Amid exams and homework, war protests may be considered an afterthought to those who oppose it.
“People don’t realize we are in a war and the physical costs on the nation,” College Democrats president Mark Ingles said.
The College Democrats sponsor an annual President’s Day protest. They also held a smaller one in October 2007.
For the University’s Democrats, it’s a way to show they don’t approve of the war, Ingles said.
They also hope it will help others understand why it’s necessary to speak out against the war.
According to Chapman Community faculty member Brett Holden, the war just isn’t a common priority anymore.
“Even protests throughout the nation quieted down,” Holden said. “Fears about housing and health care are weighing in too heavily on people’s minds, and so though the war is among them, it does not seem to be as important.”
The real nature of the war is not being communicated to the public, Holden said.
He said important questions need to be answered, and there’s a very mixed view.
“Now that we’re in there, what do we do?” he said. “Who steps in to take power?”
Though it’s a time of great challenge in this nation, Holden said, the anti-war fervor has yet to reach the degree it did in Vietnam.
Gary Hess, a research professor in the history department, thinks there are several reasons the atmosphere has changed since Vietnam, the main one being the lack of a draft.
“Some didn’t want to go to war,” ROTC student Tyler Trisel said. “You’re more dedicated if you want to volunteer for it.”
The nature of who’s fighting has changed, Ingles said. “If you sign up you could be forced to fight, but no one’s making you sign up…Lack of a draft means less of a chance the war will affect you.”
Hess also thought the people forty years ago were more conscious of politics than they are today.
“Certainly the 1960s Americans in general tended to become more involved in politics than they are today,” he said.
But Holden is optimistic that may change.
“People are arguing and discussing candidate positions,” he said.
Even some soldiers are at odds with what’s happening over there, Holden said, and as a result, “a lot of people don’t know how to feel.”
Ingles said he wishes to see more political discourse among students. He said he sees people protesting birth control and loan rates, but not the war.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re for or against the war,” Ingles said. “As long as students are getting their voices heard and doing it in a way that people notice, that’s what I want to see.”
