Rikki Feightner

Spring Weekends

And finally, it actually feels like Spring. Norwich has come back to life this weekend… people are out in force, sunbathing, playing all kinds of sports, fishing, making bonfires…. It’s been wonderful. Yesterday, Lower Disney was filled with I’d say close to 80 people at one point, crowding around the volleyball and basketball courts, trucks pulled up to the grills, tailgating, and people everywhere actually sunbathing. If it hits above 60 at Norwich, you’re bound to find it.

Studying FTP stuff for our Air Force training this summer, my friend Dan and I discussed it. “I could have gone to Florida, you know,” he grumbled, lifting his hands towards what, for us, felt like summery heat. “This, all year ‘round.” But even though this line of conversation is pretty common, I have to say that if I’d gone to a school in So. Cal., or Florida or even Texas, I probably wouldn’t have the genuine appreciation for sunlight and summery spring weekends like this one. And I do. Even now, as soon as I’m done with this blog post and a little bit more studying, it’s off with the computer and out with my books to find a sunny spot on the grass to study and sunbathe and relax. Once we get back from the summer, it’s another month or two of beautiful weather and swimming and fun. But that’s a ways away.

One more week of classes. Then a week of finals. Then… Field Training. (Essentially a month-long Basic Training for AFROTC cadets before they contract as officers. Like an Air Force LDAC, if you wish.) I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t nervous. It’s a lot of intense training for a solid 28 days. Like hyper-rookdom, I’ve heard. And Norwich kids seem to have a rough time with it because when we go, we slip into rookdom mode and sort of tune everything out, which is NOT what they want. But I’m hoping to overcome that.

And besides, I get back from Field Training, and the very next day… it’s back to Beijing. Funny that we’ve almost come full circle, from the time I was already in the city to the time that I’ll be going back. There will be familiar faces and new ones. But the setting will be close to the same, and the adventures can only get better from here on out.

Let’s go, finals!! I wanna get this done with!

 

Respecfully,

CPL Feightner

Band Co. ‘15

Echo Taps

Respect. Respect is a Norwich value. It’s something we learn, follow, use. Something that we try to earn and guard from being lost. Respect is a currency of professionalism. It’s something we strive for. And sometimes, when it is most called upon, respect is something that we give, every one of us, in our own way.

Last week, there was a call for respect. It comes as no surprise to anyone in the United States now about the tragedy of Boston, the bombings and death that washed over our friends, our classmates and our media. Some knew victims. Some had friends that were running the marathon. But everyone recognized the somber and solemn reason for our gathering last Wednesday night.

Each night, every night, Taps as a military custom is played by one of our buglers at 2200. It’s a quiet ceremony that closes every day and, sadly, is largely ignored. But at 2150 Wednesday night, all the UP-side room lights went out. The Upper Parade ground became silent and still, absent from its usual one or two loud students passing through. And for a campus that is usually itching to get out of uniform right at 1700, droves of students started to come outside, silently, dressed in Tunic. It was quieter than morning formation, or any other part of our waking day. The Corps, and a few civilians, had gathered once again for Echo Taps.

Echo Taps is a ceremony observed by the Corps in the aftermath of a tragedy. It is completely silent, from beginning to end; once outside, cadets simply stop talking, using hand motions and miming things to get their point across. The only sound is that of shoes moving, slowly or briskly, across the pavement.  Everyone forms up in their respective platoons, goes to attention, and then waits, with baited breath, until that slow salute when the bugler begins to play.

It’s a heady thing to witness. The darkness, broken only by the dim lighting of outside lightposts, creates a murky, unfocused sort of world. The only real tangible thing is the stillness of hundreds of people and the slow, mournful sound of two echoing bugles, one after the other, playing taps. If you’ve never heard what Echo Taps sounds like, I suggest that you look it up. It’s beautiful.

And it’s completely voluntary. No accountability is taken, no one is forced to go. But they do. Because while respect may be a Norwich value, it’s bigger than Norwich. Or any one of us. And in the darkness, at 2200, we realize that.

