Protesting the War, Promoting the Glee Club

On any given day, you’ll likely find an eclectic collection of people on the Diag – even on a frigid November day like today, when the disparate groups included war protesters, an iPod promotion and several Men’s Glee Club members dressed in tuxes.

At noon, about three dozen people gathered in front of the Hatcher Graduate Library, as several speakers urged president-elect Barack Obama to push for a quick conclusion to the war in Iraq.

The protest was organized primarily by Michigan Progressives, a coalition of student groups. Speakers included Lars Ekstrom of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Ann Arbor mayor John Hieftje and Laura Russello, executive director of Michigan Peaceworks.

Russello told the group that as of 10 a.m. this morning, the war had cost American taxpayers $569 billion – $15 billion of that coming from Michigan. “We don’t want any more of our money to go toward this war,” she said.

Michigan Peaceworks also had a table set up on the Diag to promote the Iraq Water Project, a national effort to raise money for equipment to sterilize drinking water for Iraqi schools and hospitals. Miku Kawakami, shivering in the cold, was manning the table and told The Chronicle about an upcoming fundraiser related to the project.

“Flow,” a documentary on the world’s water crisis, is being shown on Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Michigan Theater. It will be followed immediately by a panel discussion, with speakers including Arny Stieber of Veterans for Peace, Christy McGillivray of Clean Water Action and Lisa Wozniak of Michigan League of Conservation Voters.

As people on the south end of the Diag focused on Iraq, J.P. Bonadonna and a few of his fellow Men’s Glee Club members trolled the north side, passing out flyers promoting their Nov. 15 show at Hill Auditorium. This will be the club’s 149th annual fall concert, but the first one for Bonadonna, a freshman.

A few feet away, Josh Tishhouse was dressed as an iPod with a Santa cap while Kelly Bartlett passed out small candy canes attached to a business card that said “Happy Holidays from Apple.” They were not, Tishhouse noted, associated with the Iraq war protest.