Josh, you are right in that the College Republicans do have low turnouts at their events and “counter-demonstrations.� What I meant by a growing presence is that there are more and more conservative students on campus who do not align themselves with the traditional left leaning groups UCSC is known for. You are right that SAW and other organizations can bring out a 1,000 protesters, but as long as I have been in and around Santa Cruz, there have always been about 1000 protestors. Their faces change over the years, but the banners and slogans don’t. And this is not meant as a jab against SAW: organizing any event beyond 6 individuals takes work. But because their rhetoric and groups like theirs keep using the language and tactics of the 60’s, a large portion of the student body doesn’t care. We need some new thoughts around here.

On that same note, as long as the College Republicans and their mouthpiece The Redwood Review (is this even still published? I have not seen it around in a good while…), continue to use the old and amateurish arguments they have in the last few years, they will have only a handful of vocal supporters.