Spring break ““ usually a time of lying out at the beach,
partying with friends and catching up with family ““ is now
also a time of war.
For some students, the Iraq conflict directly interfered with
their plans. For others, it was simply an additional problem to
worry about.
“It’s disappointing “¦ and it just kind of
scares me,” said second-year international development
studies student Erica Magallon, adding that she is pretty much
against the war but not taking a strong stance.
Still, Magallon did not change any travel plans due to the
conflict overseas.
Magallon and two other students flew to Hawaii as scheduled,
Magallon maintaining that she wasn’t afraid of flying in
wartime.
“My parents were more scared than I was,” Magallon
said, though she said she is concerned about staying with her
cousin ““ a marine at Kaneohoe Bay ““ during her time in
Hawaii.
If the country went on red alert, Magallon would not be allowed
to stay at the base and would have to look for accommodation
elsewhere, she said.
Other students’ plans were more gravely affected.
Third-year English student Avisha Chugani said she cancelled her
trip to Rosarito, Mexico over the break.
“I heard they might be closing the borders; I’d
rather be home and safe,” Chugani said.
But she added that she hadn’t changed her opinion of the
war after it started.
“I didn’t think we should go to war at all,”
she said. “I still think we should not be going to war
because we are killing a lot of people.”
Still, Chugani, who has a friend in the army, said she supported
the troops.
“I do feel like I have to support all the troops;
it’s important that they know they have a place to come back
to,” she said.
Other students remained unclear on whether President Bush made
the right decision.
“I’m wonderfully confused,” said Eric Chao,
first-year computer science and engineering student. “I’ve
heard far too many arguments from the right and from the left.
“¦ I think I qualify as the average American voter; that is to
say, terribly uninformed.”
Students heading home from universities around the country also
dealt with the reality of war as they started their spring
breaks.
Some students who had to deal with the preparation for war in
their daily lives looked to the break as an escape.
Jennie Choi, second-year student of the United States Military
Academy at West Point, said it was nice coming home to Los Angeles
to get away from the stress of school. Choi said her school was
affected by the war on many different levels.
“Once we had troops deployed, it became a big deal,”
Choi said.
She added that some teachers who were officers had to leave, and
military training was also cut back due to the deployment of
troops.
Most of her classmates wanted to go to the front lines, she
said. Students of the academy only serve in the military after they
graduate.
“After 9-11, a lot of people went into infantry because
they felt they needed to be closer. “¦ People want to get out
there,” she said.
Though nobody wants war, Choi said she looks at combat as simply
doing her job.
“We don’t want to risk our lives, it’s just
something we have to do,” she said. “We have to do our
jobs.”
Some students changed their minds from before the war started
and supported the military’s efforts to bring down what is
considered an oppressive regime.
“I’m a little more for it now, than earlier,” said
Natasha Peris, a first-year student at UC Berkeley. “I am
definitely not a supporter of Saddam’s regime, and it seems
like this is the only way to end his rule.”
Whatever their position, most students said they hoped for a
speedy resolution.
“All I know is that I hope (the war) is quick,”
Peris said.