peace process actors who attended the Oslo Forum were Jorge Rodríguez and Gerardo Blyde. A Norwegian source told VOA (2022b) that it was "probable" that the conversations would be initiated again, but "not immediately".On 14 September 2022, a group of 18 countries from the Americas and Europe agreed to call upon Maduro and the opposition to urge a resumption of the negotiations in Mexico (Ocando Alex, 2022b).Official negotiations began again on 26 November 2022. This time, a joint statement was issued indicating that the main agenda of the meeting would be social protection of the people. A partial agreement was reached, in which the measures agreed upon were: 1) creation of an organism to implement specific actions and programmes for the social protection of the Venezuelan people (Mesa Nacional de Atención Social, or MNAS); 2) creation of an organism auxiliary to the MNAS to evaluate its processes and the effects of implementation of the measurements adopted; 3) definition of the social areas which, requiring the most urgent attention, needed to be addressed through specific programmes, in particular the public health system, the national electrical system, development of the World Food Programme, educational infrastructure, and rebuilding of the infrastructure damaged as a consequence of the torrential rains in the latter half of 2022; 4) requesting from the UN support for the design and creation of a fund for social support of the Venezuelan people; 5) identification of frozen assets belonging to the Venezuelan state that might be progressively accessed and incorporated into this fund; 6) creation of a commission to assess and verify implementation of the agreement.After this meeting, the negotiations stalled again when the Venezuelan government accused the opposition of not complying with the agreement reached but, mainly and above all, because the frozen US$3,000 million that were to be incorporated into the Fund for the Social Protection of the Venezuelan People had not yet been released (August 2023). According to Maduro, this was a condition sine qua non for resuming the talks. The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, organised a conference on 25 April 2023 in Bogotá, with representatives from numerous countries to discuss the Venezuelan situation. The shared positions of the Venezuelan government and the opposition were explained to the international community, in particular regarding the removal of sanctions, free elections, and reactivation of the peace talks. One of the shared positions for renewal of the talks was that of establishing the Fund for the Social Protection of the Venezuelan People (Ramírez Vargas & Alcalde, 2023). The message that came out of the Venezuela Conference of Bogotá was very clear: the UN trust fund for Venezuela should be set up as swiftly as possible. According to a Reuters report by Spetalnik, Sequera and Armas (2023), on 19 May the Biden administration notified the UN that the money could operate within the U.S. financial system, and that there would be no risk of creditors seizing it to repay the outstanding Venezuelan debt. Accordingly, the UN-administered fund could have been operative at the end of May 2023. However, the decision to establish the trust fund ultimately lies with the UN Secretariat in New York and some insiders allude to the complexity of the process involved and stress that establishing the fund depends on a number of factors. As of late August 2023, it had not been established by the UN. 5.2. Norway's distinctive approach to peace diplomacyIn an interview for the Centre of Humanitarian Dialogue, when asked about the distinctive approach of Norwegian diplomacy in international conflicts, Dag Nylander (2020) identified four main elements: (a) collaboration with Norwegian and international NGOs, (b) low-key diplomacy, (c) long-term commitment, and (d) the ability to make quick decisions.[5] In this section, these four elements will be briefly discussed.Norway's distinctive approach to its engagement in peace processes and with non-state actors was defined after the decentralisation of its foreign policy in the early 1990s. Humanitarian assistance and development policies called for closer cooperation between the Norwegian MFA and non-governmental actors and, according to Lehti (2014), this approach was extended to the area of peace-making. In the 1990s the Ministry responded positively to proposals and initiatives from various NGOs and well-connected individuals with regard to conflictive areas. The range of actors involved in peace-making was broadened, and Norway was then able to act beyond the bounds of government-centred diplomacy with a distinctive, more informal approach to peace diplomacy. Ann Kelleher and James Taulbe (2006) refer to this approach as "Track I½ Diplomacy", understanding Track I diplomacy as that with official representatives of governments and Track II diplomacy as that involving unofficial representatives and sectors of the civil society. An important feature of the collaboration between the state, NGOs and research institutions is that it is extensively funded by the state (Bandarage, 2011). Indeed, some Norwegian NGOs receive more than 90% of their funding from the state which, in Kelleher's view (2006), almost makes them quasi-governmental organisations.As for low-key diplomacy, Nylander (2020) affirms that activities pertaining to peace diplomacy rarely appear in the news, and that they are discreet and unnoticed, often with the involvement of low-level and mid-level diplomats, an approach that allows flexibility in seeking opportunities and in dealing with problems with relative freedom.Norway's long-term commitment to peace diplomacy is based on a broad political consensus for the promotion of peace and reconciliation. Hence, changes of government will not influence the country's engagement in any given conflict. According to the MFA (2000), the goal is not only ending violence but also support for economic, social, and political processes that lead to durable liberal peace in the country concerned.Finally, the ability of Norwegian diplomats to make quick decisions stems from the smallness of the country, not only in terms of population but also social distance. Dag Nylander (2020) mentions that the distance between a diplomat in the field and the ministry of Foreign Affairs is very short, and that it takes just a quick phone call or a text message, sometimes directly to the Minister, to obtain any clearance that may be needed. 5.3 Norwegian approach to facilitation the Venezuelan peace processNorway's approach to facilitation in Venezuela is consistent with its work in other peace processes. It began with secret talks between the parties (low-key diplomacy) and then, having advanced towards a more public and official format, it was formalised with the MoU signed in Mexico on 13 August 2021. In the MoU, the parties defined the agenda and methods for the talks. David Jourdan of the Norwegian MFA (2023) highlighted the importance of this Memorandum, which contains not only the agenda and format for the negotiations, but also a shared vision of the process and the country.As for the method, it is important to mention that it is based on a "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed" principle (comprehensive approach), although partial agreements can be reached if the parties consider that a subject has been sufficiently discussed and urgent action is required. This was the case with the two partial agreements on the Guyana Esequiba, and Social Protection of the Venezuelan people signed at the end of the talks in Mexico. This approach has its advantages, such as ensuring "big picture" negotiation, but it also comes with the risk the parties can renege anytime on anything they have agreed to. It was first used in other peace processes including Britain-Ireland in 1995, Palestine-Israel, and in Cyprus and Colombia. The Norwegian MFA (2023) emphasises that understanding the needs of the parties and ensuring that they are in charge of the process, has been key to making progress throughout the negotiations. The Venezuelan conflict is political in nature and requires political solutions, and the negotiation process provides a confidential space where the two parties have an opportunity to reconcile their interests. David Jourdan, sharing the MFA's approach to the political process, points out that Norway has probably been a more active facilitator in the Venezuelan negotiations than in other peace processes.An essential point of the MoU is participation, as it establishes mechanisms of consultation for political and social actors. The aim is for the process to be as inclusive and legitimate as possible. However, there is little information available as to whether this is actually the case and David Jourdan (2023) admits that it is not yet possible to speak of results in this area.Moreover, it should be noted that the Norwegian approach to facilitation, based on discretion and confidentiality, is one thing and how the parties actually behave is quite another matter. On more than one occasion, as can be seen in several documents and declarations, the Norwegian government has emphasised the need for the parties to be careful with their public declarations. In an interview with El País in February 2023, Anniken Huitfeldt, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, wryly acknowledges an anecdote sometimes repeated by high-profile Venezuelan politicians, according to which politicians will normally control themselves in public but, in private, tell someone else what they really think but, in Venezuela, the opposite occurs: what is said in private becomes amplified in front of a microphone (Lafuente 2023). Vicente Díaz, former director of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council, who participated in the talks held in the Dominican Republic, Oslo, and Barbados says that, since the process in Mexico was "very public" (as occurred in the Dominican Republic), it created difficulties for the parties, since national and international expectations were generated, which meant that more attention was given to audiences than to the talks (openDemocracy 2022). 5.4 Norwegian interests in VenezuelaIn this section and in keeping with the theoretical framework described above, I discuss four possible reasons for Norway's mediation in the Venezuelan conflict: (a) peace and stability (value-oriented diplomacy), (b) reputation, (c) political interests, and (d) economic interests.Value-oriented diplomacy focused on peace promotion makes sense for Norway, a country whose identity as a peaceful country and peace broker has existed at least since the late 19th century. Those values are so widely embedded that a broad political consensus exists among the population over a peace promotion policy, supported institutionally and by an extensive network of non-state actors coordinated by the state. Norway's constructed identity as a peace broker (especially intensified since the 1990s) means that the country acts as such. Moreover, promotion of such values makes even more sense when security has become globalised, and when a conflict in a faraway country can have humanitarian, political, economic, and ecological consequences in distant parts of the world. In this sense, value-oriented diplomacy may acquire realist motivations although, according to Bull (2023), this is discourse that appeared, above all from the 1980s, to justify Norway's involvement in peace processes. One of its proponents was the diplomat and former Labour Party politician, Jan Egeland.Ensuring peace and stability in Venezuela could, for example, (1) help to mitigate the external displacement crisis, which mainly affects neighbouring countries like Colombia and Ecuador as well as the U.S. and others in Europe, with all the humanitarian and economic consequences for those receiving refugees; (2) ensure Venezuela's participation, as a democratic state, in international organisations, thus promoting democratic values and human rights; (3) promote social and economic development in the country, which would create value for its nationals as well as attracting international investment and; (4) finally, through social and economic development, reduce the presence of paramilitary organisations in the country, including the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), which is involved in drug trafficking. During the interview with David Jourdan (2023), we shared these points and he replied that this may well be so, but that such possibilities could also arise as a consequence of a political settlement that includes the removal of the sanctions. He added that the main reasons for Norway's peace diplomacy are the goals of preventing and reducing human suffering, as well as contributing to peaceful societies and stability.Peace diplomacy does not give rapid results (when it actually gives results), but Norway sees it as a policy consistent with its values, and as one whose long-term effects are sufficiently relevant as to justify investment in it.When it comes to image and reputation, Norway's approach on peace has been used as a public diplomacy branding tool, together with the country's natural environment and gender equality, to solve one of the image problems of small countries: invisibility.Indeed, discretion and a low profile do not necessarily mean invisibility, and as long as the right aspects of Norway's peace diplomacy are emphasised in a public diplomacy strategy —for example its role as a facilitator, an engaged partner, and good multilateralist— the discretion that peace diplomacy requires would not be jeopardised (Leonard and Small, 2003). Success in mediation of the Venezuelan conflict would, of course, be positive for Norway's image as a peace broker, although this constructed image is also enhanced through pertinent media coverage mentioning the Norwegian involvement during the Venezuelan peace process. This can be explained by NRC theory since the Norwegian image is constructed not only through success in a certain process but also through the mediating process itself. To give one example, the Google search "peace talks Venezuela Norway" offers almost 4.85 million results, while the Spanish search with "mediación de paz Venezuela Noruega" offers 1.28 million results. Moreover, when Norway uses the word "facilitation"2 it transfers responsibility for the results to the parties, implying that it has the role of supporting and accompanying them, but it will not be responsible if the parties decide that they do not want to continue with the process. This safeguard for Norway's image as a peace broker applies to the Venezuelan case.Political influence has also been identified as one of Norway's possible interests. As Matlary (2003) notes, access to key international actors can result from Norway's engagement in peace processes, including in the case of Venezuela, especially in a context of international energy insecurity, and political tensions due to the high-profile conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In my interview with David Jourdain (2023), "close dialogue with key international stakeholders" together with increased political capital were mentioned as benefits that Norway could reap by engaging in Venezuela. He also pointed out that one of the key features of this conflict is the importance of the U.S. as an actor with the capacity to contribute to the outcome of the peace process.The U.S. is now particularly concerned to find new energy suppliers, and ensuring political stability in Venezuela could provide international legitimacy for oil and gas transactions with its government. Giovanna de Michele, internationalist lecturer at the Central University of Venezuela, told VOA that the best way to extract oil from Venezuela would be through U.S. companies, but the sanctions would have to be eased if this was to happen (Ramírez Vargas & Alcalde 2023). Norway offers an internationally recognised platform for making this possible: the talks in Mexico. It could therefore be a key actor in helping to resolve the political crisis in Venezuela while also supporting an ally, which would contribute to its status as a reliable partner of the U.S. However, as Matlary notes, it is difficult to quantify or define the scope of the access Norway gleans from its peace policy.Finally, with regard to economic interests, there are currently no Norwegian state-owned companies operating in Venezuela, although they can be represented through the investments of the Norwegian National Pension Fund3 in foreign companies that do operate in the country, for example, some Colombian companies, among them Bancolombia, Banco Popular, Banco Davivienda, and Cementos Argos. And, at the beginning of 2023, Ecopetrol, which is financed by Norfund, asked the U.S. for permission to negotiate with the state-owned company PDVSA to explore gas imports from Venezuela to Colombia (Quesada 2023). Among Norwegian investments in the U.S. are Chevron and Occidental Petroleum Corp, and the U.S. has recently given permission to Chevron to negotiate with the PDVSA and, at the end of 2022, a United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) court found that Venezuela was liable for discriminatory conduct in its payment of dividends from an oil and gas venture and ordered Venezuela to pay US$105 million to a Barbadian subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp (Ballantyne 2022). If an improved political situation in Venezuela increases the revenues of these companies, it could also be positive for Norwegian investments.It should be added that, until 2021, Statoil (later Equinor), the national oil company of Norway, was present in Venezuela where it invested more than one billion dollars between 1995 and 2013 and participated in the Sincor heavy crude oil project with Total and PDVSA. However, due to concerns about the workforce and practical difficulties, Equinor pulled out of the project and transferred its 9.67% participation to CVP, a subsidiary of PDVSA, although it did keep its 51% stake in the exploration license of block 4 on Plataforma Deltana off Cocuina(Øye Gjerde, n.d.). Accordingly, Equinor participation in Venezuela is currently on hold but a greater presence in Venezuela of Norwegian companies, in particular from the oil and gas sector is possible if the country's situation improves.To sum up, although economic links between Norway and Venezuela do exist, they would seem to be limited and not sufficient to explain Norway's participation as a facilitator in the Venezuelan peace process. 6. CONCLUSIONSThe core question of this study is why and how does Norway facilitate the Venezuela peace talks? The results suggest that, for Norway as a facilitator of the Venezuelan peace process, the main goals of mediation-as-foreign-policy are humanitarian, security (better understood as promoting stability in the region), projection of its image as a peaceful nation and a peacemaker, and of its status vis-à-vis key international actors (especially the U.S.).All these goals can be explained through the Holsti's theory of National Role Conceptions (NRC) and Norway's own role prescription as a small, democratic, and peaceful nation, which means it would promote these values through altruistic (idealist) and non-altruistic (realist) actions and perspectives.Interestingly, economic factors do not seem to play a major role as a mediation-as-foreign-policy objective. The economic ties between Norway and Venezuela are presently not significant and, thanks to the diversification of the investment portfolio of the Norwegian National Pension Fund, Venezuela only represents a very small part of Norwegian economic interests.It is therefore relevant to consider the importance of constructivist aspects such as national values and self-conception in shaping the foreign policy of small countries, despite the apparent predominance of realpolitik aspects in an international context of increasing competition. These constructivist aspects offer key information for understanding and explaining the behaviour of small countries and should not be overlooked.Besides, it is worth reflecting on the definition of a mediation success in real, and in mediation-as-foreign policy terms. In the real sense, mediation is successful when it produces long-term reconciliation between the parties, in the eyes of a domestic audience while, for an audience external to the conflict, mediation may be successful simply when a peace agreement between the parties is signed. Meanwhile, for the mediating country or its allies, a mediation is deemed effective when foreign policy objectives are achieved. The approach used by Norwegian mediators in the Venezuelan process is similar to that of previous peace processes. It starts with the organisation of secret meetings and then advances towards a more public and official format. However, some distinctive traits of this peace process have been (1) a somewhat more active role of Norway as a facilitator when compared to other peace processes, (2) the weighty influence of the U.S. in causing setbacks or advances in the negotiations , and (3) premature publicity of this process, when the parties have been too eager to share their views with the press and the public, which may have been an obstacle for achieving progress. Despite these challenges, as of November 2023, Norway has continued to honour its long-term commitment to achieving a peaceful solution to the Venezuelan conflict.This study has created a first timeline of the Norwegian involvement in the Venezuelan peace process by means of consulting information in primary and secondary sources and, when relevant, adding further details obtained in interviews with two experts. This timeline provides an overview of the main milestones of the peace process while highlighting Norway's role as a facilitating country. Possible reasons for its engagement in the Venezuelan peace process have been identified. At a tactical level, the moral and security elements seem to be a high priority for people working in the field. These actors have considerable expertise in conflict resolution and perform their duties diligently. At a more strategic and state-centred level, besides the moral and security components, attention is given to building political capital by means of offering an attractive image to international stakeholders, especially close allies like the U.S. This is, therefore, an excellent example of the importance of peace diplomacy as a soft power tool for a middle-level country like Norway.The limits of the study arise from the nature of an ongoing mediation process. Since silence sometimes carries more weight than words and as discretion is necessary for the process to move forward, only limited information could be directly obtained from relevant actors in the peace talks. In terms of Norway's interests in certain areas, the limits of qualitative methods have not allowed quantification of the importance of each of these interests. The aim of the interviews was to obtain in-depth information that could confirm that such interests exist, and to provide distinctive details that might enrich knowledge of this peace process, rather than quantifying the results. Finally, now that Norway's possible interests as a facilitator have been identified, future research could be addressed at quantifying the weight of each of them in Norway's peacebuilding policy over the last two decades. 7. ReferencesAggestam, Lisbeth. "Role Conceptions and the Politics of Identity in Foreign Policy". ARENA Center for European Studies Working Paper, vol. 99/8 (1999). 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"Idealism in international relations" in: Dowding, Keith (ed.) Encyclopedia of Power, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, p. 332-333.Notes:1- Originally consisting of 12 Latin American nations and formally created on 8 August 2017, the Lima Group is a multilateral body whose goal is to explore mechanisms for a peaceful solution to the political crisis in Venezuela and restoration of a democratic order (Government of Colombia 2017).2- In this study, I use the terms "mediation" and "facilitation" interchangeably. However, mediation normally involves a formal mandate from the parties of a conflict, covering involvement in both the substance and process of the negotiation, while a facilitator is less directive (Greminger 2007).3- The Norwegian National Pension Fund, the world's largest sovereign fund, has investments in over 9,000 companies in 70 countries (Oljefondet n.d.). Key words: Venezuela, Norway, national role conception, mediation, peacebuilding, foreign policy, conflict resolutionDOI: https://doi.org/10.24241/docCIDOB.2024.15/enE-ISSN: 2339-9570