I haven’t included a picture with this post. Nor do I need to. My hopes, thoughts, and prayers go out to all those affected by this, and every tragedy, today.

Respectfully,

CPL Feightner,

Band Co. '15

Lyre Night 2013

Family. We use the word so often to describe ourselves here at Norwich, but sometimes the word is used too liberally, and its meaning lost. It’s the power of a word, however, that seems to hold so much sway over us. Words can create, destroy, bolster or demotivate… and they can take the significance of something, perhaps an idea, and make it so much more than words.

Tonight was Lyre night for Band Company. The company had assembled and waited for a little over 45 minutes, tending the fire, listening for the far-off sounds of the freshmen as they finished up their culminating event. There were current students and recent alumni, officers and enlisted, all centered around this soon-to-be class of brand new Zoobies. Eventually, we heard them. Their yells were far off in the distance at first, but then came closer, and closer, voices building to a crescendo and then suddenly falling off into silence. All in a line, we waited for a good five minutes, rubbing our hands in the cold.

And then, screams of triumph. The trainees of 2016 had gotten their Lyres.

It’s nights like these that makes me so proud to be in Band. To be a Zoobie. We stand united under our common experiences, no matter how different our years may be. It’s something that stays with a person long past their years at Norwich. It’s on our rings. It’s on our skin. It stands for the desire to be a moral, upstanding, and honest leader. Who knows how to have fun, mind you.

One of these new members, might I add, is also a fellow student blogger. Christie Cajina, who is also a member of 6-3 (which makes us… I don’t know how you would phrase that. But we’re both original 6-3), has done wonderfully this year, and I wanted to extend a specific invitation to all of you to go over and check out her blog…. And possibly get a better idea of Freshman year from a more immediate perspective.

Getting to know these “kids” after months of professional distance is more exciting than I can easily express. It’s so tempting to just tell them everything; about Sophomore year, about the company, about how we’ve felt. But it’ll come in due time. For now, there’s just the task of settling back, enjoying a family that is 18 members stronger, and waiting for a junior ring weekend that is less than 24 hours away.

Here we go!

Respectfully,

CPL Feightner,

Band Co. ‘15

RPI

I always get a thrill from uploading my old photos. Or even just looking through them. I’m such an avid shutterbug that a lot of my precious memories (from High School, and Rook year, and the Summer) are all preserved. But it’s the timeless, simplistic pictures that I really love the most. Like pictures of flowers. I’m not sure why I like those so much… anywhere we go, I’m there, lens next to the petals, snapping away. Maybe it’s because it’s so timeless. Or maybe because they’re just easy to photograph. Either way, it makes for a lot of fun.

The RPI drill meet was. A. Blast! Again, Joe and I (we seem to be destined to do nearly everything together in life) packed our bags, shined our shoes, and headed off to the 31^st Annual Rensslaer Polytechnic Institute’s Drill competition. I believe that there were a total of ten teams competing. We got there late Friday evening after a long, action-packed van ride (by which I mean the kids in our van talked avidly the entire time, to the questionable dismay of our Colonel) and proceeded to eat, stake out our place on the floor, and practice.

And we slept on the Gym floor. Oh, yes. No hotel for Det. 867. The biggest comfort, however, was possibly the two teams there from by beloved Ohio… OSU and Wright State, the latter I turned down in favor of Norwich and is only about 20 minutes from where I lived. I, of course, ended up making friends the next day with a few kids from “the homeland”. Another highlight of the meet was very unexpectedly reconnecting with Jimmy and Ryan- two of the kids from Joe and I’s summer study abroad that happened to be there with their college. (U Mass, I believe.) Imagine the odds!

I’m extremely proud of our team, who took three first place and one second place trophies at the meet- and we only had two weeks to practice! The second place trophy, for the two man armed trick (silent routine done with rifles) was thrown together in just FOUR days by two of our participants. We took as many if not the most trophies by volume home, which is an incredible turnaround for a team that was almost dead last the previous year.

