Since the attacks on America on Sept. 11, this country has experienced a heightened sense of anxiety. We have changed our outlook, taking precautions we have never taken before and changing the way we travel and where we’ll spend this holiday season.

To keep America safe, our nation’s military has been called to serve or are on standby.

Palo Alto has members of the armed forces of its own on campus. Some are in their "BDU’s" or battle dress uniform, while others are dressed like you and me. Students as well as faculty and staff are playing different roles. These members of the military have to deal with new issues in their lives. Not only may it be difficult to function with the everyday stresses, now they have to live with the knowledge that in an instant their lives may be turned upside down.

"This situation created anxiety among family members that are concerned for me," said Paul McCann, a full-time student and Business major. The 12-year Navy veteran added, "The Navy’s role is minimal at this time. We (Navy) are supporting aircraft overseas." McCann’s military duties include training navigators at a command center here in San Antonio.

A main concern for students is the way that their lives may be altered. Palo Alto, along with the U.S. Government, is working together to make this transition an easier one by offering full tuition reimbursements to those students who are called to active military status and deployed. This is made possible through the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940.

"The student’s records will show that they have never been enrolled in that particular semester," said Robert Ramirez, Palo Alto's Veterans Affairs Coordinator. The SSCRA is a federal statute designed to "protect those who have been obliged to drop their own affairs to take up the burdens of the nation," according to the Texas Veterans Commission. The SSCRA applies to active duty members, public health services employees, reservists and others. For more information about the SSCRA, visit www.tvc.state.tx.us.

Ramirez, a Vietnam veteran and commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 76, the oldest in the state of Texas, said, "This nation is doing everything it needs to and in the time it needs to get done." Ramirez has worked in the Veterans Affairs Department since November of 1981, and he believes he has had a close connection with the military students and faculty over the years.

Those called to serve are students, faculty and staff, like Michael Baca, a Palo Alto recruiter/adviser, who was deployed last month and is now working at the Pentagon. Along with Baca, Computer Science instructor Steve Hicks has been stationed in Virginia at Langley Air Force Base, where he will be assigned to the Air Combat Command.