It’s a typical Thursday evening at Wesleyan when a band of armed men and women descend upon the Butterfield Central Green. Wielding foam-covered Plexiglas swords, they strike at one another and dodge oncoming blows in an intense struggle to bring their opponents to the ground.
When Late Night opened in its new location in Usdan University Center this September, many students found it lacking something. Primarily, choices.
Director of Public Safety David Meyer answered questions regarding recent departmental decisions at the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA) meeting this past Sunday night. Meyer responded to questions regarding Public Safety’s reaction to the recent shooting at Traverse Square, and discussed the relationship between his office and the Middletown Police Department.
As seniors across campus learn that life is more fun in the dark in an attempt to win a night out on the Environmental Organizers’ Network (EON), the lights of the new University Center burn brightly all night while no one is using them. This contrast serves as a metaphor for University and student attitudes and initiatives.
On Tuesday, October 23 the Wesleyan community is invited to rally at the steps of Olin at 7 p.m. for Take Back the Night. This event is an opportunity for the Wesleyan community to gather in support of survivors of sexual assault and for those survivors to share their stories in a safe space.
Perhaps you’ve been distracted by the Wesleyan football team’s 3-1 start, the unusually warm weather, or the Colorado Rockies historic playoff run, so you may have missed an exciting start to this year’s Wesleyan Student Assembly. That’s alright. Not only do we forgive you, but it’s not too late to get your voice heard.
This Saturday, the Eclectic Halloween Party will transform our ample Victorian ballroom into a free-form themeless grid. No theme means you can probably throw your outfit together at the last minute: lazy costumes might include “Siouxsie Sioux” (eye makeup), “PCU extra” (clothing abandoned in the Westco laundry room), or “Bushwick” (normal attire). You could also revert to Halloween basics: pagan rituals, Puritan witch trials, and trashy trick-or-treaters.
Dear Wesleyan Community, Come to this year’s first WesPeace meeting on Wednesday, 10/24, at 12 Noon in Usdan 110. Lunch will be served, and the entire Wesleyan community is invited.
I had an unexpected meeting with Delmar last week at breakfast. I had picked out a bowl of fruit, but not a lot of fruit, just a supplement to my breakfast. I brought everything up to the lady at the register. She frowned, looked at the fruit carefully, and said, “Let’s try something.” She weighed the fruit and played around with the computer for a while. Then she muttered, “I need a manager? Delmar! Delmar, get over here!”
The Environmental Organizers’ Network (EON) and Project SAVE have teamed up again this year to coordinate the “Do It In The Dark” competition among the senior woodframes and program houses. The competition, which began in early October, challenges participants to reduce energy emissions by taking steps to cut down individual energy usage.
Long Lane Farm’s fourth annual Pumpkinfest last Saturday featured pumpkin-painting and veggie burgers galore, as well a diverse lineup of folk, jazz and rock bands that provided an eclectic soundtrack throughout the crisp fall afternoon.
“Sometimes I think if there was a third sex men wouldn’t get so much as a glance from me.” -Amanda Vail Obviously, Ms. Vail never attended Wesleyan, where there is not only a third sex, but an infinite series of them. That assumes, of course, that one takes the word ‘sex’ to be synonymous with ‘gender,’ but dare to commit such a fallacy at Wesleyan and you will find yourself cast into the outer darkness of ‘heteronormativity,’ where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. Of course, the idea that there is an indiscriminate number of genders is quite acceptable, nay, scientifically proven, we are told. And from whence do we get this ‘progressive,’ ‘tolerant’ idea?
After her car stalled on I-91 and her replacement rental was rear-ended by a Wesleyan freshman on High Street later that day, some would guess that Reverend Joan Cooper Burnett would be overwhelmed by her bad luck. Instead, she remained optimistic, refusing to let the incident put a damper on her day.
It’s that time of year again: you go apple picking at Lyman Orchards, you wear an outrageous Halloween costume and, before you know it, your parents are coming into town for Homecoming Weekend. Since Middletown lodging options fill up oh—so—rapidly, chances are pretty good that, if your parents are visiting, they will stay somewhere in Cromwell. And, if you’re anything like me, as the weekend in question approaches you’ll be looking for a way to escape the rat race that is on-campus food service. Open 24 hours daily and featuring an unconventional style, diverse options, and a convenient location, Cromwell Diner is the answer.