Documents CIDOB: 15Winner of the Global Talent Award, launched by CIDOB and Banco Sabadell Foundation in the framework of Programa Talent Global.ABSTRACTThis study offers a comprehensive overview of the Norwegian involvement in the Venezuelan peace process as a facilitator of the peace talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition. It explains what Norway does as a facilitator (the process), as well as how (approach) and why (characteristics of Norway as a suitable mediator, and possible interests), not only in terms of the characteristics making Norway a suitable facilitator, but also its interests and motivations. The main goal is to draw attention to the importance and the usefulness of soft power tools for the achievement of foreign policy objectives and, in particular, peace-making. The study concludes that, for Norway, mediation as foreign policy is, in general but also in the case of Venezuela, the result of a combination of idealist, value-oriented motivations (humanitarian reasons and international stability), and realist, non-altruistic interests (status and access) arising from its constructed national identity and role conception. 1. INTRODUCTIONSince the early 2010s, Venezuela has been embroiled in a grave economic, political, and humanitarian crisis resulting in institutional disarray that reached critical point in 2017. It was in this year that the constitutional order was broken after Decision 156 of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice in Venezuela, whereby this organ attributed to itself the functions of the National Assembly, the country's legislative organ. Deemed unconstitutional by the political parties with a majority in the National Assembly, this move led to mass protests. The government reacted by calling for a new constitution to be drafted by a newly created Constituent National Assembly which, in August 2017, granted itself powers to pass legislation, thus overriding the National Assembly (Bronstein & Cobb, 2017). This was not recognised by the National Assembly but, in 2018, the Constituent National Assembly went ahead and blocked the participation of the main opposition parties in the presidential elections that year. These elections were rejected by a broad sector of the international community, among them the European Union (EU) and the Lima Group.1From 2017, Norway, with a population of just 5.5 million, has been exploring possibilities in Venezuela for political dialogue between the government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition, first through the Norwegian Centre for Conflict Resolution (NOREF), an independent foundation that receives funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), and later, after 2019, with direct state involvement. Norway has built an image as a peace broker with its success in processes like the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and in the talks between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). But why did Norway decide to facilitate the peace talks in Venezuela? How does Norway approach peacebuilding in this conflict? This article aims to analyse the causes, process, approaches, and motivations for Norwegian mediation in Venezuela, in order to draw attention to the importance and the usefulness of soft power tools for the achievement of foreign policy objectives and, in particular, peace-making. I therefore explore the comprehensive role of Norway in the Venezuelan peace talks, the background, the process, and Norway's possible interests as a facilitator. I argue that,for Norway, mediation as foreign policy is, in general, but also in the case of Venezuela, the result of a combination of idealist, value-oriented motivations (humanitarian reasons and international stability), and realist, non-altruistic interests (status and access) arising from its constructed national identity and the way it perceives its role as a peace-making nation. As mentioned above, the Norwegian state became officially involved in the Venezuelan conflict in 2019. The domestic situation had come to a head on 23rd January when Juan Guaidó, leader of the opposition and president of the National Assembly, rejected the authority of Nicolás Maduro and declared himself acting president of Venezuela. However, the strategy failed when the military remained loyal to Maduro. Negotiation then became a last resort (NUPI 2020) and Norway began to facilitate negotiations between government and opposition, first in Oslo and then in Barbados, in 2019. These efforts led to further discussion between the parties through 2021 and 2022, in Mexico. In 2022, the war in Ukraine prompted changes in the positions regarding Venezuela of certain actors, notable among them the United States (U.S.) and the EU. As the Spanish Institute of Strategic Studies (Remacha, 2023) points out, U.S. concerns about energy security made it necessary to find a way of guaranteeing the international supply, and Venezuela was (and is) considered to be a strategic source. Contacts between the U.S. and Venezuela were made in 2022, and talks began about removing the sanctions imposed on the country. Given its economic situation, and the presidential elections due in 2024, Venezuela welcomed the rapprochement. If the sanctions were to be removed (at least partially), it was necessary to resume dialogue with the opposition, so in November 2022, negotiations recommenced in Mexico with Norway's mediation. Significant progress was made, and the release of previously frozen international funds was agreed upon (up to 3,000 million dollars earmarked mainly for public health, education, and food), as well as the lifting of some sanctions. Maduro's government is also aware that the 2024 elections should be held according to a model that respects democratic safeguards, with unrestricted participation by the opposition, so that results will be internationally recognised. Venezuela would then be able to resume relations with countries and regions like the U.S. and the EU, thus enabling international investment, particularly in the oil industry, and an improved economic situation (NUPI, 2020). Although the presidential crisis formally lasted until 5th January 2023 when Guaidó's acting presidency was abolished by the National Assembly, the political crisis with the opposition continues to the present day, in November 2023. 1.2. Research goals and objectivesThis study aims to explore the role of Norway as a facilitator in the Venezuelan peace talks, focusing on what it does (the process), how (approach), and why (characteristics of Norway as a suitable mediator, and possible interests). It seeks to demonstrate that, given Norway's national conception as a peacemaker, its strategy in Venezuela expresses a broad foreign policy endeavour that has humanitarian but also reputational and political motivations. More broadly, the importance of soft power tools for state actors to achieve their foreign policy objectives is discussed. Constructivism and Holsti's theory of National Role Conceptions (NRC) help to explain Norway's self-image as a peacemaker, while idealism and realism, together with Touval's "mediation as foreign policy" theory shed light on Norway's use of mediation as a foreign policy tool. Qualitative methods based on analysis of primary and secondary sources, complemented with semi-structured interviews with experts and officials of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have been used. 1.3. Relevance and justificationNorway is a small country in terms of population but one with a notable ability to influence international affairs thanks to soft power. One of ways it exercises its influence is its internationally recognised image as a peacemaker, evidenced through its involvement in several peace processes. Indeed, since 1993, Norway has been engaged in 11 different peace processes (Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2019) with some major successes but also others that were limited. The case of Norwegian facilitation of the Venezuelan peace talks is studied for two main reasons. First, is its relevance in terms of policy significance, as it is an ongoing process, which leads to questions about why Norway acts as a facilitator, and the possible interests it has in doing so, apart from the goal of peace itself. Second, is the practical reason of the author's knowledge of the three languages relevant for this research (English, Spanish, and Norwegian), which is a valuable asset in terms of good understanding of the information from primary and secondary sources written in the three languages. This is an advantage in the research, as it allows cross-checking of information, and offers a broader perspective on the topic. 2. NORWAY AS A PEACEBUILDING NATIONScholars offer several explanations of Norway's involvement in peace processes arising from international conflicts. The result of a pragmatic foreign policy, it combines idealist and realist elements in a seemingly contradictory policy which, in fact, accommodates different domestic interests and maintains inter-party foreign policy consensus (Riste, 2001; Ekengren, 2022).From a constructivist perspective, the notion of Norway as a nation for peace partly comes from its conception of its role as a small, rich, peaceful state, with a clear focus on human rights and humanitarian assistance (Leira et al., 2007). While it is true that the so-called value-oriented (idealist) diplomacy wasstrengthened, above all in the 1990s, with the increased involvement of Norway in several peace processes, its self-image as a peacebuilding nation has always been present (Leira, 2015). The Norwegian peace activist and later Foreign Affairs Minister, Halvdan Koht (1873-1965), argued in 1902 that, although the fact of its being a small state could limit its flexibility in foreign policy actions, Norway could and should secure its status by promoting peace and development. More than 80 years later, in 1989, Jan Egeland, who would become State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 1997, argued that a small, rich country like Norway could be more effective in promoting human rights and peace than old colonial powers or superpowers with their historical baggage and policies based on self-interest and dominance (Sørbø, 2018).Moreover, the notion of status, which is closely linked with the concept of identity, has been prominent in Norway since the nation's beginnings. Leira (2015) describes the pursuit of status as a peace-making nation in the 19th and early 20th century as a way of achieving independence (through moral authority), a means of saving money (as the policy for peace was cheaper than power politics), and as sound realpolitik for a small state. He also refers to the words of Ole Jacob Broch in 1864 when he argued that, when small states need to "engage in the strife of other states", they should do it decisively because, "for them, honour and prestige are even more important than for the greater powers" (Broch cited in Leira 2015, p.22).The role performance of Norway, or itsbehaviour with, and approach to foreign policy actions is, according to Gulbrandsen (2022), influenced by the logic of appropriateness (March & Olsen, 1998), dictated by the image the state has of itself, and constituting a basis for adopting a role in any specific context. In Holsti's view (1970), the main explanation for the role performance of a state arises from policy makers' conceptions of the role of the nation in a system (National Role Conception), but adoption of a role is also influenced by what he calls role prescriptions, which come from the external environment. In this case, if the Norwegian government and the Norwegian people have an image of Norway as a nation for peace, and if the external image they project in other countries is also that of a nation for peace, the logic of appropriateness and the role prescription will dictate that Norway will have to behave as a nation for peace, and thus engage in peacebuilding policy.For Skånland (2010) the Norwegian involvement in peace processes is the result of a discursive construction, amplified by the media, above all after 1993. Media coverage of the Norwegian involvement in the Middle East peace process gave a very positive picture of Norway in general, an image that was strengthened thanks to the perceived successes in the peace processes of Sri Lanka, Guatemala, and Mali. All this crystallised into three main discursive constructions: (1) the decisive significance of the Norwegian contribution for the outcome of peace processes, (2) the importance of peace promotion as a foreign policy tool, and (3) Norway's distinctive approach for peace promotion.Other authors emphasise Norway's peace engagement efforts from a more realist perspective and, in particular, as a policy instrument in its own right (Touval, 2003). Some, like Matlary (2002) argue that mediation is used as an institutionalised strategy for dealing with some of the challenges of being a small state, as well as for promoting Norway's interests in the international arena, and having some influence in international relations. As Stokke (2014) notes, although it has a small population, Norway has a disproportionate importance in other areas (fishing, oil and gas, shipping etc.), thus implying interests beyond its borders as well as influence in other domains because of this prominence. According to Matlary (2002), some Norwegian interestsidentified from a realpolitik standpoint are security (addressed through NATO), economic interests vis-à-vis the EU, access to political decision-making power in the EU and, outside the West, considerable economic interests in oil prices and oil export. Matlary, who collected data through a series of anonymous interviews with diplomats and politicians, alludes to the effects of value-oriented diplomacy in matters of matters and concludes that, apart from a good image and profile, what value-oriented diplomacy provides is access to other arenas where one needs the best possible entry. Her interviewees referred, above all, to access to the leaders of the U.S. Department of State through the policy of peace engagement, especially in the Middle East and, to a much lesser extent, to leaders of EU states. However, she says, it was difficult to collect specific insights into the effects of such access, a perspective shared by Stokke (2010, p.166) who argues that "the extent and manner in which recognition is translated into international influence is complex and may vary from one policy field to another and between different arenas of international relations. This means that it is notoriously difficult to detect and measure the direct benefits from peace engagement". Finally, another interesting perspective is that provided by Neumann (2011). For him, the peace and reconciliation efforts of medium and small countries are a means to maintain a system with which they are reasonably satisfied, because they are not as well equipped as bigger powers to deal with other (more violent) types of conflict resolution methods, and he refers specifically to the institutionalisation of peace and reconciliation efforts by Norway.To conclude, Norway's peacebuilding policy may be understood as apparently idealist (value-oriented diplomacy) and based on a self-image as a nation for peace, which includes both idealist (moral responsibility) and realist (influence in the international arena and security) motivations. Until now, there have been no major conflicts between those two angles (Stokke, 2014), but in an increasingly polarised world, it is becoming more and more difficult for Norway to maintain a balanced policy in peacebuilding processes. 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKThis study draws on the theory of constructivism to explain Norway's national role conception and considers the notions of idealism and realism to explain mediation as its foreign policy. A theoretical framework based on such apparently antagonistic ideas is, perhaps, not very common but, as Barkin (2003) puts it, a constructivist epistemology and a classical realist theory are, in fact, compatible and, moreover, this kind of framework can be useful in International Relations (IR) theory, as it can specify the relationship between the study of power in IR and the study of IR as social constructions. Indeed, constructivism and perceptions can—and are—often applied to fulfil or justify realist objectives and policies.For the purposes of this study, I consider that mediation as foreign policy is a result of idealist (value-oriented) and realist (power) motivations arising from a constructed national identity and role conception.3.1. Constructivism and national role conceptionFor Barnett (2018), constructivism as an international relations social theory is "concerned about how to conceptualise the relationship between agents and structures, but it is not a substantive theory" (p.88). The basic premise is that the world is socially constructed, which means that "social reality is a product of human consciousness. Consciousness is created and constituted through knowledge that shapes meaning and categories of understanding and action; such knowledge and meanings can be institutionalised in social life; and this institutionalisation, in turn, shapes the construction of social reality" (p.88). These categories shape not only external reality but also its actors, which is an indicator of the importance of the social construction of interests and identity. For example, Norway's identity may shape its national interests, and one of those interests might be security, but the concept of security and how it can be achieved may be linked to Norway's identity.National Role Conceptions, a concept first developed by Holsti (1970), is defined as "the policymakers' own definitions of the general kinds of decisions, commitments, rules, and actions suitable to their state, and of the functions, if any, their state should perform [...] in the international system" (p. 245-246). These are, as mentioned in section 2, the main explanation for the role performance of a state, understood by Holsti as the "general policy behaviour of governments" (p. 245). Role performance is also influenced by what he calls role prescriptions, which come from the external environment and have, as some of their sources, system-wide values, the structure of the international system, and the traditions, rules and expectations of states expressed through various legal instruments (p. 246).The notion of national role conception is related to that of politics of identity, which, in Aggestam's words (1999), is a set of ideas that policymakers use to create a sense of solidarity and cohesion and thus to legitimise general trust in a nation's foreign policy. She argues that speeches sometimes reveal subjective we-feelings of a cultural community related to territory, myths, rituals, institutions, and customs, and she refers to the "institutionalisation" of national identity, which makes identity constructions relatively resistant to change. Moreover, citing March & Olsen (1998), she indicates that certain practices and rules of behaviour that legitimise and explain specific identity constructions are reinforced by such institutionalisation.The starting point of the present study is, therefore, the idea that Norway's national role conception is that of a small, rich, peaceful, democratic state, whose official discourse in peace engagement, especially since the 1990s, emphasises its altruistic contribution as a "peaceful nation that has the values, competences and economic resources" for such an endeavour, but whose work is also "beneficial for Norway's own interests" (Stokke, 2014, p.8).3.2. Idealism, realism, and mediation as foreign policyThere is no generally accepted definition of idealism because there is no settled ontology of the term but, according to Wilson (2012), it generally refers to any goal, idea, or practice that is considered impractical from a state perspective, for example the prohibition and disarmament of nuclear weapons, or global eradication of poverty. In IR it is normally used in both the broad and narrow senses. Broadly speaking, idealism seeks to transcend anarchy to create a more harmonious world order while, in the narrow sense, it is a doctrine tied to the inter-war period (1919-1939) and seen as emphasising the growing interdependence of mankind. I shall focus on the first meaning, which refers to "an approach to international politics that seeks to advance certain ideals or moral goals, for example, making the world a more peaceful or just place" (Wilson, 2019).Realism is a substantive theory of IR that considers states to be the main actors in the international arena, and mainly concerned with the pursuit of their own national interests, security, and struggle for power. Realists view the international arena as a sphere without justice, and with active or potential conflict among its members. They show scepticism about the relevance of ethical norms (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2017). This theory has a variety of ramifications but in this study I consider, first and foremost, classical realism because, although idealism is usually heavily criticised by realists, according to Barkin (2003), classical realism perceives the art of international politics as "the practical balancing of the demands of power on the one hand and morality on the other—a dialectic between power and morality [...]. Idealism, for the classical realist, is necessary to inform our actions and underlie our interests in the pursuit of international politics, but realism will always remain a necessary part of relations among states" (p.333). Also relevant is the perspective of neoclassical realism because, while classical realism focuses on the system-level factors, neoclassical realism considers domestic-level factors as variables that can shape foreign policy, which is highly pertinent if NRC theory is used to explain Norway's behaviour in the international arena. Neoclassical realism considers that "objective reality exists, but decision making is impaired by uncertainty and the complexity of the environment" (Rathbun, 2008, p.296).According to Touval (2003), mediation as foreign policy needs to be understood as a policy instrument, as distinct from mediation theory. He argues that it derives from the mediator's perception of the international system, its foreign policy objectives and strategies, and domestic needs. I would also argue that it stems from the mediator's own national role conception and self-perception. Touval (2003) considers that ending a conflict is no longer the main concern of the mediating state, but only a part of a broadly conceived foreign policy as the mediation is also shaped by affairs that are external to the conflict. He highlights three issues arising from a state's international and domestic concerns: (1) mediation is perceived by the public and the officials engaged in it as a moral obligation, which is seldom criticised; (2) foreign and domestic motivations, apart from being an incentive for states to engage in mediation, also shape their strategies and tactics of the mediation; (3) the mediation is evaluated not only in terms of settlement of a dispute, but also the primary goals motivating the mediation. Beriker (2017) offers an expanded perspective of Touval's work, arguing that once mediation is proven to be a viable foreign policy tool, engaging in mediation enables medium-sized powers to create a political space that otherwise would not be available. 4. METHODOLOGYThis study is both descriptive and explanatory, as it inquires more deeply into the events as well as exploring why and how Norway became involved in the Venezuela peace process from 2017 to May 2023. In a deductive approach, existing theories —NRC, mediation as foreign policy, idealism, and realism— are drawn on to explain Norway's behaviour in its peacebuilding policy. The epistemology used is empiricism, since the focus is explanation rather than interpretation, and the ontology is pragmatist because, while the world is understood as existing independently from social actors, the influence of these actors to shape social realities should also be taken into account, together with the fact that, in some cases, this may affect realities existing independently of them.The methods are qualitative, as information provided with quantitative methods would be too superficial for a study that seeks to determine the existence and the characteristics of Norway's engagement in the Venezuelan peace process. The analysis is primarily based on a range of online primary and secondary sources, including government reports, memorandums of understanding, recorded interviews, articles, and academic publications. I consulted these sources, first, for better understanding of the issues and to organise this material around the research question, as well as to identify possible gaps of knowledge. I then conducted semi-structured interviews, with an official from the Norwegian MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and a Norwegian academic, to fill some of the previously identified knowledge gaps, to record their perceptions, and to triangulate the documentary information thus gathered.The first interview, conducted by videoconference on 2 August 2023, was with Professor Benedicte Bull, from the University of Oslo and, inter alia, president of the Nordic Institute for Latin American Studies, whose research has been focused on Venezuela in recent years. The second was with David C. Jourdan, who coordinates the Norwegian MFA's facilitation team in the Venezuelan peace process. This interview was conducted in Oslo on 8 August 2023. Both Bull and Jourdan have given their consent to use their names in the present study. NOREF was also contacted but stated that it could not give interviews on the Venezuelan peace process. 5. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION5.1. Norwegian involvement in the Venezuelan peace processNo official documentary information about the specific manner Norway engaged in the Venezuela conflict during 2017 and 2018 has been found, apart from the mere fact stated in the NOREF website that it was engaged in talks on the conflict in those years. According to its strategic plan 2019-2023, NOREF is a "non-state actor that is able to complement formal Norwegian peacemaking efforts [... and] build directly on the Norwegian tradition of informal conflict resolution". This makes it possible "to support formal peace processes (track I), and informal back-channel conflict diplomacy (track 1.5 and 2)" (NOREF, 2019). This institution has a permanent staff of professionals, experts in conflict resolution, and is governed by a board whose director is appointed by the Norwegian MFA, and whose members come, in general, from different areas of the public sector. In the interview with David C. Jourdan of the Norwegian MFA (2023), he confirmed that NOREF's engagement consists of track 2 approaches. Moreover, he stressed that, although NOREF receives public funds and works closely with the Norwegian state, it is a separate, independent institution. Norway's involvement in the peace process after 2019, when it became public, is described in some detail below. 2019: the first official talksAccording to the Norwegian MFA (2023), Norway has been involved in Venezuela since 2018. However, it was only in May 2019 that talks between the Venezuelan parties, facilitated by Norway, first became public. In this early stage, the negotiations between the delegations of Nicolás Maduro and Juan Guaidó lasted until August 2019, and although significant progress was made, no agreements for solving the political conflict were reached. However, the Norwegian MFA (2023) stresses that these negotiations were a stepping-stone for further talks between the parties, which signed a collaboration agreement in June 2020, with the objective of using frozen funds in the U.S. for a joint response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with support from the Pan American Health Organisation. Several newspaper articles describing the negotiations during that year provide additional information that has been used in this study.In May 2019, Juan Guaidó sent a delegation to Oslo to participate in exploratory talks with representatives of Maduro's government to try to find a solution to the political crisis the country had faced since Guaidó declared himself acting president of Venezuela at the beginning of that year (NRK, 2019a), information that was confirmed by Jorge Valero, Venezuela's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, and the UN spokesperson in New York, Stephane Dujarric. The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) reported the talks for the first time on 15 May but, according to an anonymous source, this was the second time that the parties had been in Oslo, and negotiations had previously been taking place in Cuba.Shortly afterwards, on the night between 16 and 17 May, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press release confirming that there had been contacts between key political actors in Venezuela as a part of an exploratory phase aiming to find a solution to the country's situation. The Maduro government representatives present at the talks were Héctor Rodríguez, governor of the province of Miranda, and Jorge Rodríguez, minister of Communication. The opposition representatives were Gerardo Blyde, member of parliament, and Fernando Martínez Mattola, who had been minister during the government of President Carlos Andrés Pérez.In the last week of May 2019, the Norwegian minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the parties would travel again to Oslo during the following week to continue with the process (NRK, 2019b). Almost at the same time, Juan Guaidó insisted that the meetings in Oslo were not part of a dialogue or negotiation, but a mediation in Norway (El Nacional, 2019). According to Voice of America/Voz de América (VOA) (2019a), Nicolás Maduro appeared a few days later on the Venezuelan public TV channel after the opposition declared that the conversations in Oslo that week had ended on 29 May without any agreement being reached. Maduro stated that conversations had been taking place in secret during the three previous months, that he was proud of his delegation, and that dialogue with the opposition had been constructive. Moreover, he insisted on his wish to find a peaceful solution for Venezuela. Indeed, VOA pointed out that Dag Nylander, a Norwegian diplomat who would become chief facilitator of the Venezuelan peace process, had been travelling to Caracas and meeting with the political actors involved in the crisis since January 2019.The peace talks resumed one month later in Barbados. On 11 July 2019, after three days of conversations, Norway announced that the negotiations would continue (Reuters, 2019). Yet, only a few weeks later, the Maduro government withdrew from the talks when the U.S. president, Donald Trump, announced his decision to block U.S. citizens from engaging in business in Venezuela and to freeze the country's assets in the U.S. According to the Venezuelan government, this had been instigated by Juan Guaidó, while the opposition accused the government of reneging on its commitment to dialogue. Norway's facilitator, Dag Nylander, took note that the planned meetings would not take place and emphasised Norway's role as a facilitator acting at the request of the parties and planning the meetings according to their availability. He added that the facilitation process would continue as long as the parties wished, and provided that there was a realistic position on a solution in the best interests of the Venezuelan people (VG, 2019).According to Bull (2023), Norway, as the facilitating country, was displeased when the talks went public in May, believing that this was premature and that it would complicate the peace process. She also stresses that the Trump administration had no clear strategy for ending the conflict and that, when the U.S. sanctions were announced, there had not been any proper coordination with Norway. She also notes that mentions of the U.S. seem to refer to a single homogeneous actor, when the reality is that there are many actors involved, among them the