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With Major Protests Imminent, Military Recruiters Withdraw from UCSC Job Fair
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 18, 2007
April 18, 2007
With Major Protests Imminent, Military Recruiters Withdraw from UCSC Job Fair
Student Success Marks Third Year of Preventing Recruitment
Santa Cruz, CA – With hundreds of students expected to protest, U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps recruiters withdrew from the April 24th Last Chance Job Fair at UC Santa Cruz yesterday. Student protests have made UCSC an increasingly ineffective site of military recruitment for almost three years. This withdrawal represents a victory towards stopping war and militarism.
On Tuesday, April 24th, Students Against War (SAW) will be hosting a rally at Baytree Plaza beginning at 10 am in celebration of this victory. Joined by members of Iraq Vets Against the War (IVAW), the rally and subsequent actions will demonstrate the student body’s continued opposition to war and will further the campaign to untangle the University of California from military-related research, nuclear weapons production, and the other aspects of what might be termed ‘the war machine.’
The UCSC administration claims that U.S. Marine Corps recruiters withdrew from participation in the April 24th job fair because they were “over booked.” This explanation seems unlikely for several reasons:
1) With the U.S. Marines consistently missing their recruitment goals, and a severe shortage of troops, it seems illogical that they would forgo access to a campus of 15,000 students.
2) The U.S. Army withdrew from the event on the same day as the Marines without providing a reason. Were they “over booked” too? Not likely.
3) Having had this event on their calendar for over two months, the military did not withdraw until a week prior to the event, shortly after publicity began for a protest hundreds of students were expected to attend. The recruiters had to forfeit their registration fee.
4) On Monday, student government leaders sent a letter of concern to administrators, noting that the protest was expected to be one of the largest in recent memory and expressing concern that military recruiters’ presence would inhibit students’ access to the job fair. Recruiters withdrew the next day.
As the military loses more troops overseas and our generation refuses to take their place, UCSC’s success can be seen as a model for how communities can directly resist war without relying on the corrupt political process. Although the law prevents schools from banning recruiters outright, UCSC students, through massive protests, have effectively prevented recruiters from operating on campus for nearly three years.
“We’ve upheld our community’s values of tolerance and nonviolence despite federal attempts to impose militarism on our daily lives,” said third year student Natalie MacIntyre. “If every school prevented recruitment, if every port stopped shipping weapons, if every community refused to accept war profiteers as neighbors, war would be impossible.”
On April 5, 2005, Students Against War organized over 300 students to successfully kick military recruiters out of a campus job fair, landing the group on a Pentagon spy list as a “credible threat.” On October 18, 2005, SAW held a Queer Kiss-In that effectively prevented the military’s ability to recruit. April 11, 2006, the next visit by the military to a campus job fair, also saw military recruiters kicked off campus by hundreds of students. Due to concerns of protests, this year’s job fair, originally scheduled for January 31 was cancelled. April 24’s job fair would have been the recruiters’ first visit to campus this year. With this latest success, UCSC has effectively been military-recruitment free for almost three years.
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Does this mean that others can now restrict your freedom of assembly and speech when they disagree with it as well? Or does the standard for suppressing free speech only apply to those you don't agree with?
"Free Speech" Versus the Military
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/01/15/18347029.php
Members of the military have never had the right to free speech. Believe it or not, this isn't because of student protesters. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), enlistees are specifically denied their 1st Amendment Rights. Take Lt. Ehren Watada, an Army officer opposed to the war in Iraq, for example. He's currently being court-martialled for "making public remarks disparaging his chain of command," i.e. saying that he believes Bush lied to us and the war in Iraq is illegal. He could get up to 6 years in prison for a mere 4 speeches made in public.
When the military comes to UCSC for recruitment purposes, they are coming as representatives of the U.S. Armed Forces, and, by extension, the U.S. government. They are here to enlist bodies for the U.S. to wage war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. They aren't here to engage in philosophical debates. When protesters disrupt military recruiters' activities, it is not "free speech" we are challenging, but their actions. Interfering with military recruitment (through education, direct action, and other tactics) is a strategy to end war - a way in which we try to save the lives of all those harmed by militarism. If our generation (both within and outside the military) refuses to fight, and if recruiters are consistently unable to meet their quotas, the government will be unable to continue their misadventures overseas.