Coming back, I’ve spent the week excitedly anticipating two separate events- one being Junior Ring weekend and the other being the eventual release of our Field Training allocations (EA’s for short) from the Air Force headquarters. The entire sophomore FTP flight has been biting our nails for nearly three weeks now… nationwide. Rumor has it that HQ is keeping back the names of accepted cadets because of some major cuts.. which has everyone on edge. Add to this that I’m going to the first rotation of Maxwell, which starts May 15^th. It’s not a lot of time. Come on, Air Force!

On a more light-hearted note, though, I’m stoked for the weekend. I’ve been breaking in my heels, dreaming up how to do my hair, and other girly things that normally have no place in the work week. I’m not going out because I’m only a sophomore, and it’s bad form to take any unnecessary glory away from the actual Ring-receiving juniors, but it’s still great to dress up and dance. Being a fan of dancing as I am.

For now, though, it’s Chinese homework and sleep. Well, and PT in a few hours. So I’ll end this on a familiar note by wishing everyone a wonderful night/day, and a promise to write again soon!

Very Respectfully,

CPL Feightner

Band Co. '15

Movin' On Up

We’re only about two weeks away from Junior Ring. I take a pause at writing that and consider how incredibly far that I’ve come since writing this blog. I started out as a just-finished freshman in Beijing and now here I am, typing away from my room in Gerard as a Sophomore just months away from being a Junior. This year has gone by too fast, it seems. My fellow Sophomores and I have lived, learned(sometimes the hard way), fallen, risen, and discovered who we really were. We finally got to watch Rookdom from the outside and I can tell you, it’s a strange thing to watch. Especially close to this time of year.

It’s the turn of the Cadre and their rooks, and as second year students, we and our Seniors are somewhat removed from the spectacle. Not that I don’t intend to have a blast on the weekend. I do. But it’ll be a lot more fun to watch. We’re not far off from tickets going on sale, guest forms being written, and girls comparing dresses. Last minute gym commitments to shape up for summer, too. Yeah, I’m one of those.

But aside of my hiatus to Taiwan (which, upon coming back, I became incredibly sick for a day or two, which I did NOT enjoy), I’ve found out a few new and exciting things that will affect me almost immediately.

First, I’ve discovered that I’m going to be Band First Sergeant next year. I’m thrilled! Charles Thaxter, the current Provisional Battalion commander, was my first sergeant for Band Co. last year, and we all loved (and at times, feared) him as freshmen. It’s a tough job and a very busy one, which means that I might have to cut back on a few clubs/other commitments, but it’s well worth the “hassle”. I’ve been wanting this job literally all year, ever since I started thinking about it in October. And now I finally have that opportunity. I also want to congratulate Joe Babitsky, my friend and fellow blogger, who scored Cavalry Company First Sergeant. Chinese club is going to have a ridiculous amount of chevrons next year, it would seem.

Band is taking over, too; of everyone in our Company, we have a lot of outreach next year, to include Battalion Commander, two Command Sergeant Majors, the Inspector General, the S6, Cadre, and more. Band, it would seem, really has itself together. I congratulate my fellow Zoobies on their accomplishments and can’t wait to see what we get done next year.

The second bit is something that I literally just found out last night. And it’s just as exciting. At 10a.m. tomorrow morning, I will contract into the United States Air Force and join the Wing as a scholarship Cadet. I learned via Colonel Clarke that I received a Type-II Scholarship, which I believe is 18k per year in addition to room and board, I believe. It’s also for my Chinese major, which makes it a non-tech scholarship, which are considerably harder to come by. And with Field Training allocations coming out (supposedly) this Friday, I’ll finally find out whether or not I’m that much closer to achieving my ultimate dream of becoming an Air Force Officer. I’m stoked beyond belief. What a great week! Now, to make it to the weekend.

I just wanna wear that new PT gear, honestly…. Hard work really does pay off.

Now for laundry and bed. Goodnight, folks!

