<p>
[quote]
If your sponsor parents deem it acceptable in their house, and there is complete consent, then whats the issue?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>In the circumstance you describe, there is no issue.
The sponsor has given consent.
The partner has given consent.
Assuming you are both of age...
Have fun. Keep it safe.</p>
<p>I said I wasn't going to post on this thread again, but feel compelled to one more time.</p>
<p>I'm sorry for my offensive and immature words, to anyone who reads them. If a cadre member wants to find out who I am by my screename and home location, it wouldn't be hard to do so. Therefore, I'm sorry and it won't happen again, if I have punishment waiting fine, regardless I will be more mindful of the affects my words have on others.</p>
<p>That being said, I think you all should all making assumptions about each other (one thing we recognize that adults often don't is that it's just a blog), and stop worrying about who drinks too little too much merlot, 1869 vs. 1969 and grammar, etc.</p>
<p>The original point is about who's at fault in this situation. I was questioning whether the mids. were really at fault, as some people were implying. But everyone seems to agree that the mids. were not out of line. That's been etsablished, no big deal, so I hope we're just done nit-picking at each other. </p>
<p>By the way navy2010 has been giving me sage advice. My mother agrees with her perspective, especially that a future mid. shouldn't even be thinking like this, much less typing it publicily.</p>
<p>So I hope that we can just leave it at that. We're not in a room together, we're not even on the phone, we have no non-written cues or context to determine what another person is saying. We cannot clarifiy or apologize before 10 other people have written their piece. Please let's recognize that, and be cool.</p>
<p>Who's been drinking too much merlot & why have I not been invited? :D</p>
<p>If JM is going to chime in, then I will too . . . </p>
<p>Welcom to CC Zackaw, where facts are meaningless, opinion ill-founded, and words are thrown about regardless of what may have originally been said.</p>
<p>Is that what you think a blog should be? [Actually, isn't a blog along the lines of a personal diary posted to a "weblog", a chronological log of thoughts? Thus, isn't CC isn't really a "blog" but, rather, more of a web forum?]</p>
<p>Beside, you've learned some valuable lessons.</p>
<ol>
<li>Many adults have nothing better to do with their lives than post to a web forum. This should motivate you to try and make something meaningful out of your life lest, twenty-five years from now, you turn into an Academy grad with nothing better to do with your life than lurk around CC and argue w/ parents. But, this whole forum idea is a bit strange anyway, so what the heck!</li>
<li>Words count. Even though many post to this site w/out regard to what their words mean and whether or not there is a basis for what it is they are saying, you should not be so careless. [And it seems that you may have learned this. Regardless of what was meant, your chosen colloquialism was a bit crude for a "family" forum. But that's okay, I was seventeen once a long, long time ago.]</li>
<li>Some people enjoy nitpicking the writings of others. See #1 above.<br></li>
<li>People make assumptions about each other. That's life, you should get used to it even though it isn't right.</li>
<li>Kids never think adults are "cool" and if you meet an adult that is "cool," then they probably don't act like an adult. Been that way for as long as history.</li>
<li>JM loves her merlot.</li>
</ol>
<p>Now, go outside, enjoy the daylight, go out with a girl while you can, squeeze her, enjoy the rest of your spring/summer, go out partying a bit, cut loose a little, and . . . . step away from the computer!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Were all your other 647 posts as insightful and meaningful as this one?</p>
<p>Some, even more so!</p>
<p>Bill, please correct #6. Merlot, Margaritas & martinis.</p>
<p>Wow this really has been most entertaining. </p>
<p>I am going to go back to my earlier post on this thread and again ask why this "story" was even posted on a college discussion site? But then I really think a lot of what is posted here doesn’t belong on a college forum. Find a Military forum to post the Military concerns, use the Parent forum to post parental concerns. Leave this forum for concerns specific to obtaining information about going to the Naval Academy and life once there.</p>
<p>An appointee asked what he felt was a valid question. Who are we to determine what is valid and what is to be made fun of? All anyone should have done was answer his question and move on – no editorial, no lecturing and certainly no chastising. But then there are a lot of people on here who like to give these young people such a hard time that they never come back. I will again ask hasn’t anyone noticed that over the last year there are very few kids on here anymore. </p>
