2008 Woodie Awards
The Three Rs of College: Reading, Writing, Recruiters
Carlos Lopez
Issue date: 10/12/05 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Military recruiters have set up camp at Valley College, but for students, there is really no choice.
No public high schools or colleges have banned the recruiters from their campuses, mostly because of the fear of losing federal funding. Section 9528 of the No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law by President Bush on January 2002, grants the Pentagon access to names, addresses, and phone numbers of every public high school student, making it easier for recruiters to contact students, unless parents contact the school to opt out.
Not only are recruiters coming to our schools to see who takes the bait, but now our government is giving them the power to know where we live and can communicate with us outside of school.
"They told me that they would pay for my schooling if I joined,' said Valley student Ana Castillo. "It sounds really good when you hear it, but then you think about maybe getting killed in war."
Since 2003, recruiters have concentrated on getting the word out to students at community colleges across the country, trying to tap into them knowing students are desperately seeking a way to get their education without being in deep debt for years to come. But they have not been well-received. In Seattle and San Francisco, for example, there have been protests to try to stop recruiters from doing their job.
War is certainly not on students' minds when the recruiter offers up to $22,000 over the length of enlistment to help pay for college if they join the Army Reserve and up to $70,000 for active duty. That's $70,000 to put your life on the line. You will definitely have enough money to pay for a decent education, and they also offer pretty good health care, but is that what's going to be on your mind when you're in a trench being shot at by Iraqi insurgents?
The armed forces offer great opportunities for those who take them, but in reality, the risk greatly outweighs the reward This country is now fighting a war that it will not be able to get away from for years to come.
This is a big reason why the number of enlistees has not kept up with recent years or even met the quota of the services. The Marines lowered their monthly quota in May from 8,050 to 6,700 and still fell short by about 25 percent. This is the fourth straight monthly shortfall.
It's a brutal form of advertising. It becomes part of your everyday life. These are the same people who were trying to sell you their military propaganda since your sophomore year in high school, and now they're so desperate that they can follow you off campus when you're in college.
It is not fair to those students who are in school and also working to buy themselves books and school supplies for somebody to come and offer them an alternative that might eventually lead to their early death.
No public high schools or colleges have banned the recruiters from their campuses, mostly because of the fear of losing federal funding. Section 9528 of the No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law by President Bush on January 2002, grants the Pentagon access to names, addresses, and phone numbers of every public high school student, making it easier for recruiters to contact students, unless parents contact the school to opt out.
Not only are recruiters coming to our schools to see who takes the bait, but now our government is giving them the power to know where we live and can communicate with us outside of school.
"They told me that they would pay for my schooling if I joined,' said Valley student Ana Castillo. "It sounds really good when you hear it, but then you think about maybe getting killed in war."
Since 2003, recruiters have concentrated on getting the word out to students at community colleges across the country, trying to tap into them knowing students are desperately seeking a way to get their education without being in deep debt for years to come. But they have not been well-received. In Seattle and San Francisco, for example, there have been protests to try to stop recruiters from doing their job.
War is certainly not on students' minds when the recruiter offers up to $22,000 over the length of enlistment to help pay for college if they join the Army Reserve and up to $70,000 for active duty. That's $70,000 to put your life on the line. You will definitely have enough money to pay for a decent education, and they also offer pretty good health care, but is that what's going to be on your mind when you're in a trench being shot at by Iraqi insurgents?
The armed forces offer great opportunities for those who take them, but in reality, the risk greatly outweighs the reward This country is now fighting a war that it will not be able to get away from for years to come.
This is a big reason why the number of enlistees has not kept up with recent years or even met the quota of the services. The Marines lowered their monthly quota in May from 8,050 to 6,700 and still fell short by about 25 percent. This is the fourth straight monthly shortfall.
It's a brutal form of advertising. It becomes part of your everyday life. These are the same people who were trying to sell you their military propaganda since your sophomore year in high school, and now they're so desperate that they can follow you off campus when you're in college.
It is not fair to those students who are in school and also working to buy themselves books and school supplies for somebody to come and offer them an alternative that might eventually lead to their early death.
