Macalester students are joining forces with students at nearby Ramsey Junior High to protest the impending war on Iraq.

For the past several Fridays at 2:45 p.m., between 20 and 60 seventh and eighth grade students walked the two blocks from Ramsey to the intersection at Summit and Snelling, where they chant and wave signs in protest until around 4 p.m.

The Ramsey students' weekly protest attracted attention from Macalester anti-war protesters, and on Feb. 28, 10 Macalester students and philosophy professor Henry West joined about 25 Ramsey students.

The group chanted, "1-2-3-4, we don't want to go to war!" and cheered when passing cars honked their horns. Hand-lettered signs read "RamZ students for peace" and "Spread the love, not the hate."

The Ramsey and Macalester protesters left the corner by 4:30 p.m. when a group of protesters ranging from mid 40s to late 70s gathered. They identify themselves with a variety of social and political groups, including Friends for a Non-Violent World and Women Against Military Madness.

Veteran protester Steve Schwarz has demonstrated here with an increasingly worn "No War" sign since December, and normally protests at 4:30 p.m. He said that he was driving by around 3 p.m. when he saw the Ramsey and Macalester protesters and joined them. "It is so touching, it is so great to see the positive response they're getting," he said.

Nora Brand, a seventh grader, also appreciates the honks and waves of passing cars. "Its fun to see that people are so supportive," she says, "Its such a great atmosphere with everyone together."

Eighth grader Maureen "Mo" O'Brian said that she actively recruited the Ramsey protesters. She organized her friends to make signs and announced the protest over Ramsey's public address system.

O'Brian said she was inspired after attending a Feb. 15 protest in Uptown, Minneapolis, where an estimated 10,000 gathered as part of International Day of Protest. "I wanted people to know that students want peace," she said, "that children are affected by war too." She added that spending on war instead of schools in the U.S. is one problem, but that her main concern is the war's impact on Iraqi children.

Macalester student Nick Goman '05 said he joined the Ramsey students because junior high students, who are not stereotypical activists, can attract attention to the anti-war movement. "Its great for the community to see people who might not normally organize," he said. He plans to support the Ramsey students as long as they are active.

O'Brian said she will continue organizing the weekly protests as long as war in Iraq is a possibility. Her fellow Ramsey student and eighth-grader, Ricky Furlong, agrees that they must continue protesting as long as possible. "I will be out here until war or the threat of it stops," he said.