Photograph by Tela Ebersole.

6:45 a.m.—Wake up, search for Gatorade or water to cure hangover.

6:48 a.m.—Fall back asleep.

7:10 a.m.—Use bathroom, fall back asleep.

7:45 a.m.—Third attempt to wake up. Regret poor decisions made last night, fall back asleep.

8:20 a.m.—Wake up, seriously this time. Start seminar paper due at 10 a.m.

8:23 a.m.—Log on to ESPN TENNIS, check any Serena Williams updates.

8:40 a.m.—Search for new music. Still can’t find Great Gatsby Soundtrack anywhere.

8:55 a.m.—Actually start paper. Listen to the XX and Michael Bublé playlist.

9:56 a.m.—Finish seminar paper. Contemplate rewarding myself with a shot of honey-jack.

10:02 a.m.—Make it to seminar.

10:30 a.m.—Write Pub Quiz.

10:50 a.m.—Make French Open, Rome and Madrid predictions. #SerenaWilliams.

10:55 a.m.—Text Chris Marsho [’14] and Becca Richman [’15] and complain about how much of a joke my life is.

11:30 a.m.—Seminar out early. Shoutout to Cara Jones [Political Science].

12:00 p.m.—Send Snapchats to everyone.

1:00 p.m.—Ping pong with Le Gern [John Gernon ’15].

2:15 p.m.—Go to other seminar.

2:17 p.m.—Day-dream about Lonnski’s artichoke dip.

2:18 p.m.—Is this class over yet? Proceed to read Game of Thrones on iPad.

3:30 p.m.—Finish Pub Quiz.

4:10 p.m.—Contemplate going to tennis practice. Head to Grill.

4:11 p.m.—Bison [Ian Luby ’13] and Pun [Winichakul ’13] force me to go to tennis practice.

6:30 p.m.—Dinner/countdown to Pub Quiz and Rabbits Karaoke T-minus three hours.

7:15 p.m.—Pre-game Pub Quiz.

9:00 p.m.—Host Pub Quiz with Becca and Consta [Constanza Alarcon Cordon ’13].

10:00 p.m.—PUB RAVEE.

11:30 p.m.—Head to M00$e.

11: 30 p.m.—Weird Wednesday with tennis team.

11:45 p.m.—Head to Lonnski’s, pray kitchen is not closed for artichoke dip.

12:40 a.m.—Rabbits Karaoke time = Time for KC ice waters.

3:00 a.m.—Watch old Serena matches on YouTube … fall asleep.

“I contacted them and just asked if they were interested and went out there and ended up spending an extremely long amount of time out there on the first day just getting to know them and talking with them,” Clymer said.

The club seeks to bring students at all levels of riding ability together on weekend trips to the Triple V training facility.

“We basically just want to get people out to get experience,” Clymer said. “Luckily Triple V has a huge indoor arena so a lot of times we will ride in there. That way people can get used to sitting on a horse.”

In addition to this strong relationship with Triple V, the Equestrian Club has received funding from SGA to subsidize the cost of lessons for any student who would like to try riding for the first time or who would like to improve their existing skills.

“Now people can take lessons … and the Equestrian Club can reimburse them for half the cost of the lesson, which is a good deal. Ten dollars for a personalized hour long lesson is great,” Clymer said.

For students who came to Grinnell with plenty of experience riding, the Equestrian Club provides the opportunity to continue to pursue a lifelong hobby.

“I’ve always loved horses. I want to go to veterinary school and do large animal work, maybe do equine only,” said Marta Andelson ’14.

Andelson first began riding through 4-H in Grinnell when she was in fourth grade. Although it wasn’t until seventh grade that she convinced her parents that she could take care of a horse, she received experience from her 4-H leaders, who allowed members to practice riding on their own horses.

“I started showing horses in the local county fair and I did that actually until I graduated high school,” she said.

Clymer’s interest in riding largely stems from a childhood friend who gave her access to horses.

“I think I got into horses when I was about seven. My best friend had two horses ,” she said. “I started taking lessons with her and then I really got into doing trail rides.”

Despite their different backgrounds, both Andelson and Clymer agree that riding horses in Grinnell has added another dimension to their college experience by connecting them to the community.

“I’ve definitely felt like it’s given much more balance to my life to be able to get off campus … even if I don’t go out and ride but if I just go out and just talk to the Van Dykes,” Clymer said.

Andelson points out that life outside of the Grinnell bubble can be just as rewarding as life inside it.

“I think, in general, for students who participate in the program and who have horses on campus, it’s a good way to remember that there is an outside world,” Andelson said. “I think that’s one of the really special things about it.”

“Since it’s my first summer here and growing season, it’s thrilling for me, too,” Hill said. “The four students are really passionate and they are all passionate to play outside and work hard.”

The group will manage the goats, which are doing savannah restoration themselves by eating the invasive species that have been negatively affecting the native prairie plants. They are hoping to eliminate as many of these unwanted plants as they can through cutting and spraying herbicide on their roots.

Meanwhile, the group will also be monitoring small mammal trappings, completing snake surveys, restoring bluebird nests, doing butterfly surveys, weeding and planting, amongst other ecological projects. Finally, the group will be working in town at three sites: campus prairies, the Grinnell Middle School’s 2.6-acre prairie and Drake Community library’s yard. This will provide for a very full schedule and Hill is passionate about getting started.

“I’m very excited about the superhuman amount of work that we are going to bang out this summer,” Hill said enthusiastically.

The students involved in this project come from all different disciplines, such as Biology, Chemistry and Anthropology, so this will be a fine opportunity for them to complete fieldwork relating to their interests, as well as work with people outside of their major. They all expressed excitement over the chance to spend time in the prairie and learn more about how prairies function as complex ecosystems.

“I would like to have a career in environmental biology and this seemed like a great opportunity to gain knowledge and skills in that particular field of study,” Guen-Murray said. “This summer position will allow me to learn new techniques for the practice of field biology, as well as provide me an in-depth look into a prairie ecosystem.”

Furthermore, while many of them believe that this will assist with their career aspirations, they are also enthusiastic about working at a location they have wanted to become more familiar with.

“It’s a great opportunity to work outside, to learn about Iowa’s natural history and to contribute to CERA’s conservation efforts and ecological research,” Shoemaker said. “Plus, there’s an ongoing goat grazing project.”

Shoemaker is originally from Iowa and has seen many prairie restoration projects that have happened throughout the area. She is also looking forward to the opportunity to actually participate in one herself. She believes that this will be a great learning experience, which she might apply to a career after Grinnell.

“This position is also an opportunity to try out conservation work and to learn more about Iowa, just in case I decide to stick around,” Shoemaker said.

Photo by Tela Ebersole.

8:00 a.m.—First alarm goes off. Consider waking up to finish reading, decide against it because #YOLO.

9:00 a.m.— Second alarm. Think about what to wear while I lie in bed for 10 extra minutes checking Twitter, Snapchat and Facebook.

10:00 a.m.— American Studies with Kesho Scott #Amurika.

11:30 a.m.— Finish class. Meander on over to the Grille to find Emma [Falley ’15] and go to lunch.

12:25 p.m.— Leave dining hall. Check mail. No mail #unloved.

12:30 p.m.— Try to call my mom on my walk back to Clark. Rejected.

12:35 p.m.— Start doing homework.

12:37 p.m.— Give up. Spend hours tweeting and Snapchatting instead.

5:20 p.m.— Dinner with the baseball guys before they go to practice #favorites

5:24 p.m.— Aggressively say hello to Will Bennett ’13.

7:00 p.m.— Walk through the Grille to see if anyone is there. No one particularly interesting. Try calling my mom again. She answers! #success

7:30 p.m.— Set up in the Psych Commons. Accidentally sit in on a mentor session.

9:15 p.m.— Accidentally sit in on another mentor session. Is this a sign I should be a Psychology major? #nope

10:28 p.m.— Grille study break.

11:32 p.m.— Return to Noyce. Haven’t done any work, but I decide it’s time to go home anyway.

11:45 p.m.— Stop in the Grille yet again. Get distracted.

12:25 a.m.— Finally home. #snoozin’

From left: Kamila Berkalieva, Alyce Eaton, Andrew Klinkenborg and Ellen Finnegan (all ’13) sit on their house’s signature beanbag. Photo by Jacob Salzman.

It is not unusual for students to discover off-campus houses by following the general crowd heading toward the streets just south of Main Hall after weekend activities. However, it would be unusual for one to casually stumble upon 1208 Main Street, home of Kamila Berkalieva, Ellen Finnegan, Andrew Klinkenborg and S&B Editor-in-Chief Alyce Eaton (all ’13), located several blocks west of Grinnell’s campus. This is likely for the best because entrance to the house, known by its membership as Amy Wine House, is invitation-only.

“Our circle of invited people is very exclusive,” Berkalieva said.

There seems to be a disagreement about whether this reflects the group or only Berkalieva’s opinion.

“Kamila doesn’t want anyone over, but the rest of us do,” Finnegan countered.

The inaccessibility of 1208 is almost an injustice to Grinnell students, who are unable to enjoy the posters of Nicki Minaj, Drake, Selena Gomez and many other important pop icons that adorn the walls. Aside from their personal décor, the housemates keep a number of hidden treasures discovered in their American Horror Story-inspired basement. Some of the residents have helped themselves to two Nintendo 64s, a pair of Dr. Martens, multiple speakers and even a computer.

“Our house is basically a historical landmark at this point,” Finnegan noted.

Klinkenborg, however, prides himself in being above the scavenging tendencies of his friends.

“I don’t take stuff because it’s not mine,” he proclaimed.

His ethical concerns about theft apparently do not apply to food; Klinkenborg hates to see food go uneaten, which means he will eat almost any food found in the house, whether his or not, fresh or expired. Food seems to play a key role in defining the events that take place at Amy Wine.

“Usually we [have] food-centric events. We eat food, then we sleep on the beanbag and then we all leave,” said Eaton.

Berkalieva and Klinkenborg have not always found it easy to enjoy the food served at their house, especially the spicy Indian dishes made by honorary member Chinar Verma ’13, because of their geographically-impaired/improved tongues.

“Our tongues can taste flavors on another level that other people can not. Other people can’t taste the level of spice that we can,” Klinkenborg shared.

It has not always been easy for the two to talk about their enhanced sense, but Klinkenborg is hoping to raise awareness to this condition so that others from the community who are affected can share their struggles and experiences.

In addition to bettering society, Klinkenborg also has a busy weekend work schedule that has limited the group’s bonding time to only five days a week. To compensate for this, the four friends try to be in each others’ company as much as possible.

“Randomly we’re all just in the same room, and we just sit there and go on our computers alone,” Eaton said.

