This month, Phi Theta Kappa hosts a series of events promoting peace. They include a vigil and peace caravan on Sunday, March 18, here at MCC - Penn Valley.

In conjunction with the Kansas City Iraqi Task Force and the Kansas City Friends Service Committee, Phi Theta Kappa will give Penn Valley and its surrounding community a chance to share their feelings about the war in Iraq with the people in Washington.

"This year, the scholarship theme that we're supposed to be working under is titled 'Gold, God, and Glory: the Globalization of Power'," said Phi Theta Kappa advisor Pamela Yeager. "I thought this actually was part of it because it shows power. Who has it, who uses it, how it can be used correctly, and how it can be used incorrectly. I thought it would be a good time to present that to the student body here," she said.

"We’ve been in Iraq for four years; this is the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war," explained Yeager. "I know we still see it somewhat in the paper and there’s debate in Congress, but I am of the age of the Vietnam War, where it dragged on and on, and people seemed to forget. I’m not saying that we should not support the troops; I’m saying the troops are there," she said.

Boots Exhibit

"I had a child in the service. I thoroughly believe that we should support the men and women in the service. You don’t just leave them stranded," continued Yeager. "But I also support the fact that maybe we should bring them home, and let Iraq go through the civil war that we went through as an America that was still growing."

With war being the hot-button topic that it is, there are bound to be a few people upset over the issue. PTK would like to stress that this is not a protest or a march. It’s about considering other options.

"If you see people getting angry, they are usually of the age where they can remember Vietnam, and back in the Vietnam time, it was taken as they were not supporting the troops that were there," recalled Yeager. "I don’t find giving information negative, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re bringing a subject to the forefront so that it can be discussed. Along those lines, that is also why the American Friends Service Committee has this multimedia display [brought] to the campus" on March 5 and 6.

"It’s called 'Eyes Wide Open: An Exhibition of the Iraq War,'" Yeager said. "[We had it] on display for two days and then [will] follow it with the peace vigil, which is called 'Bullets Fail, Let Peace Prevail.'"

PTK also set up a table with cards called Policies of Hope. "Basically, we demand policies of hope. The front side has quotes from all religions on it, the back side is blank so that any staff, faculty, student, any of those people can write something on the back that can be given to senators and delivered to Washington D.C. on how they feel about diplomacy, how they feel about cutting funds for the war, any policies they want to see make a difference for hunger, poverty, anything. Just policies that would be hopeful," Yeager explained.

The "Eyes Wide Open" exhibit (http://www.afsc.org/eyes/) contains one pair of boots for each Missouri and Kansas soldier killed in Iraq (as of January 30 2007, there have been 33 Kansas and 52 Missouri soldiers and marines killed in Iraq). The exhibit also includes civilian shoes to represent Iraqis killed in the war and occupation.

"I think people read the news and think, 'Oh, it’s happening to someone else,' but actually for 85 people in this area it was family. So it’s not happening to somebody else," said Yeager.

The week following the rally, PTK will continue the peace theme by presenting a satellite seminar featuring Gandhi’s grandson, Arun Gandhi, and his views on non-violence.

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