Protestors against President Bush's new Iraq war plan were left out in the cold Thursday afternoon when a rally was met with few student participation.
At a second rally later that night, however, organizers were able to draw a larger crowd from local Muncie residents.
About a dozen protestors gathered at noon at the intersection of McKinley and Riverside Avenues to speak out against Bush sending more than 20,000 additional troops to Iraq, student organizer Mona Luxion said.
Almost 50 protestors met at 6 p.m. at Northwest Plaza on McGalliard Road to wave banners and flags at passing traffic that honked in support of and against the protestors.
"I'm pleased with the number of students who showed up [at noon]," Luxion said.
"It's cold, it's windy, and we had almost no time for organization."
The 6 p.m. rally had more people attend because the organizers spent two days recruiting people, but the noon rally was coordinated Wednesday night, student organizer Jennifer Rice-Snow said.
"It's tough to get people to take time out of their day," said Jerry Waite, protestor and Ball State anthropology professor. "We as voters have a responsibility in all this. I just think people feel sort of hopeless."
Parents of soldiers have an entirely different perspective on the fighting in Iraq, said Kresha Warneck, protestor and mother of a U.S. soldier.
"My son was stationed in Baghdad when his Humvee was hit with an IED missile and broke his jaw," Warneck said. "One of the soldiers in the vehicle was killed and another is still in a coma."
One of the biggest concerns for the rally participants was the number of dead U.S. soldiers, protestor Glenda Cox said.
"We have a banner with the names of all the soldiers who have died so far in Iraq," Cox said. "We have so many names of U.S. soldiers that we can't even fit the names from the other side of the war on it."
The protestors organized the rallies around the national campaign MoveOn.org, a political action Web site, Luxion said.
"This is a real emergency protest," Rice-Snow said. "Bush wants to send thousands more troops, which means we will lose more soldiers and the fighting will increase. The voters sent a very clear message that they don't want to increase the number of soldiers."
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