Norwich University Northfield, Vermont Vol. 91 No. 3

Oct. 30, 2008

By Brittney SchlauchNorwich Guidon Staff Writer

See ECONOMY pg. 7

Students who use Sprint or Nextel networks have

little to no reception whatsoever.

Norwich to tackle economic issues

Depending on the carrier, cell phones on campus can either be very useful or an expensive paperweight.

Students at Norwich can choose from a variety of carriers whose service can be good or bad.

“I always have service,” said Holly Black, 19, a sophomore nursing student from Woburn, Mass., who describes AT&T’s reception on campus as “perfect.”

AT&T, which offers a variety of phones and plans, is one of the most prevalent carriers on campus, most likely due to the fact that there are very few places on campus with no service.

Unicel is a convenient choice for students because there is a retailer right on campus. Because it is a local service network, there is almost always service.

However, some students still choose to use other services such as Verizon, Sprint and Nextel. These have little to no reception on campus.

“If you know where to go you can get two bars, maybe,” said Frank Steenburn, 20, a junior geology major from Coltons Point, Md., who uses Verizon for his cell phone.

Decisions by the student’s family play a large role when it comes to choosing a cell phone carrier because some students are on family plans with their parents to save money

while taking advantage of special offers unique to certain carriers.

Ryan Koch, an 18-year-old sophomore psychology major from Payson, Ariz., says he uses Verizon because of its offer of free calling to other Verizon users.

Students who use the Sprint or Nextel networks have little to no reception whatsoever.

“It doesn’t exist,” said William Miskemen, 20, a junior international studies major from Stanton, Conn.

Those like Miskemen stay with their carrier because of special offers that the carrier provides to its custumers free of charge.

Even though Steenburn, Koch, Black and Miskemen all have cell phones, they all told the Guidon that they prefer to use phone cards when calling, instead of the phone service the school automatically enrolls students in.

“It was just a pain to put in all the codes for that and it was kind of expensive to make off-campus calls” said Koch.

Campus cell phone woesBy Rachel BitarNorwich Guidon Staff Writer

A Norwich student leans out his window with his cell phone in the hopes of being able to get a signal. (Eckmeier photo)

Norwich University has not been spared from suffering neg-ative effects of the nation’s eco-nomic turmoil.

Because of the current condi-tions the college has reported a $2.7 million deficit and is deal-ing with higher interest rates. The college has also frozen the meal cards of 280 students be-cause they are behind on pay-ing their tuition, according to

Norwich University’s President Richard Schneider

America’s economy is going through a rough time. There has been a significant loss in stock markets around the world and the credit market is getting tighter.

This financial crisis will affect Norwich’s budget for the 2010 and possibly 2011 school years.

“It is very difficult for any of us to predict the future or how long these financial difficulties will last, but I must prepare as if this financial crisis will continue

for a significant period of time,” Schneider said.

The school’s endowment is like a savings account, consist-ing of donations and other funds. Schneider said the endowment now has a lot less money than it did in the past, thanks to the de-cline in the stock market.

Schneider said the school’s endowment is doing well com-pared to colleges of similar size.

He assured that in the last year there has been plenty of fundrais-ing. “Norwich has raised more

than $72 million in cash and pledges on a $55 million goal from last year,” said Schneider.

“Last May’s endowment was worth $180 million, and we have lost $40 million,” said Schneider.“We measure [our en-dowment] every quarter, which is every three months.”

Schneider said the endowment is used for scholarship funds to help keep students in school.

There are several factors ex-plaining the $2.7 million deficit, including the loss of upperclass-

men, the fewer number of students in the School of Graduate Studies and the tightening credit market.

Schneider said his goal is to re-duce the deficit as much as possi-ble by the end of spring semester.

He said there have always been students who leave without grad-uating, and the school is doing much better than when he first got here. He said that in 1992 less than half the class graduated.

Students are mostly leaving because of financial issues.

I enjoyed read-ing Mr. Negron’s recent article on the Norwich In-

dependent Battery (NIB) in the Oct. 16 issue of The Norwich Guidon. I did wish to clarify one point during my interview with Mr. Negron, as the word-ing did not properly convey my thoughts in regards to available blank rounds before last year’s Veterans Day ceremony

In fact, we did have a shortage of howitzer rounds and realized this about a week prior to the Vet-erans Day ceremony. Through the efforts of MSG Ken Butcher, USA, the Army Department did receive the appropriate amount of blank rounds to fire full hon-ors and the expected volley at the Veteran Day ceremony. Without the efforts of MSG Butcher, the ceremony would have been a markedly different

event. Credit for NIB’s success during last year’s Veterans Day ceremony should go to MSG Butcher for his professional ef-forts. Other than this observa-tion, I thought Mr. Negron did justice as to how the NIB, along with advisers, CPT Mark Wink-er, USA and SFC John Brunzell, USA, is currently conducting operations.

Colonel Steven P. Carney, USAProfessor of Military Science

2 COmmeNtary the Norwich GuidonOctober 30, 2008managing editor: mark Steenburnguidon@norwich.edu

Letters to the editor

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by advertisers, letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be witheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www. norwich.edu/guidon.

Faculty Adviser: Professor Susan YoungwoodManaging Editor: Mark SteenburnCampus Editors: Shameka Fitzpatrick Ian Kemp

Sports Editor: Drew Dilley Photo Editors: Nicole Terry Glenn Eckmeier

Business Manager: Peter HooperAd Staff: Peter Hooper

I am very excited to report that the Todd Lecture Series is gearing up for its inaugural event, which will be held on Monday, Nov. 17, at 7 p.m. in Plumley Armory.

The lecture series is named in honor of U.S. Army retired Maj. Gen. and President Emeritus W. Russell Todd, ’50, and his wife, Carol, in gratitude for their dedicated service to Nor-wich University and the Northfield com-munity. The goal of the Todd Series is to bring important, significant lecturers to the university to stretch the minds of our students and the people of Vermont.

If you have not heard already, the first speaker of the Todd Series will be Dean Kamen. Kamen is popularly known as the inventor of the Segway, but he has also had a critical impact on mankind by developing many novel technology solutions to address medical issues, such as the world’s first portable kidney dialysis machine. Most importantly, Kamen has become active in global health issues by inventing a portable system for purifying water from any contaminated water source and for generating electricity.

This event is being presented free and for your benefit. I hope that each of you will consider attending what promises to be an interesting, thought-provoking talk.

As you all know, the trustees were here for their fall board of trustee meeting Oct. 16 through the 18. They wanted me to pass on to everyone their appreciation for a great meeting and to let you know they had wonderful conversations with our faculty, staff and students.

They were particularly impressed with the Regimental Parade in their honor. General Sullivan in particular was impressed with the level of fitness and what the rooks have learned up to this point. He also mentioned that General Binford Peay had nothing but glowing things to say about the recent Senior Mili-tary College Conference held here at Norwich three weeks ago.