This seemingly simple get-together has not come easily because steady Internet connection is hard to come by. Along with this, the group suffered another “dark period,” as described by Eaton, when their Netflix account was also unavailable.

“You would think that it would make us more productive, but it doesn’t,” Finnegan said.

There are probably only a handful of students who have been to 1208 but it has nonetheless provided its residents with a wonderful home, a treasure trove and a possibly haunted basement to remember for the ages. With still a few weeks ’til graduation, it is not too late to befriend a member of the group and become one of the few individuals invited to enter Amy Wine House.

Chloe Pachovas ’14 wanted to organize something similar at Grinnell, but on a smaller scale and more focused on social activism. This Saturday, April 27, Pachovas is proud to bring Cornstock to Grinnell.

Pachovas organized the festival along with the help of OPEN (anti-Oppression Peer Education Network). OPEN is an organization that promotes social justice and acts as a resource for campus activism; it works to celebrate the diversity of the Grinnell community.

“We are looking forward to creating a fun ambience in which to share social justice related issues with different groups on campus through performances and activities that will happen throughout the day,” Pachovas said. “All of the activities planned will be awesome.”

“Cornstock is a festival in celebration of social justice and activism in our community,” she added.

After realizing that many groups on campus shared an interest in promoting social justice, Pachovas came up with the idea for Cornstock. Her hope for this event is to increase communication between groups on campus and encourage collaboration between students to make social justice more accessible.

“The purpose of the festival is to emphasize our ability to do social justice through daily action. One of the most direct ways to affect change is through the open exchange of information. On the other hand, the restriction of that exchange can be debilitating and oppressive,” Pachovas said. “Cornstock strives to create a space that fosters open dialogue, interaction and expression. This is why Cornstock welcomes everyone to attend and to take the stage!”

The festival will feature various attractions throughout the day, from song to speech. The first part of the festival will take place by the amphitheatre from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Afterwards, the music festival will move to Gardner for a dance party from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. featuring a DJ from Florida and Gogo dancers.

“We have a few groups tabling, SOL will be face-painting and Pals of PALS will be bringing a puppy. We’ll have beach balls, fluorescent paint, chalk for people to use and AACT, a new campus group, will                              be barbequing around 5 p.m.,” Pachovas said.

They have even made room for other spur of the moment acts.

“We will have open mic/free speech hours and we will also have scheduled performances and speeches throughout the day. Any type of performance is welcome and we encourage everyone to participate,” Pachovas said.

Some of the scheduled performances include talks from SLAP and Save the Bison. Student bands like “The Night,” formerly known as “Shittiest Band of the Night,” and “BearShark” will also be in attendance. Spencer Liberto ’15, a member of both music groups, is very excited about the upcoming shows.

“Usually, [The Night likes] to play shows in Read lounge or in Gardner. We like playing loud music in dark, cramped rooms. It’s going to be different playing on Mac Field. But it sounds like a fun event and we’ve never had a show we didn’t like,” Liberto said. “For Cornstock, [BearShark had] a whole new set of original songs lined up with an awesome theme. BearShark is super pumped to be performing.”

Grinnell can look forward to an eventful day of face-painting, good music and social activism.

“Personally, I’m really happy that OPEN is putting on this event,” Liberto said. “First of all, OPEN has a mission of excellent social justice, so it is makes me happy to see that they’re getting the campus involved. Secondly, this event is going to be a giant festival on one of the first warm, sunny days of spring (*knock on wood*). Everyone is going to have fun.”

Clockwise from left: Peter Sullivan, Clara Montague, Claire Fleckenstein, Avery Rowlison and Ann Marie Dalton (all ’13) share the love. Photo by Yishi Liang.

Upon entering 1203 Main Street, the first thing one may notice is the smell of delicious food wafting from the downstairs kitchen. This is the home of skilled cook Ann Marie Dalton, feminists Claire Fleckenstein and Clara Montague, Boone’s Farm enthusiast S&B Photo Editor Avery Rowlison and eligible bachelor S&B  News Editor Peter Sullivan (all ’13).

These distinguished individuals technically live in two apartments; Fleckenstein and Montague occupy the second floor while the remaining residents live on the first. Despite the separation, the group still feels that they are essentially sharing a home while getting to have their own space.

One thing that keeps the group united is their love of fantasy novels, evident by the first floor being named the Chamber of Secrets and the second Whether Top (or Not) in honor of their beloved Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings series.

The house often hosts weekly book club because the idea of discussing a book over a shared bottle of wine seemed very appealing. However, the members of the club watch movies and drink a box of Franzia instead. Beyond this, there are not many other interests that all five members share.

“Often the movies are not the best selection,” Sullivan critiqued.

The other housemates have acknowledged that some of the movies they choose may be more geared toward female viewers. However, Sullivan has been a willing viewer of the films chosen by his friends.

“He’s a true Grinnellian male, confident in his masculinity,” Dalton complimented.

In addition to being confident and masculine while still in touch with feminist interests, Sullivan also describes himself as a pleasure to be around and enjoys long walks on the beach. Despite being quite the catch, Sullivan is not always easy to live with.

“He leaves his goddamn candy wrappers everywhere,” Rowlison complained.

Messy college students are often unavoidable in many housing situations, but this group has a number of addition issues they have had to face.

“The smoke alarms [upstairs] are super sensitive,” Fleckenstein said with frustration. “When the ovens are just turned on, [the alarms] just start screaming at us.”

Luckily for everyone, the first floor kitchen can still be utilized without much difficulty. This has allowed Dalton to frequently take on difficult but delicious food projects, ranging from cookies to steak.

Each member has done their part to contribute to the house through food, trash bags and toilet paper from the second floor bathroom of Younker Hall. Montague is noted for her occasional contributed fresh, homemade bread, and Rowlison once stole a whole carrot cake from the dining hall.

The smoke detector is not the only annoyance to plague the residents of 1203. It is often just their fellow housemates.

“We can hear each other through the vents,” Montague said.

There have been times when simply walking up upstairs can be loud enough to wake someone sleeping downstairs.

The group has acknowledged that there are many ups and downs of living with each other, but ultimately, it has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Hopefully, when students consider about their future living arrangements they will look beyond only High Street and toward Main and Broad Street as well, which the residents have nicknamed “West Campus.”

“We’re trying to make that a thing,” Montague said.

The Possibility Alliance is an organization that offers free education to interested groups on permaculture, sustainable agriculture, animal care and other knowledge that is vital in emulating the sustainable, simple lifestyle that founders Ethan and Sarah Hughes maintain on their homestead.

During the semester, the students have studied the non-violent teachings of Mahatma Ghandi. They read texts such as Gandhi’s autobiography, Hind Swaraj, and other related works, including fictional novels that incorporated Gandhian peace principles. Additionally, several guest speakers visited the class and participated in workshops focusing on non-violence and activism.

During the weekend trip, students were able to experience first-hand a lifestyle based on the principles that they had discussed all semester.

“I wasn’t sure how it would work because I’d never been there, and this was the first time we’d added a hands-on component to the course,” Dobe said. “It was confirmed that their organization is very Gandhian.”

The way of life on the Possibility Alliance farm is completely sustainable; they live without electricity or running water, and depend only on food from their own farm or neighboring farms.

“They are working to recreate a society where they’re not dependent on foreign energy sources or energy sources that are ruining the environment, but it’s obviously not a viable solution to all the world’s problems,” said Grace Gallagher ’15. “Not everyone can move to Missouri and live on a farm. … I think they understand that not everybody can do that and not everybody is going to do that. My understanding is that it serves to inspire people to sell their SUV and buy a Prius instead.”

Upon arrival at the homestead, students first sat outside and discussed activism with Ethan Hughes. The Possibility Alliance supports the belief that activism should be both meaningful and enjoyable.

“They talked about how when people think about activism, they don’t think they’re supposed to enjoy it, and how activism needs to be enjoyable and have meaning in our lives,” Gallagher said. “Entertainment and meaning shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. We can have meaningful entertainment and meaningful experiences can be entertaining.”

Students also participated in two workshops. In the first, they were asked to consider the ways in which different types of people work to promote peace, such as peacemakers, peace creators, peace breathers—those who meditate to promote peace—or peace keepers, those willing to protest and go to jail for their cause. In the second, the students were asked to reflect on the question, “If you could make something totally new possible, what would it be?”

“Mine was ‘I want there to be schools accessible to girls all around the world,’” Gallagher said. “I was inspired to say that because this past summer I was in India, and when I was working with these girls in this village in India, when we talked to them about going to school, none of them really understood why they would go to school because they didn’t have a model of a woman doing anything besides raising children and holding down a household, which is no small job, however. It is a huge task, not only to have schools, but to give girls an understanding of the value of an education beyond reading or counting numbers so they can go to the market.”

Students also helped out with farming tasks, such as milking cows and goats.

“[The most powerful experience was] milking the goats. Through that lens, we could get a larger understanding of their way of life. It was really powerful to be a part of, even if for only a short period of time, their peaceful commune,” said Ian Gold ’13. “Once you leave, it’s hard to even make sense of it; it’s a very different way of life.”

Overall, the trip was a significant experience for students to bring back to the classroom.

“Getting out of the routine of Grinnell and getting into the world sort of proved Gandhi’s statement, ‘You have to act to know,’” Dobe said. “The trip confirmed the importance, for me, of getting outside the classroom context with students. I really enjoyed being with the students in a different setting, outside the teacher-student dynamic of grading, lecturing, leading discussions. I think that’s the value of breaking down the wall between the classroom and the world.”

From left: Carter Weise ’14, Erik Dixon-Anderson ’14, Gio Danforth ’13, Eric Streed ’14 and Alex Bolinger ’14 chill with leaders. Photo by Joanna Silverman.

Seen on the covers of newsletters, brochures and even our PioneerOne cards, Gates Tower has become a classic representation of Grinnell College. But the tower is as functional as it is visually appealing. Every year, it is also the home to five lucky individuals, and this year, the Tower houses Alex Bolinger, Erik Dixon-Anderson, Eric Streed, Carter Wiese (all ’14) and Gio Danforth ’13.

Aside from Bolinger, the residents are all members of the Ultimate Frisbee team. Despite being the unofficial house of the men’s team, the Tower is open to everyone for parties and those in need of some shut-eye.

“People like to come up there to take naps—mostly people on our team,” Wiese said. “But I suppose if a random person wanted to take a nap up there, it’d be fine too.”

Dixon-Anderson described the Tower as “an off-campus house, on campus.” But something that most of the other houses do not encounter is frequent midday visitors. The group has become accustomed to seeing new students stumble onto their floor before quickly leaving, lost and confused.

