VMI Cadet. April 20, 2007

              One of the
Oldest College
Newspapers
ENTENNIAL
1 9 0 7
H _
. -JDITION
Independently
Run By Cadets
Since 1 9 0 7
2 0 0 7
VOLUME 1 0 0 Friday, A pril 2 0 th , 2 0 0 7 ISSUE 26
News
The Campus was visited
by students from the Ecole
Polytechniquc, a French
engineering school in the
suburbs of Paris. The
students were returning for
their second trip this school
year...pg 1
Features
The Office of the Chaplin
to the Corps is hosting
the "How Not to Marry a
Jerk" A series of lectures
and activities that help
individuals find their
soulmate without finding a
Opinion
In light of this week's tragic
events, it brings to mind
the importance of having
concealed weapons as a
way to defend one's self or
possibly defuse a potentially
deadly situation, in this
week's Opinion section, we
get an Alumni's reaction and
suggestions on the future of
concealed weapons...pg 6
Entertainment
UFC shocked the mixed
martial arts world with its
acquistion of its biggest
rival. Pride Fighting, now
see what its plans are for the
future and why some of its
biggest fighters are ready for
the upcoming year...pg 9
H u m o r
The Cadet piles it high
with some Haikus K-Fau
style; and..Here's
to you Mr. ROTC,
your cocky swagger
and chest full o f
medals command our
utmost respect......pgiO
S e c t i o n s
News..................... 1
Sports................. 4
Opinion................... 6
Entertainment....... 8
Humor................... 10
The Cadet, student newspaper of the
Virginia Military Institute, was estab­lished
in the Fall of 1907 and has been
continued since that time. Our news­paper
is published ewry Friday afternoon
during the academic year, except during
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A . S C E C o m p e t i t i o n ToDROTCCadelsCometoVM
By Bert Williams
Cadet News Writer
Last weekend, VMI was
host to the 2007 /Vmerican
Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE) Regional Virginias
Competition.
T h i s
r e g i o n a l
competition
p i t t e d
students from
VMI against
students from
over a dozen
universities iVi
both Virginia
and West
V i r g i n i a .
S t u d e n t s
competed in
several civil
engineering
f o r u m s ,
including the ASCE Regional/
National Concrete Canoe
Competition and the ASCE/
AISC National Student Steel
Bridge Competition, two of
the largest undergraduate civil
engineering competitions in the
world.
The competition began
on Friday, April 13''‘, with
a career fair in Cameron
Hall. Engineering companies
from across Virginia came to
interview cadets and students
for internships and employment
opportunities. Simultaneously,
the competitions began.
There were five group regional
competition categories;
Surveying, Structures,
Environmental, Geotechnical,
and Technical. These
competitions involved groups
of three to four students
performing a variety of tasks
from laboratory calculations to
field measurements to system
design. VMI fielded teams in
all of these competitions and
won 3"* place in the Surveying
category, and 1“ place in the
Environmental.
One of the largest
competitions is the Concrete
Canoe, in which VMI
participated for the first time
in many years. A national level
competition, students design
and construct canoes made
of concrete and compete in
several racing
events. Teams
are also judged
on aesthetics,
p r o j e c t
management,
d e s i g n
reports, and
presentation.
The team
c o n s i s t e d
of four 2"‘*
class civil
e n g in e e r in g
majors, and
was lead by
Ca d e t - i n -
Charge Jordan Combs. Despite
their lack of experience, smaller
team, and late start, the VMI
team performed well, placing
S'*" overall. One judge stated
that VMI’s concrete canoe
presentation was “impressive”.
In the racing portion of
the competition, the Institute
team’s inexperience showed. In
the first event, a distance slalom,
See Catlett on Page 2
By Kevin Finger
Cadet News Writer
The SO* George C.
Marshall ROTC Award
Seminar is currentiy underway,
focusing on the Army’s role in
the National Security of the
United States, as well as world
security.
