Friday, November 06, 2009 By Ivetta Babadjanian Senior Sara Delgado voices her opinion on abortion through silence. - Ivetta Babadjanian Advertising Students protest in silence (November 6, 2009) -- Seniors Arlene Haghverdian and Andrea Aghanian, along with eleven other Truth Movement Club members, spent their lunchtime listening to their iPods as if it were just another school day on Oct. 20. But their group did not go unnoticed by students passing by who looked oddly at the red tape labeled "LIFE" covering each of their mouths. Clark pro-life supporters, as well as millions of anti-abortion supporters across the nation, refused to speak on the Day of Silence, a protest against abortion sponsored by the Silent Solidarity organization. The supporters sat in a circle at the bottom of the amphitheater handing out "Why Am I Silent?" fliers to curious students. "I learned about the Day of Silence last year two weeks after it was done," said Haghverdian, the organizer of the event. "I was really bummed out that we missed it by just two weeks, so we looked forward to it all year and finally the day came. I decided to do it because I’m pro-life and want to share my views with others and warn them about the dangers of abortion to the women who get them." Throughout October, Truth Movement members planned how they would approach the event during their meetings every Thursday at lunch. When the day finally arrived, they all met in front of the main doors to put on the tape together. "It was so hard not to talk all day because I was so tempted to comment and talk to people who were questioning what we were doing." Haghverdian said. Junior Teresa Garcia thinks that a lot of Clark students didn’t take the protest seriously. "A lot of people acted like it was all a game." Garcia said. "Some people even tried tricking us to talk, and then they’d say, ‘I thought you were supposed to be silent?’ and then they’d walk away laughing." Garcia refused to pay attention to such reactions and focused her attention on people who actually were interested in the cause. Haghverdian said that club members are eager to do this in years to come. "It was an honor to be the voice of those who will never be given one because of abortion," Haghverdian said.

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