CMC students are generally conscious of their attire, but of late, there have just been too many people inappropriately dressed at the Ath. Just like you would not wear a tight mini-skirt to an interview, you should probably leave the mini-skirt in your laundry basket when you attend the Mitt Romney dinner tomorrow.

Here are some tips that I’ve garnered from my friends, family, professors, and bosses that might help you when you decide what to wear when you next attend an Ath function.

Men

• Do NOT wear polo shirts—The polo shirt is an athletic shirt—you wear them when you play polo, tennis, etc. They were part of my high school PE uniform. Do not wear gym clothes to the Ath. (Even if it’s from Band of Outsiders.)

• Do NOT wear casual shirts with a collar. Just because it has a collar does not mean it’s a dress shirt. (Personally, I think you should avoid cheap dress shirts as well. They rarely fit well and turn a weird color after a few washes. If possible invest in a good, crisp white shirt. It doesn’t have to be Dior Homme, J. Crew makes nice shirts too.)

• Do NOT wear shirts in the following colors: red, black, sky blue, or any neon. You are not going to a nightclub in the Meatpacking district or a rave.

• Do wear dress shoes. Please don’t wear sneakers with your waistcoat. You are not Justin Timberlake at the Grammy Awards.

• Do be careful about how many buttons you leave open on you shirt. It’s fine if you don’t wear a tie to the Forum’s Idea Night but we don’t want to see your chest hair, even if your significant other may dig it.

• Do tuck in your shirt. God forbid you’re wearing a polo, but if you are, tuck that in too. No exceptions.

Women

• Do NOT wear skirts that are shorter than three inches above your knee. Remember that annoying rule back in high school? Yes, it applies at the Ath also.

• Do NOT wear heels that you cannot walk in. This isn’t so much a dress code issue but more of a safety of the servers carrying trays of food issue.

• Do NOT wear anything that you would wear to TNC.

• Do wear a jacket, cardigan, or shawl over a dress or top that might be dangerously revealing. I’ve also gotten away with some dresses that might be more black-tie with a suit jacket. It also helps hide any unsightly bra straps.

• Do accessorize. The boring formal LBD that your mother gave you can easily be jazzed up with jewelry, the right shoes, and purse.

• Do NOT wear sundresses to the Athenaeum. They are not formal. Also, the color-blocked dresses I see every so often at the Ath, also not formal and also so very 2008.

Instead of doing suggested outfits, as I normally do, for the Athenaeum, I thought I would showcase some of what I might wear to the Athenaeum and how I combine pieces that are not always formal so I don’t need to have a separate formal wear wardrobe. (As you will probably notice, I don’t wear a lot of color.)

If you have additional tips or ideas, please feel free to leave comments below. See you at the Ath!

Items in this set:

From L to R : Will Kahn '12, Nico Brancolini '11, Shamil Hargovan '10, Caroline Taylor '10, Chloe Cotton '12, Bri Riggio '10 (photo credit: Isabelle Heilman '13)

The play The Dining Room by A. R. Gurney, directed by Cory Davia ’10, is set in a dining room and tells eighteen different stories, each scene not lasting more than ten to fifteen minutes. This demanded talent from the actors, an ability to distill the essence of a character in the short time they were allotted; some actors succeeded, others fell short. Overall, the strong actors truly carried the play and I found it to be an enjoyable performance.

Will Kahn ’12 in his cable-knit Ralph Lauren-esque sweaters and his slacks portrayed a compelling Northeastern, WASP-y father. The scene where Kahn, as the father of a daughter considering divorce, has an awkward conversation with his daughter (Bri Riggio ’10) about her separation from her husband is perhaps the highlight of the play. Both Kahn and Riggio made us cringe in our seats as the conversation got increasingly more awkward by the minute (“Dad, there’s another woman”). The pregnant tension was absolutely thrilling.

