In regards to the new morning schedule, I am glad that the corps now wakes up at 0530. In past semesters, I averaged 2-3 hours of sleep a night, but now I see that I was just being weak. I am much more productive when I don't sleep at all, because now I have an entire hour that I can work that I was previously using to be slothful.

I'm not sure who thought of the idea, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank them. Perhaps if I might be so bold as to suggest an idea for future! I would ask that if we are no longer supposed to sleep, perhaps we should remove the beds entirely. I could then use the space to put in an industrial size coffee machine that would assist me in my productivity. But such wonderfully marvelous minds that created this scheduling brainchild must, of course, have much better plans for the future.

I realize now that I waste another 2-3 hours a day eating and drinking. Such a glutton I am! Now I can obviously see that the next step must be for us to stop eating. I am very excited to see how they will put this plan into action.

Once again, I would like to thank you for curing me of my ridiculous obsession with sleep. Keep up the good work!

Vin Paitoon

Is this McKean's Corps, or ours? For a leader and "role model", he is going about changes the wrong way. Self-admitting that he was a poor student at Texas A&M, he is turning the Corps into what he was: a failure. He puts these rules in place, and cannot follow them; he is above the rules and has "adult privileges" such as pets on campus, and taking his own discretion for his uniform. Our health is put at risk with improper uniforms, braving the elements. Way to lead by example! Who polices the police in this case? Do as I say, not as I do! Don't ask anyone in your command to do what you yourself aren't prepared to do.

Why would someone constantly invade my privacy, when I have never given reason to do so? I am almost an officer in the USAF, and everything I've learned at this once great school about leadership is being tossed out the window. Why am I still being treated like an immature, uneducated child? I pay good money to get an education, and by law I am an adult, and according the military I am mature and responsible to lead troops, hold responsibility, and grow. The only thing lacking is a degree, which is getting more difficult to obtain because I sleep through all my classes, after awaking at 0530 due to a new formation schedule.

Norwich wants to be different from other schools, and it should be, but do you think that it is because the students have to go to bed hours earlier than their contemporaries at "normal" schools? Where's the incentive? With everything from classes to McKean's Norwich A&M, I have no time to do the things I want to do. Time management is only effective when there is time to work with! I had weekends, but that's soon to change with the new Saturday Inspections and PT. Changes are necessary, but not in this form.

Shouldn't leaders be concerned about unit morale? Do you think that the changes that have been implemented make this school better? I actually went out to recruit for this school, because I was once proud to be here and extremely proud to be in the Corps of Cadets. Now I tell everyone NOT to come here, for it is not a military school, rather a preschool for those who are not mature enough to go to a REAL college. A challenge is one thing, but petty and tedious annoyances are another.

How can a leader expect respect when he is not trustworthy? What happened to the Honor Code? Colonel Mckean doesn't seem to uphold it, but it has also slipped away from us, the Corps. If it is our Corps, it is our duty to take it back for ourselves, and away from those who have neither love for nor attachment to it, and out of the hands of less-than-exemplary "Vermont State Militia" leaders.

Sincerely,
Donald Manchester

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