|
news
Campus in favor
of war
By Pam Brashear
Special to the On-line Forty-Niner
As the U.S.-led
bombing raids against Afghanistan near the one-month mark
with uncertain results, a majority of Cal State Long Beach
students, staff and faculty support the military response
to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Of the roughly
150 people questioned on campus last week, 66 percent approved
of the "war on terrorism," 23 percent disapproved
and 11 percent were undecided.
Communications
major Jeremy Green is among the supporters.
"Without a
response to those attacks, America would only be inviting
anyone with a dislike toward us to do the same thing,"
Green said. "We are the United States of America. We
have to show people that we just won't take it."
Duncan Calegari,
23, a senior majoring in marketing, agreed.
"If we want
terrorism abolished and our freedom, this must be the action
that our country takes," Calegari said. "Bombs away."
Brigid Shuppert,
a sophomore majoring in social work said, "I think America
has done a noble thing by bombing Afghanistan. We need to
stand our ground and if war is what it takes, then so be it."
Another bombing
supporter, Hillary Paffenroth, sophomore criminal justice
major, also said she supports the bombing but she still urges
caution.
"We need to
let the world know we will take action if provoked or else
we will become an easy target for future attacks," Paffenroth
said. "[But] we should have more information, such as
what exactly we are dropping bombs on, and the effectiveness
of this course of action. The 'accidental' hit on the Red
Cross was absolutely unnecessary and all precautions should
be made to make sure this won't be repeated."
Some 23 percent
of those surveyed disagreed with the military effort against
Afghanistan.
"I think we
should go after the terrorism, but not the country itself,
with many innocent civilians," said Michelle Bolourchi,
an international studies major.
Wendy Wasinger,
an apparel textile design major, also disapproved.
"It'll create
even more anger against the U.S. and it's not going to be
an ultimate solution," said Wasinger.
Marketing major
Bridget Kennedy said America has other ways to resolve its
concerns about Afghanistan and suspected terrorism mastermind
Osama bin Laden besides military strikes.
"Taking violent
actions, the same thing that we as Americans felt was so horrible
and horrendous when it happened to us, is completely hypocritical.
This is the 21st century and we have so many other options,
such as negotiations and due process."
Still others expressed
moral beliefs for opposing military strikes against Afghanistan.
"I just don't
believe that dropping bombs on Afghanistan is right,"
said Heather Collom, 21, whose major is undecided. "Two
wrongs do not make a right."
Chris Kelly, a
freshman information systems major, questioned whether it
was worth risking more American casualties while seeking revenge
for the more than 4,000 who have already died.
"No matter
what we think or say, no one wins in war," Kelly said.
"Our men shouldn't die just so the United States can
prove a point. I mean, where do you draw the line between
revenge and unnecessary killing?"
Of the campus respondents,
11 percent were undecided, or had mixed feelings.
Senior communication
studies major Libby Supan is among those who are uncertain.
"I don't even
know how to answer that," Supan said. "It's so yes
and no because we are the United States and we need to show
the world that we are not going to let people bomb us. [But]
I think we shouldn't attack because we are just doing the
same thing they did to us, just killing innocent people."
|