However, the same sense of community in off-campus housing is found in the Tower, and this is very much reflected in the overall dynamic amongst the residents.

“There’s always somebody to hang out with, and it’s always someone that you want to hang out with,” Streed remarked.

Bolinger likely disagrees with this statement from time to time, though.

“We like to pull pranks on Alex,” Wiese said.

The pranks often come with little to no retaliation from Bolinger.

“He gets angry, then forgets about it, and then we do it again,” Dixon-Anderson added.

In addition to providing occasional amusement, the floormates have also contributed memorable items to personalize the Tower. Danforth found a cardboard cutout of Dumbledore in a movie theatre, which the group calls Gandalf. Colin Fry ’14 added to their cutout collection with one of Hillary Clinton, which has been named Monica Lewinsky, but fully expects the piece back when he returns from study abroad.

The group would not have been able to truly turn the Tower into a home without the makeshift kitchen, bar and game room as well as the help of their Facilities Management custodian and past Frisbee players who lived in 1120 Broad Street or the Brothel (stress on “Bro”).

“We have a really nice FM [worker], who lets us keep stuff in the hallway and bathroom,” Wiese said.

But it was their former teammates who provided them with their abundant collection of furniture.

“[After graduating,] they left all the couches out as trash, so we took them,” Streed shamelessly admitted.

As with anywhere, living in the Tower does not come without some challenges, including shortness of breath from climbing up four flights of stairs and concussions from trying to beat the system.

“[If locked out,] you can climb over the doorway [through the ceiling] and get into the room on the other side, so we don’t have to call Security,” Wiese said. “We have a pull-up bar up there, and Alex fell off and gave himself a concussion.”

The occupants of Gates Tower have proven that a group does not need to live off-campus to build a personalized space with all the commodities of a house or apartment. Additionally, the Tower provides some perks that no house could offer, such as a central location, a very enviable view, and of course, living in one of Grinnell’s most iconic buildings.

A new green movement has been started on campus. Ben Mothershead ’16 has started a team at Grinnell to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s biannual Solar Decathlon.

The project was started in 2002 through the Department of Energy (DOE) and has been held in Washington, D.C. The competition gives collegiate teams the chance to design, build and operate solar-powered houses.

This year’s event will take place October 3 to 13 in Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California. According to the DOE, the purpose of this program is to educate students and the public about money-saving opportunities and environmental benefits presented by clean-energy products and design solutions.

Mothershead wanted to bring the activity to Grinnell after attending past Solar Decathlons in Washington, D.C. and seeing very few small liberal arts colleges in attendance. He spoke extensively to the team from Middlebury College and was interested by their unique position as a sort of underdog against the many immense engineering schools.

The Middlebury team has volunteered to lend their support to Grinnell. Their project manager, Jack Kerby-Miller, a third-year Chemistry and Environmental Studies double major, has invited the Grinnell team to visit Middlebury. Additionally, he offered his guidance for the project they completed in August.

Given Middlebury’s success—finishing fourth in the last competition—Mothershead gained confidence that this was something worth trying.

“I heard about the one in Middlebury and I thought ‘why can’t we do this?’” Mothershead said. “We are a small school that will be going up against some large engineering schools, but at the same time we have a lot of the resources to do something like this.”

The first step for the competition is to present preliminary plans in July. Once approved, the team will receive funding in August. Each college and university is rewarded with $10,000 as their project advances to the next round over the course of two rounds from the DOE.

Thus far, Mothershead has received support from 40 students and Jonathan Andelson, Anthropology. Additionally, he hosted an informational meeting Wednesday at 8 p.m. in Noyce 2022 and plans to ask Kington for the College’s support next week.

Mothershead’s goal is to reach out to as many facets of campus as possible. There are also plans to reach out to Alumni Relations and the Office of Admissions.

While Mothershead hopes to get a lot of support from the College financially, he is also looking at resources beyond just the institution.

“I will speak with Kington to see if the College can lend support,” he said. “Fundraising will be the largest thing, but it doesn’t have to come from just the College’s budget.”

The Grinnell team has already received a generous donation from corporate sponsors to purchase Asana, a computer program. They also hope to receive funding from SGA to get laptops.

“Learning the design software will be crucial; we have to do the majority of the work, but I think we are very adaptive,” Mothershead said. “Grinnell students have really good research abilities, to gather information and synthesize.”

Mothershead believes that after conducting the informational meeting, other students will become interested. He looks forward to seeing how students from different majors bring together their skills and create a competitive entry for the competition.

“Basically, what I’m trying to say is that anyone can help. But right now we mostly need leadership, in order to coordinate everything else for the project to progress,” Mothershead said.

For those looking to get involved, email [solardec] or visit their Facebook account, GrinnellSD15.

The Womb, from the left: Liana Eisman, Anna Halpin-Healy, Anna Weissman, Stefanie Kundakjian, Justine Turbull, Leah Yacknin-Dawson and Laurel Tuggle, all ’13. Photo by Tela Ebersole.

When walking down East Street, it is impossible to miss the colorful house that is 1005/1007, better known as The Womb. Although the house was initially nicknamed “Psycho House” by other students because of its all-female group of seven, the women managed to disprove the descriptor immediately; the Womb is the only title that accurately represents the house’s nurturing, homey space as well as the reproductive potential of the residents: Liana Eisman, Anna Halpin-Healy, Stefanie Kundakjian, Laurel Tuggle, Justine Turnbull, Leah Yacknin-Dawson and Anna Weissman (all ’13).

The housemates all agree that their landlord, Carlos Ferguson ’92, has contributed significantly to the homey feel; in addition to being a painter and printmaker, Ferguson is also a skilled carpenter—he built every one of them a bed.

Although the seven-bedroom home is generous enough to house each resident in her own room, personal space has not interfered with their ability to form a close-knit house community. The residents describe living in The Womb as their chance to live with all of their best friends.

“We don’t get out of the house until around 11 [p.m.],” Halpin-Healy said. “We leave really late because we’re having so much fun together. And we come back early.”

Being close also applies to literal physical proximity, most of which occurs in the bathroom. The ladies cite some of their fondest memories as the regular bathroom conferences, where every bathroom amenity will be occupied while a number of them congregate to talk about anything and everything.

“We like being in Stefanie’s bathroom because it’s so warm. We eat there. We sleep there,” Weissman said.

Nothing seems to be off-limits amongst the friends, especially since Turnbull’s unique ability to talk to the spirits by reading tarot cards with extreme accuracy reveals any secrets they may have.

Living in a house with all of their best friends has allowed everyone to get to know every aspect of their fellow housemates, including their bodies.

“We all walk around naked,” Yacknin-Dawson revealed. “But we’re all hot, so it’s not bad to see each other naked.”

The friends have become so comfortable with one another that many things in the house are shared, especially when it comes to food.

“Although we have labels, we don’t really respect them,” Kundakjian said. “So we’re constantly eating each other’s food.”

In addition to indulging on snacks and even fresh kale from their garden, the women enjoy making and eating home-cooked baked goods. A tradition of having birthday parties has given the group many opportunities to bake various types of cakes. They’ve also admitted that no baked good would survive six hours in the house.

But what goes in, must come out, and again, nothing is off limits to the ladies of the Womb.

“There’s a culture of pooping in this house,” Kundakjian added. “There’s a pooping log that’s been here for around two years.”

As if having single rooms, a strong community of friends, and free food was not enough, the house also includes a disco ball, lofted giggle room and a vast backyard for tanning.

On one hand, The Womb seems to resemble an actual womb—seven naked women gathered together in one space learning and growing as individuals. On the other, it is every bit the loving, wild and all-around carefree community found in Grinnell’s beloved off-campuses houses.

Photo by Devon Gamble.

7:45 a.m.— Alarm goes off. Must be time to go ham… I can already tell it’s Wednesday.

7:50 a.m.— Brewin’ up that hotness.

7:51 a.m.— Say a quick prayer… Please God, don’t let this coffee wake the slumbering Megan.

7:52 a.m.— Oh God, it’s her. I pour her some coffee and hand her a slinky. She’s preoccupied as I make my escape.

7:55 a.m.— Quickly set out some carrots for Julia. Julia loves carrots.

8:00 a.m.— Head to Burling. Print out articles—I’ve already read them, I swear—and figure out what I need to do today.

8:20 a.m.— Check the fantasy baseball squad.

8:22 a.m.— Send Sabathia and Ethier to Marques, receive Bautista and Morrow. Gotta love Joey Bats.

8:27 a.m.— Feeling great already—just upgraded the offense and the caffeine is starting to kick in. Very productive start to the day.

8:30 a.m.— Apparently it’s actually 8:33. The Burling clock and the Bucksbaum clock are at odds with each other. Sorry Professor Delmenico!

8:33 a.m.— She still welcomes me warmly—Delmenico is so damn cool.

9:10 a.m.— One of my classmates just said she last visited Disneyland in the 1900s… I glance around the room.

10:00 a.m.— Say what’s up to Griffin as he’s walking into the ’Baum. Calves are looking great today, buddy.

10:21 a.m.— Shoot a text to the beautiful Aniela Wendt. She’s in class so I know she won’t text back.

10:22 a.m.— She texted back. Ooh, she bad.

10:50 a.m.— Snag that Outteezy on my beezy. Bagel and milk everyday. Chat it up with some Grillellians…Dom’s working, too.

12:20 p.m.— Medical Anthropology time, baby

1:50 p.m.— Snap out of another daydream. Why would I ever want to be a badass doctor in the middle of the jungle anyway?…

2:10 p.m.— Walk into class. Prof. Tapias says hello. I swear she still expects me to walk in at 3:25 every day.

2:53 p.m.— The conditions in Haiti are harrowing. We all need to step in and help, but how?

3:30 p.m.— Mind abuzz, I leave the room. Jack “My Boy” Adams is just as frustrated as I am. At least he has Pat back home.

3:45 p.m.— It’s so on! Hayes and Cody want some. Luke and I lace up, grab the rock, head over to the court.

4:37 p.m.— Hayes is off to a hot start. They win a close game 1.

4:56 p.m.— Hayes is still so hot. Doesn’t even need Cody. They win game 2 running away.

5:14 p.m.— Hayes scored all 15 points. Cody’s eating chalk again. They sweep the series.

5:22 p.m.— Drag Luke into the weight room, but once we’re inside he escapes up to the Stairmaster.

6:50 p.m.— Hit the showa.

7:15 p.m.— Grab a quick bite at the d-hall and meet up with Aniela.

7:30 p.m.— Blumpy wants to hang out, but I graciously decline. Instead, he spends the evening with Cheesecake the rat.

