My curiosity led me to Ethan Andyshak, Director of Residential Life. Ethan informed me that last year after the apartments, singles in Claremont Hall, Fawcett, and Auen were the most popular housing choices for seniors. To my surprise, though, Ethan informed me that the last few years have seen a small drop-off in the number of students choosing to live off-campus. Still curious, I spoke with Jim Nauls, Assistant Dean of Students and author of the highly anticipated senior apartment emails. According to Jim, out of the 43 groups that applied for four-person apartments this year, nine of these groups (about 21%) were turned down. Last year, however, everyone that applied for a senior apartment got one. Therefore, contrary to my belief that senior apartments were becoming less popular, apartment draw was actually more competitive this time around. Why is that? Jim suggests that the grand opening of Claremont Hall last fall was an incentive for Class of 2009 seniors to grab brand new singles. This year’s resurgent interest in the senior apartments might be because the novelty of Claremont Hall is wearing off… already. What does Jim have to say about senior housing for the Class of 2011? Their larger class size is going to make everything more competitive. They get to look forward to a tough apartment draw and scrounging for most desirable singles–sorry sophomores.

Nonetheless, a good number of students will always live in the apartments, so here is some insight from current seniors…

Interview with Greg Hall, Class of 2009
Why did you choose to live in the apartments?
Originally, I chose to live in the apartments because I wanted to live in a house with my close friends. Living together in the apartments was something that we had talked about since we were freshman; fulfilling our dream of sharing the same living quarters for a glorious final year seemed to fulfill manifest destiny. Later, I came appreciate the apartments as a sort of petri-dish of the senior class where classmates from north, mid, and south quads all converge to form one Utopian Community.

Would you advise being on the meal plan as a senior?
If you are not into cooking I would advise remaining on the meal plan (even if it’s only the 8 or 12 meal plan). Many seniors that remove themselves from the meal plan seem to only venture onto campus to go to class or work on thesis in Poppa. Deciding to remain on the meal plan allowed me to have meals with my underclassman friends while forcing me to remain on campus between classes (rather than walking all the way back to my apartment and staying there).

Interview with Camilo Cuellar, Class of 2009
Why did you choose to live in a dorm single rather than in a senior apartment?
I chose to live in a dorm single because I wanted to live closer to all of the amenities available on campus. Also, the fact that Auen had been renovated was also an attractive feature. Also, after living in North Quad through sweltering hot nights, air-conditioning sounded appealing.

Did the proximity to campus sway you?
The proximity to campus was definitely a huge factor as I wanted to be close to dining halls, and more importantly, the computer labs.

Do you feel isolated from the rest of the senior class?
I do not feel that I have been isolated from the rest of the senior class as I still spend time with all of my close friends and have made new friends.

If you are sleep-deprived and stressed, I can think of nothing better for you than twenty minutes in the massage chair at HEO. You will be sitting in the lap of luxury as you recline and listen to music of your own choosing. The massage chair is in a private room and can make for a peaceful, relaxing experience…and it’s free. HEO promotes health and wellness, offering many other great services. From wellness counseling to nutrition/diet information, HEO has something that will be of interest to you. They have information about sexual health and provide free condoms (a wide variety), lubrications, and ear plugs; also, they have recently had other freebies like chapstick, candy, and pens. If you are struggling to cope with stress, or you just want to rent a DVD (they have a few), stop by HEO.

A vast majority of CMC students go or have gone to Honnold/Mudd to either study or to get a book or two. But how many students know about LINK+? Being a Literature major, my classes require that a lot of money be spent at either Huntley or on Amazon.com. I don’t always mind buying books as I realize that many will be of use in the future-in grad school or just for referencing things for fun-however, let’s be honest, buying all of your required reading can get pretty expensive. For this reason, I am extremely grateful to have the LINK+ system at Honnold/Mudd. LINK+ allows students to order books (exact editions) that are not available at Honnold/Mudd, from other colleges and universities in California. While I did end up buying some books at Huntley, I saved over $200 in book expenses, this semester alone, by using the LINK+ system.

