Carleton's new director of athletics, Gerald Young, would like to invite Northfield area community members to attend the wide variety of Knights' athletic events throughout the 2010-11 school year. As a reminder, all regular-season home Carleton contests offer free admission, offering local citizens unbeatable family entertainment.

The Carleton physics department has launched a new website dedicated to Goodsell Observatory, which includes information about the public open houses held the first Friday of each month. The next open house is scheduled for Friday, October 1, from 8-10 p.m.

Acclaimed American cartoonist and graphic novelist Ben Katchor will present “The Great Museum Cafeterias of the Western World: An Illustrated Lecture on the Design and Culture of Museum Cafeterias” at Carleton College on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. Following his lecture, Katchor will answer questions and sign copies of his books, which will be available for purchase at the event. Katchor’s appearance is free and open to the public and will be held in the College’s Boliou Hall Auditorium.

Carleton wants to alert those neighbors who live in close proximity to its campus about upcoming major events—Homecoming, Family Weekend, and the Presidential Inauguration—that may cause increased automobile traffic and related parking issues.

Carleton College—and its beautiful Cowling Arboretum—are named as two of the ten best things to do and see in Northfield in a recent report on WCCO-TV (Channel 4).

Today's edition of The Huffington Post names Carleton College one of the nation's Ten Most Intellectual Colleges, based on votes by 30,000 students. Joining Carleton are Brown University, Grinnell College, Haverford College, Macalester College, Pomona College, Reed College, Swarthmore College, the University of Chicago, and Wesleyan University.

The Carleton College Art Gallery will kick-off its fall season with an exhibition showcasing fine art prints created by artists from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, and Hawaii. Prints Around the Pacific Rim, running from September 17 to November 17, 2010, celebrates the varied method of printmakers, and highlights artistic exchange between cultures across the wide Pacific. Prints Around the Pacific Rim is also one of many fall events coinciding with the Mid America Print Council Conference, Old World/New World, taking place in the Twin Cities in mid-October.

While this is a great time to enjoy and explore the Arboretum, we wanted to alert you to the risk of contact with Wild Parsnip. It is not difficult to avoid exposure to this plant once you know what it looks like and you take simple precautions, so we encourage you to keep reading and learn what you can do to still enjoy being outdoors in the Arb in this great weather!

Carleton College’s ACT (Acting in the Community Together) Center will hold its popular annual Lighten Up! Garage Sale from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, June 17 and 18, in the West Gym on the Carleton campus. As in previous years, all profits from the sale will be split between the Northfield Union of Youth (The Key), Northfield Special Olympics, and Project Friendship.

The Carleton Student Association Senate organized its second "Carls in the Community" day of service in April. Students volunteered their time and energy in many ways: some helped eliminate buckthorn from the Arboretum, some pulled on waders and cleaned the Cannon River, and others helped out a number of emeriti faculty with some household and garden chores. One group helped clean up around Central Park, with a large assist from local resident Molly Woehrlin.

Carleton would like to remind our neighbors and Northfield area residents of two major campus events taking place in the coming three weeks that could have major impact on traffic and parking, especially around campus. The College’s 136th Commencement will take place on Saturday, June 12, from 9:30-11:30 a.m., on the lawn west of Hulings Hall, while its alumni reunion will take place June 17-20.

Community members who visit campus during the summer months should be aware that a number of ongoing projects may impact the use of College facilities this summer. Two main projects are taking place in athletic areas, as the Bell Field tennis courts will be removed and replaced and both pools at West Gym and Cowling Recreation Center will be closed. Other noticeable projects on campus this summer include work on two entry points to the campus.