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Letters to the Editor
Charleston County employees go beyond duty
Dear Editor,
East Cooper Habitat for Humanity salutes the Charlestown County employees who helped expedite the permitting process so that we could use our Collegiate Challenge volunteers more effectively this upcoming spring.
Frank Toland and Dan Pennick with the planning office, Elaine Bozman with the RMC office, and Richard Beasley in the assessor’s office, all worked to expedite our application for permits.
Mr. Toland and Mr. Pennick recorded the plat, and Ms. Bozman and Mr. Beasley, with 20 minutes to closing on a Friday afternoon, helped us through the entire process.
With all of their help, we are able to apply for permits and have them in place for our spring build.
In the stressful world of building and permitting, it’s great to find people who go the extra mile to help us as we work to provide affordable housing.
Thank you to these men and women; Charleston County is well served by such outstanding employees.
Sincerely,
David J. Barnard
Executive Director
USC law professors misguided regarding military recruiters
Dear Editor,
I was distressed to learn that 33 University of South Carolina law professors recently sent a letter of support to the president of the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights.
FAIR is currently mounting a First Amendment challenge before the U.S. Supreme Court to the Solomon Amendment.
The Solomon Amendment is a federal statute that withholds specified federal funds from institutions of higher education that deny military recruiters the same access to their campuses and students that they provide to other recruiters.
Basically, the amendment keeps many schools, particularly many law schools, from banning the military from their institution.
The situation here is an easy one to understand. Law schools across the country readily invite employment recruiters to come to their campuses and meet with students. The recruiters provide the opportunity for students to learn about their firms or companies and pursue a job with them if they wish.
The only reason recruiters from the armed services are now allowed into many law schools is because of the Solomon Amendment. If there was nothing linking the decision about letting recruiters come to their school and the federal funding the schools receive, law schools could easily turn the military away.
The organization FAIR is trying to eliminate that link, and a group of 33 USC law school professors have given their support to them.
This message by the group is nothing new in liberal, anti-military elitist circles. This type of crusade has been going on for years.
What concerns me the most is the message this action sends. USC’s law school has a strong JAG presence; what are those students to think?
Even worse, what does this say to law students who are considering a career in the military?
USC’s law school is a public institution that benefits from federal and state tax money. In fact, the salaries made by the group of 33 are paid in large part from those tax dollars.
They seem to have a give and take relationship with the military of the government that pays them. They will give a military recruiter a Keep Out sign with one hand while they take a check out of the government’s pocket with the other.
In the letter they sent, the group said the letter was written in their individual capacity, but the letter and press release that went out was sent using USC law school equipment, two previous dean’s signatures were included and they clearly state in the first sentence how all members work at the University of South Carolina School of Law.
I just hope this is not the official opinion of USC’s law school. I urge the law school to come out against this message and support our military.
The Solomon Amendment requires law schools to give military recruiters the same access they give to all other employment recruiters. All the government is asking for is equal treatment. It is this equality the USC law school professors and their friends at FAIR disagree with.
It seems that law schools are truly the champions of diversity, or perhaps more accurately, they are the champions of selective diversity.
Bobby Harrell
Speaker of the House
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