community-based, non-corporate, participatory media
Westminster College J 26 story
by AnnMarie Vazzano
Monday, Feb. 03, 2003 at 4:52 PM
vazzana@westminster.edu (email address validated)
Front page story published in the Westminster College Holcad about the J26 protests.
A flag picturing a satellite view of the earth flew high on a pole, an American flag billowing at half-mast beneath it�a striking reminder of what thousands of people who gathered in Oakland for the Jan. 24-26 war protests were advocating: World peace and unity.
The weekend�s events, planned by the Pittsburgh Organizing Group, The Thomas Merton Center and the TMC�s Anti-War Committee, marked the largest local peace mobilization in 30 years. An estimated 5,000 people converged to voice their opinions about the potential US attack on Iraq. Speakers led the group in chants such as �Drop Bush, not bombs� and �End to war is what we need; put a stop to corporate greed.�
On Sunday, following pre-rally entertainment from Pittsburgh-based punk band, Anti-Flag, and addresses from several speakers, the official march began at the William Pitt Union building. Marchers circled the block and ended at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) on Fifth Ave. SEI, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, is a research and development center operated by Carnegie Mellon University. When marchers arrived, police officers in riot gear lined the stairs, while protesters passed out flyers addressing the horrors of the 1991 bombing of the Ameriyah civilian shelter in Iraq. Scheduled speakers addressed the crowd until 3 p.m., which marked the end of the permitted march and rally.
Following the rally, the Pittsburgh Organizing Group held a die-in on the street in front of SEI. The die-in was staged to represent the needless deaths caused by war. A ten-foot puppet of George Bush with a missile and an oil can was wheeled onto Fifth Ave., where about a hundred people lay in the street around it. Protesters were warned, however, that participating in the die-in put them at risk for arrest.
�Many of us are willing to be arrested if that is what it takes to get our message across,� rally organizers wrote in their Pittsburgh Peace Convergence pamphlet.
Although bad weather conditions hampered the Westminster Green Party�s plan to take a 15-passenger van to the rally on Sunday, a handful of determined students did attend, including Green Party member, Isaac Ludwig. Ludwig has many reasons for disagreeing with a pre-emptive attack on Iraq.
�An attack on Iraq doesn�t make sense. We're willing to negotiate with North Korea when they have the fifth largest army in the world and pose a much greater threat to the world than Iraq," he said.
Sophomore Kara Gerhart also braved the bitter temperatures and nonstop snow to attend the rally.
�Everyone wondered why so many people came out in the cold for the protest, and I think our willingness to do it was a good way to emphasize our point,� she said.
�I enjoyed the intergenerational aspect,� said senior Sara Hackett, who also attended the rally. �Everyone from children to grandmothers were there to support the cause.�
Gerhart agreed. �I think the best thing was the complete diversity among the group.�
The protests were peaceful, and there was very little confrontation between protestors and law enforcement officials. Needless to say, the riot gear and paddy wagons proved unnecessary. No one was arrested.
Ludwig and fellow Green Party member, Ken Jae, are organizing a war protest to take place in New Castle at the end of February. For more information about Westminster�s Green Party, visit http://www.westminster.edu/Student/greenparty.html.
From L to R: Kara Gerhart, Sarah Hackett, AnnMarie Vazzano, Elaine Blevins & Isaac Ludwig
by AnnMarie Vazzano
Monday, Feb. 03, 2003 at 4:52 PM
vazzana@westminster.edu
Anti-Flag
by AnnMarie Vazzano
Monday, Feb. 03, 2003 at 4:52 PM
vazzana@westminster.edu
Anti-Flag again
by AnnMarie Vazzano
Monday, Feb. 03, 2003 at 4:52 PM
vazzana@westminster.edu
Cool Bushes!
by AnnMarie Vazzano
Monday, Feb. 03, 2003 at 4:52 PM
vazzana@westminster.edu
Fucked!
by AnnMarie Vazzano
Monday, Feb. 03, 2003 at 4:52 PM
vazzana@westminster.edu
The young want peace too
by AnnMarie Vazzano
Monday, Feb. 03, 2003 at 4:52 PM
vazzana@westminster.edu
Small Dick
by AnnMarie Vazzano
Monday, Feb. 03, 2003 at 4:52 PM
vazzana@westminster.edu
![[masthead]](/images/masthead_140.png)