Campus
rallies for peace
By Mike Parker
Special to the On-line Forty-Niner
They
came, they saw, they marched. And marched,
and marched, and marched.
 A
huge crowd of anti-war student protestors
met on upper campus Thursday to show their
contempt for the escalating conflict in
Iraq, encouraging the rest of the campus
to “walk out for peace.”
The protestors, led by the Campus Progressives,
circled Cal State Long Beach, waving anti-Bush
propaganda and chanting “No blood for oil.”
“It’s repulsive when a country like ours
defies international law and defies its
allies,” said Campus Progressives co-founder
David Murray. “There has to be a compromise.”
Murray, a fourth-year political science
major, fronted the protestors as they circled
around campus. The protestors quickly made
themselves a daunting presence of about
300 to the student body, as well as the
police. A Long Beach Police Department chopper
passed overhead as the protest began, but
did not return.
“This war is a terrible crime against humanity,”
said Chris Hixson, a graduate student. “It
simply needs to stop.”
As the chanting grew louder and the number
of protestors increased, the march made
its way to Seventh Street, where the protest
spilled out into traffic. “Honk for peace!”
became their chant to motorists coming off
the 22 Freeway. Traffic backed up because
of the protest.
Among the mob was Dana Lebanthal, a senior
biology major and Associated Students Inc.
Conservation Commission commissioner.
“This is good, and I think we’re pushing
our message to the people. Everyone needs
to stay informed,” Lebanthal said.
The protestors also centered much of their
disdain on the Bush administration, flailing
libelous signs and chanting “We don’t want
your daddy’s war!”
“We should be going after other countries,
and not worry about the one that almost
‘killed daddy’ 10 years ago!” said protestor
Carolyn Shettler, a business major.
Many CSULB students looked apathetic and
disinterested in what was going on; some
even to the point of mocking the mob.
“This is why we’re at war,” said a student,
who preferred to remain anonymous. “These
people should just accept what’s going on,
because it’s reality.”
Other students, upon seeing the protestors
coming their way, turned and walked another
direction.
Murray led the protest back to upper campus,
where an open forum was held. Speeches by
both right- and left-wing parties were made,
where one pro-war spectator became enraged
and threw a cup of soda on an anti-war speaker.
The spectator, an unidentified female, was
carried off the scene by police.
Ryan Yohn, a history senior at the open
forum, supported a war in Iraq.
“I do think [the war is] just,” Yohn said.
“Anyway, I support the troops.”
He later added: “Guys, [Saddam Hussein]
tortures his own people. What’s wrong with
you.”
No violence erupted as a result of the protests,
and the events ended at 3:30 p.m., nearly
four hours after they began.
A University Police officer declined comment
on the events of the day.
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