I read an article in the Collegian which greatly disturbed me. The article entitled "Speaker Questions Accuracy of War Reports" (Jan. 24) quoted Sahu Barron, a national organizer of the Coalition to stop U.S. Intervention in the Mid East as saying "The ROTC are nothing but ... vampires that suck the blood out of you. Get them the hell off campus, they don't have any place here."

I do not know in what sense ROTC cadets are "vampires," but this quote is misleading to say the least. In response to this, I would like to take this opportunity to inform the civilian population of University Park just what ROTC is all about, then let the students decide for themselves whether or not ROTC cadets "suck the blood out of you."

The Reserve Officers Training Corps is a military program that provides qualified men and women with the chance to become commissioned officers in the Army, Air Force, Navy or Marine Corps. In the process, cadets are taught the fundamentals of leadership. Qualities such as honesty, responsiblity, time management, and communication are stressed. These are ubiquitous characteristics of good soldiers, successful businessmen, scientists, and students. The goal of a university, Penn State in particular, is to produce such successful businessmen, scientists, and scholars. It seems logical that learning such skills as ROTC provides can only enhance the possibilities for success of university graduates, regardless of their career pursuits.

In addition to training as leaders, cadets recieve training as soldiers. As soldiers, they are sworn to "support and defend the constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic."

They are volunteers who pledge their lives if necessary to defend our country's most treasured document -- the constitution. People forget that members of the U.S. Armed Forces, with ROTC officers such as General Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been the ones who have bled and died for our freedom in all conflicts. ROTC and the Army have given blood, not "sucked" it from others.

We must also realize that the constitution requires that soldiers come from the general population (like the student body at Penn State.) This guarantees a permanent connection between citizens and soldiers. Without such a connection, we would soon find our nation in trouble similar to that in Argentina and Panama, where no such connection existed.

It should be obvious to those who attended Ms. Barron's speech or read the article that she is quite biased by her acknowledged affiliation with a group that opposes the military. It seems to me that she was merely propagandizing with little more than ineffetual rhetoric.

ROTC is an important part of this university. It is turning out men and women who are strong both mentally and physically as well as future soldiers devoted to preserving the freedoms we all cherish.