8:35 p.m.— Aniela and I take a study break…by going to the grille for snacks

9:15 p.m.— Close the books. It’s time for some ModFam, maybe some New Girl, sprinkle on some Glee and I think we’re good.

9:17 p.m.— Go ahead, talk sh*t about Glee. I bet you watch Gossip Girl. That’s way worse, Nitz.

11:30 p.m.— Time for bed. Good night Grinnell College. You just lived a day in the life of Jesse Ney.

Assistant Director of Security, Russ Motta, raises the pride flag on central campus Monday afternoon. Photo by Avery Rowlison.

From talks by an ex-MLB umpire to slide shows with the title BDSM 101, the Stonewall Resource Center (SRC) coordinated a varied set of events to celebrate its annual Pride Week. The SRC attempted to highlight the diversity of voices and opinions within queer activism with many events, speakers and workshops.

“This year, what’s been interesting is that we really wanted to get speakers and activities from groups and voices that aren’t normally represented in queer movements,” said Taylor Nys ’13, Programming Coordinator of the SRC.

Robert Mulry ’13, Manager of the SRC, echoed Nys’ emphasis on a broad perspective on pride.

“The type of pride that I wanted to put out there and work with others to put out there is a pride that is all-encompassing, and has enough voices that [it includes] people that feel more mainstream and have their more mainstream movements, but we also have to have dissenting voices and critical voices,” Mulry said.

On Monday, Danielle Askini, the founder of the Gender Justice League, presented a talk entitled “Gender Justice.” In her talk, she covered issues encountered in her work as a trans-activist, social worker and writer.

Askini began her speech with statistics regarding transgender inequality.

“Forty-one percent of trans-people have attempted suicide at some point in their lives,” Askini said. “Gender justice is about recognizing that we live in a world that is structured around systems of power and oppression that benefit some of us at the expense of other people. It is about understanding how affirmation and spiritual healing must be at the core of how we work together.”

Askini was the Transgender Advocacy Group’s first speaker.

“The proudest moment for me personally, because I’m also a co-leader of TAG, is to have TAG’s first speaker come: Danielle. And she’s been doing amazing work in Seattle, and just hearing such a…large presence in activism come talk to us about how activism functions outside of a college setting is really, really helpful for a lot of students,” Nys said.

On Tuesday, The Iowa AIDS Foundation also held activities related to LGBT sexual health. Presenters gave a lecture on sexual health and demonstrations on how to use condoms; items such as dental damns, female condoms, water-based lubricants and other items were given to promote safe sex practices. That evening, the foundation also provided free HIV/AIDS testing open to all students.

“Grinnell students discuss issues on consent, but do not have enough conversations about safe sex. During the presentation, students were able to ask questions about HIV, STDs and talk about the increase of chlamydia cases on campus,” said Chelsie Salvatera ’14.

That same day, David Pallone also presented a talk entitled “Who’s Really on First?” Pallone is a former Major League Baseball umpire and discussed his experience as a gay man in baseball.

“David Pallone was not into marriage equality, which is really interesting. He gave a very different perspective. It’s nice to have so many different voices, because I think oftentimes when we bring one speaker per semester, it’s like that becomes, ‘that is the queer voice, that is the one representation of [the queer] community,’” Mulry said.

All week long, a poster was held up in the JRC with confession-style notes from LGBTA Christians.

“Being Christian and transgender is kind of an odd experience. On top of all the other questions in which one dwells when trans, one has to grapple with the issue of, if God created you, who you ‘really’ are, are you a man, because God created your body as what we call ‘male’? Or are you a woman, because She created your mind and soul that way?” read one note.

Another note said, “I grew up in a Christian community that would not accept that I am gay. But I no longer doubt that God accepts me. I trust that He loves me, as I am.”

Other events that occurred this week included the GoGo Photoshoot, an “Addressing Kinkphobia” lecture discussing varied sexual practices, and an Art History event entitled “Queer Projection: Theses on the ‘Future of an Illusion.’”

The week will culminate with the spring semester Drag Show this Saturday in Harris, hosted by QPOC. Doors will open at 9 p.m.

Mulry and Nys both highlighted the importance of recognizing and taking pride in the variety of queer voices existing within activism.

“What does pride mean to you? I think that everyone can answer that question, because we’re all proud of something in ourselves, and different parts of ourselves,” Mulry said. “We are trying to get as diverse a cross-section of queer identities as possible from this Pride Week.”

Photo by Avery Rowlison

Events ranged from student discussions to a panel entitled “What’s Color Got To Do With It?,” featuring  Professors Kesho Scott, Sociology; Mervat Youssef, Arabic; Asani Seawell, Psychology and Minna Mahlab, Science Learning Center. On Thursday afternoon, Professor Osei-Kofi from Iowa State presented “Women Pushing Back: Challenging the Globalization of Western Beauty Ideals,” discussing topics ranging from the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty to various artistic works. Like the other events this week, Osei-Kofi provided a space for valuable discussions that otherwise might not have occurred on campus.

Several students took the opportunity to expand their horizons over the break. Meg Schmitt ’15 and Yishi Liang ’16 travelled to tropical locations to participate in job shadows through the Career Development Office’s externship program, while Tefiro Serunjogi ’15 led an Alternative Break trip to Texas.

Schmitt spent two weeks in Hawaii shadowing Joy Tamayose ’88 who works as a field biologist. She was able to intimately experience the daily tasks of a field biologist working in Maui’s Haleakala National Park through her externship.

Schmitt found the trip to be a great opportunity to get insight into field biology. She is an independent major in environmental science, but has not always been sure how much science to incorporate into her academic plans.

“[The trip] helped me see the benefits of having a science degree,” Schmitt said.

“I learned from someone who was really passionate about her career.”

The only difficulty Schmitt could name about her experience was leaving.

“It was a beautiful area. I got to see so much of the island,” she said. “I got to see a lot of things I wasn’t expecting. I was really lucky. I met an amazing person.”

Liang was able to do some serious travelling over her break, shadowing a Grinnell alumnus, Tom Kerr ’81, in Bangok, Thailand, also through the CDO’s externship program. Her host works for the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, working on the organization’s quarterly newsletter that marks the progress of different areas.

The greatest challenges of the trip were the amount of travel and weather.

“I had to spend 30 hours in total getting there, [and] I was only there for 9 days. It was also really hot there—99 degrees every single day,” Liang said.

Another adjustment Liang had to make was to the prevalence of stray dogs and the bus system.

“The public bus they have sometimes doesn’t come to a complete stop when it picks you up,” she said, requiring passengers to make a quite literal leap of faith every time they hope to get on or off.

These aspects of the new environment only helped make the trip memorable.

“Overall, I learned a lot going to another country by myself, I became really independent,” Liang said.

The friendliness of the people she met in Thailand, including her host, further helped make the trip a success.

Serunjogi led an Alternative Break trip to Houston, Texas for two weeks. The group focused on environmental justice, spending most of their time working with a group called Tejas, which works with local minority communities.

The group helped out in many different ways: canvassing, collecting surveys, participating in clean-ups and learning more about the issues and the area.

“[We] worked with an urban organic farm for three days in a very poor community that provides free organic vegetables,”Serunjogi said.

Serunjogi commended the farm on its sustainable model, as it sells some of its products to local restaurants to balance the costs of operations.

“For me, Tejas is just basically two gentleman who began this organization, two ordinary guys doing good,” Serunjogi said. “[We were] seeing ordinary people doing extraordinary things.”

Serunjogi credited his co-leader, Natalie Duncombe ’15 for helping make the trip such a success.

“I had a fantastic co-leader.

I think AltBreak is a great way for people to get out there and just see life, their country from a different

perspective. A chance to do good,” Serunjogi said.

Serunjogi summed up the sentiments of the other students well:

“In only two weeks, it’s tough to leave a lasting change: the biggest change is yourself, living other peoples’ lives, seeing the world through their eyes and leaving your comfort zone.”

An on-campus Christian group, Grinnellians Seeking Christ (GSC), has changed their mission statement this semester to simplify their message and help people remember what they represent.

“We are a diverse yet united Christian community that seeks to reflect God’s love for all people,” the statement reads. “We value inquisitive minds. We affirm all gender identities and sexual orientations. We respect diverse faith journeys.”

GSC was founded in May 2011 and has been active on campus for over a year.

The process of simplifying the statement began last semester. GSC student leaders Laura Krull ’13 and Jenny Peek ’13 wanted it to be easier for people to understand what the group is all about without having to memorize a long mission statement.

Peek said it was helpful for the group to think about which values are really important to them. She mentioned that affirming all gender identities and sexual orientations was something that they wanted to emphasize.

“We wanted to highlight that, just because it’s an important piece that not many people might know about. To really just say we really are welcoming to all, but especially to this group,” Peek said.

Being open to other faiths and perspectives is important to the group as well.

“The point is very much to facilitate dialogue,” Krull said. “We’re trying to provide a safe space for people to explore their own faith journeys and how they relate to God.”

One way GSC creates this space is through their weekly worship meetings Tuesdays at 8 p.m. in Loose Lounge; four student leaders work with Presbyterian pastor Kirsten Klepfer to guide the group and help create a welcoming community.

“We come together. We sing worship songs. Sometimes we have a student just share his or her reflections,” Krull said.

Around 15 people usually attend the worship sessions. Krull and Peek encouraged anyone interested to join them.

“We’ve seen an increase in our numbers this semester, which is really exciting,” Krull said.

GSC also facilitates two Bible study groups, with around eight members each. One group is called Queer and Christian and is meant specifically for people who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, as well as Christian.

“Those two [identities], being queer and Christian, that are often seen as very different, can actually come together and be a really great identity,” Krull said.

The other Bible study is an Inductive Bible study, which Krull co-leads with Clare Gunshenan ’14. It focuses on the text and is designed to be accessible to people without prior knowledge of Christianity.

Peek said that GSC formed because she and other students saw the need for a space on campus for students to examine and embrace their faith.

Before GSC existed, there was a group on campus called Grinnell College Christian Fellowship (GCCF), which didn’t allow LGBT students to be leaders in the group. GCCF no longer exists as an official student group.

Peek also acknowledged that the formation of GSC was partially in response to GCCF, but said that their primary motivation was to create a different kind of space on campus that would be more inclusive.

In addition to their worship sessions and Bible studies, GSC organizes the 2 a.m. pancake events during the Hell Weeks of both semesters for stressed out students.

They also act as Friends of 10/10, handing out water bottles and animal crackers to people at the party and also annually cook quiches for Community Meal.

“It’s just a good way for us to get outside of the campus community and serve the Grinnell community,” Peek said.

Ethan Kenvarg ’12 shares his City Year experience with Grinnellians. Photo by Joanna Silverman.

