Former Skyline student, Rommel Conclara joined the Marine Corps right out of high school, having a family history of military service; he always knew in the back of his mind it was something he was going to do. Then one day he received a phone call from a recruiter.

“I grew up with it [the military],” Conclara said. “It was always in the back of my head, and the phone call was kind of what jumpstarted it.”

Conclara is now an artilleryman in a Marine Corps reserves unit stationed in Alameda. After graduating from high school and enlisting, Conclara attended Skyline for one and a half years. He had known about the servicemen on campus that were trying to recruit, but Conclara paid no mind to them.

“I knew that the servicemen were on campus,” Conclara said. “I didn’t want to waste my time because I had no business with them.”

Recruiters appear all over the country at universities and community colleges alike.

But do people actually notice them? Yes, but it is not always a positive recognition.

Colin McDonald, 20 year-old active duty Navy Airman, left the college life after one and a half years at City College of San Francisco, because the Navy had more to offer him than community college could.

McDonald, a former lifeguard found the Navy appealing because he had a well paying job that could potentially lead to a career. The Navy would pay his way through college if he decided to go back to school.

McDonald was also given a place to stay on base, with the option of moving into his own home off base.

But McDonald says the recruiters that showed up at his school, did not have an effect on his decision to enlist, because they had little influence when visiting City College of San Francisco.

“They sit in their little booth, while people protest around them,” McDonald said. “Then they handed out brochures when people approached them, but they couldn’t really walk up to people. They didn’t want to be pushy.”If the recruiters that appear on campuses don’t have that much influence why do people have a problem with them on campus?

Two reasons are the First Amendment and financial support given to the schools. These two reasons are linked to the same source-the Solomon Amendment. The Supreme Court of the United States is still reviewing this amendment proposed in the early 1980s, on its constitutionality. As of now, the federal law requires universities to allow military recruiters access to their campuses or else the government can revoke the funding to the entire university, based on the actions taken by a graduate or undergraduate program, that would prevent recruiters from doing their jobs.

Thirty-one law schools have joined forces under the name FAIR (Forum of Academic and Institutional Rights) to fight the proposed Solomon Amendment, because they believe the amendment to be an infringement on their First Amendment right to freedom of speech. FAIR has been fighting for schools to have the ability to turn recruiters away from their campuses on the grounds that the military is discriminatory towards people who are openly gay. FAIR believes that they should be able to ignore policies that are openly discriminatory.

“They have a right to speak their position, but we have the right to be there [college campuses] as well,” Journalist Craig Coleman, Petty Officer 1st Class said. Coleman works in the Public Affairs Office, for the Navy Recruiting district of San Francisco.

Even though schools continue to protest the Solomon Amendment, plenty of people continue to enlist. According to an American Forces Press Service, the Navy and Marine Corp had an enlistment total of 163, 259 new active-duty members, meeting their quotas for the 2005 fiscal year.

Troops are stationed all over the world, and the United States needs more, especially in wartime. But where do all these potential soldiers come from if there is no draft?

Many of these soldiers come from college students all over the United States. A rich vein of eligible, young, healthy potential volunteers come from colleges. Each type of college, whether it is a community college or a university serves its own purpose, if recruiters need nurses they would most likely go to a university, but if they need non-officer positions they might go to a community college.

“We naturally gravitate towards colleges, because we see ambition,” Coleman said. “We are successful in getting the people we need.”

However, even with the success of the Navy and Marine Corps, the 2005 fiscal year was met with a shortage of enlistees in many other sectors of the military. An American Forces Press Service said that the Army was only able to enlist 92 percent of its required active duty quota, and the Army National Guard and Army Reserves ended the year with 80 percent and 84 percent of their quota filled. The Naval Reserve and Air National Guard also sorely missed their required quotas, when they only received 88 and 86 percent.

Recruiters usually appear at college campuses during job fairs and career information days. When it comes to what the recruiters can and cannot do on campus is generally up to the schools, Coleman said.

At Skyline, each branch of the military comes at least twice a semester, and for the career day or job fair that occurs once every semester Sylvia Martinez of the Admissions and Records office said. Martinez also works with the Veterans Program, so she sees the recruiters regularly.

“I’m like their contact person,” Martinez said. “I just collect the brochures, and the last time they [recruiters] wanted a list of all the vets on campus.”

Martinez works with the 45 to 50 veterans that attend Skyline, and any other veterans that want to receive an education here. She also provides recruiters with basic information on these service men and women, which includes their name, social security number and major. If the recruiters need any additional information they go to the Dean of Enrollment Services, Sherri Hancock.

The military has been trying different methods to bolster their ranks. Recently they launched a new multi-billion dollar advertisement campaign, which targets parents, as well as students. This could prove to be an alternative to on campus recruiting that is even less confrontational and easier on the eyes of students and parents alike. As for the recruiters on campus, people at Skyline don’t really seem to notice them, and don’t really care if they do come on campus. But they still leave a large impact on those that do enlist.

“I’m happy with my decision,” said Conclara.