Disagreement over Nobel win

By Christopher Woodhouse and Kurt Wagner

President Barack Obama went to bed Thursday knowing NASA would crash a module into the moon's surface in the middle of the night. He woke up Friday morning to hear that another event rocked the world while America slept.

He had won the Nobel Peace Prize.

"I got up this morning and checked all my news sources -- Fox, CNN, AOL -- and it was the top story on every one," said junior John Amann. "I was like 'Oh man, is this really happening?'"

Amann wasn't the only one surprised.

Media outlets noted that even reporters gasped when Obama was revealed as the winner of the distinguished prize in Oslo, Norway.

"I think it was surprise," said senior Jack Mahoney of the announcement. "I think you would be hard-pressed to find anyone who is a follower of American politics that wasn't."

Television pundits and both national political parties spent Friday analyzing the decision to award the young leader with such an honor only nine months into his presidency.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future," said the Nobel committee on its decision to award the American leader. It also cited the president's efforts in international diplomacy and cooperation. Obama, a democrat, was nominated for the prize less than two weeks after officially taking office in January.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele scoffed at the situation. "It's a stunning, if not truly surprising, indication of just how meaningless a once honorable and respected award has become," Steele wrote in a fundraising e-mail late Friday.

The award didn't impress junior Chris Beddow. "Overall, I think people think it's kind of ridiculous," he speculated. Beddow, president of the College Republicans Club at Santa Clara, said Obama's response was lackluster. "He didn't seem to realize how ridiculous it was."

Mahoney gave up part of his sophomore year to campaign for then-candidate Obama during the primaries in 2007 and currently serves as co-president of the Santa Clara College Democrats club. His initial surprise quickly turned to frustration after several prominent members of the Republican Party cried foul at the president's award.

"Especially because this came right after Chicago not getting the Olympics and that being cheered by every Republican in the country, I think it's just depressing," he said.

Amann and Beddow wanted other Santa Clara students to know what had transpired in the early morning hours. The pair set up a table in Benson Memorial Center to hand out fake Nobel Peace Prizes to anyone who wanted one because, in their opinion, the Nobel standards have been set so low that people who haven't done anything deserve one.

"Nobel Peace Prize -- they're giving them out for free," Amann heckled at students passing near Mission Bakery.

Amann's and Beddow's prizes were nothing more than photocopied fliers with a picture of the Nobel medal, under which read, "Awarded to (your name here) for accomplishing â?¦ nothing."

Their table, draped with a "Don't Tread on Me" flag, caught the attention of students walking through Benson.

"They're giving it to everyone nowadays!" shouted one passing student.

Explained Amann: "We're just concerned about whether he had the credentials to earn the prize."

Not only did Amann and Beddow believe Obama was undeserving of the honor, they think he should have rejected it outright. No sitting president should accept the award due to conflict of interest, they contested.

Two other presidents have received the Nobel Peace Prize while in office. Theodore Roosevelt was awarded in 1906 and Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

Former President Jimmy Carter won the prize in 2002 and former Vice President Al Gore in 2007, both after they left high office.

Senior Student Senator David Bass was working the "Be Heard" desk for Associated Students near Amann and Beddow's table. He felt the awards were a personal assault on the president.

"I'll admit it's a clever idea," said Bass. "It's very flashy and everything, but it's still a (character) attack."

Said Beddow, "We're not protesting (Obama), but more what the process has come to."

Mahoney felt that the award should not be taken lightly regardless of whether or not it was deserved.

"I definitely agree with the sentiment and I don't think that should disqualify him just because he is standing on symbolic merits as well as potential merits," he said.

Contact Christopher Woodhouse and Kurt Wagner at (408) 554-4546 or news@thesantaclara.com.