Sad. Very Sad.

Our military academy cadets and midshipmen should be exemplars of decorum, physical aptitude, intelligence, and integrity; they should represent the best of their generation.  How, then, have they devolved to this:

Reported sexual assaults at the nation's three military academies jumped by 23 percent overall this year, but the data signaled a continued reluctance by victims to seek criminal investigations.

According to a report obtained by The Associated Press, the number of assaults rose from 65 in the 2011 academic year to 80 in 2012. However, nearly half the assaults involved victims who sought confidential medical or other care and did not trigger an investigation. There were 41 assaults reported in 2010.

Granted, we're talking about 80 out of 12,000 young men and women, or 2/3 of 1 percent, which is probably better than most civilian campuses, but still--*sigh*.

During the Golden Age of West Point, 1983-1987, such things weren't unheard of (I myself heard of two cases of pressuring but no actual assaults), and we didn't even have locks on our doors.  Nowadays there are locks on the barracks doors to prevent theft and to prevent sexual assaults.  There's no way around it, that's a specific case of degraded standards from "back in the day"--and it comes as much from the society from which these cadets and midshipmen are drawn as much as from any lack of training or command emphasis.