NEWS
Students protestors head to D.C. this weekend
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by Michelle Orris
Friday, January 17, 2003
At least four busloads of Madison students and residents will head to the nation’s capitol Friday to protest the war on Iraq.
The 250 protestors from Madison will join up with as many as 250,000 others in Washington, D.C., according to trip organizer and University of Wisconsin senior Melea Carvlin.
She said Wisconsin is sending at least 13 buses, significantly more than the three busloads it sent to the last war protest in October.
“A lot of people realize that a war on Iraq could be near, and they want to do whatever they can to prevent that,” Carvlin said.
UW sophomore Kyle Myhre said he is protesting to send a message to Bush and the nation that war on Iraq is unethical.
“Much of the public doesn’t understand that an anti-war movement is going on,” Myhre said. “Americans have the right and responsibility to make sure the government is doing what they want it to do.”
Myhre has traveled to D.C. protests before and said the protests are inspiring.
“It’s really beautiful to see so many diverse organizations with a common cause; it’s incredible,” Myhre said.
Not all UW students are in favor of protesting the war, however. UW junior Matt Bruch said protesting is a futile effort.
“It’s not very effective, and there are better ways of making change,” Bruch said. “It’s a waste of time and resources for the police and the protestors.”
UW student organization Stop the War! is organizing the Madison trip, and the entire protest is organized by International Act Now to Stop War and End Racism.
Stop the War! member Dawn Block said she is protesting because government officials have oil-based incentives for getting involved in Iraq.
“If we don’t want dependence on foreign oil, then we need less dependence on oil, period,” she said, recommending alternative energy sources. “Bush just wants to go in and fight.”
Myhre said the war is simply a tactic for the United States to assert its dominance over the Middle East, breeding more anti-American sentiment abroad.
“It would be nice if Hussein were gone, but bombing is not the best way to do that,” he said. “The wrong people are doing this for the wrong reasons; it’s imperialism.”
Block’s mother, a protester of the Vietnam War, is also coming along to protest.
“We’re excited to do this together,” Block said. “A lot of people see the ’60s and ’70s as the idealized time of protest, and now we’re experiencing it for ourselves.”
The demonstration will begin Saturday with a march from the Capitol to the Navy yard, where the protestors will demand an end to U.S. weapons of mass destruction, Carvlin said.
Despite the arrests of over 650 protestors during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in October, Carvlin said she is not worried about the potential of violence erupting.
“We are generally a very peaceful huge crowd of people,” Carvlin said. “But there’s always the possibility that police could get out of hand.”
