Students from across the nation spring break in protest

WASHINGTON, D.C. (U-WIRE) - Wesleyan University freshman Laura Heath was trying really hard not to get arrested last week.What would happen if she had? "Tuition removal," she said with a shrug. "Or car removal," a nearby friend added.

So goes the life of the college activist.

For the past two weeks, Heath, her friend and more than 60 other students from various colleges and high schools spent their spring break risking jail time -- and not for public drunkenness in a resort town. They were practicing a little civil disobedience in the nation's capital.

As part of the group founded at Wesleyan University called Our Spring Break, these young protesters used their mid-march vacation to bring an end to the Iraq war.

The ruckus started on March 7 when the first busload of Our Spring Breakers arrived in D.C. Together, they planned a series of "direct actions" to raise awareness leading up to March 19, the fifth anniversary of the war. Their efforts included visiting Congress members' offices to deliver "stop-loss notices" demanding that Congress stay in session until the war ends. Stop-loss orders are given to troops to extend the time they are in active duty. These orders are only legal during declared war, and the war in Iraq was never declared, said Heath, a Wesleyan freshman.

"Over 70,000 troops have been given stop-loss orders since the start of fighting in Afghanistan," she said.

That wasn't all the spring breakers did. They coordinated several small protests with other peace movement groups, including the Campus Anti-War Network and Students for a Democratic Society. And they had a few other big protests -- like blocking the exit of the parking garage of the Hart Senate office building and cutting off traffic on Independence Avenue for an hour.

The feds did not approve.

"Most of us have been arrested twice," said Paul Blasenheim, a freshman at Wesleyan, sitting in the basement of a D.C. church where the group was camping out. His peers, one of whom was wearing an "Arrest Bush" sweatshirt, nodded in agreement around him.

Someone joked about another group member, "Adam" -- a rumored anarchist who apparently had been arrested more times than anyone could remember.

Jacob Dinklage, another Wesleyan freshman, laughed. "Adam likes to liberate things," said Dinklage, who before the trip had never attended a protest in his life.

But not everyone was as keen as Adam about messing with the law. Gabe Elder, a tall Wesleyan freshman in charge of filming and photographing the group's actions, had never been arrested and was accordingly chided by the group for "caring about his future," to which he could only chuckle.

On the anniversary itself, the group said that 13 different actions took place throughout the city, staggered purposely to spread the police force. Many took place on K Street, where many corporations that support the war -- particularly oil companies -- have offices.

"We had the run of the place," said Kathy Stavis, another group member from Wesleyan.

Someone brought in a box of bagels and juice and the conversation was momentarily halted. None of the members had brought very much money to D.C., and they had been relying on charity and creativity to find meals. While munching, the spring breakers reflected on the success of the trip.

Though by the group's estimates there were only about 1,000 protesters in D.C. on the anniversary, they accomplished their goal, which, according to Yael Chanoff, was to stop "business as usual" in the city and make people think.

"And that's what we did," said Chanoff, who was arrested at the Hart building on March 12.

The group agreed that the numbers of protesters are small compared to the Vietnam protests in the '60s, but the resistance now is not insignificant and is downplayed by the mainstream media, which the group considers "one of the five pillars of war."

"They're way underestimating what we're doing," Heath said.

Dinklage believes that there is no lack of feeling about the war, there is only a lack of opportunities to act against it.

"It is an illusion that people don't care. ... People really hate this war," he said. "But people don't know what to do about it."

He added that joining Our Spring Break or another youth resistance group is a good way to get involved.

"People need a little bit of a spark to get them going," Dinklage said.

Dinklage said he didn't know whether the group will go back next year. But he said he "can't imagine stopping now."

"It's not like 'well, I did my part, now I can go home,' " he said. "This has to continue until something changes.