Page 4--The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 7, 1991 Wbe £1rb41un 1Baitg s1 I l (e 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 Edited and Managed by Students at the University of Michigan ANDREW GOTTESMAN Editor in Chief STEPHEN HENDERSON DANIEL POUX Opinion Editors 4 1" . ' y 51K K-g i NIL c Clout _ / ' + { IE M3JGIi ALr ICY T , tN p B I ' Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily. Women in the war Armed forces must open combat roles to female soldiers T he war in the Gulf took an ominous turn last week, when American POWs turned up on Iraqi television. After an Iraqi claim to have a woman GI in captivity was confirmed by the Pentagon, the debate over what role women should play inthe military was once again brought to light. It is disheartening to learn that Americans of either sex have been takenpris- oner, but such news .. . should not weaken the . push for gender parity in the military. The U.S. military must begin to treat men and women as equals -including plac .. ing women in combat roles. Currently, women are barred from three divi- sions of the U.S. mili- tary: cannon artillery, ar- mor, and infantry. The military cites physical, notmental reasons for this exclusion. Lt. Colonel William Gregor of the University Reserve Offi- cer Training Corps Air Force Capt. Sharon (ROTC)office explained medical evacuation uni that the decision is a mat- Why are women prohib ter of physical strength. roles in the U.S. Armed Women are on the average less fit then men at their peak age, according to Gregor, and the disparity between the sexes gets progressively larger. To restrictAmerican women in the armed forces from certain roles based on averages is incredibly short-sighted. The military currently screens all recruits upon their enlistment to insure that they are mentally and physically qualified for combat. Extending combat roles to include women would only broaden the pool of physically-fit soldiers to .choose from. Until recently, the Israeli army placed ; - .. ~ s---" c r /i/ r c' t'j W ti _ __ ,' -- _. o 0 r' ' J i r "C i , F , x i I 5 . . + i ", Ct r _ t women in combat roles; these women performed as well as their male counterparts in combat. This restriction will have a profound effect on the thousands of American women fighting in Operation Desert Storm. When the Gulf conflict ends, many soldiers who performed well in combat will be rewarded with medals and promotions. Because women are barred from combat, they are excluded from much of the praise, and black- balled from the pay in- creases, prestige, and benefits that accompany those advancements. Surprisingly, many Americans - both men and women - are op- posed to women joining men on the front lines. Some fear that women's sense of compassion will interfere with their abil- ity to follow orders; oth- ers claim that allowing women to serve in com- AP PhOo bat will interfere with the enbright is a nurse in a male bonding that makes ationed in Saudi Arabia. a unit successful. These d from assuming combat arguments are rooted in ces? ignorance and fear, and ~~U5T . Arg t St ited for should be disregarded. It is obvious that the armed forces' exclusion of women from combat roles is based on nothing but outdated traditions, much like the segregation of minority enlistees during the two world wars. If we are really fighting for the "preservation of democracy" in the Gulf, then we would do well to practice what we preach. Women as well as men should be allowed to "be all they can be" in our armed forces. POWs Hussein, allied coalition must protect prisoners and civilians Don't blame ROTC To the Daily: I would like to make a factual correction to Mary Ann Hinton's comments in the Daily article, "People of Color Sponsor Teach- In" (2/1/91) in which she blames the University and the Reserve' Officer Training Corps (ROTC) for the disproportionate number of people of color in the military. She said, "Students, who would otherwise be unable to afford, college, can continue their, education through ROTC scholar- ships." I am not certain how scholar- ships are administered for other branches of the armed services, but I can tell you, based on my experiences, that U.S. Air Force ROTC scholarships are merit- based, and have absolutely nothing to do with individual or family income levels, or skin color, for that matter. I would guess that the other services have similar policies with regard to ROTC scholarships. ROTC scholarships are not necessarily or primarily for those "unable to afford college." Those choosing to accept Air Force ROTC scholarships are required to maintain certain academic, physical, an moral standards while in colne, and are required to serve'in the Force follow- ing graduation for _ing periods of time, depending on the job they qualify for in the Air Force. Ray Hunter Colonel (ret.), U.S. Air Force Who do we elect? To the Daily: In recent years, we at the University have often decried the judgement of we the people as voters. While the voters of countries in Latin America and Eastern Europe elect their poets, their fiction writers, and their dramatists to lead their nations, we the people of the United States elect former movie stars and former oil company executives. Yesterday, I witnessed the reason why. The occasion was the Underclassmen Hopwood Awards Ceremony, with a reading by the writer Bharati Mukherjee. The reading was splendid, the audi- ence appreciative; however, as soon as Ms. Mukherjee finished, most of the audience rose and departed, leaving these young writers to receive their prizes nearly alone. Suddenly, I was reminded of high school, where each autumn Friday we gathered in the gymnasium for the rally support- ing our warrior sport - the one with offense and defense, with territory won and lost, the one with casualties and doctors, and an ambulance parked