November, 2008

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Safety Alert: Burglary!!

Monday, November 17th, 2008

According to a campus-wide email we just received, a student house just a few blocks off campus house was entered by an unknown white male, approximately 40 years old, has a tall, slender build, wears a goatee, and has closely cropped hair. He was last seen wearing jeans and a white t-shirt. There has been at least one similar incident in the same general area earlier this semester. If you know anybody who fits this description, and we’re sure you do because you live in the United States where everybody is approximately 40 years old, tall, has a slender build, wears a goatee, and has closely cropped hair, contact the Saratoga Springs Police Department at 584-1800 or Campus Safety @ X5566 or the TIPS line @ X8477 as soon as possible.

LOCK DEM DOORS!!

BeatleMore Mania

Monday, November 17th, 2008

Lately, the days have been pretty fucking gray, the nights darker and darker, and it is getting undeniably cold outside. Although all you see is outside is black, there’s sure to be some white. Not to be confused with snow, here white refers to the Beatles’ “White Album,” which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this Saturday, November 22. In the spirit of wild honey pie, Beatlemania, under the alias “Beatlemore Skidmania” (some mash-up of Beatlemania and Skidmore, I think), will be playing this weekend in the “storied” halls of Filene. The acts will feature students, faculty, and maybe some videos of people playing the sitar. Songs will be mostly from the 2-disc White Album. “Beatlemore Skidmania” will be Sunday, November 23 @ 3pm so you can find your way to the show before it gets dark.

But wait, there’s more. The day before, Skidmore has gathered a Beatle-expert panel to discuss the Beatles’ “lasting cultural contributions.” The panel, accompanied by Professor Gordon Thompson, will include Allan Kozinn (New York Times critic and author of The Beatles), Walter Everett (University of Michigan, and author of The Beatles as Musicians), Tim Riley (National Public Radio commentator and author of Tell Me Why: A Beatles Commentary), and Jonathan Gould (author of Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain and America). The panel will assemble on the fateful November 22 @ 1pm.

Let’s Be Serious, Creative Shirts Matter

Monday, November 17th, 2008

According to an email, the class of 2011 is now faced with the formidable task of picking its class t-shirt slogan, to be chosen through the venerable democratic forum that is SurveyMonkey.com. In our humble opinion, the options are…well, editorial comments in a second.

Option 1:
Front: 2011: Thoroughbreds Riding Hard for 100 Years
Back: That’s What She Said.

Option 2:
Front: 2011: Staying on Top of Cam-Po for 100 Years
Back: That’s What She Said.

Option 3:
Front: 2011,
Back: IDK… My BFF Glotzbach?

Option 4:
Front: Skidmore Class of 2011
Back: [Blank]

So there you have it. “Creative Thought Matters,” so long as your definition of “creative” is limited to two “that’s what she said” jokes, one dated reference to a Cingular ad, and one blatant lack of effort (What? No “2011: Wazzap?!” or “2011: No homo”?). To be fair, the shirts are free and there is a write-in option. Keep it here for updates as to which option wins the majority of the roughly 23 votes sure to be cast.

Severe Weather Warning (11/15)

Saturday, November 15th, 2008

For those fortunate enough to already have Skidmore alerts enabled on their cellular devices, you have probably taken the necessary precautions: rent a movie from the library and cancel all hot dates. For those of you who haven’t…

A “high wind advisory is in effect until 9pm this evening. Winds will be accompanied by heavy rain. Please secure (small objects*)”

*Small objects include, but are not limited to bikes, posters, and small children.

You have been warned.

Weekend Distractions IX

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

THURSDAY
2pm – Scribner Village Replacement Open Forum @ The SPA
7pm – TASKparty @ Case Center (fbook)
7pm – Rape as a Weapon of War: The Congo @ Gannett (fbook)
7pm – The Changing Lives of Women Under the Islamic Republic of Iran @ Davis
10pm – Lively Lucy’s Battle of The Bands @ Falstaff’s (fbook)

FRIDAY
all day – Saratoga Apple Farmers Market @ Case
7pm – Res Life Presents: The Dark Knight @ Davis
7pm – Jazz Night: A Taste of New Orleans @ Falstaff’s (fbook)
8pm – Skidmore Theater Presents: Shakespeare’s King Richard II @ JKB (fbook)
10pm – Sketchies Show @ Gannett (fbook)
11pm – Nick Thune @ The SPA

SATURDAY
8pm – Skidmore Theater Presents: Shakespeare’s King Richard II @ JKB (fbook)
9pm – Café Con Leche Talent Show @ SPA
10pm – Res Life Presents: The Dark Knight @ Davis
10pm – SEC Presents: Listen For Liston @ Falstaff’s (fbook)

SUNDAY
2pm – Skidmore Theater Presents: Shakespeare’s King Richard II @ JKB (fbook)
3pm – FAT presents The Pianist

Something missing? Let us know in the comments.

