There is no reason the U.S. should be aiding Israel and abetting war crimes. Yet the massacre of innocents goes on.

Student Life profiles Student Union President and junior Kenneth Sng.

Eric Maddox, a student in Washington University’s executive MBA program and the interrogator whose efforts led to the capture of Saddam Hussein, the former dictator of Iraq, spoke in Emerson Auditorium about his experiences with the military on Feb. 5.

When senior Claire Henkel reunites with friends from her all-girls high school, most of them don’t know how to broach the subject of her career goals. The battalion commander of Washington University’s ROTC program, previously a member of the varsity softball team, doesn’t come from a military family.

On Thursday, Jan. 24, the Pentagon officially lifted the military’s ban on women serving in combat. This opens up more than 200,000 jobs that were previously unavailable to women, including serving on front lines and in special operation units such as the Navy SEALs.

While flying home for the winter break, I noticed, as I’m sure many of you did, literally hundreds of soldiers wandering the airport in uniform on their way home. For me, this meant that I was reminded of my feelings toward the military and the way in which our country uses our armed forces around the world.

For two recent Washington University graduates, four years at the University may have done more than prepare them to start a business. It may have helped them survive.

On a dark, crisp summer morning, choices I had made more than two years ago were reappearing. The sweat dripping off of 23-year-old Tyler’s face was evidence of a goal he had set just a few days earlier. His legs were tired, but he wasn’t giving up. The two-mile run was nearing an end; he was going to finally pass the Army Physical Fitness Test.

Senior Rachel Atkins has challenged the male dominated Army establishment with her appointment to cadet battalion commander for Washington University’s Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). Atkins is the first female to attain the rank in the Gateway Battalion’s history.

Recently, a California judge ruled the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy unconstitutional. This whole debacle surrounding this ruling and the Justice Department recommendation not to enforce it by an injunction only serves to reinforce my cynicism toward democracy and politics in general.