"While You Were Sleeping ..."

For those of you well-behaved enough to utilize your Mandatory Sleepthrough, I (being the dedicated public servant that I am) was kind enough to document the event for you ... from the comfort of my UP-side lawnchair of course. Hey, it's not every day one is banned from a parade; haven't you always wanted to pull up a chair during one? Unfortunately, this one wasn't quite the same, for obvious reasons.

There were, of course, some of the old favorites. Every year there are a few of these:



And some of these:



However, there were a few seemingly original companies as well ...

It was definitely worth the effort of getting out of bed ... well, yes ... I was at a training meeting prior, but you get the idea. I encourage the CoC to consider the fact that having the upperclassmen present to cheer on the rookies was always part of the event. It was very ... quiet this year. Disappointing.






Upperclassmen costumes must make a comeback next year.



At least it ended in a more ... ah ... traditional fashion. ;o)

Essayons

This entry brought to you by the creative rookies, the Upper Parade Ground, the Webmistress, the Norwich University Corps of Cadets and by viewers like you.

A First in NU History: The Mandatory Sleepthrough

That is correct, folks. Passdown has been conducted as such.

The insanity:

There is a mandatory sleepthrough and no reveille tomorrow for upperclassmen due to the Halloween Parade.

The attempt at explanation:

There has been bouts of anxiety and panic attacks up in The Bad Place as to the outlandish creative genius that upperclassmen have been known to display during the Halloween Parades of Yore.



The Solution? BAN THEM ALL!

Umm ... right.

Apparently there was a failed attempt at having the CoC (Chain of Command) 'approve' upperclassmen costumes.



"Why would they have to approve upperclassmen costumes? That's just stupid. Unless they're naked or something, but that's not really a costume though," said MY MOM.

OOOOoooo ... my MOM just called you STOOOPID. How'd that one feel?

In all reality, I don't believe I'll ever see this ...



... again in my life.

Ironically enough, this is probably the Tuesday Parade that the most upperclassmen will attend all year. Shame they're not taking attendance.

Pictures to follow tomorrow ... from the parade I'm not allowed to attend via Regimental Order ...

This entry brought to you by the third deck of Goodyear Hall, Halloween Costumes of Yore, the esteemed NUCC CoC, your favorite Webmistress, the Norwich University Corps of Cadets and by viewers like you.

Except for the image linked to college humor, all others were taken with my own camera.

PS: The back of that T-shirt reads: Come to Norwich, Live Forever. ;o)

Increasing the Divide

Although I have yet to see a memo or piece of written policy, suffice it to say that the ban of service BDUs has been made official through the actions of the NUCC CoC (Chain of Command).

For the past week or so, the latest rumor on the hill has been the true destruction of Service Uniform Tuesdays. One cadet, not even enrolled in ROTC, was marked APOD from the formation he was standing in ... for wearing his service ACUs. This has expanded to include the Coast Guard option cadets, and any uniform with a Reserve Unit or National Guard patch.



Right. It's not like he showed up in a bathrobe (which I've seen). I believe cadets skip miss enough formations without being marked APOD from the ones they actually bother to attend, not to mention for reasons of a policy which, to my knowledge is unpublished and undistributed. If someone could help me find this in writing, I shall gladly rescind the previous comment.

Besides, what is so offensive about a flag patch? What is so threatening about the cadets that took that initiative? What is wrong with cadets that are really in the "service" wearing their "service" uniforms and showing it?



Don't tell me it's for uniformity, because if that's the case you'd better choose one ROTC for the school to keep and pitch the others, since the Marines have their digi's; the Navy, their Khakis; the Air Force, their pajamas flight suits. What brought on this sudden change?

It amazes me. These things should be encouraged, not banned. Is it just me, or does this strike anyone else as backasswards?

This just tells the real soldiers (read as: those wearing service uniforms) that the initiative they took is not important to the Corps. That the training they did does not matter.

As for the cadets without service uniforms to wear ... do you care if those that have them, wear them? My guess would be 'no.' Correct me if I'm wrong. You'd be in Cadet ROTC uniform or Norwich fields. That being said, who does care? Who cares enough ... so much, in fact, as to ban them entirely?

