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Presidential candidate Ralph Nader denounced the lack of emphasis given to public interest law in universities' law curricula during a speech addressed to students at the School of Law Thursday.
"Whose side are you going to take? Are you going to side with the perpetrators? Or the victims?" Nader said.
Nader also criticized corporations for shifting accountability to consumers and the increasing focus on corporate law in law schools.
"[Corporations] don't vote, they don't bleed, they don't go to war in Iraq," Nader said."But they are the ones controlling the country."
Nader needs to obtain 64,000 signatures from registered Texan voters to earn his place on the presidential ballot next November 2004, although his campaign aims to collect 90,000 between March 10 and May 10.
Addressing students has been an important part of Nader's campaign.
"Some of these students might have entered law school, because they are concerned about the unconstitutional happenings since November 2000," said Debbie Russell, Central Texas coordinator for the Nader campaign.
"I agree with a lot of his views, except that he should be the next president of the U.S.," said Ben Simnacher, vice president of the student organization University Democrats.
During Nader's last visit on Feb. 25, he criticized the Democratic Party by saying it was the "lesser of two evils."
"It's narrow-minded and sort of simplistic," said Simnacher concerning Nader's comment. "To me, there are a lot of issues where Democrats and Republicans have very different opinions."
Many Democrats say that Nader, who garnered 3 percent of the popular vote during the 2000 Presidential election, is responsible for taking votes that otherwise would have given Al Gore the presidency.
"I think he's going to cut away Kerry's support, in the same way he probably cost the last election to Al Gore," said Marcus Schwartz, an adjunct professor at UT law school.
The National Lawyers Guild, a progressive legal issues organization, does not endorse Nader's campaign, but it agreed to host his speech after a request from the Texas Nader for President office, said Maunica Sthanki, co-chair for the National Lawyers Guild university chapter.
"The reason why we are holding this event is because UT law school does not do a good job of stressing public interest law," Sthanki said. "We hope Nader can spare some enthusiasm to law students who pursue a career in this area."
UT law school's main focus is on corporate law, Sthanki said.
"It doesn't always have to be about Enron and tax law," she said.
Nader also met on Thursday with volunteers and petitioners in a private setting as part of his ballot access campaign and with the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
In 2000, 10.3 percent of Travis County voters voted for Nader, the fourth-highest number of supporters in the country, according to Travis County Commissioners' Court.
"I hope that not only Ralph Nader, but also George W. Bush and John Kerry, would come, so students can have the experience of each one," Schwartz said.
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