As with any newspaper, The Oberlin Review depends on advertising for a significant portion of its funding. However, as a socially conscientious collegiate publication, we have the option — and, we argue, the responsibility as the editorial board — to make judgment calls according to our principles. After our three-week binding contract expires, this editorial board will not publish any more military ads. While we echo our news editors’ deep appreciation for our nation’s armed servicepeople, we feel that Army advertising suggests a disingenuous and insidious trend of luring people into a traumatic and potentially life-threatening commitment in the guise of patriotism and upward mobility.

At Oberlin, we recognize that this ad will likely have little, if any, influence over the life decisions of students. However, in less financially privileged environments, military advertisements all too frequently ensnare young people in search of a way out. In good conscience, we cannot continue to participate in what we view as a deceptive and unethical marketing scheme.

 In this commercial age, advertising is an unfortunate reality of newspaper publication, and we regret that we are forced to rely on it to an extent. Fortunately, we have the option not to compromise our values for money. Advertisers pay for promotional space, and as such are not subject to the same rules of censorship as articles, letters and columns — ads are not a part of our journalism. In the future, we will bear in mind the gravitas of our advertising decisions and reserve our right to refuse advertisements we deem ethically questionable.