Alumni and Friends of VMI:
Cyber Corps Numbers: Still bumping 400 (we gain some, we lose some)
That Old Rumor Mill: OK, let's see, there are a bunch of rumors floating around out there that need to be addressed. Let's take these one at a time:
1) Alumni are no longer allowed in barracks: I've spoken to some folks at the Institute about this and I think there may be some misunderstanding about this. It's my understanding that alumni are allowed in barracks if they have a cadet escort AND a pass (which I guess would be picked up at the guard room).
2) A woman rat punched/pushed/slugged an upper classman: There is some truth to this. Details appear to be a little cloudy, but a woman rat was involved in some sort of altercation with an upper classman. Rumor had it that this woman only received 20 penalty tours. Not true. This matter has to first be reviewed by the EC. I would imagine that the penalty might be a 10-6-30.
3) 2nds and 3rds are not being allowed to "flame" the rats: Not true. Just the opposite. Now, it has been reported that there are some non-VMI grad Tacs that are unfamiliar with the VMI rat line. Initially these folks may have stepped in when some "flaming" was taking place. But, it's my understanding that this situation is being addressed.
4) This year's Hell Night was watered down: I checked into this. Seems that this year's Hell Night was shorter than last year's, but last year's seems to have been an aberration in terms of its length. This year's was more in line with other Hell Nights in the 90's.
I think we'd all agree that it's very early in the process and we all need to take a step back and give the VMI administration a chance (hey, they're learning as they go, too). VMI has an Assimilation Executive Committee that meets every other week to discuss how things are proceeding. This committee is chaired by Col. Mike Bissell (former commandant of cadets). I spoke with Col. Bissell during a Pittsburgh recruiting function and he indicated that if anyone has any questions about rumors or how things are going, they should feel free to call him at (540) 464-7784.
I did hear that one third class corporal indicated that the women are being treated just like the guys.
By the way, a third women has left the rat line. Not sure how many men have left off the top of my head.
Richmond Chapter Networking Breakfast: Skip Goodwillie e-mails to say that the networking breakfasts hosted by the Richmond chapter take place the 1st Thursday of every month at Aunt Sarah's Pancake House, 4205 W. Broad Street.
Speaking of Breakfast: Paul Van Doren e-mailed that the next class of '74 breakfast will take place Oct 18 at 8:00AM at Royal Restaurant, 734 N. St. Asaph, Alexandria, VA (corner of Asaph and Madison, turn off Washington St (route 1) onto Madison). Paul's e-mail address is: PVanDoren@aol.com. This is for those in the DC metro area.
Alums in High Places: Ronald Robinson '87 is the student representative to the Board of Visitors at George Mason University. He's a second year law student there. You can check this out at web site: http://bov.gmu.edu.
Employment Stuff:
1) Broderick Attra '82 will be graduating with an MBA from
Columbia Business School in Dec 97. He graduated from VMI with a
CE degree. He'll be looking for work. His resume is posted at the
following web site:
http://www.erols.com/vmialum/resume/contra.html
His e-mail address is: bca13@columbia.edu
2) Mike McCarthy '78 e-mails that he has an opening at Fort
Lewis, WA Battle Simulation Center for a Communications Engineer.
They are looking for someone who understands military
communications systems, local and wide area networks, tactical
intel systems and simulations and modeling. $40K to start.
If interested, you can fax Mike a resume at (253) 967-1322 or
give him a call at (253) 967-4240. Mike's e-mail address is: BLKLION05@aol.com.
3) Skip Goodwillie '83 e-mails that he and a couple partners run a computer consulting firm in Richmond. Says they're always looking to hire part-time or full-time programmers with client server and/or Internet development skills e.g., Visual Basic, Delphi, SQL Server, JAVA, C++. Skip's e-mail address is: Skip_Goodwillie@classic.msn.com.
It's Chat Time: Yes, it's time for another AOL chat. This Sunday night at 8:00PM Eastern. For you AOLer's go to private chat room "VMI". See you there. Should be some good stuff to chat about.
SMI: Several of our participants have asked
how to go about contacting Mike Guthrie about his plans for
forming the Southern Military Institute. I provided recently
provided an e-mail address that I came across in the VMI alumni
web site. Since that time I've received some additional
information. If you want to send Mike an e-mail send it to him
at: 110063.3630@compuserve.com.
If you want to write to Mike or send a donation, the mailing
address is:
Southern Military Institute
8000HWY 20 West
Suite D102-390
Madison, AL 35758
Phone: (205) 464-0830
Fax: (205) 464-3045
Based on the e-mails I've received during the past few weeks, VMI alumni seem to be divided over the idea of this new military school. Some think that it's a ridiculous idea, while others are adamantly in support of it. If any others have an opinion either way, let me know and I've summarize views and share with our participants.
That's it for my span of attention for this week. I'm sure I missed something, but I'll just include it next week.
Yours in the Spirit,
RB Lane '75
Last Updated: October 11, 2009
Site Created by: Richard L. Neff II, '90 - Network Technologies Group