2003 anti-war message organized on Internet

THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM PRINTED VERSION

Bill Iltzsche from Valparaiso, spokesman for Moveon.org (center), participates in a conference telephone call with U.S. Rep. Peter J. Visclosky, D-Merrillville, on concerns over possibility of war in Iraq. The meeting was at Visclosky's Merrillville office.(PHOTO) (PHOTOS BY DAVE BARTMAN/POST-TRIBUNE)Mark T. Savinski (left), district director for U.S. Rep. Peter Visclosky, accepts petition from Bill Iltzsche of Valparaiso.(PHOTO)

Nine people went to U.S. Rep. Peter Visclosky's office in Merrillville on Tuesday to tell him about their concerns over a possible war with Iraq.They had never seen each other until that meeting.

They had met, though, on the Internet.

"It's a good way of getting together," Valparaiso resident Bill Iltzsche said.

During their visit, he and eight others talked with Visclosky by telephone for about 15 minutes; Visclosky was in Washington, D.C.

They told him the U.S. should not declare war with Iraq until all other options are exhausted.

The visit to Visclosky's office, and similar visits to an estimated 400 congressional offices across the coun- try Tuesday, was organized by MoveOn.org, an Internet-based activist group.

Chicago resident Jennifer Oatfield was the campaign's Midwest coordinator, volunteering more than 20 hours a week for the past two weeks.

She never met the other coordinators in person.

But with only three paid staffers, she said, MoveOn not only organized Tuesday's events but also raised money for an anti-war ad that aired last weekend.

"When you think about it," Oatfield said of the Internet, "it's incredibly effective."

Commentators have said the Internet and e-mail also helped make possible last weekend's massive anti-war rallies in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco.

"Cyberspace plays a crucial role in every part of our lives today, especially when it comes to persuading people to subscribe to a particular agenda" Purdue University Calumet professor Yahya Kamalipour said.

Groups not only organize and communicate on the Internet, he said, but people use it to share articles and news, bypassing traditional media.

MoveOn began in 1998 as a petition drive -- "possible only through the organizing capabilities of the Internet," its news release said then -- to urge Congress to wrap up the Lewinsky sex scandal "and move on."

Reporter Tim Zorn can be reached at 477-6019 or by e-mail at tzorn@post-trib.com.