Pentagon and the Department of State, and these actors may work in different directions, sometimes disrupting a given policy. The Norwegian MFA (2023) confirms it was not aware of the U.S. sanctions that were announced in early August 2019. Both parties and facilitator were taken by surprise.2021: The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and negotiation rounds in MexicoA year and a half later, in March 2021, new exploratory talks began after the Biden administration's position on Venezuela allowed the parties to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which led to the launch of a new negotiation process, starting in August that year. On 5 August, the Mexican President, Manuel López Obrador confirmed that Mexico would host talks between the government of Venezuela and the opposition (Reuters, 2021) and, a few days later, the Norwegian government confirmed its involvement with a tweet (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2021a). The new negotiation process was launched in Mexico City on 13 August, with Dag Nylander as chief facilitator, Jorge Rodríguez representing the Venezuelan (Maduro's) government, and Gerardo Blyde representing the Unitary Platform (the opposition). A MoU —which I refer to in more detail in section 5.3— was released, defining the objective, agenda, method, and composition of the negotiation team. The Norwegian minister of Foreign Affairs, Ine Eriksen Søreide, declared in a press note that the parties were ready to negotiate constructively and that, in the process, they would consult members of civil society as well as political actors. She also noted that there was mutual agreement on the sensitive nature of the negotiations, which was necessary for giving the parties space to make progress (Norwegian MFA 2021b).A second round of negotiations took place at the beginning of September 2021. The parties released a joint statement reporting that two agreements had been reached, the first being to act jointly in the claim of Venezuelan sovereignty over Guyana Esequiba, and the second, a "partial agreement on the social protection of the Venezuelan people". The parties conveyed that the points to be addressed in the following round of negotiations would be "respect for the Constitutional Rule of Law", protection of the national economy, and measures for the social protection of the Venezuelan people.Between the second and the third rounds of negotiation, Erna Solberg, the Norwegian Prime Minister, spoke at the UN General Assembly on 21 September, referring to Venezuela as a country where human right violations were occurring. Her comment was criticised by Dag Nylander as it could, he said, damage the credibility of Norway's role. In a tweet on 25 September, the MFA reaffirmed its commitment as an impartial facilitator in the negotiations and declared that the statement in the UN should not be interpreted as being inconsistent with that (NRK, 2021). The Venezuelan government responded to this diplomatic hitch with a slight delay in proceedings when its representatives arrived one day late at the negotiation round scheduled in Mexico from 24 to 27 September, but which finally took place after 25 September (Euronews, 2021).After this third round of negotiations, the parties released a new joint statement, focused this time on the issue of inclusion and, specifically, on the need for a gender focus in the negotiations, identification of inclusive consultation mechanisms for political and social actors, and condemnation of xenophobic attacks on Venezuelan migrants that had recently occurred in Chile. According to an article by Diego Santander in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo (2021), this third round was so fraught with problems that no specific agreements were reached. Maduro's delegation insisted on its plans to include Alex Saab in the negotiation. Saab, a Venezuelan businessman, was accused of being Maduro's front man, and a key figure in the international economic and financial activities to circumvent the U.S. economic sanctions against his government. However, Saab had been arrested for money laundering in June 2020 in Cabo Verde and was extradited to the U.S. on the weekend of October 16.Negotiations, set for 17 October, were suspended on 16 October when the Maduro government decided not to participate in the next round of negotiations, because of Saab's extradition, which Jorge Rodríguez referred to as a "kidnapping" as it had been carried out "without a warrant and without due process" and accused the U.S. of trying to prevent the dialogue (Gilbert, 2021). The Norwegian government then tweeted that it was still convinced that the negotiations were the only solution for Venezuela, and that it would keep working to encourage the parties to continue (Norwegian MFA, 2021c). In Bull's opinion (2023), while the U.S. system may have its faults, the legal proceedings are independent from political powers so, on that occasion, there was little that U.S. politicians could do to stop the extradition.2022 — 2023: talks after the beginning of the war in UkraineIn March 2022, a new chapter of the dialogue began after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A U.S. delegation formed by members of the Department of State visited Caracas to meet with the Venezuelan government and discuss an eventual isolation of Vladimir Putin. Some analysts also indicated that Venezuela was seen as a possible alternative oil supplier if the U.S. opted to restrict oil exports from Russia, which meant that removal of the sanctions on Venezuela could be considered (VOA, 2022a). Indeed, in May 2022, the U.S. announced that economic sanctions against Venezuela would be eased as a gesture in favour of reactivating the dialogues and also allowing the U.S. company Chevron to negotiate potential future activities with the state-owned oil and natural gas company PDVSA (Agobian, 2022). According to the Norwegian MFA (2023), these actions were a catalyst for the reactivation of the negotiations.Immediately after the announcement, Jorge Rodríguez and Gerardo Blyde met to discuss renewal of the talks (Ocando Alex, 2022a) but, by the end of May, according to Reuters, the Venezuelan government had demanded the withdrawal of Norway as a facilitator, and the presence of Russia (formally an accompanying country in the negotiations after 2021) as conditions for reactivating the negotiations. However, convinced that the Norwegians were their only guarantee for a successful process, the opposition disagreed (Oré, 2022). Bull (2023) specifies that the stance of the Venezuelan government might have been because it saw Norway as taking an excessively "pro-allies" position after the start of the war in Ukraine. She adds that Norway prefers to involve Russia and other big powers in the negotiations rather than excluding them, as they would provide legitimacy to the Mexico talks as the only acceptable platform for solving the Venezuelan political crisis. When interviewed, David C. Jourdan of the Norwegian MFA (2023), made it clear that Norway was never asked to relinquish its role as facilitator. Management of the process resides with the parties, which have remained committed to the MoU that names Norway as the facilitating country.On 21 and 22 June 2022, the Norwegian government held the Oslo Forum, an annual retreat focused on conflict mediation and peace processes. Around 100 conflict mediators, experts, peace process actors, and high-level decision makers from around the world gathered at Losby Gods Manor with the goal of sharing their experience on conflict resolution and peace diplomacy (Norwegian MFA, 2022). Among the peace process actors who attended the Oslo Forum were Jorge Rodríguez and Gerardo Blyde. A Norwegian source told VOA (2022b) that it was "probable" that the conversations would be initiated again, but "not immediately".On 14 September 2022, a group of 18 countries from the Americas and Europe agreed to call upon Maduro and the opposition to urge a resumption of the negotiations in Mexico (Ocando Alex, 2022b).Official negotiations began again on 26 November 2022. This time, a joint statement was issued indicating that the main agenda of the meeting would be social protection of the people. A partial agreement was reached, in which the measures agreed upon were: 1) creation of an organism to implement specific actions and programmes for the social protection of the Venezuelan people (Mesa Nacional de Atención Social, or MNAS); 2) creation of an organism auxiliary to the MNAS to evaluate its processes and the effects of implementation of the measurements adopted; 3) definition of the social areas which, requiring the most urgent attention, needed to be addressed through specific programmes, in particular the public health system, the national electrical system, development of the World Food Programme, educational infrastructure, and rebuilding of the infrastructure damaged as a consequence of the torrential rains in the latter half of 2022; 4) requesting from the UN support for the design and creation of a fund for social support of the Venezuelan people; 5) identification of frozen assets belonging to the Venezuelan state that might be progressively accessed and incorporated into this fund; 6) creation of a commission to assess and verify implementation of the agreement.After this meeting, the negotiations stalled again when the Venezuelan government accused the opposition of not complying with the agreement reached but, mainly and above all, because the frozen US$3,000 million that were to be incorporated into the Fund for the Social Protection of the Venezuelan People had not yet been released (August 2023). According to Maduro, this was a condition sine qua non for resuming the talks. The Colombian president, Gustavo Petro, organised a conference on 25 April 2023 in Bogotá, with representatives from numerous countries to discuss the Venezuelan situation. The shared positions of the Venezuelan government and the opposition were explained to the international community, in particular regarding the removal of sanctions, free elections, and reactivation of the peace talks. One of the shared positions for renewal of the talks was that of establishing the Fund for the Social Protection of the Venezuelan People (Ramírez Vargas & Alcalde, 2023). The message that came out of the Venezuela Conference of Bogotá was very clear: the UN trust fund for Venezuela should be set up as swiftly as possible. According to a Reuters report by Spetalnik, Sequera and Armas (2023), on 19 May the Biden administration notified the UN that the money could operate within the U.S. financial system, and that there would be no risk of creditors seizing it to repay the outstanding Venezuelan debt. Accordingly, the UN-administered fund could have been operative at the end of May 2023. However, the decision to establish the trust fund ultimately lies with the UN Secretariat in New York and some insiders allude to the complexity of the process involved and stress that establishing the fund depends on a number of factors. As of late August 2023, it had not been established by the UN. 5.2. Norway's distinctive approach to peace diplomacyIn an interview for the Centre of Humanitarian Dialogue, when asked about the distinctive approach of Norwegian diplomacy in international conflicts, Dag Nylander (2020) identified four main elements: (a) collaboration with Norwegian and international NGOs, (b) low-key diplomacy, (c) long-term commitment, and (d) the ability to make quick decisions.[5] In this section, these four elements will be briefly discussed.Norway's distinctive approach to its engagement in peace processes and with non-state actors was defined after the decentralisation of its foreign policy in the early 1990s. Humanitarian assistance and development policies called for closer cooperation between the Norwegian MFA and non-governmental actors and, according to Lehti (2014), this approach was extended to the area of peace-making. In the 1990s the Ministry responded positively to proposals and initiatives from various NGOs and well-connected individuals with regard to conflictive areas. The range of actors involved in peace-making was broadened, and Norway was then able to act beyond the bounds of government-centred diplomacy with a distinctive, more informal approach to peace diplomacy. Ann Kelleher and James Taulbe (2006) refer to this approach as "Track I½ Diplomacy", understanding Track I diplomacy as that with official representatives of governments and Track II diplomacy as that involving unofficial representatives and sectors of the civil society. An important feature of the collaboration between the state, NGOs and research institutions is that it is extensively funded by the state (Bandarage, 2011). Indeed, some Norwegian NGOs receive more than 90% of their funding from the state which, in Kelleher's view (2006), almost makes them quasi-governmental organisations.As for low-key diplomacy, Nylander (2020) affirms that activities pertaining to peace diplomacy rarely appear in the news, and that they are discreet and unnoticed, often with the involvement of low-level and mid-level diplomats, an approach that allows flexibility in seeking opportunities and in dealing with problems with relative freedom.Norway's long-term commitment to peace diplomacy is based on a broad political consensus for the promotion of peace and reconciliation. Hence, changes of government will not influence the country's engagement in any given conflict. According to the MFA (2000), the goal is not only ending violence but also support for economic, social, and political processes that lead to durable liberal peace in the country concerned.Finally, the ability of Norwegian diplomats to make quick decisions stems from the smallness of the country, not only in terms of population but also social distance. Dag Nylander (2020) mentions that the distance between a diplomat in the field and the ministry of Foreign Affairs is very short, and that it takes just a quick phone call or a text message, sometimes directly to the Minister, to obtain any clearance that may be needed. 5.3 Norwegian approach to facilitation the Venezuelan peace processNorway's approach to facilitation in Venezuela is consistent with its work in other peace processes. It began with secret talks between the parties (low-key diplomacy) and then, having advanced towards a more public and official format, it was formalised with the MoU signed in Mexico on 13 August 2021. In the MoU, the parties defined the agenda and methods for the talks. David Jourdan of the Norwegian MFA (2023) highlighted the importance of this Memorandum, which contains not only the agenda and format for the negotiations, but also a shared vision of the process and the country.As for the method, it is important to mention that it is based on a "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed" principle (comprehensive approach), although partial agreements can be reached if the parties consider that a subject has been sufficiently discussed and urgent action is required. This was the case with the two partial agreements on the Guyana Esequiba, and Social Protection of the Venezuelan people signed at the end of the talks in Mexico. This approach has its advantages, such as ensuring "big picture" negotiation, but it also comes with the risk the parties can renege anytime on anything they have agreed to. It was first used in other peace processes including Britain-Ireland in 1995, Palestine-Israel, and in Cyprus and Colombia. The Norwegian MFA (2023) emphasises that understanding the needs of the parties and ensuring that they are in charge of the process, has been key to making progress throughout the negotiations. The Venezuelan conflict is political in nature and requires political solutions, and the negotiation process provides a confidential space where the two parties have an opportunity to reconcile their interests. David Jourdan, sharing the MFA's approach to the political process, points out that Norway has probably been a more active facilitator in the Venezuelan negotiations than in other peace processes.An essential point of the MoU is participation, as it establishes mechanisms of consultation for political and social actors. The aim is for the process to be as inclusive and legitimate as possible. However, there is little information available as to whether this is actually the case and David Jourdan (2023) admits that it is not yet possible to speak of results in this area.Moreover, it should be noted that the Norwegian approach to facilitation, based on discretion and confidentiality, is one thing and how the parties actually behave is quite another matter. On more than one occasion, as can be seen in several documents and declarations, the Norwegian government has emphasised the need for the parties to be careful with their public declarations. In an interview with El País in February 2023, Anniken Huitfeldt, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, wryly acknowledges an anecdote sometimes repeated by high-profile Venezuelan politicians, according to which politicians will normally control themselves in public but, in private, tell someone else what they really think but, in Venezuela, the opposite occurs: what is said in private becomes amplified in front of a microphone (Lafuente 2023). Vicente Díaz, former director of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council, who participated in the talks held in the Dominican Republic, Oslo, and Barbados says that, since the process in Mexico was "very public" (as occurred in the Dominican Republic), it created difficulties for the parties, since national and international expectations were generated, which meant that more attention was given to audiences than to the talks (openDemocracy 2022). 5.4 Norwegian interests in VenezuelaIn this section and in keeping with the theoretical framework described above, I discuss four possible reasons for Norway's mediation in the Venezuelan conflict: (a) peace and stability (value-oriented diplomacy), (b) reputation, (c) political interests, and (d) economic interests.Value-oriented diplomacy focused on peace promotion makes sense for Norway, a country whose identity as a peaceful country and peace broker has existed at least since the late 19th century. Those values are so widely embedded that a broad political consensus exists among the population over a peace promotion policy, supported institutionally and by an extensive network of non-state actors coordinated by the state. Norway's constructed identity as a peace broker (especially intensified since the 1990s) means that the country acts as such. Moreover, promotion of such values makes even more sense when security has become globalised, and when a conflict in a faraway country can have humanitarian, political, economic, and ecological consequences in distant parts of the world. In this sense, value-oriented diplomacy may acquire realist motivations although, according to Bull (2023), this is discourse that appeared, above all from the 1980s, to justify Norway's involvement in peace processes. One of its proponents was the diplomat and former Labour Party politician, Jan Egeland.Ensuring peace and stability in Venezuela could, for example, (1) help to mitigate the external displacement crisis, which mainly affects neighbouring countries like Colombia and Ecuador as well as the U.S. and others in Europe, with all the humanitarian and economic consequences for those receiving refugees; (2) ensure Venezuela's participation, as a democratic state, in international organisations, thus promoting democratic values and human rights; (3) promote social and economic development in the country, which would create value for its nationals as well as attracting international investment and; (4) finally, through social and economic development, reduce the presence of paramilitary organisations in the country, including the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN), which is involved in drug trafficking. During the interview with David Jourdan (2023), we shared these points and he replied that this may well be so, but that such possibilities could also arise as a consequence of a political settlement that includes the removal of the sanctions. He added that the main reasons for Norway's peace diplomacy are the goals of preventing and reducing human suffering, as well as contributing to peaceful societies and stability.Peace diplomacy does not give rapid results (when it actually gives results), but Norway sees it as a policy consistent with its values, and as one whose long-term effects are sufficiently relevant as to justify investment in it.When it comes to image and reputation, Norway's approach on peace has been used as a public diplomacy branding tool, together with the country's natural environment and gender equality, to solve one of the image problems of small countries: invisibility.Indeed, discretion and a low profile do not necessarily mean invisibility, and as long as the right aspects of Norway's peace diplomacy are emphasised in a public diplomacy strategy —for example its role as a facilitator, an engaged partner, and good multilateralist— the discretion that peace diplomacy requires would not be jeopardised (Leonard and Small, 2003). Success in mediation of the Venezuelan conflict would, of course, be positive for Norway's image as a peace broker, although this constructed image is also enhanced through pertinent media coverage mentioning the Norwegian involvement during the Venezuelan peace process. This can be explained by NRC theory since the Norwegian image is constructed not only through success in a certain process but also through the mediating process itself. To give one example, the Google search "peace talks Venezuela Norway" offers almost 4.85 million results, while the Spanish search with "mediación de paz Venezuela Noruega" offers 1.28 million results. Moreover, when Norway uses the word "facilitation"2 it transfers responsibility for the results to the parties, implying that it has the role of supporting and accompanying them, but it will not be responsible if the parties decide that they do not want to continue with the process. This safeguard for Norway's image as a peace broker applies to the Venezuelan case.Political influence has also been identified as one of Norway's possible interests. As Matlary (2003) notes, access to key international actors can result from Norway's engagement in peace processes, including in the case of Venezuela, especially in a context of international energy insecurity, and political tensions due to the high-profile conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In my interview with David Jourdain (2023), "close dialogue with key international stakeholders" together with increased political capital were mentioned as benefits that Norway could reap by engaging in Venezuela. He also pointed out that one of the key features of this conflict is the importance of the U.S. as an actor with the capacity to contribute to the outcome of the peace process.The U.S. is now particularly concerned to find new energy suppliers, and ensuring political stability in Venezuela could provide international legitimacy for oil and gas transactions with its government. Giovanna de Michele, internationalist lecturer at the Central University of Venezuela, told VOA that the best way to extract oil from Venezuela would be through U.S. companies, but the sanctions would have to be eased if this was to happen (Ramírez Vargas & Alcalde 2023). Norway offers an internationally recognised platform for making this possible: the talks in Mexico. It could therefore be a key actor in helping to resolve the political crisis in Venezuela while also supporting an ally, which would contribute to its status as a reliable partner of the U.S. However, as Matlary notes, it is difficult to quantify or define the scope of the access Norway gleans from its peace policy.Finally, with regard to economic interests, there are currently no Norwegian state-owned companies operating in Venezuela, although they can be represented through the investments of the Norwegian National Pension Fund3 in foreign companies that do operate in the country, for example, some Colombian companies, among them Bancolombia, Banco Popular, Banco Davivienda, and Cementos Argos. And, at the beginning of 2023, Ecopetrol, which is financed by Norfund, asked the U.S. for permission to negotiate with the state-owned company PDVSA to explore gas imports from Venezuela to Colombia (Quesada 2023). Among Norwegian investments in the U.S. are Chevron and Occidental Petroleum Corp, and the U.S. has recently given permission to Chevron to negotiate with the PDVSA and, at the end of 2022, a United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) court found that Venezuela was liable for discriminatory conduct in its payment of dividends from an oil and gas venture and ordered Venezuela to pay US$105 million to a Barbadian subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corp (Ballantyne 2022). If an improved political situation in Venezuela increases the revenues of these companies, it could also be positive for Norwegian investments.It should be added that, until 2021, Statoil (later Equinor), the national oil company of Norway, was present in Venezuela where it invested more than one billion dollars between 1995 and 2013 and participated in the Sincor heavy crude oil project with Total and PDVSA. However, due to concerns about the workforce and practical difficulties, Equinor pulled out of the project and transferred its 9.67% participation to CVP, a subsidiary of PDVSA, although it did keep its 51% stake in the exploration license of block 4 on Plataforma Deltana off Cocuina(Øye Gjerde, n.d.). Accordingly, Equinor participation in Venezuela is currently on hold but a greater presence in Venezuela of Norwegian companies, in particular from the oil and gas sector is possible if the country's situation improves.To sum up, although economic links between Norway and Venezuela do exist, they would seem to be limited and not sufficient to explain Norway's participation as a facilitator in the Venezuelan peace process. 6. CONCLUSIONSThe core question of this study is why and how does Norway facilitate the Venezuela peace talks? The results suggest that, for Norway as a facilitator of the Venezuelan peace process, the main goals of mediation-as-foreign-policy are humanitarian, security (better understood as promoting stability in the region), projection of its image as a peaceful nation and a peacemaker, and of its status vis-à-vis key international actors (especially the U.S.).All these goals can be explained through the Holsti's theory of National Role Conceptions (NRC) and Norway's own role prescription as a small, democratic, and peaceful nation, which means it would promote these values through altruistic (idealist) and non-altruistic (realist) actions and perspectives.Interestingly, economic factors do not seem to play a major role as a mediation-as-foreign-policy objective. The economic ties between Norway and Venezuela are presently not significant and, thanks to the diversification of the investment portfolio of the Norwegian National Pension Fund, Venezuela only represents a very small part of Norwegian economic interests.It is therefore relevant to consider the importance of constructivist aspects such as national values and self-conception in shaping the foreign policy of small countries, despite the apparent predominance of realpolitik aspects in an international context of increasing competition. These constructivist aspects offer key information for understanding and explaining the behaviour of small countries and should not be overlooked.Besides, it is worth reflecting on the definition of a mediation success in real, and in mediation-as-foreign policy terms. In the real sense, mediation is successful when it produces long-term reconciliation between the parties, in the eyes of a domestic audience while, for an audience external to the conflict, mediation may be successful simply when a peace agreement between the parties is signed. Meanwhile, for the mediating country or its allies, a mediation is deemed effective when foreign policy objectives are achieved. The approach used by Norwegian mediators in the Venezuelan process is similar to that of previous peace processes. It starts with the organisation of secret meetings and then advances towards a more public and official format. However, some distinctive traits of this peace process have been (1) a somewhat more active role of Norway as a facilitator when compared to other peace processes, (2) the weighty influence of the U.S. in causing setbacks or advances in the negotiations , and (3) premature publicity of this process, when the parties have been too eager to share their views with the press and the public, which may have been an obstacle for achieving progress. Despite these challenges, as of November 2023, Norway has continued to honour its long-term commitment to achieving a peaceful solution to the Venezuelan conflict.This study has created a first timeline of the Norwegian involvement in the Venezuelan peace process by means of consulting information in primary and secondary sources and, when relevant, adding further details obtained in interviews with two experts. This timeline provides an overview of the main milestones of the peace process while highlighting Norway's role as a facilitating country. Possible reasons for its engagement in the Venezuelan peace process have been identified. At a tactical level, the moral and security elements seem to be a high priority for people working in the field. These actors have considerable expertise in conflict resolution and perform their duties diligently. At a more strategic and state-centred level, besides the moral and security components, attention is given to building political capital by means of offering an attractive image to international stakeholders, especially close allies like the U.S. This is, therefore, an excellent example of the importance of peace diplomacy as a soft power tool for a middle-level country like Norway.The limits of the study arise from the nature of an ongoing mediation process. Since silence sometimes carries more weight than words and as discretion is necessary for the process to move forward, only limited information could be directly obtained from relevant actors in the peace talks. In terms of Norway's interests in certain areas, the limits of qualitative methods have not allowed quantification of the importance of each of these interests. The aim of the interviews was to obtain in-depth information that could confirm that such interests exist, and to provide distinctive details that might enrich knowledge of this peace process, rather than quantifying the results. Finally, now that Norway's possible interests as a facilitator have been identified, future research could be addressed at quantifying the weight of each of them in Norway's peacebuilding policy over the last two decades. 7. ReferencesAggestam, Lisbeth. "Role Conceptions and the Politics of Identity in Foreign Policy". ARENA Center for European Studies Working Paper, vol. 99/8 (1999). 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"Idealism in international relations" in: Dowding, Keith (ed.) Encyclopedia of Power, Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, p. 332-333.Notes:1- Originally consisting of 12 Latin American nations and formally created on 8 August 2017, the Lima Group is a multilateral body whose goal is to explore mechanisms for a peaceful solution to the political crisis in Venezuela and restoration of a democratic order (Government of Colombia 2017).2- In this study, I use the terms "mediation" and "facilitation" interchangeably. However, mediation normally involves a formal mandate from the parties of a conflict, covering involvement in both the substance and process of the negotiation, while a facilitator is less directive (Greminger 2007).3- The Norwegian National Pension Fund, the world's largest sovereign fund, has investments in over 9,000 companies in 70 countries (Oljefondet n.d.).Key words: Venezuela, Norway, national role conception, mediation, peacebuilding, foreign policy, conflict resolution

