Christine Kang

Bodies are strewn across the pavement. Angry voices fill the air. This is not a battlefield in Iraq; it's a simulation of one.

Anti-war students lay like corpses yesterday on Trousdale Parkway in front of Tommy Trojan to protest the Iraq conflict's four-year anniversary, calling for U.S. troops to withdraw immediately.

But as dramatic as the "die-in" was, it did not attract the attention they had hoped it would, protesters said.

Participants, however, maintained their optimism.

"Even though there wasn't a great turnout, people see you," said USC Anti-War Coalition organizer Andy Bunting, a senior majoring in international relations.

"It was a little discouraging for me, but it's enough that we're out here with signs and flyers stating our position that the United States should withdraw from Iraq immediately."

Students from the Anti-War Coalition picked up those representing the dead by their arms and legs and placed their bodies in a row.

One student standing in front of the bodies silently held a sign reading "98,359," the alleged number of dead Iraqi civilians.

The die-in was the culmination of six weeks of planning by five people, involved about 15 to 20 active participants and attracted scattered groups of people throughout the afternoon.

One student who watched the die-in from afar said she thought the protest was a waste of time.

"It just seems kind of pointless to protest against something that is already so (prominent) in the public's mind," said Jessica Jensen, a sophomore majoring in political science.