MILITARY WILL GET RECRUITING HELP

Lawmakers hope to even the playing field for military recruiters by requiring schools to provide them with student information or risk losing federal educational funding.

According to the Military Recruiter Access Enhancement Act of 2000, the effects of the strongest economy in 40 years, the lowest unemployment rate since the establishment of an all-volunteer military and a declining propensity on the part of American youth to serve are all challenges to successful recruiting.

To improve the military's ability to compete with private sector employers and colleges, universities and trade schools for access to students, any school that receives federal funding will be required to provide addresses and other personal information to recruiters beginning next summer.

Failure to comply could mean six-figure funding losses for some local schools.

Deanna Beasley, whose son, Mike, is currently attempting to enlist in the Army, believes improved access will allow recruiters to explain the educational, travel and other opportunities the military can provide.

"I wish I would have had more information when I was in high school, because they offer so much that people just don't hear about," said Deanna Beasley, who lives in St. Mary, Mo. "The education they offer is really outstanding."

Face-to-face meetings

Pat Bratton, a guidance counselor at Central High for 13 years, said she usually allows recruiters to meet with students who have expressed an interest in their agencies, whether the agencies are military branches or a specific college or trade school.

She said she was unsure how many schools would disregard the new law or how students who have not expressed an interest in the military would receive recruitment efforts.

"It will depend a lot on the recruiter and how they use the information they receive," Bratton said.

According to the recruitment act, nearly one-fourth of all high schools nationwide denied military recruiters access to student information in 2000.

In 1999, there were nearly 20,000 denials of access to the four military branches.

Sgt. 1st Class Joe Weams, a local U.S. Army recruiter, wasn't surprised by the findings. Weams said he believes many school officials consider the military a "second-class citizen" in terms of opportunities it can offer students. The two groups should work together, he said, especially when the military often encourages recruits to continue their education by providing financial incentives.

"We have so many outside factors working against us," he said. "One thing I often hear from counselors is how they are rated on how many kids they send to college. Well, I'm putting them in college. They could be on the streets."

Helping kids decide

Weams said improved access to students also helps recruiters to reach students who are undecided about their future or uncertain how to contact recruiters.

"We know that things change in people's lives usually every 90 days or so," he said. "I've found there are young men and women who plan to go into the Army but will not call us. They want us to call them. This allows us to do that."

Naval recruiter Al Cornwell also has seen access to students limited in some area schools. Denying military recruiters the opportunity to speak with students inside schools as well as in their homes limits students' chances of making informed decisions about the future, he said.

"The lists are just a small portion of what access really is," said Cornwell. "Some schools are in the frame of mind the military is not for my kids.' That mentality is what prevents students from really finding out what the military can do."