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Getting an education while serving your country is a noble aspiration. But is it a realistic one? Some students enlisting in the military for financial aid toward education are finding they forgot to read the fine print upon filing their signature away with the Department of Defense. Texas Army National Guard 2nd Lt. Jeff Karl, a senior manufacturing engineer major at MSU, saw joining the armed forces as a reasonable way to pay for college. He realizes now it may not be the answer for everyone. “I had no other means to pay for an education,” Karl said. “The initial reason I chose to go active was for college expenses. But for those people who join only to get school paid for are joining for the wrong reason and may end up like many who did not have a solid idea of why they were joining in the first place.” The military advertises the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB), the Army and Navy College Fund and tuition assistance programs as incentives to recruit potential personnel. Many would otherwise be full-time students working part-time jobs, growing tired of living from paycheck to paycheck. Still, enlisting in the military is more than some bargained for. “With the Montgomery GI Bill, you still have to support yourself and work part-time jobs to pay for your necessities after leaving the military,” said Dominic Case, a seaman apprentice in the U.S. Navy. “And if you want to complete college courses while serving, you’re going to have to sacrifice sleep to do it. And people barely have time to sleep in the military as it is.” Active duty members who complete their obligated time of service can be eligible for, but not guaranteed, the MGIB. Often they assume that four years of active service will provide them with the freedom to attend school at least part-time while they are in the military and finish what is left of their degree on a full-time basis once their time is done. “When I joined the Navy, I thought to myself, this will be a great opportunity to get some college out of the way while getting paid and serving my country,” said undergraduate Justin Lester, petty officer 3rd class in the U.S. Navy. “My recruiters assured me that this would be the case as well. They and I could not have been more wrong.” During his four-year enlistment, he has only been able to complete two courses. “That was at the sacrifice of many, many hours of sleep, not to mention the piles of work I had to put on the back burner,” Lester said. As a personnel manager, he works in an office environment, actually one of the less-demanding jobs in the Navy, but still has little to no time for attending college. “If they’re wanting to be a Marine with a college education, they need to step up to the task,” said Stephen R. Graham, staff sergeant recruiter for the U.S. Marines. “You can work a 12-hour shift in the military just like you can in civilian life and get a college degree at the same time. I don’t know anywhere that will give you money to be physically fit, go to college, and give you tuition assistance to sit on your can.” Many options exist for completing college course work while actively serving in the military, Graham said. “On the ship, especially the carriers for instance, we have Internet access out at sea now. Then when we go on our six-month deployment, they actually send a college instructor out,” Graham said. The ways to complete those degrees are not as easily accessible as it may seem, Lester said. Courses by Internet are not reliable because the Internet isn’t always available when you’re out at sea for months at a time and college instructors are only sent if enough personnel want to take classes. Plus, many of the credits, usually two-hour credits, are not transferable to public universities. “Different schools accept different credits,” Graham said. “The University of Phoenix online offers a lot of opportunities.” Benefits under the MGIB are on a contribution-basis only. One must contribute $100 each month during his or her first year of active service to receive benefits. The military’s educational benefits are based on a 36-month payment plan that must be used within 10 years from the discharge date. “The award is not based on a dollar amount; it is based on time,” said Jennie Jones, assistant to the registrar. “Half-time enrollment benefits are $450 per full month of half-time enrollment or $900 for full-time. They must complete their degree in 36 months if enrolled full-time or 72 months if enrolled half-time.” The Army and Navy College Fund is not as highly publicized as the MGIB, and far fewer enlistees are eligible for the greater-paying fund, which offers up to $50,000 toward education. Eligibility requirements depend upon a person’s ASVAB test scores and the job field one is in. A person could also turn to the tuition assistance program, which pays up to $3,500 per fiscal year, depending on which branch the person is enlisted in, according to the Department of Defense. “If you’ve got a full ride to go to school, that’s a good route to go,” said Senior Airman Joe White, a graduate student in political science. “If not, you might want to consider the military. It’s more of a backup in case you can’t get aid from any other source.”
