Students skip class to protest war
By Lauren Hanvey
Staff Reporter

Only a handful of TCU students showed up for an anti-war protest at 11 a.m. Wednesday in front of Frog Fountain as part of a national “Books not Bombs” class walkout sponsored by TCU Peace Action and the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition.

Those who did show up said they were disappointed with the low turnout. Anyone who wished to be involved was supposed to leave class, or not go at all anytime between the hours of 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., said James Perrin, a sophomore religion major. He said he only knew of five current students who attended.

“I don’t think we got the word out very well,” said Noah Figg, a junior computer science major. He said he did not have to skip class to attend the protest.

Perrin said he participated because he feels very strongly against a war with Iraq as well as wars in general.

“I just think this war is about public relations and empire,” he said.

He said he hopes there will later be a similar event and that more people will participate. Perrin said, people are superficial and are not concerned with war and politics.

Hundreds of other Texas college students also left class Wednesday to protest the Bush administration’s plan for a possible war with Iraq.

At San Antonio College, nearly 100 people gathered at noon to speak out against military action, waving anti-war signs and chanting slogans such as, “Wanna support the troops? Bring them home.”

“We want to show them what democracy looks like,” organizer Mario Gutierrez said. “Democracy is not a government saying it’s going to war, no matter what.”

Students also protested at the University of North Texas in Denton, and the student coalition predicted tens of thousands of students would walk out of more than 300 schools and universities Wednesday.

Gutierrez, who passed out anti-war fliers in San Antonio, said the protesters are sending a message to the White House that Americans are not of one mind about how best to deal with Iraq.

Steve Denton, another organizer, said protests are valuable because most Americans are not paying attention to facts, but are being swayed by fear-mongering.

“When they are actually informed, they come over to this side,” he said.

A larger number of people gathered around the protesters, most to watch but some to counter the anti-war position with vocal support for Bush’s plans.

Melissa St. John, who favors an Iraq invasion, got involved in a nose-to-nose shouting match with a young man who argued strenuously that no positive linkage has been made between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. A crowd pressed in on the pair as if it were a playground scrap.

“Why don’t you go to do what John Walker did and support (Saddam),” screamed St. John, referring to John Walker Lindh, the young Californian serving a long prison sentence after being caught with Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

St. John later said she does not like the idea of war, but that diplomatic efforts to rein in Saddam have failed.

“None of us like it, but it’s time,” she said. “Our country is under attack.”

At the University of North Texas, about 250 people gathered for a noon rally. Organizers said the turnout was significant for a largely commuter campus.

Doran Sauer, a 23-year-old political science major, said he fears going to war will only destroy the infrastructure in Iraq and intensify the poverty.

“I don’t think we’re prepared to spend the money or the time and effort to turn the country into a working democracy,” Sauer said. “We’re going to leave them high and dry just like we did Afghanistan.”

Several dozen people waving American flags said they supported Bush, and that anti-war protesters were naive about the danger Americans face from terrorism.

“It’s their innocent families and children or our innocent families and children. It’s that simple,” said Clinton Petersen, a 20 year-old political science major.

In addition to the planned U.S. protests, thousands of students also rallied in Britain, Sweden, Spain, Australia and other countries.

This report contains information form the Associated Press.

Lauren Hanvey