By Jason He

Gargoyle staff reporter


Posted Monday, Jan. 29, 2007, The OG, news & photo galleries

SCORES OF PARTICIPANTS from around Champaign-Urbana braved the cold Saturday afternoon to protest President George W. Bush's plan to deploy 21,000 more troops in Iraq and to urge the return of the 130,000 troops already stationed there.

The demonstration took place from 2 to 4 p.m. at One Main in downtown Champaign, at the corner of Neil and Main streets. The event, sponsored by AWARE, the Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort, was scheduled to parallel the United for Peace and Justice anti-war March on Washington the same day.

Passersby expressed mixed reactions, according to juniors Eunice How and Erin Hayes, who both participated in the event.

“Some honk, some just give us the bird,” said How, adding that most were responding favorably and that the overall event demonstrated how powerful the opinions of younger people were.

“Generally, people are responding pretty positively,” Hayes added.

The event was co-organized by junior Shara Esbenshade, who was pleased with the way things turned out. According to Esbenshade, approximately 60 to 70 people — many of them high school students — attended when the event was at its peak.

“That's a pretty big turnout,” Esbenshade said.

Besides Uni, other high schools whose students participated included Urbana, Centennial, and Mahomet-Seymour. Esbenshade, How, and Hayes made up the Uni contingent.

photos by Jason He (click to enlarge)