in the end zone, where the artists, the musicians, the actors, the creators, also performed and spoke and wrote and thought, always without pep rallies, and always nearly alone. But the University is different from high school. Here, these days, we rally again - and rightfully so - to protest war. But I must ask: can we mean what we say - that we oppose war, if we don't live to support peace? And surely, if that means anything, it means to honor, support, and encourage our young writers. We need to do this, for them, yes; but writers, even such young ones, are independent and self- reliant individuals. So, we need to do this for ourselves - for our own spirits. We at the University need to live peace; we need to be people who honor our artists, who support and encourage our youn If we are not, then what can we expect when we the people elect men who take us into war? Gilda Povo LSA English Lectur Don'Vt, lik what. you see? Tell our readers what you think. Write to the Michigan Daily at 420 Maynard Street, or send your letters via MTS to "Michigan Daily." A r lg rer J .: M L ast week the American people were given their first glimpse of one of war's inevitable casual- ties: the prisoners of war (POWs), subjected to the hardships and anxietes of prison as a reward for putting their lives on the line. The American media circus - which rarely misses a beat - took advantage of this development to highlight Iraq's= shameful treatment of the U.N. coaliton prisoners. Seven Allied aviators were "interviewed" on Iraqi television and then repeatedly shown on American television with swollen faces, glazed eyes, and severe facial abrasions. Now, according to Saddam Hussein, they are being used as human shields to protect various military targets in Iraq. Both actions represent clear violations of the Geneva Conventions, to which Iraq is a signatory. The guidelines stipulate that POWs must be pro- tected against acts of violence or intimidation, and prohibits their captors from using physical ormen- tal torture. The conventions also prohibit the use of POWs as human shields. To the extent that war can. be defined within rules - a rather dubious concept - Hussein has clearly violated the existing guide- lines. But while it is appropriate to condemn Hussein's actions, the urge to demonize both him and his country does not justify the media's consistent refusal to criticize the allied coalition for its own violations. The coaltion's initial blockade of Iraq also violated the convention's guidelines, which ex- plicitly state that all civilians must have access to food and medical supplies. Bush allowed neither: into Iraq and browbeat countries like Jordan that objected to his attempt to starve a population into submission. Nobody likes to see people tortured, and nobody condones it. But while we must always condemn such behavior, we must also be consistent - recognizing that both sides are committing human rights abuses. We can only hope that both sides in this conflict will show some compassion, both for the captured allied flyers who are now innocent bystanders, and the people of Iraq, who have been suffering since the August invasion of Kuwait. The Edu.0. ;a ' sicIKt _r '.I .. 'I *1 rte- a+9,, y IV) rov ol ' }i:4:": .;:"{.::{: :v:":''":"X":";? {"::: Y :::: ...:.: :. :..y.}, 4, ,v.>"}":}?v.,r..tia";}Yf .v}'{r,.; "J: {. Y:"'i.?fi: Y..,::-:v:":":::"::'r::br:"':;aJ.:??? ::,yy '1v v:? 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JyJ: a!. ?: ;.{?;:'.". .,.} ':}: nYr,"L... f" .,";" ."{:}. .}'":.;:?:{{h$":;:3v:": {? :":":::"::":":":>.??{?"Y"': ::r:4:? : : :":"i:":":3:?J.};{."rJ.;.;.;;{:;:" "'1. :"'{:;. : :..;: r.".,.,{."""i{.};:"}::vfi:???: v 1::":?:;i.::"Y '2""t J??v:?" s:JJ:?":."F:%r ": }::. ,.;vr,"f:::.":.v."." ": "::. ::.":?J:".".":rX::w.'r::v: r.?;?: {;r?"g?:.: }SYogr,{.;?"'";?a1-;''"y; f?':ti:Kti:w"r :ti:::,'ti:?:tii::$ti:-:{;:r i 53; .....,.'-L.:?.::;:.:-?:::: ?52: ?+ : 5"hy~::fi'{ti:.:":.T'r.'2'rr'qtr:l7:ti}.?. ::":G;:::![::k::::"R}.:;::+:::'r,:{::!:;'r,'i;{:-.t.:tx;:v:. r . . r... r:::.;, .{.. The abortio While the war in the Gulf is foremost on most students' minds, there is another war being quietly waged at home against women's reproductive rights. Two re- cent events do not bode well for the future of unrestricted abortion in the state of Michigan. The inau- guration of Gov. John Engler and the new ini- in/my view by Jennifer Knoll n war rages tions in this state. This regulation made an abortion a legal medical option unavailable to poor women, a group that already has little access to birth control alternatives. And in 1990, the Michigan Leg- islature passed a stringent parental consent law, requiring any woman under 18 seeking an abortion to obtain the permission of her parents or judicialapproval.Gov.Blanchard vetoed this bill, but pro-life groups collected 300,000 signatures, forc- ing a statewide referendum. The parental consent legislation passed and will be activated March 27. Under the new parental consent law, a teen not wishing to inform her parents must go to the county on at home pushing for a mandatory 24-hour waiting period for a woman sched- uling an abortion, during which time the woman would be required to review literature on abortion alter- natives. Women living in rural areas and depressed neighborhoods will have to make repeated trips to far-away abortion clinics. The decision to have an abortion can be difficult, and once a woman makes up her mind, she should not be forced to endure guilt- and embarrassment- producing propaganda from pro- lifers. The state pro-choice movement depended upon Gov. Blanchard to veto anti-choice legislation.but now Nuts and Bolts WAS 00 DOYOU NAVE TO 5ISWAOT NUTS AND) oTSTg (THE INNOpC.ENT WI Li N-AVE Th4NE AYSj PLUCE at )C F T v a, M41RE STUFF' ON FRUNFY AMP 't}n KSUS By Judd Winick GOT AN OPINION?I L.-r VUS KNO.. ' rP n SAL- I