2—The Highacres • •
Collegian Opinions an
Is the CCCO o
military
* Editor's Note:
This issue's editorial is a point
counterpoint article on the draft.
The first half is written by Mr.
Larry Spears, Director of the
Central Committee for Conscien
tious Objectors, and the second is
written by Robert Kiefer, a
Reserve Officers Training Corps
cadette at Highacres. The Col
legian's Intention is to present
these viewpoints while remaining
impartial and uncommitted to
the subject matter itself.
The Central Committee for
Conscientious Objectors, the na
tion's largest draft and military
counseling agency, warns that
the influence of the military in
our schools is growing at
epidemic proportions.
Larry Spears, Director of
CCCO's Pre-Enlistment Counsel
ing Program, says, "The last few
years have seen a tremendous
growth of militarism in this coun
try, and much of it has been
centered in the high schools and
colleges."
According to Spears, the
military now lures students
through many different pro
grams, including:
—The Armed Services Voca
tional Aptitude Battery
(ASVAB). This is a military ap
titude test administered in 15,000
high schools by military person
nel. The ASVAB test has been
criticized in Congress as being of
little help to a counselor and stu
dent exploring civilian occupa
tions. However, the information
obtained from the test goes to
many offices around the country,
and it is used by recruiters for
years. Many schools never tell
their students that this is an op
tional test.
—The Reserve Officers Train
ing Corps (ROTC) and Junior
ROTC. The college ROTC and
high school JROTC programs
now exist in nearly 2,000 schools.
The courses are taught by
military personnel and are often
of questionable academic value.
They also encourage values
which are at odds with the goals
of academic learning. And the
programs cost the American
public millions of dollars each
year.
—The Delayed Entry Program.
The DEP encourages students to
sign the enlistment contract up to
one year before starting basic
training. Once student enlistees
sign the contract, they are bound
by it, and discharges under the
DEP are rarely granted. Each
year, hundreds of thousands of
young people who are uncertain
about what to do sign up under
the DEP. Once students enlist in
DEP they are given bonuses for
recruiting other students, thus
becoming a sort of undercover
recruiting force. However, if a
student changes his or her mind a
few months later because of a job
offer, school or vocational train
ing possibilities, or marriage
plans, it is usually too late to get
out of the military unleis counsel
ing is sought through groups such
as CCCO.
"One of the biggest problems,"
says Mr. Spears, "results from
counselors and school ad-
ut of step in accus
of luring students?
ministrators who become active
helpers of military recruiters.
The military often seems to be an
easy way for a counselor to offer
direction to a student. But the
counselor or teacher is often
unaware of the potential pro
blems and disappointments fac
ing many enlistees."
"Military recruiters are
salesmen," comments Spears.
"They have a quota to meet,
superiors to please, and they cer
tainly will not take the time to ex
plain the possible problems to a
potential recruit. Students who
are considering joining the arm
ed forces should have the benefit
of seeing both sides of the story
before enlisting."
"Counselors and teachers who
are in a position to give advice on
enlistment should be aware of the
loopholes in the enlistment con
tract which put the enlistee at a
distinct disadvantage, and in
fact, offer very few guarantees,"
says Mr. Spears. "They should be
aware of the problems many
enlistees face. For example, ver
bal promises are often made by
recruiters. If the military should
not come through with what the
recruiter promised, the enlistee
has no legal recourse."
"Another problem encountered
by enlistees is the fact that many
important sounding job titles
(such as combat engineer) turn
out to be dull, meaningless jobs
with no application to civilian
positions. Many military jobs
have no civilian counterpart, and
thus the training is often useless
after you get out of the military."
Additional information on
ASVAB, JROTC, ROTC, DEP,
military recruitment, and other
'aspects of militarism in educa
tion may be obtained by writing
to: The Pre-Enlistment Counsel
ing Program, CCCO, 2208 South
Street, Philadelphia, PA 19146.
CCCO was founded in 1948 as
the Central Committee for Cons
cientious Objectors, and is a na
tional, non-profit agency counsel
ing young Americans facing the
prospect of military service, or
those already in the military.
By ROTC CADET 808 KIEFER
The Central Committee for Con
scientious Objectors has outstep
ped its boundaries with the
issuing of their latest newsletter.
The CCCO was established in 1948
with the purpose of aiding men
who were drafted into the armed
forces but who, for religious or
moral reasons, could not fight.
The latest letter from the CCCO
fails to even mention the draft.
The CCCO is attempting to turn
everybody against military ser
vice, including ' students who
perfer to join the armed forces as
volunteers.
The CCCO's letter
misrepresents the Reserve Of
ficer Training Corps (ROTC).
Larry Spears, the director of
CCCO's Pre-enlistment Counsel
ing Program, claims that the
ROTC classes are of questionable
value. Spears fails to explain
what his statement actually
means, or to which classes he is
referring. The ROTC teaches a
very informative series of
military history classes which
ing the
are necessary to the students
planning to join the military as
officers. These classes are com
plete with mid-term and final ex
ams, and the classes conform to
university standards. ROTC also
teaches such skills as survival,
map reading, as well as many
others. Spears also feels that
ROTC instructors "encourage
values which are at odds with the
goals of academic learning."
