Semper Fi Favorite 

The motivation for this action came
from the profound sadness felt at seeing a Marine Recruitment booth in
the middle of our campus on an otherwise pleasant day in September.
Legally we have no choice, but it seems antithetical to the stated
mission of the university, and to all we, as an institution, are
praised for among our communities. Though one could argue they are
simply providing our students with more options for their future, a
recruiter's primary goal is to remove the student as soon as possible
from this campus, or soon after graduation through the use of monetary
incentives, tales of exotic travel and adventure, promises of future
education and appeals to one's sense of patriotism.


The booth was drawing almost no attention. In the time spent
there in the morning before the performance, a few students spoke to
the recruiters, but most paid no more attention to them than to the
other student-run booths nearby. Their presence there was a shocking
reminder of the thousands of people, Iraqi's, Americans, completely
innocent children, being utterly destroyed, emotionally and physically,
by a war for oil and strategic positioning in the Middle East. There
seemed to be a need to call attention to the recruiters' presence, with
the hope that somebody might think about war...this war, all wars, and
the carnage and death they require. Some wars may be necessary or just,
but this "front line in the War on Terror" is a disgrace to us all. The
function of this action was to encourage thought and discussion on the
nature of war, on our general complacency, and on our ability to speak
up and out if we want to. The recruiters themselves and others that
volunteer their service to our country were not the subject of the
protest or of the critique.


Several sources (GCSU faculty, staff and students) say it is
rumored that the Reaper was a student, a former student, a local
unassociated with the university, a professor, etc. There is great
benefit in these rumors, because it might occur to anyone hearing them
that they too could participate in peaceful actions of resistance or
support of things they care about, regardless of their "station,"
background, or position.


Always Faithful,



GR

"Wherever Death is Present, and Underrepresented"