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SPRING 2002

Students at Plattsburgh State University show a remarkable leftist tilt. A recent, nation-wide survey of first-year students found that students tend to be more liberal on issues ranging from marijuana use to gay rights.

Perhaps this is why some 50 students went down to Washington, D.C., protesting organizations like the World Trade Organization , the International Monetary Fund, Israeli occupation on the West Bank, U.S. intervention in Columbia, and a variety of others.

David Keys, a sociology professor at Plattsburgh State University agrees with the survey's findings. "I get the impression that this is a liberal campus. There is a certain openness here to new ideas even if people are unfamiliar with them," he says.

He drew a comparison to Texas A&M University and how people there would squint their eyes and/or look at him in an odd way when he brought up topics like anarchism or eliminating a government: "Whereas here people will say 'Oh yeah? Tell me about this.' So there's a certain openness here."

Although Palestinians protesting America's support for Israel dominated the weekend, junior Anne Kelly was there for other reasons.

"I wanted to go down to D.C. to support anti-corporation oppression of third world countries, people here, and other indigenous groups," she says.

She felt that it was good for Plattsburgh State students to experience this because it gives them a better understanding of these issues. "I think Plattsburgh has a large group of people that share the same beliefs. It shows unity (by going to D.C.)," Kelly says.

Keys thinks that the reason why the corporate mass media only covered the weekend as a pro-Palestinian protest was because major mass media networks didn't have anyone on the ground.

"Anyone who wasn't on the ground, in the march, or walking among people in the mall after Saturday's march ended wouldn't know there were people tabling down there," he says.

At these tables were environmental groups, feminists, and anarchists, to name a few. Keys even ran into someone he met nearly thirty years ago at an anti-war rally.

"Of course there was a lot more than pro-Palestinians down there," adds Keys, "Every participating group that was there, if asked, probably would have supported a pull out of Israeli forces from the West Bank."

Keys brought his political sociology class down there too. He wanted his class to see social policies being critiqued, how social movements are organized and carried out."You learn more over that weekend and the time leading up to it than you would in any amount of class," Keys says.

An important tenet of that weekend for the students was to see that there is a lot more to protesting than standing around with a sign.

"I want the students to see what its like to travel, go without sleep, deal with problems, worry about getting arrested, and finally getting food in their bellies and heading home. There really is a lot to it," he says.

Keys and students alike stated that they would like to see some demonstrations on campus. They would like to see a network of individuals marching on campus against a war while some other students are down at the actual protests in Washington or other places. "This way students who don't go can see tangible expressions of solidarity with groups down there taking risks, spending money, and giving up sleep."

Overall, the weekend was peaceful. "It restored my faith in humanity," Kelly says. "I think it's amazing that you can't go to a baseball game with 70,00 to 100,000 people and not have any fights. In Washington, there were no arrests and no violence. It intrigued me...it amazed me," she says.

What would you march for?