The snow crunches at the feet of the protesters gathering outside the Armed Forces Recruiting Center just minutes from the University at Buffalo’s North Campus.

Members of The Buffalo War Resisters League are bundled up in sweaters, scarves, coats, and mittens as they prepare to face single-digit temperatures for the next two hours. They grip their “Honk For Peace” and “Rich Man’s Oil, Poor Man’s Blood” signs tightly as the bitter wind blows towards them at unwavering speeds.

It’s going to be a long afternoon for these two.

Not more than 40 years ago, the Buffalo area, UB especially, was rife with sit-ins, marches, rallies, and protests of every kind. Outspoken picketers and demonstrators on every side of the political spectrum painted everyday life. Classes were disrupted, students and faculty were arrested, and buildings were damaged in the unrelenting struggle to bring attention to various social and political issues. Recently, CNN reported that 64 percent of Americans oppose the war, leaving one to wonder why the Buffalo War Resisters are so lonely out there in the Saturday afternoon cold.

What the War Resisters do is referred to as counter-recruitment, a way for citizens like Iraq War veteran Geoffrey Millard to advise people against joining up with the military.

After eight years of service in the National Guard, Millard presides over the Washington, DC chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War and actively seeks to offer young people an alternative to the military. While antiwar groups and college campuses are embracing it as an accessible way to protest Operation Iraqi Freedom, critics wonder whether it may be detrimental to the institution granting these groups the freedom to protest.

Much of the debate originates from the Solomon Amendment, passed in 1996. Under the legislation, which was revised in 2000, the Secretary of Defense can deny federal funding to any public school or university that prevents access to military recruiters. Also, funding can be discontinued if schools do not provide such information as names, telephone numbers, addresses, date and place of birth, and educational history to the military for students over 17 years of age.

“They come to this educational environment offering to help financially, but the kids here are already in college. Recruiters are giving them disillusions about the army and being a hero, but it really just takes kids out of school, and that’s wrong,” said UB Anti-War member Rachel Scarano.

“You look around the military, there’s no rich kids besides a select few. I live in Washington, and if you look at the kids of senators, they’re not serving anywhere,” said Millard. “If you look at young, poor kids on the east side of Buffalo, they don’t have a lot of options. That’s why if you go to the recruiting center downtown, it’s 90 percent blacks and Puerto Ricans. If you go out to Lockport and the suburbs, they may be white, but they’re still poor. Rich kids don’t go in the army, it’s pumped up to those of us who grow up poor.”

UB Anti-War, only an infant group on campus, is already planting the seeds of counter-recruitment for years to come. By working to reclaim Clark Hall, teaching high school students to rebuff their military recruiters, and gaining support from such groups as LGBTA to fight recruiters’ discriminatory policies toward homosexuals, they feel that they have localized anti-war action and provided a mode of protest in which young people have a voice.

“It’s something we can put our finger on, whereas the military-industrial complex isn’t going away anytime soon,” said UB Anti-war member Julia Burke.

UB Anti-war member John Ceresol agrees, “It’s a way for us to fight the war while being on campus. It’s our avenue for protest.”

ven with new ideas and progressive groups, activists both on and off-campus have trouble making their mark because of their small numbers. UB was once a center for massive riots and anti-government protests. Editions of The Spectrum from 1967-1974 come alive with photographs of flag burnings, protests, demonstrations, and the blockading of buildings. Reporters had fresh material every day, including fire-bombings in Lockwood Library, rocks thrown through windows of campus buildings, faculty criminally trespassing in the president’s office, and the constant tear gas that lingered around campus, making those who attended class carry a washcloth to breathe.

Dennis Black, Vice President of Student Affairs, arrived at UB in the 1970s and said he only caught the “tail end” of the revolutionary political atmosphere. Still, he recalls the spirit that prevailed in colleges across America.

“UB was the same as most major public and private universities that experienced a massive anti-war climate. UB was a classic among them,” said Black.