Respectfully,

CPL Feightner, Band Co. ‘15

Taiwan... one week in Ilha Formosa

March 17-18 (Depending on where you count the time-zone shifts)

Another in-flight Blog. I’m getting better at this. We’re racing against the darkness again… We’ve actually flown fast than “night” and will be emerging ahead of night into the light within the hour. Which is crazy. I’m time traveling!

If I were to actually write in detail about our entire Spring Break Experience, or even just a detailed account of our first few days at Fu Hsing Kang, the Taiwanese Political Warfare college, then I’d be writing you guys a book. But I hope that between Joe and I, I can manage something that will suffice. First thing’s first; I finally got my milktea at Coco and my bowl of beef noodle soup. Amazing. Those two foods will never be replaced in my eyes. And I was greeted by most of the familiar sights of Asia once we were there; the sings, the chatter of many foreign tongues, reminding me that now –I- was the foreigner, the sea of ivory faces and dark hair, the smells, the summer-like weather… I was like a kid at Christmas. Back again.

Fu Hsing Kang treated us like we were genuinely foreign diplomats. The sheer time and energy that they’d put into making every second of every moment during our stay enjoyable was nothing less than jaw-dropping. In just four days, we saw Taipei 101, the world’s third tallest building, from the top, the Taiwanese version of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Royal Palace Museum, Botanical Gardens, the Grand Hotel, the Shilin Night market, Downtown Taiwan, an art market/historical district, two different national parks (one with an amazing temple at the top), the Dharma Drums Buddhist Center for World Peace, Japanese Hotpot/Traditional Taiwanese dinners and the Tamsui beach/boat ride. Try saying all that in one breath. It’s hard.

Not to mention an extensive and informative tour of campus, presentations by every department (they have four main majors), and separate presentations by their Art, Music, and Drama departments. And a barbeque in our honor, and a Kareoke party. I literally have so much respect for these guys. There was a core group of seven students, ranging from Freshman Charlie to Senior Jill, that were with us most of the time. All of these kids had amazing English ability. Their English names, which will be easier for my non-Chinese speakers here (as seen in the picture below, left to right) are:

Debbie, who was a very close friend to me personally, and always caring for us, Freshman Charlie, a very shy but very lovable guy that always had something nice to say, Jill, our marathon runner who united everyone with her giggly personality and amazing art skills, Bill and his best friend Kevin (aka “Kevin Jackson” because he knew, like, every line to every Michael Jackson song) who were our dynamic duo, and Richard aka “Dick”, who wasn’t afraid to good-naturedly mess with us. Not pictured, because he’s the one taking the picture, is Wilson, our amazing photographer all week who, at an end of the week school-wide celebration held (again) in our honor, proved that he had some amazing break-dancing skills.

We were followed around all week by a caravan of cameras, microphones, and video equipment.. it was so strange. Like I said, we were treated like diplomats. So. Many. Group pictures! By the time we got to ROCMA, the Republic of China Military Academy, we were effectively de-sensitized to people taking pictures of us. Like, I’m an avid photographer but kinda camera shy and by Thursday, I was completely fine with it.

The goodbyes, of course, were incredibly hard. At least for me, and I’m pretty sure Joe felt the same. We grew really close with these guys over break and so the train ride was a somewhat sad one. But even though ROCMA turned out to be a lot less planned and a lot more self-exploration, it was a bare-bones and very realistic look at how the Taiwanese military works. And I’m not gonna lie, Norwich doesn’t hold a candle to some of the restrictions that ROCMA cadets face. Four formations per day, barbed wire and genuinely armed guards, no leaving base on the weekdays, and carrying “practice rifles” everywhere. I mean everywhere. It was surprising. Well… it was surprising in that having just come from FHK, which is only a little more strict than Norwich (and bearing in mind that we had VIP treatment), but it wasn’t in that this is how they normally operate. It’s an actual military base, after all.

