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thedrifter
03-05-03, 05:15 PM
Posted on Wed, Mar. 05, 2003

Students gather at City Hall for antiwar protest
By James M. O’Neill
Inquirer Staff Writer



High school and college students from throughout the Philadelphia region converged on City Hall today as part of a nationwide student-run protest against a war with Iraq.

By 3 p.m., several hundred students had gathered, and more were expected: approximately 250 Penn students marched in from West Philadelphia, and other students were expected to arrive by bus later in the afternoon.

Five people handcuffed and chained themselves to an armed forces recruitment center on North Broad Street and others armed with bullhorns blocked off a nearby intersection as police looked on.

Students from Girls High School, William Penn High School, Masterman Middle School and Temple University, among others, held placards and danced to 1960s anti-war music to make their point.

Some students stood on either side of 15th Street at Market Street, holding up signs that read: "Honk 4 Peace." Many motorists did honk as they drove past the students.

Several of the students said that they had been pressured by school administrators not to cut class and that they had been threatened with suspensions if they did so.

"I saw my country going down the wrong path, so I decided to get involved," said Evan Hoffman, 20, a Temple sophomore. "We live in a democracy, and this is what democracy is all about – when you see that what the government is doing in your name is wrong, you need to act..."

Hoffman stood in the crowd wearing a t-shirt with a peace symbol, which, he said, his own father had worn as a student during antiwar protests at the University of Wisconsin.

Students at Swarthmore College decided to hold a stand-in during classes today as their form of protest. A student organizer said that most of their professors agreed with their anti-war stand and that students did not wish to disturb classes by walking out as many students at college across the country are doing today.

Philadelphia City Councilman Angel Ortiz is scheduled to be one of the speakers at the student antiwar rally, which is set to begin at 4 p.m.

While most members of the crowd waited at City Hall, a group of high school and middle school students left there to march by an Armed Forces recruiting office at Broad and Cherry streets.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact staff writer James M. O’Neill at 610-313-8012 or joneill@phillynews.com.

Some of these students were as young as 12...that were there....
I'm glad I wasn't downtown.......


Sempers,

Roger

thedrifter
03-05-03, 05:24 PM
U.S. Students Protest Possible Iraq War
1 hour, 39 minutes ago

By JOANN LOVIGLIO, Associated Press Writer

High school and college students around the country walked out of class Wednesday to protest a war with Iraq (news - web sites), holding a series of rallies organizers predicted would be the biggest campus demonstrations since the Vietnam War.


Tens of thousands of students at more than 300 colleges and universities had pledged to join the protests, according to the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition. But attendance was spotty at many campuses and some groups called for support of the Bush administration.


Thousands of students also rallied for peace in Britain, Sweden, Spain, Australia and other countries. The U.S. protests were also geared to call attention to the effects of a war on education, health care and the economy.


Manon Terrell, a 19-year-old sophomore, missed three classes to take part in a rally at Stanford University attended by about 300 people carrying signs bearing slogans such as, "It's the Middle East, not the Wild West."


"This is a personal thing for me because my friends are going to fight this war," said Terrell, a civil engineering major. "It's not going to be Bush and his cronies in business suits on the front lines. They're going to take people of color and poor people."


Dozens of Stanford professors endorsed the rally, either by telling students there would be no penalties for leaving class or by canceling class.


In Los Angeles, 18 demonstrators were arrested for blocking an intersection during an interfaith protest as several hundred people cheered. About 1,000 students at Santa Monica City College rallied and 500 Venice High School students left class for a protest on the school's front lawn, waving signs and chanting "No more war, no more war."


About 500 students walked out of class at the University of Maryland. And in Milwaukee, 40 students lined the sidewalk in front of the Marquette University student union during an hour-long protest.


"It's good to let people know students have a say in what happens in the world," said Abir Chaudhry, 19, who carried a sign that read "God Does Not Bless America Only."


Hundreds of students walked out in Texas. At San Antonio College, Melissa St. John, who favors an Iraq invasion, got into a nose-to-nose shouting match with a young man who argued no positive link has been made between Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and Osama bin Laden (news - web sites).


St. John later said she doesn't like the idea of war, but diplomatic efforts to rein in Saddam have failed.


"None of us like it, but it's time," she said. "Our country is under attack."


Sporadic rain fell as about 1,500 protesters — and a small number of Bush administration supporters holding a counter demonstration — gathered at Penn State University. The protesters later presented the mayor with petitions asking the borough council to oppose war with Iraq and resist elements of the USA Patriot and the Homeland Security acts.


About 125 students and a few faculty members turned out in gray, drizzly weather for a rally at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Ross Meyer, a junior and founder of a student peace group, said he was disappointed by the turnout and someone interrupted his speech by urging the crowd to support the government if the United States invades Iraq.


Two sisters, Kate and Allie Dunn, traveled to a New York City anti-war rally from suburban Westchester County to express their support of the Bush administration. "Remember 9-11?" asked a sign carried by 18-year-old Kate.


Farther north, around 100 people rallied at an Albany, N.Y., shopping mall to protest the arrest of 61-year-old man who wore a T-shirt that read "Peace on Earth" and "Give Peace a Chance" while he shopped two days earlier.


Another anti-war group, Not in Our Name, called on workers to call out sick and business owners to close up shop Wednesday to protest a war with Iraq. It could not immediately be determined whether any widespread sick-outs had occurred.


Andrew Pearson took the day off from work to hang anti-war banners from highway bridges and later joined a demonstration at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

"We're trying to show folks across North Carolina that people are ready and willing to disrupt their daily lives to stop the war," Pearson said.

In Virginia, where many colleges were on spring break, only two students showed up for a demonstration at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.

"If this were something the world wanted to do together, I would support it," said Jim Sparks, a 32-year-old biology graduate student. "It's a big mistake to go it alone."

___

On the Net:

National Youth and Student Peace Coalition: http://www.nyspc.net

Not in Our Name: http://www.notinourname.net


Sempers,

Roger

wrbones
03-05-03, 05:38 PM
sedition and treason are the crimes in some cases there.

I have noticed that they protest about the U.S. involvement during these peace protests, but they do not protest against the peace breakers or other parties involved. Takes two to dance folks.

The thinkin' that they're doin' ain't right or balanced. Un-balanced folks are commonly known to be in need of medical and pshyciatric assistance. That was just my opinion, but I'm coming to believe that it's true.

firstsgtmike
03-05-03, 07:25 PM
"In Virginia, where many colleges were on spring break, only two students showed up for a demonstration at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. "


Almost sounds like you can eliminate the protests and marches if you close the schools until after the fan is speckled.

greensideout
03-05-03, 07:38 PM
I would be curious to know who started this mob rule mentality in America and when?

We are not a democracy. In fact, our founding fathers warned against it!

mrbsox
03-05-03, 07:58 PM
Radio this morning (997wtn.com) was talking about a rally at MTSU, just East of Nashville. Steve Gill, the morning host keeps up with this stuff. The 'SPONSORS' of this rally are listed on his sight, most of whom have know communist, solialist, and anti-American ties.

http://nyspc.net/actions.html

Look at the bottom of the page for the sponsoring groups of this 'Books not Bombs' Bull Sh!t. Or maybe that should be Bull SHEITE

Terry

Sniperone
03-06-03, 06:34 PM
Drifter,

Just to put in a good word for the students that are on the right track. My daughters whole 7th grade class have been writing letters to Marines stationed overseas. They each "30 students" have a pen pal Marine. My daughters is a Lcpl Communications Repairman. He gets a kick out of a 12 year old ending her letters with.....Semper Fi ! Be Safe.............