Max Sterling ’10’s portrayal of a grandfather lecturing his grandson (Will Kahn ’12) about the pointlessness of a private school education reminded me so much of conversations I’ve had in the past with male relatives. Sterling’s demeanor, body movements, and voice were impeccable and Kahn’s dejected replies were adorable. The housekeeper’s final remarks—“Go get your grandfather’s checkbook before he falls asleep”—were delivered with just the right amount of derision, advice, and approval.

A professor at my table mentioned that the actors did the best they could with the play. Perhaps he said this because the characters’ difficult relationships with their dining rooms seemed outdated and irrelevant in California where most people no longer have formal dining rooms. For a relatively young audience like CMC, a different play might have been better received.

Garden Party

Items in this set:

Nothing screams spring like bright florals. Pair your sun dress with a cotton cardigan while you wait for the space heaters to warm up in the tent.

Wedding at the Ranch

A white dress doesn’t have to be puffy and boring. A brown leather belt, turquoise, and some funky shoes can add a rustic touch to a current look.

Wedding by the Sea

Did you always imagine having a beautiful wedding at the beach? Take the waves as inspiration and layer different shades of blue.

Gothic Wedding

If done wrong, this could look super tacky, but with the right amount of quality ruffles, (faux) antique accessories, and maybe a British accent, you could be super chic. Stand out from the pastel colored crowd.

To help you with your resolution writing, we asked some CMC celebs (well just some Forum writers and members of the administration) to share their hopes for the new year [editorial comments in italics]:

Abhi Nemani, Editor-in-Chief

• I wish I had the diligence to commit to something concrete (e.g. go to the gym, respond to IMs, kick the panda habit), but frankly, I don’t. What I do have is only one semester left with a lot of really great people. I resolve to remember that and to enjoy it. (And to regrow my lost hair.)

Emily Meinhardt, Managing Editor

• To be at the Scripps or College Park pools as much as possible.  And get a job.

Nathan Bengtsson, Forum Fellow

• Reduce my Gmail unread email number from 1,044 to a reasonable 100.  Not only will I be more organized, but I will no longer let the prospect of employers politely declining my generous offer to lend them my CMC-educated skill set cause me to live in fear of my inbox.

Kevin Burke, Forum Fellow

• Be a better friend and stop fantasizing about banging dead people

Wyatt MacKenzie, News Editor

• Dress less like Dior Homme [To those not familiar with Assche/Slimane’s work, that means v-neck t-shirts and slim silhouettes] and more like hmm Burberry [Conservative with a British twist].
• Go more than a month single…oh wait I made it…three months!
• Become an international art thief.

William Mullen, Forum Fellow

• Spend more time with family and work on my cooking skills

Carl Peaslee, Life Editor

• Get on a foreign reality TV show (preferably Scandinavian) and find an opportunity to shoot a gun.

Dan Evans, Forum Fellow

• Stop being pretentious about music (unlikely at best)
• Finish Rap-Musical about life of Jay Z
• Learn to use the phrase “Web 2.0″ without irony.
• also, keep a straight face while beginning sentences with “So the other day I blogged about. . . “

Madison Shimoda, Forum Fellow

• Lose ten pounds by trying the Flat Belly Diet. First, I must buy the book. I hope it doesn’t require me to exercise or cut down on food intake because I LOVE eating.
• Go to the Hunger Site everyday to click to give a free bowl of food to the less fortunate
• Finish my novel/thesis
• Get over my cat allergy or finally get ASCMC to buy me a hypoallergenic cat. (My freshman or sophomore year, I emailed ASCMC to ask for funding for a hypoallergenic cat. I got a one-word email back: No.)

Solon Christiansen-Szalanski, Forum Fellow

• Ever since Abhi began stylishly tramping around our apartment in his Snuggie, I have felt the need to challenge his chic elegance. Therefore, I resolve to purchase the Japanese-version of the Snuggie. If that fails, I will settle for the Snuggie’s British rival, the Lippi Selk.
• I resolve to learn a new skill every week–bacon weaving and sand painting are at the top of my list.
• I haven’t watched any Twilight Movies yet (I figure this Lolcats summary of New Moon has caught me up to speed), but if the final movie, Breaking Dawn, is anything like the book (spoiler alert) I resolve to immediately see it.

