Hip-hop legend GZA will headline Spring Fling on Andrus Field on Wednesday, May 7. Also playing will be The Hold Steady and Cool Kids. DJ duo The Hood Internet will spin between sets. "I'm really excited about this lineup, it all fell into place," said Social Committee member Max Horwich '08.
On April 1, Steph O’Brien ’08 and Lucia Pier ’08 returned home to find a $1,300 Fire Safety violation bill on their kitchen table. While they had a few candles in their house, they couldn’t understand the reason for the seemingly extra $1,000.
When visiting prospective students wander into the WestCo courtyard on Saturday afternoon, they will most likely be confused when they see an event called “Ze Who Must Not Be Named Day.” Unless they regularly read the blog Wesleying or check the Argus website, they will have little idea that only two months ago the event was called “Zonker Harris Day,” a decades old name alluding to the “Doonesbury” comic strip character that functions as a not-so-subtle reference to the pervasive drug use so characteristic of the festival.
The applause greeting union organizer Len Nalenz’s announcement of the clauses of the University dining staff’s new contract rang loud and long among food service workers who gathered in one of the main Usdan dining rooms last Tuesday.
Richard Van Wickler, Superintendent for the Cheshire County, NH Department of Corrections, spoke out against the United States’ War on Drugs, which he characterized as ineffective, prejudiced against blacks, and bad for the economy. Winkler, who spoke in PAC 002 on Wednesday evening, is a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an international non-profit organization made up of both working and retired policemen who work to legalize drugs.
For many University students, winter break was a time devoted to relaxation and procrastination. This was not the case for Francis Biro ’09 and Alison Ringel ’09, who spent the end of their winter break filling out a lengthy application for a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, which awards outstanding students majoring in mathematics, science, engineering, or computer science.
Now that members of the Class of 2008 have finished their theses, they can begin to think about the future of the University. Since current seniors will be alumni by the time three new people join the Board of Trustees this summer, they are eligible to vote in the election that will choose the new members.
Avi Salzman ’00 returned to the University on Wednesday night to deliver the second talk in the Argus Speaker Series. He discussed the future of journalism in his speech entitled “Fire the Paperboy: Is there any way to save the newspaper industry?”
Media criticism, humor and a career in radio were just a few of the topics addressed by National Public Radio host Peter Sagal and producer Doug Berman ’84, who spoke to a packed audience of University students, faculty and alumni last Wednesday night in Beckham Hall.
When 4:20 p.m. rolls around on April 20, University students on Foss Hill may have more to worry about than where their next hit is coming from. According to Public Safety, their presence on Foss Hill this year will be similar to last year’s—a possibility that could lead to student citations or arrests.
Rather than go straight to college from high school, Jorge Delgado '10 took a gap year, half of which he spent in Peru, and the other half of which he worked and interned in places as far-ranging as Baskin Robbins and ESPN.
When her mother first offered her the option of attending Hebrew school, Leah Lucid ’10 declined, feeling that it just wouldn’t have meant much to her. Now, seven years after her 13th birthday, Lucid was just Bat Mitzvah’d at Wesleyan, through the Jewish Community’s B’nei Mitzvah program.
When Max Krafft ’09 dropped out of Wesleyan halfway through his junior year in 2003, he never imagined that in one year he would be playing bass guitar for the Army Band in Iraq. “I am one of the least likely people that could have joined,” Krafft said. “Not only did I serve as a musician, but as a radical, agnostic, liberal vegetarian queer.”
In a stunning report from the Office of Admission at Wesleyan University, it has been revealed that God, the almighty and all knowing, has applied to the University. What is even more stunning, however, is that the Creator was rejected from the highly selective school.
Stacks of papers clutter Becca Feiden’s room. Using recycled Teach for America flyers for scrap paper, Feiden has spent the past eight months brainstorming and sketching proofs for her thesis in mathematics. With little use for a carrel, Feiden worked all over campus, transporting her papers in a big green folder.
