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Entry: Anyone But Clinton! Link: http://www.takimag.com/site/article/anyone_but_clinton#16097 Post contents: Tom K, I was in Berkeley in the late 60s, and the question "What's the use of getting an advanced degree, and then being sent to Vietnam to be shot by an illiterate pesant?" was asked numerous times and by many people. Selection for draft operated on a lottery based on birth-date, and in many districts the proportion actually called-up was high. Berkeley again selected its students on the basis of merit. As a result, many students were highly intelligent but from low social backgrounds, so they did not have the connections to get safe, cushy postings, but actually ended up serving in Nam. On the basis of my first-hand observations, the very real and very personal risk was the motivation that got most students to participate in the riots. It looks very probable that the same process will begin to operate again, when the mid-East conflict escalates. Sent at: 2008 07 08