Bush Plan Needed: Sen. Jim DeMint (R.-S.C.), author of a plan creating personal retirement accounts for Social Security, met with a group of Capitol Hill interns as part of a Young America's Foundation speaking series April 21. DeMint made news at the event when he pointedly suggested President Bush support a specific reform proposal. "I hope for him to see more consensus in the Congress, so that he would come out with a bolder plan," DeMint said. "What is likely to happen without some boldness is we will come out with little accounts, little benefit cuts and little tax increases. That will spread the pain and give you a little account, but not an account that's large enough that will grow to the point it replaces the dependency system." This summer college students can take part in the foundation's National Conservative Student Conference from July 31 to August 6 at George Washington University in Washington. High school students can participate in the Gratia Houghton Rinehart National High School Leadership Conference to be held July 7-10 at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. Discounts are available for HUMAN EVENTS readers and students in their families. For more information, contact Roger Custer at 1-800-USA-1776 or visit www.YAF.org.
Diane Knippers, R.I.P.: The Institute on Religion and Democracy's longtime president, Diane Knippers, 53, died April 18 in Arlington, Va., after a battle with colon cancer. Knippers was an influential Episcopal laywoman whose organization reached out to disaffected members of the mainline Protestant churches. She became the institute's president in 1993. Knippers was named one of the top 25 evangelical Christians by Time magazine earlier this year. "She set an example of faithful Christian witness amidst church and political conflicts," said Alan Wisdom, the institute's vice president. "She was firm in her conviction of God's truth, and that firmness enabled her to show a great serenity and warmth towards others."
ROTC Enrollment Down: After an upsurge following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, enrollment in the Army's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) has dropped 16% over the past two school years. The program now has its fewest participants in the last decade. Similar trends are also evident in the Navy ROTC and Air Force ROTC, but neither program has been hit as hard as the Army. Post-Sept. 11 enrollment jumped to 31,765 in the 2002-03 school year. Now there are 26,566 students enrolled. The Army has had its own recruitment problems attributable to the War on Terror, but ROTC faces other challenges, such as hostility on college campuses.
Another Gun Rights Victory: Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R.) signed a new state law April 26, dubbed the "Castle Doctrine," which permits citizens to use any force necessary to stop a criminal who breaks into their home. The law removes the "duty to retreat" clause and provides citizens with protection from criminal prosecution for defending themselves. The National Rifle Association hopes to build on the law's passage by encouraging its enactment in other states. The law's passage illustrated, once again, the gun-control lobby's complete loss of influence. A front-page Washington Post article quoted Sarah Brady, chairwoman of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence: "If I had known about it, I would have been down there." The fact that Brady, leader of the nation's top gun-control group, didn't even know about the law showcases the dramatic shift in power from the 1990s.