<p>He asked a question in terms that maybe were not the best, but for him it was his way of approaching the subject. What one person finds offensive may be perfectly acceptable to the next. Sometimes we need to let go of our puritanical roots and understand that there are cultural and age differences that are being brought to this forum. </p>
<p>Navy2010 you obviously didn’t like his choice of language or subject. We got it in you first post. If you didn’t like it and found it soooo offensive why did you continually quote it? – no less than 6 times!</p>
<p>And then why does everything end up with alcohol? Everyone gets on his or her high horses about “too much drinking at the Academy” yet here we are suggesting having a glass of wine and that will lighten up this forum. Next time there is incident with Alcohol and Mids I suggest we do not comment, considering "having a glass of merlot" is the big joke here. I would suspect the Mids feel the same way about Beer!</p>
<p>“this is a family forum” …it is a college bound student forum, in as much as most of those who are college bound fall into the teenage years, crude or not, it is their forum and not for us adults to say what is acceptable and that they need to choose their words carefully. Theses kids should be able to come here, ask their questions and have their discussions without fear of judgment by yet another adult. They get enough of that at home and at school. </p>
<p>So I pose the question again…Where have all of the kids gone this year and why do they not return?</p>
<p>NativeTexan,
You are so right about the nature of the Naval Academy forum morphing into something that really doesn't meet the needs of candidates and appointees. A handful of us remember when it was a dynamic, safe exchange of information between candidates, appointees, BGOs, and parents. In fact, my mid connected with her sponsor parents and other members of her class on this forum. They had so much fun exchanging information and anticipating I-day. The NAPS kids and priors added much to the discussion too. However, you've heard the expression that one rotten apple spoils the barrel; it happened here. Let's clean it up and take discussions unrelated to the application process and life as a midshipman elsewhere.
Thanks for your comments. I agree.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Bill, My dad is a WWII Army combat veteran and at the age of 92 sometimes tends to be slightly forgetful. Therefore, each and every time that I return from a school or congressional Academy Day presentation, candidate interview, a family question-and-answer session, or an awards presentation, some 70-80 miles away, my dad asks me how much I am getting paid. The usual "nothing" always results in the why are you doing it question. My reply is something to the effect that it is so he and I can sleep at night. His "why is that?" is always followed with the statement that I am doing everything in my power to see that our country is defended by the best and brightest young Naval officers available.</p>
<p>That is my reason for being on this forum. What is yours?</p>
<p>Looking back at the initial exchange between you and N2010. . . how did your bringing forth the matter of her son having a GF w/ an apt. outside the gate advance your stated purpose ensuring representation in the navy of the best and the brightest?</p>
<p>Take a cursory look at any of the other forums on this thread. There is virtually none of the acrimony that is present on this thread.
Many may disagree w/ USNA09mom on a variety of issues, but she is correct that the tone and tenor of this forum was very different two years ago.</p>
<p>I initially joined up in an effort to find out as much as I could about a very confusing application and acceptance procedure. I stayed on to keep discussions alive that may be of relevance to applicants and paretns. [See a discussion revived--by somebody else- from over a year ago that I initiated to speak of what had been learned in the past year.]
Even if what Navy2010 was inaccurate, nothing she said really had anything to do with turning out the "best and the brightest." She is just a mom who took offense to the way some words were being posted. So what?</p>
<p>My comment regarding those who have nothing better to do, while not particularly directed at you, arises from the fact that some on here seem to be compulsive posters. [See my .89 posts per day over two years--and dropping fast--compared to some who post over five times daily.] Nothing particularly wrong with that, its no sweat off my back--but clearly some posts have been made by alumni reflect a lack of anything better to do. That's curious. At least i think so. But, whatever floats your boat [so to speak].</p>
<p>Actually, I think the original question was reasonable. Inartfully phrased, perhaps, but a reasonable question coming from a 17 year old.