A green door
promises security to all women who go through it. It opens only
from the inside. Above and to the right of it, a camera watches
your every move. Ring the doorbell and a voice asks how he may
help. You’ve just entered First Step, a shelter which has been
helping battered women in Wichita Falls for 25 years. It houses
up to 35 women and is open 24 hours a day with a 24-hour confidential
hotline. Manager Diane Tillis is concerned about the number of
women come through those doors. But what troubles her even more
is the number who never enter. According to RAINN (Rape Abuse
Incest National Network), one out of every six American women
has been the victim of an attempted rape. “Ninety percent (of
rape cases) go unreported, 10 percent get reported but only 5
percent of those actually go to trial,” said Xochitl Pruit, a
counselor at First Step. Though there is no marked reason as to
why the unreported numbers seem to be so high, the views of society
weigh heavy upon the victims. “Fear, denial, shame and guilt are
the main reasons,” Pruit said. “Women think, ‘What are people
going to say about me?’” According to Pruit, First Step tries
to humanize the circumstances because, in many cases, the courts
have become desensitized. At First Step, the victims are set up
with an advocate who gives them counseling and support. The advocate
guides the victim through the legal process, which involves the
district attorney’s office. “In all, it’s a painful process for
the victim,” Assistant District Attorney Rick Muller said. The
district attorney’s office deals with rape on a more technical
and legal level, unlike First Step which is more concerned with
the emotional effects the victim suffers. According to Tillis,
about 5 percent of its guests have been MSU students and many
more call the hotline. Though First Step aids many victims of
rape, statistics show that many more rapes go unreported and those
women never get help. Most are because women are embarrassed to
report they have been violated. “Most victims feel that people
are going to look at them and blame them,” MSU Police Chief Michael
Hagy said. A recent study by the U.S. Department of Justice found
less than half of all universities and colleges have acquaintance
rape prevention and sexual assault awareness programs, and only
one fourth of all schools use investigative stages to collect
evidence after a report is made. Hagy said he is determined to
change that at MSU. “We did a better job of holding sexual assault
presentations and forums (last year) and getting the word out
that we are concerned,” Hagy said. In the spring of 2003, Hagy
is looking to have an active program, a women’s defense class
called RAD—Rape Aggressive Defense. An MSU officer will be sent
to San Antonio to be trained as an instructor for the program.
Last year, four forcible rapes were reported on campus. For a
school this size, the numbers stand out when compared to the University
of Texas, with 49,000 students, where no rapes were reported.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, nine out of 10
rapes were by people they knew and the rapes usually occurred
in the victim’s residence. “Young ladies have to understand this—if
he sexually assaulted them and they don’t step forward, then what’s
the chance of him sexually assaulting somebody else?” Hagy said.
There are many precautions for females to take to avoid being
a victim. They include having personal limits and sticking to
them, don’t drink excessive amount of alcohol, always be alert
to your surroundings and the people around you, don’t walk alone
at night, avoid areas with few people, and never leave a drink
unattended. “The victims are scared and threatened,” Pruit said.
“(Rape) is not about sex, it’s about power and control.” Story
written by Lacee Ernst, Felicia Gooch, Mark Miles, Jessica Morris,
Alexis Stoddard and Marissa Villa.
Rape_________________________________continued
from Main dream. Suddenly, she saw Brad and Steve. Everything that happened after that was a blur. She tried to push them off her but it was useless. She screamed. Soon, they had total control over her body, Brad on one side, Steve on the other. Sarah found herself helpless and in pain. She doesn’t remember much after that. Afterward, she lay in shock. On the floor, she saw used condoms. The contents of her purse had been dumped on the floor. Things were missing. She figured out the guys had stolen her house key to gain entry. Ironically, they didn’t take the $200 in her wallet. They took something far more precious. “They stole my control. They stole my pride,” she said. “They wanted power over someone who was powerless.” Sarah phoned a friend’s mother and went to the hospital. Her mother, brother and sister came later. It was a hard thing for her family to deal with. No charges have been filed at this time. The information is scheduled to be presented to a Wichita County grand jury soon. Sarah obtained a 30-day protective order. She quit her job and never entered her apartment again. Her parents moved all of ther things out, and she moved in with them. For a while, she shut herself out from the rest of the world, and left her house only to attend classes at MSU. Soon after the assault, Sarah’s car was broken into. A fingerprint connected Steve to the act, she said. DNA tests also came back. suggesting Steve and Brad were the rapists. However, the detective in charge of the case told Sarah there is only one proof on DNA. Earlier she had been told their DNA connected both men. “It’s been a year and a half and nothing has been done,” Sarah lamented. Sarah said she calls the detective on a regular basis. She said he tells her he can’t just focus on her case because there are other more important cases. Dozens of messages left with the detective’s supervisor were never returned. “The police told me I shouldn’t have gotten in the car with the two guys,” Sarah said. Sarah said she has been told that after two years if nothing is done, then the case will be dropped. Physical evidence may link the men to Sarah’s rape, but she said most people think it’s their word against hers. One of Sarah’s friends said he was at a party shortly after the rape and heard Steve bragging to somebody about what he and Brad did not only do it to Sarah, but two other girls. Sarah went to First Step, a shelter for battered women and a counseling center for rape victims. She started keeping a journal. In it, she reveals her most inner feelings. Meanwhile, Sarah is trying to move on with her life. She has her own apartment and a social life again. She harbors a strong sense of hatred toward Steve and Brad, and believes she will for the rest of her life. Every day, she thinks about what happened. “I wanted their mom to cry like my mom,” Sarah said, tears rolling down her eyes. “I have never had feelings of wanting to hurt someone. Now, I really don’t care if they die.”
