VMI Cadet. October 23, 2009

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Virginia Military Institute
345 Letcher Ave.
Preston Library
Lexington. VA 24450
The Cadet
"Hiring better writers than Mr. de Vise o f the Washington Post since 1907"
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[Printed on
October 30th; 2O0st
W e e k i n
R e v ie w
E
Who exactly is that
gentleman all the rats
keep saluting? Find
out more on pg. 2
VMI X-Coun-try
team con­tinues
to im­press...
pg. 4
Need a bloody
sequel this week­end?
Check out
E g J ______________
S e c t io n s
News.........................1
Opinion..... ....... ........3
Sports.............. ......... 4
Entertainment..... .....5
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 every Friday
afternoon during the academic year,
except during Corps trips, holidays and
exam periods. The Cadet offices are lo­cated
In the Third Barracks Concourse.
To order a subscription of
the Newspaper contact:
The Cadet EIC Phone:
VMI Box 7 (540) 458-1839
Lexington, VA Office E-mail:
24450-0304 cadetedit&gmall.com
The Cadet is a member of the Publica­tions
Board which serves as the super­visory
body for all cadet publications.
Periodicals postage paid- Lexington, VA
Postal Number: USP654-880
The Cadet Is published week­ly
by The News Gazette, 20 W
Nelson, Lexington, VA, 24450.
VM I D e a l s W i t h I n f l u e n z a - L i k e I l l n e s s
By Hunter Cantrell
Cac/ef News Writer
This flu season started out like
every other flu season in the past,
except this time the country had to
deal with two different strains of the
flu. The regular seasonal flu, which
kills about 35,000 people a year,
normally comes and goes with no
big fuss. But this year, with the ad­dition
of the H1N1 (swine) flu, the
season is being a bit more brutal.
As of October 21*', there have
been approximately'150 cases of
“Influenza Like Illness (ILI)” within
the Corps of Cadets. This term ILI
is what the CDC (Centers for Dis­ease
Control) are calling any Illness
whether it be the regular seasonal
flu or the swine flu. This group clas­sification
is mainly because of the
inaccuracy of the tests, which only
catch about 40% of swine flu cases.
Doctor Copeland believes that out
of the 150 cases VMI has had so far,
maybe as high as 25% have been
HI N1, although only a handful have
actually been confirmed as swine
flu, with the rest being the standard
seasonal flu. At the beginning of
the year, it was estimated that pos­sibly
half of the Corps would come
down with an ILI, this though has
proven to not be true. With only
150 cases reported the percent­age
is much lower, around 10%.
Earlier this month, the Post Hospi­tal
administered the flu vaccine to
all cadets who wished to receive
the vaccine; this should go a long
way in stopping the seasonal flu
here at VMI. Like the seasonal
flu vaccine, the swine flu vaccine
will be administered to the Corps.
Dr. Copeland said that if at least
50% or more of the Corps is Im-munize.
d, then the outbreaks of
swine flu should cease. This is
because the flu is a "herd disease"
and if enough of the population is
immunized then the flu will have
nowhere to spread and will even­tually
fizzle out. There have been
concerns that the H1N1 vaccine
maybe dangerous, but Dr. Cope­land
is confident that the vaccine
Is totally safe and extremely effec­tive
in protecting against the flu.
Across the country though, many
other colleges aren’t faring nearly
as well. This can be attributed to
the sheer size of many of these
colleges and universities. For in­stance,
two big schools, UVA and
UofR have had about 443 and 90
cases respectively. These numbers
are most likely on the low side be­cause
unlike VMI, many students
choose to just stay in their room or
home and quarantine themselves.
One of the good aspects of the VMI
system is that the hospital is able to
pretty effectively quarantine most if
not all cases of ILL This, however,
does not guarantee that being quar­antined
will prevent exposure to
other viruses or bacteria, which is
much higher after being weakened
by the flu. VMI has had 4 cases
of pneumonia as a result of those
cadets being severely ill with ILI.
When the H1N1 vaccine is deliv­ered
from the state health service, it
will be distributed to the Corps much
in the same fashion that the sea­sonal
flu vaccine was administered.
It is Imperative that every cadet
receive the vaccine to help prevent
the resurgence of the flu, which is
common. Regular hand washing
and covering of coughs will also go
a long way to help stop the swine
flu. If you have any symptoms at all,
do not hesitate to go see the doctor.
Crozet CliaiKies Under New LeMersliiD
By Allen McCown
Ca(yef News Writer
This school year brought about a lot
of changes, construction in old bar­racks,
new duty jackets for the Rats,
as well as a nevir food service direc­tor
of the mess hall. Peter Hodgkins
took over as food service director on
August .10“’, 2009. An employee of
Aramark for over 25 years, Hodgkins
brings a lot of collegiate experience
to VMI. Hodgkins worked at UVA
for 9 years and wished to return to
Virginia when the position at VMI
opened up. His career has also
included positions at MIT, UVA, West­ern
New England College and Yale.
When seeking the position, Hodgkins
went through an extensive interview
process that included interviews
with Gen. Green, Col. Trumps and
Col. Joyner, the director of aux­iliary
services. Since his arrival,
he has “enjoyed the position very
much.” Hodgkins brings with him a
lot of ideas and goals for his future
at VMI. “I enjoy the cadets and our
committee meetings, we haven’t
had a lot but 1 want to be more
Crozet Hall from Route 11 hill.
