Articles from Draft NOtices,
October — December 2008

Free Beer and Dog Tags at Family-Oriented Conference

— Jorge Mariscal

Strolling across the convention center with her granddaughter, Dolores Huerta, whomade history with Cesar Chavez more than 40 years ago, received an occasional greeting from those who recognized her. But most of the well-dressed Latino and Latina 20- and 30-somethings hurried past her on their way to free salsa lessons sponsored by Ford or free beer provided by Miller Lite.-Full Article

A Setback for Militarism in San Diego Schools

As reported in the July-September Draft NOtices, the San Diego Unified School District announced in May that it was investigating complaints voiced by students who had been involuntarily placed in military science courses (i.e., JROTC), a violation of the California Education Code. There were also complaints about students being recruited into the program with false promises that it would help them meet college entrance requirements. There are 13 secondary schools in the district with JROTC.-Full Article

Surprise Attempt to Force Military Training into High Schools Fails — for Now

— Rick Jahnkow

On September 17, 2008, the U.S. Senate was presented with an amendment to the 2009 military authorization bill that would have forced high schools to accept military training. The amendment would have accomplished this by denying all federal funds to any school district that did not allow the various military branches to establish, maintain or operate a unit of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC). Each military branch has its own JROTC program. -Full Article