We didn't talk at Harvard since I was--and still am--unsure about the University's policy on on-campus recruiting visits by the military, which does not recruit openly gay individuals and discharges any gays it finds in its ranks. Bill Clinton, I hope, will eliminate that discriminatory policy, removing the only moral problem--a big one, indeed--that I would have with military service.

Using a battery of MAs (military acronyms), Stehley explained the recruitment process. There's the general ASVAB test, the DLAB test for language ability, the DEP for deferring enlistment, the physical, the FBI background check, the contract, the swearing in, the possibility to enlist as an E-4 (specialist or, in even more layman's terms, corporal), the ability to choose one's exact job (from infantry to counterintelligence), the eight weeks of BT (basic training) and four to 52 weeks of AIT (advanced individual training) for every recruit, the 30 days vacation per year, the medical and dental benefits and the opportunity to purchase $100,000 of life insurance for only $8 a month.

The whole incentive package is really geared to less-educated, less well-off Americans. In other words, they'll pay back your student loans but won't give you the cash if you (or your parents) have paid for your education. That's unforturnate, I said. But Stehley said that approach makes good business sense from the Army's point of view.

But what about officer possibilities? Because of cutbacks, Stehley told me, the Army is no longer accepting college graduates directly into its officer candidate programs. He said I would probably get the option to go to officer school once I spent some time on the enlisted side.

Too bad, I said. But I told him I'd think it over.

Iam, I guess, relatively serious about the military--at least as serious as I am about any other post-graduation possibility and far more serious than I am, at the moment, about my thesis. Over the past three weeks I've also talked to Sgt. Grinnon and Petty Officer Davison, Sgt. Jiminez and Cpt. Flores.

I've requested and received a pile of glossy recruiting brochures from the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marines. (The Marines even included "Semper Fi" and "Marines" bumper stickers with their packet. Pretty classy.)

All of the branches except the Army have officer programs for college graduates. At least that was the case until last Tuesday, when Stehley called to tell me the Army is reopening its officer program.

I told him we'd talk when I got back from Thanksgiving. I really don't know if I'll ultimately join the U.S. military. But unlike a lot of Harvard students, I haven't written off the option.