StrikeOne Strikes Out

Letter to the Editor

I would like to take this opportunity to respond to some of the comments recently made by the group known as Strike One. More specifically the comments about military recruitment, military based funding of research and the university's apparent lack of position on these and other matters.

During my four years at UConn I have only talked to a recruiter for any military entity once, and that was during a campus activity fair where I initiated that conversation. I mention this because Strike One's comments seem to imply that these recruiters harass students here at UConn. Yet I have never been harassed by military recruiters, and the only people I have been harassed by are those who disagree with my choice to eat meat or not join PIRG. Strike One's comments seem to say that recruiting for the military is "abusive or contrary to common decency or morality." Maybe it's the fact that I come from a family who has lived here since before the United States of America existed, but I sure do not see service to one country as outside of common decency or morality.

Strike One has also made clear that it is against the university's acceptance of funding for research from companies that create technologies that have military applications. I will be the first to admit that throughout history, militaries, our own included, have not always used technology for the betterment of mankind. However, this does not mean all technologies that have been used in the military are evil. Strike One seems to forget the concept of "Tactical to Practical," where many, and if not most, technologies developed for military applications will at some point translate into civilian applications. How often do people fly non-stop across the country in pressurized airplanes, or find their way through the wilderness with a GPS unit? These and many other tools and techniques we use in everyday life were tested and refined in the stress of combat, and I am even willing to say that it is likely that the tents in Strike One's Tent City, in some way or another, owe their existence to military testing and research.

Strike One's belief that the university should take a stand against the continued operations in Iraq and other related issues greatly defeats the ideal groups such as Strike One should be promoting. Were the university to take a set position, be it in either direction, it would alienate large groups of students and create an environment in which the views of some are seen as inferior. I doubt that Strike One and its members want a situation such as this to arise, yet their continued requests for the University to take a position in these matters seem to contradict this.

The views stated by Strike One, though well within their rights of expression, should not be seen as the views of the entire student population, and I hereby ask the university to maintain neutrality in these issues, as it is impossible for there to be a single viewpoint that best represents the interests of ALL students here on campus.

-Jared Nuss