Purchasing Appointment Announcement Cards?

spongebob8205 · 02-06-2006, 12:48 PM

Does anyone know where I can order cards to announce a Naval Academy Appointment? I would like to have them printed with USNA logos, emblems, etc., but wonder if there's a copyright restriction.

Bossf51 · 02-06-2006, 05:11 PM

I would imagine that these indicia would be in the "public domain" as we are all taxpayers and foot the bill for these things. I don't see a problem if the printer cut and paste some stuff off the internet. Sports logos and such might be copywrited due to merchandising issues but if the USNA site doesn't sell stationery you're probably good to go. Bill or one of the other lawyers chime in/

oiixxg · 02-06-2006, 05:21 PM

Hmm... not so sure about that. There was recently some dialog on the USNA parents listserv about companies that sold needlework patterns for the USNA seal -- I've deleted the emails, but I'm pretty sure there was concern about copyright issues. I'd defer to the lawyers about whether it's permissible to print up your own using cut & paste.

usna09mom · 02-07-2006, 12:20 AM

visit the USNA online gift store and purchase some stationery.
http://www.navyonline.com/
Call them if you don't find it on the website. USNA logos cannot be reproduced.

navy2010 · 02-07-2006, 07:11 PM

usna09mom- do they even make such a thing? I have never seen it - on line, in the catalogue, or in the gift shop....do you know what is available?

Bossf51 · 02-07-2006, 09:08 PM

I understand NCIS investigates all instances of logo reproduction..

usna09mom · 02-07-2006, 09:23 PM

ha! boss51
navy2010, You may already know that there are a couple of stores on the Yard. There is a gift shop adjacent to the visitors' center, and there is the midstore outside of Bancroft Hall where only mids and mid parents can shop. The stores carry different merchandise too. The gift shop may carry note cards. I suggest calling them. In October, I was in the midstore and they had an entire section devoted to USNA stationery, note cards, Christmas cards, etc.

Zaphod · 02-08-2006, 08:16 AM

WHY would you want to do this?

How about doing something REALLY cool, like GRADUATING, before you start sending out announcements?

Trust me, word will travel. Humility is a good thing.

Yes, a nomination is a great accomplishment, and you should be proud. Doesn't mean you have to announce it. You've proven it to yourself. Who cares what everyone else thinks?

BigGreen · 02-08-2006, 08:35 AM

Agree fully with Zaphod. You can probably work with the Congressman/Senator who nominated your child to put a press release out - or with Public Affairs at USNA - to local papers.

Our local paper did a full cover story about my son going to West Point. It made me very nervous that it might have put too much pressure on my son. An appointment, as Zaphod points out, is NOT graduation. Lots of kids won't make it - lots will drop out because it's just not the right place for them but they won't know it until they get there. Or until they flunk nuclear engineering etc. No shame but why make it worse by sending out announcement cards. Let the acheivement of appointment and graduation speak for itself.

oiixxg · 02-08-2006, 09:09 AM

Great point. The movie "Annapolis" wasn't very good, but the part about the midshipman who had to face the possibility of leaving during Plebe year after his family and even his whole town had made such a big deal about his appointment was really very sad (I thought). More so, I suppose, because I have known real midshipmen who have gone through this pain.

lizgirl06 · 02-08-2006, 12:48 PM

why did these midshipmen get sent home (or separated)?

oiixxg · 02-08-2006, 01:17 PM

Many reasons -- difficulty with PRT is only one, and not the most frequent.

Health is sometimes a factor. Truth is, the sheer physical exhaustion of midshipman life is not something that all human bodies can endure, nor something that one can do anything about. Even well-conditioned athletes who think that they have been living on little sleep for years often have no capacity to withstand the fatigue without suffering serious physical and psychological effects. Warning to incoming midshipmen: do not be so proud and naive as to assume you are immune from this! You will NOT know until you get there.

For others, the year is one of enormous personal growth and discovery -- and for some that means the discovery that USNA is not where they are meant to be. I think the most difficult thing must be to come to this awareness through trial by fire and then have to deal with the disappointment of those who have absolutely no idea what you have gone through. Separation from the Academy is rarely "failure" -- it is self-discovery. And that is a journey that ultimately everyone takes alone.

usna_reject · 02-08-2006, 03:31 PM

giving out appointment announcements is a dumb idea. how about phone calls telling the good news?

Bossf51 · 02-08-2006, 03:48 PM

By now spongebob probably wishes he never went on this site.

usna09mom · 02-08-2006, 10:00 PM

okay, let's play nice with spongebob. bossf51, I had to laugh at your comment. All of our families/mids/cadets have experienced the elation of receiving an appointment, and it's quite normal to want to shout it from the mountaintop! Shortly after my daughter received her appointment, she was also in Sports Illustrated magazine. I had such an urge to send a copy to the Supe....