Battle of da Bands

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

Thursday night we recommend making your way over to Falstaff’s after the TASKparty for some good ol’ fashion battle of the bands fun.  Hosted by Lively Lucy’s and judged by Skidmore’s finest, this semester’s battle of the bands features professional sound and 8 student noise makers.

Performing on that fateful night will be BearRat, Gung Ho, The Burdizzos, Pia, Silent Kids, The Blatant Sellouts, One Night Band, and Safety Alert! Arson. If you’re a groupie for any of these bands (or are in the band) and know about a myspace/bandy webpage thing, post it in the comments so we can all show up and pretend we were into them before they got big.

Battle of the Bands
Falstaff’s
10pm

TASKparty

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

If you have eyes (obvi you do, this is the internet lol) you’ve probably already seen those pretty TASK posters around campus. Intrigued?

“TASK is a community-based improvisational event, a creative outlet for all participants, an open ended social experiment, a party, and the brainchild of world-renowned artist Oliver Herring. It is an art event generated by a pool of tasks, written by participants and made possible by a variety of props. When a task is completed, the participant writes a new task and the event builds from then on.”

Come, create, destroy, dance, perform, meet people, make a mess, talk to the artist, yell, kiss, explore, Oliver Herring, DJ Skywalker, Thursday, 7pm, Tang, Case Center, bring fun things.

Final Call for Photo Fame

Wednesday, November 12th, 2008

Today is the deadline for this year’s “Creative Thought Matters” photo contest. The contest has been running for three years now, and somehow serves to prove that “there are groups and individuals using their creative thinking to make a difference, solve problems, and make creativity matter.” Pictures can either be based on Skidmore life or nothing at all, so even that sweet Facebook photo you turned into black & white is fair game (I guess). For ideas on what is expected, a list of terms, conditions, and rules is available on the Skidmore website (here).

The winner, as selected by judges, will receive a hefty $200. A photo will also be chosen by us, the people, and the winner of that (People’s Choice) category will also receive $200. That’s not all, though; two more categories, “Student Life” and “Anything Goes,” will provide each of their winners with $150. Although this may seem like more money than you’ve made all semester in DHall, I would wait to consider quitting school to pursue a career in photography.

Submissions can be made on the photo contest’s webpage, and are really, really easy.

Junot Diaz Reading In Gannett

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

Tomorrow night (11/12) at 7pm Raices keynote speaker Junot Diaz will be in Gannett reading from his novel The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. The novel, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award as well as a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008, is about an overweight Dominican boy growing up in New Jersey obsessed with women, fantasy and science fiction. “Rife with footnotes, science fiction, fantasy references, and street Spanglish, the novel is also a meditation on story-telling, Dominican diaspora and identity, masculinity, and the contours of authoritarian power.” We are extremely fortunate to have Pulitzer Prize winning authors on campus and Diaz’s visit should not be missed. For more on Diaz check this interview and this short story.

Thanks to Nikkitha Bakshani ’12 for the tip

Glotztalks (About the Economy): pt. 2

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

Twice today Glotzbach was roused from his secret presidential chambers to address the College. Today’s first college address took place in the wee hours of the morning at 8:30, just as the sun crested the top of the Harder Hall.  Skidmore Unofficial was at the much more reasonably scheduled 1pm address where Glotzbach sounded off on our present location in the economy, rich alumni, and even dropped some hints on the future Scribner Village—which we can openly say is on death row.

El Presidente kicked things off with some bad news: this year’s budget looks as if it will be about one million bucks short. Glotzbach encouraged the heads of departments in attendance to look for ways to scrimp and save, but seemed optimistic that the college would not see any serious effects because this shortage. Over-enrollment and tuition fees this semester have given us, as of yet, an untouched surplus that I’m sure will be tapped before the year is over. Glotzbach was eager to explain to those in attendance that this year will not be a problem for Skidmore College. Unfortunately, Glotzbach did not hold this same cautiously optimistic sentiment for next year.

Thanks to a pretty much continuous economic nose dive the endowment continues to shrink, leaving next years budget with a 5-8 million dollar “problem.” Don’t go getting your fruit-of-the-looms into a bunch yet, while it may seem like a lot of Keystones that deficit only represents about 4-6% of our actual budget. This “problem,” as Glotzbach fastidiously referred to it, means that while staff should not expect any negative changes in their insurance policies, it appears that yearly bonuses and salary raises, among other things, will shrink.

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