I no longer attend Marquette. I live near the capital city of a prefecture in south Japan. When I go to a bar now, it's not Murphy's or the Gloc, and I don't drink with buddies from the dorm, or a frat or a sorority. Nowadays, when I go to a bar, I sit on the floor, and I drink Asahi, and I converse with people who have never — believe it or not — heard the acronym W.A.S.P. used before. I tell you this now, because your worlds might, too, someday expand beyond the stretch between North 9th and 21st street, and because the greater world is much less forgiving than Marquette.

I once watched an American — a proud Midwesterner, like myself — defend dropping the bomb on Hiroshima. Those criticizing America's decision were Brits, New Zealander's, a South African, and three Japanese, one of whose grandfathers died shortly after the blast. The argument went on forever; my fellow American refused to back down, and had, by the end, effectively alienated us both — himself, by being cruelly unsympathetic, and me, because I am from the same country. I decided then that if questioned, I would defend my role (since I played none), but I would not be so quick to justify the bombing to others, because, especially here, I never know whose grandfather lived for a week after having his skin melted off, before finally succumbing to radiation poisoning. I have decided to call this approach tact — something you will find necessary when you at last leave the MU environment.

Perhaps "Adopt a Sniper" is not as tactful a slogan as it could be. Perhaps adopting a more tactful slogan would have helped you avoid alienating yourself from the community, and allowed you to actually do some good for America's soldiers.

Think about this: if two young men wearing dark sunglasses, black trench coats, combat boots, and sporting swastikas on their arms set up a booth in the AMU offering buttons that said "One Shot, One Kill, No Remorse…," would you not stop to question their actions, their motives? And if you would question them, will you not pause to question yourselves? I am not making an analogy; I am asking you to stop and think. How do your actions, your words, appear to others?

In any case, I understand your anger toward Marquette, but if you must get indignant about a decision that was made, why not direct your criticism toward the decision that put our troops into a war in the first place. If you truly have the safety of America's soldiers at heart, maybe you should be campaigning not for body armor, but to bring them home.

Craig Reinbold is a Marquette alumnus.

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Feb. 10 2005.