Pains
of on-campus human research an ethical debate
The success of “Fear Factor” shows how nothing is more fascinating than pain to some people. That’s why many grin madly and ask, “Does it hurt?” when introduced to the idea of human experimentation being done at MSU. It’s not a secret, and it does exist. Bruce Banner, commonly known as the Incredible Hulk, might be seen running through the halls of Bolin screaming, “Me big, me green, me angry!” before a crafty geology student throws a rock at him. That’s a glamorized view of human testing when gone unchecked. In reality, the faculty of MSU cannot stress enough the importance of conducting human research in a safe and ethical manner. Lon Kilgore, associate professor of kinesiology, is chairman of the Human Subjects in Research Committee, a group of representatives from all the colleges at MSU which is charged with ensuring the safety and legality of any experiment involving humans. “Any class or person that performs research on a human subject must have their project reviewed and approved by the Human Subjects in Research Committee prior to beginning a study,” Kilgore said. “We are a relatively focused group made to insure that these experiments meet federal regulations and that the rights of the participating subjects are protected.” The majority of proposed experiments typically come from graduate courses and research-based theses, but the subject matter represents any imaginable field studied at MSU. Past studies have examined frequency of observed behaviors, attitudes, business data, performance on tests, sensation data, respiratory function, work capacity, immune function data and hormonal data to name a few. According to Pamela Stephens, assistant professor of biology, a study was recently approved to determine how hard a final examination is if made by a student as opposed to a professor. Also on the horizon is a study on the performance benefits of a brand-new Gatorade product soon to hit the market. Actual human involvement ranges from filling out questionnaires to volunteering tissue for a muscle biopsy, but even the simple experiments demand a high level of scrutiny by the committee members. “We act as a source of guidance for faculty and students who may not know what ethical standards they may be violating,” said Beverly Stiles, assistant professor of sociology. “If we don’t build research on a sound ethical design, then we are causing harm to the scientific community with our misconduct.” What constitutes as crossing the line? The “Bellmont Report” is the principle document outlining what is acceptable in terms of human experimentation. The two main ideas expressed are “obtain prior, voluntary consent” and “cause no harm,” both of which are priorities with the committee. “Participation is entirely voluntary and subjects can stop being a subject at anytime,” Kilgore said. “In larger-funded projects, there may be some payment if the researcher perceives that monetary reward is the only way to recruit and retain subjects. These usually require lots of time and present a higher risk of discomfort.” It is made clear that risk will always be involved in research. The question “does it hurt?” can be answered with “sometimes.” With any medical research performed, potential levels of discomfort can be guaranteed; drawing blood and obtaining tissue for a biopsy can be unsettling but not necessarily harmful. The idea of psychological harm is often overlooked in this discussion. According to Stiles, a recent study done in the sociology department observed the effects that reality TV programs have on stress levels when viewed with movies of a similar nature. The stress levels did not appear to be at a traumatic level, but would this have been an ethical experiment if a more disturbing set of images was used? This type of question is the center of debate amongst the committee members. “Having experts from each college present to explain the details of the project and how it relates to acceptable standards of care and professional ethics within that discipline is invaluable,” Kilgore said. “What sounds like an absolutely horrendous procedure to have done on a subject to one person may actually be a fairly harmless treatment.” The sensitive nature of many experiments makes the issue of subject confidentiality a priority when examining possible projects, especially considering the amount of research that is published in national academic journals. “Every proposal is evaluated for the care the researcher has taken to preserve the confidentiality of the human subjects involved,” Kilgore said. “We can’t release any information that can be traced back to an individual because in some instances it can be very damaging.” These points of conflict help strengthen the main purpose of human research, which is to develop the skills of the students and faculty involved. “We are trying to develop students who can think and solve problems independently,” Kilgore said. “If we can’t produce students who can do that, they will never make it in the professional world.” Jacqueline Cuevas, associate professor of psychology, teaches an experimental psychology class in which students develop experiments similar to ones being used professionally. These experiments are often minute and boring, but learning the method is crucial to future success. “One student evaluated a group’s reaction to pictures of women in traditional roles such as teachers and nurses as opposed to pictures of women in modern roles such as lawyers and doctors,” Cuevas said. “Both men and women preferred the pictures with higher standard jobs; a shift in thought patterns was discovered.” Learning research methods is a must, but it is also necessary for students to understand possible ethical dilemmas and recognize the importance of organizations such as the Human Subjects in Research Committee. “We recognize that there has been mistreatment of research participants and we realize the gross violation of human rights that occurred in Nazi Germany and even in the United States,” Stiles said. “Students must realize that even with strict federal regulations, the ethical choices lie with the individual.”
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