Those dedicated SOPEers are at it again. After convincing the dining hall to use silverware made of corn, revitalizing the green roof, and founding the Sustainability Revolving Fund, SOPE has installed a new eco-friendly project on campus.

Click here to find out what it is.

The Noon News Bulletin, everyone’s favorite lunchtime eye candy, was wild and wacky as usual this term. Carls begged their peers to return lost jackets, advertised their haircutting services, and educated us with useless facts. Here is just one of the NNB's noteworthy gems:

USELESS OPINION: Telephones make terrible cookie cutters.

Click here to read more wacky classified ads.

The end of 8th week produced a flurry of comps talks from the English and SoAn majors. When perusing the NNB for talks of choice, it was hard to miss Amanda Smith's '08 presentation "Befriending Dragons" that was, in fact, entirely about the evolution in the portrayal of dragons in literature. Pretty snazzy idea, we think.

Click here to read more about Smith's comps talk on dragons.

Noticed the spotlights on the Mini Bald Spot and cameras on top of Myers and the dining hall? They’ve been giving off Big Brother vibes, but their purpose is way cooler (and far less creepy). The machines are actually webcams installed by Facilities and ITS to show students, parents, and curious onlookers the construction progress for the new dorms. That’s right, now you can spend finals week procrastinating with awesome live construction footage! Be sure to check back often; the webcams update every 15 seconds — Wow!

If you can spell any of the delightful words below, chances are you made it to the final rounds of Carleton's Spelling Bee.

quadrumanous adj. Having four hands.

phillumenist n. One who collects matchbooks or matchbox labels.

gongorism n. An excessively involved, ornate, and artificial style of writing.

anabibazon n. The ascending node of the moon’s orbit with the ecliptic.

quidnunc n. One that is avidly curious and given to speculating especially about ephemeral or petty things.

But in case you didn't, click here to read more about the event.

MPIRG held its annual Cardboard Box City last Friday, where Carleton students built cardboard box homes and slept out in them all night to raise awareness about homelessness in Minnesota. They got creative with their boxes, constructing them in a variety of shapes and sizes and painting them with wacky designs. After the box building, a representative from Homeless against Homelessness gave a talk. The builder of the most creative cardboard home also won a seventy-five dollar prize.

Click here to see more photos from the event.

We’ve finally found an off-season use for broomball brooms (and it’s not for keeping the Lyman Lake geese at bay). Over the midterm break, Carleton held its first-ever Quidditch tournament on the field behind the Rec Center. The broomball paddles were part of an adapted set of rules for us Muggles who, sadly, don’t have flying brooms.

Earth-bound Quidditch saw its debut at Middlebury College in 2005. The Intercollegiate Quidditch Association, founded in Middlebury, has 105 member schools and is continuing to expand. The airborne parts of the game have been replaced by real-world analogs. Instead of flying around on their broomsticks, Quidditch players must run around with the broomball broom between their legs like a hobby horse. As a consequence, they can only use one hand to deal with the ball, just like in wizard Quidditch. The goals are hula hoops. The bludgers don’t have a mind of their own, of course, so they have to be thrown by members of the opposing team.

Click here to read on and see photos of the spirited event.

Move over, Ultimate Frisbee. Carleton College has just won valor in a sport that is entirely different from the typical – robot building. The weekend of April 12 & 13, the Carleton Robotics Club took a field trip to Hartford, Connecticut to participate in the Trinity College Firefighting Home Robotics Contest. They took first place in the walking robot division.

Click here to read more about how the team scored another win.

Last winter term thirty Carls traveled to the Middle East. Accompanied by President and Mrs Oden, Professors Dana (French) and Steve (Economics) Strand, and trip assistant Brennan Taylor '07, studied in Cairo, Istanbul and Rabat, Morocco. The trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience (see video beyond the jump) and this spring the alumni have been sharing their experiences with the rest of campus.

Springtime at Carleton is generally associated with random acts of artwork. Remember the tepee, giant table and chairs, and iron stick figures scattered across campus? This year’s collection of outdoor art embodies the same uniqueness, but favors a more rogue style. Our favorite? A shifty face projected onto the side of the Concert Hall after dusk.

Click here to read more about the site-specific media works gracing campus.

There’s no such thing as a free haircut — unless of course you’re donating those lengthy tresses to “Cuts for Cancer”. This year’s event drew dozens of Carls who chose to lop off their hair for a good cause.

Click here to read more about the Cuts for Cancer event.

Could we really all become brains in jars without somebody to carry us around?

This was just one of the many quandaries pondered at last week’s Apocalypse Symposium. After the success of last year’s event, which focused on how to survive during the apocalypse, Carleton’s best and brightest met again this year to discuss how to thrive after the end of civilization as we know it. The event was held in Sayles Lounge, with such highly apocalyptic snacks as chips and soda (fortunately, no kool-aid) on a side table.

Click here to read more about how to get by when the world ends.