Daniel Deudney on Mixed Ontology, Planetary Geopolitics, and Republican Greenpeace



This is the second in a series of Talks dedicated to the technopolitics of International Relations, linked to the forthcoming double volume 'The Global Politics of Science and Technology' edited by Maximilian Mayer, Mariana Carpes, and Ruth Knoblich 






World politics increasingly abrasions with the limits of state-centric thinking, faced as the world is with a set of issues that affect not only us collectively as mankind, but also the planet itself. While much of IR theorizing seems to shirk such realizations, the work of Daniel Deudney has consistently engaged with the complex problems engendered by the entanglements of nuclear weapons, the planetary environment, space exploration, and the kind of political associations that might help us to grapple with our fragile condition as humanity-in-the world. In this elaborate Talk, Deudney—amongst others—lays out his understanding of the fundamental forces that drive both planetary political progress and problems; discusses the kind of ontological position needed to appreciate these problems; and argues for the merits of a republican greenpeace model to political organization.





Print version of this Talk (pdf)







What is, according to you, the biggest challenge / principal debate in current IR? What is your position or answer to this challenge / in this debate?



The study of politics is the study of human politics and the human situation has been—and is being—radically altered by changes in the human relationships with the natural and material worlds. In my view, this means IR and related intellectual disciplines should focus on better understanding the emergence of the 'global' and the 'planetary,' their implications for the overall human world and its innumerable sub-worlds, and their relations with the realization of basic human needs. The global and the planetary certainly don't comprise all of the human situation, but the fact that the human situation has become global and planetary touches every other facet of the human situation, sometimes in fundamental ways. The simple story is that the human world is now 'global and planetary' due to the explosive transformation over the last several centuries of science-based technology occurring within the geophysical and biophysical features of planet Earth. The natural Earth and its relationship with humans have been massively altered by the vast amplifications in dispersed human agency produced by the emergence and spread of machine-based civilization. The overall result of these changes has been the emergence of a global- and planetary-scale material and social reality that is in some ways similar, but in other important ways radically different, from earlier times. Practices and structures inherited from the pre-global human worlds have not adequately been adjusted to take the new human planetary situation into account and their persistence casts a long and partially dark shadow over the human prospect.



A global and planetary focus is also justified—urgently—by the fact that the overall human prospect on this planet, and the fate of much additional life on this planet, is increasingly dependent on the development and employment of new social arrangements for interacting with these novel configurations of material and natural possibilities and limits. Human agency is now situated, and is making vastly fateful choices—for better or worse—in a sprawling, vastly complex aggregation of human-machine-nature assemblies which is our world. The 'fate of the earth' now partly hinges on human choices, and helping to make sure these choices are appropriate ones should be the paramount objective of political scientific and theoretical efforts. However, no one discipline or approach is sufficient to grapple successfully with this topic. All disciplines are necessary. But there are good reasons to believe that 'IR' and related disciplines have a particularly important possible practical role to play. (I am also among those who prefer 'global studies' as a label for the enterprise of answering questions that cut across and significantly subsume both the 'international' and the 'domestic.')



My approach to grappling with this topic is situated—like the work of now vast numbers of other IR theorists and researchers of many disciplines—in the study of 'globalization.' The now widely held starting point for this intellectual effort is the realization that globalization has been the dominant pattern or phenomenon, the story of stories, over at least the last five centuries. Globalization has been occurring in military, ecological, cultural, and economic affairs. And I emphasize—like many, but not all, analysts of globalization—that the processes of globalization are essentially dependent on new machines, apparatuses, and technologies which humans have fabricated and deployed. Our world is global because of the astounding capabilities of machine civilization. This startling transformation of human choice by technological advance is centrally about politics because it is centrally about changes in power. Part of this power story has been about changes in the scope and forms of domination. Globalization has been, to state the point mildly, 'uneven,' marked by amplifications of violence and domination and predation on larger and wider scales. Another part of the story of the power transformation has been the creation of a world marked by high degrees of interdependence, interaction, speed, and complexity. These processes of globalization and the transformation of machine capabilities are not stopping or slowing down but are accelerating. Thus, I argue that 'bounding power'—the growth, at times by breathtaking leaps, of human capabilities to do things—is now a fundamental feature of the human world, and understanding its implications should, in my view, be a central activity for IR scholars.



In addressing the topic of machine civilization and its globalization on Earth, my thinking has been centered first around the developing of 'geopolitical' lines argument to construct a theory of 'planetary geopolitics'. 'Geopolitics' is the study of geography, ecology, technology, and the earth, and space and place, and their interaction with politics. The starting point for geopolitical analysis is accurate mapping. Not too many IR scholars think of themselves as doing 'geography' in any form. In part this results from of the unfortunate segregation of 'geography' into a separate academic discipline, very little of which is concerned with politics. Many also mistake the overall project of 'geopolitics' with the ideas, and egregious mistakes and political limitations, of many self-described 'geopoliticans' who are typically arch-realists, strong nationalists, and imperialists. Everyone pays general lip service to the importance of technology, but little interaction occurs between IR and 'technology studies' and most IR scholars are happy to treat such matters as 'technical' or non-political in character. Despite this general theoretical neglect, many geographic and technological factors routinely pop into arguments in political science and political theory, and play important roles in them.



Thinking about the global and planetary through the lens of a fuller geopolitics is appealing to me because it is the human relationship with the material world and the Earth that has been changed with the human world's globalization. Furthermore, much of the actual agendas of movements for peace, arms control, and sustainability are essentially about alternative ways of ordering the material world and our relations with it. Given this, I find an approach that thinks systematically about the relations between patterns of materiality and different political forms is particularly well-suited to provide insights of practical value for these efforts.



The other key focus of my research has been around extending a variety of broadly 'republican' political insights for a cluster of contemporary practical projects for peace, arms control, and environmental stewardship ('greenpeace'). Even more than 'geopolitics,' 'republicanism' is a term with too many associations and meanings. By republics I mean political associations based on popular sovereignty and marked by mutual limitations, that is, by 'bounding power'—the restraint of power, particularly violent power—in the interests of the people generally. Assuming that security from the application of violence to bodies is a primary (but not sole) task of political association, how do republican political arrangements achieve this end? I argue that the character and scope of power restraint arrangements that actually serve the fundamental security interests of its popular sovereign varies in significant ways in different material contexts.



Republicanism is first and foremost a domestic form, centered upon the successive spatial expansion of domestic-like realms, and the pursuit of a constant political project of maximally feasible ordered freedom in changed spatial and material circumstances. I find thinking about our global and planetary human situation from the perspective of republicanism appealing because the human global and planetary situation has traits—most notably high levels of interdependence, interaction, practical speed, and complexity—that make it resemble our historical experience of 'domestic' and 'municipal' realms. Thinking with a geopolitically grounded republicanism offers insights about global governance very different from the insights generated within the political conceptual universe of hierarchical, imperial, and state-centered political forms. Thus planetary geopolitics and republicanism offers a perspective on what it means to 'Think Globally and Act Locally.' If we think of, or rather recognize, the planet as our locality, and then act as if the Earth is our locality, then we are likely to end up doing various approximations of the best-practice republican forms that we have successfully developed in our historically smaller domestic localities.





How did you arrive at where you currently are in IR?



Like anybody else, the formative events in my intellectual development have been shaped by the thick particularities of time and place. 'The boy is the father of the man,' as it is said. The first and most direction-setting stage in the formation of my 'green peace' research interests was when I was in 'grade school,' roughly the years from age 6-13. During these years my family lived in an extraordinary place, St Simons Island, a largely undeveloped barrier island off the coast of southern Georgia. This was an extremely cool place to be a kid. It had extensive beaches, and marshes, as well as amazing trees of gargantuan proportions. My friends and I spent much time exploring, fishing, camping out, climbing trees, and building tree houses. Many of these nature-immersion activities were spontaneous, others were in Boy Scouts. This extraordinary natural environment and the attachments I formed to it, shaped my strong tendency to see the fates of humans and nature as inescapably intertwined. But the Boy Scouts also instilled me with a sense of 'virtue ethics'. A line from the Boy Scout Handbook captures this well: 'Take a walk around your neighborhood. Make a list of what is right and wrong about it. Make a plan to fix what is not right.' This is a demotic version of Weber's political 'ethic of responsibility.' This is very different from the ethics of self-realization and self-expression that have recently gained such ground in America and elsewhere. It is now very 'politically incorrect' to think favorably of the Boy Scouts, but I believe that if the Scouting experience was universally accessible, the world would be a much improved place.



My kid-in-nature life may sound very Tom Sawyer, but it was also very Tom Swift. My friends and I spent much of our waking time reading about the technological future, and imaginatively play-acting in future worlds. This imaginative world was richly fertilized by science fiction comic books, television shows, movies, and books. Me and my friends—juvenile technological futurists and techno-nerds in a decidedly anti-intellectual culture—were avid readers of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, and Robert Heinlein, and each new issue of Analog was eagerly awaited. While we knew we were Americans, my friends and I had strong inclinations to think of ourselves most essentially as 'earthlings.' We fervently discussed extraterrestrial life and UFOs, and we eagerly awaited the day, soon to occur, we were sure, in which we made 'first contact.' We wanted to become, if not astronauts, then designers and builders of spaceships. We built tree houses, but we filled them with discarded electronics and they became starships. We rode bicycles, but we lugged about attaché cases filled with toy ray guns, transistor radios, firecrackers, and homemade incendiary devices. We built and fired off rockets, painstaking assembled plastic kit models of famous airplanes and ships, and then we would blow them apart with our explosives. The future belonged to technology, and we fancied ourselves its avant garde.



Yet the prospect of nuclear Armageddon seemed very real. We did 'duck and cover' drills at school, and sat for two terrifying weeks through the Cuban Missile Crisis. My friends and I had copies of the Atomic Energy Commission manuals on 'nuclear effects,' complete with a slide-rule like gadget that enabled us to calculate just what would happen if near-by military bases were obliterated by nuclear explosions. Few doubted that we were, in the words of a pop song, 'on the eve of destruction.' These years were also the dawning of 'the space age' in which humans were finally leaving the Earth and starting what promised to be an epic trek, utterly transformative in its effects, to the stars. My father worked for a number of these years for a large aerospace military-industrial firm, then working for NASA to build the very large rockets needed to launch men and machines to the moon and back. My friends and I debated fantastical topics, such as the pros and cons of emigrating to Mars, and how rapidly a crisis-driven exodus from the earth could be organized.



Two events that later occurred in the area where I spent my childhood served as culminating catalytic events for my greenpeace thinking. First, some years after my family moved away, the industrial facility to mix rocket fuel that had been built by the company my father worked for, and that he had helped put into operation, was struck by an extremely violent 'industrial accident,' which reduced, in one titanic flash, multi-story concrete and steel buildings filled with specialized heavy industrial machinery (and everyone in them) into a grey powdery gravel ash, no piece of which was larger than a fist. Second, during the late 1970s, the US Navy acquired a large tract of largely undeveloped marsh and land behind another barrier island (Cumberland), an area 10-15 miles from where I had lived, a place where I had camped, fished, and hunted deer. The Navy dredged and filled what was one of the most biologically fertile temperate zone estuaries on the planet. There they built the east coast base for the new fleet of Trident nuclear ballistic missile submarines, the single most potent violence machine ever built, thus turning what was for me the wildest part of my wild-encircled childhood home into one of the largest nuclear weapons complexes on earth. These events catalyzed for me the realization that there was a great struggle going on, for the Earth and for the future, and I knew firmly which side I was on.



My approach to thinking about problems was also strongly shaped by high school debate, where I learned the importance of 'looking at questions from both sides,' and from this stems my tendency to look at questions as debates between competing answers, and to focus on decisively engaging, defeating, and replacing the strongest and most influential opposing positions. As an undergraduate at Yale College, I started doing Political Theory. I am sure that I was a very vexing student in some ways, because (the debater again) I asked Marxist questions to my liberal and conservative professors, and liberal and conservative ones to my Marxist professors. Late in my sophomore year, I had my epiphany, my direction-defining moment, that my vocation would be an attempt to do the political theory of the global and the technological. Since then, the only decisions have been ones of priority and execution within this project.



Wanting to learn something about cutting-edge global and technological and issues, I next went to Washington D.C. for seven years. I worked on Capitol Hill for three and a half years as a policy aide, working on energy and conservation and renewable energy and nuclear power. I spent the other three and a half years as a Senior Researcher at the Worldwatch Institute, a small environmental and global issues think tank that was founded and headed by Lester Brown, a well-known and far-sighted globalist. I co-authored a book about renewable energy and transitions to global sustainability and wrote a study on space and space weapons. At the time I published Whole Earth Security: a Geopolitics of Peace (1983), in which my basic notions of planetary geopolitics and republicanism were first laid out. During these seven years in Washington, I also was a part-time student, earning a Master's degree in Science, Technology and Public Policy at George Washington University.



In all, these Washington experiences have been extremely valuable for my thinking. Many political scientists view public service as a low or corrupting activity, but this is, I think, very wrong-headed. The reason that the democratic world works as well as it does is because of the distributive social intelligence. But social intelligence is neither as distributed nor as intelligent as it needs to be to deal with many pressing problems. My experience as a Congressional aide taught me that most of the problems that confront my democracy are rooted in various limits and corruptions of the people. I have come to have little patience with those who say, for example, rising inequality is inherent in capital C capitalism, when the more proximate explanation is that the Reagan Republican Party was so successful in gutting the progressive tax system previously in place in the United States. Similarly, I see little value in claims, to take a very contemporary example, that 'the NSA is out of control' when this agency is doing more or less what the elected officials, responding to public pressures to provide 'national security' loudly demanded. In democracies, the people are ultimately responsible.



As I was immersed in the world of arms control and environmental activism I was impressed by the truth of Keynes's oft quoted line, about the great practical influence of the ideas of some long-dead 'academic scribbler.' This is true in varying degrees in every issue area, but in some much more than others. This reinforced my sense that great potential practical consequence of successfully innovating in the various conceptual frameworks that underpinned so many important activities. For nuclear weapons, it became clear to me that the problem was rooted in the statist and realist frames that people so automatically brought to a security question of this magnitude.



Despite the many appeals of a career in DC politics and policy, this was all for me an extended research field-trip, and so I left Washington to do a PhD—a move that mystified many of my NGO and activist friends, and seemed like utter folly to my political friends. At Princeton University, I concentrated on IR, Political Theory, and Military History and Politics, taking courses with Robert Gilpin, Richard Falk, Barry Posen, Sheldon Wolin and others. In my dissertation—entitled Global Orders: Geopolitical and Materialist Theories of the Global-Industrial Era, 1890-1945—I explored IR and related thinking about the impacts of the industrial revolution as a debate between different world order alternatives, and made arguments about the superiority of liberalist, internationalist, and globalist arguments—most notably from H.G. Wells and John Dewey—to the strong realist and imperialist ideas most commonly associated with the geopolitical writers of this period.



I also continued engaging in activist policy affiliated to the Program on Nuclear Policy Alternatives at the Center for Energy andEnvironmental Studies (CEES), which was then headed by Frank von Hippel, a physicist turned 'public interest scientist', and a towering figure in the global nuclear arms control movement. I was a Post Doc at CEES during the Gorbachev era and I went on several amazing and eye-opening trips to the Soviet Union. Continuing my space activism, I was able to organize workshops in Moscow and Washington on large-scale space cooperation, gathering together many of the key space players on both sides. While Princeton was fabulously stimulating intellectually, it was also a stressful pressure-cooker, and I maintained my sanity by making short trips, two of three weekends, over six years, to Manhattan, where I spent the days working in the main reading room of the New York Public Library and the nights partying and relaxing in a world completely detached from academic life.



