Is this a sign of the times?
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Applications for the Class of 2009 at the Naval Academy fell 20 percent from the year before, a drop mirrored at the nation’s other military colleges.
As of its Jan. 31 application deadline, the Annapolis academy had received 11,140 applications, down from 13,922 at the same time last year. The slump is the first in four years for the academy, which saw a surge in applications after the 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
The surge would be due to the patriotism and national unity sparked by the 911 attacks. Those were the (brief) days when Democrats and Republicans downplayed partisanship and buying and displaying American flags was the rage. More:
On Monday, academy officials would not speculate on why fewer students applied for admission, but said the number of applicants still exceeds the approximately 1,200 slots available and remains above the 2001 level.
But some experts say that like the National Guard and Army Reserve _ both of which have suffered low recruitment numbers as the death toll increases in Iraq and deployments are extended _ military service academies are suffering because of the conflict.
“My sense is that for those who were thinking about the service academies as a way to get a college education rather than a first step toward a military career, the war in Iraq has acted as a deterrent,” said David Segal, a military sociologist at the University of Maryland, College Park.
In the past year, at least five Naval Academy graduates have been killed in the war in Iraq _ the first combat deaths the school has seen since 1983.
“That makes it very real to the midshipmen who are there now, and they are a very important part of the recruiting process,” Segal said.
In reality, as you read the article, no one really knows the cause. But the feelings of intense patriotism have seemingly subsided since 911 and the war in Iraq has proven to be controversial.
So enrollments are down. Unless there’s another attack.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.