But while Black acknowledges that the protests accomplished many progressive goals, including the temporary banning of CIA and DOW (the makers of Napalm) recruitment, as well as the abolition of a Department of Defense-funded research endeavor known as Project Themis, UB Law Professor and former President William Greiner views the protests much more cynically. He expresses concern for the protesters that hurt people and their communities and, in his mind, forgot their humanity.

“If you were around in the 1960’s and early 1970’s, you would see there was a lot of distress. Faculty members are still deeply scarred about what went on. We forgot about civility. You will never find a more engaged protector of speech than I, but we lost. I know colleagues that were opposed to each other back then, and haven’t talked to each other since,” said Greiner.

Given that Greiner claims that this generation’s students aren’t “as politically active as they used to be” and Black observes, “a lessening of civic engagement by everyone,” it is worth

examining the causes for such a shortage of antiwar movements in the U.S.

There is one influential factor that nearly everyone agrees contributed to the widespread decline of anti-war protests: no one is forced to fight. Since military service is still voluntary, and young men aren’t in danger of being shipped overseas at a moment’s notice, Americans seem less concerned.

“People feel disempowered and unaffected by the current war. The apathy among students today is tenfold in regards to foreign policy and how we treat other nations. They say ‘If it doesn’t affect me, why should I care?’” said UB Anti-War leader and cofounder Sophia Azeb. “If we had a draft, students would vehemently chase peace.”

Greiner agrees with Azeb, arguing that the lack of personal contact with the war dissipates antiwar sentiments.

“During the Second World War, everything was rationed. That was a war that we all understood what was going on, what the cost was, and we were willing to take the price. Now, we’re shoving the costs onto a future generation,” said Greiner.

ttendance at the War Resisters pickets remains low, despite more than 100 consecutive weeks rallying in Tonawanda and downtown. However, members still feel accomplished twice a week knowing their voices are heard.

“Just bringing awareness is important to us. As people drive by on their merry way with magnetic ‘Support Our Troops’ signs, we force them to actually think about the war and the people dying,” said Buffalo War Resister Cathy Wech.

Warren Campbell, a veteran who served in the Marines from 1957-1960, says that his picketing has created a divide between he and his son, currently serving in the Army Reserves, whom he hasn’t spoken with in years. He considers those in the military to possess a “livelihood” that he disagrees with, and feels that the need to express his outrage over the current war outweighs any implications that comes with his political mindset.

In addition, there is a negative connotation associated with protesters, which may be acting as a disincentive to join the anti-war movement. Greiner theorizes that many students are apprehensive of appearing to be “nuts and jerks,” and Azeb feels that this contributes to low levels of active membership in her group as well.

“When George Bush said ‘You’re with us or you’re without us,’ it was a very sound political maneuver. People now feel that they have to support the war or they’re anti-American,” said Azeb. “Reporters also play on guilt, making people feel as if they have to support the country or they’re supporting terrorism.”

Dennis Black is optimistic about the state of protest in America and at UB. He recognizes movements that have taken place under his jurisdiction that were constructive, but were approached differently than in the past.

“I see many relatively small but strong, dedicated groups of individuals devoted to a cause that are nonviolent, but still vocal. They want their voice to be heard and other people to respond to their message,” said Black. He points to such examples as UB Students Against Sweatshops’ successes, anti-war protesters at the Colin Powell speech, and unionists who picketed the governor, that were successful in that they brought out another point of view and created a discourse.

Similarly, professor Greiner agrees that protest is still present, just in less visible and aggressive forms. He commends such efforts as Internet blogs and magazine and newspaper editorials as a means to express views without causing destruction.

“A substantial amount of people are tired of this intervention, but now we’re working in approved channels,” said Greiner. “People write about it and talk about it; a lot of action is now on the Internet. The news is filled with articles on foreign policy, Iraq, and politics, and the blogosphere is a place that creates a dialogue for that. It’s a lot easier than marching in the cold.”

These days at UB, though student gatherings often revolve around free pizza and campus only closes for the weather, student activism can’t simply be called dead. It’s just taken on a less obvious form. Dennis Black, for one, thinks that change is already beginning. “You can see the groundswell of voters that went to the polls in November as evidence of people turning into larger groups and stronger voices.”