As Hermitage National Honor Society members gathered cotton balls, 72-inch boot laces, lip balm and other items for a "Support Our Troops" project last week, the group offered some opinions on the push for war with Iraq.

"It's kind of scary. If they release the kind of things they have, like chemical warfare. Well, it's almost frightening to think about," said 17-year-old Angie Marzano.

"It just seems to me like we're diverting attention from problems at home," said Mark Reeher, 18. "Our economy is bad. But we have to support whatever our government decides to do."

"I know it's a big deal. I'm for supporting the war and everything. I don't like war, but every time I turn on the TV, there's so many debates, so much on the news, that people lose interest," said David Gibb, 18.

"I think some people are missing some of the points," said Rick Graven, 17. "We all rallied together after Sept. 11. Any country that harbors terrorists or supports terrorists are our enemy."

Seniors in the honor society began collecting items on Valentine's Day to send to a Meadville-based project that has been sending items to active troops for the past two years.

Despite opinions as different as the items they've been collecting, the students are committed to helping out the troops.

"It's not their decision to go. It's whoever sends them out, so I'll support them no matter what," said Nicki Estock, 18.

Nicki, who said she remembers how hard it was when her father served during the Gulf War, said she did not agree with what looks like an impending war. "It's all George Bush. He just wants to get re-elected."

Nick Preece, 18, disagreed. "In my view, Sadaam is nothing but a Hitler with a smaller army."

Tina Donnarummo thought it was safer to deal with Iraq now than to wait. "I think another reason that people are more focused on Iraq than North Korea is we don't know what Iraq has. That's why we're so scared. We know what Korea has. It should be sooner rather than wait for them to develop their weapons," she said.

Other items the students are collecting to provide some comfort to the troops include mouthwash, instant coffee packets, batteries, pre-paid calling cards and nail files. No matter what their views on war, the students said the soldiers are just doing their jobs.

"You don't join to go to war or not. You join to support the country. And you trust the government's opinion," Tina Donnarummo said.