It wasn't a "we're better than you" concept, but a "wear 'em if you got 'em" idea.

Here's some food for thought:

Banning the wear of the uniform does not devalue thier experiences & units to them ... they know what they've gone through ... but it may just have an effect on how they view the Corps. Perhaps that was the desired outcome of the policy?

Keep in mind that every rule, regulation and policy made in any institution makes a statement about that institution itself. The reporting of honor violations, for example, shows that the principles of honor and integrity are valued at Norwich. Not wearing hats in the mess hall or spitting on the UP are enforced because respect is also valued here.

Cadets are not authorized to wear service uniforms other than ROTC cadet uniforms anymore on Tuesdays.

What statement does this make in reference to the institution's views on the service?

You Tell Me!

This entry brought to you by the CoC, yours truly, the Norwich University Corps of Cadets and by viewers like you.

Take Back The UP!

Say it with Schwag.



This is perhaps the best T-shirt idea I have seen in four years. An absolute steal for $10.

Orders can be placed to raneyw@norwich.edu

If you send them to spittfireda@gmail.com, I will forward them as well.

It's one thing to write your opinions online ... it's another to display them on your chest!




Tell 'em how you really feel.

All images in this entry are not mine at all and were positively outright stolen from Mr. Raney at this location. Thank you, that is all.

This entry brought to you by the letters U, P, yours truly, the Norwich University Corps of Cadets and by viewers like you.

How Dare You ...

I'd like to thank Stephen Stokes for sending me a very well-written letter concerning attitudes toward non-commissioning members of the Corps of Cadets. Does anyone happen to know a number or percentage of these? I'm certain it's not a small one.

Download it here.

Read it here.




As for the previous posts, Ms. Yasus has said herself,

"I wasn't my choice to come to this school, I sort of had to. But I def. do not want to graduate from this shit hole. Not only do I obviously not fit in here, but I also disagree with the very principles of this hypocritical institution. So fuck all of you and thanks for making my decision easier."

Since Honor and Integrity (those would be the values) are such hard pills to swallow, let's leave her alone, shall we?

This post was brought to you by google, facebook, myself, the Norwich University Corps of Cadets, and by viewers like you.

Letters to the Editor: Reloaded

FIRST, I'd like to note another response to that infamous letter - this time a four-pager written by an Active Duty Army LTC (haha, go ahead and insult his service time)

Here's the text

Download it here.


Ah, yes ... and I quote (from a public forum on StalkerBook) ...

"Alright you ignorant fucking jarheads. Do not disrespect an amazing human being who is experessing her opinion, I'm pretty sure our CONSITUTION SAYS YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO SPEAK. You are all a bunch of jokes, disprecting someone because of their opinion. I cannot believe you ignorant meatheads could ever judge someone you do not even know. You write about how civilians are not held accountable but how come Norwich is phasing out the core and more and more civilians come here every year...

CONTINUED...The only core kids I respect are the ones who are actually joining the military, the rest of you are riding the faggot wave and the only reason you are in the core is so you can tool on little kids because everyone else tooled all over you in high school. NORWICH HERO, HIGH SCHOOL ZERO'S, THE BEST SLOGAN AT NORWICH!!! And wow, you want to talk about ignorant and mature is someone making a blog site to disrespect another human and you are suppose to be our military, whoever started this blog site is a big FUCKIN JOKE AND HAS NO FUCKING LIFE!!

...

First of all, no one cares about what Sam said its about starting a blog to harass a great human being. Two it is spelt core because the core is always trying to be the center of attention...look at this, none of this would have happened if someone didnt start a stupid ass blog to talk shit about another human being, but quess what who started this whole thing...A PERSON IN THE CORPS. And this is directed just to Kelley, if you need the whole corps behind you just to talk to me, then your pathetic."

- Jason Grupp

Oh, and then there was ...