We did have a really great day there on our last day, however, when we let campus and actually rented bikes for the day. Although none of us had ridden bikes in quite a while, weaving in and out of South Taiwan’s traffic and narrow streets some because not only doable but exhilarating. We hopped a ferry (on our bikes, that was different) over to Cijin island and experienced some amazing scenery and one heck of a fresh seafood dinner. (And when I say fresh, I mean like within five minutes of being alive, sea-side family run restaurant.) Add to this that my passion for photography did not go unnoticed; the Taiwanese Lieutenant who escorted us around (a VMI grad, though we forgave him for that!) has an extensive knowledge of photo-taking and personally lent me, and coached me through using, numerous pieces of equipment, such as a 40-year old manual lens (you could see the aperture open and close when you looked through it), tripod, and remote. It was so much fun getting used to the old-fashioned way of picture-taking. I learned a lot!

I also realized by different strengths and shortcomings in language. Not having used Chinese very often since the summer, I found that there were some things that I frustratingly could not remember. Others, however, I could, and I’m starting to get a lot better at realizing things or “getting the gist” of what people are saying. A long way to go, but closer every step.

If I had just one thing to take away from this break, it’s the unforgettable feeling of being treated so well by total strangers, and a desire to make sure that one day, I return to that part of the world not as an onlooker, but as someone there to really make a difference.

And now, off from Newark to Burlington! Classes tomorrow…..

Respectfully,

CPL Feightner, Band co. '15

Pre-Spring Break Thoughts

(March 19th and I haven't posted anything... shameful, huh? Well, here I am, back with a few backlogged posts due to a busy schedule and bad internet. Also... happy birthday to my Mom, the most wonderful woman on Earth. =] )

March 8

We’re about three and a half hours away from Narita, Japan as I write this. The flight so far has been good; I’m sandwiched in between Pivirotto and Babitsky (Josh and Joe, from here on out…) and we’ve been watching movies, eating mini servings of Haagen Daaz and looking out over the window. I played around with the little display on the back on the headrest in front of me for the first few hours, stumbling my way through some Japanese lessons, a Chinese news report on tea growers, and a brief lecture on Desmond Tutu. But it’s the view I love the best. The scenery, when it’s other than clouds, absolutely takes my breath away.

The last time we opened the window, we were crossing the top portion of Siberia. The mountains literally rose up out of the clouds… and everything was white. No life anywhere to be seen. The sheer magnitude of how big “real” mountains are never ceases to amaze me, as I only saw my first “real” mountains this December, flying over Colorado. (Some people count West Virginia and Vermont as “mountains”, and while I agree to their size, I think there should be a different word for each of the two.) Joe and I stared out the window in silence for about 20 minutes, each hosting our own private thoughts. I looked up at the on-screen map, and felt a shiver down my spine. We had traveled almost five thousand miles in under ten hours. I was really going back to Asia. The excitement is like a head-rush; it makes me giddy just thinking about stepping on to foreign soil again; somewhere strange and new. I was born to travel, I think.

I’ve watched two movies on the flight so far, and I have to say that both of them have been amazing. Life of Pi was something that I’d actually been thinking about for the last few days (I knew the basic story, and asked “How does one survive on a rowboat with a wild Tiger for over a month?”) and the movie did not disappoint. The other film, which I just finished, was Cloud Atlas.

If you’ve never seen Cloud Atlas, then I highly, highly suggest watching it. The Campus Activities Board played it at Norwich a few weeks ago. I intended to go and see it but eventually forgot to. We’d a thirteen hour flight, so I figured that I might as well watch something new, and I remembered seeing the poster. And so began my trip into this Inception-like labyrinth of a movie.

Cloud Atlas is, at the largest level, the evolution of a single soul, played through many people, from murderer to hero. This takes place through the seemingly unrelated lives of several different people; a Neolithic people in futuristic tribal lands, a 70’s reporter, following her father’s footsteps, an aging publisher on the run from his mistakes, a droid-like woman in “New Seoul” in 2144, and a young, gay songwriter in 1950’s England. But the masterful interconnection of these lives begins to draw tighter and tighter together…. Almost every character reappears in every version of the ‘individual’ stories, again and again, as male and female, good and evil, timid and bold. Cloud Atlas teaches a lesson of love overcoming all, but manages to do this is a non-sappy, non-cliché way of thinking. It’s an incredibly complex movie, but one that, when actively and intently watched, engages not only the senses but the mind. It’s possibly even better than V for Vendetta.