Though some might be intimidated by his tall, dark and handsome appearance, Matt Leddy ’08 is a friendly, unassuming, all-around nice guy, bearing a message of love and acceptance for the world. His threads may be hipster-esque, but it seems that Matt’s mentality is all flower-child.
Before accepted students decide whether to attend, they have the opportunity to experience campus life firsthand during the University’s Wesfest celebration. The University’s tradition of hosting prefrosh for three days sets it apart from other schools, which commonly have one-day events for their accepted students.
Since the 2006 revision of Fire Safety fines, the department has been assessing tens of thousands of dollars in violations. Last year, it was $41,000. This year, thanks to the amount knocked off by the Appeals Board process and attendance at Fire Safety seminars, the original $39,000 was reduced to $27,000.
There's an issue in this school that has been bothering me since I entered two years ago, one that is almost never addressed by anyone, and always rendered invisible. I do not wish to sound ungrateful but, at the risk of being ridiculed by my peers, I'm going to try to address an unseen consequence of economic privilege: affording food on campus.
A few days ago, the American Red Cross held a blood drive at Wesleyan. I would have eagerly offered my veins for tapping, but because of an obsolete, misguided and homophobic policy, I’m banned for life from donating blood.
As a Washington, D.C.-area peace activist, I was thrilled to see so many students from all across the country who came here to take part in the March 19 actions. There were quite a few students from Wesleyan. I hope everyone in the Wesleyan community is proud of those who took part in the numerous activities that week.
My name is Hope Kasper and I serve as a representative on the Middletown Common Council. I want to share with the Wesleyan students what I know about Mike Pernick ’10, a candidate for President of the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA). Mike has exhibited an exceptional commitment to the civic duty owed by University students to the community of Middletown, which they are all a part of.
I’m a little shocked that it’s come to this. When I signed up for a Wesleyan education, I thought I was going to a school where students were listened to, and where individuals were encouraged to make a difference. You, ResLife, have taught me very differently.
It's 10:00 on April 10, a Thursday night, and the show is running behind schedule. Spirits, however, seem to be high as more and more students pile into Beckham Hall, making the cavernous, slightly antiseptic room feel smaller than usual. Adding to the effect is the stage, a knee-high platform decked out with lamps that look like they were lifted from the basement of somebody's grandmother.
Weddings are often thought to be sanctimonious occasions uniting those with only a superficial connection, except in the case when fifty brides decide to embark on a ship on their wedding day to escape the perils of marrying cousins they barely know.
It was another victorious weekend for the men's crew team, as the first eight boat again went undefeated, beating Tufts and New Hampshire to stretch the Cards' record to 7-0 on the spring. Tufts came into the race ranked twelfth in New England, while New Hampshire ranked sixth.
The University will induct eight individuals and three teams into the newly established Athletics Hall of Fame on May 23 in Beckham Hall. The inaugural class includes seven former players, a long time coach, and three teams from the school’s illustrious past. The Hall of Fame’s permanent location will be the Warren Street lobby of the Freeman Athletic Center and will include an interactive electronic presentation.
The baseball team powered its way through the weekend series with Hamilton, hitting seven homeruns in the abbreviated two-game series. The Cardinals and the Continentals were only able to fit in two of the three scheduled games after rain cancelled the first two days of play.
This past weekend, the women’s tennis team packed its bags and traveled to Williamstown, Mass. and Clinton, N.Y. to take on NESCAC rivals Williams and Hamilton Colleges. On Saturday, April 12, the Ephs, ranked #1 in the conference, aced the Cardinals 8-1. While victory was out of reach, the team recognized the skills of its opponents going into the match.
The men’s lacrosse team moved into a tie atop the NESCAC standings with a gutsy 7-5 victory at Trinity on Wednesday. The win, Wesleyan’s ninth straight over the Bantams, moved the Cardinals to 6-1 in league play, tied with Middlebury for first place. The two teams will meet on Saturday in a game with enormous ramifications.
