EVENT: Ralph Nader to Speak on Consumer Advocacy at the University of Rochester

Ralph Nader, who announced this week that he will run for the presidency, will speak at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, March 24, in Strong Auditorium on the University of Rochester’s River Campus. His visit is sponsored by the Outside Speakers Committee, a student group that brings diverse lecturers to campus.

Admission is $5 for the general public; free for University of Rochester undergraduates; and $3 for University faculty and staff and other students with ID. Advance tickets are available at the Common Market in Wilson Commons on the River Campus. General admission tickets will also be on sale at Aaron’s Alley, 639 Monroe Ave., (585) 244-5052, beginning Monday, March 1. In case of a sell-out, simulcast tickets will be sold at the door on a first-come, first-served basis the night of the talk.

Named by Time magazine as “one of the 100 Most Influential Americans of the Twentieth Century,” Nader has been a crusader against corporate negligence. He has made two bids for the presidency as leader of the Green Party, though his current campaign will be run as an independent. Nader’s most recent book, Crashing the Party: How to Tell the Truth and Still Run for President, was on the New York Times bestseller list.

Nader, who received his law degree from Harvard University, first made headlines in 1965 when he took on the auto industry with his book Unsafe at Any Speed, an exposé on the auto industry’s disregard for safety. The book led to a series of congressional hearings and new automobile safety laws that were passed a year later. Using the momentum from that success, Nader worked with lawmakers on efforts to create initiatives aimed at the public interest. He was instrumental in creating the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Nader has also been influential in the creation and passage of such laws as the Safe Drinking Water Act, the meat and poultry inspection rules, and the air and water pollution control laws. He has formed numerous citizen groups such as the Center for Auto Safety, Public Citizen, the Pension Rights Center, the National Coalition for Universities in the Public Interest, and the student Public Interest Groups (PIRGs) that operate in more than 20 states. Nader also writes a weekly column, “In the Public Interest,” which runs in newspapers around the United States.

For more information, call (585) 275-5911.