Movies that make you think. That’s what I like.

That's all for now.. no telling how the internet will be once we reach Taiwan. I'll talk to you guys later!

 

Respectfully,

CPL Feightner, Band co '15

Prospective Student Q&A

    Tonight’s the last day of February… wow. We’re almost into March already, aren’t we? It seems like just a week or so that we were just coming back from break. And now we’re a week away from leaving for the next one. The snow has been pretty beautiful this month… and constant, might I add. In the last week, the trend has been; snow in the evenings, fairly warm during the days. It almost, dare I say it, seems like Spring is starting to creep in.

    Nevermind the two feet of standing snow on the ground. Aside of that, I mean.

    We ran another three-mile for PT this morning. As long as I wrap up my knee properly (I have no current injury, but the ligaments around my kneecap are somewhat weakened due to a pre-Norwich injury), the run isn’t that bad. My lungs after a summer in China, though, are even now still in the final stages of recovery from the Beijing air, and when I’m suggested by our Colonel to join group 2 for the run (groups go from 1 to 4, with 1 being the fastest), I can’t resist the challenge. Oh running. I love you, and I hate you. Great workout, though.

    Celeste recently shared with our group of student bloggers that there were a few questions from prospective students for us bloggers. I glanced over the list and I’ll say, they’re a pretty solid group of questions. Here’s my take on a few of them;

“What is it like living in a colder climate?”

                Define colder. I live in Ohio, and it gets pretty chilly in the winter, but nothing compares to the sub-zero fury of Vermont’s green hills. Ohio is different however, than if you were from, say, southern California. I’d say that at first, it’s pretty rough. Especially if you’re looking at becoming a rook, doubly so if you’re not a fan of the cold. (And you’ll know who they are. Once the first dip of the thermometer below zero, they all come out on Facebook about it.) However… if you can find thing you like about the cold (I, personally, love seeing the campus look like a Christmas card), then it becomes substantially easier. You just learn to live with it and appreciate the power of nature, essentially.

“What is your favorite thing about Norwich?”

                That’s really, really tough to answer. In fact, I don’t think it’s one I can with a cut-and-dry answer. My entire life, I grew up in the same town, same house, same room. I attended my hometown public school kindergarten to graduation, and so completely changing scenes was a big thing for me. But one of the things I grew to love the most about Norwich is the relative sense of autonomy that we have, all joking aside. I can make new friends, form bonds, choose my own classes, clubs, and interests… and no one’s telling me who I have to be. The opportunities are endless. It’s great.

Last one!

“How has Norwich made you a better person?”

                Unhesitatingly, yes. Not only by the leaders (both good and bad) that I have seen here, but for the times that I was pushed past my limits, taken out of my comfort zone, and forced to work together for not just my own benefit but for the benefit of others. I have learned a lot from this University, but chief among those lessons are the principles of self-confidence, brotherhood, and betterment. I have learned to always question myself, focus on the “Why?” instead of merely the “What?” and “How?”, and be proud in who I am. These are not lessons that you’ll learn in a classroom, but ones that you’ll discover from the strong bonds of friendship and the shared joys/hardships of Norwich life.

    And with that bit of morale, it’s back to my perpetual stack of homework. Friday’s just around the corner! Have a great weekend, everyone.

 

Respectfully,

CPL Feightner,

Band Co. ‘15

Weekend Snow and Acceptance Letters

I’m starting to get used to all this snow.. I actually like it. (Ohio winters will never be the same after this!) I’m not sure the drivers in the audience will agree with me, but it’s beautiful to watch fall.

 

The weekend was amazing; I splurged a little and bought myself my very first sound system; $40 worth of speakers and a subwoofer from Walmart. It’s not huge, but it’s a lot louder than my laptop speakers and I love it! The hockey game on Saturday was fun; Norwich (of course) took the lead in the second period and beat the University of Southern Maine 2-0. Go Cadets! And today, I discovered a brand new channel of house electronic/trance music. They’re pretty good; the name of the channel is PandoraMusic on youth and so far, I’m really liking it.