You could have answered it in some sort of positive way about sex being a part of a mids life and left it thtat. Instead, you helped push this thread to multiple pages in an effort to make NAvy2010 look silly. This has nothing to do with your stated purpose.</p>
<p>My purpose for STILL being on this thread [much less so in recent months given the repetitive nature of the drivel that is written on this thread] is really driven, from time to time, by curiosity. A bored curiosity to see how wound up people can be over nothing. Nothing posted on here amounts to a hill of beans.
As I have frequently said abou the "what are my chances" questions, it doesn't matter one hoot what anybody says on here about your chances. [Unless, USNA69, you happen to be on the admissions board and are not teleling us.] The bottom line is that each applicant should do the best they can and only the boad will be able to say whether that "best" was good enough.</p>
<p>I post much less than I used to, in part, because of threads like this. Somebody posts a news story and then the thread takes on a life of its own. Far afield from looking to help the appointees or parents.<br>
This simply does not occur as much on the other Academy threads.<br>
I don't know why it occurs so much on this thread.</p>
<p>Perhaps that is what makes threads interesting to read. Perhaps it is the absolute inanity of it all that keeps me coming back. [As I have said, it is cheaper than subscribing to a porn site.]
We all have something to contribute. You could contribute enormously to discussions regarding life in the Navy, etc. Unfortunately, your Academy experience is very dated; nonetheless, you have experience there that could
be valuable. [Let's be realistic, for example, addressing the self-satisfaction issue in Bancroft is not unsimilar to what might be experienced in submarine. It's a man-thing. Women may not like to admit it, but its going to happen when you are dealing with teenagers.]</p>
<p>It's when the alumi [and it seems to be the alumi that instigate many of these off the wall discussions--with the exception of a couple of California contributors] sail off into other directions that these threads go ballistic. So, keep your answers in line with the noble goal you stated and you won't have the parents going goofy on you. </p>
<p>My purpose? Not the same as it was when I started. Partly curiosity, partly to offer a parent's perspective. I try not to become involved in these worthless discussions anymore. </p>
<p>Exept when Jamzmom goads me into participating. [How do you do that? ]</p>
<p>Just think JM, Boss, Shogun, USNA09mom, LFWB [?] halfway through!!!</p>
<p>I will go back into semi-retirement.</p>
<p>Oh . . and I am willing to admit--even though I am embarrased to do so--that for
.89 times per day, I have nothing better to do than write meaningless missives to anonymous readers on a forum dedicated to college students. Are you?</p>
<p>How about others that post even more frequently. Are they willing to admit the same?</p>
<p>"Even though casual sex has been accepted in our society as being "normal," and even though college students on many college campuses are promiscuous, doesn't mean that that type of behavior will be accepted at USNA."</p>
<p>GA, as long as they aren't having sex in bancroft, that behavior IS accepted at usna. i think you're being highly idealistic: while there are a number of mids that are virgins, i can assure you that MANY are highly sexually active. does that mean they are less morally developed? less prepared to be officers? you may say yes, but the most of us here at the academy say no. i don't want to be the annoying young spud, but times HAVE changed, yes EVEN at the USNA. if you want to stay up to speed on real life here, and not rely on memories and nostalgic yearnings for a 'better time', you'll accept that. you can patronize me and disagree about the moral training of midshipmen, but i don't need you to agree: i live here, i know it's true.</p>
<p>zackaw, you asked for the opinions of current mids. i am one. thanks for the definition of "squeezing one off", how very charming. while sex is something that goes on, remember that we are training to be officers and gentlemen and ladies. inherent in that is a sense of respect, both for our peers and ourselves. i would hope a mid would never run around in public talking about masturbating: there's a time and place, and its NOT when you're representing the USNA. as zaphod said, have a little more finesse. sex is about so much more than fulfilling physical needs, and if you haven't learned that before you come here, then there's a problem we can't solve. your cadre are there to teach you many things, but i don't think sexual maturity is on the checklist. suffice to say, many healthy men and women go to the academy and manage to lead perfectly normal lives (sexually too.) please try and conduct yourself with a little more grace.</p>
<p>You all just crack me up! Thank you for making my morning as I start the work week! Oh and the countdown is now 47 days til I-day!!</p>
<p>I think before I start reading this thread I had better go have some amaretto......</p>
<p>Cheers! ;)</p>
<p>Bill, without answering your last post item by item, you seem to question two things in general. First, what do my posts have to do with my stated objective of ensuring that the best and the brightest enter the Academy? Secondly, you question the currency of my credentials and the validity of any advice that I might offer.</p>
