VMI Cadet. November 2, 2001

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VoIumeXGV Friday, November 2,2001 Numbers
I n T h is I s s u e
Friday
Sports on page 4
Soccer Wins 1, Loses 1
VMI Retires Glynn’s Jersey
Opinion on page 2
Leadership Task
Force Reaction
Punishments*
Purpose
Features on pages 5-6
Assimilation
Commitee meets in
New York
New Interest in
Academic Minors
2004 Committees
formed
Arts & Leisure
A & L Briefs for
this Week, Fill
your Time with
Something Fun
Humor
Flip Over
and Find
Out
Ring Figure Weekend for the Class of 2003
Ranger Challenge Wins
VMI to Take on West Point, International Teams Next
By Charles Munn
Cabet News Editor
The VMI Ranger
Challenge Team took first
place in last weekend’s
competition at Fort A. P.
Hill. The competition in­cluded
an initial PCI (Pre-
Combat Inspection), an
obstacle course, land
navigation, a recon mis­sion,
a rock climb, a rope
bridge, and a rucksack
run.
The Ranger Chal­lenge
Team has been pre­paring
for this contest
since the beginning of the
academic year, conduct­ing
training during Militaiy
Duty during the week.
The team’s training
paid off this weekend; the
team’s ruck run time was
10 minutes faster than
thesecond place team.
“We pushed it past what
we thought we could,”
said team-member David
Barkocy, ’03. “Everyone
was hurting but we all
made it.” The team leader,
Mike Nelson, ‘02, was
equally enthusiastic about
the team’s victory. “We all
sucked it up, and did re­ally
weU.”
Because of this win,
the team will now move
on to the final contest:
Sandhurst. The annual
Sandhurst competition is
held at West Point each
spring. The Sandhurst
course is traditionally gru­eling,
and the competition
is also increased. West
Point provides 32 teams,
one from each cadet
company; The Royal Mili­tary
Academy from the
United Kingdom provides
two teams, and one team
comes from the Royal
Military College of
Canada. Also competing
are the five ROTC teams
that won their regional
competition ( which in­cludes
VMI).
The Sandhurst
course includes events
such as NBC (Nuclear
Biological Chemical) ex­ercises,
boat movement,-
marksmanship, weapon
assembly and disassem­bly,
river crossings, wall
obstacles, and rappelling.
The last time the team
made it to Sandhurst,
VMI took the streamer
and patches awarded to
best squad in the com­petition.
The VMI Ranger
Challenge team will re­sume
training after Christ­mas
Furlough, and ac­cording
to Nelson, “We
are going to tailor our
training to West Point
standards.”
Nelson will be com­missioning
inthe Army
this spring, and hopes to
branch infantry.
By DanielJ.Cragg
Cnbet Layout Editor
This weekend is
one of the paramount
events of members of
the Class of 2003’s
cadetships. Ring Figure
weekend is awaited al­most
as anxiously as
graduation. The event is
over a year in the mak­ing.
2003’s Ring Figure
began Wednesday night
with the customary class
dinner, which was held at
Natural Bridge. Thurs­day
night, the entire
Corps got its first taste
bf 2003’s Ring Figure
with a concert held in Old
Barracks. The band was
Maryland-native O.A.R.,
perhaps best known for
their song A Crazy Game
of Poker. “The concert
was definitely a boost to
Corps morale,” said Joel
Andrus, ’04. “Hopefully
this yearly custom will
become an annual tradi­tion.”
On Friday, all Sec­ond
Classmen will be ex­cused
from their after­noon
classes to attend
the Ring Presentation
Ceremony in JM Hall and
the Old Barracks Court­yard.
At 7:45, the Ring
Figure dance will begin
in Cocke Hall, followed
by a tent party at the
Travelodge. Saturday Is
the Ring Figure parade
led by members of the
Second Class, and is
also game day. The
Keydets will face Appa-
SeeRing Figure.
page 5
Blood Drive Surpasses Goals
ByAlexBoigelt
Cnbct News Writer
The first of three
Red Cross Blood
drives occurred this
week at VMI,lasting
from Monday, October
29th to Wednesday the
31st. Taking into ac­count
last year’s blood
drive, this y e a r ’s set
goal was 260 pints, but
the Red Cross was un­prepared
for the cadet
turn o u t. The
Corpsdonated a total
amount of 370 pints by
the end of the drive.The
f ir s t day the Cadets
surpassed the goal by
40 pints; the next day
by 30 pints, and the fi­nal
session by another
40 pints, overwhelming
the Red Cross and
leaving them scram­bling
for cookies and
Cadet Warner ‘03 in preparation to do his part.
extra help.Cadets un­derwent
a 15-minute
screening process, then
proceeded to wait for
hours to donate blood.
In order to meet the
outpouring of blood
d o n a tio n s since the
September 11th a t ­tacks,
the Red Cross
has been devising vari­ous
strategies for meet­ing
the nationwide need
for blood. “We usually
plead for blood dona­tions,
and haven’t been
able to react quickly to
the continuing outpour­ing
of d o n o rs ,” said
Bob Lutjen, Red Cross
Communications Man­ager.
“I p red ic ted
we’d have a big turn­out,
e sp e c ia lly after
September 11,” said
J.R. Fidler, ‘02, VMI’s
lia iso n to the Red
Cross. As a result of
the mass outpouring of
donors, Fidler estab-
See Blood Drive.
pages
Halloween at the
Institute 2001
Dave Troxell ‘02 sweetening up some local children.
By Henry W^se
CnlJCt News Writer
It was the night of
Halloween, 2001. A full
moon pierced a hazy
hole in the dark sky, and
on a hill there loomed a
fortress, tall and grim.
There was a huddle
outside the main entrance
waiting to enter, and it
was a mildly warm au­tumn
night. At seven
o’clock, the group was
able to enter, and, with
excitement, it moved
throughout the VMI bar­racks
in the search of
candy. The huddle was
a group of local children,
and the cadets were host­ing
an hour long trick-or-treat.
It was an hour of fun
and relaxation, both for
the cadets and the chil­dren.
All sorts of cos­tumes
colored the bar­racks
this bleak night,
and some cadets showed
their Halloween spirit by
having jack-o-lanterns
outside their rooms. It
was a nice lead into the
upcoming Ring Figure
weekend, and spirits
were lifted. Finally the
children left the bar­racks,
and the stoops
were hushed as study
hours resumed their im­portance.
A few hours passed,
and then at 10:30 the
stoops were filled with
elaborate costumes from
Batman to bumble bees.
It was now Halloween for
the Rats. As their dykes
escorted them around
the stoops, the Rats pa­raded
around the bar­racks.
They were filled
with enjoyment and
passed this entertainment
along to the rest of the
Corps, cadets said it was
more fun than a normal
Wednesday. Halloween
had come and gone, and
night once again de­scended
upon the
stoops.