Hosted by the George
C. Marshall Foundation, the
Marshall Awards brings together
over 270 of the top cadets from
Army ROTC programs, the
United States Military Academy
at West Point, the United States
Naval Academy at Annapolis,
and the United States Coast
Guard Academy.
The seminar takes place at
General Marshall’s alma mater,
the Virginia Military Institute,
as well as the campus of
Washington and Lee University
from April 17-20.
Since the Award Seminar
was founded in 1976 by
then Chief of Staff of the
United States Army, General
Bernard Rogers, and Marshall
Foundation trustee, retired
General Maxwell Taylor,
the Marshall Foundation has
teamed up with the United
States Army to bring nearly
9500 of the top ROTC cadets
in the nation to Lexington,
Virginia. These cadets
have been selected by the cadre
of their college or university
Army ROTC detachment as
the outstanding Army ROTC
cadet for the year and receive
the Marshall ROTC Award.
Throughout the week,
cadets have been participating
in various roundtable
discussions throughout the week
on topics such as the Media and
the Battieficld, Officer’s Ethics,
and Homeland Security and the
Role of the Military.
These discussions are
being led by ofiicers and NCOs
provided by Cadet Command,
. as well as recognized experts
in their subject field from the
military, State Department, and
various think tanks.
As a testament to the long
term importance of the seminar,
many of the discussions are
nearly identical to those at the
first seminar in 1978. Among
the original twelve roundtable
discussions were “Nuclear
Weapons: Prospects and
Problems of Proliferation,”
“Terrorism and US Foreign
Policy,” and “W^lat Should
US Policy be in the Middle
See ROTC on Page 2
Westmoreland Specialist Speaks in Preston
By Mike Hughes
Cadet News Writer
Dr. Paul Miles, Colonel US
Army (Ret.), spoke to cadets
in Preston Library on April
18'*’ on the topic of General
William C. Westmoreland’s role
in the Vietnam War.
The brief ftctore "oh
Wednesday night centered
on Westmoreland, whom the
author considers to be one
of the most crucial figures in
the Vietnam War. Miles’ talk
presented a re-examination of
Westmoreland’s role in strategy
in the Vietnam conflict.
Miles began by
commenting, “Being involved
in Vietnam makes you
controversial.” He spoke of
the military commander in a
more positive light than he is
usually presented.
According to Miles, one
of the significant problems Westmoreland placed more
was that America was fighting emphasis on counterinsurgency
the war with
not a strategy
of winning,
but one of
not losing.
Westmoreland
recognizeid
a n d
u n d e r s to o d
this problem,
and pushed
for a more
o f f e n s i v e
strategy.
I n
a d d i t i o n ,
instead of
f ol l owi ng
' the policy
of fighting
a prolonged
war of attrition. in the South.
The professor believes
Ecole Polytechnique Cadets Visit Post
By Tim Beckley
Cadet News Writer
Sixteen French cadets and
three of their faculty from tlie
Ecole Polytechnique visited the
Institute from Monday, April
9'*' tlirough Saturday, April H**'.
The trip was part of the long
history of exchange between
the Virginia Military Institute
and the Ecole Polytechnique.
The students were invited
to participate in various
activities throughout the week:
attend classes, eat with cadets
in the mess hall, play games,
and listen to keynote speakers.
Every year, a VMI cadet is
sent over to study at the Ecole
Polytechnique, and a small
group of French students are
sent to VMI for about a week.
Two Ecole Polytechnique
students also come to the
Institute in August and stay for
a month in order to participate
in a work study with the
Physical Plant on Post.
This unpaid internship
gives the students a chance to
practice their English as well
as a chance to learn teamwork
strategies. The students work
as laborers in all aspects of the
support work, which includes
rotating through the dilTerent
academic departments.
The visiting cadets
participated in numerous
tours and lectures. They also
got to hear speakers such as
Colonel Bruce Vandervort
and Brigadier General Allen
Farrell. Farrell spoke to the
students on the history of the
love-hate relationship between
the United States and France
over the years.