And now to the real CMC celebs:

Pamela Gann, President of Claremont McKenna College

• May 2010 be a banner year for CMC’s outstanding students, succeeding against all the challenges presented to them, given the state of the economy.

John Faranda, Vice President for Alumni and Parent Relations

• I do have a goal for this semester of trying to eat more meals in Collins Dining Hall with CMC students…I have loaded some Claremont Cash on my ID card and “resolve” to use it dining with you and your friends.  Except for the Athenaeum, I think that Collins is the best place to get to know people, learn about what is happening on campus, and get a tasty meal!

Gregory Hess, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty

• To read more and run more. And to take Rex and Kaia (our dogs) for more walks.  My final resolution is to will Arsenal to win the premiership! [I'm a Liverpool fan but I really don’t want to see Chelsea or Man U win so I am also rooting for Arsenal after Liverpool.]

Jefferson Huang, Dean of Students, soon to be Vice President of Student Affairs

• I’m not much of a “resolutions” person. I hope that people who do make resolutions can keep them. [The Forum suggests that Dean Huang do a naked lap around campus to show his loyalty for the school.  Alas, Madison does not endorse.]

Marc Massoud, Robert A Day Distinguished Professor of Accounting

• To stay healthy, if I can control that.
• To keep helping others, starting with my students. The success of my students and be able to see their achievements, in my mind, adds years to my life!!!

John Pitney, Crocker Professor of Politics

• Do more to help graduating students find jobs in a tough economy.

Isayas Theodros, President of Associated Students of Claremont McKenna College

• To really try to find my purpose in life. Haha, I know this is going to sound way deeper than it should, but I mean it. I have recently realized that life’s purpose is not all about being as successful as possible (financially, status, etc), but instead to really find what your calling is, and try to make a difference in the world.  [Hear, hear!]

Thank you, everyone who shared resolutions with us! I hope everyone else will make and keep their resolutions (feel free to share yours in the comments) and may the new year bring much happiness and good health to you and your family!

Diptyque Baies Candle, $60
Nothing brightens a room like a beautiful candle. I consider myself a connoisseur of fine candles and Diptyque is definitely my favorite. For the untutored nose, $60 for a candle may seem extravagant, but trust me, your mother will thank you for it.
Banana Republic Plaid scarf, $40
Make sure your mother keeps warm this winter with a beautiful scarf from Banana Republic.  Get the scarf in a classy beige so your mother doesn’t look like a middle-aged hipster.
La Maison du Chocolat Quatre-quarts Lemon, $28
They say food is the way to a man’s heart but it is definitely the way to a woman’s too. Bring a smile to your mother’s face with a yummy cake from one of France’s best chocolatier. Make sure you buy their truffles too—always a great gift to give to dinner guests.
Lux Life Ceramic Travel Mug, $20
Does your mother go to Starbucks everyday for her morning coffee? Show her you care about her and the environment by getting her an oh-so-chic ceramic travel mug. Also, the Breast Cancer Site will fund 1.0 % of a mammogram for each Lux Life Ceramic Travel Mug purchased.
Rescue Beauty: Smitten Nail Varnish
I was introduced to the Rescue Beauty Lounge when I was working in New York last summer. The tranquil vibe of their NoLita branch was the perfect after-work getaway. The lounge’s own nail varnish line is one of the best I’ve ever used—my nails stay unchipped for a week (whereas Essie chips in three days for me).

Pleather Grey Moccasin Slipper, $24
Tired of seeing him walk around in those heinous Nike sandals or beaten up flip flops? Keep his feet warm this winter with this animal-friendly pleather moccasins lined with Sherpa.
This Is Why Youre Fat by Jessica Amason by Richard Blakeley, $9.99
Buy this warning disguised as a joke gift. All that Holiday cheer can make its way to the waist line if you’re not careful.
Panama ‘Wine Memoranda’:, $71
Want your brother to be more refined at the dinner table? Give him this beautiful leather bound wine memoranda for him to jot down all the delicious wine he consumes. Maybe it’ll encourage him to bring back a bottle or two next holiday season.
Strand Sticky Note Book; by Studio Strand, $4.98
Encourage your favorite guy to do his homework… with style. In a super chic book, these sticky notes won’t fall apart in his backpack.

