2011 Fall Issue 4 (October 7, 2011)

Due to safety concerns, Sayles dances to change
Despite beautiful fall weather and a new term, one thing has remained conspicuously missing: Sayles dances. After several weeks of confusion — and a notably-absent Homecoming dance — the Student Activities Office has finally revealed the highly-anticipated verdict on the fate of Sayles dances.
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Stanford Prof.:Civil Rights Movement not fully completed
Stanford University Professor of Economic History Gavin Wright delivered a convocation speech Sept. 30th that focused on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Perhaps today’s leading historian on the American South, Wright uses economic tools to interpret historical developments, such as the history of slavery, the cotton economy and the California gold rush.
Carleton alums join MATCH Corps
An atypical service experiment, the MATCH Corps is a one-year commitment that takes recent college graduates and tosses them into an educational arena, often in an environment considered politically controversial.
New alcohol policy a keg killer? Not so fast, say Clark and SAO
Three weeks after the revised alcohol policy went into effect, the costs of hiring a third party vendor to operate kegs are still coming into focus. “We want to maintain activities for students with or without alcohol,” Lee Clark, director of the Student Activities Office, said.
Humanities Center open, ready for student designs
Carleton’s three-year-old virtual Humanities Center is about to get physical. Since the start of the 2011-2012 school year, the innovative center that was designed to foster the college’s intellectual and cultural life now has a tangible office in the Weitz Center for Creativity.
Carleton named a top school for student athletes
Carleton has always prided itself on its high-achieving student body and this year, the hard work of its student-athletes received national recognition in the 2011 NSCA Collegiate Power Rankings. The ranking system evaluates all colleges within NCAA Division I, II or III programs, uses a combination of student-athlete graduation rates and academic rankings.
Science, art and history combined in teaching museum
Two new exhibition spaces have made their way into Carleton’s Weitz Center for Creativity. This term’s exhibits connect Carleton students, faculty and members of the Northfield community through science, art and history in an effort to inspire visual learning and conversation.
Learning, teaching together at LTC
A longtime resource for faculty members, the Perlman Learning and Teaching Center, now housed at the Weitz Center for Creativity, is making itself available to students, too.
‘Masquerades in Africa’ educates beyond classroom
Willis and Margaret Pezalla-Granlund, curator of the library’s art and exhibitions, created the “Masquerades of Africa” in the library, where students can study the masks in relation to the history class. “It draws on the course and gives students a context on the Masks,” Willis said.
A summer in the wilderness: Max Bearak blogs
Bearak had several ideas in mind before planning his last summer break of college, but ultimately decided that he wanted to work as a wilderness ranger somewhere remote where he could trek through isolated land. He was hired as a wilderness ranger and placed in the Humboldt National Forest, performing the documentation and mapping out of the wild countryside in eastern Nevada.
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Wills breaks school scoring record
The Knights continued their dream run into the MIAC with a historic week in which two different Knights set conference records. With two goals versus Cornell, and another against Northwestern, Tim Wills ’12 officially became the leading goal scorer in the history of the Carleton Men’s soccer program. The Knights continue their MIAC campaign on Wednesday at home against St. Mary’s.
Women’s Soccer splits weekend, picks up crucial MIAC win
The Carleton Women’s Soccer team faced a busy weekend with games on Saturday and Sunday in addition to last Wednesday’s match at Macalester. Although the weekend produced a split, one win and one loss, the Knights fortunately defeated conference foe Gustavus, 1-0.
Women beat University of WI-Eau Claire
The women’s cross-country team continues to work it this season. Walking into Chipotle after the race, they were asked, “Did you win the tournament?” The amazed Carls thought for a moment, then said, “Why, yes! Yes, we did win!” Fifty percent of cross-country teams don’t get to say that every weekend. Not only did they win, but they beat the University of Minnisota’s JV squad as well as University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, which was ranked fifth in the nation in Division III last week.
Men finish ninth overall, third for MIAC
Outside Eau Claire, Wisconsin, the Fellahs cemented their spot in the conference. In a race stacked with the talent-heavy University of Wisconsin system schools, the Knights finished ninth overall and third out of the MIAC schools competing. The Knights trailed only St. Johns and the consistently good St. Olaf. Carleton bested three other conference teams; Gustavus Adolphus (11th), Augsburg (13th) and last year conference runner-ups St. Thomas (15th).
Women’s Volleybal: Carls win one, lose one
This Saturday, the Carleton volleyball team had a win and a loss at their home tournament to make their record 11-7 overall which puts their wins past that of last year’s season. The team started off the day with a loss against Buena Vista University. In a four set game, the girls lost 3-1. Jessa Youso ‘13 and Rachel Johnson ’14 both played well, reaching into the double digits in number of kills, but Carleton was unable to shake Buena Vista.
Knights fall to Augsburg
In what has become an unsettling trend early this season, Carleton (1-3, 1-2 MIAC) yet again let an early lead slip away last Saturday after taking on undefeated Augsburg College. Despite leading 14-0 after the first half, the Knights came apart at the seams in the second half, allowing Augsburg to turn the 14-0 deficit into a 35-14 rout.
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A plea to bicyclists
Please speak up when you’re approaching a pedestrian from behind on the sidewalk. If you will just say “Passing on your left!”, then the walker won’t try to make a turn, risking collision.
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Minnesoootah
Minnesota’s the kind of place that you somehow end up in, and for the more puzzling of you, a place that you end up settling in. I have been determined to understand why people settle here. I conducted some very important campus research on the topic.
Questioning the “question”: the secret stories of my summer jobs
As the scents of summer grow stale, I’d like to briefly reflect on a familiar question before it fades out of our seasonal dialogue. The Question: What were you up to this summer? The Answer: Hopefully, something worthy of your expectations for an acceptable summer activity.
In search of effective leadership: a plea for one-term congressmen
Lawmaking in this country has become a profession, and that needs to change. Plato once wrote that the most effective leaders are not those who seek office for honor or money, but those who attain it as a duty to their society. The best and most able citizens of the state – basically, the most educated, should be the ones making the all-important decisions about where the country is headed.
Design logs: valuing process over product
A design document (much like an assignment paper) is a traditional plan used by designers to describe and document what they’re planning for a project. The design log outlines the problem, potential challenges, sets guidelines and creates a basic structure for how the designer should solve the problem. Before continuing, let me properly cite my sources.
Johnson: The big seminar room in the sky
When I was in middle school, my friends started communicating over an online forum. It was a nice way to keep in touch for a group of fairly self-effacing adolescents, none of whom were ever likely to use something as drastic as a telephone. The forum mostly got used for loud discussions of video games and the internet. It wasn’t very different from our face-to-face interactions.
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News Briefs
- Carleton Data Visualization Challenge on October 7
- Unfolding Faiths, Sexualities in Motion
- LTC Lunch: Indignity and the Holocaust as Global Discourses; Dialogues Faculty Research Talk
Security Blotter
Week of Sept. 23 to Sept. 28, 2011
Green Space: STAs
Many of you may (not) have heard about STAs, sustainability assistants. STAs are student workers who work on a wide range of sustainability initiatives on campus. The title explains the job well, but there is uncertainty of what exactly the STAs do.
Arb Notes
When you plant an oak tree, it won’t reach its full girth for at least a century. Often, it seems like restorationists carry out their work with a vision that won’t be realized in their lifetime. This is why it’s so satisfying to discover species that restorationists work toward.
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