Taken from http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051214/COLUMNISTS17/512140348/1005/OPINION
What is everyones opinions on this? Ive seen it mentioned a couple of times regarding the recruiters on campus, but no actual comments on whether they think it should or should not happen.
Should military recruiters be allowed on college and law school campuses to seek new volunteers for the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard?
And should colleges and law schools that refuse to host military recruiters, on the grounds that the Pentagon discriminates against gays, lose federal funds?
These are two key questions the U.S. Supreme Court will have to answer in the coming months.
The answers the high court provides are being looked to with heightened anticipation and trepidation as the war in Iraq and its mounting costs in dollars and lives continues to be the focus of sharp and divisive political debate. Military recruiters have been struggling to meet personnel quotas and many college campuses increasingly have become hotbeds of anti-war sentiment.
Gay rights an issue
At the same time, the issue of gay rights continues to spark sharp disagreement, not only in legislative arenas, but also in academic, religious and corporate America.
Recently, the nine-member panel heard arguments in a suit that challenges the constitutionality of a federal law -- the 1994 Solomon Amendment, and subsequent related statutes -- that imposes an end to most federal aid to colleges and law schools that ban military recruiters from their campuses.
To some larger universities, that aid runs in the tens of millions of dollars. However, student loans are not affected.
The government argued restrictions set by colleges against Pentagon recruiters hamper its efforts to attract "the best and the brightest" and build an effective armed force, especially in time of war.
The challenge originally was brought by a consortium of 26 law schools that believe colleges have a right to shut out military recruiters because the Pentagon's treatment of gay servicemen and women, through its "don't-ask-don't-tell" policy, violates campus rules prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.
"Don't ask, don't tell" is the result of a 1993 compromise between the Clinton White House and the Pentagon. It allows homosexuals to join and stay in the armed forces as long as they don't reveal their sexual orientation. It replaced an outright ban on gays in the military, which the Pentagon previously had imposed in what it called an effort to "maintain good order" in the ranks.
Money or principle?
In recent arguments before the court, questions and comments by the justices seemed to suggest they might be leaning toward upholding the government's right to withhold federal funds if colleges do not give the same access to military recruiters they give to private corporations or other government agencies seeking to hire graduates.
"(The law) doesn't insist that you do anything. It says that if you want our money, you have to let our recruiters on campuses," Chief Justice John Roberts said.
But E. Joshua Rosenkranz, a lawyer for the law schools, said accepting military recruiters on campus signaled that the schools, in effect, condoned the Pentagon's anti-gay policy.
"This is a refusal to disseminate the messages of the military recruiters," Rosenkranz said.
In that case, Roberts said, if the schools feel that strongly, they should be willing to turn down federal funds.
And so it went.
Colleges have long been fertile ground for recruitment of military personnel, especially officers. But colleges also have been fertile ground for protest against military policy.
Whatever the court decides, the military will still find ways to recruit college students. And college students still will find ways to oppose the military. But one side will be at a disadvantage
What is everyones opinions on this? Ive seen it mentioned a couple of times regarding the recruiters on campus, but no actual comments on whether they think it should or should not happen.