<p>First off, helping future candidates achieve answers to all their questions, no matter how trivial they seem to me, will allow them to make informed decisions and thusly, allow the best and the brightest to enter the Academy. This transfer of information is not happening here. We seem to be in agreement that this forum is useless. That it is not what it has been in the past. You attribute it partially to Academy grads with nothing better to do who cause threads to “take a life of their own.” My observation is that the tendered advice is often marginal at best, often totally incorrect, and tailored primarily for the affluent white male offspring of college graduates. These prospective candidates are very intelligent. They know the advice is marginal at best and are going elsewhere. These factors, coupled with an arrogant attitude, causing such remarks as “this question is almost too funny really” to valid questions, causes me, among others, to consider this forum dangerous. In the past, I have attempted to correct misconceptions by practically quoting official Academy admissions literature and told that I didn’t know what I was talking about. I have realized that I am being counter productive. By providing entertaining postings, I have prolonged the life of a forum that should have already died a slow death. I will correct this.</p>
<p>What is the validity of my observations? I will not submit my resume for your, and others, snide and petty remarks. However, as an alumni, a BGO, recent USNA parent, current USNA uncle, and sponsor of several groups which allows me to spend countless hours annually listening to midshipmen, and even, occasionally, asking a few questions, I think most of my statements are valid and correct. Please allow me to ask you how a good BGO, and the Academy seems to think I am one, who is entrusted with the futures of a dozen or so of our best and brightest youngsters each year, not be proficient and knowledgeable in all the aspects of the admissions cycle? Yes, to be told by a parent with a very small piece of the puzzle, often received in a simplified manner for ease of understanding, that I do know that about which I am talking, truly irritates me. And giving advice from that same perspective, sometimes wrong and often dangerous, I have, in the past, but no more, allowed to affect me in the same manner.</p>
<p>Members, please continue to drink your merlot, eat your chocolate, make things difficult for those legitimate candidates seeking help, offer incorrect advice to those you do deem worthy of your assistance, and allow this forum to die the death it deserves.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Zack, relax, you are no different than any of the other 1250 candidates showing up in a little over a month. Good luck.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Exactly right.</p>
<p>As for his OP, what the heck. I've heard many from his generation say far fouler things. Have so many of us forgotten what it was like to be 18, back before we were all issued the High Horses of Experience and Parenthood?</p>
<p>As for the some of the rest that's been posted....... well.......... whatever.</p>
<p>
[quote]
No WAY!! My firstie year, I "had PE" every day. Didn't look cool but was the most comfortable uniform in the book. Fortunately, the OOD never checked for PE shorts.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>LOL! You too, eh? :D;)</p>
<p>I have to say this has been one of the more unique threads I’ve seen during my short time visiting this board….I think one of the issues at play here reminds me why I don’t watch much network news, beyond not having the time…major news casts have become an event that is as much about who the anchor is as it is about the news, when what really matters, the only thing that matters, is the news, not what some anchor thinks about the news, or what they think we should think about it… in that vain this thread veered into a discussion about who posted and why and what their motivations were, are… etc. When people get into a discussion about who posts and why, and then turn that into a value judgment about the individual posting, this becomes a thread about the people posting and not about the questions or answers. I don’t see how that has any value to potential candidates or their parents looking for answers. </p>
<p>Over the past year I’ve found responses to questions, especially from prospective mids or their parents are addressed in a reasonable, helpful and thoughtful manner, even when the responses are critical or even contradictory. Sometimes the questions or the observations are hard not to respond to; I remember one post in which a potential candidate gave his reason for choosing the USMA over the USNA in part due the quality of the “stuff” in the respective gift shops…as much as I may want to comment, I start by asking “what am I going to contribute”. Most questions and comments are helpful, making this a great resource for information about the process of academy admissions as well as shedding some light on the experiences of past and present mids. </p>
<p>I’d like to believe that any young adult possessing the abilities necessary to get into the USNA should have some capacity to discriminate between good and bad advice, especially on a forum where there is no shortage of resources or a lack of willingness on the part of those posting to help. I think it’s important they recognize their experience here will not be any different than what they will experience when they are out on their own; they will have to consider information that may include conflicting opinions and good and bad advice before they make a decision. </p>
<p>The other aspect of this particular discussion that I think was surprising to many, was the “candor” of a particular post that set this thread on it’s way… whether it came out of youthful naivet</p>
<p>Not particularly wanting to seem like I want the last word--you can take it if you want it--I have the following comment.</p>
<p>Your propensity to say what you want to say without regard to what was asked or said in the first place is the problem. [Of course, that is reflective of the whole cable-news-whoever-has-the-microphone-is-right era that we live in anyway.]</p>
<p>I did not conclude some of what you "seem" to have read into my response. I did not, for example, make a broad generalization that your posts or the information you provide is of no relevance to your stated objective.