The board wanted to stress again, for all students, the im-portance of doing your very best in your academic program. They expressed great support of the recent retention report and all of our efforts to improve our graduation rates. They want all upperclassman to understand why Captain Partridge established our institution in the manner that he did, which was to provide a disciplined learning environment where stu-dents could excel academically and learn basic soldiering and leadership skills. It is up to our upperclassmen to model that behavior and to protect and develop that campus culture.

I want to thank everyone involved with the trustees meeting — it was a first-rate operation!!! WELL DONE!!

The President’s

Corner

As we see itThe new way Norwich is han-

dling students who are not pay-ing their bills is getting attention on campus. Students who are be-hind are not allowed to eat in the chow hall. Students’ meal plans are being cut off because they are unable to finish paying their student bill.

This action is causing some controversy, but it’s important to evaluate both sides to determine whether the new method is good or bad.

If students haven’t finish pay-ing their bill, the bursar’s office sends out a letter up to two weeks before the date when the meal plan is frozen. This advance no-tice gives students time to go to the bursar’s office to figure out a way to fix their problem. But if students avoid the bursar’s office, their meal card will not work when the deadline comes.

We believe stopping students’ meal plans has both positives and negatives. The positive is that it allows students to be aware of where they are financially with the school. It won’t be a surprise

at the end of the semester when they aren’t allowed to register for classes because they have an overdue balance.

If students are smart, they will act upon the warning before it gets to the point where they have to take out a last-minute student loan or are not allowed back to school until their bill is paid.

Because of how bad the econ-omy is becoming, it’s getting harder to take out student loans, so fixing the problem now can save a lot of time and feelings from being rejected at the end of the semester. Having to take a semester or more off of school because of an overdue bill can result in graduating after your expected graduation day or not being able to return to school at all.

The negative of this new method is that some students will avoid facing the prob-lem and continue to evade the bursar’s office. Even though a student card doesn’t work, it doesn’t stop students from eat-ing in the chow hall. There isn’t

a list of faces and names on the wall for Sodexho workers to look at to not allow the students in. Many students use friends’ buddy swipes or they find a way to sneak in past the workers. Also, students have friends go in for them and bring them back pizzas and sandwiches.

Not only are some students getting free meals, many stu-dents can still afford to go to the Mill or Subway to grab some-thing to eat. These alternatives are costly, but students are doing it, and so are still avoiding mak-ing payments.

Although it can be hard to lose meal privileges, we do think this approach is better than being told you have to leave school because you can’t afford to be here.

Having the knowledge now that you owe money, instead of learning at registration, is a bet-ter approach because it allows students time to fix the prob-lem. But students have to take responsibility and work with the bursar’s office to resolve their fi-nancial problems.

3October 30, 2008 The Norwich Guidon

Give usyour two cents worth“In honor of Halloween: What scares you and why?”

“1SGT Jewel because of his morning shenanigans.”

AJ Fitzpatrick, 2010

“Being different from all my rook buddies.”

Alex Redznak, 2012

“The NIB.”

Mark Moran, 2011

“Jackman Hall, for obvious reasons.”

Matt Roberto, 2008

“Paige Westcott.”

Rob McCarthy, 2008

“Fear only slows me down.”

Steve Allison

“CSM Sankovsky, because he has that mean Russian look.”

Katherine Ly, 2010

“Getting bloused for failing to greet someone.”

Kevin Morse-Barry, 2012

4 CampUS the Norwich GuidonOctober 30, 2008Campus editors: Shameka Fitzpatrick & Ian Kemp

When General Kelley looked at the ci-vilian Academic Achievement and Aca-demic Excellence pins, he decided that they were too generic and did not repre-sent the priority that Norwich places on academics.

“There was a feeling among the stu-dents that while the pins were nice, they just weren’t Norwich, they were gener-ic,” said Brig. Gen. Michael Kelley, vice president for student affairs. “Nowhere on the pin did it embrace the symbols that Norwich uses.”

Norwich released plans for new aca-demic pins in the spring semester of 2008.

“One of the first things that came up was that there was a feeling in the Corps

of Cadets, a very strong feeling, that they wanted to retain the current academic stars, which have been used for decades, while in uniform,” said Kelley.

Kelley decided he would allow the

Corps to continue wearing the stars on the uniform, but he thought the new pins should be awarded to everyone who met the criteria, regardless of lifestyle.

Kelley went to a small firm he knew in Rhode Island and started the design process with its de-sign team.

The new academic pins were based on a combina-tion of the current academic stars on the Corps uniform and the Partridge Pin, given to alumni who contribute money to the school.

The maroon band around the outside of the pin is taken from the design of the Partridge Pin, along with the lettering in that band.

The inside of the pin is

made of either a silver star for academic achievement or a gold star for academ-ic excellence, which is taken from the Corps’ academic stars.

Once the design was finalized it was taken to the Transition Committee, a team composed of students from both lifestyles tasked with looking at issues that apply to the student population as a whole.

As soon as the committee approved the design, an order was placed for every stu-dent who qualified.

In terms of money spent on the design-ing of the pin, it was minimal and will not affect tuition or any other fee.

“The entire design process cost less than $200, and the cost of each individual pin is no more than the pins being cur-rently issued,” said Kelley.

After a seemingly endless two months of vigorous academics and a demanding regimented schedule, parent’s weekend fi-nally arrived Oct. 10-12.

Norwich University recruits were able to leave campus and spend quality time with their families.

“I think it is perfect timing for the recruits to show their parents and families what they have been doing here and what the university is all about,” said Sean Tucker, a 21-year-old ju-nior political science and history major from Edina, Minn.

“I loved parents weekend because it was nice after two months of being here to have the opportunity to show our parents everything we have learned and how much we have improved since arrival day at Norwich,” said Felicia Jones, an 18-year-old freshman pre-med major from Sherburne, N.Y.

Parent’s weekend became a countdown for the freshmen Corps class from day one.

“I was counting down the days till parents weekend, I just couldn’t wait,” said Giovanni Valldejuli, 18, a freshman engi-neering management major from San Antonio, Texas.

The majority of recruits take pride in the opportunity to dem-onstrate to their parents and families that they are learning in academics and adjusting to a novel, regimented military-style of living.

“It is nice to be able to know that after two months of rigidly controlled days you are given the chance to impress your par-ents with how much you have learned,” Jones said.

Dealing with the challenging corps requirement, recruits had moved head first into a world most were unfamiliar with.

“A lot of times they get dropped off here on rook arrival day and they don’t know what to expect and what they are getting into,” Tucker said.

Many recruits experience trouble with the quick transition from a normal civilian way of living to the Corps of Cadets life style.

They have to transition “from their parents being authoritarian figures to people their age tell-ing them what to do all day long, people they potentially would socialize and be friends with, if they weren’t living recruit life,” said Jones. “But it wasn’t as dif-ficult the second time around to leave my parents after the week-end ended.”

