As college students here at UW-Madison, we have to deal with a variety of things everyday: class, a social life, possibly even playing on a varsity sports team. And with the war in Iraq still taking place, some of us have to worry about friends, family or acquaintances stationed overseas, or even worry about going over ourselves. Who, though, could possibly have all of these issues on their mind at once?
Eric Knecht, a UW-Madison senior, is a student that does. Knecht, who is a member of the Navy/Marine Reserved Officer Training Corp program, is also a varsity rower for the No. 2 ranked Wisconsin men's crew. While most student athletes only have to deal with academics and athletics, Knecht also has to balance his time commitment to the ROTC. Some students would have too much trouble dealing with all of those commitments, but Wisconsin men's crew Head Coach Chris Clark thinks Knecht has done it successfully.
\We've had a lot of guys from ROTC and he does it as well as anybody,"" Clark said. ""The way it works with ROTC-either army, navy, air force or marines-is the better the student and the better they are at ROTC, the more freedom they get.""
As an ROTC member compounded with the current war in Iraq, one would think that there would be a good chance that Knecht could be headed overseas. However, that is not necessarily the case. While in school, an ROTC member is required to be mainly committed to just that, school. Once the member is finished with school, they are required to serve a number of years in the military.
""Everyone knows that [ROTC is] just training for the military,"" Knecht said. ""I don't think anyone thinks that they're actually going to end up fighting right now.""
With Madison being the political hotbed that it is, anti-war sentiment has been expressed on a number of levels.
Knecht has experienced a little bit of this sentiment, but nothing too damaging. For the most part, he said, it has only involved ""some graffiti and some dirty looks shot in my direction.""
""It's alright,"" Knecht said. ""You see all the graffiti everywhere, and our unit's been tagged a couple of times, you know, stuff like that ... Overall it hasn't been too bad though.""
Still, with thoughts of fellow Marines fighting overseas, Knecht has remained focused on the tasks currently at hand, that being crew and school. In his opinion, the small possibility of being sent overseas has not stopped Knecht from focusing on his contributions to crew.
""I wouldn't say I've been overly focused on [the war],"" Knecht said. ""Crew is my main time consumer. Right now I don't have a whole lot of military stuff going on.""
Clark agrees. He also believes that Knecht has had a good attitude towards crew and has not become rattled or unfocused with everything that is happening concerning the war right now.
""He's not that kind of kid,"" Clark said. ""He's not going to get rattled very easily. Some guys do on our team, but not him. He's exactly the kind of guy you'd want in a battle type situation. Every kid has their strengths and weaknesses, and one of his weaknesses is definitely not being rattled.""
The possibility of fighting for his country may come eventually for Eric Knecht. For right now though, he plans to take things one step at a time, dealing with crew and school. Those things must be taken care of in the immediate future, whereas the fighting may or may not occur at a later date.
""You know, I'm glad I'm in school,"" Knecht said. ""I gotta get done with this. ""As for right now, I don't have to [fight in the military]. Someday maybe I will, someday maybe I won't. I guess time will tell.\
