Students protest war
Jade Reynolds
Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: News
People near Byrnes Auditorium might have noticed a little noise Tuesday.
Members of the Student Socialist Union joined with others around the country in a rally protesting the war. Students, faculty and community members joined SSU members at the demonstration to express their opinions.
At one point during the rally and at the end of it, protestors could be heard chanting, "No justice, No peace. U.S. out of the middle east."
Brittney Dunnebacke, a junior environmental studies major, said the point of the rally was to link up with the national movement. She noted that some students just walked through but some stayed.
"We're not crazy radicals," Courtney Hunt, a junior art history major and member of SSU, said. "We want social justice and change."
Members also displayed signs that said "U.S. Out of Iraq," "Students Against Bloodshed" and one shaped like a tombstone listing the number of people who have died in Iraq thus far.
The SSU brought in three speakers: U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Ahmad Daniels, a gold star mother, Summer Lipford and Father David Valtierra of the Rock Hill Oratory.
The mother of the fallen soldier, Lipford, was a passionate speaker. Her son Private First Class Steven F. Sirko enlisted against his parents wishes. She had a picture of Sirko on a poster she displayed as she gave her speech.
"My son went to Iraq, and all I got back was a lousy headstone and a casket," Lipford said.
She acknowledged that not every soldier who goes to Iraq dies, but those that return alive are not always better off.
"They're not only coming home with amputated limbs," Lipford said. "They're coming home with amputated souls."
She was glad to see so many people come out.
"You are the voice," she told the crowd.
Jennifer Disney, a professor present at the protest, estimated that the crowd numbered around 150 to 200.
Another member of SSU that was there "spur of the moment," as she described it, held a sign stating, "Fight the Rich, Not Their War." April Miller is a sophomore psychology major.
"I'm worried about our generation," Miller said. "They believe what they heard in a 30-second sound bite by some rapper on MTV."
She worries society is becoming too commercialized, and that people are not informed and don't get involved.
Another student is frustrated with the misinformation from the U.S. administration, but he was happy about the number of people at the rally.
"I was very excited about the turn out," Patrick Dukes, a freshman math major, said. "It's important to come out and get [your] voice herd. I've been against the war since the beginning."
For more information on SSU or upcoming protests, people can attend one of their meetings every Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Bancroft 338, the political science conference room.
Hunt said SSU hopes to work with Students for a Democratic Society in the near future.
Members of the Student Socialist Union joined with others around the country in a rally protesting the war. Students, faculty and community members joined SSU members at the demonstration to express their opinions.
At one point during the rally and at the end of it, protestors could be heard chanting, "No justice, No peace. U.S. out of the middle east."
Brittney Dunnebacke, a junior environmental studies major, said the point of the rally was to link up with the national movement. She noted that some students just walked through but some stayed.
"We're not crazy radicals," Courtney Hunt, a junior art history major and member of SSU, said. "We want social justice and change."
Members also displayed signs that said "U.S. Out of Iraq," "Students Against Bloodshed" and one shaped like a tombstone listing the number of people who have died in Iraq thus far.
The SSU brought in three speakers: U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Ahmad Daniels, a gold star mother, Summer Lipford and Father David Valtierra of the Rock Hill Oratory.
The mother of the fallen soldier, Lipford, was a passionate speaker. Her son Private First Class Steven F. Sirko enlisted against his parents wishes. She had a picture of Sirko on a poster she displayed as she gave her speech.
"My son went to Iraq, and all I got back was a lousy headstone and a casket," Lipford said.
She acknowledged that not every soldier who goes to Iraq dies, but those that return alive are not always better off.
"They're not only coming home with amputated limbs," Lipford said. "They're coming home with amputated souls."
She was glad to see so many people come out.
"You are the voice," she told the crowd.
Jennifer Disney, a professor present at the protest, estimated that the crowd numbered around 150 to 200.
Another member of SSU that was there "spur of the moment," as she described it, held a sign stating, "Fight the Rich, Not Their War." April Miller is a sophomore psychology major.
"I'm worried about our generation," Miller said. "They believe what they heard in a 30-second sound bite by some rapper on MTV."
She worries society is becoming too commercialized, and that people are not informed and don't get involved.
Another student is frustrated with the misinformation from the U.S. administration, but he was happy about the number of people at the rally.
"I was very excited about the turn out," Patrick Dukes, a freshman math major, said. "It's important to come out and get [your] voice herd. I've been against the war since the beginning."
For more information on SSU or upcoming protests, people can attend one of their meetings every Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Bancroft 338, the political science conference room.
Hunt said SSU hopes to work with Students for a Democratic Society in the near future.
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