They were some of the first to respond. They were surrounded by blood and inches away from demolished limbs. For hours upon hours they sat at their computers and relived the destruction, the fear, and the strength. They talked with the mothers of three people who were killed. They sat with a dancer that lost her foot and others who will never be able to hug their loved ones with two arms. They are journalists and reality never stops for them. [Read more...]

Pat Morales, a Northfield High School graduate of 2009 – distinguished athlete in baseball, cross country, basketball, and hockey – started his Norwich University career in the fall of 2011.

During winter break of that year, Pat sustained a traumatic brain injury that left him in a vegetative state, according to doctors.  His family was told that Pat had no remaining brain activity and that he was not going to survive.

Despite the prognosis, Pat not only has survived but has thrived and is well on his way to what can only be described as a miraculous recovery.  On Sunday, April 28th, an organizing committee of his friends, neighbors and loved ones will host the Race for Recovery – a 5K to raise the $5,000 he needs in order for him to someday reach his dream of running again.

The event will also feature a 1-mile race for children, and a Zumbathon.  All proceeds will go to benefit Pat’s recovery. To register or learn more, visit the Race for Recovery table in the Wise Campus Center Monday – Friday during lunchtime, visit the Center for Civic Engagement in WCC 230 or email 4achange@norwich.edu.

Run. Love. Hope. Be a part of the miracle.”

- Nicole DiDominico and the ‘Race for Recovery’ committee

I sat there and stared at the sheet music on my stand as my first senior moment hit me. As my solo entrance blew right by, I held the flute to my lips as my mind realized that this was the last band concert I would perform in at Norwich University. [Read more...]

As a Norwich community, we contribute to an immense amount of waste on this campus.

We waste food. On an average day, the chow hall throws away nearly 10 large garbage cans full of food. We grab our trays, fill them with whatever we think we can eat at that meal, and then scoot of our chaotic chow hall as quickly as possible. Then we leave unbitten bagels, half-eaten salads, and pounds of pasta to be scraped off into a bucket. Fortunately, Norwich composts that waste.

We waste paper. Students sit in the computer labs and print dozens of copies a month. Half of which finds its home scattered next that same printer. Many grab this very newspaper from their mailbox, don’t even bother to open it, and leave it resting on the computer tables near the mail room. (Don’t worry, we’re going to do what we can to minimize that waste).

We waste water. Many still leave the water gushing out of the faucets while they brush their teeth, just as they did when they were five-years-old. Students crank on the shower and then go to the sink to brush their teeth, thinking that those three minutes are necessary to warm up the water. Let’s be real, if it’s not warm within 20 seconds, warm water just isn’t in the cards for you that day.

We waste time. Some students waste hours of their days sitting in front of computer screens playing video games. Others waste their weekend’s away, hung-over from the night before.

We waste our breath. Hundreds of students voice their opinions and stand up for what they believe in, then they watch it fall to the wayside. We spend hours in student-run meetings, days chatting with each other about ways to make this campus a better place, and then if and when we get a chance to share our thoughts, they are often wasted to predetermined minds.

Stop being so wasteful, Norwich. This is 2013. Take only what you will eat. Print only what you need. Turn off the water. Get off your butt and do something. And by all means, start trusting one another enough to actually listen when we “communicate.” How long is it going to take for us to understand that waste is bad, and communication and trust are necessary to make anything work around here?
– Audrey Seaman, The Guidon editor

I was sitting in senior seminar the other day talking with the handful of other English majors about why we read what we read. Drowning in the theories and arguments of the scholars and ourselves, my professor caught my attention when she mentioned that elementary schools are no longer teaching cursive handwriting to students. Some of my classmates were outraged, while others understood that our culture is progressing technologically, leaving little room for the curves of cursive.

I sat quietly, rolling the concept over in my head. I can’t tell you the last time I wrote solely in cursive. Call me old-fashioned, but I still use a paper and pen every day, as I scribble down my combination of script and cursive. I am, however, writing this very editorial with the tap of my keyboard and I watch my friend have a conversation with her iPhone Siri on a daily basis.

Later that day, I called my sister who teaches elementary school and asked her to confirm. It’s true. Cursive is not regularly taught anymore. It is often pushed aside in order to meet other requirements. In fact, her kindergarten class is given iPads to use every day for academic purposes.

While those five-year-olds are swiping through iPads, I will keep on writing for this newspaper that is physically delivered to our mailboxes every two weeks. We can wrestle its huge pages open and then come back in 30 years with our children and see that same issue in the archives, just behind all of the scrapbooks and catalogues written mostly in that foreign looking cursive thing.

-Audrey Seaman, The Guidon editor.

As we close the fall semester, it’s natural to glance back to the months we’ve spent here so far. The campus has gone from the sunny days of Vermont filled with blasting music by the volleyball courts and afternoon dips in the Dog, to early nightfall with holiday carols on Jackman steps and cozying up in barracks with some hot cocoa. We’ve sunbathed on the green, hiked during peak season, and gone sledding with what little snow we’ve seen thus far. [Read more...]