ROTC wrong choice for UMBC students

Gee...how absolutely horrible it must be to be forced to live in a country that you so obviously hate.

Why not allow the student the choice...much as you would support a female student's "right" to kill her unborn baby? I guess "diversity" is a hollow word.

Military training, particularly ROTC training, offers the opportunity to learn self discipline, the ability to work with others, and leadership skills...highly sought after attributes in today's business world.

You may not support the war, or any war. That is your right, and congratulations for exercising it.

But some students that you encounter may have a different view, and they should be allowed to explore that without undue interference from their instructors.

Isn't that what higher education is about?

Douger I don't you have ever been to UMBC. Basically this proposal would have been voted down in flames by the students.
Anti-american heck anti-everything sentiment runs rampant on the campus of UMBC. If the Army is allowed to setup on campus I would guarantee protests in the Fall. And in the end UMBC must protect itself from looking bad, its a business the threat of losing money would heavily influence the decision either way.

Why is it your right to determine what can and cannot be done on campus? ROTC is a laudable program for many students. Nobody is forced to take ROTC, so where is the problem? Universities are "supposed" to be a place of higher education where people of different backgrounds, experiences, goals come together to learn with/from one another. To deny those who wish to attend college with the ultimate goal of protecting our country flies in the face of what higher education is all about.

It's time to grow up and realize that you and your personal views are not the center of the universe. Obviously you have not passed the lesson of learning to respect differing opinions.

Mr. Sinnegin obviously is opposed to the Iraq war, as am I. But there is a significant difference between being opposed to the political decision to go to war in Iraq, and the vital need for this country to be prepared to defend itself in general. Our need to defend this Country will continue long after the war in Iraq and the tenure of King George come to an end.

The ROTC program is an excellent channel for men and women to bridge the connection between education and their service to our country. No one is suggesting that students be required to take ROTC. Why then do so many oppose student participation in the program? Could it be that the writer and those of his ilk believe their intellect so superior that their opinion should be given more weight than the liberty of the students to choose for themselves whether to participate in the program? Given enough time, that attitude would in fact eliminate the need for the rotc program. That's because, given enough time, that attitude would destroy the Liberty that the rotc program was created to protect. I'll take liberty of eletist paternalism any day.

UMBC Alumni wrote:

Why is it your right to determine what can and cannot be done on campus? ROTC is a laudable program for many students. Nobody is forced to take ROTC, so where is the problem? Universities are "supposed" to be a place of higher education where people of different backgrounds, experiences, goals come together to learn with/from one another. To deny those who wish to attend college with the ultimate goal of protecting our country flies in the face of what higher education is all about.
It's time to grow up and realize that you and your personal views are not the center of the universe. Obviously you have not passed the lesson of learning to respect differing opinions.

Exactly

UMBC Alumni wrote:

Why is it your right to determine what can and cannot be done on campus? ROTC is a laudable program for many students. Nobody is forced to take ROTC, so where is the problem? Universities are "supposed" to be a place of higher education where people of different backgrounds, experiences, goals come together to learn with/from one another. To deny those who wish to attend college with the ultimate goal of protecting our country flies in the face of what higher education is all about.
It's time to grow up and realize that you and your personal views are not the center of the universe. Obviously you have not passed the lesson of learning to respect differing opinions.

Pretty much sums up my feelings.

I'm a liberal and probably wouldn't be classified as stupid, though I might disagree with you sometimes. I could think of a lot of individual conservatives that I might be inclined to call stupid, but I have met some pretty smart ones as well.

Sir, are you really against your students' freedom to choose to join ROTC?

Take away those student deferments and reinstitute the draft , then you you'll find the little punks supporting ROTC as well as a strong and well paid military.

