[Peace-discuss] Cannon fodder round up

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

This must be stopped before we kill or injure more generations.  As al in 
military know when you charge the machine gun next and get injured you will 
be abandoned.

Military Seeks Student Data From Schools
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 
Filed at 2:13 p.m. ET


BOSTON (AP) -- A little-noticed provision in a new federal education law is 
requiring high schools to hand over to military recruiters some key 
information about its juniors and seniors: name, address and phone number.

The Pentagon says the information will help it recruit young people to defend 
their country. But the new law disturbs parents and administrators in some 
liberal communities that aren't exactly gung-ho about the armed forces.

Some say the law violates students' privacy and creates a moral dilemma over 
the military's ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy on gays.

``I find it appalling that the school is sending out letters to do the job of 
the military,'' said Amy Lang, the parent of a student at Cambridge Rindge 
and Latin School, where Coke was once banned in a protest against the soda 
giant's investments in apartheid South Africa. ``It's clearly an invasion of 
my daughter's privacy.''

The No Child Left Behind law, signed last January, pumps billions into 
education but also gives military recruiters access to the names, addresses 
and phone numbers of students in 22,000 schools. The law also says that 
schools must give the military the same access to their campuses that 
businesses and college recruiters enjoy.

School systems that fail to comply could lose federal money. The measure also 
applies to private schools receiving federal funding. But Quaker schools and 
others that have a religious objection to military service can get out of the 
requirement.

Students and parents who oppose the law can keep their information from being 
turned over to the military, but they must sign and return an ``opt-out'' 
form.

The Boston school system, which has 7,500 juniors and seniors, included the 
opt-out notice in a take-home student handbook, but fewer than a dozen 
parents opted out.

So far, 95 percent of the nation's schools are in compliance, said Pentagon 
spokeswoman Maj. Sandra Troeber. She would not identify the other schools. 
But Education Department spokesman Dan Langan said that the current focus is 
on cooperation and that no schools have been sanctioned.

Federal law already requires men to register with the Selective Service 
within 30 days of turning 18. The new law, however, enables the Pentagon to 
reach potential recruits when they are 15 or 16.

In New York City, Daniel Alterman was taken aback when his 15-year-old son, a 
junior at Stuyvesant High, received a recruitment letter.

``Parents are in the dark,'' Alterman said. ``It freaked me out. I didn't 
sign up to support the military effort.''

Alterman said after he opted out, his son received another letter, this one 
promoting scholarships. ``It was very seductive. They didn't say anything 
about risk to personal safety,'' Alterman said.

Among those objecting to the new requirements is the New York City chapter of 
the American Civil Liberties Union. Executive director Donna Lieberman said 
that the opt-out provision is inadequate and that schools should be doing 
more to protect students' privacy.

In a letter last month, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Education 
Secretary Rod Paige reminded high school administrators of their duty, and 
cited ``the excellent educational opportunities the military affords, as well 
as an environment that encourages the development of strong character and 
leadership skills.''

The Pentagon said better access to students could also hold down the rising 
costs of recruitment. Over the past decade, the cost per recruit has nearly 
doubled from $6,500 to $11,600.

Before the law, military recruiters could meet with students in Cambridge and 
Northampton on campus only if the student sought them out, and then only at a 
meeting attended by a guidance counselor. But Cambridge held a military 
career fair at the high school a month ago.

``It's a vast departure from the way we've done business,'' said Donna 
Harlan, an associate superintendent in the Northampton school system. ``We 
are not in the business of giving lists of names of kids to anybody. That was 
tough. The issue was if we were to receive federal or state money, we had to 
comply with the law.''

The law also spelled the end of a 6-year ban on military recruiting on campus 
in Portland, Ore. After contending that the ``don't ask, don't tell'' policy 
discriminates against gays, the school system now gives recruiters a shot at 
its 16,000 students.

In Massachusetts, Framingham High senior April Middleton decided over lunch 
recently that maybe the military is in her future after talking with Army 
National Guard Sgt. Louis Perrin, a recruiter who visited the cafeteria.

Middleton, 18, said she plans to enlist after she graduates, and the prospect 
of war has not scared her off. ``Sometimes you've got to make sacrifices,'' 
she said.

Sometimes, however, recruiters battle hostility.

``One teacher said we were trying to brainwash kids. All we were doing was 
handing out pencils,'' Perrin said. ``We're not trying to invade anybody's 
privacy. We're just trying to protect their freedoms.''