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A UCSC Forum
This page is home to an online forum for members of the campus community to express their views on the war with Iraq.
If you are a member of the UCSC community and would like to contribute to this forum, please e-mail a brief personal message to pioweb@cats.ucsc.edu, and it will be posted below. Submissions may not be published if they are too long or staff judges them to be inappropriate for a university web site. Thank you.
Word of thanks to the military.
Submitted by student Katie Mikusky (03/31/03)
From a UCSC alumnus. Submitted by Kevin Bull, Crown College, Class
of 2000 (03/27/03)
Pray for peace. Submitted by Maggie Sorenson,
Colleges and University Housing Service Center (03/20/03)
Frustrated at being a U.S. citizen.
Submitted by Heather Mietz Egli, Instructional Computing Office (03/19/03)
Peace. Submitted by Jolinda Singleton,
Physical & Biological Sciences Business Office (03/19/03)
The Golden Rule. Submitted by Daniel Young, Physical Plant (03/19/03)
Our Responsibility to Oppose Attacking Iraq.
Submitted by William G. Scott, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
(03/18/03)
The Mysterious Stranger. Submitted
by Tim Goncharoff, Graduate Student Housing (03/18/03)
Standing United for Peace.
Submitted by student Alex Roselle (03/18/03)
Paying for the War. Submitted by Max
Wilder, Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (03/18/03)
Untitled. Submitted by Patrick True, IPMTS
(03/18/03)
Word of thanks to the military. Submitted
by student Katie Mikusky (03/31/03)
I believe that the war in Iraq is for the betterment of the people. Everyday
Saddam Hussein kills his own people. Yes, going to war will cause civilian
casualities, but in the end we will rebuild Iraq to a
better state than it is now. What makes me most upset is that people protest
the war non-stop, but never give thanks to the military that protects
us everyday. If you are going to complain about the war, at
least at the end say a word of thanks and support to the military. They
go and risk their lives so that we as Americans can have the right to
complain.
_____
From a UCSC alumnus. Submitted by Kevin Bull, Crown College, Class of 2000 (03/27/03)
No matter what your views on President Bush's statement of upcoming war, this, from an English journalist, is very interesting. Just a word of background, for those of you who aren't familiar with the UK's Daily Mirror. This is a notoriously left-wing daily that is normally not supportive of the Colonials across the Atlantic. Well written. "Shame on You American-Hating Liberals" by Tony Parsons of the Mirror, dated September 11, 2002
_____
Pray for peace. Submitted by Maggie Sorenson, Colleges and University Housing Service Center (03/20/03)
Each night my husband and I pray for peace. We ask God to guide President
Bush. It is not an easy decision to declare war. I am proud to be an American
and proudly display our flag in front of our home. We also support our
family members in the armed forces. It is not easy for them, their wives
and children.
_____
Frustrated at being a U.S. citizen. Submitted by Heather Mietz Egli, Instructional Computing Office (03/19/03)
I am feeling very frustrated at being a U.S. citizen right now. I have
always felt that each individual makes a difference, and writing letters,
speaking out, protesting, etc. makes an impact. But the recent events
developing in Iraq in the name of the people who died on 9/11 makes me
feel demoralized and ashamed of my citizenship.
_____
Peace. Submitted by Jolinda Singleton, Physical
& Biological Sciences Business Office (03/19/03)
"I'd like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of their way and let them have it." - August 31, 1959 - President Dwight D. Eisenhower
_____
The Golden Rule. Submitted by Daniel Young, Physical Plant (03/19/03)
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This is
the Golden Rule that I was taught. I have listened to people say that
if thousands of innocent civilians have to die, to get Saddam out of Iraq,
that this is just the price that has to be paid. Would they still say
that if they were in the middle of a bombed out city, with the stench
of death inescapable, and the sight of children wandering the streets
in shock, having no home or family to protect them? Would they still say
that war is justified in order to liberate Iraq from the evil dictator
if they had to endure the pain and suffering of having a leg blown off
from a land mine, so that the evil dictator could be removed from power?
