Women: Draft Eligible?

“It’s our country too, and we should be responsible to fight for it and protect it as well.”

That’s what Junior Christina Bayne said when asked if women should be subject to a military draft just as men are.

Women have never been subject to a military draft, according to the government website on selective service at http://www.sss.gov/wmbkgr.htm. All women who serve or have served have done so voluntarily.

According to the site, the court case Rostker v. Goldberg (1981) prohibits women from being included in a draft. The site gave the reason, stating that military drafts are primarily used to get candidates for combat roles, and the Department of Defense policy is not to assign women to these roles.

Six female Quinnipiac University students, however, have a contradicting opinion.

“Under certain circumstances, women should be eligible for a draft,” said Junior Kim LeBel. “I think single mothers should be exempt, but all other women within the age limit should be fair game.”

Junior Meghan Trull said, “Women have earned equal rights in this country, and it shouldn’t be any different with a draft.”

All six girls also agreed when asked whether females should partake in combat roles.

“If they are physically capable, then yeah, women should be eligible for combat,” said Junior Heather Maffeo.

Trull also agreed with this opinion, with the same physical stipulation. “If a little 80 pound woman is forced into combat, then she’s going to be a danger to herself and her fellow soldiers.”

The six students thought that a military draft for nurses would also be a good idea.

Nursing major Molly Cuddy said, “The military should be able to draft nurses and other medical staff to meet their needs if it comes to that, and that would be another way to get women involved in a war effort.”


Interactive Narratives

Some of the interactive aspects of these articles is really quite compelling and certainly reveals one of the huge advantages of online journalism has over newspapers. For example, one article contains a “Bridge Tracker” which is a map that tells the current bridge condition of more than 100,000 bridges in the U.S. It provides a detailed map of the nation and allows the reader to search all bridges from one location to another. This makes the article relative to anyone who is reading it, as they can apply it to their general area, possibly a route they drive each day. Such a vast amount of information like this could only be available online.