"So survey says you have NOTHING better to do with your lives cause your in the FAKE corps of cadets...you guys are a bunch of fucking faggots for making such a big deal out of this situation...you blew it WAY outta proportion....MOST of you guys are nothing more than a bunch of FAKE and again i say FAKE corps faggots...if you got a problem with her paper or this post from me or Grupp ....Feel FREE to confront me! I would love to discuss this! cause you guys live a SHITTY life if you felt the need to make a blog about this...your guys are shitty faggots....Go into the REAL armed forces...NOT Norwich.....FUCK YOU FAGGOTS!....the kids i like know who they are so dont take offence to this i still love you....anyone who thinks differently.....SUCK A FAT DICK! you FUCKS!"

- Drew Dilley

I felt the need to get some of the civilian feelings out there, since apparently you forgot that NUCC students also have a right to opinions. Perhaps you missed the "M" on the MCV gates, but SUPRISE, you go to a military school as a "traditional" student, so you should not be suprised by anything written in response to a crazy rant like that.

Pleeeeeease. Here was my 2 cents:

"OK a few things from me. Don't think she is so important that I would start a blog site over - it's been up since last year. Second, don't use the word ignorant if you GO here and think that it's spelled "core" - we all know why *YOU* don't submit anything in writing to be published. Third, Slater and I are both enlisted, so don't talk to us about "fake" anything. Fourth, from where YOU'RE sitting, who the hell are you to make assumptions about what *most* people in Iraq think about us being there? I guarantee you that the opposite is true, but I'm sure it felt good for you to make false accusations. Finally, if anyone is physically harrassing her, that's immature, but expressing *our* written opinions is no different from her action, which was a call for attention at best.

And can someone buy Jason Grupp a dictionary for his birthday? It might help him sound more like he has an IQ greater than my fish ... but probably not.

Lastly, don't make this a "Corps v. Civi" thing, because I have had more than a few civilians express their disgust with an opinion like that. Yes, it is two opposing views, but do not for a minute assume that you know what the rest of a student body thinks on an issue (like you think you can assume what deployed soldiers think ... what was that about being ignorant?) based on what dorm they live in. Let them think for themselves."

- Me

Hey guys, YOU wanted the attention. The Alums read this. They're gonna love it.

Honestly, perhaps the Guidon should hire one of you stellar college scholars on as an editor ... "youre" writing skills are ... superb. And, what - with all that Norwich pride oozing from your pores, you'd make a great representative, don't you think? ;o)

This post was brought to you by the LTC, angry civilians, facebook, the Norwich University Corps of Cadets, yours truly and by viewers like you.

Registration is Due

Here is what landed in our inboxes this morning:

"Officials at Norwich University have learned that one of its newer employees is an unregistered sex offender.

Once this information became known Norwich officials moved promptly to restrict the person's proximity to the student population.

According to Vermont statutes, it is the responsibility of anyone convicted of a sexually-related offense to register within 10 days after either establishing residence in Vermont or crossing into Vermont for employment.

The employee has been placed on indefinite administrative leave pending the results of the police investigation as well as internal inquiry."

Here's the rest of the story on Associate Director Jorge Escamilla.

(note - the two links above go to separate places - the first one to the Times Argus and his apprehension, the second to his Employee Profile here at NU. You may notice that the link is to one of my googlepages; I had to stash it away before NU took it down. See what I do for you?)

Again, the sole purpose of this publication is to get the facts out there and squelch some of the crazy (although creative) versions and interpretations of a rather vague email.

My question is this:

Does Norwich not have the authority to fire its own mistakes without the police having to arrest them first? (then again, that was last year)

On the brighter side, I'd like to extend a sincere Thank You to the university staff for telling us this time. It's always nice to keep your student body informed.

We don't want to be looking over our shoulders when walking the mean streets of the Upper Parade ground and the back alleys of fireroads ...

This entry brought to you by the Times Argus, clic, the VT Herald, yours truly, the Norwich University Corps of Cadets and by viewers like you.

Need I Say More?

The aforementioned issue of the Norwich University Guidon had another letter to its editor by a Britt[any] Yasus. (page 2 on linked .pdf)

Personally, I was going to leave that one alone due to the outright idiocy of the person writing it. With such childish statements, I figured she'd grow up someday and be embarrassed of her naive, immature assumptions and unfounded accusations all on her own.