When it comes to my intellectual development in terms of reading theory, the positive project I wanted to pursue was partially defined by approaches I came to reject. Perhaps most centrally, I came to reject an approach that was very intellectually powerful, even intoxicating, and which retains great sway over many, that of metaphysical politics. The politics of the metaphysicians played a central role in my coming to reject the politics of metaphysics. The fact that some metaphysical ideas and the some of the deep thinkers who advanced them, such as Heidegger, and many Marxists, were so intimately connected with really disastrous politics seemed a really damning fact for me, particularly given that these thinkers insisted so strongly on the link between their metaphysics and their politics. I was initially drawn to Nietzsche's writing (what twenty-year old isn't) but his model of the philosopher founder or law-giver—that is, of a spiritually gifted but alienated guy (and it always is a guy) with a particularly strong but frustrated 'will to power' going into the wilderness, having a deep spiritual revelation, and then returning to the mundane corrupt world with new 'tablets of value,' along with a plan to take over and run things right—seemed more comic than politically relevant, unless the prophet is armed, in which case it becomes a frightful menace. The concluding scene in Herman Hesse's Magister Ludi (sometimes translated as The Glass Bead Game) summarized by overall view of the 'high theory' project. After years of intense training by the greatest teachers the most spiritually and intellectually gifted youths finally graduate. To celebrate, they go to lake, dive in, and, having not learned how to swim, drown.



I was more attracted to Aristotle, Hume, Montesquieu, Dewey and other political theorists with less lofty and comprehensive views of what theory might accomplish; weary of actions; based on dogmatic or totalistic thinking; an eye to the messy and compromised world; with a political commitment to liberty and the interests of the many; a preference for peace over war; an aversion to despotism and empire; and an affinity for tolerance and plurality. I also liked some of those thinkers because of their emphasis on material contexts. Montesquieu seeks to analyze the interaction of material contexts and republican political forms; Madison and his contemporaries attempt to extend the spatial scope of republican political association by recombining in novel ways various earlier power restraint arrangements. I was tremendously influenced by Dewey, studying intensively his slender volume The Public and its Problems (1927)—which I think is the most important book in twentieth century political thought. By the 'public' Dewey means essentially a stakeholder group, and his main point is that the material transformations produced by the industrial revolution has created new publics, and that the political task is to conceptualize and realize forms of community and government appropriate to solving the problems that confront these new publics.



One can say my overall project became to apply and extend their concepts to the contemporary planetary situation. Concomitantly reading IR literature on nuclear weapons, I was struck by fact that the central role that material realities played in these arguments was very ad hoc, and that many of the leading arguments on nuclear politics were very unconvincing. It was clear that while Waltz (Theory Talk #40) had brilliantly developed some key ideas about anarchy made by Hobbes and Rousseau, he had also left something really important out. These sorts of deficiencies led me to develop the arguments contained in Bounding Power. I think it is highly unlikely that I would have had these doubts, or come to make the arguments I made without having worked in political theory and in policy.



I read many works that greatly influenced my thinking in this area, among them works by Lewis Mumford, Langdon Winner's Autonomous Technology, James Lovelock's Gaia, Charles Perrow's Normal Accidents (read a related article here, pdf), Jonathan Schell's Fate of the Earth and The Abolition, William Ophul's Ecology and the Politics of Scarcity... I was particularly stuck by a line in Buckminster Fuller's Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth (pdf), that we live in a 'spaceship' like closed highly interconnected system, but lack an 'operating manual' to guide intelligently our actions. It was also during this period that I read key works by H.G. Wells, most notably his book, Anticipations, and his essay The Idea of a League of Nations, both of which greatly influenced my thinking.



This aside, the greatest contribution to my thinking has come from conversations sustained over many years with some really extraordinary individuals. To mention those that I have been arguing with, and learning from, for at least ten years, there is John O'Looney, Wesley Warren, Bob Gooding-Williams, Alyn McAuly, Henry Nau, Richard Falk, Michael Doyle (Theory Talk #1), Richard Mathew, Paul Wapner, Bron Taylor, Ron Deibert, John Ikenberry, Bill Wohlforth, Frank von Hippel, Ethan Nadelmann, Fritz Kratochwil, Barry Buzan (Theory Talk #35), Ole Waever, John Agnew (Theory Talk #4), Barry Posen, Alex Wendt (Theory Talk #3), James der Derian, David Hendrickson, Nadivah Greenberg, Tim Luke, Campbell Craig, Bill Connolly, Steven David, Jane Bennett, Daniel Levine (TheoryTalk #58), and Jairus Grove. My only regret is that I have not spoken even more with them, and with the much larger number of people I have learned from on a less sustained basis along the way.

                                    



What would a student need to become a specialist in IR or understand the world in a global way?



I have thought a great deal about what sort of answers to this question can be generally valuable. For me, the most important insight is that success in intellectual life and academia is determined by more or less the same combination of factors that determines success more generally. This list is obvious: character, talent, perseverance and hard work, good judgment, good 'people skills,' and luck. Not everyone has a talent to do this kind of work, but the number of people who do have the talent to do this kind of work is much larger than the number of people who are successful in doing it. I think in academia as elsewhere, the people most likely to really succeed are those whose attitude toward the activity is vocational. A vocation is something one is called to do by an inner voice that one cannot resist. People with vocations never really work in one sense, because they are doing something that they would be doing even if they were not paid or required. Of course, in another sense people with vocations never stop working, being so consumed with their path that everything else matters very little. People with jobs and professions largely stop working when they when the lottery, but people with vocations are empowered to work more and better. When your vocation overlaps with your job, you should wake up and say 'wow, I cannot believe I am being paid to do this!' Rather obviously, the great danger in the life paths of people with vocations is imbalance and burn-out. To avoid these perils it is beneficial to sustain strong personal relationships, know when and how to 'take off' effectively, and sustain the ability to see things as an unfolding comedy and to laugh.



Academic life also involves living and working in a profession. Compared to the oppressions that so many thinkers and researchers have historically suffered from, contemporary professional academic life is a utopia. But academic life has several aspects unfortunate aspects, and coping successfully with them is vital. Academic life is full of 'odd balls' and the loose structure of universities and organization, combined with the tenure system, licenses an often florid display of dubious behavior. A fair number of academics have really primitive and incompetent social skills. Others are thin skinned-ego maniacs. Some are pompous hypocrites. Some are ruthlessly self-aggrandizing and underhanded. Some are relentless shirkers and free-riders. Also, academic life is, particularly relative to the costs of obtaining the years of education necessary to obtain it, not very well paid. Corruptions of clique, ideological factionalism, and nepotism occur. If not kept in proper perspective, and approached in appropriate ways, academic department life can become stupidly consuming of time, energy, and most dangerously, intellectual attention. The basic step for healthy departmental life is to approach it as a professional role.



The other big dimension of academic life is teaching. Teaching is one of the two 'deliverables' that academic organizations provide in return for the vast resources they consume. Shirking on teaching is a dereliction of responsibility, but also is the foregoing of a great opportunity. Teaching is actually one of the most assuredly consequential things academics do. The key to great teaching is, I think, very simple: inspire and convey enthusiasm. Once inspired, students learn. Once students take questions as their own, they become avid seekers of answers. Teachers of things political also have a responsibility to remain even-handed in what they teach, to make sure that they do not teach just or mainly their views, to make sure that the best and strongest versions of opposing sides are heard. Teaching seeks to produce informed and critically thinking students, not converts. Beyond the key roles of inspiration and even-handedness, the rest is the standard package of tasks relevant in any professional role: good preparation, good organization, hard work, and clarity of presentation.





Your main book, Bounding Power: Republican Security Theory from the Polis to the Global Village (2007), is a mix of intellectual history, political theory and IR theory, and is targeted largely at realism. How does a reading and interpretation of a large number of old books tell us something new about realism, and the contemporary global?



Bounding Power attempts to dispel some very large claims made by realists about their self-proclaimed 'tradition,' a lineage of thought in which they place many of the leading Western thinkers about political order, such as Thucydides, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, and the 'global geopoliticans' from the years around the beginning of the twentieth century. In the book I argue that the actual main axis of western thinking about political order (and its absence) is largely the work of 'republican' thinkers from the small number of 'republics', and that many of the key ideas that realists call realist and liberals call liberal are actually fragments of a larger, more encompassing set of arguments that were primarily in the idioms of republicanism. This entails dispelling the widely held view that the liberal and proto-liberal republican thought and practice are marked by 'idealism'—and therefore both inferior in their grasp of the problem of security-from violence and valuable only when confined to the 'domestic.' I demonstrate that this line of republican security thinkers had a robust set of claims both about material contextual factors, about the 'geopolitics of freedom', and a fuller understanding of security-from-violence. The book shows how perhaps the most important insights of this earlier cluster of arguments has oddly been dropped by both realists (particularly neorealists) and liberal international theorists. And, finally, it is an attempt to provide an understanding that posits the project of exiting anarchy on a global scale as something essentially unprecedented, and as something that the best of our inherited theory leaves us unable to say much about.



The main argument is contained in my formulation of what I think are the actual the two main sets of issues of Western structural-materialist security theory, two problematiques formulated in republican and naturalist-materialist conceptual vocabularies. The first problematique concerns the relationship between material context, the scope of tolerable anarchy, and necessary-for-security government. The second problematic concerns the relative security-viability of two main different forms of government—hierarchical and republican.



This formulation of the first problematic concerning anarchy differs from the main line of contemporary Realist argument in that it poses the question as one about the spatial scope of tolerable anarchy. The primary variable in my reconstruction of the material-contextual component of these arguments is what I term violence interdependence (absent, weak, strong, and intense). The main substantive claim of Western structural-materialist security theory is that situations of anarchy combined with intense violence interdependence are incompatible with security and require substantive government. Situations of strong and weak violence interdependence constitute a tolerable (if at times 'nasty and brutish') second ('state-of-war') anarchy not requiring substantive government. Early formulations of 'state of nature' arguments, explicitly or implicitly hinge upon this material contextual variable, and the overall narrative structure of the development of republican security theory and practice has concerned natural geographic variations and technologically caused changes in the material context, and thus the scope of security tolerable/intolerable anarchy and needed substantive government. This argument was present in early realist versions of anarchy arguments, but has been dropped by neorealists. Conversely, contemporary liberal international theorists analyze interdependence, but have little to say about violence. The result is that the realists talk about violence and security, and the liberals talk about interdependence not relating to violence, producing the great lacuna of contemporary theory: analysis of violence interdependence.



The second main problematique, concerning the relative security viability of hierarchical and republican forms, has also largely been lost sight of, in large measure by the realist insistence that governments are by definition hierarchical, and the liberal avoidance of system structural theory in favor of process, ideational, and economic variables. (For neoliberals, cooperation is seen as (possibly) occurring in anarchy, without altering or replacing anarchy.) The main claim here is that republican and proto-liberal theorists have a more complete grasp of the security political problem than realists because of their realization that both the extremes of hierarchy and anarchy are incompatible with security. In order to register this lost component of structural theory I refer to republican forms at both the unit and the system-level as being characterized by an ordering principle which I refer to as negarchy. Such political arrangements are characterized by the simultaneous negation of both hierarchy and anarchy. The vocabulary of political structures should thus be conceived as a triad-triangle of anarchy, hierarchy, and negarchy, rather than a spectrum stretching from pure anarchy to pure hierarchy. Using this framework, Bounding Power traces various formulations of the key arguments of security republicans from the Greeks through the nuclear era as arguments about the simultaneous avoidance of hierarchy and anarchy on expanding spatial scales driven by variations and changes in the material context. If we recognize the main axis of our thinking in this way, we can stand on a view of our past that is remarkable in its potential relevance to thinking and dealing with the contemporary 'global village' like a human situation.





Nuclear weapons play a key role in the argument of Bounding Power about the present, as well as elsewhere in your work. But are nuclear weapons are still important as hey were during the Cold War to understand global politics?



Since their arrival on the world scene in the middle years of the twentieth century, there has been pretty much universal agreement that nuclear weapons are in some fundamental way 'revolutionary' in their implications for security-from-violence and world politics. The fact that the Cold War is over does not alter, and even stems from, this fact. Despite this wide agreement on the importance of nuclear weapons, theorists, policy makers, and popular arms control/disarmament movements have fundamental disagreements about which political forms are compatible with the avoidance of nuclear war. I have attempted to provide a somewhat new answer to this 'nuclear-political question', and to explain why strong forms of interstate arms control are necessary for security in the nuclear age. I argue that achieving the necessary levels of arms control entails somehow exiting interstate anarchy—not toward a world government as a world state, but toward a world order that is a type of compound republican union (marked by, to put it in terms of above discussion, a nearly completely negarchical structure).



This argument attempts to close what I term the 'arms control gap', the discrepancy between the value arms control is assigned by academic theorists of nuclear weapons and their importance in the actual provision of security in the nuclear era. During the Cold War, thinking among IR theorists about nuclear weapons tended to fall into three broad schools—war strategists, deterrence statists, and arms controllers. Where the first two only seem to differ about the amount of nuclear weapons necessary for states seeking security (the first think many, the second less), the third advocates that states do what they have very rarely done before the nuclear age, reciprocal restraints on arms.



But this Cold War triad of arguments is significantly incomplete as a list of the important schools of thought about the nuclear-political question. There are four additional schools, and a combination of their arguments constitutes, I argue, a superior answer to the nuclear-political question. First are the nuclear one worlders, a view that flourished during the late 1940s and early 1950s, and held that the simple answer to the nuclear political question is to establish a world government, as some sort of state. Second are the populist anti-nuclearists, who indict state apparatuses of acting contrary to the global public's security interests. Third are the deep arms controllers, such as Jonathan Schell, who argue that nuclear weapons need to be abolished. Fourth are the theorists of omniviolence, who theorize situations produced by the leakage of nuclear weapons into the hands of non-state actors who cannot be readily deterred from using nuclear weapons. What all of these schools have in common is that they open up the state and make arguments about how various forms of political freedom—and the institutions that make it possible—are at issue in answering the nuclear-political question.

                                                                                                                

Yet one key feature all seven schools share is that they all make arguments about how particular combinations and configurations of material realities provide the basis for thinking that their answer to the nuclear-political question is correct. Unfortunately, their understandings of how material factors shape, or should shape, actual political arrangements is very ad hoc. Yet the material factors—starting with sheer physical destructiveness—are so pivotal that they merit a more central role in theories of nuclear power. I think we need to have a model that allows us to grasp how variations in material contexts condition the functionality of 'modes of protection', that is, distinct and recurring security practices (and their attendant political structures).



For instance, one mode of protection—what I term the real-state mode of protection—attempts to achieve security through the concentration, mobilization, and employment of violence capability. This is the overall, universal, context-independent strategy of realists. Bringing into view material factors, I argue, shows that this mode of protection is functional not universally but specifically—and only—in material contexts that are marked by violence-poverty and slowness. This mode of protection is dysfunctional in nuclear material contexts marked by violence abundance and high violence velocities. In contrast, a republican federal mode of protection is a bundle of practices that aim for the demobilization and deceleration of violence capacity, and that the practices associated with this mode of protection are security functional in the nuclear material context.



What emerges from such an approach to ideas about the relation between nuclear power and security from violence is that the epistemological foundations for any of the major positions about nuclear weapons are actually much weaker than we should be comfortable with. People often say the two most important questions about the nuclear age are: what is the probability that nuclear weapons will be used? And then, what will happen when they are used? The sobering truth is that we really do not have good grounds for confidently answering either of those two questions. But every choice made about nuclear weapons depends on risk calculations that depend on how we answer these questions.





You have also written extensively on space, a topic that has not recently attracted much attention from many IR scholars. How does your thinking on this relate to your overall thinking about the global and planetary situation?

                                                                                                          

The first human steps into outer space during the middle years of the twentieth century have been among the most spectacular and potentially consequential events in the globalization of machine civilization on Earth. Over the course of what many call 'the space age,' thinking about space activities, space futures, and the consequences of space activities has been dominated by an elaborately developed body of 'space expansionist' thought that makes ambitious and captivating claims about both the feasibility and the desirability of human expansion into outer space. Such views of space permeate popular culture, and at times appear to be quite influential in actual space policy. Space expansionists hold that outer space is a limitless frontier and that humans should make concerted efforts to explore and colonize and extend their military activities into space. They claim the pursuit of their ambitious projects will have many positive, even transformative, effects upon the human situation on Earth, by escaping global closure, protecting the earth's habitability, preserving political plurality, and enhancing species survival. Claims about the Earth, its historical patterns and its contemporary problems, permeate space expansionist thinking.



While the feasibility, both technological and economic, of space expansionist projects has been extensively assessed, arguments for their desirability have not been accorded anything approaching a systematic assessment. In part, such arguments about the desirability of space expansion are difficult to assess because they incorporate claims that are very diverse in character, including claims about the Earth (past, present, and future), about the ways in which material contexts made up of space 'geography' and technologies produce or heavily favor particular political outcomes, and about basic worldview assumptions regarding nature, science, technology, and life.



By breaking these space expansionist arguments down into their parts, and systematically assessing their plausibility, a very different picture of the space prospect emerges. I think there are strong reasons to think that the consequences of the human pursuit of space expansion have been, and could be, very undesirable, even catastrophic. The actual militarization of that core space technology ('the rocket') and the construction of a planetary-scope 'delivery' and support system for nuclear war-fighting has been the most important consequence of actual space activities, but these developments have been curiously been left out of accounts of the space age and assessments of its impacts. Similarly, much of actually existing 'nuclear arms control' has centered on restraining and dismantling space weapons, not nuclear weapons. Thus the most consequential space activity—the acceleration of nuclear delivery capabilities—has been curiously rendered almost invisible in accounts of space and assessments of its impacts. This is an 'unknown known' of the 'space age'. Looking ahead, the creation of large orbital infrastructures will either presuppose or produce world government, potentially of a very hierarchical sort.  There are also good reasons to think that space colonies are more likely to be micro-totalitarian than free. And extensive human movement off the planet could in a variety of ways increase the vulnerability of life on Earth, and even jeopardize the survival of the human species.



Finally, I think much of space expansionist (and popular) thinking about space and the consequences of humans space activities has been marked by basic errors in practical geography. Most notably, there is the widespread failure to realize that the expansion of human activities into Earth's orbital space has enhanced global closure, because the effective distances in Earth's space make it very small. And because of the formidable natural barriers to human space activity, space is a planetary 'lid, not a 'frontier'. So one can say that the most important practical discovery of the 'space age' has been an improved understanding of the Earth. These lines of thinking, I find, would suggest the outlines of a more modest and Earth-centered space program, appropriate for the current Earth age. Overall, the fact that we can't readily expand into space is part of why we are in a new 'earth age' rather than a 'space age'.





You've argued against making the environment into a national security issue twenty years ago. Do the same now, considering that making the environment a bigger priority by making it into a national security issue might be the only way to prevent total environmental destruction?



When I started writing about the relationships between environment and security twenty years ago, not a great deal of work had been done on this topic. But several leading environmental thinkers were making the case that framing environmental issues as security issues, or what came to be called 'securitizing the environment', was not only a good strategy to get action on environmental problems, but also was useful analytically to think about these two domains. Unlike the subsequent criticisms of 'environmental security' made by Realists and scholars of conventional 'security studies', my criticism starts with the environmentalist premise that environmental deterioration is a paramount problem for contemporary humanity as a whole.



Those who want to 'securitize the environment' are attempting to do what William James a century ago proposed as a general strategy for social problem solving. Can we find, in James' language, 'a moral equivalent of war?' (Note the unfortunately acronym: MEOW). War and the threat of war, James observed, often lead to rapid and extensive mobilizations of effort. Can we somehow transfer these vast social energies to deal with other sets of problems? This is an enduring hope, particularly in the United States, where we have a 'war on drugs', a 'war on cancer', and a 'war on poverty'. But doing this for the environment, by 'securitizing the environment,' is unlikely to be very successful. And I fear that bringing 'security' orientations, institutions, and mindsets into environmental problem-solving will also bring in statist, nationalist, and militarist approaches. This will make environmental problem-solving more difficult, not easier, and have many baneful side-effects.



Another key point I think is important, is that the environment—and the various values and ends associated with habitat and the protection of habitat—are actually much more powerful and encompassing than those of security and violence. Instead of 'securitizing the environment' it is more promising is to 'environmentalize security'. Not many people think about the linkages between the environment and security-from-violence in this way, but I think there is a major case of it 'hiding in plain sight' in the trajectory of how the state-system and nuclear weapons have interacted.