Leaving her parents and fam-ily was very difficult for her; she had never been away from them for a long period of time.

Recruits described parents weekend as a relief.

“When their parents arrive here again, it’s their chance to get some much-needed time off campus,” Tucker said.

“It was wonderful to regain ... energy, just relax and be at ease for a few days,” Valldejuli said.

By Paige Wescott and Brittney SchlauchNorwich Guidon Staff Writers

Students reflect on parents weekend

See PARENTS pg. 8

By Brian GosselinNorwich Guidon Staff Writer

See PIN pg. 7

Academic pins change for Norwich studentsOne of the banners for parents weekend. (Eckmeier photo)

5October 30, 2008 The Norwich Guidon

Career Corner

It’s your future we’re talking about ...

Focus on: InternshipsWhy are internships important? Consider these statistics:

q 25 percent of employers surveyed indicated that new college hires come from within the organization’s internship program.q 55 percent of responding employers indicate that new

college hires have internship experience.q 64 percent of employers say new, permanent, full-time

hires with internship experience are paid an average of almost 9 percent more than their inexperienced counterparts.

Source: National Association of Colleges & Employers’ Job Outlook Survey 2005

If those statistics aren’t reason enough to get an internship, here are some other things you gain when you complete an internship:

q Internships increase job opportunities and give you a competitive edge during the interview process.q You gain insight into a particular industry, organiza-

tion or job.q You meet a lot of people who can make good “net-

working” connections.q You gain a professional recommendation to add to

your list of references.q You get the opportunity to put into action some of the

theory you have learned in the classroom. This can enhance classroom learning and help you improve your GPA.q You get the opportunity to develop professional skills

and gain insight into the types of skills and abilities employ-ers want.q You develop self-awareness about your own particular

skills, character and competency.q You get to “test drive” a company or industry without

any long-term commitment.q You get the opportunity to re-evaluate your career

goals based on industry and job experience, not guessing.q You could leave the internship with an offer of full-

time employment after graduation – now wouldn’t that make your life a lot easier?

If you would like assistance in securing an internship, contact Cary Brown in Room 232 of the Wise Campus Center. Please call 485-2269 for an appointment or more information.

Norwich University’s Kreitz-berg Library is celebrating its 100th year as a federal deposi-tory library this month, accord-ing to library officials.

“I think is an honor for Nor-wich,” said Ellen Hall, library director. “They wouldn’t ask just any library to do this.”

“The library was designated a depository on Oct. 16, 1908,” said Lise Ewald, government docu-ments and reference specialist. “The old library was in Dewey Hall, then Carnegie, now called Chaplin, and now Kreitzberg.”

The celebration was held on Oct. 21 in the multipurpose room of the Kreitzberg Library.

“We’re going to have a display of old army field manuals, a tour of the collection on the mezza-nine, and cake,” Ewald said.

A federal depository library, a

national program with 1,250 li-braries that was created in 1813, receives books and documents from the Government Printing Of-fice, the office that is responsible for printing everything the three branches of government publish.

The process of becoming a federal depository library starts at the state level.

“You are nominated by your congressperson, I think it had to do with our presence as one of the few military colleges,” Ewald said. “Unfortunately, there’s very little institutional history.”

A fire in April 1978 destroyed half of the depository’s collec-tion, about 5,000 volumes.

“I know that Civil War docu-ments were destroyed, and the collection from the Bureau of Ethnology could not be re-placed,” Ewald said. “Most of the damage was from water used to extinguish the fire.”

The depository system is de-signed to disseminate informa-tion to the public free of charge, ensuring access to government documents.

“Those materials are avail-able to anybody, you’ve already paid for them,” Hall said. “This is with the idea of having an in-formed citizenry that can vote intelligently.”

“They’re the tax payers,” Ewald said, “they pay for it and they need to be informed.”

“A depository library serves their congressional district and in that sense we are open to the public,” Ewald said.

“Anybody can come in and use our materials.”

Norwich is a selective deposi-tory, which means it selects the materials that the Government Printing Office publishes.

“If we took everything they put

By Glenn SheaNorwich Guidon Staff Writer

Kreitzberg celebrates 100 years as federal depository library

The American Red Cross and the Office of Volunteer Programs held a Blood Drive in Plumely Armory Oct. 2.

With 438 donors and 402 pro-ductive units of blood, this year’s drive was a great success.

“I’ve heard that one pint saves four lives,” said Alexandra Brown, a 20-year-old junior nurs-ing major from Syracuse, N.Y. “It’s an amazing thing to do and it’s a small price to pay for what you’re doing for someone else.”

“One of my best friends had to have an immediate blood transfusion,” said Brown. “And if it hadn’t been for the people who donated their blood, she

would have died.”Nurses from the American

Red Cross drew blood from 438 students who showed up over the course of the day with 77 first-time donors.

To qualify for donating blood, students must be at least 17 years old, weigh more than 110 pounds and be in good health.

Twenty-four hours prior to drawing blood, donors may not have cold or flu symptoms, a fe-ver, sore throat or cough. Donors must also answer questions on their medical history, piercings and tattoos, and sexual practices.

“It’s critically important that the questions be answered honestly to protect the health of the recipi-ent and also make the blood drive

more efficient,” Brown said. “Setting up for the drive started

about 7:30 a.m. with the unloading of the trucks and the nurses setting up with the volunteers,” said Ally Manousos, an 18-years-old fresh-man majoring in political science from Lowell, Mass. “The blood drive started at 12 p.m. and there were over 25 volunteers with dif-ferent shifts and stations.”

“The success of this semester’s blood drive is due in large part to three coordinating bodies,” said Nicole DiDomenico, director of volunteer programs. “The Ameri-can Red Cross, the office of vol-unteer programs and the Student Nurses Association.”

By Sammantha WaggonnerNorwich Guidon Staff Writer

See BLOOD pg. 8

Successful year for Red Cross blood drive

See DEPOSITORY pg. 9

A Norwich University student published his first book this fall, which is being sold in bookstores in Vermont and online.

The book, called “Into the Den,” hit stores Sept. 1.

“I’m 90 pages into the book and I don’t want to put it down unless it’s to go to class or to a hockey requirement,” said Billy Kasper, a Norwich student who is mentioned in the book as a close companion to the author.

The author, Jesse Mattson, is a senior from Vermont majoring in communications.

Mattson was born in Los Ange-les but moved with his family to Vermont, where he went to public high school for two years. He then went to boarding school at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut for three years where he played hock-ey, football and lacrosse.

He continued his lacrosse career at Colgate University before trans-fering to Norwich.

The book’s inspiration was some real-life experiences with friends and teammates from his prep school and college career. The main character is a student who attends a boarding school in Maine called St. Judes.