The students were also
able to attend classes in both
the technical and liberal arts
sides of the curriculum at
VA'II. Personal tours were
also given of the Post and the
museums on campus.
There were ample
opportunities for cultural
exchange, such as the visiting
students getting to live in
barracks with cadet volunteers.
This gave both the French
students and VMI cadets time
to form a personal connection
and friendship.
One of the highlights of
the exchange was a trip to the
Lexington Wal-Mart, a truly
unique institution of tlie United
States. The French cadets were
also able to attend the VMI
baseball game on the 13'*' of
April, and a soccer scrimmage
was arranged between the
cadets and the French students
by the International Club.
The Ecole Polytechnique,
located in a suburb of Paris,
France, was traditionally a
technical institute and training
school for the French Army.
"To Inform the
Over the years, it has shied
away from this role as the
French military has reduced
its standing force size in all
there services. As such, only a
few of the five hundred French
students will elect to accept
their commission in the armed
services.
Ecole Polytechnique has
grown to be an elite technical
school regarded as the best in
France and possibly Europe.
The curriculum for the last
three years includes an eight
month military obligation to
fulfill the national compulsory
service requirement, and also a
year of broad studies in liberal
arts, math, and science.
The third capstone year
includes intense, highly focused
training in a specific technical
area. Most graduates are
highly sought after by French
industries and corporations,
v^th many being offered jobs
long before graduation. The
students are issued military
uniforms which are reserved
largely for ceremonial
purposes.
The students from the
Ecole Polytechnique left for
Washington, D.C. on Saturday,
the 16'*' of April, where they
toured the nation’s capital for
two days before returning to
their studies in France.
VMI Community"
that Westmoreland was also
wary of using too many air
strikes, because
he believed they
were too imprecise
to be effective in
counterinsurgency.
Miles did comment
that Westmoreland
really did believe the
Vietnam War did
not have to be given
, up for lost, and that
given a large enough
troop presence and
offensive action, a
cease fire like the one
in Korea could have
been established.
Ultimately, however,
Westmoreland faced
a significant struggle
and awkward
political situations, but met
them as well as any soldier
could.
What ultimately led the
American people to associate
Westmoreland with the
failures of Vietnam were his
appearances before the press
on behalf of the Johnson
Administration, including
addressing a joint session of
Congress, which Dr. Miles
says was an unprecedented
foray into politics for a military
general.
Because the Johnson
Administration was in a
dire situation and on its way
out, he says, it chose Gen.
Westmoreland, Time magazine’s
1966 Man of the Year, to be the
face representing the War in
Vietnam, and the only choice
the general had was to either
obey the order to do so or to
resign.
What is unique about
Miles is that he had hands-on
experience witii much of his
subject matter. After ser\dng
a tour of duty in Vietnam in
1965, Miles became the aide-de-
camp of Westmoreland, who
was at the time the Army Chief
of Staff. He would later return
to Vietnam in 1973 and serve
as an American delegate at the
Paris Peace Conference.
Miles took the wealth of
knowledge gained from these
experiences back to West Point,
where from 1979 to 1990 he
taught and served as Director of
the International and Strategic
History Program.
“He was my mentor,” said
Brigadier General Charles F.
Brower, VMI Dean of Faculty,
who served in West Point’s
History Department while
Miles was there
A 1960 graduate of
the United States Military
Academy, Miles is currentiy one
of Princeton University’s most
recognized lecturers and focuses
primarily on strategy and grand
strategy in American History.
He retired from the Army and
received his doctorate from
Princeton in 1999.
The professor is currently
working on writing a book on
Westmoreland’s connection ^o
top Washington leadership. '
VMI Cadets Hold Memorial Service
for VA Tech Victims in JM HaU
On nianiiay cvntfjig^ Cadets, FatiilQr, anit Vhitors gaaered Ini JM Hall
at jk949 in tli« midiig to ifntttnd « candldlght prayw and pay ibcir
‘ mp«cts t« the vktiiDt of iMonday ihooibig in BUackfbiirg.'