Since I made my comment on draft evasion, I have found out in more detail about the system operates (please also see my previous comment on bribery for details on how that works). Russia has a system whereby university students are required to take military classes that apply to their course of study. So, if you are studying to be a geologist, for example, you will have to take the relevant military classes. The same holds true for students of business, finance, and the hard sciences, though I am unsure about those in the humanities. These military classes give the university students the rank of officer and exempt them from actually serving, except for perhaps a two to four-week boot camp, which, it seems, is also possible to finagle your way out of.
Nobody gives a damn about these academic military classes, however, and the professors who teach these subjects, perhaps because no is interested, are the most likely to accept bribes. This is very convenient for the students as they cannot study any of the military subjects and just give their professor a nice bottle of vodka and a thank you not with a $100 dollar bill. If you are poor, you just have t pass the class.
Posted by Aaron at March 25, 2004 02:06 PM