Time for Peace, a campus organization for nonviolence, has changed its focus since it formed on Sept. 11, 2001.

Originally organized to protest retaliation against Afghanistan, the group is now concentrating on the potential bombings of Iraq.

Edward Canade of Marshalltown said Time for Peace connected him with people who share his theory of nonviolence.

“After Sept. 11, it seemed to me there was a lot of irrational reaction in the country to solve the problems that we had,” he said. “Violence begets violence. Everybody wanted revenge and to just started dropping bombs on people. That’s the same irrationality that caused people to come and bomb this country.”

Canade commutes to Ames as often as he can to make Time for Peace a frequent part of his life.

“We’ve been involved in sponsoring people that come to campus to interact with students and we’ve brought different speakers to campus to increase awareness,” he said.

Other group activities include candlelight vigils and organized pickets.

Canade said helping people understand the long-term effects of current actions is one of the group’s goals.

“The long-term costs of these bombing campaigns will be more animosity toward the United States from Third World countries,” he said. “With each bomb, there is the potential that from those ashes another bin Laden will result.”

Laura Hatfield, senior in genetics, was one of 11 people who gathered in the Maple-Willow-Larch Commons more than a year ago to discuss an appropriate response to the events and draft a statement of purpose.

“We established some guiding principles based on what we collectively believed in and discussed how to enact justice instead of just vengeance,” she said.

Hatfield said some Time for Peace events attract as many as 50 people from on and off campus, including members of Iowans for Peace and the Alliance for Global Justice.

While the original mission statement still stands, she said the group’s focus has changed in the past year.

“We’re still concerned with developments in Afghanistan,” Hatfield said. “There is still a lot to be done to make sure their government is stable and withstands U.S. influence.

“The Iraq situation is a similar thing,” she said. “They haven’t even acted but we’re already making the same gestures toward violence that we did in Afghanistan.”

Group adviser Jeff Hall, library assistant, said the group has provided a different outlook following the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

“I think it’s important to have alternatives and to say, `Hold on, let’s think about what we’re doing.’ “