Although Halloween is a month away, costumed students crowded Eclectic last Saturday for what was arguably the most anticipated concert of the semester, the return of Wes alum band MGMT. However, the audience's patience was tested as technical difficulties and miscommunication delayed the show until the early hours of the morning.
The new Molecular and Life Sciences facility promises to have a huge impact on the University's campus, though it won't be completed until 2015, well after all current undergraduates have graduated. After deliberating over numerous options, the building committee has decided on a site for the facility, to be built in two phases starting in the winter of 2009.
Barbecue lovers will rejoice in the decision taken by the Undergraduate Residential Life Committee (URLC) to install charcoal grills in the Butterfields Courtyard. The move will add cooking options for students living in the only dorm without kitchen facilities. Fire Safety will fund the grills with money from student fines collected this year.
The new Molecular and Life Sciences Center, to be completed by 2015, will be one of Wesleyan's most important—and undoubtedly most expensive—building projects ever. The facility will transform science instruction and research on campus, and has the potential to significantly improve the attractiveness of the University to students on campus as well as to prospective students.
On Sept. 28, President Michael Roth began his blog entry with this passage: '''Michael Roth, What are you doing about global warming?' These were the words I saw graffitied on the sidewalk near my office this week. There were a few more global warming tags at the Usdan Center and walkways. What an important subject, but what a dumb way to articulate it!"
Last Friday's editorial "Left of Center" raises interesting questions about how Wesleyan should attempt to market itself to the American media and public. However, I disagree with the editorial's proposed solution to these questions. In my view, the suggestion that Wesleyan should emphasize the "liberal" in "liberal arts" as a means of attracting positive publicity is an unnecessary and a potentially harmful marketing strategy.
As members of the theater community at Wes, we were upset by the preview of "Tape" written by Grace Overbeke in last Friday's issue of the Argus. To write such a piercing review of a show a week before it opens is not only inaccurate, but also contradictory to an educational environment. We are on a university campus. Where else are you going to have the opportunity to takes chances and act in parts that stretch you to your limits?
Many moons ago, President of the Wesleyan Student Assembly Matt Ball made a bold and heartfelt prediction regarding his local baseball team that I, at the time, considered both foolish and inaccurate: "A half-year from now, I'll refer to this Wespeak when the Rockies make the playoffs and say, 'I told you so.'"
The volleyball team suffered its first NESCAC setback of the year on Wednesday night, losing a hard-fought match at Connecticut College, 3-2. The loss dropped Wesleyan (12-3, 3-1 NESCAC) into a third-place tie with Trinity, one-half game behind the Camels (4-1 NESCAC) and one game behind Amherst (2-0 NESCAC) and Williams (2-0 NESCAC).
Adverse trends continued for the women's soccer team on Wednesday, as the Cards dropped their sixth consecutive loss to Rhode Island College (RIC), 2-1. Despite creating plenty of scoring chances and out-shooting RIC 19-14, they were unable to take the advantage on the scoreboard. Wesleyan's seventh one-goal loss of the season brings its overall record to a disappointing 1-7 (0-4 NESCAC), while RIC improves to 4-5-1 (1-2 Little East Conference).
The Cardinals shined on Wednesday against NESCAC opponent Connecticut College, gaining a 7-2 victory on the road against a team that has proved formidable competition for Wesleyan in recent years. The Cards fell to the Camels last year by the count of 5-4.
While leaving your dorm unlocked might seem like an easy alternative to remembering your keys, a recent outbreak of thefts on campus has some students realizing the drawbacks to these kinds of habits. Director of Public Safety David Meyer says that burglars are "looking out for soft targets," and in recent weeks both bikes and laptops have been nabbed.
As President Michael Roth mentioned at last Sunday's Wesleyan Student Assembly meeting, the closed Davenport Campus Center will become the new Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life. Allbritton will house faculty offices and classrooms for the social sciences as well as a Quantitative Analysis Center. While planning began in May 2006, the actual building will not open until at least next year.
When Anand Venkatachalam '08 first came to Wesleyan from Indonesia, there was no doubt in his mind that he would continue attending Hindu temple every Saturday. "Before I came here, Hindu traditions were a part of my life that I just did, and everyone else did too," Venkatachalam said.
Construction has been underway to repair water leakages in the underground power plant on the corner of William and High St. Workers have been digging up the area, unearthing a large, solid platform underneath the soil.
One of the University's defining characteristics may be its political liberalism, but that doesn't mean that there aren't any Republican Cardinals. In fact, there are about 70 students who search for a route of political expression other than the Democratic Party, according to Eugene Wong '09, president of WesRepublicans. The group is now large enough to elect an executive board, including a vice-president and a treasurer.
From ants to spiders to bees, students have learned to coexist not only with each other on campus, but with the insect world as well. WestCo and Nicolson typically house ants, white spiders and caterpillars, while Eclectic is the permanent residence to a beehive, and the senior woodframe houses have reported house centipedes, hornet nests and animal burrows.
We didn't believe it, but dynamic duo Emma Komlosh-Hrobsky '08 and Allison Hollinger '08 finished our oh-so-tricky Argus acrostic puzzle created by Biology Professor Allan Berlind in under two hours, and consequently won the grand prize of a WesCeleb interview with none other than their ex-roommate.
In traditional Hindu practice, the Navaratri festival spans nine nights and ten days at the beginning of October, filling a week and a half with worship and dance. On campus, Navaratri started Wednesday and will continue through this Sunday, with program offerings including dance workshops, several concerts, a feast and a closing worship on Sunday morning.
Two men stand in front of a glass wall. On the other side, a plague-ridden undead carcass tries to fit a square peg through a triangular opening in a box.
Each section in Vonnegut's "The Sirens of Titan" is like a book in itself, stories brimming with the meaning and insight usually gained over a lifetime. One chapter explores the deepest yearnings of a single man, while the next outlines the movement of the entire human race, and yet another describes a global religion based on an absent God and the insignificance of the individual.
Miss[(ed) It], a performance of five pieces "based entirely on text overheard at Usdan," ran Sept. 27th and 28th at the '92 theater. It seems only fitting to begin reviewing a play which took text from others by doing the same myself, so without further ado: "Alternative!" (Kara Ingraham, '11)
Earlier this week I was at a loss as to what to write in this week's column, and although this early onset of writer's block is perhaps distressing, it was recently quelled by a gem of an e-mail that I received yesterday. I was informed that the one and only Wesleyan University graduate to testify at the Phil Spector murder trial would be appearing on campus TODAY. I'm talking, of course, about Michael Bay '86.
Samdup' algyon, an eight-armed avenging angel wreathed in flame, wields a battle axe in the face of the enemies of Buddha. He snarls above a sea of faces with bulging eyes, their hands clutching swords, beads and fans, their bodies frocked in vivid robes. The vermillion-shrouded Mountain God stares out from beneath him, and Dragon King meets your gaze with lizard eyes in a human face.
The setup at Crowell Concert Hall affords little room for revelry. Though a standing ovation might greet an exceptional performer, at many concerts a bevy of answered questions and a few polite claps are fitting ends to the night. Ushers in white and black patrol the empty aisles. A stray cough occasionally punctuates the music.