Alumni and Friends of VMI:
Cyber Corps Numbers: 411
Rats in the Lip Lock: As many have undoubtedly heard, 2 VMI rats (yes, one male and one female), were caught kissing under a desk in a barracks room at VMI. This transgression warranted a visit to the Executive Committee and both received confinement (separate from one another, I assume) for a month and penalty tours. The action by the two rats violates VMI's new anti-fraternization rules, which forbid public displays of affection and relationships within the corps chain of command. Cadets must also have lights on and door shades up when members of both sexes are in the room.
In a newspaper article, one VMI alumnus was quoted as saying, "I can promise you there's not a single alumnus that's shaking his head in disbelief."
Col. Mike Bissell, the director of VMI's plan to assimilate women said, "I think it's very serious because it starts breaking down the solidarity of the rat mass coming together. He also said, "We're going to have these problems. We just have to make sure they are minor and not severe."
Hey, At Least They're Studying...Most of the Time: I heard from the Corps Regimental S-2 and he indicates that the first quarter grades for rats were the highest ever. No specific overall GPA, but results were very good.
Cyber Corps Bird's Eye View: I recently received an e-mail from one of our Cyber Corps participants. He recently visited VMI and he reports, "I would have to say that the school is performing as advertised." He also indicated that he observed three companies giving the rats training and his challenge was to find the female rats, given all the hub-bub over the hair lengths. He said he could pick them out but it was not an easy task. And, based on his observation, none of the rats seemed to be getting any more or less attention from the cadre.
Meanwhile...Down at The Citadel: A fairly recent AP article indicates that a senior cadet at The Citadel has been expelled for hazing nine freshmen. The cadet was accused of punching male cadets in barracks. None of the 20 female cadets was involved.
Also, one of our Cyber Corps participants forwarded me part of an article that appeared in the Sept 26 issue of The VMI Cadet Newspaper. The article states that in an attempt to prevent a recurrence of unauthorized activities, The Citadel has placed some pretty tough restrictions on all cadets. I will attempt to get a complete copy of this article and pass it along.
Dinner in D.C.: Well, October is rapidly getting away from us and I haven't finalized any location where our D.C. area Cyber Corps participants can get together for dinner. I'm on vacation this week and will let everyone know the time and place. It will definitely be the week of October 20. Stay tuned.
VMI Publication Woes: I did receive numerous e-mails commenting on the woes of VMI publications (i.e., spelling errors, etc.). Seems this is an area of concern among a number of alumni.
VMI Football: Keydets lost to Tennessee-Chattanooga on Saturday by the score of 27 - 24. In reading the newspaper accounts it appears that VMI was driving for the winning touchdown when it fumbled. In any event, it appears that VMI was much more competitive in this game as compared with some others. Quarterback Al Lester returned to action for the first time since spraining a knee three weeks ago. At this point VMI is 0 - 6 overall and 0 - 4 in the conference.
I think Gen Bunting's recent letter of October 7 emphasizes some of the concerns relative to the competitiveness of our team. In spite of the team's slow start, all the players and the Corps deserve our support. Next up is Navy.
VMI Cross Country: VMI cross country runner Joe Smith, a third classman, recently took top honors at the Winthrop Invitational corss country meet at Rock Hill, SC. He placed first among 85 runners. He placed second a week earlier among Virginia runners at the Virginia Invitational. Overall VMI placed third among eleven teams competing at Rock Hill.
The VMI women competed in their second event ever and finished ahead of two other teams. Rachel Love finished as the top Keydet entry and placed 13th overall out of 85 runners. VMI finished ahead of Wofford and Charleston Southern. As usual, VMI coach Mike Bozeman continues to do an outstanding job.
VMI Soccer: Based on my latest information, the VMI soccer team is 0 - 5 - 1. Although I know that VMI has played a couple matches in the last week or so.
Speaking of Soccer: An article recently
appeared in the Washington Post about the
Hugh Brien '88 and the high school soccer team he coaches
(Seton). Article states that Hugh's team is 7 - 1 and has
outscored opponents by a 52 - 3 margin. Hugh largely attributes
his team's success to the overall conditioning discipline he
acquired while at VMI. Hugh, it wasn't all those penalty tours,
was it???
Another Conditioning Update: A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that Carol Green was in training to meet the physical fitness standards expected of each cadet. My sources tell me that Ms. Green is up to 92 sit-ups, 17 pull-ups, and is running the mile and a half in 11:53. Whew, I'm tired just passing this info along.
Push-ups or No Push-Ups: Someone asked why push-ups were not included in the VMI fitness standards. I learned that the fitness standards for all cadets includes sit-ups, pull-ups and running. However, each branch of the service has their own separate physicall fitness standards and some (maybe all) require a certain number of push-ups. Hope this helps clarify this issue.
That's it for this week. Be sure to cheer for the Redskins over the Cowboys tonight.
Yours in the Spirit,
RB Lane '75
Last Updated: October 11, 2009
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