From: zursch@whizkid.wpd.sgi.com (Captain Coffee)
Newsgroups: alt.war.civil.usa
Subject: News of the World
Date: 9 Sep 92 17:11:06 GMT
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc., Mountain View, CA


	LEXINGTON, Va. (UPI) -- Virginia Military Institute is undergoing some
changes in its rigid disciplinary standards, prompting some alumni to
suggest the institute with a reputation for building tough ``citizen-
soldiers'' has gone soft.
	Col. Michael Bissell, VMI's commandant of cadets, says the changes
are an important part of the evolution of the Lexington school long
known for requiring its cadets to endure spartan conditions.
	``We are trying to keep the traditions of the old corps, but at the
same time we must adjust for the future,'' Bissell told the Richmond
Times-Dispatch in Monday's editions. ``We need to examine where we've
been and where we're going.''
	In years past, surviving the rigors of the ``rat line'' during a
cadet's freshman year gained a young man a certain notoriety. But some
of the worst elements of the line are slowly disappearing.
	Now, ``rats'' are no longer required to run to and from meals. They
no longer have to hold a knife between their knees while eating with
their chins plastered to their chests.
	For upperclassmen, class rings no longer bear the Confederate flag
because administrators say the flag may symbolize different things to
black students and those above the Mason-Dixon line who are now
attending the school. And there are fresh flowers on dining tables,
something unthinkable in the past.
	``The standard joke amongst alumni is VMI is the only school with 150
years of history unmarred by progress,'' said J.R. Worsham III, a 1967
graduate. ``Lately, there have been some small changes, but the major
objectives of VMI haven't changed much.''
	VMI is a family tradition for Worsham -- his father graduated in 1937
and his son is a member of the class of 1993 -- but he believes the rat
line needs to be more accountable.
	He recalls being struck with a coat hanger and receiving other forms
of physical abuse from upperclassmen that are now off-limits.
	Since he became commandant two years ago, Bissell has pushed for a
more professional rat line.
	``There's a saying around here, 'Don't ask a rat to do anything that
you wouldn't do, right now and exactly as you asked them to do it,''' he
said.
	Worsham said he believes the more professional line is just as
effective as the one he endured 20 years ago, and he said his son is
proof of that.
	``Once I learned they got to Tucker in less than two weeks, I knew
the objective of the system was still being accomplished,'' he said.
	For the past two years, VMI has been under seige from the federal
government, which is demanding the school abandon its all-male
admissions policy and accept women. So far, the school has won two
rounds in federal court, but the case is expected to go to the Supreme
Court.
	The school remains committed to its all-male policy, but the changes
Bissell has instituted come with alumni help. He has formed a
Commandant's Alumni Advisory Committee.
	``It's important to get the alumni involved in some of these
decisions,'' said Gary Hast, a member of the committee and a 1977 VMI
graduate.
	``I hear some of the alumni say things are going to hell, VMI is
going soft. But most believe that its purpose hasn't changed.''
Newsgroups: alt.war.civil.usa,alt.appalachian