Hundreds walk out in protest

IU students displayed a firm stance against a possible war with Iraq Wednesday as hundreds participated in a national walk-out called "Books Not Bombs!" \nAt noon, students and faculty left their classes to attend teach-ins at the Indiana Memorial Union in the Frangipani Room. \nDean of Students Richard McKaig said there is no University standard on attendance and the policy is always the professor's choice. He said whether the event will be an excused absence is left up to the professor, and students must make their own decisions according to this policy.\nIU was one of 230 universities nationwide and five other countries that participated in the student strike sponsored by the National Student Youth and Student Peace Coalition. \nThe workshops were sponsored by two IU student groups -- No Sweat! and the Coalition to Oppose the War in Iraq. The Bloomington Peace Action Coalition, which works closely with COWI, also helped out with the event. \nLauren Taylor, an active member of COWI, began the event at 12:20 p.m. while people were still filing in.Taylor said the event was designed to "interrupt our daily activities, demonstrate our opposition to the war and educate ourselves on pressing issues with the pending war in Iraq."\nTaylor explained there would be a series of student and faculty teach-ins from noon to 5 p.m. on subjects such as the history of Iraq, the global anti-war movement and corporate benefits of the war.\n"The speakers here today are not necessarily experts," Taylor said. "They are people like you and me who have decided to do some research on their own. We are here to educate ourselves collectively."\nBret Eartheart, who spoke about his personal experiences during a visit to Iraq last month, called the amount of protests "unprecedented."\n"This is an affirmation of how successful the opposition to this war is," Eartheart said.\nSenior Simon Fisher walked out of his Chinese religion class to hear the speakers. Fisher said his professor had encouraged students to walk out of class at noon.\nThe event attracted not only IU students but students from Bloomington High School South as well. Some students asked that their names not be printed because they didn't mention their participation to their parents and said they might get in trouble at school\nGriffin Layman, a freshman from South, said he came to show support for the anti-war movement and thinks President Bush is "making a mistake with this war." \nLayman said his parents don't know he attended, but said "I think they'll agree with me on this one."\nAlex Nysliwicz, a sophomore from South, said he and his friends "ditched class" for the event.\n"We really don't care if we get in trouble at school," Nysliwicz said. \nThe high schoolers said they are primarily concerned with being affected by a possible draft if the war continues for years.\nRegina Weir, a teacher at Harmony School, brought elementary students with her to the event. \n"The kids are very passionate about it and have been researching it," Weir said.\nOther student organizations took advantage of the large attendance. Rafael Davis, the treasurer candidate for the UNITY ticket in the IUSA elections, attended to learn more and to get the word out on the last day of elections.\n"I'm also here to see what the concerns of IU students are in regards to the war because it will affect our education here," Davis said.\nDean McKaig also visited the teach-ins. McKaig said he thought it was a wonderful activity, and he hopes to see more students become involved.\nWalk-outs at other universities were also successful Wednesday. Amanda Crater, from the University of California-Berkeley, said it had an energetic display of events.\n"We attracted a pretty good crowd," Crater said. \nNear the end of the event, about 40 people marched to the Monroe County Courthouse to participate in a weekly war protest sponsored by the BPAC. \nIDS Staff Reporter Micah Maidenberg contributed to this story.