Photo Courtesy of MMM Design Group
Involved," commented Hodgkins.
This year, the mess hall commit­tee
has seen more changes than
in years past. The most noticeable
of these changes so far has been
the greater choice and quantity of
fresh fmlt in the mess hall, “They
go around and Individually ask reps
from each company about input from
the company and they do their best
to incorporate Into an improved sus­tained
policies and if not, they explain
reasoning's behind the problems. It
feels good being on the mess hall
committee, as people can see some
of the suggestions we’ve made are
being Implemented and Its nice to
see that were making a positive im­pact,"
said mess hall representative
second classman Casey McElllgott.
Another change Hodgkins intends
to'make is fb enhance the menu. In
order to do this he is In the process of
hiring an executive chef in the coming
months. Tying into this goal is his plan
for lunch. Hodgkins plans to expand
the menu: “I want to give the cadets in-temational
food in a lunch atmosphere
where they have more time to try it.
I hope to educate the cadets about
other cultures and cuisines, and let
them experience othertypes of ^ood."
The position of director of food sen/ice
is a lofty one, and Hodgkins’ job is a
busy one. He oversees more than 100
full time employees and is responsible
for some 20,000 meals prepared each
week. His job title also Includes work
involving the concessions at football
games as well as all catered events
at the Center for Leadership and
Ethics, and the food sen/lces In the
PX. “I want to enhance the offerings
and business at the PX; your sched­ule
is very different than any other
school [that I have
worked at] and you
all don’t really hang
out or relax there. I
hope to enhance ca­det
life with late night
offerings, specialty
dishes and special
events for the World
Series or Su p e r ­bowl,”
said Hodgkins.
Hodgkins’ job at the
Center for Leadership
and Ethics will include
catering for many
alumni events as well
as conferences. “The
Center for Leadership
and Ethics Is a great
resource we have here for conferenc­es
and alumni functions, I plan to as­sist
with these events whenever I can
and make sure the CLE is known na­tionally
and possibly internationally."
Cadets have noticed the difference In
food this year as well. Second class­man
Bryan McDonald commented
“I've definitely seen an Improvement
In the quality of the food and haven’t
seen any green eggs this year.
There’s also a lot more fresh fruit
and the desserts are more creative."
When asked about what he plans
to do to help with cadets' lives here,
Hodgkins said, “whatever we can do."
C a d e t s R e c e i v e O p p o r t u n i t y
t o T o u r E u r o o e a n B a t t l e f i e l d s
Marines. It was here that the Marines
lost more men then they had lost in
all wars put together up to that point."
The two most powerful battle sites,
according to Colonel Muir, are Ver­dun
and the Meuse-Argonne. Ver­dun,
although it is not an American
battle site, convinces the visitor
why WWI was known as the Great
War. The Meuse-Argonne was the
By Samantha Annenn
Cac/ef News Writer
Every spring furlough since 2007,
Colonel Muir has organized and led
a tour of the French battlefields of
WWI and WWII. this spring will be
no different. The tour this year will
cover battlefields such as Nonnandy,
Verdun, the Meuse-Argonne, and
Belleau Wood and will give students
a chance to visit cities such as Paris.
The tour is run through
the Military Historical
Tours Inc (MHT). The
application for participa­tion
can be found with
Colonel Muir and should
be sent to the MHT.
The reason Colonel
Muir became a part
of this program is be­cause
loves to travel and
has visited at least 62
countries. He stresses
that cadets should trav­el
because It will give
them a better apprecia­tion
of other countries.
The Battlefield tour will
give the cadets a chance
to see the battlegrounds
and realize the tremen­dous
amount of effort and
siacriflce that was spent
during the two wars. The
tour Is great for both mili­tary
history buffs and ^ ^
___ _ u Ty*er Secrest 11 poses m front of the Eiffel Tower during
non-m litaiy history buffs BattlefiddTour.
alike. It will, not only give photo courtesy onyier Secrest
cadets a chance to leam
about the two wars, but it will also give biggest battle the U.S. ever fought,
them a chance to leam about French
culture. The tour is designed to give
an equal amount of time to WWI and
WWII. Many cadets, who have gone
on previous tours, say that they leam
more about WVVI, an alniost forgot­ten
war, and they say it is worth it.
Colonel Muir could not pinpoint his fa­vorite
pail of the tour. “All of the battle
sites are amazing," commented Muir.
However, Muir had something of in­terest
to say about every battlefield,
“If aviation is a cadet’s game, then
Normandy Is a perfect battlefield
since there were tons of aircraft, glid­ers,
and paratroopers flying above
the beaches. Normandy is also a
great place for Navy cadets. Bel:
leau Wood is a must-see place for
Colonel Muir welcomes any cadets
that are interested to apply for the
battlefield tour. He believes that it will
be a very beneficial trip for any cadet.
They will get a chance to interact with
the French and leam more about the
U.S.’s first ally. Cadets will come back
with a different perspective on the
two wars and intemational relations.
The biggest benefit, however, is real­izing
how devastating war can be and
realizing how much our fathers, grand­fathers,
and great-grandfathers had to
do to fight both wars Colonel Muir com­mented
that the tour is not designed to
turn anyone pacifist, but it will make
cadets realize the costs of war. All in
all, he says it is a great tour and hopes
to see many cadets In the spring.