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November 11, 2005
Red Alert
by Soren Wuerth

 Winning Hearts And Minds

     The math teacher next door and I are involved in a little war.

     It began when I innocuously taped a poster on the inside of my door that offered 10 points to consider before you sign a Military Enlistment Agreement.

     The poster reminds students to do sensible things like talk with veterans, make copies of the recruitment paperwork, get promises in writing and consider “moral feelings about going to war.”

     The math teacher walked past my opened door a week ago, glanced at the poster, harrumphed and disappeared into her classroom.

     The next day I noticed black-and-yellow brochures fluttering on the strip of wall between our doors. The brochures had grainy, sepia tone images of helicopters and tanks. On one flyer, a black soldier with glasses walked on a rope. The pamphlets recommend potential recruits “rise to the challenge” and “jump start” their prospects by joining the U.S. Army.

     I went directly to my computer and printed several copies of an “opt out” form.

     When Bush and Congress conspired to foist the Every Child Left Behind Act on America’s schools, they cleverly inserted a requirement forcing high schools to hand over names and personal information of juniors and seniors to military recruiters.

     The “opt out” form allows students or parents to refuse this information. Trouble is, most kids and parents don’t know about this provision. I got my form from a Seattle teacher-activist.

     I hung these lawyerly-looking papers on the wall next to my door alongside the recruitment flyers. The return fire came a day later.

     Large laminated photos now plaster the wall surrounding the math teacher’s door. The pictures spread into the hallway and on to the side of a row of lockers. There is an image of soldier kneeling as if in prayer before a gun, a photo of a few marines in a raft trying to flip it over, and an homage to sister soldiers in Afghanistan.

     “You should add gruesome pictures of the victims of war,” a visiting friend suggested.
     I had prepared to surrender after I spoke with another teacher who told me “maybe the military is the best thing for these kids.”

     “Are there a lot of rural teachers who feel this way?”, I wondered. Do teachers who are ex-military wind up in the Bush, barking orders at young children? I have found that village schools are excessively strict, but could it be that rural districts are recruiting grounds for the armed services?

     According to the General Accounting Office, the military recruits more than 200,000 people a year and has a recruitment budget of $4 billion. The National Research Council found that the percentage of enlistees is disproportionately greater for people of color, with the exception of Hispanics, compared to their percentage of the population. White people are represented less among enlistees than in the general population. First Nation people are over-represented in the military at twice the percent of their representation in the U.S.

     The day of the barrage of enemy flyer, we heard a helicopter lower into the village. My friend was suspicious. “The math teacher could have connections to friends who arranged for helicopter tours,” he said, conspiratorially. “The Alaska National Guard does that quite often for rural schools. What kid wouldn’t be excited about joining the army after he gets to fly around in a chopper?”

     So far, the math teacher and I haven’t spoken. I thought about saying something as she walked down the hall in fluffy bunny slippers on her way to coach cheerleading, but I couldn’t muster the courage.

     Maybe I need to try boot camp.






Soren Wuerth is perhaps Alaska's best known community activist. He resides in an undisclosed location in rural Alaska and can be reached at soren@insurgent49.com.
- Columnists -

Editor's Desk
by Aaron Selbig

Red Alert
by Soren Wuerth

Alaskan In Exile
by Neil Zawicki

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Copyright 2005 Insurgent Media. All Rights Reserved.
in-sur-gent (in sur'jent), n. 1. a member of a group which revolts against the policies of its leadership.