U.S. casualties and Iraqi civilian death tolls continue to increase as the war and occupation in Iraq persists. However, SF State students have been almost invisible in voicing their opinions about the war in Iraq compared with the passionate protests last semester.

Last semester, SF State students and faculty openly protested the idea of a war on Iraq. For example, on March 5, about 300 SF State students and faculty took the initiative to participate in the "Books not Bombs" national walkout strike, organized by the National Youth and Student Peace Coalition (NYSPC), made up of 15 different youth organizations.

As of November 19, there have been 494 confirmed coalition deaths in Iraq, according to CNN Coalition Casualties. The Associated Press counted 3,240 Iraqi civilian deaths in Iraq during a five-week investigation, but the amount is said to be a lot higher, according to antiwar.com's Iraqi Death count.

Support for both the war and an anti-war sentiment were present at a small debate held on campus, hosted by the Students Against War (SAW) organization, where students questioned whether the United Nations should be involved in the reconstruction of Iraq. Even though students from SAW prepared themselves for the Oct. 25th "Bring the Troops Home Now" national protest in downtown San Francisco, there weren't any plans to stage a protest on campus.

Students from the College Republican student group were in attendance at the debate and agreed to take part in future debates on campus, but at this time no dates have been scheduled.

During the debate Maria Trapaliz, Founder of the College Republican group on campus, said she hoped to break some stereotypes about Republicans. She also persisted that as a result of the protests, troops abroad have a low morale.

"If you actually talk to people who are actually out there, they (the troops) get depressed when they see the anti-war protests and when they see more and more protests, that just shows them that America is against them," said Trapaliz.
"We have to think about our soldiers."

Professors are also curious to know why there has been a significant decrease in student activism on campus.

"In general student activism on campus is much lower than it was during the Vietnam War," said Glenn Fieldman, International Relations Professor. "Students aren't at risk of being drafted; many are worried about getting a job after graduation and worried about having money to stay in school."

For many students, the recall election, mayoral election, and the Southern California wildfires may have sidetracked student activism, but the war continues to claim lives in Iraq.

"It seems that students are active about issues that directly affect them," said Johnetta Richards, Black Studies Professor.

A variety of SF State students claim the lack of media coverage has played a significant role in their lack of response to the war.

"It seems like the mainstream media has not covered the war as much as it did when the war first broke out," said Alan Dizon, BECA major and Assistant for Pilipino Academic Collegiate Endeavor.

"As time progresses, the hype about the war dies down," Dizon continued. "Now that all the hype is gone, no one is going to pay attention to it once it filters down. Current events become fads; it's really sad."

Other students feel the lack of media coverage about the war has left them in the dark about the reality in Iraq. This has caused some students to feel the war is no longer an important issue at the present time.

"The movement not only here on campus, but throughout the United States has retracted due to the amount of TV time and the way that the media covers the U.S. troops in Iraq," said Juan Guzman, Labor Studies student.

"Now people are talking about Arnold and other issues. This society is controlled by a circus, meaning that people's emotions are moved by what the media tells them," said Guzman.

In response to students' criticism about the media, John Burks, chair of the journalism dept. said, "There are still people dying so the war is still going on."

"The coverage was real intense, it (war coverage) was all over the TV, radio, magazines when the war happened," he continued. "But when the president declared a victory, too many American journalists followed the lead."