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**~MuNiYa~** · Mar 3, 2003, 08:19 AM

Awesome... ! thanks for sharing. I did see fliers at school to.

**abc1234** · Mar 3, 2003, 03:42 PM

^
muniya

guppies if your professors are not cool w/ declaring off for class on wed, then maybe you can convince them to dedicate the class to educating the students about iraq [as one of my Muslim profs is doing].... or atleast lgive you time to speak on iraq for even 5-10 minutes to spread some awareness. you can get a lot of material off the web, i can help u with that so pm me if u would like info to talk abt. or if everything else doesn't seem possible, u can always just distribute pamphlets....

but lets do SOMETHING small atleast to spread awareness on the issue :-)

**5Abi** · Mar 6, 2003, 08:37 AM

Over at Westwood.

Students take a step toward peace

Following campus-wide walkout, over a thousand rally against war with Iraq

By Charles Proctor
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[email protected]

Anti-war activists have done plenty of talking over the past couple months as the Bush administration railroads toward war. On Wednesday afternoon, they tried something different.

They walked.

In perhaps the biggest nationwide student movement since the Vietnam War, over 1,000 UCLA students staged a campus-wide walkout on Wednesday as part of a national moratorium against war with Iraq, joining tens of thousands of students in high schools and colleges around the nation.

Rallying at Westwood Plaza in front of Ackerman Union, sign-waving, slogan-shouting students clamored that the government was slashing into school budgets to fund its war machine.

"We're demanding our education be prioritized over war," said David Chang, director of the Asian Pacific Coalition. "We can't go about our business while there's a war going on. We're going to make a statement and do something about it."

Ryan Smith, a fourth-year political science student, a member of the African Student Union, a Daily Bruin Viewpoint columnist and an event organizer, agreed. "If we don't walk out today, who knows if students will have an education tomorrow?" he asked.

The walkout hit at 11:15 a.m. In Moore 100 during Life Sciences 1, around 30 to 50 students marched out holding signs and chanting for international justice. Some students who didn't have a class at 11:15 a.m. attended random ones anyway and walked out to make a statement.

The walkout, which was nationally coordinated by peace organizations like Not in Our Name and the ANSWER Coalition, was organized at UCLA exclusively by a wide range of student groups.

Students flooded into Westwood Plaza as activists led chants from the stage. Some held their cell phones or cameras in the air to capture the audacity of the moment, while impromptu debates sprang up around the fringe of the crowd between anti- and pro-war activists.

The vast majority of students in attendance listed grievances ranging from the incompetence of President Bush to U.S. intervention abroad.

"Saddam Hussein probably does not speak for the entire Iraqi population because Bush sure doesn't speak for the entire American population," said Cassie Schimmel, a third-year history student.

Andrew Song, a first-year material science and engineering student, said the walkout was symbolic of student unification.

"It takes this togetherness ... it shows you can take a stance and make a difference," he said.

A dozen students staged a "die-in" during the middle of the rally, lying down with red-stained shirts and guarded by students meant to represent U.S soldiers.

"This war is supposed to be for the liberation of the Iraqi people," said German Gurrola, a fourth-year anthropology student who played one of the "dead" students. "If three out of four people who are going to die are civilians, it's contradictory."

Activists then led students in a march to Murphy Hall, where they rallied outside as a delegation of four students went to Chancellor Carnesale's office to demand the UC Regents not raise student fees and come out in support of the anti-war movement. Though Carnesale was in Oakland attending a conference, representatives met with the delegation and agreed to arrange a meeting.

"A commitment has been made for the chancellor to meet the four of you," said Assistant Chancellor Antoinette Mongelli, although she would not specify an exact date.

Later in the evening, about 100 students from local high schools and Santa Monica City College rallied at the corner of Westwood Boulevard and Le Conte Avenue, eliciting support from the rush-hour traffic.

Faculty members and Associated Students of UCLA employees also showed up to watch the rally and were impressed by the passion and turnout of the protesters.

"It's one of the best examples of solidarity I've seen on this campus, and I've been here since 1985," said Pat McLaren, a student support services employee for ASUCLA.

Jim Gimzewski, a professor of chemistry, said attending rallies was part of a university experience.

"It's part of your education at a university ... to develop a set of values and engage in debates," he said.

Not all those present were waving peace-signs. A small yet visible contingent of pro-war supporters showed up as well, saying peace activists did not propose viable alternatives to war and ignored the plight of the Iraqi people.

"I don't think any of these chants have freed Iraqi prisoners. I don't see how clapping and chanting is going to help the Iraqi people," said David Hackett, a fourth-year political science and French student who helped carry a banner which read "Saddam Loves Walkouts."

In some instances, confrontations between anti-war and pro-war activists became ugly. People would routinely shout each other down with bullhorns, and organizers struggled to separate cursing activists from one another.

Andrew Jones, chairperson of the Bruin Republicans and former Daily Bruin Viewpoint columnist, said protesters seized and shredded his pro-war banner and said organizers did nothing to deter them.

Many students at UCLA didn't even attend the protest, saying they had other things to worry about or weren't informed enough to protest.

"As a theater major, I have classes I am focused on, and it is hard to be aware of world issues," said Eleni Lotakis, a first-year theater student. "If I am going to a protest, I should know what I am doing."

Georgia Korbakis, a first-year biochemistry student who was sitting outside of Kerckhoff, said she wasn't even sure how effective the protest would be.

"I know that they're making a statement, but looking around it doesn't seem like people care," she said.

A group of three Marines who showed up on Bruin Walk to man their traditional recruitment station said they were undeterred by the rally.

"You have a God-given right to speak your mind and you have an America-given right to get away with it," said Marine Captain A. Hollimon, who added the UCLA community had always been supportive of the Marines in the three years he had been a recruiter.

From coast to coast

All in all, tens of thousands of students walked out of classes in over 300 colleges. From Penn State to Stanford University, students and professors abandoned their desks and took to the streets, trying to draw attention to the economy, healthcare, education and military deployments to Iraq. Students in Britain, Spain and Australia, nations that support the U.S.-led initiative in the United Nations, also staged protests.

Many of the protest organizers predicted Wednesday's rally marked an increase in activism at UCLA.

"This is the beginning of the student movement at UCLA," one organizer proclaimed to the crowd. "It started today."

With reports from Menaka Fernando, Daily Bruin Reporter, Sarah Wagner, Daily Bruin Senior Staff, and Daily Bruin wire services.

**Ums** · Mar 6, 2003, 09:57 AM

it went well ova here

Announcement

Nationwide Student Strike against War on Iraq - Mar 5th

Nationwide Student Strike against War on Iraq - Mar 5th

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