As war becomes increasingly imminent, UW-Madison student activists are preparing demands for both campus administrators and the U.S. government. However, campus officials said they are unaware of such demands.
The demands will be made official on a one-day, international student strike March 5, dubbed, \Books not Bombs."" Students said they will fight for government funds to go towards affordable education rather than the upcoming war.
""[Officials] are saying they want an 18 percent tuition increase and huge cuts in education at the same time that our federal government wants $200 billion for war,"" said Josh Healy, a UW-Madison freshman. ""We want our tax money to go towards affordable education, to promoting job education and promoting health care.""
UW-Madison senior Asif Sheikh said protesters plan to raise awareness of the consequences of war as well as the war's effect on the financial resources in the education system.
""The general demands are to filter the money that will be going to war and put that into education,"" Sheikh said.
Students will demand that the university declare opposition to the war and disclose and eliminate any military research contracts affiliated with UW-Madison.
""From the campus administration we want Chancellor Wiley to write a letter saying he is against the war on Iraq and also against these huge tuition increases, linking the two issues saying he supports affordable education and not this war,"" Healey said.
However, Paul Barrows, vice chancellor of student affairs at UW-Madison, and Provost Peter Spear said they have not been informed of the students' demands.
""I am unaware of any such demands,"" Barrows said. ""I really haven't heard anything or seen anything about a strike. I would expect that there is going to be all kinds of pro-war, anti-war activity on this campus and around the country.""
Furthermore, Spear said he does not understand the correlation between the group's two causes.
""I don't think the tuition increases are linked to a war in Iraq,"" he said.
On the day of the protest, peace activists said they will urge students to skip class and ask that faculty and staff do not penalize students who choose to attend the protest rather than class.
""This is one day where we are asking students to skip class; to come out and show that they are against the war,"" said Pabitra Benjamin, a UW-Madison junior. ""We need to show our strength to get more money for education.""
In response, administrators said they understand that some students may choose to take part in the protest rather than class discussions.
""In terms of institutional policy, this is really a student choice,"" Barrows said. ""Nobody forces a student to attend class.""
However, Spear confirmed that classes would not be cancelled for the day and that particular class attendance rules would still apply.
