When I drive up Elmwood every Saturday morning, I pass a group of two dozen people older than I who wear black and silently stand for peace. They hold black and white signs, and they’re there pretty much every week in some incarnation or another. What dedication and strength they have, the older generation, to be standing outside at the park, giving up their time to let people know that they, at least, haven’t forgotten.

I’m embarrassed when I go by. I’m embarrassed because I’m a young kid who has no problem driving my car the 15 miles to get to the University at Amherst, where I’ll edit a magazine for students like myself who are just fine letting it all fly by until we get out of school and begin our lives. It’s not that there’s no hope for action on campus, it’s more like no one really cares.

That makes sense. I don’t expect social change to come from the middle of the Amherst Best Buy parking lot, but I am impressed that after North Campus was built, students still lined up around the block to be admitted. All that to go to classes in big brick buildings with no windows. I would have thought living like this would create some sort of anger in students, but rather it has done exactly what it was designed to do—control the actions of inhabitants. I can think of only a few times when I legitimately saw people congregating somewhere on campus for any reason.

I should bite my tongue, because there’s a protest of sorts today. It’s the beginning of a week of action, and UB’s own anti-war group will hold a march from the Student Union to the Capen Library—for peace.

So it’s a march down a pedestrian walkway on a part of campus where a few hundred students will be walking anyway. I don’t really get it, but I guess this is what the protest’s founders deemed to be the most legal course of action. I’d prefer a walk down Millersport highway to fight for a bicycle lane, but that’s my life.

If you’re upset to hear of this protest, whether you’re pro-Bush or pro-war or just anti-everything, you don’t really need to make a fuss. You’re far from alone. I’m sure there’ll be a great crowd of guys with their blow out haircuts, waiting to put these kids down—it’ll be easy.

That’s because protests aren’t cool anymore. They involve hippies, who aren’t cool, says the TV, and wearing funny clothing, which is also not cool. This comes as no surprise to you, I know.

So why the firm dress code and borderline annoying bullshit? As Jake Drum says, why not just get a bunch of people together with buzz cuts and suits on? If the idea is to get noticed and promote unity, wearing a bunch of funny costumes and going out to bang on shit is going to be as useful as surround sound for C-SPAN.

So why is there this animosity over activism? I mean it’s hardly life-changing at all—regardless of what organizers want, it’s not like most protests are going to really affect your life if you choose not to participate.

I’m sure I can’t stand most of the people who are going to be at this rally today, but I’ll be there. What do I have to lose? If a group of students are going to get together to try and create a product, I guess I should show up and make it my own. When the revolution comes, it won’t be the ones sitting in their dorm rooms who make it.