VMI Cadet. February 9, 1996

              Happy Valentines Day!
• C O R P S ' '
W ^ t C a t t et
"Cl)f JInsftitiitf IWill © f 1l)farli Jfrom Cobai'."
VOLUME LXXXIX Friday Februaiy 9, 1996 Number 13.
Second Class Shuns
Plans For "Family
Style" Dining
Aaron Burden
News Writer
For the Fall semester of 1996,
the Corps will return to "family" style
dining; however, there has been much
controversy on this issue as to whether
or not it would improve Corps morale.
According to alumni and aministrative
ofTicials, the return to family style din-ing
will bolster a waning Corps morale.
However, several officials
and cadets alike have noted the inher-ent
difficulties in implementing the re-turn
to family style dining. For instance,
there is simply not enough room in the
mess hall to seat every cadet. There-fore,
some alterations will have to be
made, which may result in the elimina-tion
of the grill line, salad bar, and po-tato
bar
There are other problems
with returning to family style dining
and the strongest opposition seems to
come from the Corps. In response to
allegations that the elimination of con-tinuous
dining will incur several un-avoidable
problems. The Cadet has
polled the rising first class, the class of
'97, concerning this issue.
Ifthe fifty man survey is rep-resentative
of the larger class, most Sec-ond
Classmen do not march down to
BRC unless they have to. Only 12% of
the men surveyed eat immediately af-ter
BRC, and many of them are cadre
who eat with the Rats. Men who take
an optional or a limited duty would then
have to wait until DRC is served be-fore
eating again. A family style DRC
would conflict with men who have 1200
classes and men on athletic pennits
would run the risk of running out of
food. Cadets feel that eating what they
want when they want allows them to
manage their time more etTectively.
Although many Second
Classmen feel that an occasional fam-ily
style dining would do the Corps
some good, the survey indicates that the
total elimination of the continuous din-ing
facilities is, in the cadet mind, a
harmful proposition. "There are too
many cadets to feed at once in a rea-sonable
amount of time. I like to grab
my food and go," exclaimed one Ca-det.
Another cadet stated, " A family
style dining would not enable a person
to fulfil his appetite."
Athletic teams pose further
problems. About 42% of the cadets |
surveyed are on some sort of athletic
pennit. Before the continuous style din- I
ing was introduced. Late Supper cadets »
complained that what little food that |
was left for them was cold and unfit to
eat. Athletes, who need to eat specific
foods at specific times, would not be
able to perform as they should, accord-ing
to those surveyed.
From the information gath-ered
from the surveys, it appears that
the Corps would appreciate a return to
an occasional family style dining, so
long as the benefits from the continu-ous
dining are still available. Many feel
that there are other, more efficient and
less costly ways of boosting Corps
morale and unity than family style din-ing.
Many cadets seem to agree that
continuous dining should remain.
Tennix Team Captain Jamie Yoxtheimer accepts the Heimlich-Bissell Award from VM! Superintendent General Hiinlinf; VIMI Professor l^ectures at F.U.M.A
CPT Robert D. Staley
Contributing Writer
Fork Union, Virginia. On Sat-urday,
January 6, Fork Union Military
Academy Middle School cadets had the
opportunity to hear VMl Colonel (Or.)
Alan Baragona lecture on Arthurian
Legend, as a part of the Saturday class
enrichment program. Baragona fo-cused
his lecture on the Arthurian sym-bolism
in the movie The Natural, based
on the novel by Bernard Malaniud.
I he program, instituted by
Middle School I leadmaster Major Rob
Feathers, enables each department to
provide a three-hour block of instruc-tion
designed to give .students broader
learning opportunities outside the class-room.
Baragona was invited to
speak to F. U. M. A. cadets by Lnglish
teachers Captain David Hope. V. M. 1.
•8S, and Robert D. Staley, V. M. 1. '95,
both fomier students of Baragona in his
Arthurian l.e^enJ course.
