(October 27, 2011) — Angry protesters have grown to occupy over 1500 cities sprawling across the globe with its epicenter in at the original Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City. From what started out as 1,000 protesters in lower Manhattan at Zucotti Park across from the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street on Sept. 17, the spirit of protest has spread through the US to the West coast, past the northern border in Canada, and overseas in Europe. With what is still a leaderless protest without specific demands, the Occupy Wall Street movement has left a lot of questions for some. Dispersed, yet relentless, the mass media has spent a lot of time asking: what exactly is everyone asking for? To senior Vazgen Stepanosyan, the fight against Wall Street is a battle against corporate involvement in the government. “I believe in capitalism, but it doesn’t work if there is too much greed,” Stepanosyan said. A supporter of the movement, Stepanosyan said he hopes that the protests bring change in the current economic situation. Four days prior to the first protest, the Census Bureau reported that 15.1% of Americans lived below the threshold of poverty in 2010—a record high in the 52 years the Bureau has been keeping records. It was also reported that 2010 is the fourth year that the poverty level has increased. Even before the census reports, the thought of holding an indefinite protest had been conceived on the Adbusters magazine website. Although an ecological magazine, the Adbusters website says, “We want folks to get mad about corporate disinformation, injustices in the global economy, and any industry that pollutes our physical or mental commons.” Stepanosyan said that he primarily supports the protests because “the gap between the rich and poor is too extreme. Some people are claiming that people in the top 1-6% of national income hold 48% of the wealth.” Art and English teacher Nayiri Gharibian, a full supporter of Occupy Wall Street, said she agrees that things have been unfair financially. She said, “It’s been a long time coming. It’s long overdue that people come up and do something about it.” Gharibian said that she would be willing to participate in a protest. “I like protests; they’re like a part of your duty,” Gharibian said. “Living in a democracy, you have to participate in your government in one way or another. What’s the point if you don’t?” Gharibian said it was even more frustrating to see the media and key figures portray it as chaos. “They like to make it seem that ‘protesters have nothing better to do.’ However, it’s in their best interests to be out there.” History teacher Nick Doom said he also supports the Occupy Wall Street movement in the sense that its a fundamental part of American rights. “Their rights are protected by the first amendment. I agree with their notion that the rich benefit disproportionally when the government rules in [the rich’s] favor.” Doom is a free-market capitalist who is opposed to government bailouts. “What I oppose is the government playing favorites… there is no such thing as too big to fail.” Stepanosyan feels that the multitude of demands that the protesters are asking for cloud the original purpose of the movement. “The demands are a bit too extreme, but there are ways to get results to fix the problems with the Wall Street,” he said. Stepanosyan thinks that a corporate boycott would prove effective. “The success of these protests honestly depends on if more people are willing to to hold an economic boycott of corporations that sponsor politicans. Politicians are in the top 1% too,” Stepanosyan said. Gharibian said she thinks that money should have nothing to do with politics and with the current state of its presence in government. “It’s as if politicians need to wear who their corporate sponsors are on their suits in the fashion of NASCAR drivers,” she said.