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About Eugene register-guard. (Eugene, Or.) 1930-1983 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 1962)
ttt 4A EUGENE REGISTER GUAlfD, Sunday, Oct. 51. 1M2 Bars or Stripes in Texas Elective ROTC: Blessing or What? BY RALPH OLIVE , Of the Register-Guard Back to the Army again, sergeant Back to tht Army again. Out o the cold and tht rain. Kipling Military life has Its advantages, there is no doubt about it. But for some reason, the sound of the bugle and the manual of arms, smartly executed, never have appealed widely to Ameri can youth. But in recent years it has become increasingly difficult to escape at least a short hitch. If the young man avoids the Na tional Guard and the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), there is still his draft board. It takes real ingenuity to keep from exchanging an Ivy League suit for Army green, shade 41. This year, freshmen entering the University of Oregon and Oregon State University found one part time military obliga tion that had been shouldered by students in the past was no longer a worry. Compulsory ROTC for freshmen and sopho mores had been abolished, by order of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education. But was this really a blessing? And is a young man wise to take advantage of this new freedom? Does this mean he is really bypassing an opportunity that will not come his way again? Officers assigned to ROTC units at Oregon and Oregon State agree the smart freshman is the one who voluntarily takes pen In hand and registers for ROTC. And many students feel the same way enough to keep the program strong, although considerably smaller than in the past. The UO Army program has 18S freshmen this year, com pared to 800 last year. The Air Force enrolled 186 freshmen, compared to 382 in 1961. If the student completes four years of ROTC, he will go on active duty as a second lieutenant, or ensign. Otherwise, he has to take his chances with the draft board. And if he gets caught, his service will be as an enlisted man, not an officer. One cynic put it this way: "If you don't take ROTC, you'll find yourself in a few years walking around some dusty Army camp in Texas with a Ffc stripe on your arm. If you take ROTC, and study hard, you'll find yourself in a few years walk ing around some dusty Army camp in Texas with a gold bar on your shoulder." , , Several of the officers in charge of ROTC instruction feel the program will be stronger under the voluntary plan. One of these is Lt. Col. John W. Kocher, professor of air science at the University of Oregon. "I'm quite pleased with the switch from the compulsory to the voluntary program," Kocher said. "To me, it had become apparent that we would be better off with an elective than with a compulsory program." Col. Louis D. Farnsworth, professor of military aid air sci ence at Oregon, believes it will take two or three years to get the program into full swing under the voluntary system. "We've had excellent support from the university adminis tration," he said. President Arthur S. Flemming has encouraged advisers to inform all freshmen of the details of the ROTC program, so the student will know what his choices are. Army Capt. Wellington J. Gotschall, assistant professor of military science at the University of Oregon, feels freshmen and sophomores who enrolled this year are in ROTC because they are really interested. Officers don't have to work with hundreds who are in the classroom only because they have to be, he said. And now there won't be such a sharp difference in enroll ment between the sophomore and junior classes. This was the big dropout point before, when sophomores had finished their compulsory service. Men must; qualify for the advanced program, however, so there will be a drop, even under the voluntary plan. "About onc-tourth o the freshman class will graduate with commissions," Gotschall predicted. Army Col. Donald C. Landon, professor of military science at Oregon State, is less optimistic about the voluntary system. "Under the old program," ho said, "you had a lot of people on campus in uniform. Now, students may feel some what hositant about going in ROTC, since not everyone is doing II." His experience has been, Landon said, that many students entered flOTC with the idea they wouldn't like it. Then, after a few months, they became interested, and went on into the advanced program, often becoming honor students. Air Force Col. William E. Boyd, professor of air science at OSU, thinks the voluntary program will have many advantages. "This year we got 35 to 40 per cent of the number we had before," he said. OSU has an advantage for the Air Force, Boyd said, be cause "We have the type of engineering students here we want." He added, "I'm not concerned about how many we're going to put in the pipeline at the end. I think it will be at least as many as before, and it may double." Both Colonel Boyd and Colonel Kocher noted that the en tire Air Force ROTC program may soon be revised to a two year scholarship plan. All cadets admitted would receive substantial financial aid. The program would begin in the Junior year. Oregon Stale has Naval ROTC, but the Navy was not as strongly affected as the Army and Air Force by the change from compulsory to voluntary ROTC. Cmdr. A. V. H. Bacon, acting commanding officer of the OSU Naval program, said there were fewer applicants for the Navy's contract program this year, which differs from the regular program. The rcgulnr program is for a limited number of qualified students, who have their expenses paid, and who go into the Navy as regular officers. The contract program is roughly equivalent to the Army and Air Force programs, and produces reserve officers. This year, Bncon said, tho contract program quota was 70, nd there wcro 80 applicants. Of these, 37 wore enrolled. The quota is seldom filled, ho said, but last year, when all male students had to tako somo form of ROTC, the Navy had 122 applicants which meant a wider choice. The officers agree that a great deal will depend on the campus atmosphere. If ROTC is successful in creating a posi tive image, tho program should continue to produce well quali fied officers for the Army, Air Force and Navy. FILM s StPECllAL!; GET A FREE PEN 5 h With your first order for film finishing, we will send 5 you a lovely Aristocrat pen ot no extra charge. Take ; advantage of this get-acquainted offer now. You'll like our extra fast service and the high quality work I : done in our new, modern film finishing laboratory. L . . 01r postage is paid both ways. Send for SAVE. 1 'rr' matltnK kit, stamped envelopes and I price list today. Fast 4-24-hour in-lab service. FAST FOTO Cadets Say ROTC Qood Training Boi 528X, Eugrn John D. Jamieson, student Brigade commander for the University of Oregon Army ROTC, is now thinking of be coming a career Army officer. But when be was a freshman, the military life was far from his mind. Jamieson, 21-year-old senior from Mt. Vernon, Wash., said last week, "I don't think I would have gone into it if it had not been compulsory. It didn't en ter my mind." Another student, Raleigh Darr, 10, a freshman from Springfield, is in a different po sition. He entered ROTC this year because he wanted to this is the first year that men fresh men and sophomores have not been required to take the course. "I have to go Into the service anyway," Darr said. "As an of ficer, I will have that much more pay, and that much more rating." Darr said he was favorably iris: Darr Jamieson impressed with the ROTC train ing he had received even the drill periods. "Drill is all right," he said. "You learn quite a little." Although Darr himself is mili tary conscious, he doesn't think this attitude is widespread among men of his age. "I don't believe most of them have thought too much about it," he said. Jamieson, although he went into ROTC because it was com pulsory, soon became interested in military subjects. When he was a sophomore, he decided to enter the advanced program. And his interest grew as he con tinued to study. "After going to summer camp," he said, "I got a new outlook on military life. Now I'm considering it as a ct-;er." As a student officer, Jamie son likes the voluntary program. He has been favorably im pressed with the new students entering the program. "They're better quality," he said. "They want to learn. When it was compulsory, many of them had no desire to learn." Unions Authorized ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia W Ethiopians for the first time will be permitted to organize trade unions under an order of Emperor Haile Selassie pub lished in the official gazette. 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