"We were all excited and hon-ored
to have Dr. Baragona as a guest of
the Middle School," said Feathers. "We
offered Arthurian Legend ami Film
Appreciation as part of our exploratory
program, so It was an academic treat to
have an expert on the subject make him-sell
available to our students," he added.
Baragona, Professor of Ln-glish
a V. M. I., arrived Friday evening
to meet with students and to give a gen-eral
overview of Arthurian Legend and Faculty
its importance in The Natural. A ques-tion
and answer session followed to
further prepare students for the lecture
on Saturday morning.
Lighth-grader Adam Binder
was especially pleased to have
Baragona available to answer questions
about one of his favorite topics.
"I thought it was great to hear
Dr Baragona," said Binder "I've seen
all the movies, but now they really make
sense to me." With a smile he added,
"1 really hope Dr Baragona returns next
year because I have more questions."
Baragona's visit was also
greatly appreciated by faculty members.
CIT Steve Macek, sixth and seventh
grade Science teacher, was amazed at
what an infiuencc the Legend has had
on authors and in the movies.
"I've seen The Natural sev-eral
times, but 1 never consciously
picked up on the symbolism," said
Macek. "1 look forward to reading the
book, now that I have an expanded
know ledge on this subject," he added.
True to fonii, Baragona has
proven not only that he is an outstand-ing
college professor, but that his abili-ties
as a girted communicator also ex-tend
to younger students.
"I've never seen the whole
Middle School Battalion so moti\ated
and w illing to participate in di.scussion,"
said C'Pl Hope. "Dr Baragona has a
w ay of bringing out the best in students.
I am thrilled that they took lull advan-tage
of this opportunity.
Colonel Weing
Third Classman Francis Moder donates his blood in Cocke Hall
Bloodmobile Taps VMl
Josh Cuscaden
News Writer
Joel Kusterer
News Writer
A blood drive was spon-sored
by the American Red Cross and
the Shenandoah Area Blood Bank on
Tuesday and Wednesday of this
week.
The privileges this time
were changed to include an extended
weekend granted to the class that
gave the most blood. At this time.
the winning class is yet undeter-mined.
The showing by all classes
was far above normal, including 55
first time donors. The large showing
helped to reach a two day total of 517
units of blood donated.
A Red Cross volunteer
added that the goal this year is to
break all previous donation records.
Another blood bank visit is scheduled
for sometime in mid-April.
Seventeen Minks Indicted
on Drug Charges
Cooperative
Roundup Finds
Cocaine Ring
Josh Cuscaden
News Writer
The Lexington community
was shocked as seventeen alleged
drug dealers and users were in-dicted
on a variety of charges, in-cluding
conspiracy to distribute and
possession on 1 uesday, February 8,
1996.
One of those indicted, Kurt
Russ, a Washington and Lee Uni-versity
alumnus and research ar-chaeologist,
allegedly headed the
drug ring which, according to in-vestigative
authorities, was in op-eration
from 1990 to 1994
I he ring allegedly trans-ported
250 ounces of cocaine esti-mated
at $1 million street value.
Ihe two-year investigation began
after a W&L buildings and grounds
employee was arrested in 1994 He
informed police on the identity of
one of his suppliers. The supplier
happened to be William Gossman,
a W&L student who would have
graduated in 1991 save that he quit
school.
Ciossman cooperated with
the police by helping them find his
supplier in Miami. Consequently,
both (iossman and the distributor
in Miami have been convicted on
charges of distribution of cocaine.
Russ has been charged with con-spiracy
to distribute, though there
has been no evidence that he ever
distributed drugs to any of his stu-dents.
The arrests of the seven-teen
people was the result of a co-operative
roundup by the Huena
Vista and Lexington police depart-ments
and the Rockbridge County
Sheriff's Office in addition to some
state police officers. I he indict-ments
included charges that in-volved
cocaine, marijuana, and
other drugs.
