Rally elicits concerns from some at ROTC
Elizabeth Olubodun / Assignment Editor
Issue date: 3/21/07 Section: Page One
- Page 1 of 2 next >
|
"I have a very mixed opinion about students' justification about the walkout," said Jamie Lopez, a student in the University's Army ROTC program. "Some students that I've talked to [were] doing it just to get out of class, others [were] doing it because they dislike the military, and the rest [were] doing it for the true nature of the walkout, which is to protest against the policies that have led us to this conflict in the first place."
Depending on the reasoning, students' choice to walk out may or may not have been sensible, he said.
"To those students who are walking out for the real reason of conducting this event, then yes I would say they are justified in doing so, it's their right to protest," Lopez said. "The students that dislike the military I don't agree with. They simply just don't understand that the military doesn't create the policies that students or people in general disagree with. They just enforce them."
Major James Riley, an ROTC assistant professor of Military Science who was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and has been in active duty for 11 years, feels soldiers should not take sides on the war. He said when he puts on his uniform he feels he does not have the right to give his opinion on protests such as the walkout.
"Our service is conducted no matter what the administration at the time is," Riley said. "It's a great thing that the military is politically neutral. Whether we go into Kosovo under Clinton, or Iraq under Bush, our military service never changes regardless of what the political atmosphere is."