07-09-2003, 08:20 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-09-2003, 08:23 PM by Occhidiangela.)
There was a move afoot in the Department of Education to disband the Brigade of Midshipman and then privatize, civilianize, and rename the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) to the Chesapeake University of Naval Technology. The school being on the Chesapeake Bay, the new name held a nice, non-chauvinistic, non-bellicose connotation and captured the new and expensive engineering facilities at Rickover Hall, with its state of the art wave tank, for the greater purposes of higher education.
Luckily, someone in the Department of Interior caught wind of that initiative and put forward a more suitable name and technical research basis for civilianization, proposing that the Severn Higher Institute of Technology be the new institution, both to dispense with the maritime bias and to better declare the geographical uniqueness of the location on the banks of the Severn River.
Rumor has it that Admiral Rickover, when told of the idea, was pleased with the idea of an even tighter focus on technology and engineering, but was clever enough to see what was afoot (he was an alumnus) and moved swiftly via his connections on Capitol Hill to squash that idea, to nip it in the bud, to pull the plug on it, to, shall we say, torpedo it. Being a submariner, what else would you expect him to do?
Thanks for the HMS name convention story, it raised a chuckle, I particularly like HMS Sappho. Brilliant that it got through the MoD intact, don't you think?
Luckily, someone in the Department of Interior caught wind of that initiative and put forward a more suitable name and technical research basis for civilianization, proposing that the Severn Higher Institute of Technology be the new institution, both to dispense with the maritime bias and to better declare the geographical uniqueness of the location on the banks of the Severn River.
Rumor has it that Admiral Rickover, when told of the idea, was pleased with the idea of an even tighter focus on technology and engineering, but was clever enough to see what was afoot (he was an alumnus) and moved swiftly via his connections on Capitol Hill to squash that idea, to nip it in the bud, to pull the plug on it, to, shall we say, torpedo it. Being a submariner, what else would you expect him to do?
Thanks for the HMS name convention story, it raised a chuckle, I particularly like HMS Sappho. Brilliant that it got through the MoD intact, don't you think?
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete