With many teams competing against key NESCAC rivals this weekend, look for these standouts to raise their teams to victory.
Matt O'Connell '09 is a rising star on the Wesleyan men's tennis team. Compiling a 5-1 doubles record and 2-0 record at sixth singles in his freshman year, Matt proved he was a capable force for the team and stepped up to the third singles and first doubles spots this fall. This past week I spoke with Matt about his fall season, his off-court interests, and how he motivates himself each day.
The golf team traveled to Cape Cod for its final fall event, the New England Intercollegiate Golf Association (NEIGA) Championships this week. The two-day, 36-hole event took place on The Captains Golf Course's two 18-hole tacks, Port and Starboard. The Cards, improving on last year's showing, finished 34th in the 43 team field made of Divisions I, II, and III schools.
The volleyball team defeated Salve Regina in three straight games Tuesday, improving to 15-8 on the season. The match became an exercise in discipline for the Cards, as they clearly outmatched the visiting team. The Cards figured that Salve Regina's slow pace of play would challenge them, but they managed to keep up the tempo and energy.
If you're the kind of person who loves dance-your-ass-off pop artists as much as solemly-knodding-your-head indie bands, then there's a good chance that Girl Talk's Greg Gilliss is your new messiah. The Pittsburgh native and longtime DJ builds his tracks from songs so variable in age and style that we have as much fun listening to them clashing as coming together, all the while laughing in disbelief that Frank Black and Lil' Jon are singing in chorus through our speakers.
The Wesleyan Orchestra opened its doors to the public on Saturday as members were joined by musicians of the greater Wesleyan community in an open rehearsal of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 4. It was conducted by Angel Gil-Ordóñez, Adjunct Associate Professor of Music and Director of Private Lessons, Chamber Music, and Ensembles.
Israeli author Alon Hilu delivered a lecture to the Wesleyan community at Russell House this Tuesday as a part of the ongoing "Contemporary Israeli Voices" series. An acclaimed author, onetime playwright, producer, and lawyer, Hilu talked about his first novel "Death of a Monk," published originally in Hebrew in 2004 and recently translated into English.
This week's show is a musical, folks! These babies only come around once in a while, so be sure to check this one out. This week: "Western Civilization: The Complete Musical (abridged)"
Organized to coincide with the anniversary of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, "Disaster! One Year After," the latest exhibition at the Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, displays the work of artists who utilize varied mediums to address climate-related disasters and their impact on humans and the environment.
More about this week’s upcoming Film Series.
Brazilian musicians the Assad Brothers treated a homecoming weekend audience to the year's second performance in the Crowell Concert Hall Series last Saturday.
A shadowy figure climbs into the backseat of a taxicab. As the driver speeds through the neon-stained boulevards and seamy back alleys of 1960s Chicago, the silhouetted passenger unveils an unsettling alternate history of American political and cultural life.
Jeffrey Skinner's poetry reading at Russell House last Wednesday evening gave him an opportunity to reminisce about his first visit to Wesleyan.
A reading of "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" was held at the CFA Cinema last Saturday. The provocative one-woman show was the centerpiece of a Homecoming WESeminar focusing on the increase of censorship during times of war; a short film created by Wesleyan alums and a panel discussing these issues followed the reading.
A mad hatter circled a convulsing woman dressed as a man while a small boy wearing pants made of puffy white feathers twirled across the stage: an unusual cast of characters confronted a rapt audience.
The whole chalking debate isn't going anywhere. The university and the students want completely different things. The university, lorded by the Shadowy Board of Mysterious Rich Trustees, wants our campus to look sparkly and dignified and pristine, kind of like Vassar (I've never been to Williams or Amherst, but I assume they're similar), so that rich alumni from the 1957 football team can confidently feel like they came from a dignified old-money-New-England institution, and so rich kids will come here and boost the endowment.
Dear Wesleyan: Chalking is kind of a pain. I ruined the knees of my favorite pair of jeans by chalking too much. I was thrilled when I heard that new students are chalking, but I saw the all-campus email and linked letter that Dean Mike sent out, and wanted to give a different history.
1. I am addressing you as human beings. I am addressing you as literate human beings. Seeing as though you read my Wespeak, I assume that you are a literate human being. Which means, I think that makes you literate people. Fuck you. My anger is not misdirected. It is directed at people like you that did not understand where I was coming from. If you did not get my message, then I hope you cry, cry a lot. Fuck you.