Well here's "me being a patriot:"

Hell hath no fury like an angry veteran!


Below is a response from Norwich University's very own returned vet, Sam Slater:

Dear Editor:

You know what really grinds my gears? That erroneous letter to the editor that was posted in October’s issue of The Guidon. Just to recap on what was blindly stated, this obviously confused student spoke about President Bush being a murderer, how 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina were “convenient” to how he and the rest of the administration are trying to brain wash America, and finally her prize winning statement of how the President is using religion to get people to kill others

First off, how dare you even say that President Bush is murdering our troops and Iraqi civilians. If you even had half a clue as to what really happens in Iraq. If you even ever knew what it is like to stand in front of an Iraqi Citizen who is missing one leg because of being brutally tortured by Saddam Hussein, and listening to his entire story while he is crying, then watch him as he struggles to say the one English phrase he knows, “thank you”. I will never forget that man’s story as he referred to the US troops as their Angels sent from heaven.

Lastly, how can you even call yourself a patriot? Where do you even get your definition of patriotism? Last I checked it was a person who loves, supports, and defends his or her own country. You say thank you to the soldiers who are willing to fight for this country. Save it, I don’t want your thank you. You know why? Because I don’t fight for you, I have never fought for you, and I will never fight for you. I fight for true American Patriots that love this country as much as I do. They are the only ones that I lay my life on the line for.


Sam Slater

VTARNG

Ah, the refreshing sound of sanity. I couldn't have said it better myself.


We here at NU Daily ... meaning me, I guess ... are hoping to see this published in the next issue of the spam newspaper that gets tossed in our inboxes.

"Murdering innocent Iraqi civilians"? Riiiight ....





PS - I just have to add ... can someone PLEASE explain to me how ANYONE - president or otherwise - can be responsible for an entire hurricane?! Really, because that's just talented!!

All images in this entry are (c) Sam Slater, as is the letter he wrote ... duh.

Sound Off - Let 'em Have It!

The Day the Music Died

Parent's Weekend again, and the one thing I cannot let go of is:

What on God's great earth happened to our Regimental Band?!

I've heard marching to the beat of a different drum is a good thing, but not during a parade! Either all of Band Company's talent graduated with last year's class, everyone swapped instruments as a prank, or the new MAJ ... well, I just don't know.



Granted, I don't know a thing about running a marching band - I can't even whistle - but I know what bad sounds like. I especially know what bad sounds like in comparison to GOOD, like it was for the past three years.



Honestly, I'd like to add how much I now appreciate the Band Co's of the past - help out your underclassmen before the Regiment buys a soundtrack.

On the upside, the Parade went smoothly. Kudos to the succinct and articulate speeches. Bravisimo.

That's all I have for today, it's fifteen minutes until Happy Hour!

Technology Fee, huh?

Alright, listen up.

The network goes down. It happens. Everywhere you go for the rest of your life there will be intermittent 'down' times.

Funny story.

Someone out in New York tripped over the cable labeled "Vermont" and unplugged us out there today for a few hours. It wasn't IT, Norwich, TransVideo, Northfield or even Vermont. Blame some construction worker out in Albany and pick up a book for once in the semester. Deal with the harsh, cruel world without Facebook and AIM.

Another thing.



Stop harassing the folks at the help desk. This MAY come as a surprise for some of you, but being as they are in the IT department and know more than you ...

THEY ALREADY KNOW THE INTERNET IS DOWN.

*gasp*

So think about that the next time you feel the need to "inform them" of your online status change.

Finally ...

For the last time, don't use the line, "It's nice that I pay a technology fee for the internet not to work!"

Why shouldn't you get your money's worth, right? WRONG!

You're a huge dumbass. If you researched your unfounded gripes, you'd find that your extensive technology fee does not go toward the 'internet' or even the lab paper. It funds the extremely overpriced licenses for the software packages that the lab computers have for certain majors. Engineering majors, nursing majors, math majors and architecture majors can explain these to you. MatLab, AutoCad, Mathematica (I see you shuddering!) and yes, even MS Office.