I asked very specifically, what did bringing up the matter of Navy2010's son's GF having an apartment outside the gate have to do with your objective? You chose not to answer that question.
Neither did I question your credentials to offer advice. In fact, quite the opposite, I suggested that you could offer considerable insight to life in the Navy, etc. You chose to ignore those comments. [Sort of like that guy who made reference to sailors as button-pushers; he excluded direct combat roles and then somebody proceeded to argue about how pilots, et. al were in combat roles. ????]</p>
<p>The problem arises, in this example, when effort is expended towards lessening the posts of others.
As RJR points out, when the posts become about each other rather than the subject at hand, then the potential for meeting your objective seems to become secondary.</p>
<p>Jamzmom's [and others] efforts to "lighten up" the tenor of postings is well-known to those who have posted here a for a long time. So, if she wants to post about underwear or merlot . . . so what? As us long-time posters have learned [at least some of us have learned and others are still working on it], if Z wants to relive his glory days, let him. No sweat off my back.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if Navy2010 took the effort to point out the inpropriety of the language of the offending post . . . so what?<br>
All I am suggesting--your efforts to make it sound as if I was questioining your motives nothwithstanding--is that you could offer positive, substantive answers to questions such as posed by [what was his name?] w/out denigrating the posts of others.</p>
<p>As has been pointed out by many others on the USNA threads, that is the key difference between now and two years ago: There are some on these USNA threads who take every opportunity to criticize, denigrate, and marginalize the posts of others [that flies both ways incidentially]; either because the one disagrees with the other politically or otherwise considers the other post to be moronic. Know what? Lots of morons in this country!</p>
<p>The moderators have had to remind people several times to keep the political discussions on the USNA threads somewhat civil.
One does not see this time of admonition on the other threads. Why is that?</p>
<p>Just to be clear. I am not questioning your knowledge about the USNA, your willingness to help, how busy you are with your life [you just happened to take up battle; as far as I can tell you post no more frequently than I do], what a great person you are or anything else known or unknown about you. [As I have said about others, I don't know you and will probably never know you.] Heck, this isn't even my battle. You want to duke it out electronically with Navy2010 in an effor to demonstrate something--demonstrate what exactly?--then go ahead. I always find it amusing how much fluster and venom gets to going over nothing on these threads.</p>
<p>I am just wondering out loud how some people have so much time to spend on such a stupid site? [And I am the first to admit that what little time I do spend here is incredibly wasted. As I said before and have said previously, I am embarrased of my dirty little secret.] If you are retired, semi-retired, have a job that permits you to post frequently on here, a housewife, or otherwise bored with you life, then . . . . well, then okay! More power to you. </p>
<p>As RJR also said, I try to think a little bit [just a little bit] now about what I post about. Because, in the end, it just doesn't matter one little bit what I say, what you say, or what anybody says about all this </p>
<p>This is just cheap entertainment.</p>