I feel the people who support the war do not know what war is, because they have not been exposed to it. They do not get a complete or realistic view of war from the media, in fact I believe they would rather not have to witness the horror of it. I was in Vietnam in 1969. I was not a combat soldier, but our base was attacked on several occasions. It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't worth it.
_____
Our Responsibility to Oppose Attacking Iraq. Submitted by William G. Scott, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (03/18/03)
The link below is a one-page essay that I wrote entitled "Our Responsibility
to Oppose Attacking Iraq." http://homepage.mac.com/smorourke/mystuff/anti_war.html
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_____
The Mysterious Stranger. Submitted
by Tim Goncharoff, Graduate Student Housing (03/18/03)
"The loud little handful--as usual--will shout for the war. The pulpit
will--warily and cautiously--object--at first; the great, big, dull bulk
of the nation will rub its sleepy eyes and try to make out why there should
be a war, and will say, earnestly and indignantly, 'It is unjust and dishonorable,
and there is no necessity for it.'
"Then the handful will shout louder. A few fair men on the other
side will argue and reason against the war with speech and pen, and at
first will have a hearing and be applauded; but it will not last long;
those others will outshout them, and presently the anti-war audiences
will thin out and lose popularity.
"Before long you will see this curious thing: the speakers stoned
from the platform, and free speech strangled by hordes of furious
men who in their secret hearts are still at one with those stoned speakers--as
earlier--but do not dare to say so. And now the whole nation--pulpit and
all--will take up the war-cry, and shout itself hoarse, and mob any honest
man who ventures to open his mouth; and presently such mouths will cease
to open.
"Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon
the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing
falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations
of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just,
and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of
grotesque self-deception."
Mark Twain, "The Mysterious Stranger," 1910
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_____
Standing United for Peace. Submitted
by student Alex Roselle (03/18/03)
All students who are concerned about the impending war against Iraq
are invited to join Standing United for Peace, the UCSC student voice
for peace and global justice, in discussing actions in response to this
immoral, illegal, and irresponsible war. We can be found on the web at
http://www.antiwarnetwork.org/santacruz.
Together we can create a more peaceful world.
Thank you, and I look forward to this forum becoming a valuable resource
for the UCSC community to discuss the war.
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_____
Paying for the War. Submitted by Max
Wilder, Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics (03/18/03)
Skipping past the legal and human rights issues for a moment, consider
the budgetary impact of a war in Iraq. Current estimates range from 100
billion to 2 trillion dollars, none of which is in the Federal budget.
Given the current political environment, the money will be generated by
reducing spending on education and social services. It won't come from
raising taxes, at least not on the very wealthy - Bush is committed to
giving them a 6 billion dollar tax break. It won't come from reduced military
spending.
Right now, teachers are being fired in Santa Cruz Schools because of lack
of funds. Cabrillo College is cutting all temp workers in their writing
center (without which it cannot function). It may reduce courses offered
to the point were students will not be able to get all their prerequisites
for transfer to a four year college. The University is being asked to
take millions of dollars in budget cuts. If things are this bad already,
how bad will it get when we have to pay for the war?
Bush is hungry for war. When he is done with Iraq, then there is North
Korea, Iran, Syria, and any other country he thinks we can squash. Then
there will be increased costs for "homeland security", when
all the people we have bombed decide to pay us back however they can.
We can either accept Bush's agenda and all the damage than will entail,
or we can fight back. I believe the the University community should not
accept the devastation either of Iraq, or of our own community. We do
not have to accept any of it. It is time to demonstrate, and lobby aggressively
against the Bush agenda. Regime change begins at home.
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_____
Untitled. Submitted by Patrick True, IPMTS
(03/18/03)
It is with great sadness that I ask for your prayers for the innocent
children--again!--who will suffer for the policies of leaders.
I cannot believe that with the sciences and knowledges that we have today,
that more graceful ways cannot be found to address the complicated issues
confronting our small planet today in its struggle to bring peace and
respect for all members of good will of the human family.
Please work for Peace and Respect. This is a new age, let's make it a
wonderful, peaceful and prosperous age for humanity.
One world--One family.
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