Op-Ed
College, Not Combat
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“What Laura Taylor needs is a swift kick in the ass to wake her up from that leftist lala land she seems to be stuck in.” It has become my Tuesday ritual.
“Ms. Taylor sure loves to dishonor the many tidropps (sic) that are protecting her overseas.” Every Tuesday, I wake up to a few e-mails from who I affectionately call my greatest fans.
“What is she smoking? Under shria (sic) law she will have to keep her mouth shut.” By my 11:40 a.m. class, usually there are a few comments on The Sun website for me to check out. 
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“You might as well get fitted for a burqa.”
I expect my columns to make people angry — some outraged that I would say such things and others because such atrocious events are happening in the world.
However, sometimes people become angry with me for the wrong reasons. When I take issue with an institution, they assume I lay that criticism on every single member of the institution. So when I discuss the racial profiling in our police departments in conjunction with the Sean Bell shooting, they think I am writing that every member of the NYPD is racist. When I discuss the epidemic of sexual assault within the military, I am accused of labeling every serviceman a rapist.
This was the reason I never wanted to write an article on ROTC — I feared that what I wrote would be taken personally by members of ROTC here at Cornell. I hoped I’d be able to avoid the topic for my year of writing. Unfortunately, after Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Peter Pace decided to label homosexuality as immoral in a Chicago Tribune interview, I knew I had to address the issue.
So I wrote a column criticizing “don’t ask, don’t tell” and reminding readers that the policy was in direct conflict with Cornell’s “Commitment to Diversity.”
This original column brought up more questions. If I thought Cornell was violating its non-discrimination policy through ROTC, what did I believe was the solution? Did I want to kick ROTC off campus?
Here’s my response: recruitment into ROTC and the military is a slimy process. The truth is, too often, military recruiters lie. When I talk to members of Iraq Veterans Against the War, they tell me that almost every recruit is lied to at some point in the process. They are told they won’t go to Iraq. They are not told about the horrors of killing civilians and the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that debilitates so many veterans. They are told they won’t see combat. They are not told about the horrible “benefits” – where injured servicepeople get care at places like the rat and mold-infested Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
We are constantly being reminded by the government to be proud that we have an all-volunteer army. On the face, this is true. But instead, we have a poverty draft — where the poorest among us are the ones who are forced to fight. These are the men and women who attended our overcrowded public schools and graduated without the skills they needed. It seems they are destined for a dead-end, minimum-wage job. Then, the military recruiter appears, promising job training and college education. It seems like the way out of poverty. In reality, the Campus Anti-War Network reports that only 15 percent of soldiers obtain a college education. Beyond that, veterans earn between 11 and 19 percent less than non-veterans with similar backgrounds, according to the American Friends Service Committee.
ROTC is part of the poverty draft as well. The program provides full-tuition scholarships, which help students that otherwise might not have been able to attend college. However, no one should be forced into military service simply to go to college. And let us not forget that as funding for national defense skyrockets, domestic spending, such programs that provide financial aid, are being cut. For some, entering ROTC seems like the only way to achieve higher education.
Keeping in mind all these facts, it becomes clear that this is no volunteer army.
Unfortunately, the Solomon Amendment, which forces universities to allow ROTC and military recruiting in exchange for federal funding, means that the military will continue to have a presence on campus in the near future.
So what is the solution?
First, take away the scholarships that are given out to ROTC cadets and replace them with full financial aid for all students that need it. We are told this is “an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.” Any person means just that — wealth should not be a factor. The university administration will declare that they don’t have the money to fund this — but considering the vast amounts of expensive construction happening around campus, I’m sure the funds could be found.
The scholarships available through ROTC are too often used to force students into military services in order to attend college. If this is as great of a leadership opportunity as ROTC cadets assure me it is, then they will be willing to voluntarily take part in the programs. Seems like too much time to volunteer? Look at all of our peers who put 40+ hours into un-paid activities — varsity athletes, club presidents and, of course, Sun editors.
Second, groups should be allowed to counter the lies used by military recruiters. At almost every career fair, different branches of the military are present, looking for students to enlist. Student groups should be allowed to set up tables next to these recruiters to present alternate information to those considering the service — telling the truth about the U.S. military.
No student should join the military because they are concerned about job opportunities or how they’ll pay for school. Money for jobs and education – not for war and occupation!
Laura Taylor is a senior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She can be contacted at lat34@cornell.edu.Kind of a Big Deal appears Tuesdays.
A little too far.
To attend Cornell on a ROTC scholarship, one must still meet the criterion for acceptance to the school. It's not like varsity athletes that get pushed through the system, bypassing some of the hurdles that the rest of us had to jump over. As a friend of many of the ROTC students here, a good portion are from military families, and a good portion also could've afforded Cornell without the scholarships. If you really had done your research you'd know that Air Force has very few full scholarships, most are only half scholarships. As well, those scholarships pertain to specific fields of study, not anyone who wants to join the program. Get your facts straight about the Cornell program as compared to those at state schools where you'd find more of the "poverty draftees" as you believe them to be.
College, Not Combat
It's very easy to comment on something you have never experienced. Spend one day in boots, boot camp or the military and tell me what I know after 8 years of serving my country. I was never lied to. Some people just don't have the common sense to ask questions about what's going on in their own lives.
