Sep 30, 2002 Peace demonstration remains calm By David Anderson and Stefanie Shaffer Senior staff writers WASHINGTON - Compared to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund protests Friday, yesterday's march in Washington against the possible U.S. attack on Iraq was much calmer, said university students who attended the protest, at which police officers outnumbered demonstrators by about 1,000. "Today is a lot of professionals [among the protesters], so the police won't try the same type of illegal mass arrests," said sophomore government and politics major Simon Fitzgerald. "Friday was more fun; today was more about marching and meeting other people." Demonstrators of different ages, ethnicities and walks of life numbering about 2,500, according to the Associated Press, congregated at Dupont Circle at about 2 p.m., creating a festive atmosphere, more reminiscent of a concert than a protest. While some groups of people tossed around Frisbees and danced to drum beats infiltrating the park, others provided free vegan meals for demonstrators and listened to speakers and singers from Peace Action, a non-profit organization that advocates peaceful alternatives to violent altercations. "Do you think Bush can do that?" asked Jen Russell, a junior government and politics major. "The laws of nature say a man with those capabilities can't think something like that out." Many demonstrators who had been arrested during Friday's protests came out again yesterday to have their voices heard instead of quelled by the police. "I am more determined to protest today because I didn't get to voice my opinions on Friday or Saturday, and I'm not letting them keep me away again," said senior Kristen Bricker, a sociology and women's studies major. "I think that's why they arrested everybody, to deter them from coming down, and I want to show them that they can't," said sophomore government and politics major Jen Rosloff, who spent nearly 30 hours in police custody Friday and Saturday, 14 of them waiting in a gymnasium to be processed with her right wrist tied to her left ankle. Sophomore letters and sciences major Ryan Holmes, who was photographed Friday with a sign saying "I (heart) cops" as police moved in to make arrests, showed up yesterday with a sign saying "I used to (heart) cops." Many arrived with signs in hand written on cardboard boxes and dining hall trays, declaring messages such as, "Dick Cheney before he dicks you," "Stop Washington's war on the world's poor," "Drunk frat boy drives country into ditch - starts war to cover-up," and "Hey Cheney, did the doctors fix your heart or remove it?" Although all protesters gathered for a common cause, each individual had specific reasons for marching. "My view at it is not making a stance is the same as supporting the war, and me as an individual, I can't just sit back on my heels and let it happen," said Sam Grodofsky, a sophomore English major. The march began at about 3:15 p.m., heading northwest up Massachusetts Avenue, or Embassy Row. The first stop along the way was a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, where many protesters left flowers at Gandhi's feet to commemorate his demonstration of civil disobedience. Police from Washington and surrounding Virginia and Maryland counties lined the route. Police said officers from New York, New Jersey and Chicago had also been called in. Few officers wore riot gear, but many stood on the sidewalk at the ready with wooden nightsticks. Police on motorcycles and bikes sped up and down the route, bracketing the marchers. "This is what democracy looks like," shouted the marchers, pointing at themselves and then pointing at the police. "This is what fascism looks like!" The marchers also brought out tried-and-true cheers such as "one-two-three-four, we don't want your corporate war. Five-six-seven-eight, stop the killing, stop the hate!" Fitzgerald put his own variation on the cheer with, "smash the f---ing po-lice state!" The protesters stopped briefly in front of embassies of various countries, including those of Egypt, Turkey, Japan, South Africa and Britain, and cheered at those that have expressed firm opposition against U.S. war on Iraq. At the South African embassy, for example, chants of "Dick Cheney dinosaur, we don't want your oil war" erupted among the masses in response to former South African President Nelson Mandela interview with Newsweek in which he said an American war on Iraq would be "a threat to world peace," and called Cheney a "dinosaur" and "arch-conservative." The march concluded at the gates of Cheney's residence at the Naval Observatory in Northwest Washington, at which time protesters gathered to listen to speakers from the Iraq Pledge of Resistance, a nationally coordinated civil disobedience movement, and Medea Benjamin, director of Global Exchange, an international human rights organization. Benjamin was one of the two women who interrupted U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's testimony before the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee regarding the removal of the Iraqi president on Sept. 18. She was referred to as a "rude and unreasonable woman" following the incident. "The government has launched its code yellow and code orange and code red alerts but right now I am going to launch the code pink alert," she said. "I call upon all women and their male friends to do all kinds of 'rude and unreasonable' acts to stop this war because we love the world and Mother Earth." Students said they knew one day of protest would not derail the Bush Administration's push for war, but they felt it was important to make their voices heard. "I don't think we, personally, will stop the war," Grodofsky said. "But I think it's the American thing to do, to come out and express your freedom."