Draft Disinformation at Morehead

When Aaron Jones attempted to respond to a misleading flyer distributed by the College Democrats at Morehead State University, he found himself hit with a response from a faculty member that looked just as deceptive as the original student group’s handout.

“If Bush is reelected, and the Iraq war continues, the draft will be reinstated,” read the handbill that the College Democrats circulated before the election.

Ironically, around this time, Republican representatives in the U. S. House of Representatives defeated a bill proposed by the House Democrats that would reinstate the draft. Jones heads the College Republicans at Morehead, which is located in Kentucky.

Upset by the flyer, Jones wrote a letter to the editor of the school newspaper. Jones’ letter appeared on September 30.

“Who let this slip out?,” Jones asked. “Obviously someone who hasn’t checked their facts.”

“Military recruitment is UP! Re-enlistments are UP!”

Jones letter drew a rebuttal that appeared in that same newspaper one week later. The author of that missive was Electronic Media Professor Dale Greer.

“Oh yes, and the draft will be reinstated if Bush wins and the war continues,” Dr. Greer wrote. “The only way to avoid the draft is if Kerry is elected and his plan to get the troops home works.”

Dr. Greer did not mention the plan that congressional Democrats offered to reinstate the draft. He did give some background information on himself. Dr. Greer identified himself as “an older man who served in the Army and witnessed combat in Vietnam as a reporter.”

For his part, Dr. Greer gets rave reviews on ratemyprofessor.com. “Easy class, but Dale makes it fun and interesting as only he can,” wrote one reviewer. “He is just toooo much fun!,” wrote another. One student who did not record her evaluation likens Dr. Greer’s classes to Democratic party rallies.

On the campus at Morehead, as at tooo many universities, the school exercises a noticeable political bias. When Jones attempted to screen a film that tried to show information that ran counter to the claims of incendiary documentarian Michael Moore, the powers-that-be at Morehead rebuffed him.

“We are getting some resistance from the university’s professors about giving the same extra credit and attendance requirements as they gave when Fahrenheit 9-11 was shown last week,” Jones wrote to me in late October. “There were some profs who cancelled class for Fahrenheit, but will not for Celsius [41 11].”

Nonetheless, Jones raised private funding to set up a screening of Celsius that was attended by a crowd of 300. And, contrary to Dr. Greer’s wishes, on election night, Kentucky, like most of the country, did not turn blue. But Dr. Greer might be turning a shade of Navy right now.