Colonel Siegfried Weing (pro-nounced
vine) has been a part of the V.\l I
faculty for the past twenty-eight years.
He works in the Modem Language De-partment
teaching (iennan. His story
begins much further back though.
Colonel Weing was born in
Somogyszil, I lungary where he lived for
six years. After World War II the com-munists
overmn much of Lastem luirope.
including Colonel Weing's home. His
family was kicked out of I lungarv'. Con-sequently,
they moved to liast (ieniiany
where tlicy were trapped for a year His
family then escaped to West Ciemiany.
At that time there was no wall to block
his escape. 1 here were, however, hea\ >
border patrols.
After three years, economic
factors forced another move for Colonel
Weing and his family. 1 his tune the des-tination
was the United Stales. In the U.
S. A. he received his B A. at Kut/.town
University in Pennsylvania. Colonel
Weing furthered his studies ai Vanderbllt
where he received both a M. A. and a I'h.
D. in (iennan literature.
At Kut/town, \anderbilt. and
VMl, Colonel Weing exix-nenced three
racial integrations in I9W), I9M, and
1968 respectively. Upon questioiimg
about a possible gender iniegraiion lor
VMl. he commented that "only ifwe can
attract a large enough number of women
would they really contribute to VMl."
I'hough he does not feel strongly about
the issue one w ay or another, he does feel
that women could possibly improve the
academic perlonnanccs of some cadets.
Concerning Ihe loss of lan-guage
majors and minors he feels "the
abolition is simply deplorable." Colo-nel
Weing also f c l s that women could
possibly aid the Modeni Language De-partment.
••Culliirally women have been
thrust into secretarial, nursing, and teach-ing
jobs primarily'" I le further explains
that women more commonly take Lib-eral
.Arts majors. I le hopes that this trend
could help reinstate the Modem Lan-guages
Dcpartmeni,
Currently, he continues to
ser\ e cadets by leaching (iennan during
the academic year During the Summer
se.ssions he becomes a barracks superv i-sor.
a job resembling a tactical ofticer
during the academic year He has done
this tor the past live years.
i
From the Old Corps...
From March 7, 1990 Csbft
Class Of '80 Donates Uni-forms
For The Needy In The Far
Fast
The Class of 1980 donated
approximately 300 pairs of pants to
deserving individuals in the Far
Fast. 1 he gift was coordinated by
the VMl Religious Council in con-junction
with the United States
Navy.
1 he pants are a part of the
winter uniform of the cadets who
a t t e n d VMl. 1 radi t ional ly
t h e " w o o l i e s " are burned each
spring by the graduating class in an
enthusiastic ceremony which marks
the end of a four year cadetship.
Col. Charles C. Caudill,
USAF (R1;T), the school's
Chaplain,thought that it would be
a waste to burn good pants I'he
donation was one alternative to the
burning of the winter uniform.
I he Class of 1980 supported idea
and gave the Religious Council the
uniforms and assorted shirts and
blankets, fhe VMl administration
also supported the idea and pro-vided
storage space for the pants
until transportation overseas be-came
available.
Capt. Taylor, the Com-manding
O f f i c e r of the USS
K.ALAM A / . 0 0 ( AOR-6), has
agreed to transport the senior
class's gift, fhe "K-ZOO" has al-ready
departed Norfolk. Va. For an
extended deployment in the Medi-terranean
Sea.
I h e Religious Council
coordinated the collection and the
delivery to Norfolk of the donated
items. F.nsign l.R. Derkhimer,
VMl Class of 1978. Has volun
leered to oversee the distribution
of the pants at the appropriate
time
Inside:
Page 2 - BiMinMs
SMtkMI
Page 4 - Runntai* ROCM
P i « e S - Lexington for
Lovers
Pi^e 6 - Shrinking
Ratline
( ttadel point ^uard ^'t /v the brute end of a I Ml double team trom Andre {>uarles and Hrian Taue^ The team,
thanks to the Cameron ('ra:ies, is undefeated at home thi^ year