DANCING IN THE DARK

To the Editors of CRIMSON:

The excitement which has been caused by the letter written about the Air ROTC dance is completely unnecessary. I would like to try to explain the situation as I understand it. I am an Air Science II student and not a member of the Dance Committee.

The seniors in the program are giving a formal dance, and they have decided, as a parting gesture, to put any profits made into an AROTC student fund for the use of following classes. It was necessary to hire a ballroom for the dance, but this required a deposit of $50. The students were asked to make a deposit of $1.00 against the $2.50 ticket for the dance because the seniors themselves did not have the capital. This is certainly not a "cheap advertising trick," but merely a practical way of raising the capital.

As regards the way that the committee went about obtaining this dollar: they may have "threatened" the students with not being admitted into the advanced course, or employed similar tactics to force the deposit. However, this was probably due to overenthusiasm on the seniors' part, and is definitely not the attitude of the administration of the unit. The excitement is due only to the fact that the freshman who wrote the letter lacked the insight to understand this and went off half-cocked. Judging by his attitude towards the unit and the military in general, it is clear that his only aim is to gain deferment for himself and that he is not worthy of becoming an officer in the Air Force.

In conclusion, I might add that if this freshman ever gets into combat, he just might "close his eyes"--and thank his lucky stars for the "professional military mind." (Name withheld by request)