Missing The Point
M, "a good portion" of Cornell doesn't detract from the fundamental point of this article, which is that our modern military is comprised primarily of people who can't afford college. Are you saying that this is OK?
And carterk, I was in boots for three years, and almost every soldier and veteran I've ever met has said they were lied to. Maybe you were lucky enough to serve in the truth and honesty brigade, but the fact is that the recruiting process is a highly deceptive racket. You do a great disservice to soldiers and veterans by trying to cover for the military bureacuracy with "serve my country" rhetoric. No one is discounting any soldier's service, the column is merely pointing out that no one should have to serve because of economic inequality.
Laura -- you consistently
Laura -- you consistently get the facts wrong. *That* is the cause of about 50% of the critiques people post here in response to your articles.
You also occasionally engage in self-pitying navel-gazing (like the opening paragraphs of this article about all the criticism you endure). That's poor journalism and just plain annoying.
Laura is Right and She's Wrong
As an alumni of Cornell Army ROTC and a veteran of 4 years of active duty with the US Army (including a stint with the basic training reception battalion at Ft. Jackson), I can say with some authority that Laura is right and she's wrong.
Yes, there are some Army recruiters who lie. The issue here is the way they are credited with meeting their quotas. In the Army, a recruiter gets credit for any individual they SEND to basic training. In the Marines, on the other hand, a recruiter gets credit for any individual that GRADUATES from basic training. This disconnect may well be the biggest reason Army recruiters lie - they only need to get someone on the bus.
The bigger issue here is the question of personal responsibility. Does an individual really need to be told of the "horrors of killing civilians?" Does an 11B really believe he won't see combat during a war? We shop around and do extensive research before buying cars, houses, tv's, etc. It is the individual's responsibility to do the same with a career. Anyone who takes a salesman's word at face value, regardless of what that salesman is selling, is a fool.
I was never lied to while applying to Cornell ROTC. I know that because I did my research. I wasn't a poverty draftee either - fact is, I was "too rich" to qualify for Cornell financial aid and too poor to afford Cornell. I could have gone to community college or SUNY, but I made a choice and gladly accepted the potential consequences. I EARNED my college education and would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
As far as all the crticism that Laura receives, I think it is well deserved. Her articles are, in fact, poorly written and poorly researched. The record on this point is very clear.
It's never about her views...
It's about her research, as "V" says. She's just a college kid with an axe to grind. Most students here are exactly that, they all have a "cause"--you see them in Ho Plaza every day. They'll picket, pamphlet, and preach for four years and then what?
Whine about having to get up at 8:30am for work. No more causes, awwww. I'm all about having the drive to put your money where your mouth is. How many of these activists go to Darfur, picket against the US in Baghdad or Tehran, or donate 30% of their earnings to charities upon graduation?
-Andrew, 4 years in boots
Ms. Taylor: Is this your
Ms. Taylor: Is this your version of the John Kerry joke that only stupid people serve their country (i.e., only poor people serve their country)? Apparently, access to an expensive education at a prestigious academic institution has done little to educate you; the routine factual errors in your columns attest to, at best, sloppy journalistic practices. It also is amazaing that a master of deception such as yourself would have the nerve to accuse others of engaging in deception. Images of pots and kettles, glass houses and stones come to mind.
Ignorant
Perhaps you should join ROTC so you have a clue about what you're writing. You're obviously not intelligent enough to actually ask people in ROTC or the military their opinions.
Laura Taylor's columns
Laura Taylor's columns frequently lack any factual basis, and she constantly gets simple facts completely wrong. People have criticized her for this on the comment pages and in letters to the editor, yet she cherry picks the commentators that personally attack her and can't spell as evidence that her critics have no basis for criticism. I think we can see from the multitude of comments on this and almost all of her other columns that these comments are not baseless and that she should maybe take some time to do actual research instead of railing on something she doesn't understand.
Completely offbase
This is a prime example of an idiot ILR-ie. As the easiest school to get into at Cornell, I have been constantly amazed at the quality of students it produces. After the first year, literally anyone can transfer in - it is an absolute joke.
Laura enjoys writing columns on subjects she knows little about and has not bothered to do any research for. Her logic is baffling; it rarely even comes across coherently. Her stance on the military just furthers this notion. It should be reiterated: don't ask don't tell is a Çongress created and mandated policy. If you want it changed, write your local congressman, since NO ONE in the military can enact this change.
The idea that ROTC students are poor is again out of line and incorrect. Cornell commits to a need blind admission policy and to assist every incoming student in affording Cornell. Students in ROTC (of which many are affluent enough to afford Cornell on their own) chose ROTC over student loans because they are interested in a job in the military. Instead of paying off student loans, they want to serve their country.
Laura seems to not even understand the difference between enlisted recruiters and officer commissioning programs. Nearly every ROTC midshipman or cadet did not even contact nor was contacted by any type of recruiter prior or since arriving at Cornell.
As someone with so little information and experience, Laura is a bit out of her league in these topics. She should stick to hitting the books at ILR to learn about discrimination and all that other great stuff.
While I believe laura was
While I believe laura was factually inaccurate with her reporting...."B" as he likes to be called is simply an arrogant jackass that needs to stop insulting Laura because of what school she's attending. It's those kind of things that make good people who believe in what your saying want to hate you.