Opponents of the Persian Gulf war will march across campus tomorrow, exactly one month after U.S. and allied troops began bombing Iraqi military installations.

The march marks the first coordinated effort by the area's growing number of anti-war groups.

"I think this peace walk is going to be an impetus for a campus coalition," said Teri Locacio, spokeswoman for the Alternatives to War Committee. "Just the job of trying to coordinate this peace walk brought these groups together."

The "peace walk" will be co-sponsored by 11 campus and community organizations that, for various reasons, oppose American intervention in the Middle East.

Paraders will gather in the HUB parking lot at 1 p.m. The walkers will march down Shortlidge Road, west on College Avenue and turn up the Mall at Allen Street. A rally, with eight or nine speakers, will be held at Old Main.

Robert Hatten, organizer of the Alternatives to War Committee, said the speeches will cover a "wider range of spin-off consequences of the war" than have been discussed at previous meetings.

Among the scheduled speakers are: Monica Somocurcio, leader of Students and Youth Against Racism; Lakshman Yapa, associate professor of geography; and Glenn Mitchell, reverend at the University Baptist and Brethren Church, 411 S. Burrowes St.

Betsy Jeffreys, co-founder of American Dreamers -- a new student group opposed to the war -- said the gulf war has brought people together with varied interests. But they realize they have unified goals.

"(It's) not just about the war, but other issues. And we hope the groups continue to work together," she said.

The area's anti-war groups have made tentative plans to hold a demonstration the day the ground war begins, American Dreamers co-founder Darren McPhilimy said.

He also said the 15 members of American Dreamers may travel to a military base in Dover, Del., where they will participate in a candlelight vigil for deceased military personnel. Bodies of American servicemen and women killed overseas are sent to the Dover base before being turned over to families and relatives.

U.S. military officials announced that cameras will not be allowed on the military base and, contrary to previous conflicts, ceremonies will not be held there for the war dead.

"Don't call it a protest," McPhilimy said. "It's going to be a candlelight vigil . . . a very somber-type affair. The point of that is to recognize people are dying and the government is censoring us."

Other anti-war groups on campus said they intend to sponsor a "big-name" speaker later this semester.

Tomorrow's march in State College is expected to be one of many nationally coordinated events.

The National Campaign for Peace in the Middle East -- which sponsored an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C., three weeks ago -- asked parade participants to sponsor activities in their own communities today and tomorrow.

Members of State College's Alternatives to War Committee, about 80 of whom attended the march in the nation's capital, heeded the call and began organizing tomorrow's activities.

"My involvement began when I went to the march in Washington, (D.C.)," Locacio said. "I had been undecided about the war, but the more information I got, the more I became opposed to it.

"Many, many Iraqi people have died. . . . when Americans see their own soldiers dying they'll start asking some very serious questions -- questions that should be asked now," she said.

Other co-sponsors of tomorrow's march include: Students and Faculty for Peace, the Student Peace Initiative, Eco-Action, Student First Step and the College Democrats.