On Feb. 15 anti-war strikes took place on several college campuses across the nation to encourage resistance against the Iraq War.
The idea for the strike came from UC Santa Barbara and has inspired other campuses to participate in the Student Strike Against the War.
Seventeen other colleges including UC Berkeley and Georgia State University were involved in the strike.
“There’s been a real unity with other campuses trying to support each other,” said Ben Rosen, spokesman for the World Can’t Wait Organization.
The World Can’t Wait Organization hopes to spread what it sees as the truth about the war.
Its members believe that the Bush Administration has committed war crimes and wants President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney impeached for these crimes.
“To wait two years for a Democratic savior is not something we’re waiting for,” Rosen said.
The organization is helping to spread the Santa Barbara’s message by asking other colleges to join the strike.
The organization planned the “Mission of a Generation: Stop the War Now! Drive Out the Bush Regime!” speaking tour, which is traveling across the nation, to encourage colleges and high schools to strike.
“Everybody should do what they can to let their voices be heard,” said Steve Kinzie, assistant director and writing specialist at the Learning Enhancement Center.
“There’s a better way to solve our problems. If we have a problem with our neighbor, we don’t take a gun and shoot them. The better way is nonviolence,” he said.
The tour’s main purpose is to teach students to unionize and cause change.
On the tour five speakers sit on a panel and talk about the purpose of the strike.
They share their opinions on the unjust and immoral nature of the war, hoping to encourage students and faculty to come together and join the strike.
“It’s like the youth movement in its infancy, bubbling up,” Rosen said.
One of the speakers, Sgt. Liam Madden, is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in Iraq.
After four years of service, he wants to speak out against the war.
He co-founded the Appeal for Redress, a campaign to demand Congress to remove all American troops from Iraq.
The appeal has been signed by 1,200 military men and women.
“We support the troops that are resisting, not the ones who are committing war crimes,” Rosen said.
The tour started Feb. 1 and will end March 10, with a stop in Los Angeles planned for the end of February.
“I’d love for our campus to be one of those political schools,” said Rida Fatima, senior political science major and president of ASULV.
The student government was not contacted about the strike or the tour, and does not know if the school will be involved.
“Aliens would have to attack this campus for anyone to do anything,” said Mercy-Faith Kimbwala, senior business administration major and vice president of communications for ASULV.
Richard Gelm, professor of political science, believes differently.
“I have known students at ULV who have gotten involved and would get involved,” Gelm said.
During the time of the Vietnam War, there was a lot of political activity on college campuses.
Kinzie believes that exposure to students being drafted allowed for more of a reason to protest.
“I wish there were more active voices against the war on campus,” Kinzie said. “Unfortunately, I don’t hear it much.”
Gelm does not believe the students are politically inactive, rather he thinks they are politically conscious, such as being involved in the community.
“I think ULV students deserve more due,” Gelm said.
Sher Porter can be reached at sporter4@ulv.edu.
