VMI Cadet. November 14, 1969

              Editorial: The Dilemma Of Late Study
So much has been said about late study—
both pro and con—during the past few weeks,
that the issue has become clouded. Emotion-alism
has tainted the Corps' attitude, and the
administration no doubt feels somewhat re-luctant
to make a change that could have
effects in every aspect of cadet life. The fact
that they have been confronted repeatedly
with appeals for extra study time, and simul-taneously
witnessed a number of cadets
wasting the time they already have, has cast
a shadow of dcubt over their opinion.
We do not pretend to "have a perfect solu-tion
to the problems that late study may en-tail,
nor do we even have the foresight to
know how it might change the Corps. We do
know, however, that there will always be
"Students" who do not study—the same
students can be seen every night in the PX,
TV room, or asleep in barracks. We also, un-fortunately,
realize that there will always be
cadets who are so inconsiderate that they will
leave lights burning in a room they leave, fail
to pick up their own trash, or misuse the
equipment and facilities for study. Late study
would be ridiculous, and certainly undeserv-ed,
if these people were the sole recipients.
And then there is the matter of sleep. With
few rare exceptions, everyone must get
enough sleep, to remain healthy and function
efficiently. Late study presents the obvious
possibility that some men might benefit more
from the sleep than the extra study time.
This, of course, is a valid source of concern,
and late study would be totally undesirable
if it were the sole criterion.
If this were the extent of the late study
question, it would not be a dilemma at all;
BUT, there is more.
Aside from the wails—"We're big boys, and
we need late study!"—there are valid, basic
considerations that prove (just as those above
disprove) the merit and necessity of late
study. The most basic, yet intangible, point
in defense of late study is that a student—
particularly a very good one or a very poor
one—should not be denied any means by
which he can improve his education or exer-cise
his initiative and potential. A man con-scientious
enough to devote his "free" time
to studies should not be penalized for the
actions of less mature or less serious men.
As for those who would abuse the late
study privilege by leaving lights on and litter-ing
study areas, there are fairly simple meas-ures
that could alleviate the problem. One,
for instance, is to provide one room for each
curriculum BY CLASS, where those particu-lar
students could study after Taps. Hence, if
the third-class economics majors repeatedly
left their study room in disorder, they—and
they alone—would have their late study privi-leges
revoked. This, of course, is not an in-fallible
plan, but is an example of how sen-sible
planning and responsible action by
cadets could help eliminate the problem.
Cadets do, we realize, waste a portion of
the time presently allotted for study. Is it sole-ly
due to indifference towards academics or
frivolity in general? Of course not. There are
some who are simply incapable of giving their
full attention to studies for a prolonged per-iod.
Furthermore, the vast majority are not
ready, physically or psychologically, to begin
studying after supper, following a demanding
daily schedule: rising early in the morning,
attending classes most of the day, going to
military duty, and doing the hundred other
things that occupy a cadet's time. Is it,
therefore, so surprising that the PX is full
at night? Cadets need time to relax before
they attempt to study. At present, it comes
out of "study"^ time and goes unreplaced.
It will always come out of some kind of time.
The matter of sleep has no real solution.
Time spent studying after Taps is obviously
lost. The problem, therefore, is reduced to
one of personal sensibility. Each man is his
own best judge of how much time he can
sacrifice from his regular sleep, to study.
Applied responsibly, and, with discretion,
the privilege of late study would be another
step toward that individual maturity which
the administration has stressed in recent
months.
Weighing both the possible assets and lia-bilities
of late study, one is bound to conclude
that it does have two distinct, concrete sides.
Both are valid, but they are not irreconcil-able.
Mature action by the Corps and a sin-cere
effort to prove that late study can work,
coupled with a trial period from the adminis-tration,
might help to determine future study
policies. The Corps will or will not use late
study conscientiously. It will or will not ac-cept
late study's inherent responsibilities.
We think the answer to both questions is they
will.
We'd like to prove it.
VOLUME LVI Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia, Friday, November 14, 1969. Number 10'
Dr. Ralph Eisenberg
Speaks To SYD
The Society of Young Demo-ciats
sponsored a lecture by Dr.
Ralph Eisenberg on the 1969 state
gubernatorial election last Wednes-day
night.