On a different note, have you ever rented a DVD from Honnold/Mudd? I just rented The Shawshank Redemption from the library. Who knew? There are literally hundreds of great movies-comedies, dramas, and foreign films-that are available on reserve. To find out what movies they have you can check online or just flip through the catalogues in the library. Whether you feel like procrastinating or you just want a study break, check out the DVD selection at the library.

Thus, because many of the perks of the 5-Cs go unrealized, I encourage every student to find the little “extras” that make our consortium worthwhile.

America will be celebrating tonight…and not just in New Orleans. Attention CMC: Collins dining hall is representing southern style tonight. The dinner menu includes vegetable jambalaya, sausage gumbo, and “Po Boy” shrimp sandwiches…and if they are as bold as last year, I think I remember alligator being served (for all of our adventurous readers out there). In French, Mardi Gras means “fat Tuesday,” and let’s be real, it’s an aptly named holiday…at least I plan on eating a lot.

Fun Fact: Bob Dylan’s 1965 hit “Mr. Tambourine Man” is about Mardi Gras.

Start saving your pennies…there are some amazing music festivals and concerts coming up and you shouldn’t miss them. In the spring, in the summer, domestic, and international: yes, there are amazing things going down.

Got Coachella? Buy your tickets NOW. It’s happening April 17-19, and that’s a weekend so all you studious bookworms don’t have to worry about missing class. You might even be able to convince Jim Nauls to partially reimburse you (whether he admits it or not, the editor of this site is going to Britney Spears at 50% off because of Jim). Various internet sites are giving inaccurate line-up information, so to clarify, the following are some of the bands signed up to play this year: Girl Talk, Silversun Pickups, The Black Keys, The Ting Tings, Band of Horses, My Bloody Valentine, Peter Bjorn and John, The Kills, and the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s. For a three day pass the price is $269.00 and well worth the money. It’s local (relatively speaking) and for a good concert, the drive isn’t too bad. So whether you want to camp or just go for a day, go get hot and sweaty listening to some great music.

Going to UK this summer? If the answer is no, you might want to start planning a trip. The Glastonbury Festival is the best of the best. The dates are June 24-28, and like Coachella, many people go and camp out. This festival is so good it’s already sold out…not to worry though: a number of cancellation tickets will be available starting April 5 at 9 AM (www.seetickets.com/g2009). Be prompt: tickets will go quickly. The line-up? Just to name a few: Kings of Leon, Jay-Z, Amy Winehouse, The Verve, MGMT, Vampire Weekend, and Glasvegas. The festival is close to Bristol International Airport, though you can certainly get there from any of the major airports in London. It’s going to be amazing.

If you can’t make it either of these big money festivals, you should certainly be taking advantage of the good music elsewhere. There are FREE Concerts at the Getty Center on select Saturdays. It’s a relatively painless drive to the Getty Center in Los Angeles, and all events hosted there are bound to be amazing…from the architecture to the art, The Getty Center knows class. The award-winning ensemble, Musica Pacifica, will be performing on Saturday, February 21, 2009. Go ahead

And if you do not even want to go off campus, there are plenty of musical performances happening around the 5Cs. Look for fliers around Pomona and Scripps.

Thus, 60 CMC students came together on February 6th to address the following education-related questions posed by Posse:

“Is education the great equalizer or the great divider? Is it about conformity or does is give you freedom? Is education about having salient knowledge or social capital?”

Among the diverse crowd of articulate, insightful individuals, I found that there were no concrete, irrevocable truths. Some people based their opinions on personal experience and others provided contextual evidence from political and social events to support their arguments.

A hot topic right now, it is no surprise that education was the basis for our discussion this past weekend at the CMC Posse Retreat. The New York Times has recently featured several articles regarding the economic stimulus bill and what it means for increased budgets for schools across America. As the Obama administration aims to drastically increase federal spending for schools, many are eager to see what changes will be made to improve education in our country.

In terms of our discussion at the retreat, the wide variety of different perspectives prevented us from reaching a general consensus. I gathered, however, that the purpose of the weekend was not to find answers or to decide what education should be. Instead, the retreat was meant to be an opportunity for us to think, reflect, and digest the great questions that are pressing even the most influential minds in America at this very moment.