The Daily Campus

Issue date: 4/6/05 Section: News

Media Credit: Stefanie Sharkey Students continue to protest the war in Iraq at Tent City a small village of tents located across from East Campus.

Since March 2002 U.S. Armed Forces have remained tethered to Iraq where tenacious insurgent groups seek to undermine the formation of a stable democratic government. During the five semesters the nation has been at war, life in Storrs has continued without any significant interruptions.


"You may say 'Well, we're being ignored.' Yes and no. It's in their minds," said Professor Robert Luyster during a speech at Tent City last Wednesday. "Those guys playing Frisbee over there, they see us here. They know what this is about. The people walking past, the cars driving by, they know what this is about. It's a seed in the back of their minds."


Luyster, a philosophy professor who witnessed collegiate activists turn UConn "pell mell" during the Vietnam War, commended students gathered at Tent City for partaking in "direct action" to get their message heard. The sentiments within Luyster's diatribe expounded upon many of the ideas declared in the mission statement of the unofficial student group Strike One that appeared in The Daily Campus at the beginning of the protest, a pronouncement of dissent concerning American foreign policy.


Not everyone agrees with the political demonstration on the East Campus lawn.


"In general, I think it is ironic that the people in this country who are so vocal about peace are so quick to blame the United States government when there are so many oppressive regimes around the world that are so obviously and fundamentally detrimental to the peace process" said Emily Salisbury, a 7th-semester music and communication processes major, and acting chairperson of the UConn College Republicans.


In a letter to the editor published in April 2003, Salisbury said anyone who claims to support the troops while campaigning against the war is guilty of contradicting themselves. The phrase she is referring to, "We support the Troops, bring them home," is currently displayed on a large banner in front of the Strike One encampment.


"It cannot be said that one supports the troops if one harps against their mission," Salisbury said. "There is a difference between supporting our troops and simply not wanting them to die. American soldiers are in Iraq because they have made the choice to defend principles that have been instilled by the founding fathers and by those who fought in the American Revolution."

Continued...

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