“The book is fiction but all of the events described in the book are based on some sort of relation to my life or my friends’ lives that I witnessed,” said Mattson.

In other words, “any author who writes novels will take an experi-

ence or experiences out of his or her life and fictionalize them to fit in the story.”

“Into the Den” is 205 pages long and published as a paperback by a small publishing company based in New York City called Bryant Park Press.

“I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to send my book to a friend of mine whose mother owned the publishing company. She then read my book, enjoyed it, thought it was quite interesting so she decided to print it. So here I am now, all I can do is hope other peo-ple take pleasure in it as much as the others that are currently reading it or have read it,” said Mattson.

“The book is enjoyable to all ages north of 17 years old or ma-ture high school students,” he said.

Mattson plans to graduate from Norwich this spring. He is finish-ing another book, called “The Country Mile.”

“I’m 90 pages into the book and I

don’t want to put it down ...”Billy Kasper

6 October 30, 2008The Norwich Guidon

9 East Street - Northfield 05663485-SUBS (7827)

Sunday - Thursday : 8AM - 10PM

Friday & Saturday : 9AM - 11PM

Stop by and enjoy one of our Five Dollar Footlongs

Norwich senior, aspiring author, publishes his first novel to praise

The cover of Jesse Mattson’s book.

By Nicholas QuaglianiNorwich Guidon Staff Writer

Students speak out about diversity issues on campus

Racism is a problem in society as well as here at Norwich Uni-versity.

Despite the administration’s strict punishments for discrimi-nation, it still occurs in the form of actions, jokes, even blatant words; yet, members of the stu-dent body are not surprised at

its existence.“I think there is racism ev-

erywhere you go in life because you are going to meet people that are different and you don’t know how to respond to them,” said Shameka Fitzpatrick, a 21-year-old senior communications major from Florence, S.C.

“I think there is bound to be racism at any place with a large quantity of people with different views,” said Michael Peverada, a 22-year-old senior international studies major from Hampden, Maine, and former president of the Asian club.

There have been incidences of racism at the university such as derogatory words being carved into doors, spray painted on walls and written on whiteboards.

“My freshman year in Alumni Hall someone spray painted the n-word on the wall. I felt that was

uncalled for,” said Fitzpatrick. Students say discrimination

includes when they are denied a piece of their heritage. One of these people is Rosa Abreu, who is proud of her Dominican na-tionality.

“I had an incident last year where one of my staff sergeants threatened me with a Title IX for speaking Spanish,” said Abreu, a 19-year-old junior criminal jus-tice major from Boston, Mass., “but he ended up apologizing, and I accepted [it] but I told him you really have to think about where you are now, in the mili-tary there are a lot of people that are different than you”

Another instance of discrimi-nation occurred in a much nastier form.

“When I got back from my deployment I found out my friend who is Trinidadian had

someone write the n-word on his grease board. That’s not a joke, that’s genuine hate” said Damien Mackenzie, a 24-year-old me-chanical engineering major from Brooklyn, N.Y.

What others may see as a joke may be highly offensive to an-other person; this makes making racial jokes very dangerous.

“Sometimes little comments do offend me and people, they don’t realize that it’s offensive to me, they think it was a joke” said Fitzpatrick. “There is a time and place for everything and there is mainly not a time for racial jokes. If you’re close to me then it’s fine but if I don’t know you and you walk by and say a racial joke because I’m black that’s not acceptable.”

Many students believe that ra-cial jokes can be funny if being

By Ian KempNorwich Guidon Staff Writer

See DIVERSITY pg. 9

7October 30, 2008 The Norwich Guidon

“The problem [occurred] when we were approximat-ing how many upperclassmen [would] come back,” said Sch-neider, “[Despite] our models of the previous years we ended up having 60 upperclassmen short our budget projections.”

The 60 upperclassmen who did not come back caused a $2.1 million increase in the deficit. More red ink is expected.

“For spring semester we ex-pect 40 more students not to come back,” Schneider said, “but I am afraid that number is going to be higher and we will have increase in the deficit.”

Dean of Students Martha Mar-this said the financial situation of students’ families determines whether they return. “Many par-ents are paying for many other things and adding the rise of tu-ition makes it difficult and that’s part of why students are leaving.”

She said many students cannot afford Norwich.

Another reason for the $2.7 mil-lion deficit is the School of Gradu-

ate Studies (SGS) has 350 fewer students than expected. SGS stu-dents are experiencing the weak-ening of the economy and the credit crunch and cannot afford to go to school, Schneider said. The SGS is about $655,000 in deficit.

“Many students [attend] SGS because their business was pay-ing for them; because of the econ-omy businesses can’t afford to do that,” Schneider said. “Another reason is because students are having trouble [getting] credit.”

The tight credit market has added to the deficit because of higher interest rates.

“We are seeing significant in-creases in the cost of our insti-tutional debt service,” said Sch-neider. “When our debt went to the debt market, we had to pay significantly more interest than we budgeted because of the in-crease in interest rates.”

Schneider said the university is taking measures to decrease the deficit.

“I had to postpone the market adjustment until the financial cri-

sis goes down,” said Schneider. “I want the salary for teachers to be average compared to schools like us.”

Schneider also suspended new hiring.

After “reviewing every open position, I am being tougher on not refilling positions,” he said. “I would rather deal with ... mov-ing people around to service the students than laying off someone because we can’t afford them.”

Schneider said this evaluation is happening on a “case-by-case basis.” He is going to be trans-ferring employees and moving them around.

There are about 280 students behind in their tuition payments, Schneider said.

“There were 280 students that owed money, and we are finally getting their attention, the treasur-er stopped their meal cards until they pay us or tell us how they are going to pay us,” said Schneider.

Kyle Beddia, a 19-year-old sophomore criminal justice ma-jor from Reading, Mass., said, “

I have no credit right now and I am trying to get some loans out but nothing is working.”

His meal card is still frozen and he is not sure when he will be able to pay the bill.

“Many of my friends are go-ing through the same thing, it’s not fair because most of us are trying to get extended payments but nothing is going through,” Beddia said. “I talk to financial aid and everything, right now I am trying to apply for loans.”

“I made a decision that they can stay in school until the end of the semester, I want them to have their grades,” said Sch-neider. “If they decide to leave without paying, we will with-hold their transcript until they pay their bill.”

Schneider said the construc-tion of the new dorm and Doyle Hall does not affect the school’s finances.

The dorms are being con-structed with borrowed money and Doyle Hall is being funded with donations.

ECONOMY from page 1

Because the design process did not start until the spring semester, the pins were not able to be deliv-ered in time for the ceremony.

All students who would have received an academic excellence pin at the awards ceremony were instead given a card that had the pin design on it until the pins were delivered to the school.

“I just hope that students take pride in their academic achieve-ments,” Kelley said. “These are meant to be worn around wher-ever the students go.”

