David Ross/The Ithacan SENIORS MEAGHAN SHEEHAN, left, and Erica Bergman join in the anti-war march from the Ithaca Farmer’s Market to The Commons Oct. 12.

Talk of war on Iraq has incited action among students in the aftermath of an Oct. 9 Student Government Association resolution opposing pre-emptive military strikes on Iraq.

Approximately 20 Ithaca College students will travel to Washington, D.C., on Saturday to join thousands of people from around the country in a national peace march to protest the proposed war against Iraq.

The event, organized by the international group Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, begins with a rally at 11 a.m. followed by a march to the White House. According to ANSWER’s Web site, there will be simultaneous protests in at least 10 other countries including Puerto Rico, Mexico and Japan.

Junior Eric Lieb said he is participating in the protest because there is a need now, more than ever, to show public opposition to war.

Campus efforts to demonstrate this opposition have created controversy.

The Residence Hall Association held an emergency meeting Oct. 14 to vote on a resolution condemning SGA for passing its resolution regarding Iraq. After RHA voted on the original resolution and an amended version, the group rejected the proposal.

RHA’s resolution stated that SGA grossly abused its power and jurisdiction in a vote to pass a resolution regarding congressional support in the Iraqi conflict. The resolution also stated that SGA voted as political representatives without proper authority or dialogue from their constituents.

Sophomore Sheila Katz, president of RHA, said that it is important to note that the resolution was not for or against war with Iraq, rather it was criticizing SGA for its actions. She said that although the RHA vote failed, it had a positive outcome because it generated discussion from opposing viewpoints.

“It is the first time ever that people are aware they are allowed to say that they agree or disagree with an action that Student Government Association makes or represents,” Katz said.

Sophomore Brett Miller, one of the drafters of the SGA resolution, said that students have a right to question SGA’s actions. He said that in writing the resolution, the drafters hoped to create awareness and dialogue on campus.

Other groups are expressing their opinions about war. Students for a Just Peace and the Young Democratic Socialists plan to hold a rally against war at the Free Speech Rock on Nov. 12.

Ithaca College professors are also taking action. Chip Gagnon, assistant professor of politics; John Hocheimer, associate professor of television-radio; Gina Marchetti, associate professor of cinema and photography; and Zillah Eisenstein, professor of politics, spoke at a teach-in titled “Why War?” held Tuesday at Cornell University. It was sponsored by the Cornell Anti-War Coalition.

Additionally, 27 Ithaca College faculty, staff and students have signed a national online petition opposing a U.S. invasion of Iraq. The petition, started by two professors at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, has already accumulated more than 25,000 signatures.

Miller, who will also join the Washington protest, said that the protests going on around the world show how strongly people feel about the decision to go to war.

“America isn’t speaking with one voice,” he said. “There is an enormous amount of dissent. To just put a lid on it and not speak out about it is doing the country a supreme injustice.”