The walk, which started at Davenport Park in downtown Bangor, covered three miles to Eastern Maine Medical Center and back. The participants — armed with signs, guitars and drums — sought to draw attention to what they feel is a need for greater security.

“We should think about the lessons of 9/11 every day. Especially on 9/11, but those insecurities still exist today in a number of different ways,” said University of Maine professor of philosophy Doug Allen. “Not only concerning national securities but more importantly individual securities that help to make the country stronger and safer overall. Things like affordable housing and health care, a more sustainable and cleaner environment, as well as more foreign policy that focuses on conflict resolution, among other things.”

The walk gathered at Davenport park, located next to the Bangor Area Homeless shelter, where Allen gave an address.

“We have chosen this starting point to cite a need for more affordable housing and we will travel to the Eastern Maine Medical Center to draw attention to the need for health care reform,” Allen said.

Following the address, Judd Esty-Kendall, a representative for the Maine Coalition to End the War in Afghanistan and a sponsor of the event, led the crowd in song with his guitar. As the crowd followed along, they sang, “We ain’t going to let them turn us around, we ain’t going to let those politicians turn us around.” Signs could be seen swaying over the participants, which included phrases such as “health care not warfare,” “U.S. out of Afghanistan” and “clean air and water.”

“The students I talk to are very smart and they are concerned about the magnitude of these types of issues, but I think they are a little cynical. They’re not very happy; they often feel alienated about the process, as if no one cares. That isn’t the case at all. Events like these offer them a way beyond their studies to get active and participate,” Allen said.

Ilze Petersons, an events coordinator at the Peace and Justice Center said, “The center is a great way to involve yourself. We offer volunteer opportunities, a film series and we also contribute to a lecture series at the university.”

Adam Goode, a former UMaine student and state representative for house district 15 of Bangor, represented the Maine People’s Alliance at the event.

“I just want students to know that when some of us suffer, the rest of us are worse off, and we are stronger together than when we work alone. By getting involved in these types of events it makes a difference in our own lives and the livelihood and security of the country,” Goode said.

“Students are key; they are No. 1 in leadership. All of these issues are sure to affect them heading into the future. Soon it will be up to them to work for fairness, respect and security for all,” Allen said.

“We’re opposing these recent budget cuts because we don’t feel they’re fair to us, because they’re going to have a drastic effect on our college campus and our community, while at the same time we’re wastefully spending on the military budget right now,” said Adam Stern, a committee member and the rally’s organizer.

The rally lasted 20 minutes, with people speaking on military and education funding. The last 10 minutes of the rally was opened to speakers in the crowd that gathered to listen. Two voiced disagreements with the rally’s theme.

“You can’t get a good job these days without education; we all know that. But we can’t expect the government to pay everything for us. If we sit on our ass all day, we shouldn’t be able to go to school; it’s a privilege to go to school,” said Ben Lawlor, a third-year, 24-year-old biology student and Air Force member.

Lawlor said people have to support soldiers fighting wars such as the ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. Doug Allen, a philosophy professor and the committee advisor, said he and committee do support soldiers and that most of the military’s budget does not help troops who, he believes, are often forgotten once they get home.

“We could better support troops by cutting funding,” Allen said.

Anya Rose, a graduate student studying ecology and environmental science, said her graduate assistantship was cut two weeks ago and that she is scrambling to make up for it. She estimated a typical fighter jet cost $2.8 billion, which could pay for about 700,000 graduate students per year at UMaine.

The F-22 Raptor, one of the Air Force’s fighter jets, cost $102.8 million in 1997, according to the Federation of American Scientists, a group that works to educate the public on potential dangers of scientific advancements.

“Cutting social programs such as education is apparently the government’s answer to where it will get the money to pay for the trillions of dollars in bailouts that it has already handed to banks and corporations. In doing so, they are completely ignoring the elephant in the room that is the bloated military budget,” Stern said. “After Obama receives his latest $85 billion for emergency spending in Iraq, [the military budget] will also be a trillion dollars.”

The pentagon spends $300 billion a year to dispose of military equipment – 80 percent of which is new, Stern said.

“We have to give a certain level of respect to the people who go out there,” said Ben Braley, a fourth-year secondary education student.

Allen said he respected Lawlor’s and Braley’s comments but felt Lawlor “was afraid people were disrespecting people like him” and that the government manipulates people like Lawlor by offering a promise of education that isn’t fulfilled.

Rally supporters and committee members stood outside the library, 14 of whom held signs with phrases such as “imagine if we spent $200 million on education” stood outside the library.

The action committee asked students and community members to sign letters petitioning Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe and UMaine President Robert Kennedy to pressure politicians to transfer military spending to education.

“Education is the first step to making everything better,” said Amber Kapiloff, a fourth-year English student who signed the letters.