New group of mids starts preparing for the future

A long line of young civilians filed into the Naval Academy's Alumni Hall yesterday. A short time later, they marched out the loading dock as newly minted midshipmen.

Most of the 1,261 plebes, or plebeians, who reported for their freshman year appeared nervous.

"I am nervous, but I know it's something everyone who comes through here has to go through," said Midshipman 4th Class Sean Johnson...

Published on 07/03/08

The death of a Naval Academy freshman last month was caused by cardiac arrhythmia, an abnormal beating of the heart, the state Medical Examiner's Office said.

Kristen Dickmann, 19, was a physics major and varsity volleyball player at the academy who wanted to become a Navy pilot.

Her parents had said she wanted to fly cargo planes, following in the footsteps of her father, who is a pilot for U.S. Airways.

She was found u...

Published on 06/27/08

The American Civil Liberties Union is pressuring the Naval Academy to end its 163-year tradition of lunchtime prayer.

In a May letter to Vice Admiral Jeffrey L. Fowler, the academy's superintendent, ACLU officials asked the institution to end the prayers on behalf of nine unnamed midshipmen who said the prayer made them uncomfortable and violated the Constitution.

The prayer occurs before the midshipmen eat lunch, when one of ...

Published on 06/26/08

Academy science camp offers hands-on experience

Most of the students at a Naval Academy science camp this week are getting to do things they never would back at their schools.

That's not too surprising considering most high schools don't have a boat to conduct oceanographic experiments or fingerprinting and facial recognition technology straight out of CSI. Or a Mach 3 wind tunnel.

For the roughly 100 seventh to 10th graders from across the country attending the camp th...

Published on 06/25/08