No Butchery

THE UNIVERSITY has formally recognized the practice of awarding credit for NROTC courses taken at MIT. The majority opinion attempts to cloak the obvious significance of this act by dismissing it as a legitimization of de facto policy. But any step of this kind, no matter how small, implicitly endorses the program and brings it one step closer to campus.

Harvard is an institution whose business is truth. But courses in "military science" are not taught in the interests of mind-expansion. Instead, they are required preparation for military service. Whether or not we support our military's recent exploits, the University has no business endorsing the armed forces.

It is appalling that Harvard has chosen to sneak NROTC students down the river and give them credit, appalling that more students hoping to come here might be tempted to accept servitude in the armed forces. It is appalling most of all that the Faculty, which had the opportunity to voice its approval or disapproval, remained silent as stones in this matter of vital importance.