VMI Cadet. August 26, 1983

              The V.M.L Cadet One of Americans Last Independent College Newspapers
VOLUME LXXIV Virginia Military institute, Lexington, Virginia, August 26,1983 riUMBERl
"\ew Food Service
by Tim Perez
In the spartan atmosphere of
VMI, the vision of rugg^, bare-chested
men gnawing on bones
and guzzling great gulps of li-quid
fire seems more ap-propriate
for an evening meal
than a family-style supper. Yet
the Corps finds itself using
china plates and bowls, enjoy-ing
a salad bar, and wonder of
wonders, murmuring com-ments
of praise for the meals
served. Where did the Institute
find this God-send? In the cam-pus
dining services sector of
ARA Services, Inc. When the
Administration of the Institute
offered applications to different
food services, ARA was one of
many to respond with their pro-posal.
This process of submit-ting
ideas occurred over two
years ago, and ARA has finally
arrived in Lexington.
ARA services conducted a
study of our Mess Hall
facilities, demands and re-quirements,
while represen-tatives
for VMI studied schools
where ARA was currently pro-viding
food services. Such
schools included Marshall
University , Longwood and The
Citadel. As both sides of the
deal were satisfied, our ad-ministration
drew up a contract
with ARA, stating stipulations
that the food service would
operate within. Also, the ser-vice
keeps close contact with
the Administration of the In-stitute,
and is anxious to please
the wishes of the Commandant
and Business Executives of
VMI.
Many changes have occurred
behind the scenes, out of range
from the serving area. The
same kitchen help is used, yet a
supervising chef is in charge of
those working in the kitchen.
Coupled with this is closer
management supervision which
overlooks the whole aspect of
the food service. Every day the
managers discuss ways to im-prove
their service, of getting
the food out hot, getting enough
of it out, and in a manner ap-petizing
and efficient. Even
though the service has been
operating for less than a month
here, the improvement over
last year is incredible. Jennifer
Marston, currently an assistant
manager of ARA food services,
feels "when you upgrade the
service of the Mess Hall, the
attitude towards and behavior
in the hall improves."
When asked about her im-pr^
sion of working at VMI and
its traditional Ratline antics at
mealtime, she replied, "I
couldn't believe it." But she ad-ded,
"It's a tradition we must
work with."
The food service will continue
to have the weekly steak night,
plus other special meals during
exams, holi^ys and other occa-sions.
Directing the Mess Hall is
a staff of qualified individuals
who are prepared to meet the
challenges The Corps presents.
The Food Service Director is
Mr. Bob Lacy, formerly of
Anderson College, Anderson,
Indiana. The Production
Manager is Terry Locklair, and
the Assistant Managers include
Jennifer Marston, Tom Elrick,
and Mike Gonze. This staff is
eager to work with the Ad-ministration
and the Corps, and
their attitude is reflected in the
quality of the food and services
provided in the Mess Hall.
Maybe this article will explain
why more and more cadets
emerge smiling from the doors
of Crozet.
Alcohol and Drug Program Successful
by Tucker M. Maloney
Each fall, thousands of young
men and women enroll as
freshmen at institutions of
higher learning all across the
United States. Many of these
freshmen will be subjected,
some for the first time, to social
atmospheres where alcohol is
consumed in large quantities
and where drugs are present.
Alcohol and drug abuse are pro-blems
which plague many of
America's finest colleges and
apparently there is little that
school officials can do about it.
VMI does not tolerate these
problems and has taken
measures to avoid them. One
such measure is a newly in-stituted
alcohol and drug pro-gram
presented to this year's
newly arrived rat mass. In the
past, a program was presented
to the entire rat mass at one
time. This year, however,
twenty-one upperclass cadets
returned to Post two days early
in order to receive extensive
training in the effects of alcohol
and drugs.
The group of cadet
volunteers, headed by Major
William Stockwell, consisted
of: Jim Agostini, Adam Bab-cock,
Keith Byron, Ken Cade,
Dave Caruso, Mark Draper,
Lou Florio, Steve Hupp, Zane
Johnson, Tucker Maloney,
Alton Malbon, Sam Maroon,
Steve Marsh, Jim McCabe,
Mike Montgomery, Tom Rahe,
Kieth Samuelson, Jake Spivey,
Chuck Steenburgh, Jim
(continued on page 5)
In Memorium Edmonds '86
On July 31, three weeks
before the Corps was to report
back from Summer Furlough,
Cadet Meade Edmonds '86 died
tragically while vacationing at
Virginia Beach. Meade was
struck in a hit-and-run accident
which occurred at approx-imately
0530. He was then rush-ed
to Virginia Beach General
Hospital where he died at 0845.
Meade, a physically active
cadet, was a makeover corporal
for the 1983-84 academic ses-sion.
Always concerned about
his brother rats, Meade's
memory will serve as an in-spiration
to the Class of '86.
Services have been held in
Richmond, Meade's hometown
and are planned for 1930 Sunday
at VMI. Although Meade will no
longer be at VMI, he will not be
M.S. Edmonds
forgotten by the Corps or his
brother rats.
The following was written by
Meade Edmonds to his room-mate
on October 17,1982
Here we are, right after
Parents Weekend, night before
a purge. We're all here now,
we'd better be here at the end of
the week. We gotta stick
together and we'll do it. Thanks
for the help so far, and I'm sure
you know that whenever you
need anything just ask. I just
want both of us to be here to
shake hands after breakout.
The Memorial Service for
Meade Spicer Edmonds will be
on 28 August 1983 at 1930 hours.
i i H i
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Mr. H.S. Treviranus in J.M. Hall restoring the New Market painting
photo courtesy VMI PIO Painting Restored by Paul Burch
Over the summer many Post
buildings at VMI were given a
facelift in order to preserve and
protect them. One such building
was J. M. HaU, the Cadet
Chapel, and in particular Ben-jamin
West Clinedinst's
notewOTthy painting of the
Charge at New Market.
Mr. H. H. Stewart Treviranus
was placed in charge of clean-ing
and restoring the 18 by 23
foot piece of art. Mr.
Treviranus has also restored
paintings that now hang in
Preston Library.
To restore the painting
Treviranus first removed the
surface dirt. Ground in dirt was
then removed with the aid of
mineral spirits. Previous at-tempts
to clean the painting
resulted in scratches in the
paint which were repaired by
Treviranus before adding a non-yellowing
acrylic to cover and
seal the painting.
In addition to repairing the
painting itself, a scarlet border
will be painted around the can-vas
and rimmed with a wooden
frame. Treviranus estimates
that the restoration will in-crease
the lifetime of the pain-ting
by 30 years.
For those who haven't seen
the painting in its new decor, it
is well worth the time to ex
plore its enhanced beauty.
Information and ideas for this
article were taken from an arti-cle
written by Skip Goodwillie
'83.
Board Officers Elected
VMI PIO
Richmond building and in-dustrial
contractor Harry G.
Lee and Norfolk insurance ex-ecutive
George G. Phillips, Jr.,
have been elected president and
vice president of the Virginia
Military Institute Board of
Visitors.
Lee, who? is executive vice
president of Kjellstrom and
Lee, Inc., Richmond, is a 1947
graduate of VMI and a former
president of the VMI Alumni
Association. He is serving a se-cond
four-year term on the
board since his initial appoint-ment
in 1977.
As president of the board;
Lee succeeds Vincent J
Thomas, mayor of Norfolk, who
stepped down as president after
three years in office. Thomas
remains as a member of the
board.
PhiUips, a member of VMI's
class of 1960, is also serving his
second term on the board He
(continued on page 2 )