I want you for the US Army...again. The Armed Forces are always looking for a few good men and women. When those people become hard to find, recent news makes it seem that our protectors are turning to those who have already answered the call of duty.
James Raymond, due to graduate from UB in December, joined the Army in 2001. He served for three years in Afghanistan, and instead of being honored for his service, he's being sent back.
When he was serving near the Pakistan-Afghani border, Raymond was wounded by rocket fire. Some three years later, his leg is still recuperating and his hearing is still impaired.
In essence, Raymond is being forced to fight again as the Army has threatened to replace his honorable discharge with a dishonorable one.
Negative public sentiment for the war has called for drastic measures. It's one thing when the Army is allowing disabled veterans to serve voluntarily, which has been publicized all over the media. It's a completely different story when people like Raymond are being forced to return to action.
Arguably, after witnessing violence and being exposed to brutality, soldiers cannot return to a normal life after serving in war. Surgery can repair the body, but not the mind. People who have served before don't want to leave their reestablished lives. Sending people back who don't want to be there just subtracts from morale on the battlefield.
Local leaders, all the way from the Buffalo Control Board up to congressmen and senators, need to put a stop to this. Raymond, now a public citizen, was drafted back into service.
Apart from our government leaders, community members need to advocate for veterans. America has always had pride in their people in uniform, but over the past few years, little has been done for them after they get out.
Observing a moment of silence on Veteran's Day is no longer enough. We need to do more for our fellow Americans.
It's no longer safe on MySpace
ID system may protect younger users against cyber bullying
The vicious beating of a 16-year-old by a group of teen girls has made the rounds all over the Internet, and raised questions about the prevalence of cyber bullying. Teens as young as twelve are becoming addicted to social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook, which seem to be avenues to conflict.
Victoria Lindsay's beating stemmed from mean comments the victim left on a girl's MySpace pages. Most college-age students can ignore inflammatory remarks left in personals or on JuicyCampus.com. But mean remarks can destroy the fragile preteen psyche; a 12-year-old girl killed herself over MySpace comments, which turned out to be a hoax, according to FoxNews.com.
The six girls and two boys who perpetrated the beating are being tried as adults, according to The Associated Press. They should be punished to the fullest extent of the law for not only being stupid enough to put it on YouTube and thinking they would get away with it, but for even perpetrating the crime. These teens need to be made into an example, so it discourages this behavior in the future.
Harsh punishments, however, may not go far enough. MySpace, Facebook and other networking sites have had trouble keeping underage teens from misusing the site. Instead of preventing the problem from the start, middle schools are forced to deal with bullying, and in some cases the Web-based confrontations spilled over into real-life altercations.
To prevent bullies from finding new ways to stalk their victims, networking sites should implement a better screening system to restrict younger users. Right now, parental permission is easy to bypass.
One way to make sure users are mature enough to be on MySpace is to require a valid credit card number to set up an account. Users would not be charged, but it would be a method of identification. A valid driver's license number might be another option.
Sites like MySpace and Facebook would probably not lose too many users over the implementation of an identification system. And in the end, the small hassle of punching in a number is an easy way to prevent further conflict and violence.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
