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In drawing from this inspiration, I have come to believe that in addition to vigorously pursuing the impeachment of Bush and Cheney, the leaders of the most recidivist criminal regime in the history of America, we, the students of America and future leaders of America, must oppose U.S. government-funded military recruitment centers, which target people who cannot afford the increasing costs of living and/or the costs of higher education. I and other students I have been organizing with believe that taking action against military recruitment throws a wrench into the gears of a system that fails to support its young people (students, workers and such) that are in need of financial assistance. In addition to the illegalities of this war and the mere reality that this war has looted our economy, led to the deaths and displacement of millions of Iraqis, and supremely violated Iraq’s sovereignty, our friends, relatives and classmates are unnecessarily in Iraq along with thousands of other young people. If it is not us who demand that they come home, than how will we be able to morally continue our lives in America? How will we be able to look parents of soldiers who have died in the face if we have not done our part to challenge the Bush Regime? Therefore, I ask you for your help in these times of need. As the recession caused by this war becomes more and more severe, the ability for activist groups to collect donations and even for this site that I have been granted permission to ask for donations on will run into problems staying afloat. The recession is yet another reason in a laundry list of reasons (that could probably go for miles if we wanted to stretch it out) why organization, participation, or support for resistance and opposition to the ongoing wars in the Middle East must happen. For the past few months, I have put together a campaign with the help of others on my college campus that was designed to call attention to a military recruitment center that was not there in our campus’ super-dormitory which houses students from three colleges until September 2007. The campaign calls for the military recruitment center to cease operations on campus because the center is recruiting for an illegal war, which they should not have the right to continue. In May, I will be going to meet with students in Berkeley to hear about what they have been doing about military recruiters in their schools since they have been at the forefront of the battle since the city council resolution labeling the recruitment center in the city was labeled an “unwelcome entity” in February (which was later repealed due to national pressure from Republican groups). I will be going to the Building a New World conference in Radford, Virginia (May 22-25). Both meetings will be covered extensively for OpEdNews. They will also be used to form connections between the west and east coast so that the movement to end the Iraq war can go to the next level. In participating in many antiwar protests, I have seen how the makeup of the people in these actions is often people who were part of the antiwar movement to end the Vietnam War. I have seen how many are from the 1980s and were participants in actions calling for nuclear disarmament. I have seen how students are not present at actions that they must be at because the people from the antiwar movement to end the Vietnam War and other older activists who are primarily taking action for the future generations of America have pointed out the absence of student involvement quite often. I am a member of the group people commonly refer to as the “future generations of America.” I think it would be better to say though that I am a member of the group that should be called the “future leaders of America” because I do not intend to sit back and not have a hand in how America leads in the world in the 21st Century. I ask that anyone who is still reading help keep the student movement alive by donating money to support my trips to the two national meetings/conferences/convergences planned. An educated individual is not the product of just the classroom but rather is the sum of his experiences and activities at all levels of society. Please help send me on an educational sabbatical for student activism. (Any leftover donations will go to Rob Kall for continuing OpEdNews.)
Kevin Gosztola goes to Columbia College in Chicago where he is studying film. He hopes to become a documentary filmmaker. He is currently working as a production assistant on a documentary called "Seriously Green" which traces the development of the Green Party throughout the 2008 election. He has a passion for journalism and writes articles or press releases in his spare time. Kevin Gosztola is also a student activist who believes in questioning the way America's systems work(its electoral system, its military-industrial complex, its foreign policy of American exceptionalism, its media which has become the Fourth Branch of government,etc.)
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