NEW WEEKLY CHALLENGE

Here's the new weekly challenge:

For NS4 cadets:  Prove to me that you've seen the president's National Security Strategy. 

For NS3 cadets:  What is the first point of Aries and what is its significance?

For Tiffany Parker:  If you have two apples and find two others, how many apples do you have?  Congratulations to Tiffany, who correctly answered "four."  I think she guessed.

For NS2 cadets:  Describe the New York congressional delegation in terms of size and composition.

For NS1 cadets:  At what position do you fall in?

The first cadet in each category to answer the question correctly will receive a small prize.  This challenge will expire 0730 Friday, 21 January 2011.

The WOD for 20 and 21 January is sanction.  Sanction is a verb meaning to approve or to ratify.  Example:  Nothing could convince the teacher to sanction Fedorka's research paper by giving him a passing grade.  The first person who tells me the WOD gets a candy bar.

WORD OF THE DAY

The WOD for 13 and 14 January is relegate.  Relegate is a verb meaning to banish to an inferior position; to delegate; to assign.  Example:  After the cadet failed to wear her uniform for the third week in a row, the Senior Naval Science Instructor revoked her rank and relegated her to a minor position in the unit. 

WORD OF THE DAY

Personally, I believe that it's all a set up, but it has been asserted that there has been duplication, repetition, and even some measure of redundancy in the presentation of the Word of the Day.  The cadet who made these scurrilous accusations will be dealt with most severely; however, in an effort to forestall any possible such issues, I will draw the WOD from a completely different part of the alphabet.  This simple expedient should rectify the situation.  For those who haven't yet figured it out, today's WOD is rectify, a verb meaning to set right. 

WORD OF THE DAY

The WOD for 6 and 7 January is eclectic.  Eclectic is an adjecitve meaning composed of elements drawn from disparate sources.  Example:  The reviewers praised the new restaurant's eclectic selection of dishes, which ranged from Tibetan Yak yogurt to American favorites such as pizza and burgers. 

WORD OF THE DAY

The WOD for 5 and 6 January is disparage.  Disparage is a verb meaning to belittle.  Example:  The Naval Science Instructor was likely to disparage Cadet Fedorka's lazy, half-hearted efforts.  Speaking of the lazy and half-hearted, there have been no winners in the two most recent challenges.  Are the rumors I've been spreading actually true?

WELCOME BACK

Welcome back, and welcome to 2011.  Our annual inspection is now just 37 days away.  Remember, the inspection is a mandatory, all hands event.

The WOD for 3 and 4 January is conflagration. Conflagration is a noun meaning a great fire.  Example:  Much of the town was destroyed in the conflagration that followed the great earthquake of 2012. 

Don't forget that our first uniform inspection of the new year will be this Thursday.  Check your uniform now and make sure you're ready.  Do you know your general knowledge?  Are your shoes shined?  Is your insignia properly positioned?  Be there, or be square. 

GET READY

Here's a short list of what will hit us soon after the winter break:

1. The Martin Luther King Drill Meet, 17 January
2. Senior leadership papers, 21 January
3. The end of the second marking period, 28 January
4. Our annual Area Manager's Inspection, 9 February

Are you ready?  There's a pile of other stuff just after all of this--the Military Ball, more drill meets, the orientation trip (if there is one), to name a few.  The rest of the year will pass fast than you can imagine.  For you seniors, get ready to graduate.  For you juniors, get ready to be seniors, apply for college or make other plans for life after high school.  For sophomores and freshmen, get ready to move up and all that moving up implies.  What this means, distilled into the plainest language, is that if you want to be treated as an adult, you must start to act like one.  Good luck with that!

WORD OF THE DAY: "SATISFICE"

Listen up you lazy cadets:  The word of the day for 17 through 20 December is satisfice.  Satisfice is not a standard SAT vocabulary word, rather it is a personal selection on my part based on an increasing concern about the general state of cadet motivation in our unit.  Satisfice is a verb meaning to decide on and to pursue a course of action satisfying only the minimum requirements to achieve a goal rather than trying to excel.  To satisfice is to take the easiest way or to pick the easiest solution, regardless what's best.  A manager will choose to saticfice when the goal is not considered worth the effort of trying harder.  When high school students attempt to satisfice they do the bare minimum to get by; for example, they might just through a few words together to answer a homework question.  Their answer, while not reflecting any real work, would count as a check in the block and keep them out of trouble.  When you merely satisfice, it is very obvious and you lose respect.  If you want to do well in ROTC, you must do more than merely satisfice.

WORD OF THE DAY

The WOD for 7 and 8 December is disparage.  Disparage is a verb meaning to belittle.  Example:  The Senior Naval Science Instructor was more likely to disparage Feck's ridiculous attempts than to praise them. 

REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR!

Word of the Day, 6 and 7 December

The WOD for 6 and 7 December is eclectic.  Eclectic is an adjective meaning composed of elements drawn from disparate sources.  Example:  The reviewers praised the restaurant's eclectic selection of dishes, which ranged from Asian stir fries to French ragouts and stew. 

WOD FOR 29 AND 30 NOVEMBER

Welcome back from Thanksgiving break.  The WOD for the 29th and 30th is enigma, a noun meaning a puzzle or mystery.  Example:  Cadet Fedorka's erratic behavior was an enigma to her teachers. 

Here's a quiz open to anyone:  What is going on in the Yellow Sea right now?   Congratulations (again) to Cadet CPO Robert Ferguson who seems to be the only cadet with any initiative at all.