Only a few small groups of people with unlit candles in their hands occupied the steps of Old Main Friday night.

A sign emblazoned with "Ni una bomba mas" or "not one more bomb" stretched across the steps.

A half-hour candlelight vigil was held at 7:30 p.m. for Vieques, which is an island off the coast of Puerto Rico.

Vieques has been the sight of naval military exercises since the 1940s. The Navy owns two-thirds of the island while the people of the island, a population of more than 9,000 people, inhabit the last third. In other words, the Navy controls 26,000 out of the 33,000 acres although, according to CNN.com, its bombing range is about 10 miles from the civilian sector and covers 900 acres on the eastern tip — less than 3 percent of the island.

The island has been in the news because a civilian was killed in a testing accident last year. The death has prompted mass protests against the military use of the island.

Live ammunition testing has yet to be barred.

The Navy denies any damage and says its live-fire training at Vieques is an essential practice that saves lives in conflicts, according to CNN.com.

Presently, in a compromise between President Clinton and the Puerto Rican government, dummy bombs instead of live ones are being used as residents of Vieques prepare to vote on a referendum that could force the Navy to pull off of the island by May 2003 if it loses the vote.

A total of 26 people joined to speak about Vieques as well as to offer a moment of silence for the citizens of that island on Friday.

While the vigil was not intended to sponsor any political views, some of those present, however, felt that they could not talk about Vieques and Puerto Rico without speaking of politics.

"I'm here because I do not support the U.S., not only in Vieques but in Puerto Rico. I don't support them doing those tests in Vieques. I just feel like the U.S. controls so many countries . . . I want Vieques and Puerto Rico to have independence," Belinda Guerra (senior-nutrition) said.

Maritza Ledee-Rivera, one of the organizers of the event, said that the vigil had to be held out of responsibility.

"I believe this is a social responsibility, a moral responsibility, a human responsibility more than anything. . . I'm also here because I'm Puerto Rican," Ledee-Rivera said.

She added that a similar vigil had occurred in Washington, D.C. earlier in the day.

The issue of naval testing in Vieques is not an irrelevant issue, said Jason Cortes (graduate-Spanish-American literature), the other organizer of the event.

"We're not talking just about Puerto Rico. We are talking about American citizens," Cortes said.

In one of two speeches, Cortes addressed the issue that inhabitants of Vieques suffer not only because of the appropriation of more than half of the island. He mentioned that there have been increased amounts of cancer, leukemia, and asthma cases in the residents caused by the toxic chemicals released in some of the tests done on the island.

"It's (an issue) of human rights," he said ending his speech by saying, "La paz para Vieques" which translates to "peace for Vieques."

Ledee-Rivera added that a main concern is for the future of the children of Vieques.

"Our children need to have a positive vision of the future," she said.