With the clock ticking down on President Bush?s ultimatum for Saddam Hussein to vacate Iraq or face war, students and faculty convened Tuesday to debate current U.S. foreign policy and its affect on the future of the nation and the world.

Around 300 students and faculty assembled in the University Union Ballroom for the campus convocation, “U.S. ? The Iraq Conflict and Beyond.”

Government professor Bill Dorman moderated the convocation, calling it a rare event that only happens when the university wishes to signal to the community that a matter deserves serious attention.

“All a convocation can do is raise questions and provoke ideas. At the end of the day it?s up to you to pursue answers,” he said.

The Sacramento Bee?s editorial writer Robert Mott, government professors Ron Fox and Buzz Fozouni, sociology professor Ayad Al-Qazzaz and philosophy professor Thomas Pyne also served on the panel.

Student Chris Cooper, who supports the war, said that even if he wasn?t writing a paper on the convocation for extra credit in his philosophy class, he?d still be in attendance.”I want to hear the whole scenario on everyone?s views and be more involved in what?s going on,” he said.

Some students did not know about the meeting until that day.Professor Christina Bellon?s beginning drawing class was in session when her T.A., David Gautier, informed the class of the convocation. Bellon then canceled class.

Due to the special nature of the event, instructors were allowed to cancel classes. If classes were not canceled, students were not penalized for attending.

“It?s because of (the T.A.) that I?m here,” said Soua Lee, one of the art students.

Lee said he was kind of confused about the war and needed more information to decide if he was really pro-peace or pro-war, so he was glad that he got to attend the event.

Claudia Zamora, a sophomore, said she was there to inform herself on the war situation because she doesn?t follow the news. She said she was against the war and scared of the possibility of it starting this week.

She also said Bush needed to put himself in Saddam Hussein?s position when he asked him to give up power by 5 p.m. Wednesday.

“Who is (Bush) to tell Saddam to leave his country in 48 hours?” she said.

Rather than focusing on impending war, Dorman said it was imperative to talk about the war in a larger context of the extreme U.S. foreign policy shift since Sept. 11.

“It?s the most radical departure in American foreign policy since at least the Cold War,” Dorman said.

Fox itemized what he said are the risks of this new, more aggressive policy. He said that it would increase anti-American sentiments, discredit the United Nations, shatter NATO, ignite Middle Eastern conflicts, fuel the construction of weapons of mass destruction, undermine the war against terrorism, and damage U.S. civil liberties.

Organizers originally planned on breaking up into topical discussion groups after the panel portion to address media, the U.N., the Middle East and U.S. policy as related to the Iraqi war. However, due to lack of students toward the end of the panel discussion, organizers decided to remain in the ballroom and continue to field questions.

Outside the ballroom, Campus Peace Action advertised their own event to be held the first school day after the U.S. begins bombing Iraq.

The event would be held at noon on the library quad that day to mourn, protest and talk strategy for the end of the war.

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Read student quotes about war