This summer the former head of SkidTV Sarah Burns ’09 was able to tag along with Anthropology Professor Sue Bender and some of her students on a trip to the wilds of South Park, Colo. Bender has spent the past 7 summers excavating hunter-gatherer campsites around South Park . Burns has created this fantastic 50 minute documentary on the trip with voice-over work by Francesca Fanelli ‘09 and music by Josh Cipolla ‘09. Dividied into 3 parts here movie follows the students as they put their archeological lab skills to use—which is more than I can say I did this summer.

Beth Post-Lundquist

Beth Post-Lundquist, former director of financial aid at SUNY Albany, was named the new Director of Financial Aid today, after current Director Robert Shorb announced his retirement. Shorb has been Skidmore’s director of financial aid since 1989 and will slowly ease into full retirement in December of 2010.

Beth Post-Lundquist will be in charge of managing and leading Skidmore’s financial aid office and will sit atop our $45 million annual financial budget. Post-Lundquist grew up in Saratoga Springs and formerly worked in the financial aid offices of SUNY Albany and Union College.

Most importantly this outside hire seems to signify the end to the “strategic hiring freeze” Glotzbach mentioned during the darker hours of our endowment shrinkage last semester. Either Skidmore has pulled itself up from the floor or broke its own rule to pull in a outside professional.* Either way kudos to Beth on the new job and to Bob on his retirement.

*Hey Communications office, care to clarify?

I’m here to make a case for textbooks. I understand that they are expensive and heavy and boring and bulky; and that their value degenerates too quickly; and that you don’t use them anyway, but textbooks also have a certain charm. Something about stacks of textbooks hastily annotated and bookmarked with scribbled-in margins strewn across my desk offers a visual satisfaction—a tangible testament to the studying I have been doing.

Excuse my unabashed romanticism for moment but I like highlighting sentences and reading the name’s past owners so legibly printed on the inside cover. I love watching freshmen girls struggle with books outside Case Center and I love imagining myself offering to carry those books like I’m some sort of smitten archaic charmer. I like tattered covers and cracked spines. I like lining up my musty tomes in height order and proudly displaying titles like “Micro-Economics Unraveled” and “The American Pageant: A History of the Republic.” Textbooks aren’t for everybody but they make me feel like I’m staring in some collegiate Tobias Wolff short story and that is something I want, even if I have to pay for it.

At least that is how I feel until I have to wait on that dreadful buy-back line only to sell $700 dollars worth of textbooks for a miserly $31.25.

You’ve got several choices when it comes to buying your “musty tomes” this year:

The Skidmore Shop lets you purchase online and has lots of used copies to lessen the financial blow, plus they guarantee you’ll get the right edition and all that shit. No matter where you get your books from make sure to check out this little ditty posted on the SkidShop blog earlier this week.

Amazon.com has long been a resource for thrifty students. Look up which books you will be needing here and then dedicate a solid afternoon to finding them in Amazon’s used book marketplace. You’ll save lots of money but the true benefit is all mail you will be getting the first week of school as your  textbooks arrive. The easiest way to publicly affirm your popularity it to be known as the-kid-who-is-always-in-line-for-package pickup. Nobody has to know you are receiving copies of Jefferson’s letters and not care packages from enamored summertime loves.

Or you could just Google around a bit, the internet is full of free textbook resources and places to find cheap books, knock yourself out kiddo.

An adroit reader wrote in and tipped us off to the fact that the CollegeHumor Live Show will be on campus our first Friday back at school, and after a quick email exchange with our source on the inside we can report that yes, Late Night will be hosting a CollegeHumor Live Show with Dan Levy, TJ Miller and Jake and Amir. Last year the Spa was serious about bringing hilarious comedians to campus, a tradition they have thankfully decided to uphold.

Like all good things (love, friendship, hotel shampoo et al.) this show is free
September 11th, 11pm
Spa

The 30th annual Skidmore College Polo Fundraising Dinner was last week, and despite less than stellar attendance and an economic climate stifling philanthropy the event raised 150,000 bones for the Joseph C. and Anne T. Palamountain Scholarship Fund. This year’s dinner was called Polo By Twilight–at this time we are unsure if this is some strange reference to Stephanie Meyer’s young adult novels.

The event included food prepared by Dining Services Executive Chef James Rose and silent and live auctions featuring items most aptly described as “appealing to a polo crowd.” If you care about which socialites bought which items at the dinner’s auctions click here.

19 students were able to attend Skidmore with financial assistance from the Palamountain Scholarship Fund last year.

Earlier this morning New York Governor David Paterson announced $58 million in state grants for 48 projects at many of the state’s independent schools. The grants are part of the state Higher Education Capital Matching Program that provides a $1 match for every $3 raised for capital investment at New York independent colleges and universities.

Skidmore received $799,424 to cover renovations of the Saisselin Art Building. The money comes in the midst of Skidmore bolstering its arts resources with the $42 million Zankel Recital Hall scheduled to open in October of 2010. Details as to what exactly gets renovated in Saisselin are unavailable; hopefully the drab soviet interior receives a facelift.

the face of immediate addiction and damnation

The professional college peddlers at Princeton Review have updated their annual college rankings and the big news in the sensationalized old grays of the Capital Region is that Skidmore rocketed to #2 on the “Reefer Madness” list. No doubt the outcome of the spring semester’s herd of outraged articles decrying Skidmore for its 4/20 celebration, the ranking probably wont do the college much good. And while anyone with half a brain understands that: A) marijuana use is a part of the college experience at every school from Harvard to Tulane and that B) the Princeton Review ranking system is about as scientific as creationism, a small set of local newspaper men are still wasting ink on the subject.

Moving forward, the PR also gave Skidmore some more favorable (but equally unscientific) reviews:

#19    Best College Radio Station
#15    Dorms Like Palaces
#12    Least Religious Students

And while you’ll never see it reported in any of the local papers Skidmore also ranked among the Best Northeastern Colleges.

Gang Gang MOTHERFUCKING Dance

SEC announced via email this weekend that Gang Gang Dance will open for Grizzly Bear at September’s Big Show. Like Grizzly Bear, Gang Gang Dance has made waves after their most recent LP landed among the Pitchfork upper echelons. Gang Gang are a great addition to the bill that—while fucking fantastic— previously lacked any guarantee of danceability. Those of you worried about your ability to gyrate your pelvis to the ethereal harmonies of Grizzly Bear will be happy to know that Gang Gang Dance’s Middle Eastern, grime, African rytham aural cocktail has (on multiple occasions) resulted in me “grinding” with people.

The show is scheduled for 8pm on Sept. 25 and will be open to the public. No news yet regarding ticket prices but as always the cheapest and most exciting way to see a show is from the warm glow of love provided to those who volunteer to help SEC run the event.

For more information on Gang Gang Dance check out their Myspace.com social networking profile.