Upcoming symposium reaches realm of tickledom

November 5th, 2009 | By Andrew Walsh '09 | Section: Opinion

A ticklish Fall Break has come and gone, and the Grinnell Tickle City Award is once again hunting all around Grinnell to uncover things deserving of the coveted award.

Our first ticklish topic of the week takes us to 915 State St., about a block south of campus. The setting is the Grinnell Bowladrome, a place many students have frequented in past years as part of the Grinnell Bowling Club or the Bowling Physical Education Class and rolled a few casual games with friends. This year, however, a group of five students decided they wanted to experience the ticklish underbelly that is the Grinnell competitive bowling scene and have entered the “King Pin” league, comprised entirely of older, veteran bowlers drawn from the Grinnell community.

Matt Rosenbaum ’12 came up with the idea, and when the students showed up for the first week, they had not yet picked a team name, figuring they would be able to do so when they arrived. When they got there, however, they saw on the league sheet that a name had already been chosen for them—“The Kids.” The team experienced some early success, but some of the league’s better squads, who have been playing together for over 20 years, have proven tough competition. As a result “The Kids” have been spotted either pouting or crying for their parents on a number of occasions. Season highlights to this point include Rosenbaum rolling a slew of 200 games and a couple members of the team hitting puberty, prompting the team to consider a name change.
Grinnell bowling “Kids,” you are tickle city!

Moving forward, on Nov. 10-12 Grinnell College will host a symposium called “Rights and the Environment.” As the official news release reports, the symposium will “explore the delicate relationship between the rights of the environment, humans and animals from the vantage points of democracy, justice and conservation.” It aims to answer questions like whether it’s a human right to control the environment, how animal rights affect impact conservation and whether biological diversity and human activity can coexist. The symposium is expected to wrap this all up neatly in three days.

Speakers include geography, philosophy and history professors, the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society Institute, and the director of Responsible Policies for Animals Inc. The Rosenfield Program, however, recognizes that an all-human cast would provide a very biased discussion, so they are bringing in some diverse speakers. A panel of Grinnell Fox Squirrels, for one, will discuss abuses they have suffered at the hands of college students, from physical harm down to the level of being fed disgusting things like plain sugar cookies from Outtakes.

In addition, the Rosenfield Program has been in talks with a Tanzanian elephant about traveling to Grinnell to give a talk defending his right to practice crop raiding. As the elephant explains, “Crops are so delicious.” If the elephant is able to attend, his talk will undoubtedly add a vital layer to the symposium.

Rights and the Environment Symposium, you are tickle city!