FULLERTON : Students Protest U.S. Foreign Policy

Joel Montes lay motionless Wednesday on a sidewalk at Cal State Fullerton, his head and torso covered by a white sheet splattered with red paint.

On top of the sheet covering Montes, 19, and four other students were two homemade blue-and-white flags, symbolizing the flag of El Salvador.

“We just want people to stop, see the bodies and read the signs,” said Pauline Kamiyama, 23, who helped organize the protest. The students sponsored the event to protest U.S. aid to the governments of El Salvador and Guatemala, she said.

The 40-minute drama in front of the University Center had to compete for attention with a noontime rock band and hungry students going to lunch. But several students stopped to ask questions and pick up literature.

Kamiyama, a graduate student of political science, passed out form letters on which students could write to their congressional representatives. The letters urged lawmakers to vote against any aid to those countries until human rights violations stop.

Montes, a sophomore psychology student, said trying to get his peers politically involved is an uphill task.

“Orange County is very conservative,” he said. “We need this (event) to shock them and get them off their butts.”

Simone Adels, 26, an art major who watched the event, said it is one of the few protests she has seen on the usually politically apathetic campus.

“People told me they don’t think things like this should happen on a college campus,” she said. “I had to ask them if they knew what went on in the ‘60s.”

Dan Phillips, 25, said he was happy to see the protest because most students on campus seem too focused on making money.

“I might not agree with them, but at least somebody is doing something, standing up for principles,” he said.