Albany-- Hundreds walk out of class to take part in national anti-war march

By RICK KARLIN, Staff writer
First published: Thursday, March 6, 2003

Hundreds of Capital Region high school and college students walked out of class Wednesday as part of a nationwide protest against the possible war in Iraq, and organizers hoped the demonstrations would resurrect the Vietnam era of mass peace rallies.

Dubbed "Books not Bombs," the student protest designed to drum up opposition to a possible attack in the Persian Gulf and garner support for reallocating military spending for education, environmental projects and other peaceful pursuits. According to the umbrella group that launched the protest, The National Youth & Student Peace Coalition, students from some 300 high school and college campuses across the country participated.

"Nobody wants a war right now," said Joseph Bonilla, 16, a junior at Albany High, who helped organize that school's walkout.

An estimated 300 kids marched from the high school to the state Capitol before going to The College of Saint Rose, where they joined students there and viewed a presentation about how Iraq has suffered under economic sanctions. A handful of students from The Doane Stuart School also joined the march.

In Bethlehem, an estimated 100 students left at about 7:45 a.m. just after the start of homeroom. When school officials told them to leave the school parking lot, they marched to the Delmar post office where students mailed petitions and letters to lawmakers urging the cessation of military plans. "There are some things we should do but we shouldn't just bomb them yet," said Rachel Lohr, 17, a senior.

Students also demonstrated at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs and at Sage College in Troy, where a candlelight vigil was planned. Students at Emma Willard School, a girls prep school in Troy, stood on Pawling Avenue with anti-war signs after classes ended in the afternoon.

For some protesters there was a cost.

After they marched back from the Delmar post office, with a police escort to ensure they stayed on the sidewalks and didn't wander onto the busy Delaware Avenue, Bethlehem students were met by administrators who had them sign in and agree to take two hours of detention as punishment for cutting out of class.

"I agree with the position that they have a right to express how they feel but I do not agree with their decision to walk out of school," Principal Michael Tebbano said, adding that leaving class always "has consequences."

"They're nice kids who did this. They're not troublemakers," Tebbano added. "They were organized and they were peaceful."

"I think it's for a good reason," Jacolyn Chamberlain. 18, a junior, said of whether the walkout was worth the punishment.

Albany administrators opted not to punish kids who marched, but some were unable to leave because of a heavy schedule of tests and other academic pressures, said Caitlin Barron-Shashok, 16, an Albany High sophomore who helped organize the protest. "People have classes they can't miss," she said.

"All the teachers were trying to get their tests in before the quarter closes," Bonilla added, explaining that Albany's quarter is over on Friday.

Albany police said they were unaware the protest was going to take place but quickly beefed up patrols along the march route as the group headed east on Washington Avenue toward downtown.

"It was unorganized in the beginning," said Detective James Miller, a department spokesman. "Our officers spoke with the students and we told them they could proceed with an orderly protest in a peaceful fashion.

At one point, a 15-year-old boy who was banging on the windows of businesses was taken into custody but later released to his parents without being charged, Miller said. There was no violence.

"There were a few kids who just wanted to get out of school and one kid ducked into a bakery and grabbed some chocolate chip cookies," Miller said. "I don't think he was their most ardent supporter."

At Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, students spoke from an open microphone while letter-writing and button-making tables served a steady flow of visitors. There was also a panel discussion among faculty members.

Anna Massey, 20-year-old president of the Skidmore Green Party, called the event the largest anti-war rally at the college in more than a decade.

"It's important to engage as many people as possible," said the junior from Brookline, Mass.

Wednesday's walkout had a bit of a stealth aspect. While the organizers, a broad coalition of environmental, peace activist and social justice groups, had publicized the event via a Web site, students at some schools such as Bethlehem engaged in a last-minute blitz starting late Tuesday, posting leaflets on auto windshields.

"A lot of it was underground," said Barron-Shashok, as she reached for her beeping cellphone.

Electronic tools such as mobile phones and computers characterized some of the differences between these anti-war demonstrations and the protests mounted by some of the parents of these kids during the Vietnam War.

"This is the first real challenge of an anti-war movement empowered by global communications," noted Steven Leibo, a professor of international history and politics at Sage College in Troy. Leibo, who is working on a documentary film about Albany during the Vietnam era, said that in the 1960s, having a mimeograph machine to run off copies of pamphlets would make someone a key organizer.

Today, almost everyone has access to e-mail and the World Wide Web, allowing for rapid transmission of information.

There are other differences of course. The Vietnam protests started years after the war began, and there were also lots of marches in support of the conflict. Hostilities haven't even started in Iraq.

There was also a draft during much of the Vietnam era.

As was the case then, there are students on both sides of the issue, with some kids supporting military action in Iraq.

"I'm definitely pro-war, as horrible as that sounds," said Skidmore sophomore David Cifonelli, 20, of Chicago. "I think it's the right decision. The inspections don't seem like they are going to work. We have to go in with force in order to solve this."

Dan Conophy, 18, a Bethlehem senior and hockey player who joined in the protest march, said discussions of a possible war preceded lots of games this year, with some kids against it and some for it. During hockey season, talk of war "seemed like it came up every day," he said.

Staff writers Brendan Lyons and Dennis Yusko contributed to this report.