THE BATTALK
Monday, July 5, 2004
NEWS IN BRIEF
Bush: U.S. is safer
with Saddam in prison
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -
Defending the war in Iraq, President
Bush said on Independence Day
that America is safer because
Saddam Hussein is in a prison cell.
“Our immediate task in battle-
fronts like Iraq and Afghanistan
and elsewhere is to capture or kill
the terrorists ... so we do not have
to face them here at home," Bush
told a cheering crowd outside the
West Virginia Capitol. An enthusi
astic audience estimated by state
capitol police at 6,500 people wav
ing American flags chanted, “Four
more years.”
Regarding Saddam, the deposed
Iraqi president, Bush said:
“Because we acted, the dictator,
the brutal tyrant, is sitting in a
prison cell."
Two Bush opponents, taken out
of the crowd in restraints by
police, said they were told they
couldn’t be there because they
were wearing shirts that said they
opposed the president.
Israeli helicopters
strike Gaza Strip
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israeli
attack helicopters fired three mis
siles Sunday at a Palestinian metal
workshop in the Jebaliya refugee
camp, north of Gaza City, witness
es said. Medics said three people
were treated for minor injuries.
Three more missiles were fired in
a separate attack on another metal
workshop in Gaza City. Hospital
staff said three bystanders were
wounded, none critically. The same
building was the target of an air
strike June 29, the day after a
Palestinian rocket attack killed two
Israelis in the border town of Sderot.
The blast from the Sunday night
Gaza City strike also knocked out a
nearby electric transformer, plung
ing part of the city into darkness,
residents said.
The Israeli army said Sunday’s
raids were against targets used by the
militant Islamic Hamas group “and
other terror organizations" to manu
facture rockets and other weapons.
Rwandans share
pain, hope on 10th
anniversary of genocide
KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) —
Thousands of genocide survivors,
soldiers, former rebels and farmers
gathered at the national stadium for
a somber ceremony Sunday mark
ing the 10th anniversary since the
fall of the extremist government that
led Rwanda's 1994 genocide.
Through poems and speeches,
Rwandans recalled deep wounds
but also took stock of how far the
country had come since the dark
days of the slaughter.
“Our past was shaped by bad
leadership that promoted discrimi
nation. That is over,” President
Paul Kagame told the assembled
crowd in the Amahoro Stadium,
where thousands of Tutsis sought
refuge during the genocide.
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Young ‘millennials* showin
signs of interest in voting
By Martha Irvine
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VERONA, Wis. —They’ve gotten pregnant less often than teens
of recent decades, are less likely to smoke or do illegal drugs, and
have an interest in volunteering and public service.
Now signs are cropping up that the nation’s youngest young
presidential race since 1972, when the voting age was dropped to'j
in which turnout among the youngest voters topped 50 percent
He agrees that the war in Iraq — and how it will affect their lit
— is causing many teens to take notice. He also credits the
voting campaigns that target young people, including one
headed by MTV.
Still others say teachers have helped inspired them
adults are bucking another trend: They’re
taking an interest in voting.
“It’s important to us. What happens in
this election is going to affect our genera
tion,” says 18-year-old Katie Brew, who
filled out a registration form shortly before
graduating from Verona High School, just
outside Madison.
About to head to the University of
Nebraska for her freshman year, Brew is
most worried about the potential for a draft.
Others say the threat of terrorism and the
Iraq and Afghanistan wars have motivated
them to get involved.
“We’ve been through things like 9-11 and
the war on Iraq — all that junk. So we want
to have a say,” says 18-year-old Mia
Georgeson, another newly registered voter
from Verona High who’s about to join the
National Guard Aimy band as a percussionist.
Recent surveys of youth — most often
college students — have provided conflict
ing data about the level of interest in the
upcoming presidential election.
Still, several experts who track youth
movements believe change is afoot, particu
larly among “millennials,” young adults
bom after 1981 who are coming of age in the
new millennium. Now no older than 22, they
represent millions of potential new voters.
Michael Wood, vice president of
Teenage Research Unlimited, says the elec
tion has been coming up frequently — and
spontaneously — during his talks with
Youngest voters
In 2000
m of h
shle had
Since 1972, when the voting
age was lowered to 18, 1992
was the only presidential
election year in which turnout
among the youngest voters
topped 50 percent.
Percentage of population age
18-24 that voted in presidential
elections since 1972
60 percent
SOURCE: Center for Information & AP
Research on Civic Learning & Engagement
young people who serve as advisers for the Illinois-based market
research company.
“I haven’t seen this much interest since 1992,” Wood says, refer
ring to the first presidential election Bill Clinton won. It was the only
That was the case for Dan Blessinj,
recent high school graduate in Philadelpl—
who took action after a teacher explaiiJ ls ^. to
how young people have been increasing;_ iss
less likely to vote. | } saic
“It really did hit me then,” says Blesw°' n § to
who registered via an education pro^-p rne( ^ * 1C
called Student Voices. He and fellow il
dents at the High School for CreativeiP-
Performing Arts then had a pizza partvl
persuade their peers to do the same.
In Wisconsin alone, the nonpartiJ
New Voters Project has already registerl
more than 8,000 teens, including BrtJ
Georgeson and dozens of other gradu:
seniors at Verona High School.
Caught during their final assembly,
heard an enthusiastic pitch from 23-y
old Jessy Tolkan, the New Voters Projec;
Wisconsin coordinator.
“Before you go off into the world!
high school graduates, you can do one
ly critical, important thing — you can
ister to vote!” Tolkan shouted.
The suggestion drew just a sin|
“Woo!” from the back of the auditorium
hardly a rousing response.
