fairwinds, I want you to know that our DS was admitted to both the USCGA and the USMMA. He also went to the AIM program the summer between his junior and senior year. At first, his choice was the USCGA, but after finding out more about USMMA and going for an overnight visit, he was strong in his choice of USMMA, and hasn't regretted it for a moment.
jasperdog, you are so literal! When I made the comment about cutting breakfast to cereal and milk, I was being hyperbolic - I certainly have no notion that Delano has any plans to actually do so!
As far as it being about being "from" KP and not about being "at" KP, and former mids and even upperclassmen not wanting to 'deny' their younger brethren the "character building" experience that the depravations of KP bring, I take note that the alumni try their hardest to improve things with their amazingly generous contributions to the school, which I interprete as a desire to improve the situation. I also have a personal theory that some of what has been seen as bad behavior, poor attitude and lack of leadership by the upperclassmen (i.e., the incident at the Thanksgiving dinner as one small example) is a result of their having put up with 3-4 years of seeing KP sink farther and farther into poverty during their tenure, with no end in sight.
I don't know that we couldn't agree on where and how to spend money at KP. At this point, there are so many needs in so many areas that any money spent anywhere would be a positive good. Increases in the operational budget and the capital budget, and improvements to the physical plant: any and all of those would be welcome!
I worry that without some major infusions of funds, KP could fall behind in areas such as having the most up-to-date simulators, the laboratory and other training facilities that are needed to keep our mids at the top of the heap. Plus, I can't help that the mother in me worries that these guys and gals (still 'kids' in many ways) can't perform their best when they constantly face bad food, meal after meal after meal. It wouldn't take that much to effect a noticeable improvement in the quality of food. Again, I have a theory that the food service workers in Delano have bad attitudes because of the chronic low budgets and the constant abuse they hear from the mids.
There, I've gotten it off my chest. Maybe someday I'll get a chance to actually do something useful besides get on my soapbox.