We have a responsibility to listen to what folks in the military have been saying, especially those who risk punishment for speaking out, but we do not have to allow the military (and the government) to do whatever they please. Recruitment is not a statement by an individual, but an action by the government. Interfering with this action may land us in jail, but we believe our attempts are morally just.
The Bill of Rights, including our right to "free speech," was enacted to ensure our protection from the government, not the government's protection from the people. With a 4 billion dollar recruitment budget, the government has an unprecedented ability to convince people to join the military. Their misleading ads are all over TV, radio, the Internet, and billboards, and their recruiters are in almost every school in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and now even Tijuana. You couldn't buy a bigger bullhorn.
Anti-war activists have always fought alongside soldiers in their demands for rewriting the UCMJ to ensure "free speech" and other rights in the military - but that doesn't mean we'll allow the government and the military to use our money, our families, and our communities to cause injustice.
We were saddened that the job fair was unnecessarily cancelled. We need jobs as much as other students do. But rather than blame it on largely nonviolent protests that have almost always ensured student access to non-military jobs, we should be looking at the institution that continues to force itself on a community that does not want it.
Student protesters at UCSC come from a long lineage of defenders of freedom. We are the political descendents of those who were imprisoned for speaking out against World War I. We are living the legacy of those who refused deployment to Vietnam. We've been spied on by the Pentagon, we've been arrested by the cops, and we've been consistently mischaracterized in the corporate press, but we'll continue to do as those before us did - stand up for a freedom rooted in justice for all people.
----
The above was also published as an op-ed in the Santa Cruz Sentinel on Sunday, January 15, 2007.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/01/15/18347029.php
Members of the military have never had the right to free speech. Believe it or not, this isn't because of student protesters. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), enlistees are specifically denied their 1st Amendment Rights. Take Lt. Ehren Watada, an Army officer opposed to the war in Iraq, for example. He's currently being court-martialled for "making public remarks disparaging his chain of command," i.e. saying that he believes Bush lied to us and the war in Iraq is illegal. He could get up to 6 years in prison for a mere 4 speeches made in public.
When the military comes to UCSC for recruitment purposes, they are coming as representatives of the U.S. Armed Forces, and, by extension, the U.S. government. They are here to enlist bodies for the U.S. to wage war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. They aren't here to engage in philosophical debates. When protesters disrupt military recruiters' activities, it is not "free speech" we are challenging, but their actions. Interfering with military recruitment (through education, direct action, and other tactics) is a strategy to end war - a way in which we try to save the lives of all those harmed by militarism. If our generation (both within and outside the military) refuses to fight, and if recruiters are consistently unable to meet their quotas, the government will be unable to continue their misadventures overseas.
We have a responsibility to listen to what folks in the military have been saying, especially those who risk punishment for speaking out, but we do not have to allow the military (and the government) to do whatever they please. Recruitment is not a statement by an individual, but an action by the government. Interfering with this action may land us in jail, but we believe our attempts are morally just.
The Bill of Rights, including our right to "free speech," was enacted to ensure our protection from the government, not the government's protection from the people. With a 4 billion dollar recruitment budget, the government has an unprecedented ability to convince people to join the military. Their misleading ads are all over TV, radio, the Internet, and billboards, and their recruiters are in almost every school in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and now even Tijuana. You couldn't buy a bigger bullhorn.
Anti-war activists have always fought alongside soldiers in their demands for rewriting the UCMJ to ensure "free speech" and other rights in the military - but that doesn't mean we'll allow the government and the military to use our money, our families, and our communities to cause injustice.
We were saddened that the job fair was unnecessarily cancelled. We need jobs as much as other students do. But rather than blame it on largely nonviolent protests that have almost always ensured student access to non-military jobs, we should be looking at the institution that continues to force itself on a community that does not want it.
