<p>Thought you all might find this briefing, by the USMA Admissions staff to the AOG, interesting (or provocative, depending on your perspective).</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing the briefing.</p>
<p>On the Naval Academy thread the following article was posted:</p>
<p>ACADEMY SEES APPLICATIONS DROP; DECLINE CONTINUES FOR A SECOND YEAR; SIMILAR PATTERN AT OTHER SERVICE SCHOOLS </p>
<p>The Baltimore Sun - March 8, 2006 Wednesday </p>
<p>The US Naval academy received 10,726 applications as of March 1, compared with 11,241 last year, almost a 5 percent decline. That paled in comparison to last year's decline of more than 20 percent, when applications fell from a peak of more than 14,000 in 2004. </p>
<p>The U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., experienced similar declines, officials at both academies said. West Point received 10,223 applications, compared with 10,773 the year before; and the Air Force Academy received 8,970 this year, compared with 9,604 last year. All three schools said this year's totals are close to the number of applications before the Sept. 11 attacks.</p>
<p>That final line makes sense of the situation somewhat. After the attacks, there was a surge of patriotism that is just now beginning to taper off.</p>
<p>how is it provocative?</p>