look at domfree.de/army

(ingnore the commercial poppup)

suppressing an organization's right to free speech is what your actions will amount to, and it is also exactly what you are protesting. blocking access will not help your cause. it is an ignorant act. why not let the students at your esteemed university make the decision to ignore the military's presence, rather than block their presence altogether? if your arguments are so strong, then they should speak for themselves, even with an opposing view's presence. so get real. ignorance does not counter ignorance. protest with intelligence...if you don't want to your views to be suppressed, suppressing other's certainly won't achieve that goal.

Everyone, no matter what background he or she is from, deserves the right to options and opportunities. If people do not like one particular group, then they should just avoid them. There are other students who welcome diversity onto the campus. If and when we do get rid of the military, who will we target next? What other groups are in danger if we don't meet YOUR standards? Isn't college about learning new cultures, ideas, philosophies, etc.? That way as adults we can make educated decisions on our own behalf, correct? Why is one person's belief better than anothers? UCSC is one of the best campuses around to be able to express our own beliefs, styles, and preferences. Having that kind of reputation, we cannot begin to discriminate against others for who they are or who they work for. Overcoming sterotypes, generalizations, and prejudices is difficult because we all have our own bias based off of our personal experiences. We can't allow ourselves to have the "holier than thou" attitude just because a group does not meet our political or religious preferences. Both sides of the "fence" produce propaganda that needs to be analyzed and scrutinized. Don't be afriad to check your sources and the originators agendas. Research with an open mind, otherwise we may become what we protest.

While those organizing the protest are ultimately concerned with booting the military off-campus (or perhaps raising awareness so that they understand they are unwelcome), there was no plan or action to block students from access to the recruiters in this particular event.

While I was there (from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday) the protesters didn't block anything. Their protest was completely legal. Had they done so, the blockage would have been symbolic and only happened for a few minutes (as our brief human chain in front of the Capitola recruiting station was largely symbolic).


What really happened was alternative information. They presented alternative information outside the Stevenson Dining Hall where the "join up to kill when ordered" gang was doing its govt-sponsered propaganda.

UCSC, on the other hand, supplied six armed and uniformed cops who were threatening targeted non-students who came into the Dining Hall. People were selectively admitted. Peace activist Bob Fitch got in by showing his ID and signing the guests list, but when I tried, I faced three police officers (perhaps it was my "Danger, Cops in Area" t-shirt?). Video-journalist Becky Johnson got in with her press credentials and alumnus-status, but then was suddenly excluded and escorted out.

Newspaper accounts misrepresented what happened at the picket line of the Oakland docks that resulted in the Oakland Police riot as well--by implying picketers were (a) blocking workers from their work, (b) violent or even non-cooperative with police. According to eyewitness accounts I have read and heard, none of this was true.

At UCSC police and bureaucrats simply decided they wanted to exclude certain people and picked a reason. The only people they didn't selectively exclude were students.

In spite of this the protest was quite a success, with lots of literature, colorful theater, and real information getting out to those who came by.