PIN from page 4

“No one needs to worry, the new buildings are not affecting us financially,” said Schneider.

“This school has been through tough times. We went bankrupt in the 1800s and were called Lewis College for four years,” Schneider said. “Our school went through two World Wars, and we also went through the Great De-pression. We are going to make it through this and the students will make it through this.”

8 October 30, 2008The Norwich Guidon

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“I was extremely happy to see them and to have quality family time together,” said Ryan Car-roll, 19, a freshman international studies major from Boston, Mass. “But in my opinion I thought that parents weekend was not a pro-ductive opportunity for recruits due to the fact that they experi-ence a normal weekend without regimented military routine, po-tentially weakening what they have become accustomed to.”

“Parents weekend is really for the recruits more than the upper-classmen,” Tucker said.

Norwich hosts a parents week-end each year.

“It’s a great weekend for cadre to have off as well because we’re essentially doing all the same stuff the recruits are,” Tucker said.

Cadre members in the Corps of Cadets appreciate parents weekend as well. Having cadre staff responsibility is a full-time obligation for a cadet.

“I think it’s great that Nor-wich University offers it to the students,” said Jones. “It gives the recruits something to look forward to, work towards and take pride in.”

Recruits say they prepare to show their parents how much they have learned and improved since they arrived at Norwich.

The recruits had competitions for parents weekend. They have

the “Welcome parents banner,” drill and ceremony and jodie competitions.

“I think the banner and jodie competition is a great long-standing tradition here at Nor-wich and it brings the recruits to-gether to finally meet each other and bond together,” Tucker said

Each company had to design its own banner to welcome par-ents.

“The banner was important because it represented company pride and all the hard work and teamwork it took to make the banner,” said Jones. “And the families were able to distinguish the important meaning of a com-pany and the bond the recruits form within their company.”

Each company had to follow the rules and regulations for the banner.

“Each company had to have their company mascot, a quote, the company’s saying, the corps chain of command, all of the recruits name in the company, American flag, Norwich’s seal, all the military branches’ seals and it had to say ‘welcome par-ents’,” Jones said.

Making the banner took time and each company had different ways to get the banner done in a fast efficient way.

“My company started the ban-ner out by working on individual designs on their computers and

then started putting designs to-gether and mapping the design out on the banner,” said Peter Dillenbeck, an 18-year-old fresh-man mechanical engineering major from Schenectady, N.Y. “My company designed the ban-ner similar to the golf company’s banner from last year and we started painting five days before the banner needed to be done.”

“My cadre appointed one of my rook brothers to be in charge. He organized everything, mak-ing sure we were able to buy the necessary materials; they needed pencils, erasers and painting mate-rials,” said Jones. “It takes a lot of materials to get the banner done.”

“We started the banner two days before it need to be done [and] we ended up having to do an all-nighter the day before the banner was due,” Valldejuli said.

The recruits had to work on their company banner in Shapiro Field House. The recruits were in a relaxed environment there allowing the recruits to work better as a team and not worry

about rookie rules.“It was pretty relaxed atmo-

sphere in Shapiro. We could talk while working on the banner and [spend] some quality time with each other,” Dillenbeck said. “My parents also loved the banner and they were amazed how quickly it took them to paint the banner.”

“The banner helped build team work within the company, work-ing together as a team best as possible, everybody worked on the banner for at least an hour,” Jones said.

“The recruits in my company put in a lot of time into the ban-ner and the jodie,” Tucker said. “My recruits came [up] with the ideas themselves for the banner and jodie. There was no need of my help; it was their parents weekend.”

A jodie is a cadence that the recruits march to. Each com-pany had to create a jodie and a marching sequence for the com-petition.

There were rules for this com-petition; for example, the com-

pany couldn’t go over the time limit or walk out of boundaries.

“My company used some of our cadre sayings and funny things that us recruits did in the jodie,” Dillenbeck said.

“My company wanted to be creative and we would fall out and do one of our ditties,” said Jones. “By adding the ditties, it was not all marching but it was different from everyone else’s.”

Ditties are marching com-mands that help everyone stayed together.

The jodie competition, like the banner competition, produced late nights for the recruits.

“We stayed up till 2 a.m. the night before with preparations so our parents can be impressed with all of our hard work on our jodie and it came out awesome,” Jones said.

“... We had to work as a team to get everything done in time,” said Jones. “We practiced rifle drill and ceremony [so] we can represent our company well in the drill competition.”

Hotel Company was the win-ner of the banner competition and Kilo Company won the jodie competition.

“Parents’ weekend is a great thing the university does that gives the rooks something to look forward to, something to work for, and something to take pride in,” Jones said.

PARENTS from page 4

“It gives the recruits something to look forward to, work towards, and

take pride in.”

Felicia Jones, an 18-year-old freshman pre-med major from Sherburne, N.Y.

In the past, the blood drives have been co-sponsored by the nursing department. This year’s blood drive was co-sponsored by the office of volunteer pro-grams for the first time.

“This was a little bit of a last minute change of plans because traditionally the nursing depart-ment has been serving as the American Red Cross sponsor,” said DiDomenico. “We were ap-proached by the nursing depart-ment to see if we could help co-sponsor this year, we were very excited at the opportunity and flat-tered that they thought of us.”

Isabel Nielsen, administra-

tive assistant in the nursing de-partment, had been the point of contact with the American Red Cross and she helped make the transition very smooth, accord-ing to DiDomenico.

Nielsen put DiDomenico in contact with the student nursing association and two students, Samantha Johnston and Chelsea Moore, helped her recruit most of the student volunteers.

“Our goal for next semester is to get 450 units of blood,” said DiDomenico. “There’s going to be a St. Patties Day theme be-cause it’s going to take place on March 17.”

BLOOD from page 5

9October 30, 2008 The Norwich Guidon

Movies on Campus

Oct. 31-Nov.1

out, we would be buried 10 feet under,” Hall said.

“We are allowed to select the materials that suit the needs of the student body, along with what’s called a core collection of documents deemed critical to our democracy, which every de-pository receives,” Ewald said. “Faculty and students can find documents for their research on geology, criminal justice, mili-tary history and other topics.”

“We certainly get a lot from the attorney general’s office,”

Hall said, “because it supports our criminal justice programs.”

“We have a very complete col-lection of U.S. Geological Sur-vey documents in what we call a satellite collection in the science complex,” Ewald said.

The depository has documents from prior to 1907.

“They really can’t be re-placed,” Ewald said, “but they’re in no sense here to be protected, they’re here for everybody’s use.”

Documents not found in Nor-

wich’s selective collection can be easily attained through the internet or the interlibrary loan system.

Government documents have more uses than just research and history.

“There’s a lot of fun stuff you can get out there,” Ewald said. “You can go to the national park Web site and plan a vacation, you can watch an early Thomas Edison video on your computer, you can buy government surplus items, and it’s just infinite.”

