As I read the article titled “UCSB Senate Calls for ROTC Review” (Daily Nexus, Feb. 14), I am concerned. It seems that “several professors” from your Academic Senate are on a crusade against the U.S. Military and are using the Military Science Dept. at UCSB as their scapegoat.

The Military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is just that – a military policy. Not a UCSB ROTC requirement. It comes from the Dept. of Defense and has nothing to do with UCSB. Students at your school are not subject to it.

If the Academic Senate has a problem with the U.S. Military, they should address it with the federal government. They should not penalize ROTC cadets. Keeping recruiters off campus will not stop patriotic young men and women from answering their call to duty, and censoring the access of any group of people to UCSB students seems unconstitutional.

Professor Scheff himself discriminates against women in his statement, “The concepts of honor and manliness are the chief lures they have to get young people to fight and die.” Honor is not exclusively a masculine trait. I find that comment to be discriminatory. He also indicates that the Military violates the First Amendment rights of homosexual and transgender persons to “maintain a powerful and masculine reputation.” I am sure that the many women who serve in our armed forces to protect and defend his freedom of speech would take exception to that comment and find it discriminatory as well.

The manner of which the Academic Senate is attacking the ROTC program is inappropriate. They should be focusing their anti-war efforts toward the legislators – not a small, courageous and honorable group of UCSB students.

In my opinion, the only discriminatory practices that need to be reviewed are Professor Scheff’s sexist comments.

Tamara Mooradian is the parent of a UCSB student in ROTC.