Alamoodi column problematic
As a veteran and the daughter of a veteran, I found Yaser Alamoodi's reasoning for bringing back the draft poorly thought out. The Vietnam era clearly demonstrated that a draft does not mean politicians will have to put their own children on the line. Those who have money will always find a way around draft laws.
I also am appalled at the idea of the draft from the perspective of those serving in the armed forces. Today's military men and women are well-trained professionals. As volunteers, they all willingly signed up to be there.
Discipline can be enough of a problem with kids who fail to adapt to military life because they didn't know what they were getting into. I have met few career military people, particularly in the enlisted ranks, who would look favorably on a draft.
It would only result in discipline problems and poor performance by those who do not want to be there, and in military service such things cost lives. If you are someone who "put their [life] where their mouths is," would you want to trust your life to the guy next to you knowing he had to be forced to be there and perhaps cares more about his own hide or doesn't care at all?
--Jodi del Pozo Attwood
anthropology student
Draft wouldn't change army demographics
Yaser Alamoodi's story about the draft was unrealistic and ignorant. If a draft was implemented, what makes him think that people of privilege and power would be sent to Iraq? Do you really think a senator's son or daughter would get called up?
When the draft was implemented during Vietnam, the majority of draftees were minorities and middle-class citizens. Alamoodi makes it sound like all the rich kids would be the first to fight. However, (privileged) college students are usually exempt from draft status.
Our military is made up of "poor, struggling middle-class immigrants and minorities" because military service is the easiest way to get money for college, gain valuable skills and experience, and possibly gain citizenship.
What other options does a high school dropout or a poor 18-year-old have? Yes, it sucks to go to war, but they are trying to improve their life and the military is usually the answer.
When I graduate from ASU, I will join many brave men and women such as Eric Spratling in the armed forces. I plan on enlisting in the infantry and, if this war is still going on, could be on the front lines.
Personally, I would hate to see a draft, because that means I will be fighting next to anti-war protesters and boneheads pulled from the depths of society and thrown into combat.
If people choose to complain and protest rather than serve their country, so be it. But no one should be forced into combat because we need to "fill a hole."
Spratling -- good luck in the Army and I wish you all the best. Alamoodi -- I understand your argument, but let's hope you aren't the first to be sent a draft card.
--Brandon Bettis
justice studies senior
Draft column doesn't match up
Yaser Alamoodi states one reason for bringing back the draft is that the military demographic should match the demographic of the general population.
...According to official U.S. Army fiscal year 2003 demographic information, the majority (59.3 percent) of active duty Army personnel are white. In addition, 32.7 percent of warrant officers and 4.8 percent of enlisted personnel have college degrees. With very few exceptions, all officers have college degrees.
These statistics certainly don't seem to match up with Alamoodi's claims that the military is made up of nothing but poor minorities. If he has demographic information from some other source backing his claims, I would love to hear it. My information was found on the official U.S. Army Web site.
I served four years in the United States Marine Corps. Personally, I can say I served with a very diverse group of people from all walks of life. It is the type of diversity that large companies and college administrators desire for their populations. The military has achieved a great level of diversity, but people like Alamoodi use something that should be commended as fodder for their political causes.
--Nate Lacey
asu student
Alamoodi/Spratling thought-provoking combination
I'm both an ASU student and a soldier in the Army Reserves, so I read Yaser Alamoodi's piece about the draft with a personal interest. In the build-up and aftermath of the Iraq war, I walked around ASU and looked at the young men and women happily studying, planning the next keg party and, in too many cases, not seeming to give much of a damn one way or the other about the explosion about ready to go off in the Middle East -- because nothing was actually going to change in their lives, after all.
I've listened to countless justifications for this war from people whose sons and daughters and mothers and fathers will never fight it. I've been told that soldiers have no right to complain about the war because we volunteered to join the military. I wonder, then, who does have the "right" to question a war if not the all-too small percentage of citizens actually willing to fight it?
Interestingly, Alamoodi's piece was offset with one by Eric Spratling, who is about to find out firsthand the incredible demands and sacrifices necessary to serve one's country in the military. Hats off to him for being willing to help fight a war he believes in. But as Alamoodi expressed so well in his article, many more will continue to support wars in part because they don't pay the highest costs or, even worse yet, will remain apathetic in the comfort of the safety zones they are never required to leave (what was the voter turn-out among under-25 year olds again?)
I've seen the benefits of an all-volunteer military first-hand, and a draft is a complex issue that must be handled with caution, but it sure as hell would be interesting to see the shockwaves roll through this country if and when that wake-up call ever comes.
[Name of military member withheld on request]
Arpaio at it again
No matter how you cut it, what Joe Arpaio said was racist. This does not surprise me, considering his tyrannical reign as what I will call sheriff, even though he has bastardized it to something far worse.
[Being] racist is hardly surprising, considering what kind of person he is. What does surprise me is how got into, and subsequently handled the situation. I thought he would have been publicly savvy enough to not say such a thing in front of people.
But the best part, the real kicker of all of it, is how he handled it. He actually said that he thought the student was a football player. And he follows by saying, "what was I supposed to say, 'basketball player?'"
Are you kidding me? Did he actually respond by making another racist comment? Actually, his aptitude at racism is pretty impressive. I had to take a timeout and catch my breath after reading that remark. Seriously, I did.
And then it keeps coming. He said he has an adopted grandson who is African-American. I didn't know people could adopt grandkids. This is pretty new to me. Unless I'm wrong, and please, someone write in and tell me, but wouldn't his child have adopted that child?
That makes them OK, but I didn't know that act of benevolence works its way up the grapevine. His brilliance continues by his explaining that he is the only person in the entire United States who doesn't know the black athlete stereotype.
Again, let me catch my breath.
There is a tremendous positive to this event. I applaud how the class reacted. The fact that they stood up and told him that what he said wasn't right is awesome. I bet some of them haven't even seen racism like that before, and now they have witnessed such ignorance first-hand. Kudos to The State Press for running this story, too. Hopefully, the school (and this state) can take a lesson for this, but to say "I doubt it" would be an understatement.
--Robert Srinivasiah
asu student