But in a matter of minutes, nearly halfij
the 310 Verona seniors registered andfilkj
out cards that say “YES! I pledge tow
on Nov. 2, 2004.” They also provided
mail addresses and cell phone numbers!
they could be reminded to vote this fall.
Several other students said thej
already registered.
“It’s all part of a rising political tide,” says Scott Beale, a 28-yei
old who interviewed hundreds of young people for his
“Millennial Manifesto,” a look at youth interest in politics,activi^
and voting.
Penatagon’s recall of veterans to duty
doesn’t merit renewed draft, senator says
By William C. Mann
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is
forcing thousands of discharged sol
diers back into the military, but that
does not mean the United States needs
to reinstate the draft, the chairman of
the Senate Armed Services Committee
said Sunday.
“I can tell you the all-volunteer forces
worked” when former President Nixon
ended conscription during the Vietnam
War, said Sen. John Warner, who was
Nixon’s secretary of the Navy in 1973.
Opposition to perceived inequities of
the draft spawned much of the early
opposition to that war, due largely to
deferments that exempted students and
some draft-eligible men with political
connections.
“We cannot bring back a draft now
and make some young men and women
go into uniform and not bring in a whole
lot of others to do different tasks,” said
Warner, R-Va., on NBC’s “Meet the
Press.”
The cost of benefits would be prohibi
tive, he said.
What has brought up the question
again is the Pentagon’s order last week to
recall to active duty 5,674 members of
the Individual Ready Reserve, soldiers
who have served specified tours of duty
but have years remaining in their enlist
ment contracts.
After that announcement. Rep. Rick
Larsen, D-Wash., a member of the House
Armed Services Committee, said, “If there
was any doubt that this administration was
conducting a pseudo-draft, this call-up
should dispel that doubt.”
Democratic presidential candidate
John Kerry has made similar complaints
about the administration’s use of Reserves
and National Guardsmen and a device
called “stop loss,” which prevents sol
diers from leaving when their obligations
end. “They have effectively used a stop-
loss policy as a backdoor draft,” Kerry
said last month.
Chief among administration opponents
of a draft has been Defense Secretary
Donald H. Rumsfeld.
In January 2003, three months before
U.S. troops invaded Iraq, Rumsfeld
strongly opposed legislation by Rep.
Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., to abolish the
Selective Service System and establish a
system in which all Americans and legal
permanent residents, age 18 to 26, would
be subject to compulsory military or alter-
for it at all,'
native civilian service.
“There is no need
Rumsfeld said.
He said draftees were of “no value,m
advantage” to the military because the;
served for such short periods of time. Hi
later apologized to veterans after Rangel
and other Democrats criticized his dial
acterization.
Millions of Americans have served
compulsory military service during U.Si
history. Under the Selective Service lam[
men still have to register within a montho!;
their 18th birthday.
Warner said the problem with ret
statement of the draft is that it quickh
would become “one of the most enoif
mously expensive programs, where we'r:
giving the GI Bill to military people am!
to those who are brought in to perform
other tasks.”
Expanding the benefits of the GI Bill
which helped with housing, medical ami
educational expenses, to civilians force:
into national service would be only
he said.
“You just can’t go out and equitabl)
grab 5 percent of the young people am
force them into uniform without makinj
all of the young people begin to do some
thing comparable,” he said.
Robert Ros
cle at his sh
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UNT rejects 38 percent of tenure candidate £er
DENTON, Texas (AP) — The University of
North Texas rejected 38 percent of its tenure can
didates this spring, more than any other major
state university.
The university’s rejection rate topped Texas
A&M University, which approved all its candi
dates this year, and the University of
Texas at Austin, which rejected 25
percent of its candidates.
Tenure gives college professors a
lifetime guarantee of employment
without fear of reprisal for speaking
and researching controversial topics.
Anita Levy, an official with the
American Association of University
Professors, said she was surprised at
UNT’s rejection rate.
“We are certainly concerned
when we see a great number of
denials at a university,” Levy in
Sunday’s edition of the Denton
Record-Chronicle.
We are ceitainjy
concerned when
we see a great
number of denials
at a university.
year, and denied only two of 33 candidates!
year before.
The rejections devastated some faculty me||
hers who must find jobs before their contractsal WASHI
terminated next May. l>ciation,t
“When you’re being told that you’re on Crat JohnK
right track each year, that you '| i ts cairq
doing everything you should IFP 6 the h
doing, and more, and thenabrai
new provost turns you down, we|
something is wrong with t
said Jacqueline Lambiase, am
tant professor of journalism j
UNT and one of the professoj
denied tenure.
Texas A&M typically
New UNT provost Howard C. Johnson said the
school faced a large number of tenure candidates for
its size. President Norval Pohl said the denials could
be a result of university administrators enforcing
standards more aggressively than in the past.
David Kesterson, Johnson’s predecessor, did
not deny any of the 25 candidates for tenure last
tenure to up to 5 percent of can: ^ ^
. , dates, while the University-
American AssociaUorf of Texas denies up to 25 percent,.) an/lach
University Professors official cia| s said. s ° advanc
It would be very unusual lot lying bom
to tell 40 percent of the faculty‘n Although
to tenure at the point where they have submit 1 ' Ives with i
packages,” said Karan Watson, Texas A<0 ^sedaRei
Dean of Faculties and Associate Provost. “If®* of every
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erything
hoolvou
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ing state
djoining
political
Kerry, wl
saw a large number of faculty being denied ah
point, we would worry about the quality oftfl
toring these faculty were given to prepare thet
consideration for tenure.”
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