When nuclear weapons were invented and first used in the 1940s, scientists were ignorant about many aspects of their effects. As scientists learned about these effects, and as this knowledge became public, many people started thinking and acting in different ways about nuclear choices. The fact that a ground burst of a nuclear weapon would produce substantial radioactive 'fall-out' was not appreciated until the first hydrogen bomb tests in the early 1950s. It was only then that scientists started to study what happened to radioactive materials dispersed widely in the environment. Evidence began to accumulate that some radioactive isotopes would be 'bio-focused', or concentrated by biological process. Public interest scientists began effectively publicizing this information, and mothers were alerted to the fact that their children's teeth were become radioactive. This new scientific knowledge about the environmental effects of nuclear explosions, and the public mobilizations it produced, played a key role in the first substantial nuclear arms control treaty, the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963, which banned nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, in the ocean, and in space. Thus, the old ways of providing security were circumscribed by new knowledge and new stakeholders of environmental health effects. The environment was not securitized, security was partially environmentalized.



Thus, while some accounts by arms control theorists emphasize the importance of 'social learning' in altering US-Soviet relations, an important part of this learning was not about the nature of social and political interactions, but about the environmental consequences of nuclear weapons. The learning that was most important in motivating so many actors (both within states and in mass publics) to seek changes in politics was 'natural learning,' or more specifically learning about the interaction of natural and technological systems.



An even more consequential case of the environmentalization of security occurred in the 1970's and 1980's. A key text here is Jonathan Schell's book, The Fate of the Earth. Schell's book, combining very high-quality journalism with first rate political theoretical reflections, lays out in measured terms the new discoveries of ecologists and atmospheric scientists about the broader planetary consequences of an extensive nuclear war. Not only would hundreds of millions of people be immediately killed and much of the planet's built infrastructure destroyed, but the planet earth's natural systems would be so altered that the extinction of complex life forms, among them homo sapiens, might result. The detonation of numerous nuclear weapons and the resultant burning of cities would probably dramatically alter the earth's atmosphere, depleting the ozone layer that protects life from lethal solar radiations, and filling the atmosphere with sufficient dust to cause a 'nuclear winter.' At stake in nuclear war, scientists had learned, was not just the fate of nations, but of the earth as a life support system. Conventional accounts of the nuclear age and of the end of the Cold War are loath to admit it, but it I believe it is clear that spreading awareness of these new natural-technological possibilities played a significant role in ending the Cold War and the central role that nuclear arms control occupies in the settlement of the Cold War. Again, traditional ways of achieving security-from-violence were altered by new knowledges about their environmental consequences—security practices and arrangements were partly environmentalized.



Even more radically, I think we can also turn this into a positive project. As I wrote two decades ago, environmental restoration would probably generate political externalities that would dampen tendencies towards violence. In other words, if we address the problem of the environment, then we will be drawn to do various things that will make various types of violent conflict less likely.





Your work is permeated by references to 'material factors'. This makes it different from branches of contemporary IR—like constructivism or postmodernism—which seem to be underpinned by a profound commitment to focus solely one side of the Cartesian divide. What is your take on the pervasiveness and implications of this 'social bias'?



Postmodernism and constructivism are really the most extreme manifestations of a broad trend over the last two centuries toward what I refer to as 'social-social science' and the decline—but hardly the end—of 'natural-social science'. Much of western thought prior to this turn was 'naturalist' and thus tended to downplay both human agency and ideas. At the beginning of the nineteenth century—partly because of the influence of German idealism, partly because of the great liberationist projects that promised to give better consequence to the activities and aspirations of the larger body of human populations (previously sunk in various forms of seemingly natural bondages), and partly because of the great expansion of human choice brought about by the science-based technologies of the Industrial Revolution—there was a widespread tendency to move towards 'social-social science,' the project of attempting to explain the human world solely by reference to the human world, to explain social outcomes with reference to social causes. While this was the dominant tendency, and a vastly productive one in many ways, it existed alongside and in interaction with what is really a modernized version of the earlier 'natural-social science.' Much of my work has sought to 'bring back in' and extend these 'natural-social' lines of argument—found in figures such as Dewey and H.G. Wells—into our thinking about the planetary situation.



In many parts of both European and American IR and related areas, Postmodern and constructivist theories have significantly contributed to IR theorists by enhancing our appreciation of ideas, language, and identities in politics. As a response to the limits and blindnesses of certain types of rationalist, structuralist, and functional theories, this renewed interest in the ideational is an important advance. Unfortunately, both postmodernism and constructivism have been marked by a strong tendency to go too far in their emphasis of the ideational. Postmodernism and constructivism have also helped make theorists much more conscious of the implicit—and often severely limiting—ontological assumptions that underlay, inform, and bound their investigations. This is also a major contribution to the study of world politics in all its aspects.



Unfortunately, this turn to ontology has also had intellectually limiting effects by going too far, in the search for a pure or nearly pure social ontology. With the growth in these two approaches, there has indeed been a decided decline in theorizing about the material. But elsewhere in the diverse world of theorizing about IR and the global, theorizing about the material never came anything close to disappearing or being eclipsed. For anyone thinking about the relationships between politics and nuclear weapons, space, and the environment, theorizing about the material has remained at the center, and it would be difficult to even conceive of how theorizing about the material could largely disappear. The recent 're-discovery of the material' associated with various self-styled 'new materialists' is a welcome, if belated, re-discovery for postmodernists and constructivists. For most of the rest of us, the material had never been largely dropped out.



A very visible example of the ways in which the decline in appropriate attention to the material, an excessive turn to the ideational, and the quest for a nearly pure social ontology, can lead theorizing astray is the core argument in Alexander Wendt's main book, Social Theory of International Politics, one of the widely recognized landmarks of constructivist IR theory. The first part of the book advances a very carefully wrought and sophisticated argument for a nearly pure ideational social ontology. The material is explicitly displaced into a residue or rump of unimportance. But then, to the reader's surprise, the material, in the form of 'common fate' produced by nuclear weapons, and climate change, reappears and is deployed to play a really crucial role in understanding contemporary change in world politics. 



My solution is to employ a mixed ontology. By this I mean that I think several ontologically incommensurate and very different realities are inescapable parts the human world. These 'unlikes' are inescapable parts of any argument, and must somehow be combined. There are a vast number of ways in which they can be combined, and on close examination, virtually all arguments in the social sciences are actually employing some version of a mixed ontology, however implicitly and under-acknowledged.



But not all combinations are equally useful in addressing all questions. In my version of mixed ontology—which I call 'practical naturalism'—human social agency is understood to be occurring 'between two natures': on the one hand the largely fixed nature of humans, and on the other the changing nature composed of the material world, a shifting amalgam of actual non-human material nature of geography and ecology, along with human artifacts and infrastructures. Within this frame, I posit as rooted in human biological nature, a set of 'natural needs,' most notably for security-from-violence and habitat services. Then I pose questions of functionality, by which I mean: which combinations of material practices, political structures, ideas and identities are needed to achieve these ends in different material contexts? Answering this question requires the formulation of various 'historical materialist' propositions, which in turn entails the systematic formulation of typologies and variation in both the practices, structures and ideas, and in material contexts. These arguments are not centered on explaining what has or what will happen. Instead they are practical in the sense that they are attempting to answer the question of 'what is to be done' given the fixed ends and given changing material contexts. I think this is what advocates of arms control and environmental sustainability are actually doing when they claim that one set of material practices and their attendant political structures, identities and ideas must be replaced with another if basic human needs are to going to continue to be meet in the contemporary planetary material situation created by the globalization of machine civilization on earth.

                                  

Since this set of arguments is framed within a mixed ontology, ideas and identities are a vital part of the research agenda. Much of the energy of postmodern and many varieties of critical theory have focused on 'deconstructing' various identities and ideas. This critical activity has produced and continues to produce many insights of theorizing about politics. But I think there is an un-tapped potential for theorists who are interested in ideas and identities, and who want their work to make a positive contribution to practical problem-solving in the contemporary planetary human situation in what might be termed a 'constructive constructivism'. This concerns a large practical theory agenda—and an urgent one at that, given the rapid increase in planetary problems—revolving around the task of figuring out which ideas and identities are appropriate for the planetary world, and in figuring out how they can be rapidly disseminated. Furthermore, thinking about how to achieve consciousness change of this sort is not something ancillary to the greenpeace project but vital to it. My thinking on how this should and might be done centers the construction of a new social narrative, centered not on humanity but on the earth.





Is it easy to plug your mixed ontology and interests beyond the narrow confines of IR or even the walls of the ivory tower into processes of collective knowledge proliferation in IR—a discipline increasingly characterized by compartimentalization and specialization?



The great plurality of approaches in IR today is indispensible and a welcome change. The professionalization of IR and the organization of intellectual life has some corruptions and pitfalls that are best avoided. The explosion of 'isms' and of different perspectives has been valuable and necessary in many ways, but it has also helped to foster and empower sectarian tendencies that confound the advance of knowledge. Some of the adherents of some sects and isms boast openly of establishing 'citation cartels' to favor themselves and their friends. Some theorists also have an unfortunate tendency to assume that because they have adopted a label that what they actually do is the actually the realization of the label. Thus we have 'realists' with limited grasp on realities, 'critical theorists' who repeat rather than criticize the views of other 'critical theorists,' and anti-neoliberals who are ruthless Ayn Rand-like self aggrandizers. The only way to fully address these tendencies is to talk to people you disagree with, and find and communicate with people in other disciplines.



Another consequence of this sectarianism is visible in the erosion of scholarly standards of citation. The system of academic incentives is configured to reward publication, and the publication of ideas that are new. This has a curiously perverse impact on the achievement of cumulativity. One seemingly easy and attractive path to saying something new is to say something old in new language, to say something said in another sect or field in the language of your sect or field, or easiest of all, simply ignore what other people have said if it is too much like what you are trying to say. George Santyana is wide quoted in saying that 'those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it.' For academics it can unfortunately be said, 'those who can successfully forget what past academics said are free to say it again, and thus advance toward tenure.' When rampant sectarianism and decline in standards of citation is combined with a broader cultural tendency to valorize self-expression and authenticity, academic work can become an exercise in abstract self expressionism.



Confining one's intellectual life within one 'ism' or sect is sure to be self-limiting. Many of the most important and interesting questions arise between and across the sects and schools. Also, there are great opportunities in learning from people who do not fully share your assumptions and approaches. Seriously engaging the work and ideas of scholars in other sects can be very very valuable. Scholars in different sects and schools are also often really taking positions that are not so different as their labels would suggest. Perhaps because my research agenda fits uncomfortably within any of the established schools and isms, I have found particularly great value in seeking out and talking on a sustained basis with people with very different approaches.





My final question is about normativity and the way that normativity is perceived: In Europe and the United States, liberal Internationalism is increasingly considered as hollowed out, as a discursive cover for a tendency to attempt to control and regulate the world—or as an unguided idealistic missile. Doesn't adapting to a post-hegemonic world require dropping such ambitions?



American foreign policy has never been entirely liberal internationalist. Many other ideas and ideologies and approaches have often played important roles in shaping US foreign policy. But the United States, for a variety of reasons, has pursued liberal internationalist foreign policy agendas more extensively, and successfully, than any other major state in the modern state system, and the world, I think, has been made better off in very important ways by these efforts.



The net impact of the United States and of American grand strategy and particularly those parts of American brand strategy that have been more liberal internationalist in their character, has been enormously positive for the world. It has produced not a utopia by any means, but has brought about an era with more peace and security, prosperity, and freedom for more people than ever before in history.



Both American foreign policy and liberal internationalism have been subject to strong attacks from a variety of perspectives. Recently some have characterized liberal internationalism as a type of American imperialism, or as a cloak for US imperialism. Virtually every aspect of American foreign policy has been contested within the United States. Liberal internationalists have been strong enemies of imperialism and military adventurism, whether American or from other states. This started with the Whig's opposition to the War with Mexico and the Progressive's opposition to the Spanish-American War, and continued with liberal opposition to the War in Vietnam.



The claim that liberal internationalism leads to or supports American imperialism has also been recently voiced by many American realists, perhaps most notably John Mearsheimer (Theory Talk #49). He and others argue that liberal internationalism played a significant role in bringing about the War on Iraq waged by the W. Bush administration. This was indeed one of the great debacles of US foreign policy. But the War in Iraq was actually a war waged by American realists for reasons grounded in realist foreign policy thinking. It is true, as Mearsheimer emphasizes, that many academic realists criticized the Bush administration's plans and efforts in the invasion in Iraq. Some self-described American liberal internationalists in the policy world supported the war, but almost all academic American liberal internationalists were strongly opposed, and much of the public opposition to the war was on grounds related to liberal internationalist ideas.



It is patently inaccurate to say that main actors in the US government that instigated the War on Iraq were liberal internationalists. The main initiators of the war were Richard Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Whatever can be said about those two individuals, they are not liberal internationalists. They initiated the war because they thought that the Saddam Hussein regime was a threat to American interests—basically related to oil. The Saddam regime was seen as a threat to American-centered regional hegemony in the Middle East, an order whose its paramount purpose has been the protection of oil, and the protection of the regional American allies that posses oil. Saddam Hussein was furthermore a demonstrated regional revisionist likely to seek nuclear weapons, which would greatly compromise American military abilities in the region. Everything else the Bush Administration's public propaganda machine said to justify the war was essentially window dressing for this agenda. Far from being motivated by a liberal internationalist agenda the key figures in the Bush Administration viewed the collateral damage to international institutions produced by the war as a further benefit, not a cost, of the war. It is particularly ironic that John Mearsheimer would be a critic of this war, which seems in many ways a 'text book' application of a central claim of his 'offensive realism,' that powerful states can be expected, in the pursuit of their security and interests, to seek to become and remain regional hegemons.



Of course, liberal internationalism, quite aside from dealing with these gross mischaracterizations propagated by realists, must also look to the future. The liberal internationalism that is needed for today and tomorrow is going to be in some ways different from the liberal internationalism of the twentieth century. This is a large topic that many people, but not enough, are thinking about. In a recent working paper for the Council on Foreign Relations, John Ikenberry and I have laid out some ways in which we think American liberal internationalism should proceed. The starting point is the recognition that the United States is not as 'exceptional' in its precocious liberal-democratic character, not as 'indispensible' for the protection of the balance of power or the advance of freedom, or as easily 'hegemonic' as it has been historically. But the world is now also much more democratic than ever before, with democracies old and new, north and south, former colonizers and former colonies, and in every civilizational flavor. The democracies also face an array of difficult domestic problems, are thickly enmeshed with one another in many ways, and have a vital role to play in solving global problems. We suggest that the next liberal internationalism in American foreign policy should focus on American learning from the successes of other democracies in solving problems, focus on 'leading by example of successful problem-solving' and less with 'carrots and sticks,' make sustained efforts to moderate the inequalities and externalities produced by de-regulated capitalism, devote more attention to building community among the democracies, and make sustained efforts to 'recast global bargains' and the distribution of authority in global institutions to better incorporate the interests of 'rising powers.'





Daniel Deudney is Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Political Science at Johns Hopkins University. He has published widely in political theory and international relations, on substantive issues such as nuclear weapons, the environment as a security issue, liberal and realist international relations theory, and geopolitics.





Related links



Deudney's Faculty Profile at Johns Hopkins
Read Deudney & Ikenberry's Democratic Internationalism: An American Grand Strategy for a Post-exceptionalist Era (Council on Foreign Relations Working Paper, 2012) here (pdf) 
Read Deudney et al's Global Shift: How the West Should Respond to the Rise of China (2011 Transatlantic Academy report) here (pdf) 
Read the introduction of Deudney's Bounding Power (2007) here (pdf) 
Read Deudney's Bringing Nature Back In: Geopolitical Theory from the Greeks to the Global Era (1999 book chapter) here (pdf) 
Read Deudney & Ikenberry's Who Won the Cold War? (Foreign Policy, 1992) here (pdf) 
Read Deudney's The Case Against Linking Environmental Degradation and National Security (Millennium, 1990) here (pdf) 
Read Deudney's Rivers of Energy: The Hydropower Potential (WorldWatch Institute Paper, 1981) here (pdf) 









Print version of this Talk (pdf)