This statement is again quite
vague and Mr. Spears fails to tell
his readers what the "goals of
academic learning" really are.
The CCCO should not be attack
ing the ROTC for any reason. The
ROTC cadets enroll of their own
free will, they have not been
drafted or pressured.
The CCCO has not only tried to
discourage students from enroll
ing in the ROTC, but it has also
tried to dissuade high school
graduates from joining the
military directly after high
school. The Armed Services
Vocational Aptitude Battery
(ASVAB) is a test given by the
military to any high school stu
dent who wishes to take the test.
The students are informed that
the test will be used by the armed
forces; in fact, the military proc
tors wear their uniforms. Mr.
Spears claims that the test has
little value to counselors and to
students interested in civilian oc
cupations. The test shows
students in which vocational
fields they show proficiency. Con
trary to the opinion of Mr.
Spears, the ASVAB is of great
value to counselors. For the stu
dent who has chosen not to attend
college, the test is a starting
place toward finding an accep
table vocation. Spears is correct
in stating that the ASVAB in
formation is used by military
recruiters. The test is given to
show which students have the
backgrounds to be useful to the
armed forces. The military offers
students an emotive opportunity
for free training and then a good
paying job. If a student wishes to
pursue a civilian career after his
`hitch' is over, he may dit so
without pressure from the
military. The armed forces is a
great place for many young peo
ple to get needed training which
might not otherwise be available,
be it for financial reasons, or
other factors. Military service
records are also very desirable
when applying for civilian jobs.
Practically every job application
provides a space to include ser
vice records. Most employers
realize that the armed forces
have very rigid standards when
teaching soldiers a vocation.
The CCCO's newsletter is
The OCGO's - •
nothing more than 'mud slinging'
at the military establishment.
Mr. Spears has made vague and
undefined arguments. The
soldiers and perspective soldiers
concerned with Mr. Spears
arguments have picked the
military of their own free will and
the CCCO should put its effort to
better use in counseling the
who, for moral reasons, do not
wish to fight to defend the coun
try.
Comments
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A TYPICAL FOXHOLE?'
From The Editor's Desk
Nowthat the final issue of the
COLLEGIAN is in print and sum
mertime is just around the cor
ner, we Chris Tarler, Kelly Yale,'
and George Yanoshik, as new ex
ecutive editors of our campus
publication, would like to take
this opportunity to say "thanks."
Without the help, encourage
ment, and patience expressed to
us by Charlene Scheib, Bill
Sheman, and Ken Skuba
former executive editors of
we
COLLEGIAN under whom
worked we probably would not
have continued to uphold the pro
fessionalism they strived so hard
for in past publications.
Also, we wish to thank all of the
sophomore staff members who
worked so hard showing us "the
workings" of the newspaper. In
retrospect, the time and talent
Vol. 16, No. 5
Executive Editors
Adviser
Ron Mackunis
. Carol Meiser
. Jerry Trently
Cindy Evancho
Eric Reidinger
... Scott Hamm
... Michele Ritz
.... Chris Nash
Debby Gorman, Michele Ritz
Michael Lewis Brouse
Bob Keifer, Tony Leshinskie,
Charles Orlofsky, Tom Topoleskie,
Catherine Vieira
Jim Bagley, Lisa Betley,
John V. Lewis, Carol Meiser,
Colleen Reese, Donna Roberts,
Alita Rovito, Joe Thear,
Jerry Trently, Bill Warg,
Pam Weeks, Enoch Zelenski.
Special Correspondent... Jayne A. Bugda
Student Advisers Wiliam Sheman, Charlene Scheib
The office of THE HIGHACRES COLLEGIAN is located in
Room 108 in the South building. Office hours are Monday, Wednes
day, and Friday from 12:05 to 12:40 p.m. Other hours can be
arranged by appointment.
Unsigned editorials represent the official view of the COLLE
GIAN. Views expressed in bylined articles are those of the
individual contributor and do not necessarily reflect the official
view of the COLLEGIAN. Responsible comment is invited. Letters
To The Editor must be signed and mailed or delivered to THE
HIGHACRES COLLEGIAN office.
News Editor
Composition Editor
Feature Editors . ..
Sports Editor
Assistant Sports Editor
Business Manager
Photography Editor .. .
Advertising Managers.
Artist
Photographers
Writers
THE HIGHACRES COLLEGIAN is published by the students
of the Hazleton Highacres Campus of the Pennsylvania State
University.
put forth by all of the sophomores
who will be leaving us this term,
and also the freshmen who were
new to the campus this year and
served as reporters and the like,
deserve to be commended.
Dr. Margaret Cote, our adviser,
deserves as much credit as the
entire staff does because of the
many ideas and helpful tips she
gave us throughout the past year.
We hope to uphold the precedent
of quality reporting established
by our former editors; and, we
wish to encourage all journalism
majors on campus and anyone
with a talent in art, writing,
layout, etc. to fill out an applica
tion for a position on the staff for
the Fall of 1981.
Without student input, our goal
to continue to produce a quality
publication will not be realized.
THE HIGHACRES COLLEGIAN
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
COLLEGIAN STAFF
May 15, 1981
Christopher C. Tarler
Kelly Yale
George P. Yanoshik, Jr.
Dr. Margaret Cote