MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
KUROTC cadets train for situations in enemy territory
By Caleb Nothwehr
cnothewhr@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Dressed in battle fatigues, 19 Air Force ROTC cadets rotated small mirrors, reflecting the sun's rays skyward. Minutes later, two A-10 attack jets swooped to altitudes of about 500 feet and then circled the cadets.
The jets were guided to the area by the cadets as part of a survival-training exercise Friday and Saturday at Coyote's Head pastures near Clinton Lake.
Administrators of the training said these exercises gave the students a hands-on experience. This was the first year that ROTC cadets at KU participated in such an exercise.
The exercise trained cadets how to survive if their planes ever crashed in enemy territory.
"This can give them a better experience than showing a video or reading out of a textbook," said Col. Michael Lee, commander of the KU Air Force ROTC.
Airmen from Whiteman Air Force Base in Knob Knoster, Mo., helped administer the training. Using their own experience, members of the Survival Evasion Resistance Escape (SERE) force at Whiteman imparted training and tactics to ROTC cadets.
"These are skills that they can pass on to their family." Master Sgt. Cecil Del Rosario said. "It's common sense stuff."
"Having never eaten corned beef hash before, I'd say it's pretty good," said Cadet Rodney Wall, Jacksonville, Fla., freshman while shoveling forkills of MRE during the lunch break Friday.
Throughout the weekend, participating cadets learned basic survival skills, including how to make a fire, how to navigate using the sun or stars, and how to survive off of Meals Ready to Eat, the military's standard issue meal-in-a-bag.
Cadets also learned to navigate rescue teams by communicating to the A-10 pilots via radio.
Officials at Whiteman provided most of the personnel and
supplies for the training, including the MREs and the A-10s.
On Saturday, the cadets put their training into practice through a survival challenge, a four-leg navigation exercise. During one leg, cadets had to evade SERE officials who acted as the enemy.
Cadet Keith Knoesel, St. Louis senior, said the evasion training was educational and suspenseful.
John Nowak/Kansan
Air Force ROTC cadets use mirrors to signal ally aircraft during a training session Friday afternoon just north of Clinton Lake. Two A-10 Thunderbolt planes flew in from Whiteman Air Force base in Knob Knoster, Mo., to assist the 19 cadets who volunteered to learn rescue maneuvers and survival techniques.
"They simulated the psychological operations of the enemy," Knoesel said. "They would yell out in the woods. That really got your adrenaline going."
"They'll have to think on the spot and act as leaders," he said.
Del Rosario, who administered most of the exercises, recently returned to the U.S. after training troops in Afghanistan for the same type of situations. Del Rosario said he was teaching the cadets the basic principles of survival
Cadets who participated in the training said they were hoping to gain experience for similar situations they might encounter in the future.
"I'm shooting for a pilot slot, so I'll probably end up using this training." Wall said.
Cadet Jenny Hartman, Lansing
freshman, said she had never been camping before and was looking forward to the training.
"I wanted to learn survival
skills in case I go to flight school," Hartman said.
Edited by Ryan Malashock
Group withholds collected food from Salvation Army
By George Schulz
Kansan staff writer
geschulz.com
The Salvation Army has been rejected as the beneficiary of donated goods collected during a food drive sponsored by a student group of social workers on campus.
Citing the Salvation Army's position on same-sex orientation, The Bachelor of Social Welfare Student Organization, which began the drive Oct. 21, decided all food collected after the initial two weeks of the drive would go only to the Ballard Community Center, 708 Elm St.
The group met Nov. 8, two weeks into the drive, to make the decision.
"I feel like we have learned our lesson and know now we have to do our research before we assist agencies," Tara Corruth, Cottonwood Falls senior, said.
The group raised about $500 and collected approximately 1,000 non-perishable items during the drive, said Laura Henry, president of the social welfare student group and Fort Scott senior. The group donated 100 items to the Salvation Army, a number the students estimated to be half of the first two weeks' collection. The remaining 900 items went to
the Ballard Community Center.
Paula Gilchrist, director of social services for the Salvation Army, said the organization did not discriminate against anyone with same-sex orientation for employment or social services.
But a memo sent to the social welfare group contained the portion of the Salvation Army's position on homosexuality that the student group was opposed to.
"Scripture forbids sexual intimacy between members of the same sex," states the memo. "The Salvation Army believes, therefore, that Christians whose sexual orientation is primarily or exclusively same sex are called upon to embrace celibacy as a way of life. There is no scriptural support for same-sex unions as equal to, or as an alternatives to, heterosexual marriage."
Rich Forney, director of the Salvation Army, said the organization's position on homosexuality was the standard held for church members and clergy. But, he said, social services, including food distribution and emergency shelter, were given based on need
The memo also states that Bible scripture does not support "demeaning or mistreating anyone for reason of his or her sexual orientation."
"not race, creed, ethnic origin or sexual orientation."
"It is unfortunate that the student group has excluded the Salvation Army as a beneficiary to the food drive which could benefit many people," he said.
Nonetheless, the student group plans to stick with its decision.
Liz Snyder, Wichita senior said the group struggled with the decision and that she was more disappointed the group had not done its research before deciding what agencies would receive food donations.
Corruth said she wished the group wouldn't have had to take
the issue into consideration in the first place.
"I thinks it's sad that in Lawrence, which is supposed to be progressive, that it's a reality you have to think about these things," she said.
Henry said the ultimate decision was based largely on many of the ideas the students had learned in the University's social welfare program.
"It incorporated ethics we had learned as well as things we had learned from our teachers," she said.
Edited by Lauren Beatty and Nicole Roché
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