I pay a technology fee, too, and guess what? Not only do I not use any of those programs, I don't even use Windows! (No, I'm not a Mac user either, so stop inviting me to those "Apple Student" groups on StalkerBook) So when you're complaining to me in the repair shop about your "technology fee" - that for all I know your parents pay for - I will most likely strangle you with a CAT5 cable and hang you from the server rack as an example to your followers.

That counter is there to protect you from me; remember that.

Tours for Open House Weekend

No, no ... I'm not talking about the meandering campus strolls led by the key-toting personell. Absolutely not! I'm talking about the Prestigious Guarding of the Cannon (point and laugh at Alvarez).



A lovely display; the only thing missing was the no vacancy sign!

Very, very nice. It gave all the parents a look at our sweet rifle-holding skills, and the prospective students a glance at what our "dry" campus has in store for their punishments.



Always nice to be prepared.

Shady Mobil Has More Booze Anyway

I did something rather unusual yesterday.

I read the Guidon.

Now, I try to avoid this bastardized attempt at writing, usually because that many spelling and grammatical errors in one place make my blood pressure spike (sorry guys, there's something to be said for editing). However, being it was a slow day at work and I was out of better ideas, I took a flip through.

What I found on the very first page was enough to make my blood pressure spike far more than a few homonym mix-ups.

The very first "Letter to the Editor" was an outrage. Grab yourself a copy if you need something to piss you off in the morning - don't forget to recycle.



Personally, I will not be purchasing a thing from any Cumberland Farms in the future, as the employee here in Northfield refused to sell to a veteran bearing two forms of Identification, one of them a current military ID.

In reality, that employee was sorely uninformed, because according to Cumberland Farms' Real Policy, as a member of wecard.org - Section 8 quotes,

" ..only the following forms of identification shall be accepted: (a) Driver’s License, (b) State-Issued Identification Card; (c) U.S. Passport; (d) Military Identification Card; and (e) U.S. Immigration Card." (site cited above)

That's irrelevant, however. If Cumberland Farms is that inept at training their employees that they do not accept FEDERAL forms of identification, then that is one company I do not wish to purchse a thing from. Especially a business that gets so much of its clientele from the military and surrounding community.

If you're a facebooker, here's your place to voice your rage, courtesy of Kokonut.

The Verdict is In ...

Honor Trial for the PX Ranger concludes with Honor Committee seeking the max. See? We do still boot those that lie, cheat, steal and tolerate.





It's in the hands of the Dean now, pending immediate dismissal. Honestly, did anyone expect otherwise for someone walking around falsely double-stacked? Kudos to the Honor Committee for all their hard work.

There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's AAFES.

Whoop, There It Is!

Everyone loves getting emails about spreading infectious diseases!

No one wants Pertussis. Wash your hands and up your dose of C, Echinacea, Colustrum, Green Tea, Acidophilus, or any other immune boosters. Eat your yogurt, orange juice and get enough protein.



If you're cadre, try and keep the freshmen from being nasty. I know, I know - that's like asking a cat to play fetch - just not happening.

My Sentiments Exactly

I thought I should note that I whole-heartedly agree with Gen Kelley's diatribe this morning.

If you're using University computers to degrade, debase, demean, ridicule or slander your own University, then shame on you! You should cease and desist, delete whatever you did, repent, and call yourself a hypocrite.You choose to be here; if you hate it then bounce. No one likes people that piss and moan for a living unless you're a comedian.

However, I'm sure none of his remarks were aimed anywhere near NU Daily, since that definition is far from the purpose of this publication. This would never purport to "bring discredit upon the University" or any of its members.



At times, brutal honesty may expose a weakness or two in the system. Every organization has kinks in it and the first step towards fixing them is recognizing them. Any tool or device that helps in this process should be welcomed, not banned. Ridding the system of its issues is a far cry from demeaning the system itself.

In conclusion, if I see anything "foul" posted electronically, I will certainly wag my finger knowingly, and mutter words of wisdom.

OH!

PS - Nifty NU coin; it's really spiffy.