VIEWPOINTS
tOilQRlAtS OPiHiOMS UTIfWS 10 THf.fOlTOR
Marines, Army soldiers
left jobless, sockless
■ uuH OPINION Military
shoukJ spend less morwy
on high-tech weapons
If you think our society is
obsessed with image, you
should check out tne U S.
military.
For decades we have been
i oniistently pouring bib
Items of dollars into our
defense industry to ensure
that we will be viewed as
the world's leading super
power.
At the rate we build sub
marine* arid bombers, it Is
obvious we are plat ing a lot
of stock in the intimidation
factor.
But there is irony to he
found in our country's over
abundance of them* high
ttM.h weapons and the fear
these weapons instill in our
neighboring nations: The
Marine Corps placed socks
at the tup of its list of most
needed supplies.
After all of the money
we've poured into the mili
tary. we are leaving our sol
diers in dire need of
fundamental supplies.
Our government's failure
to take t are of its soldiers*
needs should not be surpris
ing because it has a history
of failing to care for its citi
wrn* in desperate need, stu b
. as the homeless
Hut soldiers are employed
by the government They
use sophisticated weapons
to supposedly save our
lives. If we do not provide
them with proper supplies,
we art* placing their lives at
risk as well as our own The
image of our infantrymen
rushing into battle sockless
should be the least of our
worries,
Instead, we should be
concerned about Marines
training on antique radios,
straining to hear through the
static. Or better yet. i orobat
soldier* wearing 15 year -old
flak vmtM that less effective
ly Hop a ladlet ihan rood
ern-day polk* officers'
vwU
66
Our soldien should not be
responsible far finding the
funds for net* equipment to
me tease their odds of
survival.
—--99
Out soldier* should not
be responsible for finding
ihe funds for new equip
roenl la increase their odds
of survival.
If you can't smell the
injustice in these situations,
you're most likely a defense
company rxo utive or a
member of Gingress. Both
parties receive advantages
from troops' disadvantages:
Congress gets to enhance the
nation's image and claim
they are cutting the budget
The executive* get their
pockets lined with crisp,
green currency from the
profits made on the billion
dollar weapons they pro
duce
The final injustice is that
many members of the Arnty
and Marine* who are will
ing to withstand these
absurd conditions are losing
their jobs.
With the Marines inning
24.000 and the Army losing
250.000 ariive duty sol
diers. it is obvious our gov
ernment considers them to
lie expandable. And soldier*
who remain are now expect
ed to work harder than ever.
Reports are showing that a
shortage of recruits is pre
dicted in the future. With
the trend the current
defense program is follow
ing. who can blame them?
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V£«v MEANING of
FftoNT uwc'
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<jfT t»Of( kiOi imT0
n* WW or t*r>fo«m
Time places everything in perspective
This. lit» mmy day. t* the first day of the
met of im life The difference* between
this day end any other from a global
perspec tive are insignificant at beat
Though for other * thl» day la like an ant Men
from spare, this day U more like the (heat Wall
of Qtina for me June 3 hearkens both my depar
ture from the Emerald as a columnist and the
beginning of a new dec ade few me Today I turn
70
Growing up I never dreamed my ecu from the
teens would hit me so hard J always knew 13
was important — finally a teen, the promise of
driving was t arried with age I*, even voting al
lg sewnieti like it would change my life None
of thow birthdays affected me as profoundly as
this one has
people who are older ihar me laugh when i
■ay I feel old. They assume Cm faking or mak
mg run t*t tneur seniority But 1
am. oh. loo serious Ko» the
first time in my lif». i feel truly
old
l don‘i attribute this age
appmmm <ut any action of
min* Mo, instead I blame it on
the people around me I fowl
the same »i I did a year ago —
my life is virtually unchanged
Si is the change* I **• in other*
around me that am scaring me
I w entry rwuro mwiui news about a friend of
tnUMi from high w bool Not that hi* wu getting
married or that he's haling « child — hi* first
on# U already going on two Oh. no. I «m *11 too
familiar wilh that announcement My friend i*
gHting divorced The hated ’D" word It's (nr
real, and it's happening to someone my age
Someone I knot#. Someone 1 could he
Thai's too scary lot me to handle I look
around myself and find that I am somewhere
between abnormality and the average 20 year
old I am a contradiction in and of myself |
reach for the future as I hide in the past, afraid
of getting burned but called to the light
I guest my dual nature makes sente After all.
I am a member of Generation X. the epitome of
contradiction I am bury, yet I hold down two
fobs and go to school full time 1 am apathetic,
yet I have voted in every election 1 could and
willingly argue my position on any number of
articles I am a freeloader, yet I pay for over 75
percent of my education on my own.
I'm always told how wall I've got it. I wasn't
alive when Kennedy was assassinated, but 1 was
there to see Nison shamed Rimk<ui shot and
Otnton dragged through the mud. I haven't
lived through a world war, but I've seen the
LAPD beal people down and then call it self
defense.
1 belong to the first general mu who is expect
ed to have a worse standard of living than our
parent* A citizen, some would say. of a country
wht>»e Unw hat passed We know the future* is
Weak without * college education, but even with
one it it clouded by debt and frustration.
We are blamed for our desire to live for the
moment, but are not given hopes of a brighter
future.
And for this we are to be looked down upon? I
just don't buy It. More and more people are not
identifying with a specific political group, but
that doe* not mean that we are apathetic Most
people do not trust the government, but we were
still watching the Smura when most of the cur
rent militia leaders were starling iheir treks
As Billy )oei sang.
"We didn't Hart the fim
It mu alwttyi burning
.Since the world's hern turning
We didn't start the fim
No we didn't tight it
but we tried to fight it,"
. W wu Iiapp^r WIUI my pUM « IQ
life without knowing what it in, i am supported
to better myself without realizing which aim
lion is "up " My generation is supposed to step
forward an world leaders while our live* are Mill
in duamy.
But not yet | am not ready to try my hand at
running the world yet I am not willing to give
up my immaturity even if I am “forced" to give
up my teen-age year* My attitude* link me too
firmly to the days where 1 could gain the beauty
of Daisy Duke and the powers of Wonder
Woman from a pair of underruns and a ratty
blanket How can I give up the possibility of a
utopian existence for responsibility and pro*
sure?
I do not know But I will.
The- "real world" will be mine in just a few
wars For now. I will hold on to my youth, my
hopes, my ambition* Though 16 has come and
gone for us. John Ckrugar Meliemamp's words
still ring true:
Hold on to 16 m long at you ran
Changn come around real toon
Make us women and men *
Even though 1 have officially been an adult for
two years. I still consider myself to be at the
crossroads of adulthood I look hack upon it and
see it reaching to the horizon of my birth The
efforts of my parents are plain to see Ithank you
mom and dad), and the deep marking* of friends
gone and friend* hero to stay. A* I turn to the
fut ure. I see clearly the prints of the people who
will affect me — people already loved and peo
pl«< not yet known I plat e a tremulous foot
ahead of me. stepping into adulthood but keep
tog one hand hack holding onto childhood It is
a good place to Ire
kay Kniuitrhtsid. who fee/* very old today, it a
columnist for the Emerald. li t your loti chance
for the year E mail kay at kaykugiaditunv uorr
gonedu