SSU students set up "camp in" against wars in Iraq, elsewhere
Press-Democrat 2/13/07
"For me it's about Iraq, Somalia, Iran, the warring nations of the world," said Adam Williams of Rohnert Park, one of the organizers of what they are calling "Camp Peace."
Williams, 21, and other students set up their tents in an area of the main quad known informally as the Mario Savio Corner, after the Berkeley free speech movement leader from the 1960s who later taught at Sonoma State.
The organizers said their camp out will last until Thursday and include morning yoga, speakers and a prayer circle in hope of sparking anti-war activism by fellow students.
"We are displeased how apathetic our generation has become and so we decided to do something about it," said Franchesca Schaaf, 21, of Cotati.
The camp-in will continue until Thursday when another group is calling for a strike to protest the war.
The strike, which also is planned on some other university campuses, marks the fourth anniversary of an international protest of the war in Iraq.
"We are asking students not to go to class," said Emily Chavez, a 24-year-old student from Graton.
"We'll have bodies laid on the ground with tombstones," she said. "We are trying to bring attention to the fact that we do not support any more innocent lives being taken by this illegal war."
A demonstration is scheduled for noon to 5 p.m. Thursday in front of the Schulz Information Center on campus.
The protests have the university's blessing.
"As a university, we always urge people to take action to protest what they believe in," said Susan Kashack, the associate vice president for communications. "They are welcome to protest anything they have strong feelings about."
The campus police will work to make sure the students are safe, said Nate Johnson, the campus police chief.
Jeff Huling, 24, of Rohnert Park, another camp-in organizer, said the small group considers itself pro-peace.
"We believe that war is evil, and we should be mature enough as a civilization to say no," Huling said.
Still, the war in Iraq is the impetus for the protest.
"Sending more troops to Iraq is like pouring gasoline on a fire, it doesn't make sense," Huling said. "The civil war is the by-product of our occupation in Iraq."
Students at Sonoma State offered mixed reactions to the camp-in and strike, with some saying they opposed the war but were reluctant to miss class.
"I support the protest, but I will go to class, it's too important," sophomore Justin Heinrich said Monday.
Kelley Christianson, a senior from Rohnert Park, said she didn't think there would be a lot of participation on the part of SSU students.
"I think that more people care about Anna Nicole Smith dying," Christianson said. "People are more concerned about what's happening in their own lives right now, and that's unfortunate."