Students Protest Military Recruitment at UCSC

This is in response to the article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel Website entitled, “Activists celebrate Military-free Job Fair at UCSC.” Although I realize this article was just an account of what occurred at this year’s job fair, I must say that I do not agree with the actions taken by the Students Against War. I myself am anti-war, and do not approve of the current war in which we are in. However, this does not give me the right to try and control everyone else’s mindset, which is what I feel the Students Against War were doing by not allowing the military recruiters at this years job fair. Their position is very obvious in that they do not support the war. However, this does not mean that the entire student body feels this way. There can perhaps be students who may find an interest in learning more about our country’s armed forces and perhaps even feel like joining. The students Against War have every right to state their position, and I support them in this process. However, just because someone does not share the same ideas with the group, it does not give them the right to try and shut them down. The fact of the matter is, it is essential that our country have armed forces. Although we all want to live in a world of peace, that just isn’t going to happen any time soon. If we do not have our military, then we could be left defenseless against outside threats.