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Show ^Opinion Wednesday;'MWcfi 6,2007 IT1 Archives, wedding news, links to great comics, all the news you missed... at www.utahstatesman.com Testimony at Walter Reed: the Army has a long way to go In a dim auditorium at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Monday, Maj. Gen. George W. Weightman, the recently ousted commander of the facility, turned and apologized directly to the maimed soldiers and their families who had assembled for a House subcommittee hearing. Once during the hearing, Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, Army surgeon general and former Walter Reed commander, tried to frame the situation as a failure of lower-ranking personnel Nat'lView Other Voices - ad .jzed i. an article in The Post as "yellow journalism." Gen. Kiley has reason to be defensive - he is arguably more to blame for the miserable outpatient conditions described in a recent Post series than is Gen. Weightman t»ut still serves as the Army's top doctor. Nevertheless, he, too, apologized, and he Acknowledged that he is ultimately responsible for outpatient facilities. And Gen. Kiley, along with Gen. Richard A. Cody, the Army's vice chief of staff, and Maj. Gen. Eric B. ^choomaker, the new head of Walter Reed, assured the subcommittee that thorough reviews of oirtpatient facilities will lead to significant reform. Also encouraging was Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates's swift firing of Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey on Friday after Harvey nonsensically removed Gen. Weightman from his position and placed Gen. Kiley temporarily in charge. Mr. Gates seems to be holding upper tiers of Army management to account. Being sorry is only the first step, however. Since the series was published, Post reporters have received hundreds of accounts of appalling conditions and management practices at both Army outpatient facilities and Department of Veterans Affairs facilities across the country. One mother complained that a room assigned to her son, who had an open wound, was infested with fruit flies and contained overflowing trash and a syringe. A soldier said that wounded veterans had to sign waivers attesting that they understood that their living conditions were below minimum governmental standards. Most disturbing are reports of Army medical review boards trying to pay wounded soldiers as little as possible in disability benefits, sometimes adjudicating vet- erans' claims while they were heavily medicated and unable to argue their cases effectivelyFixing veterans' outpatient care will take a lot more than putting a new roof on Walter Reed's Building 18. It means revamping buildings and bureaucracies across the country. The generals who testified Monday made an excellent point: More injured soldiers survive now than ever before because of the quality of the Army's inpatient medicine, and the nature of their physical and psychological wounds often makes those injuries difficult to diagnose and treat. Since American action began in Afghanistan, this country has taken on a large responsibility to care for its wounded service members, for life if needed. It may be expensive, but these men and women deserve clean accommodations and straightforward assistance - not adversity - from administrators. If the accounts The Post has received over the past couple of weeks are true, then the Army and Veterans Affairs are both far from achieving that goal. It'/ exciting to be a couple. If you are ready to announce an engagment or a recent marriage, let other/ know. It'/ OJ ea/y a/ going to your computer. Click on WEDDING NEW5 @ www.utah/tate/man.com and fill in your info. O r /end to office@/tate/man.u/u,edu. Publi/hed both online ond in The 5tate/man. Now/ that/ good new/! UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE. When: Wednesday March 21st 2007 Time: 10-3:00 PM Where: Taggait Student Center Next to the USU Post Office - Bring Your Proof of US Citizenship Valid proof of U.S. Citizenship or naturalization, such as a stateissued certified birth certificate, a previous passport, or a naturalization certificate, if you are foreign born. (You must submit it with your application but it will be returned to you with This editorial appeared in Tuesday's Washington Post. your passport.) • WRITING SKILLZ - Bring Your Photo ID From page 10 of their education until graduation. Often in larger classes students' writing skills are not tested because there is too much work for the professors. But in the beginning classes, most of the students are just starting out and need to be able to have their writing skills tuned up. Classes where more writing is involved will better prepare students. Second, because all the students are writing like crazy now, the writing center should be expanded and tutors are really going to have to know their stuff and not be weary of giving constructive criticism. As has been done in the past, special writing instruction should be given to students for whom English is a second language. Third, the CIL exams should be done away with or at least updated so the information being tested is applicable to students today. I know that doesn't directly have anything to do with writing, but I think if there was just as much focus on basic skills in school, such as writing and math, as there is on technology students would be better off. I'm not saying eliminate technological education by any means, but the basics shouldn't be forgotten either. Mikaylie Kartchner is a senior majoring in print journalism. Comments can be sent to mikayliek@cc.usu.edu. A valid state or government photo ID, such as a Driver's License or State issued ID card. 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