DEPOSITORY from page 5

told between a tight group of friends; however, if told to the wrong person the results could be devastating.

“I, personally, don’t take of-fense to them, unless I feel that the individual said the racist joke or comment with harmful intentions,” said Tahina L. Mon-toya, a 21-year-old senior crimi-nal justice major from Lowell, Mass.

One word that is tossed around like a ball but is not considered acceptable in any form is the n-word.

“My rook buddies and I, we joke around with each other and call each other names but to a certain degree, there are some words you don’t use such as the n-word. I still don’t like that word because it used to mean something else, so I take it seriously,” said Dinaldo Simp-son, an 18-year-old sophomore criminal justice major from the Bronx, N.Y.

Other students at N.U. have not experienced discrimination and believe that if racism does exist here that it does on an ex-tremely small scale.

“I would like to say there isn’t ANY racism at Norwich, but just because I haven’t experienced racism doesn’t mean others haven’t. I, personally however, have been lucky enough to not experience it,” said Montoya

Simpson agrees. “I think there probably is racism at Norwich but it doesn’t show, it’s very subtle compared to New York where you will see it a lot more

if someone is racist towards you,” he said.

Students like Simpson might view N.U. as having small amounts of racism compared to where they grew up.

“I see a lot more racism from where I’m from than compared to N.U. When I used to work at a gun store if a black person walked in I had to go to my boss before I sold him a gun, it was policy,” said Andrew Kemp, a 19-year-old sophomore politi-cal science major from North-field, Vt.

Many say the diversity of the university is good for being in the state of Vermont, but it does not compare to the diversity of other college campuses or the cities which some students come from.

“I think there’s opportunities for exploring and experiencing diversity [at Norwich]. How-ever I don’t think in terms of ethnic makeup that this school is diverse numerically speaking relative to other universities and larger, more metropolis, areas,” said Peverada.

Norwich, which has a majority of Caucasian students, is said to attract a certain type of student.

“I think Norwich attracts a cer-tain kind of person and it’s not a question on whether we can fix it or not it’s just a function of what this institution is,” said Keith Perri, a 21-year-old political sci-ence major from Matawan, N.J.

Although the school may at-tract a certain type of person, it is still possible to increase the

diversity of the population with an alteration to the school’s nar-row recruiting plan.

“I think there should be more diversity at Norwich University. I see it as a recruiting problem. In California, I had to drive very far to get to the informational meetings,” said Carlos Castro, a 21-year-old sophomore crimi-nal justice major from Oakland Calif.

Several ethnic groups on cam-pus try to create cultural aware-ness. These groups include the Harold Doc Martin Society, Asian Club and Fronteras Lati-nas which is a Spanish Club.

The Harold Doc Martin Soci-ety works for cultural awareness as well as does community ser-vice; it is named for N.U.’s first African American cadet.

The Spanish club, also known as Fronteras Latinas which translates to “Latin Borders,” brings cultural awareness to the campus. The club is open to ev-eryone even though it is Latin American-focused. It also does community service.

“We are trying to get people to understand that everyone is the same and that there needs to stop being this ignorance. That’s what we are trying to get out there,”said Abreu.

The Asian club is also open to all students. It allows for a look into the culture of Asian-Amer-icans.

“The Asian club was a place for Asian and non-Asian stu-dents such as myself to celebrate Asian culture. We would cel-

ebrate Asian holidays with cui-sines that were culture-appropri-ate, learning a little bit about the background. There is a yearly conference involving the north-east portion of the United States every year where we would talk about issues facing Asian-Amer-icans to include racism,” said Peverada.

These clubs are here for stu-dents to learn about cultures oth-er than their own. Some say the knowledge will help reduce dis-crimination, but others disagree.

“Some people have it embed-ded in their head there is a cer-tain way of viewing other people and if they haven’t realized that this is not for everyone by now then it’s too late to help them out,” said Mackenzie.

Norwich University has strict disciplinary actions for those who are found guilty of discrim-ination:

“N.U. and federal, state law prohibit the discrimination or harassment on the bias of gen-

der, race, ethnicity, national ori-gin, color, religion, disabilities, sexual orientation, age or vet-eran’s status.”

A student who is experiencing these disciplinary actions first hand is Perri, accused of making racial jokes.

Perri said an off-color joke from a movie that was over-heard by and taken offense to by another student.

He was issued a punishment by the administration.

“The punishment is two-weeks CMC (closed military confinement) and a year of dis-ciplinary probation which means if I make another mistake, then I’ll be kicked out,” said Perri.

“My definition of racism is ha-tred for a particular group people for their race,” said Perri. “If he was my buddy, he would under-stand that I am not racist and that my comment was not racially motivated and I do not actually have a hatred for the race.”

DIVERSITY from page 6

10 SpOrtS the Norwich GuidonOctober 30, 2008Sports editor: Drew Dilley

The fall season is a great op-portunity for the women’s la-crosse team to interact and get to know each other, according to the Norwich University women’s lacrosse head coach.

“The fall ball is a non-tradi-tional season and it’s very infor-mal. We get together four times in four weeks to get a familiarity with one another,” said Coach Tyler Renaud.

“It’s a good thing to do to show the young ladies that I’m serious about our team and the success of our team,” he said.

“In order for our team to really get together, we need to have team bonding, and fall ball starts that off for us,” said Kathleen Hennessy, a junior nursing major from Essex, Vt.

“There are a lot of new fresh-men here, and it’s nice to get a head start and know who people are before the season starts,” said Andrea Schmid, a junior nursing

major from Middlebury, Vt.The fall season ends with one

game against a visiting school.“We play one non-traditional

game against UVM’s club team to have fun,” Renaud said.

On Oct. 12, the cadets lost the match to the Catamounts 15-5, but it was not an official game. Both teams had a lot of fun.

“I think our first game went pretty well, we’ve only been practicing once a week. We are still learning names and how ev-eryone plays,” Schmid said.

“Both teams did pretty well; the passing was great. Friday practices are worth it,” said Chelsea Martin, a sophomore physical education major from Barre, Vt.

“Once we return in February, that’s when we get a little more in tune with conditioning and the intensity level of practices,” Re-naud said.

The Norwich women’s la-crosse team is relatively young, entering only its fourth season.

Last spring, the cadets posted a team record with an 11-5 season, won the GNAC championship and received an invitation to par-ticipate in the ECAC playoffs.

“With this year’s squad, and not losing anyone to graduation, that 11-5 should look like a 14-2 season,” Renaud said.

With the fall lacrosse season at its end, coaches and players are looking forward to defending their GNAC title.

One boost to the lacrosse team is the talented freshmen class.

“This freshmen class, their atti-tude is outstanding,” Renaud said. “I’m real excited for the spring, for February. I can’t wait.”

But all the hope for the next GNAC title is not riding on just the freshmen.