Former Grinnellian Ethan Kenvarg ’12 returned this week to talk to current students about his experience thus far working as a Biology tutor with City Year at Kelvyn Park High School in West Side Chicago. City Year, a non-profit organization which partners with low-performing schools in urban areas, offers volunteers between the ages of 17 and 24 the opportunity to work with at-risk students who may be likely to drop out of school. The mentors help them with attendance, behavior, and course performance through tutoring and personal guidance. Kenvarg ’12 sat down with S&B reporter Kelly Pyzik ’16 to share what he has gained so far in his experience with City Year. 

What inspired you to join City Year?

My brother did City Year when he graduated high school. He was ready to go off to college and my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. He said, “I’m not going to leave now.” So he stayed home and took care of my mom.

He decided to do City Year while he was at home. He fundamentally changed as a person. He became way more mature and more caring and thoughtful. I said, “Wow, what a great organization that can do that for him.” He just cared so deeply about the students he worked with.

When I was figuring out what the heck to do with my life after Grinnell, I applied to a bunch of things and then my roommate was doing City Year and he said, “Well, why don’t you apply, too?” So, I did, and I got in, and I moved to Chicago.

I figured it would be good and I would improve as a person, but I wasn’t super gung-ho about it. There are a lot of people who are like, “Yeah! City Year! I’m going to do it and it’s going to be the best thing!” I just sort of fell into it. I knew it was going to be good, but I didn’t know what I was going to do or how it was going to be good for me. It has been phenomenal. I got lucky.

What are the changes you have seen your team make in the school throughout the year so far?

Numbers-wise, we’ve increased student attendance, and the core-passing rate for the freshman class is highest at our school out of all the classes. There’s a good attitude with kids who wouldn’t otherwise have it. I think it’s hard to say, “My team has had this impact with these numbers,” because, really, I look at it on an individual basis.

I know I have worked with kids who would be failing their class if I weren’t working with them, and for me, that’s the most significant impact that my team has had. We just get a lot of kids to pass. I think whenever a kid says, “Oh, I get it,” that’s really nice. I had a kid the other day say, “Man, I’m doing my work. This is great.” That was really cool. I think the little successes for me are way more significant than anything.

What do you think you have personally gained most from your experience?

A lot. I deal with stress a lot better. I have learned to work with a team and with people who are very different from me. Every day is very different at school. I never go into school and know exactly what’s going to happen that day. There are always situations that come up that you don’t know how to deal with and you have to figure it out.

Sometimes you mess up and sometimes you do it right, but you always learn from that experience. I haven’t felt like I’ve packed this much learning into any amount of time in my life. Even at Grinnell, I wasn’t learning as much as I am at this job. Every day is something new—that’s the personal growth aspect. 

What do you think makes the personal interactions kids have with City Year members so effective?

The uniform is really important. That’s something that Dylan [Bondy ’16] was saying—it’s a universal skin. There are people on my team, like a black girl from Detroit, and then there’s me. If you look at us, you’re going to be like, “Well, that one’s different from that one.”

The kids are especially interested in those judgment calls than someone who is open-minded like a Grinnellian. If I can walk in with this universal skin, this uniform, they don’t know what to make of it. I’m suddenly this neutral person who comes in, and then I can interact with that kid. It eliminates the bias that those kids might have.

And, I think the fact that you’re between the ages of 17 and 24. You’re someone near their age, you know what they like, and you know what songs they listen to: you’re relatable in that way. You’re not a peer. You’re not a teacher. You’re a near-peer. You’re someone who is in this space between a teacher and a student and that’s nice. You can fill that space very well, I think, as a corps member.

From left to right, Ian Gold, Pooj Padmaraj, Will Jackson, Robert Mulry (all ’13) and Moira Donovan ’14 let out their inner animals. Photo by Tela Ebersole.

By Yishi Liang, liangyis@grinnell.edu

On December 7, the S&B published an article on the potentially substandard living conditions of off-campus houses. The photo that accompanied this article was of the house on 1005 High Street, and the current residents of the house, Moira Donovan ’14, Ian Gold, ’13, Will Jackson ’13, Robert Mulry ’13 and Pooj Padmaraj ’13, would like to take this opportunity to defend the substandard building they consider their home.

The atmosphere of the house is built around the long-standing friendships between its members, which go back to their first year at Grinnell. Jackson and Padmaraj were roommates, and all the housemates, excluding Donovan, lived in Loose Hall. Despite being a later addition to the group, Donovan still plays a vital role in the house.

“I’m just like their live-in butler,” Donovan admitted. “They hired me after the first semester.”

However, not everyone agrees with her self-proclaimed job title.

“She does a really good job of making it as dirty as possible for us,” Mulry countered.

Their long friendships have led to the foundation of a close-knit community where lighthearted verbal abuses are all in good fun.

“People are surprised by how much we are constantly insulting each other,” Gold said.

The friends also have a gentler side, offering up their house as a home to several stray animals in town, including a mouse in the pantry and stray cats on the porch. Some might see this as part of the group’s unhygienic lifestyle, but every member has gotten more in touch with their animal side since living in the house.

“Every full moon, we transform,” Padmaraj revealed.

Jackson provided a translation.

“Basically, we all wear furry costumes when it’s a full moon,” he said.

This seemingly simple tradition has given all of members a new perspective on life.

“We fight against animal cruelty because we’ve experienced it firsthand,” Mulry proclaimed.

In addition to the five official members and their unconventional pets, the house is also home to honorary residents Veronica Varon ’10, Mulry’s “girlfriend,” and a severed, bearded mannequin head named Norman.

“Everything about the house can be seen through [Norman’s] eyes,” said Gold.

This notion of an unconventional view on the world is a defining characteristic of the house. This may be due to the vastly diverse interests of all its members, all of whom have different majors, ranging from Religious Studies to Biology. And it is clearly evident in the distinct artwork that hangs on the walls, such as the many representations of their spirit animals (the owl and cheetah) and the extensive library, which includes four copies of the Quran.

The addition of these personal touches has helped make the house anything but substandard. However, these invaluable items were in danger of being lost forever during The Great Flood.

“Ian Byrd [’16] left the water on in the upstairs bathroom and flooded the entire first floor,” Jackson said.

This incident is something that all off-campus residents put themselves in risk of when they open up their home to social soirees. But it still won’t stop the group from carrying on with their weekly tradition.

“Every Monday we hold #MNBG, which is Monday Night Beer Games,” Jackson shared.

But these games, which are also sponsored by Krispy Kreme Donuts, Buffalo Wild Wings and Jimmy John’s, are not to be taken lightly.

“We do pull-ups until we get blisters,” Gold said. The competition is likely no problem for Padramaj and Donovan, who are established triathletes, and Mulry, a biathlete.

Athletes, artists, friends, animal-lovers, and animals on occasion: the residents of 1005 embody all walks of life. Their house has been the opportunity for most of them to share their final semester at Grinnell with some of their oldest friends here. The lifestyle at 1005 High Street is far from substandard and instead, has set a new standard for off-campus living.

Contributed.

6:50 a.m.—Alarm goes off and I instinctively hit snooze.

7:20 a.m.—Alarm goes off again, which means it’s been half an hour since it first went off (It always feels like it’s only been 5 minutes)…I check my email and read the news—it’s become something of a ritual.

7:24 a.m.—Get out of bed, get my ‘SWAG’ on a.k.a. head to the bathroom (since I’m all about intellectual property and all that jazz, I’d like to give credit to Souljaboy)

7:25 a.m.—I look outside and it’s snowing…again! I remind myself that it’s sunny and warm somewhere in the world (home)

8:00 a.m.—Get done getting dressed… good things take time.

8:10 a.m.—I make it to the eggs to order line and realize there’s like a million people waiting for eggs. I do a quick analysis of the situation and decide to get a waffle, the next best option. The opportunity cost (ECN-111) of waiting in line was going to be too great.

8:29 a.m.—Still in the dining hall because I met my ‘roommate’ Benjamin Vaughn [’15]. He tells me about the endless number of things he has to get done and I tell him I have no class. He says he hates me (he doesn’t really) and then runs off to catch his 8:30 a.m. class.

10:25 a.m.—At work sending emails to future Grinnellians. I love my job! I really do. Emails, prospies and hot chocolate!

12 p.m.—Head to the Grille in time for outtakes. It’s meatloaf. Get my lunch bag and turn to head out. Run into Gwenna [Ihrie ’15] and her inseparable roommate Jordan [Schellinger ’15]—end up talking to them for a good half hour.

1:00 p.m.—Get to finally eat my outtake. Meet up with Natalie Duncombe ’15 (she’s an African princess…like really though) to talk about our Altbreak trip to Texas.

2:00 p.m.—Homework in Noyce.

5:12 p.m.—Been in Noyce for over 3 hours and I’m only halfway through my chemistry problem set. Head to the Bear to workout. (Pandora is an amazing thing!)

6:15 p.m.—Leave the Bear and realize it’s snowing yet again! What is this life?

6:30 p.m.—Dinner! (Spend half an hour playing hide and seek with the silverware) Run into Meg and Emma. I spend most of dinner trying to explain to them something about pyramids

8:03 p.m. —Mentor session.

9:10 p.m.—Run to my 9 p.m. meeting

9:45 p.m.—Still at the meeting when someone says something about bison. I know it’s time to leave.

10:00 p.m.—Back in Noyce.

1:00 a.m.—Call home (time zones can be a pain).

Photo by Connie Lee.

Harris held more than ‘90s music and Baby Bottle Pops last weekend. There were also wedding dresses and lingerie from the Grinnell Wedding Show, organized by Charity Fairchild Kirsch, manager of Flowers on Fourth, in conjunction with the College. All attendees had the opportunity to win gift certificates from local businesses such as Flowers on Fourth, Hyvee and Old School Candy.

Many of the vendors offered free samples and helpful advice for organizing a wedding. The event aimed to provide brides to be with a one-stop location to plan their entire wedding. There were booths for photographers, wedding venues, desserts and even bachelorette parties.

 Kirsch organized the event to promote local businesses and to inform Grinnell residents that even in a small town, a bride can plan her wedding without having to travel to Des Moines or Iowa City.

  “[The show] is a good way to get people’s name out. There are different services and vendors here at Grinnell,” Kirsch said. “We can get people to keep their business here. We have these at-home shops and businesses that people don’t always know about.”

—Compiled by Connie Lee,

leeconni@grinnell.edu

Photo by Devon Gamble.

5:30 a.m.—Alarm goes off.  Hit snooze.

