6 Elbert County News
6-OPINION
February 14, 2013
OPINIONS / YOURS AND OURS
Military service as a path to citizenship Recently, I introduced the H.R. 435, Military Enlistment Opportunity Act. This legislation seeks to expand military enlistment opportunities and create a system that mutually benefits the armed services and individuals with temporary immigration status. Under my bill, individuals who have resided legally in the United States continuously for at least two years as well as the Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals would be permitted to sign up for military service alongside American citizens and lawful permanent residents. The DACA program was recently created by the Department of Homeland Security to give employment authorization to certain young people who came to the United States illegally as children. This legislation provides a commonsense solution to help solve two nationally important issues. First, the bill provides a new group of willing, capable and skilled applicants to serve in the military. Second, it creates an opportunity for individuals with conditional immigration status to naturalize through military service, giving them permanent status subject to the same rights and obligations as naturalborn citizens. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, one of my goals for this
legislation is to help the military ensure our national security goals are met by enhancing the available pool of qualified individuals. The military currently requires that recruits be American citizens or lawful permanent residents. However, we have a regrettable situation today where a majority of native-born Americans can’t meet the standards for military service because of some disqualification: they are overweight, have a criminal record, a history of drug or alcohol abuse, don’t have a high school diploma, or they can’t get a passing score on the entrance exam. A 2009 study conducted by a group of retired military leaders entitled “Ready, Willing and Unable to Serve” concluded that 75 percent of young adults between the ages of 17 and 24 do not qualify for military service. Additionally, there is a need to expand
the pool of those eligible to serve because of the increasingly advanced technical requirements of the U.S. military. Rapidly growing areas like cyber warfare and ongoing analysts needs require the skills that foreign students studying in the United States can bring to the military. These visa holders bring abilities like critical language skills and advanced technical degrees that will increase the proficiency of our military. My legislation will also provide a path for young people in the newly created DACA program to be naturalized through military service. It makes sense that these individuals, who have the desire and ability to serve in the U.S. military, should be given the opportunity to do so. There have been over 154,000 young people who have been accepted under the DACA program, and these patriotic individuals should have the chance to honorably serve their country and become naturalized citizens. Current law states that any individual who legally enlists and serves in the military for one year is naturalized. During wartime the naturalization is immediate. My bill would extend this benefit to DACA individuals. All enlistees, upon joining the military,
incur an eight-year service obligation. Naturalization only becomes final and irrevocable after five years of honorable service. Therefore, it is important to highlight that the grant of immediate naturalization is subject to rescission if the individual does not complete the service requirements or is discharged under less-than-honorable circumstances. Although there will be a larger debate this year about immigration and the necessary changes that must occur to ensure that our legal immigration system is effective, the Military Enlistment Opportunity Act is smart legislation that takes a small but positive step forward by allowing certain individuals to serve our country in the military and earn U.S. citizenship. Moreover, this bill will aid our military by providing a larger number of skilled recruits to ensure our national defense capabilities are not diminished by a shrinking recruiting base. It should be an easy decision for my colleagues in Congress on the left and the right to support the Military Enlistment Opportunity Act. I am hopeful we can solve these problems together. U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman serves Colorado’s 6th Congressional District.
My comb and I parted company
Being down can lead to looking up One of the most popular activities I get to do with my team at work or with groups that I am involved with happens on Fridays. I typically send an encouraging email filled with positive updates, recognition of achievement, and gratitude for the effort put forth by everyone. And then I ask for feedback, I ask for the best news of the week or most positive or productive good news that they can share. Everyone responds and shares a moment or experience that truly made the week positive. The interesting thing is this: People may have been having a very tough week but they always find something positive to share. Life may have presented some significant challenges personally and/or professionally, but somehow they dig in and look for something good to share with the team or group. So now imagine your own life right now, and imagine for a moment it is Friday and I have asked you for the best news of the week. What would your answer be? Now I have done this for several years and with many people. The majority of people can come up with something meaningful and positive in a fairly short amount of time. But those who are having a tough week and wrestling with the question find themselves going deeper, yet they still find something positive to share with everyone. And I have to share with you that the responses that come from someone who has been struggling are usually more positive than the replies that come from people who have been having a relatively good week. Here is something else I have noticed. People now expect the question, and so all week long they are already looking for
the good, searching for the positive, and storing up successful stories and events that they can share with the team or group. Please don’t gloss over this, think about it for a minute. When individuals know that they will be asked for the best news of the week, they actually start preparing and looking for the good. This is powerful and I would encourage you to try it at work, in a group you may belong to, or even with your family. Don’t just try it once or twice, commit to it for a couple of months, each and every week. I would love to hear the outcome and how those around you start to embrace the positive, seek success, and champion productivity. What I am talking about is setting an expectation of positive and success-oriented behavior. And when you make it a habit of inspecting what you expect in asking for the best news of the week, you will truly be amazed at the elevation in attitudes, success, and production. I would really love to know what your best news of the week is. Together, let’s make this a better-than-good week. Michael Norton, a resident of Highlands Ranch, is the former president of the Zig Ziglar organization and CEO and founder of www.candogo.com. He can be reached at gotonorton@gmail.com
I don’t own a comb. I stopped combing my hair about 20 years ago. What a relief. I never have to worry about my part. I’d like to see more men without parts. You all look like high school math teachers. I know some high school math teachers who have stopped parting their hair, because they didn’t want to look like high school math teachers. Most of the men I see with parted hair are over 40. My father was parting his wisps until he was in his mid-80s when I told him to stop. He had about 19 hairs at that time, and I think he thought they all were working overtime to give him a head of hair. He used a blow dryer. He put some spray on his hair to keep it down. It looked like hell. He was determined to exit with a head of hair, but a total of 19 doesn’t qualify. I told him, I asked him, please stop. He did, and got his first short haircut since the 1920s. There comes a point when we no longer update our look. I see men, and women, in stores who look like 1978. And that’s frightening. As I have said before, the 1970s were the low point of the 20th century in just about everything. Fashion. Styles. Accessories. Even fonts. We loved our serif fonts back then. The 1980s were almost as bad. You paid extra for almond-colored appliances. I had a friend with olive, shag carpeting. It gave me a headache.
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Men wore necklaces. Men wore chains. Men wore bracelets. Women wore shoulder pads. Women wore leg warmers. I’d see people with giant, upside-down eyeglasses. I had hair over my ears, and every morning I parted it. I can’t remember if my part was on the left or on the right. But it bothered me if the track of my part went off line. I had a comb in my pocket. I checked myself in the mirror. One day I went to see Alfred at the HairPorte and asked him to cut it down. On the way to my car I tossed away my comb. I got a few stares at work, and that was about it. I donated my brown (brown!) hair dryer. Then I shaved off my mustache. With long, parted hair and a mustache I looked like an almond-colored appliances salesman. I still see men who look like a 1978 me. Smith continues on Page 7
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