“Having Ally Daniels back re-ally is a huge shot in the arm, and we have her for another two sea-sons,” Renaud said. “I know the GNAC is fully aware of her, but Ally certainly has a wonderful

Women’s lax completes successful fall season

Norwich University’s men’s basketball team looks to make a much bigger impact in this year’s season compared to pre-vious seasons, according to a team member.

This year’s team is a “very young team with the major-ity being freshmen and sopho-mores,” said Eric Williams, 19, a sophomore math major from Chapel Hill, N.C.

This team “needs to work on staying in shape and making sure that the players take care of them-selves and stay injury free which will allow the team to have an upper step over last year’s prob-lems,” Williams said.

The men are coming off a good season with a 12-13 over all and 8-10 GNAC conference record. They look to build off a talented

group of incoming freshmen and returning upper classmen.

The biggest improvement for the team this year, according to Tim Fico, 22, a senior crimi-nal justice major from Monroe, Conn., is that “the morale and energy of the incoming [stu-dents] are greater than last year and they all want to play.”

For the 2008-09 season there have been “six or seven incom-ing freshmen that have been recruited to play for Norwich which is a high number com-pared to years past,” said Jer-maine Lattimore, 19, a sopho-more business administration major from Tacoma, Wash.

The large number of fresh-men players this year can lead to some interesting line-ups as the coaches and the players learn where their strengths lie.

The freshmen have a lot of po-

tential to break out this year, “with the outside positions with good outside shooters and a new fresh-man who’s 6 foot 10 inches and could potentially be very danger-ous on the inside,” Fico said.

The attitude of this year’s team contrasts sharply with that of last year.

“I see that this year the players are motivated and anxious and ready to play ball, and hopefully none of the incoming players will quit the team,” said Fico.

Freshmen “Joshua Cabrera, Robert Thurman ... have both showed great potential in the small pickup games prior to the start of the season,” Fico said.

These two players could im-pact Norwich’s match-ups, es-pecially Emerson and Lasell.

“The two teams that have Nor-wich’s number are Emerson and Lasell and I just want to destroy

them because they beat us pretty bad,” said Fico.

The team’s hopes to improve dramatically this season.

One thing that will help with that goal is “being more condi-tioned and well-rounded than every other in the league this year with our new and returning players,” Lattimore said.

The team, especially the se-niors, look to recapture a title.

During the 2004-05 season, it won the Great Northeast Athlet-ic Conference title (GNAC) and advanced to the second round of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

Fico would like to reach that point again before he leaves the school in May.

The team urges fans to support the men’s basketball team.

“I know last year the team only had like six to 10 fans in

the stands and it really demoral-izes the team and going to other schools and seeing their fan base, we don’t understand why our school can’t be the same way,” Williams said.

For the 2008-09 basketball season, “we will definitely go to GNACs and hopefully we will make it to the NCAAs again but we need the support of our fans and players to make it there,” Fico said.

One of the possible highlights of the early season is when the team travels to North Carolina to take on North Carolina Wesley-an and Methodist in the North Carolina Wesleyan tournament.

The Cadets will look to use the early season non-conference tournament as a boost for con-ference games facing two very talented teams in North Carolina Wesleyan and Methodest.

Men’s basketball has high hopes for 2009 seasonSee LACROSSE pg. 11

By Brian WieliczkiNorwich Guidon Staff Writer

By Matt McClellanNorwich Guidon Staff Writer

Ally Daniels in action in one of last year’s game. (Norich Athletics photo)

October 30, 2008 11The Norwich Guidon

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Although the Norwich wom-en’s cross country team consists of only seven runners, it still had high hopes at the season’s half-way point for the GNAC tourna-ment.

The team of seven runners lead by captain Heather Flavell, had some notable finishes.

It took home a third-place fin-ish at a meet in Middlebury, a fourth-place finish at Plattsburgh State, a pair of sixth-place fin-ishes at both Wesleyan and the Vermont State Meet at Castleton and a respectable 10th out of 17 teams at Smith.

Several runners have set new personal records

The team’s official placing overall in the conference cannot be confirmed until the GNAC tournament in November.

Jackie McElligott, 18, a sopho-more English major from Pine-hurst, N.C., said the Cadets have high hopes for the GNAC tourna-ment.

Joy Palmer, 18, a freshman biology major from New Paltz, N.Y., said personal improvement and learning how to properly race are big goals for both the team and herself for the remainder of the season.

The team is not quite at peak endurance performance, said Ramsey Paulwan, head cross country coach. Paulwan said he hopes to have the team at peak endurance performance for the GNAC tournament on Nov. 1 at Saint Joseph’s College in Maine.

McElligott said the best overall team race was the Vermont State Meet on Oct. 4 in Castleton be-cause a few members of the team set new personal records.

The Vermont State Meet was also a big meet for Palmer. She said she “improved her time by over a minute.”

Palmer said the team’s best race was “probably at Middlebury, be-cause everyone participated.”

“It’s a lot harder because you don’t have the type of variety, because when you have more numbers you have a more wide range of skill level,” said one of the runners.

“We have a small team so it makes it harder because you’re relying on five people instead of 20 to place really well,” McElli-gott said.

Palmer disagrees.“It really depends who is on the

team, not so much the numbers. We work really well together,” Palmer said.

Although Paulwan said that he wants the team in top physical

shape for the GNAC tournament, Palmer feels the runners have al-ready reached that point.

Although only a freshman, Palmer said the team has im-proved since last season.

“The seniors have definitely improved from what I have heard from coach,” said Palmer.

McElligott said the biggest team improvement from last sea-son is the team’s bond.

“We’re a lot closer then we were last year,” she said.

Paulwan said it is hard to com-pare on improvement from last season.

Norwich’s cross country teams do not have a home-field advan-tage in any event, primarily be-cause they do not have a facility.

That may be changing soon. A local has donated the use of his field to build a course so the team can train and compete at a home course.

Palmer said, “Our own course is in the works.”

Since the team only has seven members, McElligott wanted to stress the importance of recruit-ment. She said it is harder to place five competitive scores with only seven to choose from.

So she wanted to give a notice to any interested that the team is recruiting runners.

Women’s cross country ready for 2008 GNAC finals meet

Two Norwich cross country runners at the Plattsburgh Invitational. (Norwich Athletics Photo)

By Josh FlandersNorwich Guidon Staff Writer

LACROSSE from page 10supporting class.”

“Kathleen Hennessy ... and Katie Magnus are just great players that know their roles and are putting the team first and re-ally want to win,” said Renaud.

Renaud preaches good sports-manship. According to Renaud, it does not do anybody any good to run up the score on teams that are struggling or developing.

The women’s lacrosse team is made up of players from all dif-ferent sports backgrounds. Re-naud has athletes who also play hockey, basketball and soccer and who swim.