6:30 a.m.—Get up and make coffee. Feed the cats, forage for breakfast food for me. Settle on a muffin I found in the freezer and fight Gibbs, my cat, for the crumbs. Must remember to make more yogurt tonight.

6:45 a.m.—Turn on the iPad and check the headlines, Facebook and Twitter. Nothing like a little wisdom from George Takei to start the morning. Check my mail accounts for any danger lurking in the day ahead.

7:00 a.m.—Shower and get ready for work.

7:45 a.m.—Stop by Saint’s Rest for a soy latte. Do I need two shots of espresso?  Absolutely!

8:00 a.m.—On call this morning so check the email account, log in to chat and take the beeper from the Circ Desk. See request for articles from ScienceDirect, so get those and send them to the student.

8:01 a.m.—Find that my assistant and his cohort turned the Vault in Special Collections into Dr. Who’s TARDIS in my absence yesterday. Totally amazing!

8:40 a.m.—Prepare for presentation to alumni about archival materials and Digital Grinnell (http://digital.grinnell.edu)

9:45 a.m.—Hand off the beeper while I go to the JRC for more coffee and to check the mailroom for any publications we might have missed for the archives. The student cashier knows what I usually get and has it waiting for me by the time I get to the head of the line.

10:00 a.m.—Library Management Council meeting, the weekly conclave of college librarians. On the agenda: planning for a library renovation that won’t happen until long after I retire

11:30 a.m.—Meeting over, so back to office to check email. Get call from Communications Office needing photo from the archives for press release.

11:45 a.m.—Photo is scanned and sent off.

12:00 p.m.—Turn in beeper and go to lunch. Do I have time to catch the end of the Perry Mason episode? Even though I know who did it? Oh yeah!

1:00 p.m.—Back to work to plan our next exhibition in Burling.

1:55 p.m.—Web conference call regarding ILEAD grant that will help us scan photos and letters and other stuff from people throughout Poweshiek County.

3:00 p.m.—Library lab appointment with student, so head up to Research Desk to meet.

3:45 p.m.—Quick run to staff room for coffee. Drat!  It’s been sitting on the burner too long.  Spend a few minutes cleaning out the sludge from the bottom of the carafe.

3:50 p.m.—Back to office.

5:00 p.m.—Head to grocery store for supper supplies. Vegetable Thai curry sounds yummy.

5:30 p.m.—Make supper and enjoy a rare evening with no class, rehearsal, or other commitments.

6:30 p.m.—Decide to sort through some laundry. Throw in a load and while I’m in the basement, clean out the kitty litter boxes.

8:00 p.m.—Clean up the kitchen a bit and then watch some TV and read This is the life!

10:00 p.m.—Jammies and bedtime. Must finish this book, though. Only 3 more chapters.

Photo contributed.

Bruce Weindruch ’78 was recently invited back to Grinnell College as part of the Career Development Office’s Career Connection Program. Weindruch graduated from Grinnell with a B.A. in American Civilization and a minor in Education. He then went on to pursue a Ph.D from George Washington University and Smithsonian Affiliation Ph.D. program but never received it before deciding to start his own business, The History Factory. During his visit back to Grinnell, Weindruch sat down with Yishi Liang of the S&B and shared his many experiences within the history field and thoughts on how the College has changed since his time here.

You worked with the Smithsonian before starting your own business. What did you do there?

I worked for the National Portrait Gallery, which in those days was almost a brand new institution. It wasn’t part of the traditional Smithsonian career path; no one knew what it was. It was in the middle of the old town DC, and people didn’t really want to go there because it was very rundown then. They knew they weren’t going to get people to come there, so they were building an outreach program.

The idea of the outreach was to send people out to schools or senior living facilities, people who were going to visit the gallery, and we were going to role-play with them. Then, when they came to the portrait gallery, they would already understand the people who were in the portraits. My job was to go out and conduct these role-playing activities and when they came to the portrait gallery, I would conduct the tours.

What made you decide to start your business after that?

One thing that I had always been interested in from my Grinnell years was business biography or business history. While at graduate school and at the Smithsonian, any question that ever came up about business history or economic history, I had an answer to it. What happened was I started to become known as the guy who you could go to about business history. They started referring people to me. Companies would say, “We can’t help you, but there’s this guy.” And I started to consult. That’s why I transitioned to a business.

And how did you make that transition?

What was really happening was that in 1979, my wife, who’s a Grinnell grad, and I had our first child. I was a T.A. [teaching assistant]. I was in graduate school, I was working at the Smithsonian and I was consulting. We just had a baby, and she couldn’t find me during the day. She said I needed a place, since there were no cell phones then, where I would she could call me if she needed me. I said, “Okay, I’ll get a little office somewhere.” I went to get a lease on a little tiny room, but they wouldn’t give it to me without an Articles of Incorporation. So I went [out] at lunch, incorporated, show them my Articles of Incorporation, they gave me a lease [and] I put in a phone. That’s why I started a business—I needed a phone.

How did your education at Grinnell and at the Smithsonian help you start your business?

I took a lot of what I had learned in American Studies here, like interpretative technique and ways to look at history. Then, I took a lot of things I had learned in the museum world about how to tell a story for an audience. And I thought, “Why can’t I do this for a company? Why can’t I tell the story of a company in a way that their employees, their community can relate to them?” The idea was to design things that informed people using history. My partner was a designer and I was the historian.

Another Grinnell connection, a buddy of mine from Grinnell gave me a PC in 1979. That was when PCs had just started. I took that PC and archived with it. Pretty soon, we realized we were building databases. We realized we might have a business. That’s how I started.

The History Factory is liberal arts, applied and monetized. I basically monetized a lot of the things I learned in American Studies and the museum business.

The major you had (American Civilization) is no longer offered at Grinnell. Why do you think that is?

I think American Civ. is kind of like wrestling at the Olympics. They’re not going to do wrestling at the Olympics anymore. It’s because for many years, people who wrestled would say, “We’re the heart of the ancient Olympics. We don’t need to defend ourselves.” And basically I believe that American Civ. here did not make itself relevant. When I was here it was, “We have the second oldest American Civ. program. Yale was first. We were second.“ Well, what’s that got to do with anything? I honestly believe that it did not make itself relevant and, because of that, it went away.

I also think as the College has to prioritize resources, their bandwidth is narrowed. And I think that students, as they worry about the job market, didn’t see the applicability of it. Had I been around, I would’ve made sure that they did. American Civilization was just any discipline using American examples. History, psychology, philosophy, religion, I did all of them. And it gave me a worldview that was very applicable to the business world as a consultant.

What else has changed about Grinnell since you attended?

The amazing thing is I did not come back to Grinnell after I graduated until two years ago. So I literally had not been here for maybe 31 years. The most amazing thing is the campus now has seemingly a focus. This street [8th Avenue] has a focus. It seems to me almost that this street is the gateway into Grinnell. I like it. I like that fact that it is now proportionally filled in and makes sense. When I was here, it didn’t make sense. There was North and South [Campus], the Forum, a gym way over there. Nothing made sense.

And the students?

I have to be honest with you, the kids look the same. I would say we weren’t always as fashionable. My son went to Davidson. At Davidson, they did your laundry. It looked like a J. Crew catalogue. My daughter goes to Kenyon. I have a senior in high school who’s looking at liberal arts schools. None of them were interested in Grinnell. They thought it was too weird.

Correction: The original article said Bruce Weindruch had received a Ph.D from George Washington University. However, Weindruch had attended the program but did not receive the degree. The S&B apologizes for this error.

Sociology Professor Davíd Cook-Martín presents his new book. Photo by Ellen Schoenmaker.

By Stephen Gruber-Miller, grubermi@grinnell.edu

Sociology Professor Davíd Cook-Martín unveiled his new book, The Scramble for Citizens: Dual Nationality and State Competition for Immigrants, at a reading on Tuesday.
This is the first book Cook-Martín has published. It originated as his dissertation project at the University of California, Los Angeles, before evolving into an interdisciplinary study of why people obtain dual citizenship and what it means to them.
Cook-Martín kept the presentation interesting and light-hearted as well as informative. He made a number of jokes, poking fun at his research method of walking around consulates and asking people about their search for citizenship. If the consulate didn’t realize he was doing research, he was sometimes asked to leave.
The book is unusual in that its methods are very interdisciplinary. It was primarily researched using the historical approach of archival research and the more traditional approach of ethnography.
“There is a tradition of historical comparative work in sociology. Max Weber and others were basically historical comparativists,” Cook-Martín said. “And so I think that I stand firmly in that tradition, but I also have been very comfortable using the methods developed by other disciplines so long as they help me answer the kinds of questions that I was after.”
Cook-Martín worked with quantitative data as well as qualitative records. He put together statistics on migrations of people from one country to another, but the numbers aren’t his main concern.
“You try as a sociologist to get the story behind the numbers,” he said.
The book used Argentina, Italy and Spain as its main cases of study. Cook-Martín mentioned at the reading that, due to nationalism and other historical conditions, it was much harder to obtain dual citizenship a hundred years ago. The numbers have greatly increased dramatically over the last century and he wants to understand why.
At the presentation on Tuesday, Cook-Martín read from a section of his book which told the story of Victoria, an Argentine woman who was trying to obtain a second citizenship in either Italy or Spain. His goal is to figure out what sort of motivations people like Victoria have for gaining dual citizenship.
“I often start with a story of someone that I encountered and work back from that to the historical circumstances that made that situation possible,” Cook-Martín said.
In many cases he found that people began the process of applying for dual nationality thinking of it simply as a type of insurance against outsourcing and economic uncertainty brought on by globalization. There usually wasn’t strong motivation to find their family roots or return to their ancestral homeland despite the fact that many had connections to the country to which they were applying for citizenship.
However, he noted that once they started finding old documents and learning the stories of their relatives, they often began to see the process as important to them personally because of their ancestry.
Through his research, Cook-Martín found the results of dual citizenship between countries causing unintended consequences. For instance, large numbers of Argentines with Italian citizenship vote in Italian elections without knowing anything about politics in Italy.
Besides examining what dual citizenship means to people, the other major research question that The Scramble for Citizens examines is the interconnectedness of immigration laws between countries. Cook-Martín found that there is intense competition between countries for skilled workers, which affects their immigration laws.
Cook-Martín has a second book coming out next year that will continue his research and concentrate more specifically on racial discrimination in immigration legislation across a wider variety of countries.

Contributed.

6:30 a.m.—Alarm goes off, I get out of bed and I start a morning bike ride with an episode of Community.

6:54 a.m.—Community ends. Switch to Pandora!

7:15 a.m.—Finish my morning ride and get ready for class. I realize that bringing my Peugeot and trainer to Grinnell was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

7:56 a.m.—Head off to my 8 a.m. German Class.

