With regard to the "War fears fuel protest" (SN 3/13) article in Thursday's paper, I have a few things to say to these "protesters" with whom I've had plenty of run-ins since the beginning of the semester. I've seen many signs, which the most intriguing are "End Corporate Greed," "Fight Deficit, not War" (or some variation) and "Don't Kill Me for a Fill-up."

First off, let's talk about corporate greed. I'm looking now at the picture of the protesters on the front page and I see a Ford Topaz (which must have some gas in its tank), people dressed in nice clothing and other paraphernalia such as chains, signs and spray paint. Where did all this come from? Perhaps it was made by hand. Or did it come from, maybe, a corporation? Perhaps a corporation that they are opposing?

Second, how are we supposed to fight the deficit without income? Doesn't capital come from, say, corporations? And finally, the gas in the Ford Topaz has to have come from somewhere, so according to these protesters, someone died for it. Is this not hypocritical? Aren't they, themselves, using the exact same goods they are protesting?

One final word on peaceful protesting. How can Melissa Wright say she is exercising the right to peacefully assemble if she and the protesters are blocking others from exercising their own rights? I agree with Penny Lynn in failing to see the connection between peacefulness and forcefulness in this matter.

There are different ways to express opinions. Sometimes it seems many East Lansing protesters are simply choosing the wrong one. Is it going to come to the point where we should be protesting the protesters? They stress that we should "fight the system," but maybe they should adhere to their own words before forcing others to.

Steve Elgas
computer engineering junior