[media-credit name=’JAKE NAUGHTON/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]A University of Wisconsin student organization is planning to protest against the inclusion of Halliburton Energy Services in a career fair sponsored by the College of Engineering later this month.

During the Campus Antiwar Network's kickoff meeting Monday, several UW students discussed the possibilities and logistics of generating a massive turnout of protesters to prevent engineering students from approaching the company's exposition table during the Sept. 20 career fair.

"I really hope we can surround Halliburton's table and make sure anyone who walks near that table gets a flyer that clearly details all the various misdeeds Halliburton has been involved in," said UW senior Zach Heise, one of the group's leaders. "If you're an engineer working for Halliburton, you essentially have sold out your ethics to this huge corporation."

Halliburton Energy Services has been under heavy scrutiny by nationwide anti-war movements due to its involvement with the Iraq war. The company has a multibillion-dollar contract with the U.S. government to provide several services to American troops stationed in the Middle East.

Much of the company's controversy comes from the involvement Vice President Dick Cheney had in the company and whether it constitutes a conflict of interest.

Cheney resigned as chief executive officer of Halliburton before running for the vice presidency in July 2000, but still receives deferred payments from the company, although those payments allegedly are not being affected by Halliburton's annual revenue.

Heise, who has participated in other anti-war movements with CAN, said he hopes to have as many as 500 protesters, though a smaller turnout would still be desirable.

Another CAN leader, UW senior Chris Dols, is also hopeful to have a turnout in the hundreds, and said it is disappointing to see engineers working for a company like Halliburton.

"There are certain ethical standards engineers are supposed to uphold, and they make billions off this war," Dols said. "I hope we make it impossible for them to recruit."

UW College Republicans Chair Sara Mikolajczak, however, said she is disinclined to believe the event will promote any changes.

"I highly doubt they're going to have a couple hundred people there," Mikolajczak said. "I don't think they can affect the campus as a whole."

She also said Halliburton fights to promote a common national goal, and sees no point in trying to remove it from UW.

"[Halliburton is] for capitalism; America is for capitalism," Mikolajczak said. "I see no problem for Halliburton to try to exist on campus."

UW freshman Alyse Pfeil said she plans to participate in the protest and potentially work with CAN to oppose the war in Iraq.

"I really feel that George Bush and his many advisors have lied to the American people," she wrote in an e-mail to The Badger Herald. "[They] have used the ideas of terrorism, democracy and morality to start a war for their own self-interested agendas, and have promoted the ideas of white, European supremacy all around the world."

According to CAN leaders, Halliburton has been feeding off the Iraq war, and the more soldiers that die in the war, the more revenue the organization receives.

"Honestly, I don't really buy into the American ideals that the more money we have the better," Pfeil said.

The Career Fair will take place in the Engineering Centers Building from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20, and the event will be free for students.

Correction: Due to a reporting error, the Haliburton Company and KBR Inc. have been independent of each other since April 2007, and KBR currently handles the logistic support services provided to the United States government. The article also should not have said Dick Cheney still receives deferred payments from Haliburton.