9:30 a.m. —Realize that I already need a nap.

10:00 a.m. —Enter Princess Palace, realize Fuji [Lindsay Fujimoto] ’15 is at class and nap in her bed anyways.

10:30 a.m.—Wake up and head to Noyce early. Run into Professor Wolf [Mathematics] who tells me a funny joke.

10:41 a.m.—Text Connie [Lee] ’15 about playing racquetball today.

10:43 a.m.—Response causes great disappointment because Connie can’t, but this quickly subsides because we reschedule for tomorrow.

11:00 a.m.—Abstract Algebra starts.

11:50 a.m.—Done with classes for the day.

11:52 a.m.—Play a game of foosball. (winner winner chicken dinner)

12:00 p.m.—Check mail. Realize the rest of my tax information came. Contemplate doing my taxes, decide today is not the day.

12:05 p.m.—Realize all I have to eat is spinach. So I go to the Grille to grab some chicken to eat with it. In the Grille, I run into softball teammates Alyssa [Bean] ’16 and Jess [Jessica Menary] ’13.

1:00 p.m.—Head to the Bear for a captain’s meeting with coach.

1:05 p.m.—Realize meeting is actually next week, stay and chat with coaches anyways.

1:45 p.m.—Head to Party Cove with every intention of doing homework. Do homework until Tuchi [Dylan Bartuch] ’15 returns and realize that homework is now an unrealistic expectation.

3:00 p.m.—Tuchi leaves for class (sad) and homework resumes. By homework I mean looking up life hacks. So many things one can do with a binder clip.

4:30 p.m.—Begin softball practice. Best part of the day!

6:35 p.m.—Practice is over. Jess and I take an ice bath. Brrrr Thank you Scilla [Priscilla Lowther, Athletic Trainer]!

7:00 p.m.—We head to dinner.

7:30 p.m.—Back to Party Cove for back massages.

8:00 p.m.—Fuji and I learn how to play 2K and complete what may be the lowest scoring game in 2K history.

8:30 p.m.—Fuji and I realize snacks would be way better than studying. Anthony LaMacchia [’16] and Tuchi decide to stay in the Cove, insisting they aren’t hungry.

8:45 p.m.—We return and the smell of Grille food drives LaMacchia and Tuchi to realize that they actually want Grille food. They leave almost immediately.

8:46 p.m.—Fuji and I commence jumping on the beds and shooting the Rocky poster with Nerf guns for target practice.

9:00 p.m.—We realize we actually have a lot of work to do and studying begins.

1:15 a.m.—I head back to Spanish House and hit the hay. Upon setting my alarm, realize I have to be up for work in 4 hours. Oops, I guess I’ll need another nap in Princess Palace tomorrow.

By Kevin Hong, hongze@grinnell.edu

Harris this semester has been packed full of events—from all-campus parties for students to this weekend’s bridal show. Last semester, traditional parties such as Fetish, Red Light Green Light and ’80s were hits, introducing first years to the Harris culture and reminding upperclassmen of what they missed over summer break. Some upcoming parties at Harris this semester include ’90s Harris, to be held tomorrow night, ABC Harris, Mary B. James and Disco Harris.

After helping to host the ’90s Harris last year, Andrew Frerick ’14 decided to do it again, but this time he will be organizing the party.

“My brother was the ACE chair last year, and that was my first Harris experience in terms of organizing it,” Frerick said. “I’m really excited to do it on my own this year. So far, I’ve been working on decorations and I’m picking posters now. I’m also ordering a lot of ’90s candies, Baby Bottle pops, Push Pops and the like.”

Frerick will DJ along with Joy Sales ’13; they plan to show a three-hour long music video to accompany their playlist.

“Joy has DJ’ed many Harris parties before and seem to be well-liked. So now we are working together to make a 3 hour long playlist,” Frerick said. “Our music tastes are a little bit different, so it’s going to be a good mixture of all ’90s stuff.”

Having grown up in the ’90s, Frerick is looking forward to hearing his favorite elementary school tunes at Harris.

“As the song is changing, all of a sudden there is a click in your head; it might be a song that you haven’t heard in 10 years but in your head, you know the words. And this is what happened to me last year; a song that I’ve never heard since I was 12, but I still know every single word,” Frerick said.

The Harris following ’90s is a bit more modern and much less clothed. ABC Harris, which stands for “anything but clothes,” was organized as a team effort with Shelby Carroll ’13 as the main organizer.

“I have heard of the party idea before coming to Grinnell, but I think a couple people on the volleyball team and some of my friends came up with this idea together,” Carroll said.

Though the name is a little provocative, Carroll thinks it should be understood in a more positive way.

“It’s not supposed to be anything inappropriate, but a kind of creative event where people come up with funny ideas [about] how to cover themselves without clothes, so it’s like Halloween all over again, but you have to use something that’s new,” Carroll said.

Overall, there seems to be a lot more original Harris parties than previous semesters.

“This semester there was an overwhelming response of people wanting to throw non-traditional Harris parties,” said Chloe Griffen ’14, SGA All Campus Events Coordinator. “And there’s still people who want to throw non-traditional Harris parties. There’s not even enough room on the calendar to put them all on there.”

Organizing Harris parties is simple and straightforward.

“ACE has been really making it easy for us and many other people who are hosting Harris,” Shelby said. “Some of the things that we need to do include hiring or finding some servers for the alcohol, letting security know the dates and times and talking to Michael Sims about lighting and platforms.”

Whoever is hosting the party meets with Michael Sims, Director of Campus Center Operations and Student Activities, prior to having the party.

“We sit down and go through a checklist of things. If they are doing decorations, then I go through the do’s and don’ts, but the students themselves who are hosting the party are responsible for putting decorations up and making sure that they are down at the end of the party,” Sims said. “Our goal is to oversee and help students follow the policies and procedures that are set up.”

If Grinnellians have creative ideas for new Harris themes or campus parties, ACE welcomes applications.

“Last semester, myself and my committee wanted people to get involved and realize that they have control over Harris,” Griffen said. “You can basically throw any kind of Harris party that you want to.”

Christie Peterson and Emiliy Stuchiner (both ’15) play with puppies at the Wellness Fair Tuesday evening at the JRC. Photo by Joanna Silverman.

As Grinnellians headed to the D-hall this past Tuesday, they were met with numerous stations with condoms, plants and beer goggles. For the past five years, the Wellness Fair, hosted by the Wellness Program and Grinnell Regional Medical Center, has continuously strived to reflect a diverse range of ways to improve health and wellness.

“I think it’s important to see different clubs represented on campus run by students concerned about health and passing the knowledge on to others,” said Jen Jacobsen ’95, Wellness Coordinator and one of the organizers of the fair.

The diversity of this year’s fair did not disappoint, with a wide variety of tables and activities. Students were able to plot their own plants at the Hall Wellness Coordinator’s (HWC) station, and pick up a packet of hot chocolate to go. The HWC’s table was so popular that many of the supplies ran out in the first hour.

“After our HWC trip to Denmark, our goal has become to think up ways to promote hygge, which is a Danish word for ‘cozy’. The candles and plants help create this cozy vibe we’re looking to achieve,” said Austin McKenney ’14, Loosehead HWC.

Another popular station was SHACS’ “Design Your Own Condom” activity, coordinated through the ONE condom company; ONE condoms are known for having creative designs on their wrappers, such as “ONE great catch” and “rubber ducky, you’re the ONE.”

Students who designed condoms could submit their creations to ONE, as the company is rewarding an individual with $1000 for the best and most creative condom wrapper design.

Alongside the crafty station was an abundance of ONE condoms for students to take; these condoms are also always given away in SHACS.

Grinnell Regional Medical Center’s contribution was crucial to the Wellness Fair, as GRMC coordinated the massage chairs that many Grinnellians lined up to use.

Additionally, the Grinnell Police Department held a table to promote the Citizens Police Academy. Their booth handed out sticker replications of GPD badges and “drunk goggles” that simulated the vision of someone with a BAC level of 0.08.

The police academy provides skills related to sobriety testing, narcotics detection training, firearms training, defensive tactics and criminal investigation.

“The academy helps show the things we go through when we were training, but at a lower level. Mostly, it helps place emphasis on how and why we do the things we do,” said Officer Mick Dickenson.

Clubs such as Active Minds were also present at the fair to promote the awareness of mental illness on campus.

“Our goal was to raise awareness about the prevalence of mental health issues on college campuses as well as destigmatize mental health,” said Daria Brosius ’15,  leader of the Active Minds group on campus and copy editor for the S&B.

McKenney echoed Brosius’ concern about a lack of attention toward mental health.

“I don’t think mental health is a priority on campus, which is obviously not a good thing. It often takes a backseat to getting everything else done. I do think the Wellness Fair helps with that idea,” McKenney said. “Even with just the fruit [that was] out, so many students were grabbing them and making comments on how just eating fruit made them feel more ‘well.’”

As the spring semester settles in with the first round of exams and papers, the Wellness Fair came at a great time to remind Grinnellians to take care of their health by focusing on the seven dimensions of wellness: social, emotional, spiritual, environmental, occupational, intellectual and physical.

By offering a plethora of ways to be healthy aside from exercise and proper diet, the Wellness Program hopes to see Grinnellians continue these practices beyond the annual event.

Photo by Fanchao Zhu.

3:00 a.m.—Wake up to the sound of gunshots. They’re back again.

3:00 and 5 seconds a.m.—Fully clothed and drenched in ammo belts.

3:00 and 10 seconds a.m.—Decide I have way too many ammo belts on. Take a few off. I bust outside.

9:00 a.m.—It’s the morning and the birds are bumpin’. Damn, I lost track of time.

9:30 a.m.—Find my comrades behind in Rathje lounge, and I ask, “Guys, what the f*ck are you doing in Rathje lounge?”

1:00 p.m.— “Dude, you will not believe who is teaching us hip–hop dance lessons!! Master Chief!” And right as I’m about to go hug Master Chief, I smash my face on the ceiling.

Actual 8:30 a.m.—Wake up faster than little Billy on Christmas day. I’m late for class, but I now face the question that every breakfast go-er knows about. Should I get to class on time, or get Eggs to Order? Stupid question.

8:45 a.m.—Smash my head on the Eggs to Order sign, trying to prove to everybody else in the line that I can touch the ceiling.

9:00 a.m.—Pull up into my class, rolling two miles an hour, so errbody sees me.

9:00–1:00 p.m.—Class, homework.

1:01 p.m.—Lunch, Summer [Fitzpatrick-Keith ’16] cooks me some badass pasta. I highly recommend his cooking.

1:15 p.m.—Get to lab. I’m never late for lab.