Pamela Love for Opening Ceremony Ira Tree Scratch Ring, $575
Inspired by Spike Jonze’s interpretation of Maurice Sendak’s vivid and iconic drawings in Where the Wild Things Are, this ring is sure to bring back happy memories from her childhood –not to mention at a fantastic sale price.
Forget me knot ring, $54
Have a girlfriend back home that you only see during breaks? Give her this ring as a cute memento. If she asks why don’t you have one to remember her, answer: I don’t need a ring to remember you. You’re always in my heart.
Flip Ultra Camcorder., $119
Apparently, they are all the rage. Ask her to record fun moments at the New Years party this winter so you’ll have some clips to bring back to school to show your friends how dysfunctional your family is.
Fat Witch Bakery Brownies, $15.25
A friend of mine sent me a box of these bite-sized brownies during midterm week and I cried—partly because I was touched by her gesture but mostly because it was just that delicious.
How to Take Over Teh Wurld: A LOLcat Guide 2 Winning
Everyone loves LOLcats, ergo everyone would love to receive a LOLcat book. I also recommend the Magic Cheezburger—a magic-eightball  cheezburger that gives you answers in lolz. Both are sure to be holiday wins.

Before attacking the racks and shelves, here are some things I learned from my years of Black Friday shopping:

1. Don’t buy something just because it’s cheap. If not, you’d end up with things you’d never wear/use.  I’m talking about my grey wool suit vest  and 12 piece cutlery set– what was I thinking?
2. Do bring a big bag(s). Go green by bringing your own bags. Besides, you want sturdy canvas bags for your precious purchases—you’re going to be fighting through crowds aggressive enough to tear paper bags.
3. Do buy classic, investment pieces. This is the one time of year you can afford to buy the coat/television/leather office chair. Last year, I bought a cashmere coat from Theory and the cut is classic so I can wear it now or when I’m 35.
4. Don’t be narrow-minded. Venture beyond the sale section and you might find non-sale items that are affordable or perfect. Snap those items up while people are still fixated on sale items.
5. Do take an honest friend. Bargain shopping is the time when one is most likely to buy things that are actually not necessary. Bring a friend who will tell you that you don’t need another pair of black flats/coffee maker/laptop.

Photographer: Richard Avedon, Model: Sunny Harnett, wearing Madame Gres

This year junior class president Tammy Phan has picked the perfect theme for our homecoming: Moulin Rouge—a wonderful blend of vintage glamour, dance, and vice. Not to mention, the movie, Moulin Rouge is one of my absolute favorites. But with a theme like this, it is too easy to be shortsighted and look no further than the can-can dancers from the movie and dress, well, like cabaret dancers.

Stand out from the crowd of corset dress-wearing girls and suit wearing-boys by updating the Moulin Rouge look with fashion forward items. Some ideas are below — click on the images for more detail.

Coming Up Roses

Want to look like a patron of Moulin Rouge from back in the nineteenth century? (I’m sure you don’t want to look like the American tourists that now frequent the cabaret.) Don’t waste your money on renting an ugly prom tux. Inject some life into your outfit with a vintage smoking jacket and make it youthful with an American Apparel bow tie to bypass all the trouble of learning how to tie one. If you’re ambitious and want to learn how to tie one, watch this useful video: How to Tie a Bow Tie

Rise and Shine

One of my favorite scenes from the movie was when Satine was hoisted on a swing while singing Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend. Borrow her look by wearing a body suit but don’t even think about skipping on wearing pants or skirt (you are not Beyonce, Lady Gaga, or Miley Cyrus). Layer your body suit with a dramatic skirt or add glitter to a tulle skirt with a sequined belt.

