The Carletonian

In a crowded room in the Weitz Center last Thursday, students squeezed in for the official kick-off of the Obama campaign and to hear Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak speak.

Taylor Owen ’12, Winnie Zwick ’13 and Lyndsie Guthrie ’13 were chosen by the national organization The Real Food Challenge to represent Carleton’s accomplishments in providing sustainable food on the NPR show.

This spring break, Carleton’s modern dance company took Missouri State University by storm.  Semaphore’s piece, “Elevator For One,” impressed adjudicators at the central region conference, earning the dancers the privilege to perform at the National Gala Concert.

Spring term at Carleton means warmer weather, a more relaxed atmosphere, and several traditional campus-wide activities, including Rotblatt, Spring Concert, and Superhero Party.

Reporters who interviewed Jennifer Thompson in the early 2000s called her “a brave and courageous representative of victims” and a powerful voice of activism. But their descriptions do not tell the whole story of her journey to advocating prison reform, Thompson told last Friday’s Convocation audience.

Carleton College’s Strategic Planning Foundation meets every ten years to discuss plans for the school’s future.  Starting this fall term, thirteen Strategic Planning Working groups began examining different aspects of the college’s current policies and drafting proposals to improve those policies over the next ten years. 

Over the past few months, women’s reproductive health has been a hot topic in the nation, from politicians’ varying views on the subject to Planned Parenthood’s lack of support from fellow female health conglomerate, the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

This year, less than 10 percent of the senior class (46 students) graduated early. Some early graduates are still on campus, while others are more far flung, but all are making use of their free time in some interesting ways.

While many students spent their spring breaks in the comfort of their homes or in tropical wonderlands, some generous Carls volunteered for Habitat for Humanity programs through Carleton. Every year, Habitat provides students with a chance to rebuild homes and communities.

When taken from the mild Minnesota winter to sunny San Diego, CJ Dale ’13, Dylan Cheever ’13, Colby Seyferth ’15 and Evan McNeil ’15 bloomed into a flurry of throwing, running and jumping at the Point Loma decathlon. The decathlon is all of track and field distilled into one highly demanding two-day spectacle.

The women’s track and field team wrapped up a successful indoor season at the MIAC championships, taking second in the team competition for the first time since 1996. The Knights were led by their middle and long distance runners, taking all-conference honors in almost every event longer than 800-meters.

Although it was only his first trip to the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships,  junior Erik Klontz managed to secure an All-American distinction, placing eighth overall in the 50-yard freestyle and tenth overall in the 100-yard freestyle.

Over spring break, the Gods of Plastic (GoP) traveled to sunny Statesboro, Georgia to compete in College Southerns. Armed with a host of new cheers and fresh legs, GoP took 9th place out of 40 competing teams.

Over spring break, the Carleton Ultimate Team (CUT)  traveled down to Austin, Texas to compete in the 2012 Centex tournament, one of the premier ultimate frisbee tournaments in the country.

The tournament, which is the hallmark kick-off of Syzygy’s spring season, came at the tail end of a week of intense training and bonding in the Lone Star State. Led by heavenly-bodied captains Taylor Want, Anna Reed and Elise Rasmussen, the team spent six days eating, sleeping, cooking, and playing five hours of Frisbee per day together.

“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves,” Sir Edmund Hillary once mused. The Lady Knights tennis team is simultaneously conquering mountains and learning this lesson as they return from spring break a stronger team ready to take on the now snowless Minnesota slopes and the game.

From Aaron Carter to Jay-Z, Simon and Garfunkel to the 1985 Chicago Bears, music and sports have been inextricably linked for as long as I can remember. Many musicians can’t resist name-dropping the hottest athletes of the moment, and who could blame them?

Studying in high school was harder than it is here at Carleton.  That’s right.  I said it. Before you dust off the pitchforks and berate me in a fit of pride over how hard the work is here, hear me out and read closely: I said that the studying is easier now, not the material.  Surely, the material is more advanced and therefore more difficult.  This much is clear and always will be.

A lot of the writing I do talks about the need for more variety of opportunities to do more than write papers and to do more independent, self-directed work. A lot of the opinions are directed at the establishment.” The idea is that a lot of opportunities are restricted at a curriculum level and it prevents students from working with the system to achieve their curriculum- goals.

I’m thinking about writing a Carletonian column this week about a bad grade I got last term. It’s the worst grade I’ve gotten so far at Carleton, and – knock on wood – will be the absolute nadir of my academic performance for the rest of my life.

“How was spring break?” is one of those questions that people feel obligated to ask, but really don’t want to hear a ton of detail about. After all, we all had a spring break; it becomes tedious to keep track of what everyone did beyond maybe one or two major highlights. As such, when briefly describing my spring break, I feel obligated to explain what I did, rather than describe something as purportedly minor as my food experience.

The way we interact with college professors and administrators seems pretty standardized. But our relationships with security are a bit trickier. While security ensures the fundamental safety of our campus, they also have a tendency of getting in the way of our fun.

Spring Term Schedule Breakdown

Hawaiian Dance Troupe Halau Kiawekupono O Ka Ua Presents an Evening of Hula April 7th at 7:30 p.m. and “Truth Values,” A One-Woman Show About Women in a Male-Dominated Field on Friday, April 13th at 7 p.m.

Week of Mar. 28 - Apr. 3, 2012

Nearly every morning and evening during April and May, the Arb plays host to an elaborate spectacle as the American Woodcock performs its annual rendition of the “sky dance.”

Carleton is a finalist for the national 2012 Climate Leadership Awards. The voting period goes until April 15th so everyone should vote for Carleton and spread the word.