February 22
by Janine Stephenson
Wow! We were just talking about Dow Chemical yesterday and it turns out that there was another big protest at State University of New York at Albany. It looks like they locked the company recruiter in a room. I can only imagine what happened there. How did they shuffle him out of the room? Did they ask him to leave, or did they threaten him? And once they locked him in the room, what happened? It doesn't say that he was assaulted, or even kidnapped.
Sometimes, I miss school. I've been thinking it more and more. Even though it seems like I'm having fun here, I realize that I'm missing out on normal life. I don't feel badly about that. I'm not complaining or anything, and I shouldn't even mention it. There are people just like me stuck in another country killing people. I bet they wished they were in school too.
I think the thing I like best about the campaign is that I don't feel pressured to be a part of something I don't want to be a part of. I would never tell anyone else this, but sometimes, people can feel pressured to do things that they don't want to do. It's easy to be swallowed up into a protest. Even if I agree with the protest, I don't always agree with what the protest does. Like what happened on campus. Becca and I were there when it all happened. Becca got caught in a fight and ended up pushing a cop. She knocked him down. I saw the whole thing happen. I thought we were going to be arrested.
It was an absolutely terrifying feeling. I felt like I was above my body, and my arms were shaking. The only thing I knew to do was run, as fast as I could. But before I turned around, I grabbed Becca by the shirt and we ran. Other people on the outskirts of the protest were just standing around. We looked behind us and no one was following us. I don't even know if the cop knew what hit him, or who hit him. We went into a building and took of our coats and pretended to be studying. Again, no one followed us. After a short while, it was apparent that we weren't going to be arrested. Becca put her hair up into a ponytail and borrowed my hat. We went back to our dorm room.
Becca wore her hair like that for about a week or two. I don't think she was being too paranoid.