Mr. Sinnigen's comments are well responded to in the earlier inputs. What bothers me more than his myopic view that he is ready to impose in a university setting is the fact that we have such narrow-minded people on the faculty of an institution of higher learning -- state supported at that. His conclusion that offering an ROTC program to students, on a voluntary basis, means the university will "end up with blood on their hands" is offensive in the extreme. When we (the US) decided 35 years ago to eliminate the draft, I clearly recall that one of the points made at the time was that we will see a slow but steady increase in the number of public officials and people in responsible positions who have little if any knowledge of anything about the military. We're certainly seeing that bird come home to roost as it relates to the US Congress. That may be OK in Sweden or Switzerland but the US still says a lot about wanting to be the leader of the western world and not just another nation in decline. And, like it or not, that requires a formidable defense force. ROTC does a lot to support that necessity but it also does a lot more. Many of its' grads do not pursue a military career but do prosper from much of what they learned in ROTC about leadership and working with other people. Broadly speaking, that sounds a lot like 'education', something Mr. Sinnigen should actually support -- given his supping at the public trough.

irishpat wrote:

Take away those student deferments and reinstitute the draft , then you you'll find the little punks supporting ROTC as well as a strong and well paid military.

maybe we can revoke Cheney's six deferments

It is always interesting to see how academics and other liberals seem to think that their ideas and thoughts are so superior to others and to listen to them howl like injured puppies when someone disagrees.
Joining a ROTC unit today is VOLUNTARY. Some people choose to volunteer in inner city schools, some to join the military and some sit it out. In a true diverse academic setting, students should be allowed and encouraged to pursue their own reasoned choices. These may not be the choices of their professors, but that is not a decision for the professors to make.
I hope the University President has the wisdom and courage to treat his students on both sides of this issue with the respect they deserve. It is time fore liberals to understand they do not have a monopoly on thought and give those that opposed them the respect they deserve.

I think the professor should stick to Spanish.

You sir, are a blithering idiot...

It has always been my observation that our institutions of higher learning are all about choice and free speech. They seem to draw the line at what they consider opposite opinions of their view. ROTC has long been a sore subject on college campuses since before the Vietnam war and has in fact been kicked off of many campuses. Why are liberals so quick to encourage the military to allow homosexuals to serve, but want to deny that right to their students?
Many students want and need the funding the ROTC program offers and should be allowed to exercise that right if they choose to do so.

The fact that an individual responsible for molding the minds of American youth would make the following narrow-minded statement regarding the Iraq war, "While most of the country is trying to find a way out of that disaster, Mr. Hrabowski and Mr. Johnson seem to want to support it." is the most disturbing part for me. If this guy can't even see past the current Iraqi conflict in order to determine the potential positive impact of this program, he should have no contact with impressionable minds.
I hope Mr. Hrabowski does the prudent thing and checks this guys resume to ensure it is legitimate.

Typical of liberal one sided teachers we have now in our schools. HE is the one to decide what a student should do? BULL. I bet he is a lousy spanish teacher also. He is filling our kids head with mush and needs to be watched.

smegmen can be replaced by a computer disk, probably with better results.

"Douger I don't you have ever been to UMBC.", from former UMBC student Wow! some edgeukashun you got dere, pal surprised you even have an opinion on anything.

God bless the ROTC. My money says that students will benefit more from the ROTC program than they will from a intercultural communication class. But to each his own. Let the program come aboard. My guess is that no student will be forced to participate. On the other hand, due to curriculum requirements most colleges have, in addition to scheduling limitations, I bet some students will be forced to take Prof. Sinnegan's intercultural comm class. Oh no! I'd rather be in Iraq!!

WHAT ? A mistake for UMBC to have ROTC ? Thats a joke !! The mistake would be not having a ROTC Program there..you want to live in a free world..where the sun shine's everyday...everyone gets along sooo well..that you feel there's no need for a "Military " program to build our future Military Leaders who will protect your "perfect little lives"......in your "perfect little world where no bad things can touch your perfect little lives"...wake up..we live in some very dangerous times !!