I am convinced that the Argus front page article, (particularly with the quotations given by President Bennet,) illuminates that President Bennet has not only re-visited the very recent (hi)story of chalking at Wesleyan in a particularly flawed fashion, but also (more alarmingly) selectively left out (hi)stories that could help us better approach the current debate on chalking.
During this past weekend, it was my first trip back to good 'ole WesU in a while. Driving up from Brooklyn, I was giddy as I was looking forward to grabbing some pizza at Guiseppe's, getting bombed at a German Haus reunion, and reminiscing how much weed freshmen smoked. Unfortunately, it was disappointments all around.
On Wednesday (October 25th) Dean Mike Whaley sent an email to the entire student body concerning the recent history of chalking on the Wesleyan campus. I wish to take issue with the position from which Dean Mike was writing as well as present another more complex history.
To the Editor: Matt DiBlasi's October 20th issue article was most informative about the connection between the name Wesleyan and the founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley, who, as the article said, died forty years before Wesleyan's foundation.
Yes, it's true. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to confess, but the plethora of hate stemming from the community toward the skunk assassin has stymied my attempts at admission. I am now prepared to receive "what is coming to me." For those of you determined to avenge the rubbed-out rodent, I will neither fight nor flee.
I condoned chalking in a Wespeak this past Friday, but I'd like to clarify that it's not cool to chalk within buildings. It's sad that this needs clarification. It's completely immature, and it's insensitive to Wesleyan's cleaning staff. Chalking is meant to be temporary and washed away by rain and snow, not by people. Don't abuse a privilege we haven't even successfully fought for yet.
Dear Zack D.: Your comic of a tree pooping after having eaten some lounging picknickers (one of them looks kind of like a walrus) in last Tuesday's edition of the Argus was possibly the best comic I have ever seen. Oh wait...it's vomiting, isn't it? Wait, is it?
Dear Young'ins: My name is Tsültrim Davis, and as a graduate of the Class of 2006, I was a Freshmen when chalking was banned. I am really excited that it is being discussed again, and institutional memory has not erased it yet, but I want to make sure everyone has their facts straight, whatever side of the debate they are on.
Dear Dean Cruz-Saco: I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank you for clarifying, in your letter of 13 October, the link between chalking and racism, homophobia, and anti-Semitism. I for one was forcibly assaulted by the first stanza of Jabberwocky, inscribed in pink chalk, outside our very own Olin library.
Have you done your democratic duty yet? Many states deadlines for requesting an absentee ballot have not passed but are going to in the next few days. DON'T GET LEFT OUT. A number of states let you request up until October 31. Go to Google, type in the county where you are registered and "elections" or "absentee ballot."
Fonts come in and out of fashion. Comic Sans, when it first met the PC, was the joie de vivre font, the approachable, populist cheerleader of typefaces. Now, it is the UGG, the iPod-as-walking-accessory, the novelty classroom laptop: it is no longer fashionable. Comic Sans is bed-head, last year's big belt.
To the Student Body: Chalking was not originally banned because of racist, homophobic, or anti-Semitic messages. Chalking was banned mainly because of queer political chalkings that some found to be offensive and unproductive. I was part of the class of 2006 originally and so I remember the uproar over political chalking and how criticisms were aimed mainly at the Queer community
I move that the "point" be hereafter known as the WesEuro.
Jeff Pike: You should be ashamed for using the name of Take Back the Night as a soapbox to spread your anti-gay propaganda. Wesleyan can save you if you ask it to.
Dear Jose: Let’s fuck shit up.
OSTRANENIE MAGAZINE: WHAT ARE YOU CREATING THAT WE CAN PRINT ON A PAGE?
I would like to challenge David Pesci's statement that the Butt tunnels were repainted "a little more than three years ago." I am a senior, and three years ago I was a freshman living in the Butts. I remember an incredible density of graffiti in the tunnels from the first time I saw them during Orientation Week in August, 2003.
I’ll assume there’s no ill will in David Pesci’s "correction" to the Butt Tunnels graffiti story. I’ll assume that he honestly believes that the tunnels were completely repainted "a little more than three years ago." I’ll assume that this is what "representatives of Facilities" told him, and to be extra-generous, I’ll even assume that they believe it.
