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http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Top Galleries: December 7, 2006 Class project to organize rally brings attention to Bush policy in Plaza event By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Southern Oregon University students and Ashland residents joined together on the Plaza Wednesday to protest the Military Commissions Act. According to the act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on Oct. 17, the purpose is to ""facilitate bringing to justice terrorists and other unlawful enemy combatants." President Bush has said the act is critical tool in the war on terror. See more photos in gallery . Photos by Orville Hector | Daily Tidings According to Aubree Johnson, one of the SOU students who organized the rally, the act, "takes away habeas corpus," the provision of the United States Constitution that guaranteed detainees the right to seek relief from unlawful imprisonment. The students said the act is a critical blow to civil liberties and the freedoms bestowed on Americans in the Constitution. "Unfortunately, in our legitimate fear of foreign terrorists, we have forgotten to be afraid of something much more threatening to most of us — a government without checks and balances, limitations on its behavior, or accountability to the people," Robin Bishop told the crowd, in an passionate, anti-Bush speech. "The kind of government Americans have historically fought and died to get rid of. It is time to reclaim the Constitution for the people." Approximately 50 people attended the noon-time rally, including a group of singers from Ashland Code Pink, a women-initiated peace and social justice group, who performed a parody of "Home on the Range." "Home, home is the place, to get the feds out of our face," they sang to the tune of the popular state song of Kansas. "Where never is heard, the terrorist word, and there is love for the whole human race." The event was put on by students of Jaelle Dragomir, in her University Seminar 103 class. "We study spirituality and politics," Dragomir, a long-time left-wing political activist, said. "It just so happened this term the president signed this bill. I was appalled." So were her students. "The government has the power to pick you up and contain you in some hidden location without ever having to tell you what your crime is," Bishop said. "What makes you think that this current law won't be abused? [The Bush Administration has] systematically ignored international law and discarded the United States Constitution. "By spreading fear and limiting our rights this administration is only sowing the seeds of violence for generations to come," she continued, to applause from the audience. "By ignoring the constitution and international law, this government has become just like the terrorists." Dragomir, who exchanged a hug with Bishop after her speech, said the protest rally was a class project. "The students had to learn how to organize a rally," she said. "They got the permits, they invited the city council and the mayor. They studied the act and really tore it apart. They really did a lot of work finding out what it was all about." Dragomir added, "Before they didn't feel very empowered to make change. Now they do." Her student echoed this sentiment. "This is the first time I've ever done anything like this," Bishop said, after her speech. "But I can guarantee you it won't be the last." Former American Civil Liberties Union attorney Ralph Temple also spoke at the event. Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x. 226 or [email protected] Current Comments: It's sad but true. Our checks and balances aren't balanced. The executive branch has more and more power. The end of the America that my grandfather served during World War II is at hand. I am not a liberal, I’m a registered Republican, and I have eyes and ears. Seamus - Ashland, OR - December 18th, 1:34 PM Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising Inkjet Printers Student Loans Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Advertisement: Copyright © 2007 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.