Student walkout against war

TUMWATER, Wash.—Students at South Puget Sound Community College (SPSCC) staged a walkout here against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan followed by a march to the state capitol in nearby Olympia.

As the march proceeded, it was joined by students from other schools as well as community activists. The number of participants had grown to more than 100 by the time the march reached the capitol.

At the steps of the legislature, representatives of the various groups that took part in the march introduced themselves and spoke about the war. Acquainting students with these groups was a primary purpose of the event, according to Nigel Weiss, an organizer of the walkout and a student at SPSCC. "There is a widespread view that voting is all that's necessary," Weiss said in an interview. "We want to build a broad movement. Then our elected officials will have to listen to us."

The students who organized this event are already making plans for March 2009 when they will walk out again on the sixth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.