Current world conditions have led to a recent surge in campus organizations focused on international affairs. The newest of these groups seeks to support the United States government in its efforts to put pressure on foreign nations that incite children to kill.

College Park’s Operation S.I.C.K. (Stop Inciting Children to Kill), a chapter of the national organization with the same name, found its way onto campus this semester thanks to group president Jason Schoenbrun. Schoenbrun, a sophomore computer engineering major, told The Terrapin Times, “People don’t know about [the issue we’re confronting]. People don’t care about this. And something has to be said about it.” In an effort to educate the student body, the organization’s mass teaser campaign found the campus plastered with flyers, tape and chalk, spelling out its web address, www.opsick.com.

The group, according to Schoenbrun, is, “Against the governments of any country inciting children [through a] state sponsored media or other means … to hate or to kill.” Governments on S.I.C.K.’s “Hot Spots” list include the Palestinian Authority, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and the African nations of Ethiopia, Uganda, Sierra Leone, among others. The focused effort of its inaugural semester was to obtain student signatures on a petition to be sent to Senators and Congressmen in the United States government. Rather than directly contact governments on the “Hot Spots” list, Schoenbrun suggests, “If we support America putting [financial] pressure on them, then that would make the most of a difference.”

OP S.I.C.K. was able to obtain more than 100 signatures while on display in front of Stamp Student Union on Wednesday, April 30. Schoenbrun reported very little opposition to the cause, citing the fact that, “This message is very apolitical. It’s only about stopping the incitement of children to kill…I would hope that no person on campus would disagree with the position because by disagreeing they’d be saying, ‘I believe children should be incited to kill.’”

The group plans to continue its campus presence into the coming semesters, and looks forward to continued support from over 40 student organizations.