Mayhem created by protesters at Wednesday’s international town meeting at St. John Arena was not a planned action, but rather an act of spontaneity.The forum, sponsored by the Cable News Network (CNN), brought Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Secretary of Defense William Cohen, and White House National Security Adviser Sandy Berger to Columbus to ‘discuss why the confrontation between Iraq and the world matters to us as Americans,’ in Albright’s words.Shouts from the crowd were a ‘much more spur of the moment’ reaction to the views of the members of the National Security team, said Jon Strange, a substitute teacher for Columbus City Schools.Susan Freeman, a doctoral candidate in history, said she joined in when the chanting began, though she was not part of the group who initiated it.’The primary chant we were chanting was ‘One, two, three, four, we don’t want your racist war,’ ‘ she said.The meeting was planned so the people seated on the floor were able to ask questions and those in the second deck of St. John Arena were only going to listen and applaud, said Claudio Fogu, a professor of history at OSU.’I think that the organizers of the forum could have done a better job,’ said Columbus Mayor Greg Lashutka.CNN selected the audience that sat on the floor.’I think that that was a direct cause for the shouting,’ Strange said.When a CNN crew member approached the group and told them one person could speak in exchange for the silence of the group, Strange decided to go because he had questions prepared.’If it hadn’t been for these disturbances, I wouldn’t have had the chance to ask a question,’ Strange said.Freeman said she, Strange, Fogu, and others met Tuesday night to discuss questions they should ask since some of them had floor seats. Strange said he met the others through ‘word of mouth.’Strange asked Secretary of State Madeleine Albright why the United States was targeting Iraq’s violation of U.N. policies and not those of other countries.Unsatisfied with Secretary Albright’s response, Strange confronted her by shouting, ‘You’re not answering my question, Madame Albright.”(The National Security team) was avoiding crucial parts of questions,’ Strange said.Many people saw they were avoiding certain questions which stirred up more commotion, he said.’When questions weren’t being answered, we wanted the panelists to know that we expected our questions to get answered,’ Freeman said.It was clear from the beginning questions were being screened and that the meeting was not an opportunity for everyone’s voice to be heard, Freeman said.Michael Strickland, a post-doctoral researcher in the physics department who had a floor seat, said he registered his question with CNN personnel, but someone else was already asking it. When he tried to register a second question, he was denied.’She said, ‘No, you only get one shot,” he said. ‘I was quite upset at that point because I wanted to get a question in.’The meeting was not staged in a very democratic way, Strange said.’It’s an excellent bet that the Clinton White House will not schedule any more forums at Ohio State, but that may be a badge of honor,’ said Larry Sabato, professor of government at the University of Virginia. ‘You don’t want to kowtow to people in high office.’