A student conference on terrorism meets Friday to discuss topics as diverse as fast food and the 2004 Olympics.

The theme is Terrorism: Violence, Exclusion, and the History of Ideas.

English student Matt Dunkerly is one of over 20 students picked to present a paper at the conference, which organizers hope will become an annual event.

Dunkerly’s described his paper, “McDonald’s: The Golden Arches of Terror,” as an attack against corporate America and a fun way to take on the essay.

“It’s on a lighter note,” he said. “I hope it breaks up the issues that are more intense.”

Melanie Eckford-Prossor, Honors Program director, said she chose the theme with the idea that education means interacting with major world issues.

“I wanted a topic that would cut across disciplines,” Prossor said. “I see students as active participants in major issues.

“This gives them the opportunity to be just that.”

The conference is presented in lecture format, with students presenting their papers followed by questions and answers.

After a general call for papers, students submitted 39 essays on topics ranging from bioterrorism to the terror threat in Athens during the 2004 Olympics.

Other topics included the role of terror in Ireland; a historical perspective of the role of the media in the Hearst family scandal; changes in children’s education based on terrorism; and an examination of religious terrorism and Greek mythology.

Next, each essay was read by a team made up of two members of the honors advisory committee and one honors student.

After the grueling selection process, the committee selected 24 papers.

“The most encouraging thing was the sheer conviction of the writers and the wide range of approaches,” Prossor said.

Students from the sciences, humanities, social sciences and statistics are participating in the conference.

Prossor said that most of the papers selected were of a similar political persuasion.

“We did get one paper that was pro-Bush and the war on terror,” she said. “But tension and discussion would be great!”

Student Dunkerly said that if he could, he would ask President Bush if he rigged the last presidential elections, but wasn’t sure what to ask about Sept. 11.

“When Sept. 11 happened a lot of people were afraid to go out,” he said. “But I thought that was a little weird.”

Dunkerly says that the only thing that has affected him since Sept. 11 is the price of gas.

“My life hasn’t changed much,” said Dunkerly. “I haven’t traveled or anything. But my friends did just have a friend die in Iraq, which is really sad.”

Prossor said while she wanted to see that students really care about terrorism, she hoped they would be able to present arguments in a logical and reasonable way.

Dunkerly said that he was grateful for his history class in high school, where he learned that the United States was using propaganda to paint a really bad picture of Osama Bin Laden.

“They put a specific image of him in our minds and we see him as a violent person,” he said. “The media has changed terrorism in our eyes, because we see it every day.”

So far, none of the students who will be reading their papers are of Middle Eastern origin, although some students are Korean, Swedish, English and Irish.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Honors Program; Extended Opportunities Programs and Services; and the Center for Philosophical Education.