SHOULD MILITARY TAKE RISK OF AIDS?

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 2, 1993                   TAG: 9302020333
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
SHOULD MILITARY TAKE RISK OF AIDS?
OUR NEW president has made a grievous error and now appears to be backing down. Sadly, from the editorial, "A fight deferred but not abandoned" (Jan. 29), you apparently are helping him find a way to do it.
Let's stop dodging the issue and get down to reality. We are all very much afraid of AIDS. Go to the Red Cross building and experience the battery of questions asked of every male donor concerning homosexual acts during the past 10 years. If the answer is positive, out the door he goes and any blood taken at that point is promptly destroyed.
Why then is it not discriminatory for the Red Cross to be asking these fundamental questions? The reason is simple: It makes sense to ask them. We have already had much of our blood supply contaminated by the AIDS virus and we can no longer take chances with high-risk individuals.
Comes now our president who demands that recruiters refrain from asking about one's proclivity toward homosexual behavior. Should they instead ask if the individual has engaged in a homosexual act during the past 10 years? I see little difference in fact, but I will accept the latter. The point is that it is the recruiter's responsibility to help screen out the unsuitable. In war, and sometimes even in peace, the blood does flow. The homosexual, for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is his track record for carrying the AIDS virus, is not acceptable for the high standards expected of our military.
BUD E. GOEHRING\ HARDY

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB