The two longest threads of critical dialogue involved the sensitive and current political issue of the war on Iraq. The threads concerned a "Booze Not Bombs" party title and an "Ides of March Madness" dorm bet on the bombing of Iraq. The "Booze Not Bombs" e-mails were posted from March 4, 2003 to March 6, 2003, while the "Ides of March Madness" e-mails were posted from March 17, 2003 to March 28, 2003. The first critical conversation began with the following party email:
"My Fellow Juniperans... In keeping with the times, I propose a new name for our much-anticipated PARTY this Friday...BOOZE NOT BOMBS. Because how will we go to war if everyone is totally trashed?
-- Sam "Looking out for the interests of our nation" --
P.S. Just remember, everyone may not be for the war, but EVERYONE is for booze "(Sam [pseudonym], juniperoldskool-chat post, 4 March 2003).
While some people in the dorm wanted this slogan for the party title, others felt strongly that the theme conveyed an controversial "peace not war" message: The bottom line is that a 'peace not war' message is still a political message, no matter how much of the dorm agrees with it or not. It is a message that I feel is inappropriate to be celebrating about (Adrian, juniperoldskool-chat post, 5 March 2003). One resident even finished an e-mail post by signing his middle name as an extremely controversial Ryan 'Let's Bomb Saddam' C (Ryan [pseudonym], juniperoldskool-chat post, 5 March 2003).
Junipero residents participating in the "March Madness" discussion also expressed strong sentiments about the war. Residents discussed everything from the merits of George Bush as Hitler to anti-American accusations:
"Over the past year and a half, I've felt ostracized because I haven't hesitated to criticize decisions our government has made. I stand by my choice, but it pains me to hear people say that I'm unpatriotic because I speak against governmental actions I disagree with. I just wish...that everyone could see that many people who are anti-war or anti-administration are not anti-America. For instance, I support our troops although I do not support this war. Let's put pettiness aside. We're all in this together" (Sheela [pseudonym], juniperoldskool-chat post, 18 March 2003).
This resident finished her e-mail by signing her middle name as "Sheela 'I'd love to discuss this with anyone' H," indicating the general dorm expectation that this online communication could generate a face-to-face discussion (Samagh, 2003).