Department of Law US
US District Court Judge Cathy Seibel served as visiting instructor in the Advanced Constitutional Law seminar on 7 November 2014. Judge Seibel, appointed to the bench in the Southern District of New York by President George W. Bush, lectured and fielded questions by cadets pertaining to two important rights secured under the 6th Amendment to the Constitution: the right of an accused to confront the witnesses against him and the right of the accused to the effective assistance of counsel in all criminal proceedings. The seminar is taught by Department of Law Asst. Professor and Constitutional Law Chair, Tony DiSarro.
US District Court Judge Vincent Briccetti spoke to law majors in the Introduction to Legal Method course on 7 November 2014. Judge Briccetti, appointed to the bench in 2011, spoke to the cadets about judicial review, judicial philosophy, and how judges approach the interpretation of ambiguous provisions in the law and the Constitution. In addition to discussing these issues, cadets asked questions about the confirmation process, the impact of a lifetime appointment, and the ethical dilemmas of a judge. The class is taught by Department of Law Asst. Professor LTC Ward Narramore.
The West Point Mock Trial Team traveled to St. Bonaventure University on 8-9 November to participate in the Third Annual Friar Faceoff. Cadets competed against other undergraduate students in presenting a case to panel of three judges. The first event of the year proved to be a great success!
Department of Foreign Languages
Semester Abroad Program (SAP) / Academic trip sections:
Russian: On Thursday 6 NOV advanced Russian students traveled to NYC to watch a performance of the Russian opera "Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk District" by Shostakovich with colleagues from Vassar College and USNA at the Metropolitan Opera. On Sunday 09 NOV Russian-speaking cadets on study abroad returned from an academic trip to Yerevan, Armenia, where they were studying policy and conflict as relates to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and the political relations of Armenia. On Sunday 09 NOV Russian-speaking cadets returned from a cultural trip to Minsk, Belarus, where they were able to observe Belarusian cultural and historical landmarks, and practice their Russian-language skills.
Chinese: CDT Warfield participated in a national Rugby tournament while studying abroad in Beijing China. Their team took fourth place overall and the experience allowed Cadet Warfield the opportunity to see her favorite sport from a Chinese perspective.
Language or International Club key events:
International Cadets: The International Cadets challenged DFL staff and faculty (and other USMA staff and faculty) to their semi-annual soccer match! Cadets from all four classes participated and enjoyed mingling with foreign-language instructors and DFL friends from across West Point. It was neat to see how soccer, arguably the most international competitive team sport and, brought so many cultures together to have a fun and exciting time together.
Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering
Cadet Capstone Team Meets with Collaborators at Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center: Representative members of the Torso-Borne Loading Capstone team, Cadets Angela Bapp, Craig Curry, Jacob Chisholm, Anthony Adams, and Katrina Donarski were accompanied by their faculty mentor, Dr. Becky Zifchock, on a trip to Natick, MA. The team used this as an opportunity to meet with their collaborators at Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center (NSRDEC). The visit allowed the team to meet with their project sponsors and discuss the anticipated direction of their research design and testing. The visit was coordinated by the director of the Biomechanics Laboratory at NSRDEC, but the students had the opportunity to meet with members of the Anthropometrics as well as the Ballistic Protection & Testing teams. The team is planning to design and test an offloading system that will redirect the load associated with the ruck and body armor to the pelvis. They are also working directly with NSRDEC to identify the optimal load distribution ratio between the shoulders and pelvis. This interdisciplinary capstone team consists of students from Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Psychology. The integration between the two different disciplines brings diverse and complementary skill sets to the design problem and testing methods.
CDT Churchill Receives Moles Award in New York City. The Moles, a long-standing New York City-based group of 500 of the top heavy construction professionals, presented CDT Churchill with the annual Moles Student Award for his excellence in the pursuit of his civil engineering studies and his potential for future contributions in the field of heavy construction. The award is given to one student from each participating school and is presented at the Moles annual educational activities dinner at the New York City Marriot Midtown. A reception and technical seminar on the 86th and 92nd street stations on the 2nd Avenue line were also included as part of the event.
Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering
Physical Geology Course Field Trip. On 4 November, 32 cadets enrolled in EV388a Physical Geology participated in a field trip to Greenwood Lake, NJ and New Paltz, NY and points in between to study rocks in their native habitat and the influence of geology on regional development. Examples of stops included sedimentary sequences atop Bellvale Mountain, the Black Dirt region near Florida, the Old Stone Houses along Huguenot Street, the Rosendale cement mines and the Silurian age conglomerate atop the Shawngunk Ridge.
Colloquium in Geography Trip Section to the Met. Ten cadets enrolled in EV483, Colloquium in Geography, traveled with Dr. Jon Malinowski to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City on Thursday, 6 November as part of a semester-long look at the concept of landscape in art. At the Met, cadets traced the development of landscape painting in Europe from the 15th century onward. They also viewed masterpieces of the Hudson River School as well as works by Robert Weir, head of the Department of Drawing at West Point, and his sons. In the attached photo, cadets pose in front of Leutze’s iconic Washington Crossing the Delaware. This visit supports the Superintendent’s goal of increasing outreach to New York City.
Department of English and Philosophy
Cadets Enrolled in EN302 Travel to NYC for A Taste of North African Culture: On Friday, 31 October and Monday, 3 November, 62 total cadets currently enrolled in EN302 visited the Nomad restaurant in New York City for an authentic North African meal. The cadets who visited the restaurant have been studying the Maghreb culture of North Africa the entire semester. The trip provided an opportunity to experience an essential component of culture: what people eat and how they eat it. The restaurant manager, himself a native of Morocco, helped the cadets understand what growing up in the Maghreb is like by sharing tales of his experiences as a Berber in Morocco.
Department of Systems Engineering
Cadets participate in a Habitat for Humanity project at Yonkers, NY. Cadet Clint Hepworth (CIC) and Dr. Bruce Keith (DSE) coordinated efforts to bring 23 cadets from Company D4 to a Habitat for Humanity site in Yonkers, NY on Saturday, 11 November 2014 (Veterans Day). The event served as a company service activity for D4 and a great opportunity for the Westchester Office of Habitat for Humanity to populate a worksite with many enthusiastic, able-bodied volunteers. The cadets placed finishing touches on two houses, which were then officially dedicated to the two veterans families who will occupy them. Various teams of cadets have worked on these two houses for the past two years. Earlier this term, Cadet Company F2 volunteered to work the site on 20 SEP and 25 OCT. The Habitat for Humanity Office in Westchester has undertaken a veterans’ housing initiative, to provide housing solutions and employment opportunities to U.S. veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq with affordable housing in Westchester County, NY (see http://habitatwc.org/veterans-initiatives/). To date, the H4H Office has built or is building six homes for veterans; these houses were two of those six. The cadets’ volunteer activities, which are always welcomed on the site, helped to make this initiative a reality for a few veterans. Work on the two homes will continue until the electrical work is complete, at which time Certificates of Occupancy will be issued to the families by the city of Yonkers. The H4H Office will now be directing attention to the completion of the remaining four houses.