Introduction of ROTC stirs debate

The possibility of having ROTC on campus caused quite a debate at Tuesday's Student Senate meeting.

Lieutenant Colonel Scott Bolstad, a military science instructor at UW-Stout spoke to the students about the proposed addition of ROTC to the UW-River Falls campus.

According to Bolstad, the military science classes could be added to the River Falls curriculum by the next fall. While students would not be able to get a major in the field; the possibility for a minor is still open.

Bolstad said there would be eight courses students could take, one for every semester they attend.

"The program provides students more information about the army and leadership," Bolstad said.

Following Bolstad's information about what ROTC can do for campus there was some controversy.

A petition was brought to Senate's attention that was signed by 81 students who didn't want ROTC to come to UWRF.

The reasoning for signing the petition included: the army has no place on a liberal arts campus, the army discriminates against homosexuals, 45 percent of the students who were interested in military science last spring have since lost interest, and also that the classes don't teach any job skills.

Bolstad responded to the petition and the many issues addressed, including the fact that the program has already lost interest.

"Students lose interest," Bolstad said. "That's fine. I'm going to shake their hands and tell them best of luck to you."

This issue will be discussed further and there will be a motion on it at next week's meeting.

Other Senate news

• Sarah Egerstrom from First Year Experience spoke at the meeting about the Coorperative Institutional Research Program. Incoming freshman took the CIRP Institutional Data Summary prior to their freshman year at UW-River Falls. The information given is a report of data on characteristics of all the students who will be attending. The survey provided a number of interesting factoids including nearly 75 percent of students said River Falls was their first choice. The survey also stated a number of reasons why students chose River Falls including price, location and class size.
• The motion about higher education being a right and not a privilege passed by a slim majority. According to the Senate agenda, "The Student Senate opposed any piece of legislation that would infringe upon a students ability to receive financial aid."
• Student Senate still has a few vacant positions to fill for the spring semester. Students who are interested in Senate may still apply and turn in a resume.