My personal countdown continues; 11 days until I’m in Taiwan and we’re almost into single digits! It’s a brave, exciting new adventure, and one that I’m happy to go on. (Minus the thirteen hour flight, that is. That, I’m not terribly excited for.) In a few days, I’ll start compiling my packing list and studying up on vocabulary.

And in similar news, I was accepted back to Minzu this summer!! The email came in late Friday night. The upperclassmen who were accepted immediately ran to each other’s rooms, literally jumping with excitement. For some, it will be their first. I’m excited to say that it’ll be my second. And why am I so obsessed with going overseas? Besides the pleasant change of mind, I seem to find that my language learning spikes when I’m surrounded by the language that I’m studying.

On that note, I expect my German speaking ability to take another hit this summer. I’ll have to enter things prepared, this time.

Friday’s meeting with the President turned out to be a very good one. Rob and I met with President Schneider, General Vanecek and Gail Mears to start discussing the situation on campus. We talked frankly and realistically about the behavior of Norwich’s students, their habits and what they really want; not what’s being filled out on surveys. We discussed about what students want in terms of sexual education. It’s not that Norwich wants to advocate for its students to have sex, but not recognizing the fact that some –will- have sex and taking appropriate measures to help those students help themselves is something I very much believe in.

I’m meeting with Gail Mears this week to see if anything can be done this week (before recognition) to reach out to the freshman class and offer students the option of access to safe sex materials. In the future, we’re planning on upping the level of safe sex education on campus with an emphasis on not only safe sex, but also the option of abstinence, since there are many students on this campus who have also chosen that path. It’s a touchy subject, but the more honestly and head-on we address it, the better.

Now, to survive Monday....

 

Very respectfully,

-CPL Feightner

Band Co. '15

Social Change and Old Cartoons

    Isn’t it crazy to think that we’re only three weeks away from Spring Break? The promise of freedom from campus is coming closer and closer, and I’m already talking to the other guys, gearing up for Taiwan.

    My current investment is social change on campus. I’ve recently been appointed the Secretary of the Campus Climate Committee here at school, and as such it’s become my job to investigate the issues affecting our students and the overall campus climate. This, of course, is going to be a lot of paperwork, brainstorming, and meetings, but within lies a powerful opportunity for social change in favor of the students here on campus, and I’m excited to have that potential. The next step will be for me to assemble a team of willing bodies and start figuring out what issues to tackle first.

    First on the list is Norwich’s handling of its SexEd program. It’s a touchy subject, but one that desperately needs to be addressed. George Bausch, Rob Morris and I are meeting this Friday with a number of key personnel to try and remedy this situation by creating a more “student friendly” environment for both awareness and preventative measures.

    Long story short; in my personal opinion, if you have the opportunity to make a change like this, go for it. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a good learning experience and benefits not only yourself but also those around you.

    On a less serious note, I had an awesome weekend. Valentine’s Day was Thursday, and I spent time split between “work” and hang time with my friends. I did however receive an amazingly beautiful bouquet of flowers!

    I’m really rather fortunate to have such a good group of friends around me. We’re a close knit group. This weekend, I had a nice dinner/day out in Montpelier followed up by the group of us watching “V for Vendetta”  before attending the NU Visions Abroad midnight pancake dinner. I’m ashamed to admit that I’d never seen the movie before. I’m not really much of a movie person.. generally people have to force me to sit down and watch movies. Once I do, though, I generally love them. V for Vendetta, consequently, is now possibly my favorite movie. The messages and emotion behind its production were incredible…. I just.. I really, really liked it.

    I think this weekend we’re going to have a throwback marathon; one or two episodes from all of our favorite old cartoons, ergo: Captain Planet, Kim Possible, Static Shock, Jackie Chan Adventures, Invader Zim, Teen Titans, Samurai Jack…

The good old days.

Very respectfully,

-CPL Feightner,

Band Co. ‘15