The Gulf War Has Students' Minds Churning

Most undergraduates say they support U.S. participation in the Gulf War, even though a majority of them also believe that sanctions and negotiations were not given enough time to be effective, a Crimson poll conducted at registration on Wednesday indicates.

The figures--61 percent in support of the war, and 36 percent against it--show that the Bush Administration need not worry, at least at this juncture, about huge and raucous student uprisings on the Harvard campus. Still, the numbers supporting the war are significantly below the national percentages, which are around the 80 percent mark.

The poll also indicates a huge gender gap in opinions about the war. College men--though in the event of a draft they would be the first ones in boot camp--seem to be hawks nonetheless, with 69 percent of them supporting the war. The women took a more dovish stance, with less than half of them supporting the war.

More Results

The poll also shows that:

Fifty-five percent of respondents think sanctions and negotiations were not given enough time to be effective.

*Forty-four percent of students surveyed believe "it is the duty of all Americans to support the war effort now that it has begun."

*A majority of students believe the government is being sufficiently open and honest about developments in the Gulf.

*Two-thirds of respondents disagree that "a denial of civil liberties in time of war is justified."

*Fully three-quarters of respondents think Israel should not enter the war. This was the highest percentage agreement on any question in the poll. Only 17 percent of respondents said Israel should enter the war.

'Freedom and Peace'

In follow-up interviews on Wednesday, students vehemently defended their poll answers and shared their thoughts on the Gulf crisis.

Should I demonstrate? Does demonstrating make me unpatriotic? Is war ever justified?

These were among the questions students were asking themselves.

And according to the poll, campus feelings on the issues are divided enough to be sparking much thoughtful political debate.

"I'm for the war," says Lynn M. Gonzalez '93. "We have to get Saddam Hussein out. I think [this war is] about more than oil. It's about freedom and about peace. I have a brother who is in the Airborne. He definitely believes in what he is doing. I'm wearing a little yellow ribbon to support the troops and everybody should."

"You have an expansionist dictator and he has to be held in check," says pro-war student Lyle J. Goldstein '94.

Others were equally supportive of the war, but more reluctantly so.

"Before the war I was against it, but now that the war has started, I support it," says Mark A. Gragg '91. "Once we're committed, we're committed."

Dominick M. Bertelli '91-'92 also agrees, saying that he didn't think sanctions and negotiations were given enough of a chance, "but once you commit to this line of action, you can't turn back."

Conscientious Objections

But others are staunchly opposed to the use of force in the Persian Gulf.

"War in general I have a problem with," says Navarra V. Rodriguez '92. "I have a problem with conflicts involving death. I don't want to see my friends going off and getting killed."

Another student interviewed also opposes war on principle. Sevag H. Arzoumanian '91 says of the Gulf War, "I'm against it. I'm against all violence."

Arzoumanian says he has participated in protests against the war and defends demonstrations as "an effective means of getting the message across." He adds a jibe at pro-war demonstrators, saying, "I don't see how supporting the troops means we should send them to their deaths."

Shana L. Birnbaum '94 tries to explain the gender gap in war polls, saying, "I think women are inherently more peaceful and try to work things out."

Indeed, 66 percent of women surveyed said that sanctions and negotiations were not given enough time, compared with 51 percent of the men surveyed who said the same thing.

Worried About Future, Friends

Many agree the war is always in the back of their minds, leaving them unable to concentrate on work, or fully enjoy themselves as they used to.

"Whenever I'm feeling really happy, there's always that little feeling of guilt," says Jared R. Curhan '93.

To a significant extent, the war has come to claim a good part of people's personal thoughts, leaving students worried about their futures and, in some cases, about their family and friends.

Altogether about a third of respondents fear war will touch them personally by means of a draft or a terrorist attack.

A good 47 percent of the respondents say they fear the war will negatively affect their personal economic future, and a full 70 percent say the war will affect the "psychological mood of our generation."

Students say they are feeling the effects of these anxieties. Forty percent of the student respondents said their "performance on final exams was negatively affected by the war."

Sharon Fenick '94, for example, says she has family and friends in Israel, and has been unable to think clearly about anything with such a large threat facing her loved ones.

"Every time a place is bombed, I think about the people I know who live in that place," says Fenick. "I think it definitely negatively affected the way I performed on my final exams."

"I have several friends who are in the reserves and have been called up," says Thomas I. Savage '91. "It does touch home in that sense."

"[The war has] caused me an enormous amount of personal anxiety," says Elizabeth K. MacDonald '93. "I really do not like the concept of anyone dying for what I consider an ugly war over oil prices."

"I was in tears," when television news incorrectly reported a chemical weapons attack on Israel, she continues. "In every essence I support the troops in that I do not want them to die."

A Time for Protest?