“I’ve converted some soccer players that are just pure ath-letes, because it is the type of game that if you are an athlete you can pick it right up in no time,” Renaud said.

According to Renaud, the players on this team are the type

of quality players who are going to help women’s lacrosse con-tinue to achieve success.

“For our ladies to win 11 out of 16 games and play 14 of 16 on the road, it’s just a true testa-ment to their character,” Renaud said. “It wore on us, but it was also very rewarding. I was never more proud of a team then how they performed last year right down to the end.”

According to Renaud, with everyone back and the team in great shape following the fall season, this spring looks very promising.

“I hope that the university rec-ognizes what we’re doing here with this program, because to be a conference champion and in the ECAC tournament after only two years of [varsity] existence is something to be very proud of,” Renaud said.

With a lot of key starters back, the Cadets’ women’s volleyball team is on a roll starting the 2008 season, according to a Norwich women’s volleyball player.

The Norwich women’s volley-ball team has picked up where it left off last season. The Cadets start the season with a 13-3 over-all record and 6-2 record within the conference.

Since becoming a varsity sport three seasons ago, the Cadets have been a top contender in the GNAC.

With powerhouse competition like Emmanuel College and Lasell College, the Cadets have showed they can play with the best.

This season the Cadets have big wins over Emmanuel and Lasell. They also posted wins against out-of-conference powerhouses Simmons College and Suffolk College in Massachusetts and St. Joseph College in Connecticut.

“I knew we were capable of

being this good this year, we had a lot of players return and the chemistry just seems to be all there,” said Lisset Magdaleno, 20, a junior biology major from Los Angeles, Calif.

The Cadets return most of their starters from last season, including all-conference and rookie-of-the-year Alicia Cham-ness, 19, a sophomore nursing major from Eugene, Ore., and all-conference Molly Rice, 19, a sophomore nursing major from Sunapee, N.H.

“This team is a very different team this year because we have more chemistry with each other, having played together for a year now,” Rice said.

Last season’s team was able to post a 16-8 overall record, but it was ended early with a hard-fought loss to Lasell College in the quarter finals of the GNAC championships.

“The game was really long. We came back late to make it a five-game series. We just fell short at the end,” Magdaleno said.

This season the Cadets are on a roll in hopes of being back where they were a year ago.

“In order for us to stay suc-cessful and to get back to the GNAC championships, we have to stay focused, work on the little things, and communicate better,” said Dana Flieger, 19, a sophomore nursing major from Winsted, Conn.

The Cadets this season have a perfect record while on the road with an impressive record of 6-0.

“I think that we play better when we are on the road, we play better when we are on other teams’ courts. Not to mention we get a lot of fan support by the parents when we are away,” Magdaleno said.

The Cadets have just six games before GNAC playoffs start. With two really good op-ponents, Plymouth State and Johnson & Wales, still to come on the schedule, they have their work cut out for them.

“Coach has really been push-

ing us hard in practice, with playoffs coming up we are going to have longer rallies, we have to stay focused and finish the regu-lar season strong,” Rice said.

Team captains Magdaleno and Rice both said, “This year’s main goal is to win the GNAC conference title and hopefully move on from there.”

This year, the players know what it is like to lose close games in the playoffs, despite a strong regular season. “We are not cocky but very confident that we are a good team this year. I believe we can get back to the GNAC play-offs and really have a chance at winning the conference champi-onship,” Flieger said.

October 30, 2008 12The Norwich Guidon

The Norwich men’s lacrosse team is playing a fall season this year in an effort to improve its skill and prepare for the season in the spring.

Nick Bakos, a 20-year-old sophomore physical education major from New Haven, Conn., said, “It’s giving us an edge. The more time we get to play togeth-er, the more time we get to con-nect with each other.”

Playing a fall season is helping the players become better as a team and get back into the game after not playing for so long.

“It helps get people back into the game of lacrosse,” said team captain, Nick Talcott, a 20-year-old computer security and infor-mation assurance junior from Lebanon, N.H. “For those that didn’t play that much over the summer, it helps get everyone

back into the mode of lacrosse.” According to Bakos, the fall

season is helping the players improve their skills and stay in touch with lacrosse.

Bakos said, “It’s good to get out there in the fall, and get warmed up and get a feel for everything again and get back in the flow of things.”

According to the players, the previous years were very un-structured and lacked devotion from some players. The team started getting negative attitudes after a few rough seasons.

Kris Bleach, a 20-year-old civil engineering junior from Prince-ton, N.J., said, “The practices we had in previous years were very informal and loosely structured and no one would show up.”

The team has Nelson Ander-son as its new coach, who has helped the team greatly.

“He’s real enthusiastic and up-beat. He’s taught us new things

and has gotten us to work to-gether more,” Bakos said.

Team members say they can learn a lot from Anderson’s ex-perience.

“He’s very knowledgeable about the game. He knows the game very well and he knows how to coach,” Bleach said.

Talcott agreed, saying, “He has a lot of experience. He knows a lot about the game and we can definitely learn from him.”

Anderson has also helped the team become more structured and have a positive attitude.

“He’s brought structure to the team. He wants to get everyone back to the basics and bring everyone to the same level.” Bleach said. “Everyone’s going back to the basics so it’s going to be easier for everyone to come back in the spring and start play-ing at a higher level. We started out kind of sluggish, but coach really built us up. ”

Anderson wants the team to make sure it is on the same level with each other so they can work together better.

Talcott said, “the offense and defense is working on some things that we’ve never done before.”

The fall season has also given the team a chance to see Ander-son’s coaching style before the spring season.

“It’s given us an introduction to his coaching style. The coach wants to evaluate all of us, so it’s a bit of a longer try out period,” Bleach said.

While Anderson is evaluating the players during the season, the players can also see how they play and what they need to improve.

“The fall season helps us pre-pare for the spring. It helps us gauge where we are. It also helps coach see where we are skill-wise and what we need to work on for the spring,” Talcott said.

Both Anderson and the team say the fall season is a great way to prepare for the spring season.

Talcott said, “We still have a lot to work on. We have a pretty young team so the fall season helps everyone see where they are at and what to work on.”

The team can better itself by fixing its problems in the fall, be-fore the spring season comes up.

“It gets us working; it helps us a lot for the spring. Instead of not doing anything for seven months during the off-season, we can work on our game and work to-gether and start at a higher level once the spring season starts,” Bleach said.

By taking advantage of the fall, the players are also making goals to do better in the spring.

Hopefully by putting in the fall season for the first time, men’s lacrosse can take big strides in becoming a powerhouse in New England lacrosse.

Men’s lacrosse hopes to boost season by adding first fall season

Two NU volleyball players in action during a recent match. (Nor-wich Athletics Photo)

NU volleyball looks to take momentum into playoffs

By Matt HernandezNorwich Guidon Staff Writer

By Noah PressleyNorwich Guidon Staff Writer