Campus reaction to a recent poll by the blog Gawker naming Wesleyan "America’s Most Annoying Liberal Arts College" can best be characterized by the words of President Michael Roth. "I don’t know that I have much to say about this," Roth said in an e-mail. "Gawker is trying to be annoying enough to get noticed (to make some money), but why even pay attention?"
Similarly to last year's campus-wide housing crunch that left ResLife searching to accommodate a flux of students left without on-campus housing, currently 78 freshmen find themselves living in three-person rooms in the Butterfield dorms. This year there are 26 triples, an increase from last year when 22 triples housed 66 students.
The southwest corner of Andrus field is again bustling with student life, thanks to a series of renovated and new buildings as part of the campus Master Plan. The long-awaited Suzanne Lemberg Usdan University Center opened its doors Aug. 24 and promises to be the nucleus of the campus community. The center is the hub of campus dining and also boasts University offices, a mailroom, retail space, meeting rooms and more.
Students who lack card access to card-locked residences such as Fauver, Clark and the Butts may not have to wait around much longer for their friends to let them inside: in what Mike Pernick '08 called a "compromise solution" between students and University administration, the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) announced on Tuesday that it has extended students' access to card-locked residences.
The Davison Health Center is now implementing a new $10 fee for any student who fails to give 24 hours cancellation notice for a scheduled appointment. The execution of this policy stemmed from the amount of no-show appointments that have been steadily increasing for the past five years. So do no-shows really cause that much of a problem? The Health Center claims they do.
In French, "Bon Appétit" means "Enjoy Your Meal." At Wesleyan, "Bon Appétit" translates to "Enjoy Your Meal…after waiting in line for at least half an hour." The past few meals at the Usdan Marketplace—that's the large dining area on the second floor of the new Usdan University Center, as opposed to the sushi counter on the first floor that is absurdly named the "Café"—have been so crowded that students are forced to line up outside of the Marketplace, on the second floor landing, waiting until the dining area is no longer filled to capacity.
Upon arriving back to school each year, there is one question that you are undoubtedly asked more than once: "So, what did you do this summer?" While we all recognize the potentially irksome quality of this question, we are still somehow compelled to ask it—after all, it seems that every student has a fascinating summer story to share.
It's that time of year again when we students of Wesleyan descend on Liddletown, Connecticut for learning, laughter, lasciviousness, and laxity. If you were in New York for the summer and were put down by the superficial tagline of "Models and Bottles" which extends from Chelsea to China (or Bangkok to Montauk if you're traveling eastward or just listening to Nelly Furtado), you need not worry because you're back in Middletown where up is down, hot is cold, and the poor and ugly are rich and famous.
Since delivering his inspiring "In the Company of Others," Glaister Leslie ’08 has become a spiritual guru for a handful of freshmen; nevertheless, he’s the first guy to admit he doesn’t have all the answers. However, what he can tell you about is anything that has ever happened in any episode of "Golden Girls." And that the sweet potato fries in Usdan are out of this world.
Dissatisfied with decisions made by Bon Appetit, the Wesleyan Dining Union has accused the dining service company of violating the agreed upon contract and has responded in a number of dramatic ways. On Aug. 15, 68 campus union workers walked over to the temporary Bon Appétit headquarters to confront Delmar Crim, Bon Appétit's Resident District Manager.
On Tuesday, the Suzanne Lemberg Usdan University Center encountered its first lunchtime rush, a chaotic few hours marked by students catching up, sifting through mail, but most notably, waiting in long lines to grab some lunch. "Usdan is to Wesleyan as the potato famine was to Ireland: we're going hungry because the lines are too long," said Carter Smith '09.
As part of a purported trend of a stepped-up police presence on campus, students have already begun to notice more cars patrolling the streets during party time. This, coupled with a miscommunication about the events-registering policy, has left some students in the dark about what is permissible on campus.
Chances are you've checked out the Suzanne Lemberg Usdan University Center sometime this week. If so, you've probably formed an intricate opinion of the place, likely while waiting in a very long line for a meal. Dean Rick's e-mail reminded us that long lines at lunchtime are not a "new challenge." Fair enough. What is new, however, is the facility—which raises two important points.
