Staff Editorial: Moore: A strong, topical speaker

For the past several years, the Social Planning and Events Committee's Connaissance branch has been on a roll in selecting speakers.

SPEC brought in notable names -- including Madeleine Albright, Maya Angelou and Rudolph Giuliani -- with an important message to convey to the Penn community. Connaissance has been rewarded for its selections by a demand for tickets that has far exceeded the capacity of Penn's biggest auditorium.

This semester, though, brings a speaker without the same name recognition who will likely not draw the crowd we have become accustomed to seeing in recent years. Academy Award-winning director and noted left-wing activist Michael Moore has been tapped as the spring speaker and will visit the smaller Zellerbach Theatre next month.

What Moore lacks in mainstream appeal, though, he will surely make up for with his controversial and outspoken views on national politics. If his recent anti-government book and his tirade at Sunday's Oscars ceremony are any indication, Moore will not pull any punches if and when he addresses the conflict in Iraq and other issues on the domestic front.

While Connaissance selected Moore before his anti-war speech Sunday night, it has done well in picking an engaging, timely speaker who will undoubtedly gear his lecture toward an Ivy League crowd. Moore will not draw as big an audience, but he will certainly spark some campus debate.

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