DANA POINT : Student Protesters Spark Opposition

About 75 teen-age protesters and counterdemonstrators gathered outside Dana Hills High School Tuesday for a lunchtime demonstration over the buildup of U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf.

About 50 students lined the street outside the school and displayed placards reading, “Give Peace a Chance” and “Another Vietnam?” to passing drivers. A few supporters honked their horns.

For a few moments, the student protesters wandered out into the street to demonstrate, but sheriff’s deputies asked them to return to the sidewalk. No arrests were made.

Across the street, a group of student counterdemonstrators, some wearing military fatigues, waved American flags and argued with the small but vocal contingent of protesters.

“We’re not sitting here praying for war, (but) I just want them to respect what we’re doing there,” said counterdemonstrator Andy Connolly, 17, who was dressed in khaki fatigues and waved a large American flag. “I’m hoping to avoid any forceful action.”

“I object (to the protest),” added Dan Danforth, 18, a senior who was also holding an American flag. “They should support (Operation) Desert Shield because it’s the right thing to do. We’re protecting our economic stability in the Middle East.”

Protester Steve Janssen, 17, a senior, said he was demonstrating because he does not believe protecting economic stability is sufficient cause for military action.

“I wouldn’t fight for that; I wouldn’t fight for oil,” Janssen said. “I wouldn’t lay down my life for it, and I don’t think anyone else should lose their life over it, either.”

Mark Balderman, 16, a junior who organized the protest, said he asked students to participate because “killing people is wrong for any reason.”

Balderman and his fellow protesters complied with school officials when they were asked to return to classes at the end of the lunch period. School Principal John E. Smart said he thought the protest was “more of a social activity than anything else.”

“I don’t think half of them know where Kuwait is,” he said. “ . . . I think some of them have genuine convictions, and I think others are out here having a good time.”