While pro-war and anti-war demonstrators have garnered much attention from the press, 64 percent of the students polled said they are not inclined to show their feelings on the war by demonstrating.

Concerns about showing support for the troops--and even showing respect to studious Yardlings--were given as reasons for this aversion to taking to the streets.

"I don't think it's appropriate to send the troops any message other than total support," says Fenwick.

A. Leroy Miles '94 agrees, saying, "I'd never protest because the soldiers see the people protesting and that affects them negatively."

Protesters are being criticized on more than just principle. A Thayer Hall resident, Fred G. Karem '94, complains about being distracted from his studies--not by the war, but by Harvard students on both sides of the war issue rallying outside his window.

Karem says during his exams, protesters were outside of his window making "much noise." "They can protest elsewhere," he says. "It's not that I disagree with the protests, it's the location," he explains.

Still, many defend the Constitutional right of protesters to speak their minds on the war issue.

"The time for protest is never past," says Kim Roosevelt '93. Goldstein, a pro-war student, also acknowledges that protest is "a healthy sign in our society."

But for now, relatively few Harvard students have taken to the streets in protest, and even fewer are at war in the Gulf. Most of the action is taking place in students' hearts and minds. "It's the first time our generation has been involved in this sort of conflict," Goldstein says. "It has been emotionally twisting, and I think it will get much worse when more people start getting killed."

1. Do you support U.S. participation in the war in the Persian Gulf?

Yes 61% 36% No

2. Do you think negotiation and economic sanctions were given enough time to be effective against Saddam Hussein?

43% 55%

3. Now that we are at war, do you believe that regardless of how you feel about this war that it is the duty of all Americans to support the war effort now that it has begun?

44% 53%

4. Do you believe the government is being sufficiently open and honest about developments in the Gulf?

56% 40%

5. Do you believe that a denial of civil liberties in time of war is justified?

24% 67%

6. Do you think Israel should join the war?

17% 75%

7. Are you inclined to show your opinion on the war by demonstrating?

31% 64%

8. Do you think your performance on final exams was negatively affected by the war?

40% 58%

9. Do you fear that the war will touch you personally in any of the following ways?

Terrorism

34% 62%

Personal economic future

47% 47%

Draft

32% 64%

Pyschological mood of our generation

70% 25%   Women Answering Yes  Men Answering Yes 1. Support the war  49%  69% 2. Enough time for sanctions  30%  51% 3. Duty to support war  46%  43% 4. Government has been open and honest  51%  60% 5. Right to deny civil liberties  20%  26%

  Women Answering Yes  Men Answering Yes 6. Israel should join war  13%  20% 7. Inclined to demonstrate  37%  26% 8. Exams affected  40%  40% 9. Terrorism  45%  26% Draft  29%  33% Economic future  52%  44% Our generation  83%  61%

How the Poll Was Conducted: 1000 surveys were randomly distributed to students at a constant hourly rate throughout the course of the day at registration on Wednesday, January 30. Six-hundred seventy-five students returned the poll. Among these were 399 male respondents and 276 female respondents. The polling and analysis were conducted by Effie Anagnostopoulos, Michael Balagur, Charles Boudreau, Jay Bradner, Dan Choi, Molly Confer, Richard de Silva, Ben Davis, Jennifer Fisher, Mary Louise Kelly, Yin Nawaday, Ira Stoll, Madhavi Sunder, Erica Werner and Kim Ziev.

  Women Answering Yes  Men Answering Yes 6. Israel should join war  13%  20% 7. Inclined to demonstrate  37%  26% 8. Exams affected  40%  40% 9. Terrorism  45%  26% Draft  29%  33% Economic future  52%  44% Our generation  83%  61%

How the Poll Was Conducted: 1000 surveys were randomly distributed to students at a constant hourly rate throughout the course of the day at registration on Wednesday, January 30. Six-hundred seventy-five students returned the poll. Among these were 399 male respondents and 276 female respondents. The polling and analysis were conducted by Effie Anagnostopoulos, Michael Balagur, Charles Boudreau, Jay Bradner, Dan Choi, Molly Confer, Richard de Silva, Ben Davis, Jennifer Fisher, Mary Louise Kelly, Yin Nawaday, Ira Stoll, Madhavi Sunder, Erica Werner and Kim Ziev.

How the Poll Was Conducted: 1000 surveys were randomly distributed to students at a constant hourly rate throughout the course of the day at registration on Wednesday, January 30. Six-hundred seventy-five students returned the poll. Among these were 399 male respondents and 276 female respondents. The polling and analysis were conducted by Effie Anagnostopoulos, Michael Balagur, Charles Boudreau, Jay Bradner, Dan Choi, Molly Confer, Richard de Silva, Ben Davis, Jennifer Fisher, Mary Louise Kelly, Yin Nawaday, Ira Stoll, Madhavi Sunder, Erica Werner and Kim Ziev.