As the war with Iraq continues, students across the nation continue to protest for peace. While the movement at UCSD may be minimal in comparison to other universities, the feelings and wishes of those involved are still the same. Student groups, including the UCSD Peace Coalition, Campus Greens and the International Socialist Organization, which are all part of the San Diego Campus Anti-War Network, have organized rallies and teach-ins, and have engaged in discussions regarding the future of the anti-war movement. This is all done in an effort to spread awareness of the existing situation and erase the ambivalence felt by many students.
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“”It’s sad growing up in a country where the government doesn’t care about the rest of the world and its own people,”” said Eleanor Roosevelt College sophomore Lindsay Harris.
Harris and Peace Coalition member Talitha Matlin, also a Roosevelt sophomore, credit the teach-in organized by the communication department for educating them on the facts and motivating them to take a completely anti-war stance. Professors spoke on topics including unpublished photographs from the first Gulf War and the geological environment around Iraq. The teach-in, attended by over 100 students, was deemed successful by department chair Geoffrey Bowker.
“”It was a great discussion,”” he said. “”We had people on both sides.””
The teach-in had a profound effect on the opinions of those who attended.
“”We were morally opposed before,”” Matlin said. “”But after, from a political and economic stance, we were completely opposed.””
Soon after, Harris and Matlin, along with other students, organized a peace protest, which was held on March 14.
“”There was nothing being done on campus to show how we felt,”” Harris said.
To publicize the event, they put up flyers across campus and sent e-mails, asking recipients to forward them to friends. During the protest, students marched up and down Library Walk and formed a human peace sign in front of Geisel Library.
Speeches were made by professor Tom Cardoza and Roosevelt sophomore Ivette Herman. Also in attendance were seven members of the College Republicans, who voiced their opposition to the anti-war stance.
“”They were very disrespectful,”” said Harris, who added that the group also engaged in name-calling.
The event was covered by several local television and radio news stations.
“”They asked why we were there, and we said that we think there are a lot of people who feel the anti-war sentiment, and wanted the feelings to be heard,”” Harris said.
She and Matlin were disappointed with the coverage.
“”The media portrayed [the group of College Republicans] as being just as large as us, when there were around 300 of us and seven of them,”” Harris said.
In addition to the protest on March 14, a group of 20 to 25 UCSD students attended a protest in Balboa Park on March 16.
“”I was impressed that we got people to go on the Sunday before finals,”” Matlin said.
Their dissent has drawn mixed reactions from the student body.
“”Some people have been supportive. They say peace, give us the peace sign, and get into conversations with us on the shuttle,”” Harris said. Others have shown their support by wearing T-shirts with anti-war messages.
Those with a pro-war stance, however, have also publicized their feelings, many having done so in a less polite manner.
“”When one student was putting up protest signs, someone said to them, ‘I’m just going to tear it down after you put it up,'”” Matlin said. Matlin recalls that opposing sentiments also got more personal. “”We’ve also been called hippie trash, and I was spat on.””
This kind of discrimination against anti-war protestors has been rampant.
“”Counter-demonstrators tend to be very angry. They are usually shouting and do not seem to be very well-informed,”” said Omar Clay, a member of several anti-war student organizations.
Most feelings on campus appear to be ambivalent.
“”Overall, the feelings are apathetic. A lot of people on campus are passive and not moved,”” Clay said.
Matlin though indicated the growing engagement with the war.
“”Most who [oppose war] didn’t have opinions before,”” she said.
Rallies and other campus events have given these dissenters reassurance that they are not the only ones with such feelings.
“”It’s good to know you’re not on your own,”” Harris said.
Groundwork Books, the site of some of the most visible anti-war message on campus, has also provided support to the campus anti-war movement. Throughout the store, one can see signs and buttons declaring, “”Stop the War on Iraq,”” “”Stop Funding the Occupation”” and “”No Blood for Oil.”” It welcomes flyers regarding war-related activities and sells t-shirts with anti-war messages.
“”We’ve even closed the store to support [protests] on campus,”” said employee Joaquin Murrieta.
Students with anti-war views have appreciated the store’s environment.
“”They’re very happy they can find a reinforcement that they’re not alone, that there are other institutions such as Groundwork that are completely against the war,”” Murrieta said. He also said that as far as he knew, those with an opposing viewpoint had not engaged in any direct confrontations with the staff, but that “”you can see that they’re bothered.”” In addition to protesting the war in Iraq, the store also harbors posters protesting the internal war against civil liberties.
The communication department has further showed its dissent to the war by drafting an anti-war resolution. There have not been any responses thus far.
“”I have not received any reaction from anybody,”” Bowker said. “”It has not started a controversy of any kind.””
Harris and Matlin disagree that voicing their opposition to the war is anti-American.
“”Dissent is the highest form of patriotism in the U.S. In expressing dissent, you are showing that you care about what’s happening in your country,”” Harris said.
They will continue to voice their dissent until the war ends, and urge others to educate themselves on the situation.
“”Some people don’t care and think it won’t affect them either way, which is [the attitude] we’re trying to get rid of,”” Harris said.
They warn against relying on the mainstream American media for information.
“”If people want to find out more, they have to step outside of the U.S. media and go international,”” Clay said.
Matlin and Harris also add that they do not want to be seen as stereotypical protesters. “”We don’t look like hippies. We look like other college students,”” Harris said.
For now, they hope for a growing awareness of the war’s consequences and problems, and for old stereotypes of protesters to disappear.