Dr. Eisenberg is a Phi Beta Kap-pa
graduate of the University of
lillinois and received his PhD. at
Princeton University. He is pre-sently
serving as Director of tlu?
Institute of Government and Pro-fessor
of Foreign Affairs at the
University of Virginia.
Urbanization
Dr. Eisenberg attributed Holton s
victory over Democratic hopeful
William C. Battle to jiiany dif-ferent
factors. He stated that Vir-ginia
has changed in recent years
to an urban state. People livin,i?
within urban areas take on a more
progressive attitude and this is
what the Public offered. This
shift of votes from the Democratic
Party to the GOP predominantl:-
occured in the suburbs of the ma-
DR. R.VLPH EISENBERG
jor cities in the state.
Pull Tax EUmiuated
(Continued On Page 3)
Calendar of Events
NOVE.MBER
15 8-11 A. M.—Civil Service ex-aminations,
Lejeune Hall.
15—Varsity football. VMI at Bos
ton.
17 8 PM—English Consort of
Viols, presented by the Washing-ton
and Lee Concert Guild. Lee
Chapel.
17—Observatory .-.howing.
20 8 P.M—Philo-sophy - Psycholo
gy Department seminar. "C. G.
Tung oil Meaning and Symbols in
Religion." conducted by Col. Al-lan
Carlsson, with .Mr. T. Y. Greet
as commentator. 34B Scott Shipp
Hall.
21 8 PM—Planetarium demonstra-tion.
21 8 PM-.English Society film,
"Day 01 Wrath," a drama of con
science and guilt, using 17th cen-tury
witchcraft as its vehicle. Le-jeune
Hall.
Lectures Here
The Middle East Crisis and its
causes, effects, and possible solu-tions,
was the subject of two lec-tures
presented by Lt. Gen. Sir
John Glubb, or Glubb Pasha as ho
is commonly known.
Gen. Glubb, a graduate of Wool-ridge,
was commissioned in the
British Army in 1915 and served
on the Western Front. In 1920 he
was assigned to the British Army
in Jraq, and in 1925 became part
of the small cadre of British of-ficers
in Arab armies. In 1939 he
was appointed Chief of Staff (in
effect, commander) of the Arab
Legion, the Army of Transjordan,
a post which he continued to hold
until 1956, when a wave of nation-alism
forced his retirement. Since
then he has devoted his time tu
writing and speaking on the Mid-dle
East and is regarded as one
of the formost e.\perts on the
area.
Paletithiiansi Unjustly Treated
In his first lecture Wednesday
night Sir John dealt e.xtensively
with the historical background to
the present crisis. He pointed out
the fact that the Jews, who were
a raciully and geographically di-verse
people, do not have a ' his-toric"
claim to th<.' Holy Land, for
most of thern lived outside of it
even before the Diaspora. He goes
on to say that the Palestinians
were unjustly dispossessed of their
lands by the British, in violation
of the 1916 treaty and the second
paragraph ut tiie Balfour Declara-tion.
Though the Jews occupied
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IMR. THOMAS MOORE, vice president of operations of the South-ern
Railway, was the featured speaker on Founders Day, November
11. .Mr. Moore outlined the principal ingredient for success in his
speech.
W. H. Moore Addresses
Corps On Founder's Day
One hundred and thirty years
ago. a group of Le.\ington citizens,
led by John Thomas Lewis Preston,
established the Virginia xMilitary
Institute. There the cadets would
guard the state arsenal and also
pursue an academic course of
study. Through the years, the ca
dets' function of guarding the ar
senal has ceased, and VMI has be-come
the nation's foremost institu-tion
for the development of "citi-zen
soldiers." Tuesday. November
11. VMI celebrated its Founders
Day with a convocation in Jackson
•Memorial Hall.
.\tter the invocation by Chaplain
I Wilson, .Major General George R
E. Shell, gave the welcoming re
marks. He noted that it was appro
priate that VMI celebrates its an
niversary on November 11. as it
was Veteran's Day. Gen. Shell re
minded the Corps "of the tribute
we owe to millions of men and
women who have served this na-tion
in our armed forces and the
countless others who serve at this
nioment throughout the world." In
reference to Vietnam, he stated
that thirty-one VMI men have
given their lives there, not includ
ing three men captured and
ing.
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