On Oct. 5, at 9:30 p.m., nearly 40 volunteers of Occupy Athens met outside the ATHICA art gallery to plan for their protest outside the University Arches at 8 a.m.

Students involved in Occupy Athens met outside ATHICA Arts Wednesday night to plan Thursday's Arch protest. RANDY SCHAFER/Staff

In response to the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City, these students and Athens residents met to deliberate procedures for the movement at a local level.

The volunteers discussed strategies of the protest and their goals for participating.  Amidst the hour and a half long meeting, they discussed media and public relations, delegated committees and dealt with issues of resources, facilities and propaganda.

Of the multiple items discussed, one volunteer offered her University email address, so her fellow protesters could use the University Wi-Fi.

Another volunteer cautioned that the University had been cooperative in supporting the protest and to respect the property and clean up after one another.

There was a lengthy discussion about media relations and volunteer appearance in it — with a focus on not appearing biased or unorganized. The Red & Black talked with four protesters — Christian Avalon, Carter Adams, Ethan Epps and Colin Vereen — on their plans for Occupy Athens.

Q: What are you planning to achieve by doing so [protest]?

Christian Avalon: Educate the public about what is going on in New York City, because of the media blackout.

Carter Adams: And possibly to raise resources.

Avalon: For [the New York protesters] … for medical supplies, food and clothing.

Occupy Athens members said they hope to raise resources for the Wall Street protesters. RANDY SCHAFER/Staff

Q: How long do you plan on doing this?

Adams: Until they leave Wall Street, or maybe longer.

Avalon: Right now the date is set for January 1, 2012. That’s the date they have set to get to.  What happens in the meantime, well that’s when you bring a bunch of people together and start working together and talking and working out solutions that can be done.

Q: What exactly are you trying to educate people about?

Adams: Corporate control of our federal government is ruining the lives of 99 percent of America.

Q: Since you are centralized in Athens, are there any other motives you’re going for?

Ethan Epps: In terms of what is happening in Athens: Athens, according to the most recent census, has the highest poverty rate of any metro area in the country, so we’re trying to make that connection that.

Avalon: It’s directly related.

Adams: What happens on Wall Street is causing poverty in Athens, Ga.

Q: How do you plan on continuing doing this?  Is it going to be a continual protest?

Adams: Currently, we are aiming for seven days a week. We can’t camp and we can’t bring sleeping bags, but if people are willing to be out there and be awake up to 24 hours a day, we want to be out there as much as possible until Jan. 1.

Q: Would you say Occupy Athens is made of members, are you a group, or are there leaders?

All: We are the 99 percent.

Epps: We’re a horizontally-organized group. It’s collective.

Adams: Our e-mail address is occupyathensga@gmail.com, that is our point of contact.  We also have a website at occupyathensga.org. There’s a forum you can join.  There’s a philosophical discussion part of the forum where if you’re a conservative who hates everything we stand for, you can register and gives us one for it.

Epps: You can get ongoing updates about what we’re doing, when people will be out there, plans, activities and news.

Q: Is there anything else you want people to know before there are any misconceptions about what you guys are doing?

Colin Vereen: Everyone has a stake in this and we all have the power to make a difference in this country.

Adams: If you’re scared of your student loans, if you’re scared about not having health care, if you’re scared about your job prospects, if you’re scared about life after graduation in modern America, come join us, because we represent you.