As much as Wesleyan houses some of the greatest scholars in the country, sometimes a student needs to ask a question that, well, isn’t so academically oriented. In this weekly column, professors will answer any non-academic question posed by a member of the Wesleyan student body, from sex to drugs to rock ‘n’ roll. This week, we asked Associate Professor of History Claire Potter.
A few weeks ago, the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary shortened the beloved O.E.D. some more, with the elimination of approximately 16,000 hyphens. Certainly it’s of no dire consequence that ‘e-mail’ is now ‘email,’ and I don’t think I even knew that ‘ice cream’ was ever ‘ice-cream’ (and ‘test tube’ once ‘test-tube’ and ‘chickpea’ once ‘chick-pea’). The hyphen has never been as vital as the comma—nor even as the semi-colon, for that matter, or the emdash—and language, a dynamic thing, evolves as it must.
[Ed. note: So Sascha says this is from the Amper Archives. We’re not sure what that means. Did it actually run two years ago? Did it get rejected back then and he’s just pushing old crap? Either way, the point is that he can get away with it because...he’s writing a thesis. Well, not really. He’s a film major. They don’t actually write theses. They just... well, see below.]
This Friday, the Argus will publish an issue consisting entirely of archival articles. Since the good ole Ampersand isn’t published on Fridays, we’re beating those guys to the punch with our own clip show.
Amherst and Williams: Neither one swallows. Trust me. Grinnell: Imaginary. Do you actually know anyone who goes there? Honestly. Bates, Bowdoin and Colby: Actually the same school. Colgate: Buildings are not actually made of toothpaste. Yale: Do not believe in the reach-around. Cornell: Fewer suicides than you would think. More assholes.
Wesleyan traveled to Amherst on Saturday, looking to keep a foot in the door of the NESCAC playoffs. Understanding that a loss meant the end of all postseason dreams, the Cards pulled out a 2-2 draw in double overtime against a very strong Amherst team. The tie moves the Cards to 3-9-1 overall (2-5-1 NESCAC) and sitting in a tie for seventh in the NESCAC standings.
This weekend concluded the women’s tennis team’s fall season, finishing with a dual-match record of 4-1, the best in the NESCAC, and going 1-0 in NESCAC play, a notable improvement from last fall’s record of 2-3. Games over the past weekend and the previous Tuesday helped the team secure its record.
The men’s crew team’s first varsity boat put together a remarkable second-place finish at the Head of the Charles regatta this past weekend. The boat’s finishing time of 15:02 for the three-mile race was just 3.5 seconds behind first-place Trinity. The women’s varsity boat ranked 20th of 44 with a time of 18:37 in this past weekend’s competition, earning a bid in next year’s race.
Entering Saturday’s Little Three showdown with Amherst, Wesleyan boasted an eight-game winning streak, representing a remarkable turnaround after a 0-4 start to the season. The Lord Jeffs, who were celebrating their homecoming on Saturday, entered the contest on an even more impressive streak than the Cards, holding an undefeated 11-0 record (7-0 NESCAC) and a top-two national ranking. Wesleyan fell behind 1-0 in the second half before responding with two goals of their own to shock the Lord Jeffs and send them to their first loss of the season, with a 2-1 triumph.
The volleyball team split a pair of matches on Saturday, losing to Coast Guard 3-0 but defeating Roger Williams by the same score. Wesleyan’s last six matches have been sweeps, with the Cardinals winning and losing three. The team is now 15-6 heading into the final week of the regular season.
The field hockey team was unable to clinch a spot in the NESCAC playoffs this weekend as the Cards lost their second straight NESCAC match 2-1 at Amherst. The win propelled the Lord Jeffs (7-5, 3-4 NESCAC) to sixth place, one spot above the Cards. Wesleyan must maintain its current standing with a week left in regular season play, as only the top seven teams make it to the post-season.