Student protesters at UCSC come from a long lineage of defenders of freedom. We are the political descendents of those who were imprisoned for speaking out against World War I. We are living the legacy of those who refused deployment to Vietnam. We've been spied on by the Pentagon, we've been arrested by the cops, and we've been consistently mischaracterized in the corporate press, but we'll continue to do as those before us did - stand up for a freedom rooted in justice for all people.
----
The above was also published as an op-ed in the Santa Cruz Sentinel on Sunday, January 15, 2007.
Quit your bitchin. There is no comparison between the free speech of individuals and the "free speech" of the government. What SAW and others did to kick recruiters off campus is an important part of making change for longer than this country has been around. It's called direct action. Look it up.
The photo used for the April 18, 2007 center column blurb on SC-IMC was taken by Bob Fitch on April 11, 2006.
MILITARY RECRUITERS OUT AT UCSC AFTER SAW'S THIRD STRIKE
http://indybay.org/newsitems/2006/04/11/18147881.php
MILITARY RECRUITERS OUT AT UCSC AFTER SAW'S THIRD STRIKE
http://indybay.org/newsitems/2006/04/11/18147881.php
Way to go SAW. Thanks to your ongoing anti-recruiment efforts in an all volunteer military,the ranks of our military forces are dwindling, which will eventually leave them no other choice but to reinstate the draft. Good job. Be proud of yourselves. Oh, you forgot to mention that other members of the government will still be at the career fair and did not withdraw. Good luck on trying to get them to leave too!!
Hey,
at cal state east bay we are planning a protest as well at our job fair on april 25th.
anyone interested please come and show support, there will be arrests
at cal state east bay we are planning a protest as well at our job fair on april 25th.
anyone interested please come and show support, there will be arrests
This is such a beautiful thing. I'm currently attending CSU East Bay in Hayward (just up the road from UCSC!) and WE'RE having our annual "Last Chance" Job Fair next week. Anyone from UCSC willing to take the hour drive up here to help us demonstrate?? The five or six active members in our club are pretty pissed about recruiters on our campus, but it would be wonderful to have some unity.
If you are reading this and go to UCSC, PLEASE contact me to come out and support us in achieving the same on our campus!
<3
If you are reading this and go to UCSC, PLEASE contact me to come out and support us in achieving the same on our campus!
<3
3 years...awesome
Reason #4, presented in this article states that Student Government leaders submitted letters to the Administration, and the next day the military withdrew from the Fair. Thank goodness that student action really does get stuff done. I am, however, still very concerned that the Administration (apparently) had some involvement in the cancellation. Why am I concerned? Perhaps I want the Administration to forbid recruitment on campus. It seems like they encouraged, or at least allowed, recruitment until students spoke out against it.
For more information:
http://resoundingpeace.blogspot.com
They aren't operating in their capacity as an individual, however.
Furthermore, suggesting that the government, which represents the people has no right to free speech is just plain silly, so we'll ignore that on obvious grounds.
We could then delve into the fact that the UC system is funded primarily by tax payers, and not by students,so the idea that it's "our" university so we can make anyone who doesn't think like us shut up doesn't hold much water either.
But ultimately, it's just stupid. Like when the regents came to speak and were denied their freedom of expression and movement by a vocal minority. That did an excellent job of highlighing a group of people who should be ignored and not taken seriously.
Ultimately, regardless of legality - There isn't much freedom when your tactic is to deny the other person their ability to speak freely. Who do you think believes that shouting down military recruiters is a really amazing and intelligent thing, and gosh, I certainly didn't agree with them before, but since they came in and disrupted a job fair, they must really be taken seriously!
Furthermore, suggesting that the government, which represents the people has no right to free speech is just plain silly, so we'll ignore that on obvious grounds.
We could then delve into the fact that the UC system is funded primarily by tax payers, and not by students,so the idea that it's "our" university so we can make anyone who doesn't think like us shut up doesn't hold much water either.