Matthew Godfrey ; The Weber and Davis County Communities Oral History Collection include interviews of citizens from several different walks of life. These interviews were conducted by Stewart Library personnel, WeberState University faculty and students, and other members of the community. The histories cover various topics and chronicle the personal everyday life experiences and other recollections regarding the history of the Weber and Davis County areas. ; 36p.; 29cm.; 2 bound transcripts; 4 file folders. 1 video disc: digital; 4 3/4 in. ; Oral History Program Matthew Godfrey Interviewed By Rebecca Ory Hernandez 21 October 2011 1 November 2011 i ii Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Matthew Godfrey Interviewed by Rebecca Ory Hernandez 21 October 2011 1 November 2011 Copyright © 2013 by Weber State University, Stewart Library iii Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. Archival copies are placed in the University Archives, which also houses the original recording so researchers can gain a sense of the interviewee's voice and intonations. Project Description The Weber and Davis County Communities Oral History Collection include interviews of citizens from several different walks of life. These interviews were conducted by Stewart Library personnel, Weber State University faculty and students, and other members of the community. The histories cover various topics and chronicle the personal everyday life experiences and other recollections regarding the history of the Weber and Davis County areas. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the Stewart Library of Weber State University. No part of the manuscript may be published without the written permission of the University Librarian. Requests for permission to publish should be addressed to the Administration Office, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, 84408. The request should include identification of the specific item and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Godfrey, Matthew, an oral history by Rebecca Ory Hernandez, 21 October and 1 November 2011, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. Matthew Godfrey ca. 1999 1 Abstract: Matthew Godfrey (June 30, 1970) was born in Ogden, UT. He spent his childhood years in North Ogden and attended Weber High School. Matthew attended Weber State University, where he got a master's degree in accounting and was an All-American on the track team. Matthew sat down with Rebecca Ory Hernandez in the Mayor's Office before the end of his third term. He shares stories of his life growing up and living in North Ogden, as well as his education and serving as Ogden's Mayor. He reflects on his time running for Mayor and discusses some of the major economic and development projects he worked on in his several terms after elected to beautify Ogden City. His father was William V. Godfrey, mayor of Harrisville. Matthew is currently working as a consultant and continues to serve on various community boards. He is married to Monica. ROH: Today is November 21, 2011. Seated in Mayor Matthew Godfrey's office are Rebecca Ory-Hernandez and Mayor Godfrey. We're here to talk about your history. Let's start with where and when you were born. MG: I was born here in Ogden at the old McKay Dee hospital that was across from Weber State. That was June 30, 1970. ROH: Did you have any brothers or sisters? MG: Growing up, there were five of us. I have an older sister, Malinda, then Jason and then me. After me were Deborah and Laura. I had another sister who died when she was eleven days old; her name was Rebecca. ROH: How much older are Jason and Malinda? 2 MG: The first four are all two years apart. Malinda was born in 1966, Jason in 1968, I was in 1970, and Deborah in 1972. Rebecca was born in 1974, and then she passed away. I think Laura was born in 1976. ROH: Did you grow up in Ogden? MG: I grew up in Harrisville. We lived right behind where the Wal-Mart is now. We grew up in the same house my mom grew up in. I never distinguished it much from Ogden. ROH: What are the names of your parents? MG: William Verl Godfrey and Carol Jeanne Godfrey. My mom went by Jeanne and my dad went by Bill. ROH: Tell me a little about your childhood growing up in Harrisville. MG: It was a wonderful place to grow up and I had a great childhood. We had land around our homes so we would go and play and ride bikes with friends. We did a lot of fun things together as boys—myself, my brother, and my cousin, after he moved in behind our house. It was a great time growing up. We got along really well. I enjoyed spending time with my family. It was kind of a family compound. Next door to us were my mom's parents; behind us were our cousins, the Fields, which was my mom's sister; behind them, later on, the Montgomery's built, and they were the family of another of my mom's sisters. ROH: Where did you go to school? MG: I went to Pioneer Elementary School, Walhquist Jr. High School and Weber High. Education was never stressed by my parents. Both of them went to a semester or two of college but didn't graduate. They never pushed it or said it was 3 important that we be good at math or reading or other topics. We got good grades and we all liked school, but I don't recall my mom saying I needed to go to college. I enjoyed school both academically and socially. I ran for some offices and had good experiences. ROH: What offices did you run for? MG: Eighth-grade president and then student body president at Walhquist Jr. High School. ROH: What other extra-curricular activities were you involved in? MG: I ran track. I really wanted to play basketball because basketball was a cool sport and track was not. I tried out for the basketball team. I was the last kid cut. I still remember that Lynn Wood and I had a one-on-one game at the end of practice to decide who was going to get on the team. He beat me by one basket. In hindsight, it was a good thing because if I'd made the team I would have pursued basketball and that's certainly not where my skills were. I played football my eighth and ninth grade years, which is tough when you're only a hundred pounds. I got my bell rung plenty, but I had a good time. My science teacher got a ferret and there were two of us that would go and take care of it. Those are the only extra-curricular things I did. ROH: What about high school? MG: I ran track and cross country. I was on seminary council my junior year and I was seminary president my senior year. It was against the rules to be a student body officer and be on the seminary council, so when I was asked to be on the 4 seminary council, I couldn't run for office. I think it was a good thing. I did debate as well. High school was a fun time. ROH: What was a typical day like for you in high school? MG: We woke up around 6:30 and we always had breakfast as a family. We'd pray and read scriptures as a family, then rush off to catch the bus to school. In high school, my parents had a car for all the kids. They didn't want us to have our own car. It was an ugly green GMC pickup truck that we were embarrassed to drive. We thought it was such an ugly truck. My junior year, much to my surprise, my dad bought a Fiat X-19. My dad bought it from my uncle who was glad to get rid of it. My junior and senior year I was able to drive this cool little sports car to school—when it worked, which it didn't much of the time. School would start around 7:15 and end around 3:00. Then, I would go run track or cross country until 5 or 5:30. I was always famished when I got home, and we always had dinner as a family around 6 or 6:30. ROH: What did your parents do for a living? MG: My mom stayed at home with us. My dad was an insurance agent. He had a tiny little yellow shack of an office until I was in my senior year in high school, when he went to work for Heiner's Insurance. My dad was the mayor of Harrisville and a councilman before that. I think he ran for mayor the first time while I was in high school and he lost by one vote. He ran again and won the second time around, which was just after I was married. He had a heart attack and was in the hospital the night he won the election. He came out of open heart surgery and found out that he'd won the election. 5 ROH: Was he influential in your decision to run for mayor? MG: He told me not to run. Almost twelve and a half years ago I went to talk to him out in the garage and said, "Dad, I'm thinking about running for mayor." He said, "Why would you do that?" I gave him my reasons. He said, "I would advise you not to do it. Maybe I'm being over-protective." He shared with me some experiences he had had of people being mean-spirited. He said, "Your friends and the people you go to church with are going to yell at you and say terrible things about you and I would rather you not have those kinds of experiences." He said that if I did decide to run, he would be supportive. I didn't have a political bug in me—we had to deliver fliers when he ran for office and I did not enjoy that at all. I didn't have much interest in politics, even though I'd run for two offices in school—that was more for fun. After I decided to run for mayor, my dad was a great support. ROH: Back up a little bit and let's talk about what happened after high school. MG: I got a track scholarship to Weber State. ROH: What was your major? MG: My undergraduate was finance and then I went on to get a master's degree in accounting at Weber, which was never the plan. The plan was to go away for a Master's degree in International Business. The NCAA kind of messed that up for me. At that time, you couldn't transfer schools without losing a year of eligibility. When I finished my undergraduate, I wanted to get a Master's but I couldn't transfer. Weber had two graduate degrees, the Masters of Business and the Masters of Accounting. I figured it out with the counselor and I could get four 6 bachelor's degrees or I could get a Master's degree, otherwise I would lose a year of track eligibility. So, I ended up getting a Master's in accounting even though I had no interest in accounting. I got them together and graduated with both degrees in 1995. I started in '88 and had a two-year mission within that time. ROH: Where did you go on your mission? MG: I went to Caracas, Venezuela. It provided a lot of great experiences and learning opportunities. A mission is an amazing amalgamation of experiences. It is extraordinarily difficult physically even though I ran track all through school. In Venezuela, we would walk several miles and then knock on doors all day in the sun. It was hot and humid and you're wet all day long. Continual rejection is something you have to learn to live with. Then you have to learn to live with another person. You don't choose your companion; they're assigned by the mission president. I think I had seventeen companions in twenty-four months. That's unusual. That was good but also hard. I had quite a few companions who were having problems and the president sent them to me—sometimes he told me in advance, but usually he didn't. After the difficult companion transferred the president would say, "Thanks, that's the longest he's ever stayed with anybody." It was a valuable experience to learn to live with somebody you don't know and who is often from another country. Usually you're living with someone with whom you have nothing in common except religion. I really like to get out, work hard and do things. I had companions who wanted to do what was easy, fun and enjoyable. Learning how to resolve those kinds of issues was a good experience and I think great preparation as well. It 7 was neat to see people change their lives as they listened to the Gospel and decided they were going to get baptized. I just got a call last month from a lady I baptized who was here in Utah. It was neat to talk with her and hear what was going on in her life and what she was doing. Those relationships were meaningful and they continue to be very rewarding experiences. I wish I would have kept better track of the people I knew there. It seemed unmanageable at the time, but today with Facebook and email it would be a piece of cake. The postal service is terrible in Venezuela, so I knew most of my letters wouldn't make it through anyway. ROH: What did you think about the contrast in geography? MG: It was very tropical and there was a desert in one area where I served. It's so beautiful and so ugly at the same time. It was fascinating to see how poorly the country was run; they had so much by way of natural resources and amenities of the earth, but they did a poor job of managing it. It was sad to see the poverty. I had heard about poverty, but when you see the depth of the poverty and the pervasiveness of it, you feel overwhelmed by it. It's not like you can help them out of it alone. That was hard. All I could do was share a message that could help their lives get better and hope that over time they could improve their situation. It was a beautiful landscape and I enjoyed the climate knowing I wouldn't choose to live in that kind of humidity. It was fun knowing I was going to be there for two years and then come back to this area. ROH: Did you run on your days off? 8 MG: A handful of times, but my philosophy was that if I put all my effort into serving well on my mission then things would work out with track. ROH: Did you get back into track and school when you got back? Or was it very different when you came back? MG: I got right back to both school and track. I hadn't run for two years, so it took time to get back in shape. I had more injuries after my mission, which could have been from the time off, but I was very poor and didn't change my shoes as often as I should have, so a lot of it I caused myself, I'm sure. I'm fairly bullet-proof with injuries, but I had a few years where I was injured quite a bit. Weber didn't put much money into their track program, even though it was probably the best athletic program they had. We won more championships and had more national recognition, I'm certain, than any other team on campus. It's not exciting when the cross country team places fourth or seventh in the nation. The coach was great and became a very good friend. I learned a lot from him about track and about life. The same with my high school coach—Dick Connelly. He passed away a few years ago. High school is such an impressionable time in your life and I thought I was a really good kid—seminary president, didn't go to parties and always did what I was supposed to be doing— but he pulled me aside several times and told me I needed to be doing better. It was shocking to me because I thought I was too far on the good side and needed to let my hair down a little. I was really grateful to him. He coached me well in running, but also in life. He was a wonderful man. ROH: Once you graduated from Weber, what did you do? 9 MG: I was married in the summer of my junior year of college, which was in 1993. Monica and I were introduced by someone on the track team. I had a freshman who had a locker next to me and from the time he came in he wanted to set me up with somebody that he knew. To be honest, I didn't trust his judgment. He was really fun-loving and kind of goofy, and I didn't know who Monica was but I was certain that she would not be someone I would be interested in. He kept asking and asking, and finally said, "Just meet her." We set something up where we would just pass each other and meet. We did that and she was much better looking than I had expected. We went out on a date—an almost-blind date. It wasn't wonderful. It was a wedding reception for a friend of mine. It was one of the most spectacular storms I've ever seen during my life here—in that six hour period of our date, it snowed probably two feet. We had a heck of a time getting from Ogden up to the valley and we ended up helping cars on the side of the road. It took us two hours to get to my friend's house and it was eleven at night by the time we did. It was still snowing, so we talked about just spending the night at my friend's house. Monica called her parents to ask and they said, "No way, if we have to come get you, we will, but you're not spending the night with a blind date in who-knows-where." After I thought about it, I thought it was probably what I would have said too, as a parent. So we made the trek back. We were married six months later. ROH: That must have been a busy time for you—a Master's program and track and getting married. You had a lot of change going on all at once. What was that like? 10 MG: It was fun and hard, for the reasons that you've stated. I was taking a lot of credit hours. One semester I had either twenty-eight or thirty-one credit hours. It was really hard and I was really busy. I was also adjunct faculty and I taught between one and three classes a semester. I was the evening assistant manager at Godfather's Pizza too. I was doing all of that and newly married and trying to figure out how a marriage works. My parent's relationship and her parent's relationship could not have been more different. I knew that and she recognized that our parents interacted in very different ways. That was hard because I had only seen things one way and she had only seen things one way. We had to figure out those dynamics and the personality of our relationship in a time where there was already a lot going on. ROH: Was she a student? MG: Yes. She ended up getting a degree in communications, which we both regret. She wanted a degree in nursing but her dad talked her out of it. He didn't want her to be a nurse, but said that she should go to school to be a doctor. She wanted to stay at home and raise our children, but that knowledge base would have been very valuable for our family. In one way, it was good because communications was a faster degree and she was able to get her degree quickly. She got pregnant our senior year and we had our first child about six or eight weeks before she graduated. My father would come over to our little house and watch the baby while we were both in school. ROH: Where was your first house? 11 MG: It was 780 32nd Street. It was a tiny little house but we loved it. We were able to buy it because my wife had saved up some money. We drove past it because it was near where we were renting and we talked the owner into selling it to us on contract. We gave him the $2,000 that Monica had saved as a down payment. ROH: What was your first child's name? MG: Natasha was our first. She was born in '95. ROH: My wife stayed home with Natasha and I got a job at Lomega as a financial analyst. I made $28, 500, which was really upsetting. I felt like with the master's degree and good grades—I was second in my class—I had hoped for more. But it was a job and I took it. It was a good experience, but I didn't stay long. I was there for about six months when I got a call from Dutch Belnap who used to be the athletic director at Weber State. He said, "Hey, Matt, I have these guys that are looking for a chief financial officer, are you interested?" I said, "Heck yeah." I talked to them and worked with them for three months. It was a disaster. I won't be disparaging about what went on. It was not what I wanted to do or where I wanted to work. Luckily, I was able to go back to Lomega and they took me back in a position that was better than the one I had left. I ended up being a program manager and supervising the release of new products. Lomega started out with a ditto drive, a tape back-up drive. Later, I moved to the zip drive. It was very challenging and very fast paced. I was laid-off, which is a great story. I was in meetings until 6:30 or 7:00 p.m. one night and my card wouldn't work to get back into my office. Somebody 12 came by and let me in. I went to my computer and my login wasn't working. I called the IT guy and said, "Hey, what's going on? My computer and my card aren't working." Then, all of the sudden, I realized I had been laid-off. We knew there were going to be massive lay-offs, but there were only two of us doing program management for the zip drive in the entire company and we went to our boss and asked, "Should we be worried?" He said, "No, if you guys weren't here, there's no one to do your job. There's no way you could be let go." So we both thought we were safe and yet we both were laid off. That didn't last very long, but they didn't bring me back to the same position. It was about two weeks later that they brought us back and they had me doing something similar but it was in the division in San Diego. I flew out Monday morning and flew home Friday night. I had been called to be a bishop in my church about a year before. I worked that schedule for about six months when I decided I couldn't do it anymore. I had been applying for other jobs but my stake president worked for the city and suggested I apply for a job in neighborhood development with the city. I had been doing some real estate on the side. I applied and didn't hear anything for three months. Then I was called in for an interview and again didn't hear anything for quite a few more months. I left Lomega and worked at the city. I wasn't very excited about that. ROH: What year was that? MG: I think it was the end of 1998. I told the city I couldn't live on the salary they gave me and that I needed to continue to do real estate on the side. They said that would be okay. I basically helped with neighborhood development. I went to city 13 council meetings and presented new projects. I kept thinking that the way the city was being run didn't make any sense. We had huge problems. Downtown was a mess and was continuing to cave, yet it seemed like we were the only ones doing anything to rebuild the town but we were doing it up in these neighborhoods. I said, "Why aren't we doing some mixed-used development downtown?" They laughed at me and said, "That's what we should be doing but the economic development guys aren't going to go for anything like that." I made other suggestions and kept saying, "Why doesn't the city do this?" or "Why doesn't the city do that?" I was brand new. I only worked for the city for six months total. One day, I got a call from the CAO, which is the guy right under the mayor. He said, "I understand you have a lot of ideas about what should happen in the city." He asked me to meet with him. I went to his office and started sharing the ideas. He was mostly listening and from time to time would write things down. Then, I got to crime and I said, "We need to focus on crime. Factual or not, there's a perceived crime issue. People think Ogden is riddled with crime and I think there needs to be a real emphasis on reducing crime." He put down his pen and said, "There is nothing that can be done about crime. Crime is driven by demographics and the economy and there's nothing you can do to change it." I said, "Well, I think we can change it and I think there are cities across the country that have, though it will take a lot of work." He put his pen down and folded his arms and I thought, "Well, this is over." I didn't say that, but I thanked him for his time and left soon thereafter. This was in the spring—in March. 14 I went home that night and thought, "Nothing's going to change." Until there is a vision and somebody who has a desire to make something happen, we're in a vortex and this town isn't going to escape. The guys running the city— the CAO—didn't believe things could change. I was upset by it and asked myself if I really wanted to stay here. I felt like I was on the Titanic. A week later the mayor announced he wasn't going to run for re-election. ROH: Who was the mayor? MG: Mayor Mecham. He was having heart failure. Nobody knew it at the time, but he was getting a heart transplant. He was a nice man, but he had several people in key positions that weren't making anything happen. I said, "Good, hopefully there will be somebody who jumps in the race who will do something." Then Garth Day announced he was going to run. He was just indicted up in Morgan County and sent to prison for fraud. He was on the city council and I had watched him flip-flop on issues until it drove me crazy. One day, I got up and spoke out about an issue because he was pushing an ordinance that had to do with the city yard-care regulations. They were saying, "We have these ordinances that require people to take care of their yard, but people don't." Garth Day was trying to get something passed where you'd put a big billboard, placard-type thing up in the person's yard that said, "This person is not complying with Ogden City regulations." He said, "If we do that, maybe we can shame them into compliance." While I was attending the meeting as a staff member, I figured that since I was also an Ogden resident I could address them as a constituent. I said, "What I think we should do is not embarrass people into 15 doing it, let's just enforce the law. I am certain that if you started enforcing the ordinances, you will change behavior. We just need to give citations and let their pocketbook change their behavior. If you put the signs up, they're just going to tear them down." I got in trouble the next day from my boss who said, "You should not be speaking out at these council meetings." ROH: Who was your boss? MG: Aaron Wolf-Burtling. He said, "I understand, but let wisdom dictate. We need the council to approve our plans." I said, "I know, but it was a dumb idea." He said, "I know, but you still need to be careful." Anyway, I had seen Garth and I thought, "He cannot be the next mayor. He'll destroy this town!" I like Garth; he and I developed a good relationship, but he was not the one to run the city. I kept waiting to hear who else was going to run. I heard there was another guy that everyone acknowledged was kind of a crazy guy. So, it was kind of depressing. There were some great people at the city and I'd rubbed shoulders with a lot of people who were really capable. There were some fantastic people at the city who wanted to do things but had been here for years and maybe just accepted that this was the way it was. I went home one day and said, "Monica, what would you think if I ran for mayor?" Her father was a state senator at the time and had been chair of the Weber County Democratic Party. He was very well known as a physician in town and very well-liked by everybody. Between my father and my father-in-law, you'd think that politics was kind of ingrained in me, but I had never had a desire to run for political office. My wife 16 and I hardly ever talk about politics. She was shocked. She said, "Why would you do that?" I said, "Who's going to run for Ogden City mayor if I don't? The town's in bad shape and it pays $70,000 a year. You're not going to get the capable executive who wants to come because he thinks this would be fun. No one is going to leave their career to be the Ogden City mayor." ROH: Give me some examples of some of the businesses that were leaving at that time. MG: Weber State. They had a downtown campus that they abandoned during that time period. When there was an Ogden City Mall downtown, Weber State had an office there. Weber abandoned that, for safety reasons. Nordstrom left. ATK Thiokol was here and they took off in the late '90s. There were little shops and little stores all around that shut their doors. ROH: Downtown Ogden was the premier place to shop. MG: That was before there were national chains, to be fair, but those slowly closed. It was sad. Generational businesses were going. ATK was a significant and high-paying employer who uprooted. We had salvage yards in what is now our central business district. That was my point to my wife: "There's no one who's going to take this on." We had our own business, a real estate holding and management company, so we decided that we were in a position where we could run for mayor. We talked about it and I talked to some people around town. I talked to my father-in-law and asked what he thought. He liked it. He said Ogden needed somebody with new ideas and new passion. He gave me a list of people to go talk to about it. After about a week of talking to a couple people every day—I still 17 worked at the city—I got called into the city attorney's office. One of the attorneys sat me down across the desk and said, "I understand you're thinking about running for mayor." I said, "How did you hear that?" He said, "Word has gotten back to the mayor that you're talking to people around town. Have you decided?" I said, "No, I haven't, I'm just kind of going through the process of trying to figure it out." He said, "You can't do that and be an employee here. If you're going to work for the city, you have to work for the city and not campaign to try to beat your boss." I said, "I'm pretty sure my constitutional rights give me the right to run for office if I want." He was the nicest guy and I said, "You don't really want to be having this conversation with me, do you?" He said, "No, I don't." I said, "You were sent to do this." He nodded. I said, "Well, I'll tell you what, you can go and tell them I've made up my mind and I'm going to run for mayor. You don't have to fire me, I'll quit." I went home and told Monica. ROH: I don't understand how that could be legal. MG: It wasn't legal and he knew it wasn't. He was sent to talk to me and later I found out why. It was because the mayor had somebody who was running and he didn't want me running against him. I'm sure that the CAO didn't want me running either because it was clear that his ideas and my ideas weren't aligning. I was twenty-eight at the time. I went around and talked to everyone about it. Inevitably, as I went around to people like, John E. Lindquist, and they'd say, "Why don't you run for city council first?" I'd say, "I don't have any interest in a political career and spending time to work up to become mayor because Ogden has problems now. If you and others think that my ideas are good ones and that I 18 can help turn the tide for the city, then great, I'm willing to do it. If not, I'm not going to try for the council." John A. Lindquist said, "How can I help you?" I said, "I need money." He pulled out his checkbook and wrote me a check. I felt like I was on cloud nine because I had the support of John A. Lindquist, who was the patriarch of the city and he'd just endorsed me. That was a real turning point for me. From there it was a lot of campaigning. ROH: Today is December 1, 2011 and we are in the office of Mayor Matthew Godfrey. Present is Matthew Godfrey and Rebecca Ory-Hernandez from Weber State University. We'll pick up today from where you started campaigning for mayor. MG: People started calling me and I had a few surprise phone calls from businessmen who said, "I want you to meet with somebody. He's run political campaigns across the country and he was a political advisor to Ronald Reagan." I met