Mr. Brotman: How someone can convey their ignorance so unmistakably using so few words is really a modern marvel, not one you should be proud of. You wrote something to me last year of comparable intellectual value, but not quite as ugly as your response to Jeff Pike.
Before I start, I just want to say that I had a fantastic time on Thomas Coen's radio show on Oct. 10. We had an engaging discussion regarding the Lamont-Lieberman race and the harmful impact Lamont's candidacy is having on the Democratic Party. I also want to thank Megan Greenberg, Abigail Hinchcliff, and Holly Wood for their constructive and well thought-out responses to my last article regarding abortion.
Recently, representatives from food service providers have been patrolling the front of the campus center, asking students questions and killing them with kindness. If one of these pollsters approaches you, by all means voice your opinion on organic and free-range food, 24-hour coffee, and national brands vs. local products. But while you’re talking, here are a few issues you should not neglect:
In 1984, the former Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher Dock Ellis revealed that he had pitched his no-hitter in 1970 under the influence of LSD. We only have Dock's word as proof of the feat, but examining his story within the context of his baseball career indicates that the acid-induced no-hitter probably occurred.
Wesleyan has a rich hip hop culture with a deep history, from the graffitied walls of the old Westco café and the pre-painted-over Butterfield tunnels to graduate Bobbito a.k.a DJ Cucumberslice '88. Its mix of talented, creative students and proximity to the Rotten Apple lends itself to breeding all parts of the culture, from MCs and DJs to graffiti artists and b-boys.
If you cut out this WesCeleb and show it to John Mahone '08, he'll go on a date with you. No joke! It's good for one date with John: the Punchline star, ex-film major, taint-poker, and future businessman/director (of America?). Get him while he's hot.
While students sleep away Sunday morning in the Butterfield dorms, the members of St. Paul Lutheran Church down the street are just rising for their opening hymns. Voices of old and young are accompanied by chords from the church’s massive pipe organ. While this instrument is half-a-century old, visitors may be surprised to learn that 19 year-old Ann-Marie Illsley ’10 is the musician seated at its bench.
Despite the University's political history and traditions of activism, when it comes to the all-American tradition of voting, the levels of student involvement can be surprising. According to Betti Packman '07, who has been the president of the Wesleyan Democrats (WesDems) for four years, there were 50 students who were registered to vote locally in Connecticut last year.
Over the weekend of Oct. 7 the WestCo Café, maintained and managed by WestCo residents, was vandalized. Water sprinkler pipes and pipes carrying electrical wiring were split from the ceiling and a wall in the café, damaging the sprinkler system and exposing wiring connected to the fire safety system. Repairs will cost an estimated $2,000, to be shared by residents of WestCo unless those responsible come forward.
This fall, the Asian Languages and Literature Department and East Asian Studies Program welcomed Shengqing Wu as an assistant professor. Wu, a native of Hangzhou, China, is an expert on modern Chinese literature and East Asian culture. This semester, she is teaching two courses, one in fourth-year Chinese and the other focusing on gender politics in modern Chinese literature.
"Turn all those skeletons in your closet into... GOLDEN skeletons!" cheered a Dow Chemicals representative lecturing at the staid International Payments Conference on April 28, 2005. Smiling golden skeletons paraded around the PowerPoint slideshow projected above his head, along with equally jovial cartoons of men in ties surrounded by piles of money.
Aside from spending time with family members, eating food at the Taste of Middlesex County on Foss Hill, and attending various athletic events, one of the annual Homecoming/Family Weekend’s biggest draws is the WESeminar series. Pundits, scholars, and University faculty, alumni amongst them, present a variety of seminars throughout the weekend.
For insider tips on the New York publishing scene and ways to make it as a successful writer post-graduation, Russell House was the place to be on Sunday afternoon, as authors Alexander Chee and Katha Pollitt delighted a Homecoming crowd during their reading.
According to Justin Douglas ’08, when a young kid from the Traverse Square residential community was asked about one of his neighbors, the University, his reply was straightforward: he felt unwanted on campus. This is a reality the Traverse Square after-school tutoring program hopes to change.
The United Student Labor Action Coalition (USLAC) sponsored a student-worker forum last night to address worries, ideas and experiences related to the upcoming bid for the University’s dining contract. The workers, some of whom have worked for campus dining services for over three decades, related concerns regarding new providers who might stunt hard-earned progress.