VMI Cadet. September 19, 2008

              1 9 0 7
O n e o f t h e
O l d e s t C o l l e g e
N e w s p a p e r s
2 0 0 8
T h e Ca d e t
" It is error only, an d not truth, that shrinks from inquiry. "
I n d e p e n d e n t l y
R u n B y C a d e t s
S i n c e 1 9 0 7
VOLUME 102 Friday, S e ptem b er 1 9 t h, 2 0 0 8 ISSUE 3
F e a t u r e s :
C h e c k o u t t h e C a d e t a n d
F a c u l t ) ^ i n F o c u s . . . p g 2
• 1^'. II
FYI
The Next Issue of
THE CAD E Tw \\\M
printed on
26 September 2008
Sports:
The Women's Soccer
Team and the Rugby
Team provide the
Keydets with some W’s
for the week...you’ll
find more...pg 5
Entertainment:
A new genre o f film
the Spy-Comedic-
Thfiller is born.
The film has hit
the box office with
avengance. Find out
if it is worth your
money or if it wil
self destruct in 10, 9,
8....pg 7.
S e c t i o n s
News........................ 1
O p in io n ................... 3
Spor ts ...................... 4
E n te r ta inme n t ...... 6
H um o r . ..................... 8
The Cladol, siudfiit newspaper of the
N’irginla Mi l i tary lusticute, was es­tablished
in the I'all of 1907 and has
been continued since that time. Ou r
newspaper is published c\eiy Friday af­ternoon
during the academic year, except
during Corps trips, holidays and exam
periods. The Cadet olliccs are located on
tlie third flooi of Main-y Brooke Hall.
To o rd e r a su b s c r ip t io n o f
the Newsp ap e r co n ta c t :
Th e Cadet EIC Phone:
\ ’M1 Box 7 (314) G04-G980
Lexington, \ 'A Office Email:
24450-0304 c.iHetcdit@gm:ul.cuiii
The Cadet is a member o f the Publica­tions
Board which selves as the stiper-
\isoi7 body for all cadet puljlications.
Periodicals postage paid- Lexington, \'A
Postal Numb e r : US P654-880
T h e Ca d e t is publ ish ed weekly
by T h e News Ga z e t te , 20 \V
Nelson, Lexington, \ ’A, 24450.
By K e v in F in g e r
Cadet Features Writer
Th i rd Barrack.s construction is
nearly complete, which will mean sub­stantial
changes for the Spring 2009
semester. \Vith a dedication ceremony
tentatively planned for Founder's Day,
November 11, 2008,
Third Barracks will
be ofiicially imveiled.
Unfortunately, with
this comes .some in­convenience
to the
Corps of Cadets, as a
section of New Bar­racks
will be closed
off for the remainder
of the year
At the close of
this semester, cadets
will no longer have
access to the rooms
on the back side of
New Barracks, from
the b a throoms all
the way. a round to
the Thi rd Barracks
sally port. The New
Barracks concourse,
including the trunk
room and the Bar­racks
study room will
also be closed. As a
result, cadets living
in these rooms will
find themselves re­siding
in Third Bar­racks
come January
2009. Additionally, Marshall Arch, the
New Barracks courtyard, and an area in
front of New Barracks will no longer be
accessible due to renovations. There will
be a 22’ giip between the fence in front
of New Barracks and the curb, allowing
pedestrians to pass through.
While Third Barracks should be
ready for occupation sometime between
late October and early November, ca­dets
need not prepare for a mid-semester
move unless they live in the New Bar­racks
concourse. Given the logistics of
moving a sizable portion of the Corps,
as well as their furniture and belongings,
the Commandant’s Staff has decided it
was in cadets’ best interests to wait until
the semester furlough to prevent disrupt-coinmandant’s
initiative to move cadets
above ground. There will also be a large
emphasis on improving stoop integrity,”
said John Tagg "09 GC Historian.
A palpable feeling of restlessness
and anticipation lias spread through
Barracks like a, wiJdfire as we move
ing events such as Ring Figure, midterm
e.xams, Thanksgiving Furiough; and final
exams. They do, however, urge cadets
to remove as much as they can from
their rooms as the semester progresses.
This will greatly facilitate tlie transfer of
rooms, as the trunk room will not be ac­cessible
over Christmas Furlough.
“The idea has been thrown around
that cadets in the concourse may
be moved this semester and occupy
Third Barracks. That follows with the
towards the unveiling of the looming
structure.
“I am excited and I am ready,” said
SGM Neel. “It is going to be great.”
While only a few cadets have
moved into Third Barracks as of press
time, the reviews from cadets have been
overwhelmingly posidve. They appear to
have more room
“These rooms are pretty awesome.
filth on anything,” said Karl Cutler '11,
current resident of room 3-116.
Although only a select few ha\e
sampled the rooms of Third Barracks,
nearly all cadets have tined the new .show­ers
and love them. Each showerhead has
its own stall attached, which many cadets
find preferable to the o]x>n
style showers in Old Bar­racks.
“Third Barracks show­ers
are \vell worth the walk I
make from Goldcoast,” saitl
Daniel Allen '09. “I 'h a t ’s
saying a lot coming from
me.”
The General Commit­tee
historians have been
working overtime this se­mester,
as they look through
lists of their Brother Rats
who will be moving into
Third Barracks and tn- to
find opt ima l rooming
situations for them. Cadets
who will not be living in
Bar racks next semester
are urged to notify their
class historians, whether it
is due to graduating in De­cember,
studying abroad, or
any other reason.
