Banks and military recruiters don't belong on campus
Natasha Sanders
Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: Opinion
The banks and the military, two things students just love to be greeted with while struggling to get to class on time.
Both promise a sense of security; of your country, of your money, of your country's money.
Both like to use appealing hooks to reel you in: a free I-pod for your signature. Or you can travel to different places in the world, if you sign on the dotted line.
That is all fine and dandy, but what lies behind the glitter, cool free stuff is what is in the fine print, it is what turns the scribbles some call a signature, into legally binding evidence of consent.
Now the following scenario is not the majority of cases, but perhaps it still rings true to far too many people.
Imagine Johnny walking towards class. Johnny is in a terrible and all too familiar predicament.
Johnny just got laid off because of the horrible economic downturn with the banks on the brink of collapsing, and the job market on a slippery slope.
Here is poor Johnny worried about bills, gas, school and his lack of income.
Johnny is here trying to get an education that he can barely afford.
Johnny feels as if he has no more options left. No one is hiring, everyone is in the process of lay-off and pay cuts.
But have no fear!
There was a booth set up for him right outside his class, providing all of the answers that Johnny wants to hear.
It just seems like an interesting coincidence that when we are in the middle of a war.
All of the jobs just seem to vanish.
All of the able-bodied young ones with no experience in the work-force or a higher education or a specific trade that they have mastered, are struggling to compete in a cut-throat job market.
This specific and vulnerable group must find a way to survive in these troubling times.
And the military is at their service. Until Johnny signs up, then he is at their service.
Bluntly put with emotions aside, it is almost like a harvest.
Both promise a sense of security; of your country, of your money, of your country's money.
Both like to use appealing hooks to reel you in: a free I-pod for your signature. Or you can travel to different places in the world, if you sign on the dotted line.
That is all fine and dandy, but what lies behind the glitter, cool free stuff is what is in the fine print, it is what turns the scribbles some call a signature, into legally binding evidence of consent.
Now the following scenario is not the majority of cases, but perhaps it still rings true to far too many people.
Imagine Johnny walking towards class. Johnny is in a terrible and all too familiar predicament.
Johnny just got laid off because of the horrible economic downturn with the banks on the brink of collapsing, and the job market on a slippery slope.
Here is poor Johnny worried about bills, gas, school and his lack of income.
Johnny is here trying to get an education that he can barely afford.
Johnny feels as if he has no more options left. No one is hiring, everyone is in the process of lay-off and pay cuts.
But have no fear!
There was a booth set up for him right outside his class, providing all of the answers that Johnny wants to hear.
It just seems like an interesting coincidence that when we are in the middle of a war.
All of the jobs just seem to vanish.
All of the able-bodied young ones with no experience in the work-force or a higher education or a specific trade that they have mastered, are struggling to compete in a cut-throat job market.
This specific and vulnerable group must find a way to survive in these troubling times.
And the military is at their service. Until Johnny signs up, then he is at their service.
Bluntly put with emotions aside, it is almost like a harvest.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Yvette Lessard
posted 4/16/09 @ 6:40 PM PST
I remember writing about military recruitment back in high school, and recently read a SacBee article describing one of the recruitment events at Sheldon. (Continued…)
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