Our eggs no longer come from caged chickens, our pool will no longer be a useless multi-million-dollar hole, and our art won't be sold to anyone willing to pay, yet people our age are still dying every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why aren't we outraged? Where has the antiwar movement gone?It's easy to forget about the outside world when living in the "Brandeis Bubble." It often seems as if Aramark is our Halliburton and our issues and goals are local and attainable. So much of our effort is exhausted in the attempt to better our community and our experience at Brandeis. The people with the ability to make positive changes are an e-mail away. Their offices are a short stroll from our dorms and apartments. They have faces-faces not only seen on TV. Campus activism proves our power as a student body to make real, tangible changes.

What else are we supposed to do? Should we march in the streets to theoretically stop a war, knowing full well that even when hundreds of thousands of activists marched, nothing changed?

The sad fact of the matter is we've been let down. In the 2008 elections, every Democratic candidate stood against the war. We knew that to whoever was elected, ending the war would be of utmost importance. When President Barack Obama was elected, an end to the war was all but a sure thing. He had taken a stronger stance against the war than the other Democrats. Even as a senator, he was at the front of the antiwar movement. However, when the champion of the cause is elected to the exact position needed to be able to stop the war, and 3 years later we're still searching for an end, it's hard to not lose hope.

Additionally, talking about "the war" at Brandeis can mean any number of things-Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel all have a claim to the title. They are all equally complex in terms of solutions, and with three significant wars for a campus to worry about, along with a fourth with Libya possibly on the horizon, it's tough to amass one solid movement. It may not be possible to have one unified movement against a single war, and opposing all war may seem too broad to be useful.

This is not to say that Brandeis students haven't taken on great international causes. There are constantly film screenings and lectures shedding light on international situations. Groups all around campus came out in full support of Haiti and Japan in the aftermath of their respective disasters. We aren't heartless.

On the contrary, we care about modern issues as much as, if not more than, other universities. With so many meaningful contributions being made all over campus, is there also space for a strong antiwar movement? We shouldn't just throw our hands in the air and give up. War is war. There is no other way to describe it. While we can't expect everyone to agree on what to do to end the wars, many would agree that each war has exhausted both sides and resulted in both physical and emotional collateral damage. I propose that those jaded by the ineffectiveness of the antiwar movement rejoin by switching to a post-war responsiveness. There are organizations dedicated to helping veterans returning home who are coping with their experiences. Their various ways of helping can include assisting those disabled by war or post-traumatic stress disorder or even just raising awareness about the horrors that these soldiers faced. By amassing a response to the most detrimental effects of war, the antiwar movement is in full effect. Better yet, it can attract those who worry about the stigma of the antiwar movement by allowing them to be patriotic in their support of soldiers. Positive, substantial action makes the movement more effective. A common complaint is that protests don't actually "do anything." By showing the world tangible achievements, the movement grows stronger.

The best course of action for the antiwar movement is the prevention of future wars. This can be accomplished by assisting with the needs of returning soldiers and raising awareness to just how detrimental their experiences were. Shedding light on the countless horrors they witnessed can be just as effective as marching in the streets. I may be na've, but I think that if more people were aware of just how damaging war can be, even to those who return "healthy," the resistance to future wars would be even greater.

But action must start locally to eventually become powerful nationally. One person complaining about his or her food in the Usdan Student Center won't do a whole lot, but when an entire campus complains, change is possible. One school responding to war may not prevent future wars or right the wrongs of current wars, but it may begin a chain of involvement to other schools.

We are young and have the benefit of idealism. It's too easy to become jaded, and we have proven as a university that we can stand generally unified on certain issues. It's important to not forget about the most obvious of them. The antiwar movement doesn't have to die-it needs to be revived.