Dear Editor:

Recently I had an interesting thought about scholarship opportunities at Norwich University. This program gives a quarter off tuition for high school students who were in the top 20 percent of their graduating class, and half off for students graduating in the top 10 percent. This is a huge reduction, and one I know many wish they had. However, they might not have been the best students in high school. Many of these students are, however, currently on the dean’s list at Norwich, and have been for years. Until I received an Army Scholarship, I was a 2-year dean’s list student. I was still paying full tuition, because I was not in the top 20th percentile while in high school. Simply put, there is no present program in place to reward the students who have found their academic strength while in college. I realize getting students to come here with a reduction program will help our recruitment. I’m sure there are more in this position, because I was until recently, and my roommate is under these circumstances presently. Perhaps with enough people, students currently working hard can be rewarded with financial reduction programs.

Mark B. Zinderman

Dear Editor:

This past weekend, all of Crawford Hall was disconnected from the network server starting around 2 p.m. on Friday. This meant that we couldn’t access the Internet or our CLiC accounts, more than just an inconvenience for those of us that live there. Many of us use email as our primary means of communications with professors, family, and friends. Others have to be able to access the Internet to complete their assignments or to do research. Not having Internet access in our rooms made it incredibly difficult to accomplish anything. I know that there are several computer labs on campus, but if you only have a couple minutes to send off a quick email before practice, there isn’t time to walk to a computer lab. The really irritating part was the fact that there was nothing done by Computer Services to reconnect us. People that called Computer Services were given no answers about why the Internet was down, only that it was not a big problem, and they would fix it on Monday. It shouldn’t have taken the entire weekend to fix a minor problem. We all paid a $250 technology fee and expected to have our Internet service maintained throughout the year, but this was not the first time this year that people had been disconnected from the Internet for long periods of time. It seems like more effort should be put into maintaining the network so that all students will have the service that they need when they need it.

Nicole Crum

It has been an exhilarating week and a sad one all at the same time. On Wednesday evening at 2300, 14 October, I was called by CDR Chet Misner, President of the Norwich University Alumni Association, who told me of the death of MAJ Charles Robert Soltes, USAR, NU ‘90, a fellow classmate of his. Rob was a wonderful student at Norwich, an outstanding officer, husband, and father. He is the first graduate to have died in combat during this war. Although an optometrist, his occupation in the Army Reserve was that of a civil affairs officer. We will honor his memory and his sacrifice.

By now you should have seen my University announcement about the Trustee’s meeting that was held on campus October 7-9, 2004. The Board could not have been more complimentary about the interactions with the faculty, staff, and students, the Corps of Cadets’ parade, and our progress on NU2019, the University’s strategic plan. They were particularly interested in our housing situation and have agreed to work on this issue and to decide at the January Board meeting if and when we would build additional student housing facilities. I will keep you informed on the progress of this issue in the months ahead.

BG Kelley, Cadets Euse and Kettner, and I had the opportunity of visiting The Citadel for a meeting of the senior military colleges on October 10-12, 2004. We had a wonderful time together and very much enjoyed visiting with our colleagues. I have asked Cadets Euse and Kettner to brief the Chain of Command on their impressions, observations, and suggestions for improvement at Norwich based on what we learned at The Citadel. What all of us took away from that meeting, however, is that Norwich University, and in particular our Corps of Cadets, is much better than any of us probably realize. I wish you all had the opportunity to be with us, but I will ask that the two of them provide a briefing that will bring you up to date on their reflections of our visit. Both of them represented our school with distinction, and BG Kelley and I received wonderful comments about their activities and performance during this three-day conference. They did us proud, as do each of you who live our guiding values and love Norwich.

Halloween brings to mind scary costumes, haunted houses, parties, candy and fun.

But times have changed, and it has become difficult to have safe fun. To hinder mischief and try to prevent potential harm, several hospitals have instituted programs for their communities to x-ray candies for foreign objects.

In an effort to return Halloween to the childhood innocence it should be, Norwich University’s Residence Life has offered safe trick-or-treating in the residence halls for the kids of the community. This program is a wonderful way to keep the university as a part of the Northfield community. It is a safe and fun evening for all who take part.

This program, however, is one that only the civilian students host. With all of the talk of wanting a more unified campus and an end to the strict line drawn between the corps and civilian sides, it seems as though this would be a perfect opportunity for everyone to come together. Why can’t the corps be a part of this annual event? Not only would it be a bonding experience among the members of the university, but also among the community at large.

If not this year, then perhaps by next year we could see the joining together of both corps and civilians sides on trick-or-treat night.

After all, serving together for the betterment of the community is what Norwich is all about.