Non-profit organization U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 14 Lexington, VA 24450 3^m iniiepenbentlp bp mbetg £(ince 1907 $ 1 . 0 0 VOI.UME x cn i C Friday, October 20, 2000 Number 8 In This Issue Cadets Penalized For F r i d a y Their Late Specials by Magnus Nordenman are a little .stiff. The Commandant’s Office has decreed <^bet News Editor that all specials must be answered Sports on page 4 A wave of unanswered spe­ in person and after 1:30 in the af­ cials has hit the Commandant’s ternoon. This can cause schedul­ Office this week. A “special” is the ing problems, especially for first form delivered to a cadet after a classmen who must answer spe­ breach of the rules has occurred. As cials with their Rats. of last Thursday, over a hundred “There are some days when specials had not been returned to I have classes all afternoon and I the Commandailt’s Office. Some of can’t answer a special,” said the specials dated back to early Curtis Nieboer, ’03. September of this year. During the Levenson disagrees: “I don’t week,the cadets responsible for think that the penalties are that these specials were tracked down stiff. Not in comparison to the and subsequently awarded penal­ penalties [the cadets] would have Hokies Top Soccer ties up to 15 demerits, 60 penalty gotten if I boned them for every tours, and 4 months of confinement special and every twenty-four- or suspension. hour day that they had failed to The new rules which state that every special needs to be answered in person within 24 hours “We had a few cadets in de­ return their specials.” The pen­ merit problems and we ran a back­ alty for not returning a special to has created long lines of cadets in gray blouse outside the Commandant's Office ground check to see how many spe­ the Commandant’s Office is 5 de­ cials they had not answered. It merits, 5 penalty tours, and 1 turned out that quite a few cadets week of confinement for every ad­ Dr. Josiah Ober Speaks On Socrates had chosen not to answer their spe­ ditional 24 hours each special re­ cials,” explained Capt. Gary mains unanswered. by Magnus Nordenman Socrates was a philosopher in the enough that everybody that attended Bissell, ‘88, anassistant comman­ “A lot of cadets would have Cabet News Editor city-state of Athens in ancient Greece. could find some interest in it. But it was dant. been boned out of school if I Lacrosse Kicks Butt Dr. Josiah Ober gave a lecture After accusations of misleading the also deep enough for even the more “We don’t normally check the would have awarded that penalty,” hosted by VMI’s history department Athenian youth, he was put on trial and well-versed students of the classics to computers for outstanding specials, Levenson added. earlier this week. Ober spoke about later executed for his alleged crime. learn something from it,” Neil Mellen, but this became an area of concern When asked why he had not Opinion on page 2 Socrates as a social critic. Ober is the During the trial, Socrates defended him­ ’02, said of the lecture. and we decided to do a little bit of returned his specials to the department head for Classics at self through a very thought-provoking After the lecture, Ober remained research,” said Deputy Comman­ Commandant’s Office, Joshua Princeton University, and is considered speech that has become known as in die auditorium in Lejune Hall for 45 dant Lt. Col. Gary Levenson, ‘80. Schreiber-Schoonyan, ’02, said, to be one of the foremost experts on Socrates’ Apology, and is still studied minutes. Several cadets and faculty had Cadets are not allowed to “There really is no excuse. I knew Presidential Socrates and his work. to this day. Socrates then refused to flee questions for which they wanted answers. sign out on weekends if they have I had all those specials. They were After being introduced by Lt. from his prison while awaiting his ex­ “The dialogue is supposed to be unanswered specials. A cadet can sitting on my desk. I just didn’t Debates, Cadet Col. Rose Mary Sheldon, Ober began ecution because he felt such a strong disturbing. You have to ask yourself, also check his or her outstanding do anything about them.” his engaging 90-minute speech in front duty towards Athens and its constituted ‘What does this mean to me?”’ Ober ex­ specials by typing a command on Schreiber-Schoonyan was later Looks Back, Title of a full hall of faculty, cadets, and powers. plained. He added, “You can really get a the Institute’s computers. suspended for failure to answer members of the local community. “One of the central questions one glimpse of what people thought and their “Most of the unanswered spe­ his outstanding specials. How­ IX - Brieifings “Socrates and his dialogue is a must ask when considering Socrates’ perceptions by studying the dialogue.” cials belong to Rats and third class­ ever, his suspension was also central theme to Western Culture. He role in Athens is, ‘Can one be a critiqu­ Ober’s speech is the first in a se­ man. A smaller number belongs to caused in part by earlier disciplin­ feels he has a duty to do something ing citizen, while at the same time be­ ries of lecture sponsored by the VMI seconds and firsts. But this prob­ ary actions. Features on page 5 good for his Athens, and its people, and ing a patriotic citizen?”’ Ober chal­ Department of History. Other promi­ lem was really worse last year,” As of Thursday this week, he also had the capability to do so,” lenged. nent speakers will be brought to VMI Bissell added. the number of unanswered spe­ Ober said as he began his speech. “I think Ober’s speech was broad next semester. Some cadets feel that the pen­ cials had declined to around 40, alties for the unanswered specials according to Levenson. Cadets Take Their Training To the Field Cadet In Focus by Jason Mounts The cadets also attended training Saturday found the Navy Cabet Assistant News Editor in Self Aid and Buddy Care that mir­ cadets doing various team-building ex­ The annual fall Field Training rored the training they are likely to en­ ercises on and around the VMI campus. Exercise (FTX) were held last week­ counter on active duty. They broke up The Marine Corps cadets did station end. In a departure from recent tradi­ into teams of ten to fifteen and prac­ training exercises in the woods around ticed response to the aftermath of a VMI and W&L. Focus on Coach Coale tion, the rank and file among the Corps were not required to participate in any simulated enemy attack. Tasks in­ The Army FTX Began on FTX this year. Corps FTX was elimi­ volved locating and marking Friday when the cadets marched out to nated, and cadets were encouraged to unexploded ordinance (UXO’s) and McKethan Park. Upon arrival, they participate in the FTX of their indi­ performing triage and first aid on made their hooches, ate dinner, and vidual ROTC department. In fact, wounded. went to bed. Early the next morning, those cadets who are pursuing com­ After a hard day’s work, the they arose and began their day of round- missions with their respective ROTC’s cadets ended Saturday with a game robin training at 8:00 a.m. The cadets were the only ones required to partici­ of capture the flag, a march back participated in seven different stations, pate in FTX this year. to VMI, and a speech from guest rotating every hour. Some of the classes Across the board, all speaker Ret. Col. Glenn Hammond, taught were Initial Movement to Con­ of the ROTC departments were ’69. Hammond, a member of the tact, and a course in hand-grenade as­ Regimental Training quite satisfied with their FTX’s intelligence community and Spe­ sault. The Army cadets cleaned up on cial Forces veteran, spoke of his in­ Sunday and marched back to VMI. Schedule and felt that this year was one of the better years for FTX. volvement in “the last battle of FTX for all of the ROTC’s The Air Force department Vietnam.” ended on Sunday with the Navy/Ma­ began its Friday activities with paint The Navy department cel­ rine Corps-sponsored Ironman compe­ Arts & Leisure ball games. On Saturday, the Air Force ebrated the Navy’s birthday to kick off tition. Several teams competed from cadets marched to the Virginia Armory its FTX on Friday. The ceremonial across the ROTC’s. The Navy’s “Salty and spent the day in training. The train­ cake-cutting was followed by a leader­ Seamen” took home the event. They ing activities included wilderness sur­ ship film case study, and then a period and the rest of the teams finished off of interaction between the Navy E)epart- the day with a barbecue on the practice vival training and chemical defense He sees it as his job to train the Rats, not ment staff and cadets. football field. by Jason Mounts training. just to make their lives diflBcult He tries ^ b e t Assistant News Editor Win A to be a positive influence on them by setting a good example. Salmaan Khawaja is one of “You can have a lot of influ­ the most visible membos of the Corps of Calzone ence over the Rats, during their cadetship Cadets.