The Speaker Series Committee should choose retired Gen. Wesley Clark to come to campus this semester. Of the three finalists the committee announced last week – Clark, who ran for the Democratic nomination in the 2004 presidential race; Aaron Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson; and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent at CNN – Clark is the best option for a few reasons.

First, with much political talk already centered on who will run for the Democratic ticket in the 2008 presidential election, choosing Clark would be very timely for all the politically minded students at CMU.

Clark was a candidate to challenge President George W. Bush in the 2004 election before eventually losing the nomination to John Kerry, and he still hasn’t ruled out running in 2008.

While Clark might not have the same political name association like Bob Dole or George McGovern, who spoke to Alma students in September, he still should draw a large crowd at CMU.

Clark’s military ties also make him an appealing candidate.

Clark is a retired U.S. Army four-star general who served in Vietnam and commanded the NATO-led Operation Allied Force in 1999 during the war in Kosovo.

In many ways, Clark is viewed as an American hero, and many students would be interested in his words.

But the biggest reason Clark should be selected is because, compared to the other options, the Speaker Series Committee really has no choice.

Gupta is just a small step above many of the other speakers who have come to CMU in years past. It would be a crime to spend $20,000 on someone who can be seen almost daily on CNN, informing people about things such as reasons why smoking is bad and the next great medication to fight AIDS.

No offense to Gupta, but his speech most likely only would draw a meager crowd of medical and broadcast journalism students.

But nothing would make people scratch their heads more than if Gandhi is selected.

Again, no offense to Gandhi or his famous grandfather, but choosing him would be an absolute waste of University President Michael Rao’s $20,000 gift last semester.

The only reason he may draw a crowd is because of his last name, and that’s it. He hasn’t done anything of note to warrant a paycheck at CMU.

Even a simple google.com search of his name turned up almost entirely futile, with the exception of a few articles that talked about Gandhi’s visit to the Palestinian city of Ramallah in 2004, where he preached nonviolence to political prisoners. He also fasted for a day with the prisoners, according to aljazeera.net archives.

Even Central Michigan Life’s Friday article that announced Gandhi as a Speaker Series candidate came up third on the Google list.

The committee should choose Clark because he’s a very current political figure. He will draw the biggest crowd.

Hollywood makes movies about people like Clark.

There’s no reason why he shouldn’t come to CMU first to tell his story.

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