This weekend, Skidmore student and environmentally conscious bad ass musician, Doug Barber, took the train to Wesleyan University, located in the heart of Connecticut, to play a one-manned acoustic set under the name Spillway. Following an act by longtime friend Robby Hardesty of The Spools, Barber took the stage at WestCo Cafe, an establishment similar to Falstaffs, the Spa, or that area in front of the D-hall fireplaces where some people think it’s okay to play music. He played some solo acoustic versions of songs from his band “Spillway” (Barber and friend Jack McKool).

Spillway proper has yet to performer here on campus (we assume travel logistics and whatnot have kept these two apart), but Barber has been known to pop up in between spoken word sets at Lively Lucy’s. Spillway, who spent this past summer recording and touring around their home state of Texas, has an album available for free download here.

Check out the Spill-space

Following in the footsteps of both Mads Vassar and Wesleying, Skidmore Unofficial took some time to snoop around check out which Skidmore professors have been tossing money into the coffers of our national parties. With the integrity of the candidate in mind, campaign donations over two hundred dollars are made public and make for some interesting Sunday afternoon reading/borderline privacy invasion. Huffington Post’s Fundrace ’08 allows you to search campaign contributions by name, address, and employer; and surprise surprise Skidmore professors seem to be pennying up for change. A national search of the occupation “professor” brings up a pretty large—but fairly predictable—discrepancy, with fewer than one million dollars being donated to the Republican Party and close to fourteen million to the DNC.

Bored in the library? Use Fundrace to see which candidates the parents of your friends support (more fun than it looks).

Albany’s most popular business news daily, the fascinating “Business Review,” reports that Skidmore will be hosting a forum on the recent economic tailspin we have all been so successfully ignoring. And while it may be nice in our beautiful autumn bubble, Wall Street is shitting its pants. The last available figures of our endowment show it shrinking 10-20%. So yeah…take the next few days to indulge because once this news breaks we’re all going to have to make some tragic sacrifices–no humus from the Spa and maybe even no more dinners at Max London’s

The forum, moderated by Skidmore professor Pushkala Prasad, will feature Adirondack Trust CEO Charles Wait, the Chief Investment Officer of Martello Investment Management, and Skidmore professors, Paul Calhoun and Roy Rotheim. Whether you’ll be attending to scare yourself into frugality, or looking for some economics extra credit, show up at JKB (still without geothermal heating) on October 28th at 5:30 for whats sure to be a wonderful time.

Tonight, the giant human, internet celebrity, and sometimes stand up comedian, Aziz Ansari, came to the SPA and told jokes. Aziz chose to begin his Glow In The Dark Tour at Skidmore College when he realized the show would be easy laughs seeing as he is ten to fifteen times funnier than anyone we have ever heard tell jokes before. After the show Aziz signed posters, a few SPA napkins and gave the Skidmore Unofficial investigative journalism team an exclusive interview that you can read after the jump…

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THURSDAY

“Breaking Into The Music Business” 5:30pm @ Bolton 281 (fbook)
“The Truth About Women and Hip Hop” 7pm @ Gannett
“Honest You Do” Dance Project by Elana Jacobs ‘10 8:30pm @ Tang Payne Room
Lively Lucy’s Presents Tiff Jimber 9pm @ Falstaff’s (fbook)

FRIDAY (No Classes)
FYE “Tee Party” 1pm @ Case Green (fbook)
The Hunt 4pm Oak D (fbook)
Down The Middle 8pm @ Dance Theater (fbook)
“Honest You Do” Dance Project by Elana Jacobs ‘10 8:30pm @ Tang Payne Room

SATURDAY
Down The Middle 2pm and 8pm @ Dance Theater (fbook)
Aziz Ansari 11pm @ the SPA
Swagger Like Us: Clash of the Decades Party 11pm @ Falstaff’s (fbook)

SUNDAY
FAT presents Syriana 3pm @ Davis

something missing? let us know in the comments.

Tonight Hip Hop Culture Week keynote speaker Kim Osorio presents “The Truth About Women and Hip Hop: Straight from the Source.” While im sure Osorio will talk about Foxy Brown being legit fucking crazy and how Lil’ Kim’s boobs are everywhere, the talk will probably focus mainly on Osorio’s ongoing lawsuit against Hip Hop magazine, and her former employer, The Source. Osorio was The Source’s first editor in chief and left the company after “alleged sexual harassment, gender discrimination, defamation, retaliatory discharge, and maintaining a hostile work environment.” The talk looks like it will be a treat for anyone interested in Hip Hop, the music industry and sexism in the work place. The talk is tonight at 7pm in Gannett, Q&A and book signing follow.

Sheldon Solomon is interviewed in this months Scientific American about his research in Terror Management Theory (TMT) and how it applies to the upcoming election. Solomon’s TMT shows that “in times of crisis, when fears of death are aroused, people are more likely to embrace leaders who provide psychological security by making their citizens feel like they are valued contributors to a great mission to eradicate evil.” The political effects of which can be seen in George’s popularity after 9/11 and Obama’s popularity now.

Read the interview here.

It seems as if this economic downturn is affecting everyone. Many of you are aware of the problems faced by those looking to retire shortly, take out loans for a car, and pay for school, but you should also be aware that Skidmore as an institution (and many other colleges) is facing similar challenges.

This afternoon, at 1pm, President Glotzbach addressed a packed Davis Auditorium on the economy and Skidmore’s position in the precarious markets. The audience was comprised of the intellectual elderly, a few us Skidmore Unofficial reps, and about everyone in Starbuck who’s ever told you that you can’t drop physics, or that you hipsters can’t wear your raybans in your ID photos.

Glotzbach offered us some optimism–chicken finger Friday shall continue to shine as a bright light at the end of the week. Unfortunately, he emphasized how we will all have to reevaluate our budget for the upcoming year in light of more stringent budget regulation. He did not, however, provide us with a tentavive plan simply because there isn’t one yet–the daily fluctiations of the market are too unstable. Click to continue »

Economic crisis have your little academic pet project feeling pinched? No worries. Thanks to the deep pockets of the American philanthropic elite, the Dean of Studies office is offering a series of competitive grants. Generally in the range of 200-500 dollars (possibly up to 900), the grants can be used to offset, or cover, the cost of travel or materials for student academic projects. While I’m sure the college is excited to help, don’t get your boxers all in a bunch when they reject your “how many fucking slim-jims can Dave eat in one hour” research proposal. Applications are available to every full-time student and can be found in Starbuck or here.

Tonight’s Hip Hop Culture week event is a presentation entitled “Black Womanhood in the 1960s and 1970s Pop Culture–from the Starlets to the Stars.” The presentation will be given by Skidmore American Studies professor Andre Carrington at 5:30 in Tisch 302.