Seeing Red

Red is the color of passion and incidentally, the color that Baz Lurhman decided to focus on cinematographically for his movie Moulin Rouge. Red is usually a great color to wear to stand out from the crowd, but because the color palette of Moulin Rouge is largely red to begin with, wearing red is not going to stop the show this time around. But if you insist on wearing red, make sure your dress is different—wear a scarlet floor-sweeping gown. And when in doubt, accessorize, accessorize, accessorize. Wear a vintage (or vintage-looking) gold chain necklace and add simple but elegant accessories to your hair. Also, make use of designer diffusion shoe lines at high-street stores. The Christian Siriano heels at Payless ShoeSourse are too fierce to ignore.

Moulin Rouge meets the Rodeo

Take your inspiration from old Moulin Rouge posters. Jazz up a yellow day-dress with sparkly vest. Make everyone draw their reins with your vivid dress and stop everyone in their tracks with accessories that dazzle.

Whenever dressing for a theme-party, it’s good to remember: inspiration, not reproduction.

Monte Carlo will be held on Saturday, November 14, 2009, 9pm-1am on the Ben F. Smith Tennis Courts.  Tickets may be purchased online: http://www.thecmcforum.com/montecarlo or in the dining halls (see Facebook event for dates and times).  CMS students may register guests at: http://www.thecmcforum.com/montecarloguests.

Luckily for procrastinators and couch potatoes like myself, it turns out that there is FREE entertainment in Claremont, right here in the Claremont Colleges. Some of you might already be familiar with this, but Pomona College offers many musical performances for free. In fact, Pomona College is receiving local attention for their concerts and non-consortium members are taking advantage of the program’s diverse offerings. These concerts, held on Pomona and Scripps College at Bridges, Balch, and Lyman Hall, are entirely free and no tickets are required. Approximately two concerts, themes ranging from Afro-Cuban music to classical string quartets, are offered each week. You can check out the full schedule of free events here. Why pay $180 for front orchestra tickets at the LA philharmonic when you can enjoy great music right here for free?

Photo Courtesy of PC Theater and Dance Dept.

If you’re willing to shell out $5, you can even watch plays and dance shows by the Pomona Theater and Dance Department. This year, you can watch Richard II by William Shakespeare and The Notebook of Trigorin by Tennessee Williams amongst other plays. The productions are directed and performed by Pomona faculty and students. Also, look forward to the senior thesis dance and theater performances—you might get to witness the works of a future Coppola or Spacey. Check out their calendar for more information.

So, not everyone’s interested in viewing student performances. In the past, I, myself, have avoided attending a couple of shows on campus fearing a mediocre performance. However, the few times I did attend one (either because it was a class requirement or my friends were in the performance) I had a far better experience than sitting at the very back row of the Pantages. In a smaller audience, I felt connected with the performers. In tough economic times as these, what’s better than a free performance? Not much, I’d say.

Previously, the Crown Challenge was designed to increase Crown’s gift incrementally as the number of gifts (i.e., number of alums donating) increased.

The original Crown Challenge began last year when Steve Crown, general partner at investment firm Henry Crown & Co., pledged to give up to four million dollars over the course of the next five years. Crown challenged the group by promising to annually give $50,000 if alumni participation reached 44 percent and up to $800,000 if participation reached 50 percent. Crown decided to change the structure of the challenge, making it more intuitive to the needs of the College and our alumni.

In the new model of the Crown Challenge, Steve Crown honors each alumni gift with a gift of his own at its giving level. A gift up to $149 will automatically trigger a $50 gift from Crown. If alums commit to contributing for all four years of the challenge, Steve Crown will make an additional gift at the amount of the first gift. For instance, if you commit to give at the James Madison Society level ($300-$749) annually for the next four years, in addition to the matching $300 gift, Steve Crown will donate an additional $300.In addition to this, if you give more than once the next four years, Crown’s gift will increase with each year you give.

Matching gift campaigns are common at academic institutions, but few are as generous with their matching policies. For example, Stanford’s Atwell Match matches 50 cents per dollar and matching gifts are capped at $1000. Steve Crown, on the other hand, will acknowledge a Res Publica Society gift with an equal $1,500 gift and his gift will increase accordingly if another gift is made in the subsequent four years.