The Cardinals had an exciting comeback Tuesday at home against non-conference opponent and GNAC leader, Pine Manor College. The two teams were in a deadlock since the first inning until Pine Manor scored a run in the sixth, giving the team a 2-1 lead. Failing to score in the bottom of the sixth, the Cardinals entered the last inning behind by one and needing to score.
On Sunday the Cardinals prepared to face the Hamilton Continentals. Reeling from a 9-0 shutout at the hands of Williams College the day before, the team led early and often against Hamilton. The match was called early as Wesleyan built up an insurmountable points total before the whole team finished its matches.
Hitting a phenomenal .375 with four home runs, first baseman Graham Douds ’08 sits down with The Argus’ Tory Whitney to talk tight pants, juicing and Gavin Rossdale.
Three times a day, millions of Americans sink their teeth into a meal that is loaded either with risk or opportunity: our food choices can either cool down or heat up the planet. With recent science validating that our breakfasts, lunches and dinners — even our snacks — are producing a third of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, food is in the crosshairs as a major cause of global warming.
Come to Wesleyan! I say that most enthusiastically. My four years at Wes were great, and I still visit frequently since I reside in Connecticut. But I must remind you that there is a difference between “keeping an open mind about things” and conforming to the norms or the “Orwellian Groupthink,” as Martin Benjamin ’57 discusses in his April 4 “Open Letter to President Roth” (Volume CXLIII, Number 37).
Though the administration will erase my and others’ chalkings, they cannot erase this Wespeak. Though you may see a whitewashed campus, bare ground and bare walls, an uncaring silence for us that saddens me, that does not mean that the night before there were no exuberant chalkings populating this campus.
Over the past few weeks, many graduating musicians have performed their senior thesis recitals, the culmination of their work within the music major. These performances have ranged from operatic arias sung solo or in small groups, to original jazz and afrobeat compositions in 12-piece bands, to sitar and Ghanaian Kpangolo drumming performances.
Wesleyan’s best-kept secret was revealed last weekend at Second Stage’s production of Rob Boyd’s ’08 “My Kingdom for a Whore:” Steve Sunu ’08, unassuming sociology major and acapella-singer, can fly. At the closing of the second scene, Sunu took flight off of the stage of the ’92 Theater with nary a rope in sight, and proceeded to soar into the wings.
Finally, the low budget comedy has reached a moment of sincere, and pretty hilarious, self reflection. The Australian indie “The Rage in Placid Lake” toys with the common conception and tropes of teen coming-of-age stories while never taking its subject matter too seriously. Placid Lake (played by Australian songster Ben Lee) is the generic odd man out in his high school.
After 12 years, four record labels and a handful of genres, Boris, the Japanese sludge/doom/noise/drone/psychedelic trio ,is about to release its 15th full-length album: “Smile.” Prolific almost to a fault, Atsuo, Takeshi, and Wata have come to represent everything underground music lovers dig.
Last year some pictures of everyone’s favorite gypsy art-rockers, Man Man, circulated around Internetland. The boys, hard at work on the their new album, were out in the street trying to record fireworks. I figured that it was all some stunt to come off as wacky, and that fireworks would never appear in a Man Man album.
Spring has sprung! Finally, the miserable weather has changed to pure sun-soaked bliss. But that is no reason, my fellow film fans, not to spend your nights in the cinematic grasp of the Goldsmith Family Cinema. I know you have been ditching class to sit on the hill and gawk at all the beautiful people that have emerged from hibernation.
Ok, we decided it was time to prove this section isn’t just an indulgence of my ardor for “sick” remixes. This week’s rare b-side captures the Swedish songster’s almost-better-than-the-original cover of Paul Simon’s best little song about middle-aged loneliness ever.
The following instrumental ensembles will delight your ears and titillate your senses come Not-Zonker Harris day this Saturday. Enjoy an exclusive interview with these two band members.