Veterans-cum-students learn to adapt to civilian life

Published: Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Updated: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 13:03

Left: Erickson and his team were dropped onto a mountain in Afghanistan via helicopter and spent clo

Daniel Erickson

Erickson and his team were dropped onto a mountain in Afghanistan via helicopter and spent close to a month doing a mission there in 2004.

There are many student groups at AASU, based on everything from ethnic and ideological similarities to shared interests and hobbies. The military veterans who attend AASU compose one such group of individuals who are linked by shared experiences, and although they have no on-campus organization to speak of, there's an undeniable fraternity they seem to share with one another.

Daniel Erickson, an Army veteran who was discharged in 2007 due to knee injuries, shares what life has been like as a student at AASU.

"The Army widened my horizons, helped me find myself, and it's great to bring that focus to college... Back in high school I wasn't a very good student, but after staying up for days at a time in a combat zone, studying for a few hours every day seems much less difficult… The military was a fun thing to do for a while, and I miss it sometimes, but there's a future for me here at college," Erickson said.

Erickson said though there were no extra efforts from AASU to make him welcome, Savannah made him feel right at home.

"The town itself is welcoming though, and Armstrong Atlantic [is] really moderate in its opinions, and I wouldn't expect them to pick sides… Even the fact that we don't have to pay tuition isn't really preferential treatment, since in reality the Army was like a reverse student loan; we paid for college with four years of our lives before going there," Erickson said.

Steven Morrissey, another Army veteran who was discharged in 2008 due to a battlefield injury, discussed how he has adapted to civilian life at AASU.

"There are a lot of obvious differences, but also some similarities between the two. Being disciplined in the Army, doing assignments and not procrastinating, turned out to be pretty good habits in college too… It seems like most of the people I hang out with or start conversations with tend to be military; it's not that they wear special badges or anything, but they have a way of holding themselves that stands out to me. I guess it's easier to make a connection because we've gone through a lot of the same things," Morrissey said.

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Campus crime blotter

Sodexo employees arrested, banned from campus

University Police Department Officer Michael Tyler met with a student Jan. 19 at 6:47 p.m. in the Pirate's Pantry after she noticed her United Bank debit card was missing. The student believed she lost the card in University Hall. However, through her online checking account, she discovered the card was used twice in the Pirate's Pantry that day at 3:05 p.m. and 5:35 p.m.

"The card was used improperly," said Police Chief Wayne Willcox. "That's financial transaction card fraud."

The first transaction was for Playtex tampons and a 0.2 oz bottle of Clear Eyes, totaling $5.54, and the second consisted of Nacho cheese-flavored Doritos and TGIF's spinach artichoke dip, totaling $4.79. The Pirate's Pantry staff returned the card, which had been left by the unknown offender at the counter, to the student. The manager on duty informed Tyler that a Sodexo employee ran the debit.

"Through investigation, we were able to determine that there were two employees that had some culpability and both of them got charged," Willcox said.

Austin Andrews and Jessica Moyer were arrested, banned from campus and taken to the county jail.

Cyberbullying, drugs, theft on campus

University Police officer Meagan Zike returned to police headquarters Dec. 1 in response to a report of a stolen bicycle. The student secured his mountain bike with a combination lock to a bike rack in front of the Student Union around 11:20 a.m. that morning. When he returned from classes at approximately 3 p.m., he discovered that his bike was missing.

"The problem with the cheap combination locks is that they're kind of made of a pot metal," Police Chief Wayne Willcox said. "Pot metal is where they kind of cast it — they take the metal and put it into a mold, and it sort of assumes a shape. The problem with casting is they can be very weak and also very cheap. If you really want to lock up your bike, you should use a U-lock."

Dispatch sent Officer Kenneth Louk to the Compass Point Clubhouse Dec. 3 after a student reported that her laundry was stolen from the dryer around 11 p.m. The student lost various Housing T-shirts, jeans, a hoodie and several other articles of clothing.

"We see this from time to time. This is an open campus," Willcox said. "This isn't somebody taking a T-shirt they wanted. This is somebody who just wanted to take a bunch of clothing. We have had issues with people coming on campus, and sometimes they're just looking for opportunities if the doors are open."