“If you are not plan­ning
on coming back next
semester, let yoiu- historian
know,” said Major Kevin
Faust ’96, Assistance Com­m
a n d a n t S 1 /S 4 . “T h e
more accinate the figures they ha\’e, the
better they will be able to move peo])le
with the least inconvenience to cadets.”
As with any construction update,
this schedule is subject to revision as cir­cumstances
may change. Details about
the barracks study room and the trunk
room will be released when available, but
cadets should prepare for these locations
to no longer exist in their current incar-
Rats to V is it Bedfo rd M em o r ia l
By J e n y H ic k e y
Cadet News Writer
Each year, the Rat Mass of VMI
takes a trip up to Bedford, \'irginia
to visit the National D-day Memorial.
Visited by Pre.sident Bush, senior
diploinats, and over a million visitors
from around the world since its opening,
this memorial serves as a powerful
reminder of the men and women
who fought, served and died for their
country, as well as the significance that
D-Day, as well as World VV'ar II. After the
Rats are done with their station, they will
move to the next one.
The itiemorial is divided into
several components, all of which tell
a small part of die history and what
certain parts of the battle field looked
like. One of these is the Reynolds’s
Garden, which specifically focuses on
the landing of the US forces in France.
The memorial also consists of the Air
Force and Navy circle, which tell the
D-Day seived for die United States and
the rest of the world.
The memorial was placed in
Bedford, because the town had more
casualties that were from there than
any other town in the United States.
The memorial also provides detailed
information and displays, as well as
veterans who will share their personal
experiences with the Rats. This year, the
Rats will be leaving the Institute around
1300 and staying uiitil 1900, when the
Rats will return back to VMI. The
briefing will be arranged much like the
previous ones attended by cadets. The
diO'erent companies will be arranged
in groups and will be moved around to
difl'erent stations, where the Rats will
learn about certain particular aspects of
jjarts that each of the branches played
in the battle. One of the most famous
and admired part of the memorial is tlie
statue of Dwight D. Eisenhower created
by the architect Br>'on Dictson. The
statue is placed under a columned dome
and next to his Air Chief Marshall, Sir
Arthur William Tedder. Overall, the
trip to Bedford ])rovides the Rats with a
deeper knowledge and understanding of
W'orld W'ar II and the impact it played
on the United States and VMI. The
war itself has undoubtedly had a huge
impact on the United States and tlie
world, as well as the shaping of VMI to
become citizen soldiers. The tradition of
attending the memorial at Bedford is one
that definitely brings spirit and culture to
a class.
"To Inform the VMI Communitv”
Everything is new, the desks are not
drawn on, and there is not a layer of nations as we enter Sjjring 2009.
Constitution Day at VMI
By A l le n M c C o w n
Cac/ef News Writer
Even th ough the Cons t i tut ion
is possibly the most important living
document in our countiy’s history, until
a little ov'cr 50 years ago there was not
a holiday or any time that the country
as a whole recognized it. Constitution
Day was created to credit our founding
fathers with creating such an important
piece of history. The history of Constitu­tion
Day dates back to 1939 when it was
proposed by William Randolph Hearst.
In 1940 Congress designated the third
Sunday of May as “I am an American
Day” to celebrate the citizenship. This
stood for about ten years when a resident
of Louisville, Ohio, the “Constitution
Town” brought a petition to the gov­ernment
to make it a holiday. Olga T.
Weber is credited with establishing the
holiday in 1952; when it was established
that September 17^*' became known as
Constitution Day but only in the state of
Ohio. The next year she did, however,
petition the United States Senate to
make it a national holiday. It was passed
then that September 17“'-23*'‘^ shall be
designated as Constitution Week.
To celebrate the 2 2 1’**’ anniversar>'
of our Constitution’s ratification, Jef-feiy
Toobin .spoke in Jackson Memo­rial
Hall on Wednesday night. Toobin
is a well known scholar of law and of
the Supreme Court. Toobin graduated
from Harvard, then later graduated
magna cum laude from HaiAard Law
School and was an
editor o f the Harvard
Law Review. He has
covered high profile
cases, such as the OJ
Simpson trial, and he
was the first journalist
to disclose the plan to
accuse Mark Fuhrnian
of planting evidence
and additionally cit­ing
race as a reason
for the accusation.
Toobin also has cov­ered
numerous cases
to include the M artha Stewart ca.se, the
Floiida recount in the 2000 election, and
Attorney General John Ashcroft. He has
written for the New Yorker since 1993
and has held jobs as an A.ssistant United
States Attorney in Brooklyn, New York.
He was a political analyst for ABC, as
well as later for CNN.
Toobin came to VMI and sjjoke
about the history of the Supreme
Court. His main focus of the speech
was the influence that the politics of
the justices has on their interpretation
of the law and the case at hand. “The
Constitution itself cannot be interpreted
in an apolitical way,” said Toobin. He
then proceeded to cite examples dating
back to the 1960’s and the Ni.xon era.
He said very specifically how much more
consei-vative the Republican Party has
gotten since then. He reminded the
audience, to much surprise, tli^tt three
of the “conseiTative” justices elected
by Ni.xon voted on the winning .side of
Roe vs. Wade.
Much o f T o o b in ’s speech was
regarding facts he had gathered while
working on The Nine, his newest book
about the inner workings and relation­ships
behind who, some say, are the nine
most powerful people in the coiuitiy. He
told stories about justices ranging I'roni
them being mistaken for each other at
diners in the north to car accidents be­ing
blamed on fellow justices. His new
book is similar to a book written by Bob
Woodward called 'I’he Brethren.