San Francisco Foghorn

              Special Edition
United States and Iraq: The Resolution, The Reaction, The Issues
an JfhmristD Jfnnhnnt
University of San  Francisco
VOL. 99
ISSUE SEVEN
FREEDOM AND FAIRNESS
OCT. 17, 2002
USF Students Arrested
for Civil Disobedience
GUADALUPE CHAVEZ/FOGHORN
Police officers lift senior politics major Sara Suman offthe ground.
She was later jailed and fined $100.
"I chose to act in the civil
disobedience because I felt like
my voice wasn't going to be
heard otherwise...you redefine
what it means to be arrested
when you are being treated as
a criminal for fighting for
something that you know is
right and needs to be done
GUADALUPE CHAVEZ/FOGHORN
USF senior Sarah Silva was arrestedin front ofthe Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Court House. Silva and 44 other protestors
were jailed after they blocked off the budding, preventing employees from going to work and delaying the courts for three hours.
VICTORIA LEON GUERRERO
 "siaff'Wr'it'er	
■ Sarah Silva took three deep breaths as she thought of the
innocent Iraqis who may soon be bombed. The USF senior sat
linked arm in arm with fellow students and other peaceful
demonstrators in front of a federal building waiting to be
arrested for civil disobedience last Friday morning.
"I chose to act in the civil disobedience because I felt like my
voice wasn't going to be heard otherwise," she said. "I felt it was
effective because you redefine what it means to be arrested
when you are being treated as a criminal for fighting for something that you know is right and needs to be done."
Silva and a group of six other USF students traveled to the
Phillip Burton Federal Building and U.S. Court House at 450
Golden Gate Ave. early that morning to join the nearly 200
demonstrators who crowded the building's main entrance in
protest of the congressional approval of military action in Iraq.
'Silva recalls looking between the legs of San Francisco police
officers stationed in front ofthe protestors who chanted, "Two-
four-six-eight stop the violence stop the hate." She and two
other students were later arrested for preventing workers from
entering the building.
Manv of the  demonstrators were  there  since  the  night
ii
—Sarah Silva
Senior
before. They were responding to the announcement that the
United States House of Representatives passed a resolution
Thursday afternoon granting U.S. President George W. Bush
authorization to "use the Armed Forces ofthe United States as
he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to
defend the national security of the United States against the
continuing threat posed by Iraq." The House voted 296 to 133
in support of the resolution, which was then approved Friday
morning by the Senate, who voted 77 to 23.
Despite the passing of the resolution, many representatives
and senators, including House Minority Whip Nancy Pelosi
(D-San Francisco) are asking the president not to use military
force until all other options have been explored. In an article on
CNN.com, Bush said he has not yet decided to use military
force, but there have been suggestions from his office to plan
an "Iraqi government-in-exile" before an invasion so the country is ready for take-over sooner. "Saddam Hussein and his outlaw regime pose a grave threat to the region, the world and the
United States," Bush said in the article. "Inaction is not an
option, disarmament is a must."
Three USF students arrested
At 7 a.m., groups of protestors joined hands to create human
chains blocking off all the main entrances to the building and
preventing federal employees from going to work. About 30
minutes later, police armed with thick black wooden batons,
began forcefully arresting protestors who refused to move away
from the building's entrances. Silva was one of the first to be
arrested as two officers lifted her up from where she was sitting, pulled her arms behind her back and tied her hands
together with string.
Esther Timberlake, spokeswoman for General Services
Administration, the government agency that owns and operates the Federal Building, said the police were asked to make
arrests when it was determined that demonstrators were acting
in civil disobedience.
"People are being arrested for the civil disobedience of trying to block an entrance and trying to prevent federal workers
from coming in, but as far as them gathering, they have every
tjght to be here and we acknowledge that," she said. "From
what I have witnessed, and I have been here since about 7 a.m.,
I think the law enforcement community, made up of the local
and federal law enforcement, have been very flexible and have
been very good about allowing the demonstrators to do what
they came here to do."
Two other USF seniors, Sara Suman and Ana Hermosillo
were arrested shortly after Silva was brought into the building.
CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE.PAGE 2
Campus
Reacts to
Anti-war
Posters
JESSICA ROBLES
and.KAJRINAJSEATON
StaffWriters
Rudy Lucatero said he supports USF students who are organizing in an anti-war effort against
the possibility that U.S. President
George W. Bush might declare a
war on Iraq.
"I admit we have to handle the
problems [in Iraq], but why such a
violent approach?" Lucatero, a
freshman nursing major, asked. He
said he has been keeping up with
the anti-war efforts at USF and in
San Francisco and he admires the
students who placed signs across
campus last Thursday night.
After learning that members of
the United States Congress
approved of a resolution granting
U.S. President George W. Bush
authorization to use military force
in Iraq, a group of about 20 USF
students decided to make a statement on campus. Infuriated by
Congress' vote, theyx made large
posters that read "No Oil War, "
and "No War on Iraq," and took
boxes of colorful chalk and wrote
similar messages on University
sidewalks and pavements.
When they finished hanging
the posters in visible areas like the
arch above the Lone Mountain
stairs, the group was confronted by
Public Safety officers who warned
them that posting the signs was
illegal because they had not sought
approval from ASUSF.
"I tried to proceed to explain to
STUDENT REACTIONS: PAGE 3
inside
oct17th
news
USF students have          ^_
mixed feelings about      r J
the possiblity of war        ^T
with Iraq.                               p
opinion
University President
Stephen A. Privett,         A
S.J., reflects on the       /I
impending war.          ^mm^F'
C&C
USF Center for the       P™
Pacific Rim presents a   ^^
concert blending                 1
Eastern and Western    ^^r
ideas.
scene
Foghorn interviews               _,
the director of the          ^T
new movie, "Punch-     *«^^
Drunk Love."               I     1
sports
The World Series is
going to be wild as      f^k
the Giants and             %_  _g
Angels square off.              *W