Many questions were asked, but few were answered Friday as people gathered on the steps of Pattee to support the Soviet peace plan.

"Your president has said the proposal falls far short of what is necessary to end the war. What is necessary?" speaker Terri Locacio (graduate-speech communication) asked a day before the ground war began.

She also asked why the United States is fighting in the Persian Gulf when nothing was done or said after China crushed its student dissidents or when the Soviet Union used force to quell uprisings in the Baltics.

Locacio also wanted to know who was going to benefit from and who was going to pay for U.S. action in the gulf.

U.S. and Iraqi soldiers will pay with their lives and the U.S. military industrial complex will reap economic gains, she concluded.

"I don't want my money spent that way," Locacio said. "This is a democracy -- we should be able to ask questions and get answers."

Protesters from Alternatives to War, Students and Youths Against Racism, American Dreamer and Student First Step were among the 50 people who questioned United States' reasons for participating in the war.

"People are dying and our government is censoring us," said Darren McPhilimy, a representative from American Dreamer, a newly formed State College group that opposes the war. "The dead are being swept under the carpet."

Scott Trace (senior-horticulture) was at the rally showing support for the war. He stood away from the protesters at the bottom of the steps, holding an American flag. He also held a sign that read, "Support the Troops."

"A just peace is worth fighting for," Trace said. "We tried our best through peaceful means, but people didn't listen, so we had to go to war. We're stopping the world from having a second Hitler."

Some spectators agreed with Trace.

"This is the same tired rhetoric that I've been hearing since last August," said Everett Will (senior-meteorology).

"I find it interesting that they are supporting a Soviet peace plan, especially after what happened in Lithuania. I don't consider the Soviets a peace-loving country," he added referring to the Soviet's crackdown in Lithuania.

"I'm glad to see them protesting. It's always nice to hear alternate viewpoints," said Bob Sholtis (senior-electrical engineering). "(But) they're overlooking a lot of things. This is just a big social gathering. Nothing is going to come out of this."