Video: Students protest military recruiters
Recruiters from Rochester Institute of Technology's Army ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) set up a recruiting station at Finger Lakes Community College on Monday, but it wasn't a welcome sight to some students who staged a protest throughout the two-hour visit.
"I don't support the government trying to glorify war," said Amanda Mengel, 20, a liberal-arts major who sat on the floor across the hall from the recruiter table.
"They talk it up all the time," she said of the recruiters' message about the perks of joining ROTC. "But it is not the whole truth."
Mengel and other students said they didn't object to recruiters being able to come on campus. But they thought a different viewpoint should be presented at the same time.
Nick Levasseur, 19, a liberal-arts major, said he has a friend who went to war thinking he was doing something positive and patriotic. But his friend had to kill in the line of duty and came back "a broken man," said Levasseur.
Brett Tornow, 19, a conservation major, said he is proud of his mother's efforts protesting the Vietnam War. She was arrested near her southern California home when she and others blockaded a Navy ship, he said.
"I try to keep up family tradition," he said. "People need to hear the other side."
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<param name="wmode" value="transparent" />width="425" height="355" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LbT-nCbkaBorel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent"></embed></object> But there wasn't any need for police or arrests at Monday's peaceful protest. Recruiter Chris LaForest said he didn't mind the students hanging out nearby, some with signs protesting the Iraq war and use of military might. "They are voicing their concerns," he said. The college allows recruiters to come just once a semester, said LaForest, and it's not unusual for the event to catch the attention of FLCC students - as well as those at other colleges. He said in addition to the protesters, his table attracted just as many - 20 or so - students who wanted to learn about the program. One was Mara Moulden-Budd, 29, who is earning a double major in science and massage therapy. Moulden-Budd said she served in Iraq as a reservist and wanted to find out about becoming an officer through Army ROTC. She said she also opposes the war, but supports the military. "These people might be under-educated," she said of the protesters. She said the military requires following orders, even by those who personally disagree with those orders. "I don't support the war," she said. "But hopefully we'll get a Democratic president and the war will be over soon." <em>Contact Julie Sherwood at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 263, or at jsherwood@mpnewspapers.com.