with the gentleman and he was very helpful. His name was Chuck Bailey; he's passed away since. That began the journey of knocking doors and meeting people and trying to win an election where you're virtually unknown in a community. It was probably the end of May when I made the decision and then in June I had my campaign declared. There were a lot of us who ran. My strategy and belief was that I needed to knock on every door in the city. I wasn't sophisticated enough to know that you don't knock on every door—you only knock the doors of those who actually vote. I was fortunate enough to win in the primary in October and then the office in November. ROH: What was a day in the campaign like for you? 19 MG: I had my own real estate holding and management company which I'd been building for several years and was doing full-time. I had three days a week that I would go and run that business. In the evenings, I would knock doors from five until 8:30 or 9:00. During the day, when I wasn't knocking doors or working, I'd organize volunteers and put together materials. There's a whole logistical side of it, with vendors and signs, and I had to organize volunteers for much of that. I knocked on doors Tuesday night through Friday night and then all day on Saturday. I learned that you can't go out at 9:30 a.m. or even 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, which was strange for me but for other people that was still sleeping time. ROH: How many volunteers did you have? MG: It was mainly family and friends. One of the ones who helped me a lot was Brandon Stevenson, who is now a city council member. We'd gone to high school together and I knew who he was but we weren't friends. I was better friends with his little brother. I got a call from Brandon saying he wanted to help and he was extremely helpful. He helped knock on doors and campaigned in his neighborhood. A lot of my family came out and knocked on doors and handed out fliers and put up signs. In the last campaign I had a large group that came to help, but usually it's a small group willing to put in the time to help you out. ROH: How much money were you expected to raise for your first campaign and what was your platform? MG: The most that had ever been raised previously was $14,000 by Mayor Mecham. I figured that if I raised more money than that, then I'd be in good shape. I ended 20 up raising about $28,000, and I was still outspent two-to-one. I think Bob Hunter spent $64,000 or something like that. I had probably as many signs out as Bob did, but I remember all of his four-by-eight signs had pictures of himself placed on top the week before the election. It was like Bob was everywhere. It was discouraging and we thought, "There's no way. He's spent way more money and put out more fliers and more signs. He's inundated the town with Bob Hunter." The platform that I ran on was three very specific things: lowering taxes, economic revitalization, and reducing crime. There were also components of that like getting into neighborhoods and making a difference, but I thought that those three main ideas were what people wanted. I had plans for each and everything mapped out. I still have the brochures—I kept them so I would remember what I told people I would do. We would have meetings with my directors where we would go through and check some of them off. Some of them came off the list because I came into the office and realized it was a bad idea. I should say; I realized it wasn't the right place to put resources. Things changed as I learned more, but we really focused on accomplishing what we told people we were going to do. You naively think that people will remember what you told them you were going to do and when you'd tell them you did it, they would applaud. To this day, when I tell people, "We lowered your property taxes three times." They say, "No, my taxes go up every year." I say, "No, your city property taxes were lowered three times." Nobody remembers and nobody believes it, but it was important to me and, I hope, to our team that we did what we told people we were going to do. 21 ROH: What was your reaction to winning your first campaign? MG: I was surprised. My wife and I worked really hard up until the last day and did everything we knew we could do. Bob Hunter came over to my house the morning of the election. He gave us flowers and said it had been great to run against us. He was a real gentleman. He said, "If you win, I'll be your biggest supporter." I thanked him. After he left, I said to my wife, "Not only has he outspent and he's everywhere, he's now out-classed us!" We went out to breakfast after that and we've actually made it a tradition that every four years on the Tuesday of elections, we go out to breakfast as a family. As you wait, it's a very anxious day. It was a fun evening that night at my house. Bob had rented the Radisson Hotel and had a fancy shindig there across from the city offices. It wasn't as advanced then as it is now—at that time you had to have somebody there at the recorder's office in order to relay information. I had someone down at the office getting the tallies and we were calling him and getting updates. As the results came in precinct by precinct, I think we won every single precinct. There may have been one or two we didn't win, and we only barely won each precinct, but one after another we won almost all of them. I think it was down to the second or third to the last when I did the math and realized we had won, there was no way he could beat us. It was surreal. I don't think anyone in the room thought it was going to happen. That's the moment when you give your wife a hug and kiss and say, "Now what do we do?" We needed to go and shake Bob's hand and thank the community, so when the results were in, we went down to city hall. They were relaying the data 22 from the old council chambers and it couldn't have been a colder reception by everybody. We all felt so awkward when we went in. There were a few token congratulations, but mostly it was really gloomy and we felt like complete outsiders. Bob was gracious and we thanked him. He reiterated his promise to be our biggest supporter. He is a very close friend and ally. I have appreciated that and really respect him. We left soon after because it was so uncomfortable that night. I think most everyone there supported Bob and had expected Bob to win and they were worried about the change of the new guy coming into office. I had to sell my business because I wanted to start working for the city right away. I was coming in and meeting with people and trying to get to know what was going on. They were nice enough to give me an office. It was in a corner by the library and had a lot of old books in it. They put a desk in it for me. The mayor did not support me. He was going to remain neutral in the race, but after I won the primary he came out and supported Bob. He was not cordial to me. I had made no bones about my intent to replace two of his main people. I'm sure if a mayoral candidate were saying that about my people, I'd feel the same way. I started work in that little corner and I worked pretty much every day. I met with people and started to form a budget and a plan. I started figuring out who my team was going to be. I went up to Weber State and met with Mike Vaughn, Dick Richards, and Chuck Bailey, some guys from Iomega and other members of the community that I trusted as good business minds in order to figure out, "What do I do? How to I transition this kind of an organization? Do I come in and take it slow or do I come in and make changes right away?" We had 23 a lot of dialogue as a group and laid out a plan, which was to take things slow— to come in and learn the landscape, let people prove themselves, and make changes as they became necessary. We transitioned quickly between November and January when I was thrown into office. The mayor had one meeting where he met with me and it was fascinating because he didn't have a computer on his desk. When I came in, there was not a single file in his desk. I'd asked for the meeting to have him pass along nuggets of wisdom and projects and whatever else he felt like he should pass on to me. It was a very brief meeting. He gave me a handful of suggestions; there was an individual that he said, "Whatever you do, don't fire this person." He said, "Of all the conferences and conventions you should go to, this one is the most valuable." He said a couple more little things and that was it. It wasn't, "Here's what we're working on, here's our strategy, here's the lay of the land…" We really started from scratch. Luckily, the administration stayed. I was so new. I had been here about two months when Christie, who had been his admin and was mine, came in and said, "So, are you keeping me?" I said, "Of course, why would you think not?" She said, "We didn't know if you were keeping me or if we were leaving." I said, "I'm so sorry. It never even crossed my mind." I had no idea that they often change out administrative assistants. She was a phenomenal assistant. Those kinds of things were all new to me, but luckily Christie was there and helped out a lot. The CAO and the economic director both resigned the day I took office; I had said I would replace both of them. I felt that they were not doing a good job, but 24 my intent was to work with them and if they could step it up. We hired Stuart Reid to be the economic director, and brought Nate Pierce up from within the organization to be the CAO. You're inundated when you're new. Everyone wants to meet you and you have a million new best friends. You go through a process where your just trying to figure out what's going on and what's important while you're building your team. It takes time to figure out how to work together as a team. Mecham's style was very different than mine. There were a lot of changes. We put more resources into the police department and into economic development while we were cutting taxes. We had to make significant changes in the organization while we were making those things happen. We tried to ease into them gradually, but from the city's perspective, it was lightening speed and dramatic organizational changes almost overnight. ROH: How would you describe your style? MG: I am very team-oriented. I believe in having a clear vision of where we are headed and what we want to happen, then establishing clear goals and giving people responsibility to make those components happen. I think my role is to make sure there is that vision and then to push the organization, to make sure that they know that we're going to make these things happen. My role changed over the years, depending on who was there. For example, Stuart Reid was a very strong leader and liked to own everything that was in his box. He did not want anyone meddling in economic development, which was too bad because I loved economic development. He wanted complete control and so I just held him 25 accountable for the outcomes and he would deliver. He had his own way of going about it and he wanted to be left alone. On the other hand, our current economic director wants me to participate and comes to me for help. That's Richard McKonkie, a wonderful man who has been the deputy director of economic development in the city for many years. I'm fine adjusting my role depending on what is needed. Some departments do everything on their own and as long as they're producing their outcomes, that's all I care about. It's been fun to see the changes in the organization and how my work has changed. ROH: How many terms have you been mayor? MG: Three. I'll be finishing up twelve years as mayor. I've been here longer now than anybody except Lorrin Farr, who was the first mayor of Ogden. He didn't actually have elections. He was appointed and once a year at church he was sustained as mayor. He went to serve a mission and another mayor came in and Lorrin Farr came back after his mission and served a few more years. I think he served twenty-three years as mayor. He had quite a different environment. ROH: Who appointed him? The church? MG: Yes, basically. When they settled the territory, people were given assignments to go and settle different areas and fill different roles. ROH: How would you summarize your first term? MG: It was hard. The council relationship was really difficult. I was, obviously, brand new to politics and leading an organization of this size. City government was very different from the private sector. I knew it would be challenging, but in my first meeting with the chair of the city council, he told me that his relationship with 26 Mayor Mecham was terrible, that the council hated Mayor Mecham and Mayor Mecham hated the council until the last two years. He said, "The mayor learned he had to come to us and listen to us and once he figured that out, it was fine." I went back after this meeting and my staff said, "Don't you dare do what that arrogant bugger is telling you to do." I also knew that Mayor Mecham had serious health problems in those last two years and he wasn't working as much, so maybe that made him easier to get along with. I took my staff's advice and tried to be cordial and work with the council, but the chair would chew me out for not going to him about things. I said, "I have advisors and they are the people advising me on things. That is not your role." It was a difficult relationship for a few years. In hindsight, I wonder what would have happened if I'd gone to him and said, "Sure, I'd love to partner with you." If I'd made them feel included and a part of things, I wonder if it would have calmed the waters. I would love a chance to go back and try to change that dynamic. It was really hard to get projects through. It was an ambitious agenda. We wanted to recruit 2,000 jobs to the downtown, 2,000 people living in the downtown area, and the last one I think was 200,000 square feet of new retail, office, and entertainment in the downtown area. That was hard because there hadn't been new housing in the downtown area in over 120 years and the businesses were leaving. From the time I was elected to the time I took office— Nordstrom had already left, J.C. Penny announced they were leaving and Mier Frank announced they were leaving. I thought we were going to be rehabilitating this mall and it emptied out within days of my taking office. That was challenging 27 because the community loved that mall and preferred it to the Newgate Mall. The community wanted Nordstrom and J.C. Penny and Bon Marche back. I can't tell you how many times I heard that. Well, we tried. Nordstrom was livid with Ogden because they had tried to stay and when they had come out for a trip, apparently they had a meeting scheduled with the former mayor and his economic development director and Nordstrom got blown off. The economic development director was skiing and the mayor wasn't available to meet with them—and it was literally one of the Nordstrom family members there for the meeting. After getting blown off, Nordstrom said, "We're done." They wanted their space rehabilitated, they wanted their entrance re-done, and they wanted to know there was a commitment to seeing the mall flourish. Apparently, the owner of the mall had died or gone bankrupt and so Nordstrom was coming to make sure the city was monetarily committed to the mall, but the city blew them off and they said, "We're out of here." That started the chain of events where all the anchor tenants vacated the mall. We met with Mier and Frank several times. We flew back east to see them. It didn't work out. The feeling was, "This mall is never going to work. You're going to have to tear it down." We told the community that all the developers were saying the mall had to be torn down and the universal response from the community was, "It's a beautiful mall and it's only twenty years old, you can't tear it down." We were saying, "Nobody wants it. If we want a unique retail and entertainment center, we're going to have to tear it down." The community was 28 angry, understandably so. They didn't understand why we had to put money into this and why we couldn't just get Nordstrom to come back. We announced the river project, which was a sixty-acre development project on both sides of the Ogden River that we wanted to start. That meant we were going to have to be buying homes. When creating an RDA at that time, we had the ability to use eminent domain to acquire those properties. People were livid. It barely passed in the council. It was very difficult and was controversial. There were always huge groups of opposition when we did these projects. We did several projects on 25th Street, like the five-acre parcel that had been empty for forty years that we wanted to rebuild. Many members of the council and much of the community wanted to do this stuff for free and nobody wanted any risk. It doesn't work that way. It's our town and we need to invest in our own community. It was very challenging. We didn't have any money, so we had to be really creative in how we moved forward whether it was rebuilding the mall, developing the river project, or redeveloping 25th Street. Wall Avenue was a disaster, there were two different salvage yards in that area—our central business district had two salvage yards. We had to get those out of here and buy up property. ROH: How did you manage that? MG: We were very creative in finding little pockets of money. One of them was the IRS building, when we came into office, the IRS was reported to have been looking around for a place to build a new campus; their buildings were old and non-functional. I was thrilled when I heard about it. As soon as I hired Stuart Reid, I said, "Stuart, here's a contact. Our guy has been working on it. Will you 29 call the IRS and tell them that we'd like them to move downtown." They had already looked at downtown and said nothing suited their needs there. Well, Stuart and his guys found two administrative orders signed by the president; one said if there's downtown space available, then they needed to occupy it; the second said that they had to use a historic building if one was available. We found a historic building in downtown and took it to the IRS and said, "You have to come. Here's a site. It's downtown and a historic building we want you to use." They said, "No, we're not going to do it." I wasn't in the meeting, but it was reported back to me that the IRS was told, "You will do it or we will sue you for not following your own rules." Can you imagine doing that to the IRS? So, kicking and screaming they came. We purchased the property and sold it to a developer and we actually made a little money in the deal. Those early projects were critical to revitalizing the downtown area. It gave us a story to take to other people, "Look at this, here's a new development on 25th street and here are these new buildings downtown and all these new jobs coming to the area." Little by little we would build on the success and get people to come. Virtually every time we had to come up with some creative incentive to make these things come together. People will never appreciate how challenging it was. In fact, the development director came in one day and he said, "Do you see my hands?" They were all red. I said, "What's going on?" He said, "I'm losing the skin off of my fingers. This is so stressful. I can't sleep at night because I'm trying to figure out how to bring these things together and now I'm literally losing the skin off my body because of the stress." 30 We had a city council member who sort of had this constant theme of, "I'm supportive of the project. I just don't think we should be funding it. If it's such a great idea, the private sector should do it." It was like, "Where is a decayed downtown where the city just steps aside and the private sector just comes in and solves all the problems? I want to see the economic model where that has ever worked." It hasn't. Cities have to jump in and take part. We heard that all the time and it was like their justification not to participate. One council member had her daughter going around in the river project handing out fliers that told them what they had to do to stop the project from going forward. It included some kind of lawsuit or legal action that they could take against the city. I understood voting against it, but why in the world would a city council be acting against it? She too supported the project; she just didn't think the city should fund it. We kept asking her how to fund it without the city taking the primary role, and of course she had no suggestions. Apparently, it was just that the way we were doing it was wrong and there was surely a better way to do it but she didn't have any idea what it was. The same thing happened with The Junction. The same city council member opposed it. Mary Hall was the biggest opponent to all the things we were trying to do. It took about a year for us to realize we had to tear down the mall—it was about 2001 when we realized we had to take it down. We were talking about it all through 2000 and I think we finally got it down before the Olympics. We had to create some anchors and draws for the Junction. There were three key pieces to make the Junction work. One was the Tree House, 31 which eventually got put together but was so hard. The Tree House was one, the second was the Salomon Center, and the third was the movie theater. I got several phone calls saying the Tree House wasn't going to come, but they hung in there through great difficulty and eventually they did. That piece came together and the next was working with Larry Miller. There's a huge story behind that, but Larry Miller finally decided to build theaters in the downtown area just to help out the community here. Larry asked me if he would make money if he built the theaters in Ogden. I told him I didn't know if he was going to make money but commented, "We need you to come and do it because you have the Midas touch. If you come to downtown Ogden and build this theater, I'm convinced that the rest of the mall will come together and the downtown area will revitalize." That's turned out to be the case and he's made money. He's been very pleased. He told me that before he passed away. They agreed to come in if we got the Salomon Center. Tree House was already moving forward, expecting that we were going to do the rest of it. The Salomon Center was tough because the private sector wasn't going to do it unless the city was committed. We ended up having to be the owner of the property. We got a lease from two different entities that were going to run it. One was the Gold's Gym who also runs the Flow Rider, iRock and iFly. The second was the Fat Cats, which includes Costa Vida and the Pizza Factory. They agreed to lease the building from the city and we were using tax increment to fund about half of the construction cost. Once again, we had people saying, "This is never going to work. You're crazy. You're going to bankrupt the city. If this is such a 32 good idea, why wouldn't the private sector do it on their own?" We heard it over and over. I was sued personally as well as in my capacity as mayor. I had to hire a personal attorney out of my pocket because they sued me as a candidate and the city couldn't cover my attorney costs. ROH: Citizens of Ogden? MG: Some were citizens of Ogden, a lot were not. Dorothy Littral sued me and ended up losing. The judge ordered her to pay my attorney's fees. Those were dark days. There was a petition drive going on to stop the Salomon Center. If they got a certain number of signatures they could get it on the ballot and we knew this was going to be a tough project to explain to voters. This was a blue-collar community and it was not lost on any of us that going out to these sixty and seventy year old retired Hill Field and railroad workers and say, "We need to build a center that has indoor skydiving and it's going to be good for you. You need this." We knew it was a tough sell, but we also knew we needed to do something unique that would have a regional draw. It was going to be impossible to communicate in a way that our demographic was going to grasp. A referendum was going to be challenging. I went home one day and said, "Monica, if they get the signatures, we're done. We won't get the Center, which means we won't get the theater. Nobody is going to come to our town if we've got twenty-acres of city center sitting fallow." We barely had four votes on the council. I asked Monica if it was okay if I used personal money to make fliers and spread them out. The city couldn't use money to tell people not to sign the petition. After work, I would go home and print fliers 33 and deliver them. My wife was so awesome. She would go to the places that were allowing people to set up booths to sign a petition and she would go to the owner of the place with a flier and explain to them why it was so bad to have people signing the petition. She called me one day just sobbing because she'd explained it to a store owner and he was not very nice about it. People in line to sign the petition had been very rude. I felt so terrible—here I am making my wife go out and do the dirty work for what the city needed. ROH: What year was this? MG: It would have been 2005. Those were really dark times. If the Junction didn't happen, the town was done. It was hard to come up with an optimistic vision of what might happen if the Junction didn't get built. Luckily they lost their lawsuits and didn't get enough signatures on their petitions. We barely got enough votes to get it through. One of the former council members came and spoke at the meeting the night of the last vote to get the Salomon Center moving forward. She said to the council, "You know better." I'll never forget her words and her fervor. She said, "You guys are smarter than this and you know better than to approve this." It was a 4-3 vote, barely passing. A couple of them lost their seat because of that vote. That night, there were several that were claiming that Larry Miller wasn't going to build a theater and that it was all a farce and this was all going to collapse like a house of cards and we were indebting our citizens. We knew it was a huge gamble, but we knew that anything less was sure to fail. We needed to do something big enough to show that this was a new Ogden and a new vision 34 for the community. We didn't know if it was going to work. We had done our research, but none of these things had been built in a community our size before. We knew it was a roll of the dice, but we were obviously thrilled a year later when it was successful. Even now, in this recession, they have done remarkably well. ROH: What about the economic development along 25th Street? It's doing so much better. MG: Luckily, we had some great anchored tenants on 25th Street and unlike the rest of downtown, we weren't working from scratch. We had Roosters and Great Harvest that were doing great. MG: [Addition submitted by Matthew Godfrey] I believe the year was 2005. That was a dark time for all of us that were working so hard to turn the city around. It felt like mission impossible and that everything that could go wrong did. The financing was enormously complex and it was challenging to keep all of the players in the project from the private sector engaged because they were taking a big risk and were being bloodied by the CAVE (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) people in the process. I was working long hours and it was highly stressful. What made it bearable were all of the good people that stepped up to help. We had citizens that I hadn't met previously who showed up to support the idea. Dave Hardman from the Chamber of Commerce and Dan Musgrave from Downtown Ogden Inc. rallied their organizations to show up to the city council meetings and show support. I believe the contrast they provided against the negative people helped us get the four votes we needed to move the project forward. We feel gratified that the project worked as we had hoped. The Salomon Center was built, Larry 35 Miller theaters and Boyer built out their portion. The hotel was even completed east of the Salomon Center as we had planned. The Junction has been a catalyst for further redevelopment in downtown and has been the regional attraction we hoped for. I will always be grateful for those people that stepped up when times were hard. My family was always there. My father passed away during my tenure as mayor, I think about him often. My wife has always been and incredible support. I couldn't have asked for anything more than she provided. My parents as well as Monica's parents were equally supportive. My kids took a lot of grief from other kids in school because of the things I did as Mayor and I feel terrible that all these people that I care deeply about had to suffer for what I did at work. Hopefully, we made a difference in the community. We exceeded all of our goals and ended up recruiting over 8,000 jobs, leading the nation in job growth my last year in office. We were also able to recruit over $1.2 billion of private investment, redevelop over 130 acres of downtown with another 80 acres underway. We facilitated the building of well over half a million square feet of office space and in the process lowered crime by over 30 percent. We left Ogden City in a much better financial position then we found it, having established a "rainy day" fund for the first time in the city's history, to my knowledge. We were able to turn the tide on some of the historic housing in downtown that had turned into terrible rentals and recruit home ownership back to the area. We also added significant amounts of open space, new trails, kayak parks and other recreational amenities. We cleaned up the extremely blighted Ogden River 36 and made it the public asset it should have always been. We lowered property taxes three times and never raised them. Along with all of that there were many projects that we weren't able to finish that we really wanted to complete. Connecting Ogden to Snowbasin is a project that needs to happen. It will create the opportunity for Ogden in terms of new high-paying jobs, new tax revenue and retail that wouldn't come in any other way. I'm sure I've studied this issue in more detail than any person on the planet and I'm convinced of the good it will do for Ogden. There were many projects and initiatives we worked on that I regret not being able to finish. The last year or so in office, it felt like the City Council and other members of the community felt like we had done enough. I don't think they understand that if we don't continue to improve our town it will decay. For all of the enormous difficulties of serving as mayor for 12 years, I am grateful for the experience. I hope we have made the Ogden City better for the coming generation.