But ultimately, it's just stupid. Like when the regents came to speak and were denied their freedom of expression and movement by a vocal minority. That did an excellent job of highlighing a group of people who should be ignored and not taken seriously.
Ultimately, regardless of legality - There isn't much freedom when your tactic is to deny the other person their ability to speak freely. Who do you think believes that shouting down military recruiters is a really amazing and intelligent thing, and gosh, I certainly didn't agree with them before, but since they came in and disrupted a job fair, they must really be taken seriously!
April 20, 2007
To: Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Fr: Barbara Bedford, Career Center Director
Re: Last Chance Job and Internship Fair
This is the final notice regarding the Last Chance Job & Internship Fair.
This is your last chance to meet with over 90 employers in one location.
Mark your calendar for Tuesday, April 24, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the
University Center at Colleges 9 and 10.
Some employers have cancelled since the last job fair notice was
distributed. Included on the cancellation list are:
* USMC Officer Programs
* US Army Health Professions Scholarships
* Lumbermens
* Childcare Careers
For an updated list of participating employers, please review the list at:
http://www2.ucsc.edu/careers/events/lcfair.html
For additional information, please contact Jan Carmichael at 459-5107 or
send email to:
fairs [at] ucsc.edu
To: Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Fr: Barbara Bedford, Career Center Director
Re: Last Chance Job and Internship Fair
This is the final notice regarding the Last Chance Job & Internship Fair.
This is your last chance to meet with over 90 employers in one location.
Mark your calendar for Tuesday, April 24, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the
University Center at Colleges 9 and 10.
Some employers have cancelled since the last job fair notice was
distributed. Included on the cancellation list are:
* USMC Officer Programs
* US Army Health Professions Scholarships
* Lumbermens
* Childcare Careers
For an updated list of participating employers, please review the list at:
http://www2.ucsc.edu/careers/events/lcfair.html
For additional information, please contact Jan Carmichael at 459-5107 or
send email to:
fairs [at] ucsc.edu
Greetings from Canada,
I was heartened to see that UCSC students were successful in preventing the U.S. armed forces recruiters from coming to the job fair. Forty years ago, when I was a student at UCSC, a group of us prevented them from coming on campus to recruit fodder for the Vietnam War. Later, my finance got drafted (despite his student deferment) and we fled to Canada. Bravo to all who stayed and went underground; we organized war resisters in Vancouver and fought for amnesty for draft dodgers and deserters after the liberation of Saigon. While I am sad that war continues as the scourge of humanity, I am buoyed by the new generation of anti-war resisters. The struggle continues!
S. Cano
North Vancouver, BC
I was heartened to see that UCSC students were successful in preventing the U.S. armed forces recruiters from coming to the job fair. Forty years ago, when I was a student at UCSC, a group of us prevented them from coming on campus to recruit fodder for the Vietnam War. Later, my finance got drafted (despite his student deferment) and we fled to Canada. Bravo to all who stayed and went underground; we organized war resisters in Vancouver and fought for amnesty for draft dodgers and deserters after the liberation of Saigon. While I am sad that war continues as the scourge of humanity, I am buoyed by the new generation of anti-war resisters. The struggle continues!
S. Cano
North Vancouver, BC
With Major Protests Imminent, Military Recruiters Withdraw from UCSC Job fair
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=862
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=862
Doesnt UCSC agree to allow military recruiters as part of the required procedure for accepting Pell grants and other government funding of education?
TINSTAAFL - There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (Robert Heinlen)
Will the university begin refunding grant money to the US taxpayers? Will students stop accepting Pell grants?
It's like listening to the radio and complaining that commercials should go away. Who do you think pays for the transmitter, FCC licenses, studio, staff, phones, and power so that you can listen to the radio for free? We sure dont. The advertisers do.
TINSTAAFL - There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (Robert Heinlen)
Will the university begin refunding grant money to the US taxpayers? Will students stop accepting Pell grants?
It's like listening to the radio and complaining that commercials should go away. Who do you think pays for the transmitter, FCC licenses, studio, staff, phones, and power so that you can listen to the radio for free? We sure dont. The advertisers do.
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