4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.—A mix of basketball and eating. I pretty much black out for the whole time. Or at least that’s what people tell me. I can’t really remember…

8:00 p.m. until I fall asleep—Wrestle/watch Avatar with Zev [Braun ’15].

24/7—Singing. National anthem. Pokémon theme song. Beyoncé. Chistmas carols. You name it.

Grinnell students who fear they will graduate from a liberal arts college without having learned any life skills should try their hands at the college ExCo program.

ExCo, which is short for Experimental College, allows members of the Grinnell community to share their passions and interests by teaching unconventional classes. Although the majority of teachers are usually students, anybody can teach a class, including faculty, staff and even those unaffiliated with the College.

There are twelve courses being taught this semester, as compared to ten taught last semester. This semester, the course selections include “Journey to the Center of Punk,” “Irish Dance” and “Hip-Hop Dance Fundamentals.”

“I think it’s great that you can learn something that would never be offered in an academic class at Grinnell College,” said Jordan Hale ’15, ExCo coordinator. “How else are you supposed to learn things like knitting, or cooking or self-defense? … I really like getting to present people with the opportunity to learn a life skill that they’ve been wanting to learn but obviously isn’t offered as part of academic curriculum at Grinnell.”

Classes will start by the end of the next week. Some classes, like “Algorithms & Robots,” have already met. In this class, meant to teach basic programming skills in a fun environment, students are taught how to instruct robotic cars to play music, move, take photos and make drawings.

“Many students stayed after finishing the lab we’d planned, because they wanted to learn new commands and continue experimenting with the robots,” said Kate Ingersoll ’13, one of the class’ teachers.

Grace Gallagher ’15, who will be teaching students how to knit, was motivated by her swim team.

“I decided to do it because while making mittens on the 26 hour bus ride to Florida with the swim team, a lot of my teammates were asking me to teach them… I’m still figuring out how I’m going to teach [more than 50] people how to knit all at once,” Gallagher said.

Austin McKenney ’15 is teaching a class entitled “Journey to the Center of Punk,” where students will learn a brief history of punk music and culture.

“I wanted to do this class because it’s a subject very near and dear to my heart. I want to change attitudes about punk, which tends to get a bad rap, and I think it’s a fascinating way to study politically turbulent times from the perspective of the counterculture,” McKenney said. “I’m super pumped. … It’s basically an excuse to listen and talk about my favorite albums. I’m really excited to get to talking about American Hardcore in the ’80s.”

The ExCo program is funded by the Student Government Association (SGA). This semester, ExCo has a budget of $900, which Hale has to allocate amongst the twelve classes.

“Allocating the budget is difficult—it’s very difficult,” Hale said. “Some groups will not ask for any money, which is fantastic. Some of them just want a really small budget for a few material costs. Classes like knitting, cooking [and] art classes, those are going to have quite a bigger budget.”

The three cooking classes, for example, will be allocated about $200 each. But there are some things that ExCo just can’t pay for. Hale listed examples including yarn or t-shirts, which students would keep after the class.

Participation is still going strong for the ExCo program. A significant number of students sign up for classes, but tightly packed schedules sometimes keep them from consistently attending.

“I had fifty-eight sign up [for my class.] But the way ExCo is so informal, not everybody comes to each class,” Hale said. “Last semester, I had a similar number sign up for my international cooking class and we didn’t have that many every time.”

Students who are still interested in taking a class but have not yet signed up should e-mail the respective teachers or the program itself at [exco].

By Yishi Liang. liangyis@grinnell.edu

“What are you interested in studying?” “What are you planning on majoring in?” “What field do you want to go into?” From the moment new students arrive on campus, they are bombarded with questions about their academic goals. Many know exactly what it is they want to study, while some only know what division, and others have no idea whatsoever. With so much to consider for each major, such as personal interest, course load and postgraduate plans, there is undoubtedly some anxiety surrounding the whole process—despite having almost two years to declare a major.

However, Grinnell is a school defined by individuality and self-governance. If students think that none of the offered majors meet their specific academic goals, they can choose to declare an independent major. However, that is not to say that students can invent any sort of major they would like.

Instead, it means that students have the option to create a major that incorporates many different fields and departments so as to truly embody their intellectual interest. An independent major allows a student to build an individualized course curriculum with guidance from College faculty. It is not something that can be done on a whim.

Independent majors require all the same general guidelines as the traditional majors along with a some additional requirements, which include a written proposal, a student-designed curriculum, two academic advisors, and 40 credits pertaining to that major.

Cheryl Chase, Registrar, cites these requirements as some of the key reasons discouraging potential independent majors. In fact, in the past twelve years, there have only been about 7 independent majors per graduating class, with only one in the class of 2013.

Despite the seemingly loaded process of declaring an independent major, there are students who willingly take on this task for the sake of fulfilling their interests and goals. Two of these students are Brian Buckley ’14 and Joey Brown ’15.

Buckley, an American Studies major with a focus on literature and film, is passionate about receiving an interdisciplinary education. He was committed enough to transfer from Wesleyan University after his first year, despite their well-established American Studies department.

“The mainstream notion of declaring a major is that you declare something you want to do after college,” Buckley said. “But I plan to do a lot of different things after college, so [an independent major] made sense for me for what I want to do.”

For Brown, who is still undeclared but whose main interest is education, the fact that Grinnell does not offer education as either a major or concentration did not discourage him from the field. He is currently considering a major in Educational Studies. One of the driving forces for Brown’s major is his postgraduate plan.

“I intend to teach,” Brown said. “I want to look at the system of education through an anthropological and sociological lens.”

Postgraduate plans are perhaps another deterring factor for independent majors. Some students believe that these majors may not be easily understood by graduate schools and potential employers as traditional majors. Brown acknowledges that he still has concerns of the recognition his major will receive.

“Having an independent major as opposed to an accredited major is something I’ll have to explain,” Brown noted. “But I think with my endorsements [from the College] and my interest, I’d be able to articulate what my independent major is about and the merits of it.”

As for graduate school, it will depend on the individual school and program of study. Chase was confident that independent majors would receive the same chance of receiving a graduate-level education as any other major.

“As my personal opinion, I think grad schools are sometimes looking for depth, but sometimes breadth,” Chase said. “And although your transcript is important, I suspect the application, the essay and the actual coursework is a lot more important.”

However, there are also invaluable personal attributions that come from creating an independent major.

“There’s more intentionality in it. You’re deciding what classes you’re going to take so you care a lot more,” Buckley said. “My hope is that my independent major, along with other people’s, will show the College that there is a push for more interdisciplinary study, with more departments working together to design these majors.”

Back row from left: Michael Sims, Houston Dougharty, Andrea Conner, Brenda Strong, Laura Gogg, Travis Greene, Hannah Langley. Front row: Nancy Guinane, Karen Edwards and Ann Isgrig. Photo by Avery Rowlison

By Avery Rowlison, rowlison@grinnell.edu

It’s the sweet life working in the Student Affairs suite on the third floor of the JRC. The suite is home to 18 of the 40 members of Student Affairs, who have worked there for periods ranging from 18 months (Nancy Guinane, Technical Assistant) to 16 years (Brenda Strong, Technical Assistant). Most students are aware that Student Affairs staff is in charge of making the important decisions surrounding student life on campus, but what they don’t know is that the suite and its staff are also party animals.

Laura Gogg, Technical Assistant, began hosting festivities in the office in October 2010, beginning with “Suite Eats,” in which each month, a staff member brings in something to share with the rest of the suite. Shortly after, Gogg threw a Halloween party. During that first party, Strong dressed as a housewife of Poweshiek County and recalled that Andrea Conner, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life & Orientation, didn’t recognize her in her costume.

Gogg also organizes tailgating parties for the University of Iowa-Iowa State football games. Although the tension runs high during the game, members of the staff don’t hold grudges over each other’s allegiances.

“It’s really a lot of fun,” Gogg said.

The Student Affairs staff clearly loves its football: the suite is also host to the annual Super Bowl party where yummy food, football and Super Bowl trivia are abundant.

One of the staff’s favorite events is the Annual Student Affairs Suite Memorial Celebrity Cold Weather Awareness Pro-Am Chili Cook-Off Challenge, often judged by celebrities such as Scott Turley, Executive Chef, and Laura Kaiser, Assistant Director of Dining Services. The coveted prize is the winning trophy, and, of course, bragging rights.

“Laura [Gogg] has won two out of three years,” said Travis Greene, Dean of Students, “She’s an excellent cook.”

The popcorn machine is very popular with the staff, but the addition of a snow cone machine has everyone very excited.

“Holy crap, this changes everything,” Conner said upon hearing about the machine.

Another staple feature in the office is the candy bowl on the front desk. Students are highly encouraged to stop by and pick up a piece or two. Most people who come up also enjoy the framed class photos in the sitting area in the suite.

“Almost every student who comes up here will spend at least a little time looking for themselves,” said Houston Dougherty, Vice President for Student Affairs.

Besides their monthly meetings, the entire Student Affairs staff gets together Thursdays during the summer at various restaurants in town for a little “TLC.” Since most departments’ schedules calm down over the summer, Student Affairs staff often invites other departments such as Athletics to join them for lunch.

“There are just enough restaurants in town to last us the whole summer,” Greene said.

But partying and student life aren’t the only things the staff enjoys doing. A long-standing pranking war erupted between Gogg and Dan Hirsch, RLC and Assistant Director of Residence Life. Gogg insists that Hirsch started the war by first littering her office with inflatable summer toys and Hershey’s kisses. To retaliate, Gogg put candy corn and Post-It notes all over his office. But Hirsch wasn’t done: he erected a huge poster of Gogg’s face on the wall in her office.

“I think people must think I’m vain, with this huge picture of my face up on the wall,” Gogg said.

So far, Gogg has had the last say in this war. She wrapped everything in Hirsch’s office in Christmas wrapping paper, including his framed photos, tape dispenser, computer mouse, office phone, and the light switch.

“I am really proud that I was able to make the photos stand up after I wrapped them,” Gogg said.

She hopes that this will put an end to their war once and for all.

Although the suite is full of well-known pranksters, there are also many sweet moments between staff members. For Bosses’ Day, Hirsch plastered Conner’s office with a huge motivational and appreciative poster.

While the suite’s social gatherings are fun for everyone, they also serve to forge strong relationships between the staff members.

“When you’re dealing with the hard stuff, it’s good to be around people you like and you work well with during those times,” said Karen Edwards, Associate Dean and Director of International Student Affairs.

“When we hang out, we build relationships so that when we’re working together, those relationships are already there,” Dougherty said.

“We can also refer students to our colleagues and can rely on each other to do a good job,” Edwards said.