American Notes ARMY

The collapse of the Soviet threat in Eastern Europe has sent shock waves through the White House, the Congress and the Pentagon. Now shock wavelets are about to hit many American campuses. The Army has disclosed that because it is reducing its forces and will no longer need as many officers, it will shut down Reserve Officers Training Corps programs at 50 (out of 413) colleges and universities by summer of next year. The closings are expected to save $23 million a year.

Most of the programs targeted for cancellation commissioned only a few officers each year. Among them is Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., where Winston Churchill delivered his historic Iron Curtain speech in 1946. Since the college had only seven cadets last year, the shutdown "didn't come as a complete surprise" to President Harvey Saunders. Still, says Saunders, "I'm sad to see the tradition go."