The Flare
Friday, March 21, 2014 Vol. 77 No. 17 Serving Kilgore College since 1936
“
For days and months on end, I had nowhere to run or no one to turn to.”
Fighting
war
a on
two
fronts DEZIRAE BURNETT • Assistant Editor
T
he words “with liberty and justice for all” conclude the pledge of allegiance, recited by hundreds nearly every day across the United States. It has become the mission of former U.S. soldier Howard D. Linson to ensure those words continue to ring true for every American no matter their ethnicity, religious views or, in his case, sexual orientation. This mission served as the driving force behind his memoir, titled The Untold Truth, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, which describes his nine-year experience serving in the Army under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy. Having grown up in a military family, Linson spent his childhood listening to stories and watching Hollywood versions of the great wars of history. He was around the age of 15 when he decided he too wanted to pursue a future in the armed forces. “I’m a big military movie guy and, at that age, I wanted to be a part of those types of covert ops missions … the way the movies portrayed [them],”Linson said. Linson joined the U.S. Army in 1998 at the age of 18. He was deployed to Iraq from 2004-2005, a time which he describes as “a livable nightmare with no end in sight.” According to Linson, his troubles began upon his first stint overseas, when fellow soldiers started accusing him of being “gay.” As the DADT policy, which was a law against homosexuals serving openly in the military, was in effect until
its repeal in 2010, Linson was forced to hide the fact that he was bisexual. He experienced daily requests of sexual favors from other male soldiers which only increased the extent of his abuse when Linson refused to give in. “As time went on, my fellow soldiers’ behaviors became more aggressive, physically and emotionally, towards me,” Linson said. “I had soldiers threaten to kill me in front of my chain of command … while some sexually harassed me verbally, and physically as well.” Throughout the entire duration of his time in Iraq, Linson was subject to such offenses. He claims that “nothing was done to prevent or stop” the continuous harassment. Linson was even told that he was to blame for the abuse, implying that he was doing something to encourage the soldiers. “For days and months on end, I had nowhere to run or no one to turn to,” Linson said. On one occasion, Linson was a part of a convoy to Tikrit, Iraq, See LINSON on Page 6
Charity Mezzell / THE FLARE
Howard D. Linson’s book is available at Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, iTunes and Amazon.
DADT HISTORY 1950 The Uniform Code of Military Harry Truman. The document outlined rules for discharge of homosexual service members. 1980 “Homosexuality is incompatible with military service.” – President Ronald Reagan, in a defense directive. 1992 Presidential candidate Bill Clinton promises to lift ban as part of his campaign. 1993 President Bill Clinton introduces the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy as a compromise. Originally set up to follow Reagan’s defense directive, the DADT policy later states that military applicants should not be asked about sexual orientation. 1994 Colonel Grethe Cammermyer is reinstated into the National Guard by the federal court. She served openly until her retirement in 1997. 2003
Pete Souza / COURTESY OF THE WHITE HOUSE
stating that the statutory requirements for repeal of DADT (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell) have been met, in the Oval Liaison; Kathleen Hartnett, Associate Counsel to the President; Secretary of Defense
Former President Bill Clinton calls for an end to DADT. 2006 Supreme Court upholds DADT. The 2008 Presidential candidate Barack Obama
campaigns to fully repeal the law. 2010 On Dec. 18 Senate votes 65-31 to repeal the law completely, ending the 17-year ban on openly gay service members.
core beginning Fall ’14 ASHLEY MORALES Executive Editor A required introductory computer course is on the chopping block for Fall 2014 after the state altered the core definition. Instead a computer competency test has been proposed that will be available to students sometime this summer. The test will allow students to prove they are computer literate without taking the computer course, Business Computer Information Systems (BCIS). However, students whose degree need a specific computer course will still be required to take the course, because the test
is not for credit. An example Richard Crutcher, chair of business, computer science, legal assisting, management and occupational safety, gave for this reason was a transfer business student. “[These] students are required to take BCIS, because it’s in the state field of study for business, and we can’t give them credit for BCIS by taking this test. Even if we did, the university would just ignore it… They would fulfill the computer competency requirement by taking the BCIS course that that they need for a four year school,” he said If students are not required by their degree to enroll in a computer course, Crutcher
believes the test would benefit them. “I think it’s still important for them to demonstrate computer competency because we are trying to educate people that can do well, not only in the workforce, but for themselves personally,” Crutcher said. “Computers have become such an integral part of life that I don’t know how you survive without knowing how to do spreadsheets and things like that. You don’t have to be an expert, but you have to be fairly skilled.” Nothing is definite until presented to the Academic Policies and Curriculum See COMPUTER on Page 6
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