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There was one large group missing from the protest demonstration at the town clock on Jan. 11: the "sluggish" student body. It was the outpouring of students protesting the war in Vietnam in campuses around the country that brought down the Johnson and Nixon administration, alerting the media to ending a brutal war that took so many lives of Americans, not to mention the Vietnamese. Was it the possibility of getting drafted into the Army that brought us out in huge numbers to show the president that we had enough bloodshed for a questionable "police action" and wanted peace at last?
Now the time is ripe again for protests and where are the students? There were hundreds of us shivering at the town clock that night carrying signs and singing songs and making all who drove by or walked along Pacific Avenue mall aware and most drivers responded with wild honking.
Is it going to take reestablishment of a draft before our twenty-something generation takes notice and acts up for change? Time to start thinking of the good of all over one’s individual needs. Our legislators take notice when large groups speak out against tyranny.
You can be informed about future peace demonstrations by registering with Moveon.org If only a few hundred students showed up that night it would have drawn even more media coverage. You CAN change the course of history if you try.
*Steve Rudzinski, Santa Cruz, California*