Are we better off now than we were before? This seems to be an inescapable question in recent years. The new mall on campus with suggestively cruciform entryways, has for better or worse shifted the flow of campus. Having eaten there three times, I can safely say that I have no idea what is going on, and that the improved quality we were expecting has been soiled by congestion and some really questionable improved quality.
With the new campus center in place, the main comments I have heard are as follows: 1. Sushi all the time? Why?... Who eats sushi for breakfast? 2. WHY CAN'T I FLYER ANYWHERE? THAT'S RIDICULOUS! 3. Why are these lines SO ridiculously long? 4. Why is everything so expensive? 5. Where are the gender neutral bathrooms (other than the four tucked away together in the corner of the basement)?
The men’s soccer team enters its 2007 campaign with high hopes after reaching the NCAA tournament in each of the past two seasons. The Cards finished 11-3-3 a year ago and came up short of repeating as NESCAC champions, as they fell to Bates College 1-0 in double overtime in the conference tournament.
The Williams College Ephs come to town this weekend to face a strong Wesleyan team that has 19 returning veterans and a number of new and exciting players. The Cardinals are coming off an impressive season in which they won three NESCAC division games, a first in the team's history.
Armed with one of the NESCAC's most experienced squads, the women's volleyball team is set to begin its quest for its first-ever conference championship this weekend. "We definitely have high expectations for our team this year," said outside hitter Lisa Drennan '09. "I expect nothing short of winning the NESCAC…and going to the NCAA [tournament]."
Last year's field hockey team struggled, going 3-6 in the NESCAC and 6-9 overall. Although the team's efforts were good enough to earn a tournament spot, its playoff run was short-lived as it dropped the opening game to Middlebury 3-2.
It is almost unprecedented in the annals of the National Football League for two head coaches to have attended the same college. When two coaches hail from a small, liberal arts school with as much of a connection to professional sports as The Boogie Club, then we are dealing with an unparalleled phenomenon.
Lights dim over a sunlit central stage. The crowd hushes. From behind a wall of towering amplifiers and beat-up instruments, a lanky giant in creased white clothes emerges into a shower of golden light, his button-down billowing, to pick up a faded Stratocaster. He settles the strap on his collarbone and ambles up to the mike.
At the intersection of Wylie and Herron Avenues, a poster for vitamin-infused lemon-lime soda promises health to its customers; beyond the sign, pedestrians are frozen in various stages of crossing the street. The photograph then angles up at late-1940s Herron Avenue in Pittsburgh's Hill District, showcasing several variety and grocery shops and heavily lettered signs above the doorways, suggesting that the community itself is in a constant state of motion.
Kurt Vonnegut prefaces his "Dresden book" with the admission that an anti-war book "might as well be an anti-glacier book for all the good it will do." Why, then, does he go on to write one of the most celebrated anti-war pieces of all time? Simple: There is no other book to write, particularly about the bombing of Dresden.
A review of the Bang on a Can Music Marathon, a 26-hour long, uninterrupted festival of new, experimental, or uniquely performed music that took place in downtown New York this summer as part of the excellent free summer concert series.
It's midnight on June 15, and I'm at Bonnaroo with friends. We are at The Other Tent, where the anticipation is high for SuperJam, a three-hour Jam session between John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Ben Harper, and Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson (The Roots). All of a sudden, the stage glows pink, and a wall of sound free in ecstasy blows from the speakers.
Back in the early 2000s, James Ford and Jas Shaw were leading double lives. During the day, the two formed half of British electro-clash quartet Simian. The band had fans, a record deal with Virgin Records, and was touring internationally. But at night, Ford and Shaw would steal off to DJ nightclubs under the name Simian Mobile Disco (sometimes even running from a Simian concert to a dance club on the same night).
For now, students can continue to expect the usual large Friday night house parties on streets such as Fountain and Home Avenue, as the Social Event Registration Policy that requires registration only for parties of 50 or more students will remain in effect.