The Crown Challenge is open to all alumni and also to graduating seniors pledging to give the four years following graduation. This means a senior class gift of $50 will actually be a $150 gift to the College.

The changes in the Crown Challenge were made to address some of the issues of CMC Annual Giving: getting alums to give all they can give and to give consistently.  Though gifts of participation (“Even if you can only give a small amount, it’s important that everyone gives back.”) are important for school rankings, a donation of $5 does very little in terms of helping students.

The Office of Annual Giving has also faced issues with getting alumni to donate consistently. While our peer institutions like Williams College and Amherst College have alumni who recognize the importance of their gifts, CMC alums have less understanding of the great need for donations. If we took away the top twenty donors, the Fund for CMC would be cut by 50 percent. Essentially, our top donors make CMC look like we’re doing better than we actually are. Of course, the financial crisis was played a part in shifting the focus—Crown recognized that it was difficult for people to see the impact of their gift in the original plan and hope the new one would motivate more people.

Gifts made to the Annual Giving Office will help meet the College’s goals for the Campaign for Claremont McKenna, the largest capital campaign ever undertaken by a liberal arts college. However, it is important to note that the gifts to the Fund for CMC affects each one us right away. Patrick Roche, Director of Annual Giving Programs explained “The gifts we collect are current use gifts. They go towards things that effect students right now. The power of a current use gift is that it is like a gift to the endowment but 20 times bigger. We only use 5 percent of the endowment each year meaning we can only use $5 of an endowment gift of $100. A gift of $100 to the Annual Fund will be used fully.”

The Alumni Fund covers the cost of each student outside of tuition (full tuition covers approximately half of a student’s CMC education), going towards scholarships, athletics, research institutes, and other activities and events to enhance student life. Considering the fact that our endowment lost roughly 27 percent of its value between July 1 and December 31, 2008, gifts to the Fund for CMC are more important than ever oday.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council of the Philippines reported that the typhoons caused over 600 deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the capital and the northern region of the Philippines. Lack of infrastructure makes it difficult to distribute aid, and every day new victims are found under landslides and debris.

Even half a world away, many Claremont students were personally affected by the disaster.

Lauren Wong ’10, who spent the summer in Manila in 2008, was horrified when she saw a picture of a flooded street of the city on the New York Times website. “That was the road I used to drive through on my way to work. It didn’t hit me how connected I felt to the place until it was gone.”

After finding out about the disaster, Wong quickly emailed everyone she knew in Manila. Fortunately, most replied with positive responses but some were not so lucky. One of Wong’s family friends replied, “Our office equipment and furniture, as well as our cars and trucks and machines (we manufacture sewing threads) were submerged in the flood. We can’t operate the wet machinery and our power supply is still unstable. This is the first time this has happened to us so we were not prepared.”

Many at the College have not ignored the natural disaster. Last Wednesday, Matthew Manotoc ‘10, former president of the Pilipino Club at the Claremont Colleges, was selling kalamansi juice, a traditional Pilipino citrus beverage, at the International Place study break as an effort to raise money for the cause. “Resources are scarce in the Philippines,” commented Manotoc, a Manila native, “and the poor are hit the hardest. The people who had barely anything lost everything.” The Pilipino Club disbanded last year due to logistical issues but the former members are joining together in support for the event.

Ongoing fundraising efforts will be held throughout October, which is also Filipino American History Month. This coming Wednesday and Thursday, Manotoc and other students will be hosting a dollar drive outside Collins Dining Hall during lunch and dinner; food and clothing donations will be collected outside of International Place.

The Pilipino Club, in collaboration with Pitzer’s Center for Asian Pacific American Students and the Asian Pacific American Coalition, is hosting a hip-hop benefit on October 29 from 7:30 to 9:30 PM. Quest Crew, the winner of Season Three of “America’s Best Dance Crew,” will headline the second annual “Fil-I-Am” event. All donations will be sent to the Philippine Red Cross and distributed according to need.