“America’s already very accustomed to Chinese and Japanese food, so it’s time to bring in bolder flavors,” Tila said in the Los Angeles Times, “Indian flavors, Singaporean flavors, and of course, Thai – I think Thai has been misrepresented. I’m trying to bring it back to what it’s supposed to be.”

In this spirit, Tila has prepared the following menu: Vietnamese pork sandwiches, an Asian noodle bar containing vegetarian, chicken and beef  and stir fry, and wild salmon entrées at the Exhibition station.

But delicious  food is not Star Chef Night’s only attraction. Bon Appétit will also be raffling off a weekend for two at Las Vegas’ Encore Hotel along with dinner at Wazuzu. Raffle tickets will be sold following the dinner (around 7 pm) so plan on attending if you want to enter your name in the raffle. If this didn’t whet your appetite, check out Tila in action below.

Earlier today, we published a post hinting that author Michael Pollan might be an Ath speaker and have since learned that though the Ath would be happy to host the author, but no plans have been made.   We hope, though, that you enjoyed the opportunity to learn a little bit about the unusual world of culinary ethics.

As for Romney’s designation as a Res Publica speaker, these guests often address a general audience at the Athenaeum and then sometimes also address a smaller group of select students, faculty, alumni, and friends of the College at a separate event.  According to the CMC website, “the Res Publica Society is a dedicated group of leaders of the CMC community who make an annual contribution of $1,500 to $3,499. These leadership gifts allow CMC to offer students Alumni Fund Scholarships, athletic travel, engaging Athenaeum speakers, exceptional visiting faculty, and a wide range of other co-curricular opportunities.”

Romney’s Athenaeum appearance makes sense as part of series of events with Claremont-based organizations, as he is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at Claremont Institute’s California Public Policy Conference in Newport Beach on Dec. 5, 2009 to discuss state and local government policies and their future impact. The Claremont Institute, while independent of the Claremont Colleges, hosts a number of faculty members from the CMC government on its board. This connection to CMC could well yield other fruitful interactions with Romney for the College.

Given Romney’s economic background, his opinions on the financial crisis would be especially invaluable to CMCers with economic-driven aspirations, but would also likely attract members of CMC’s vibrant political community.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma researches the four basic structures that human societies have implemented to obtain food: the current food industry, the growing organic industry, local self-sufficient farming, and the hunter-gatherer. Pollan creates four meals on the basis of these four structures and explains the economic and ecological ramifications of each nutritional lifestyle.  In Defense of Food, Pollan’s most recent book, continues to develop his attitudes toward modern nutrition but focuses more on the different cultural perspectives of diet. Pollan’s rudimentary nutritional philosophy is the following: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants” and Pollan devotes the entirety of In Defense of Food to elaborating on this idea.

Michael Pollan’s concerns could not be more pertinent considering the fad-diet obsessed nation in which we live. The food industry is ever-changing and most consumers are ill-equipped to understand and address the issues presented by these changes. Pollan’s books shed light on a very complex issue and his Ath speech would likely do the same.

Dead Man Walking chronicles Sister Helen’s role as a spiritual advisor to various prisoners on death row in Louisiana and offers insight into the corruption and bureaucracy surrounding capital punishment. In 1982, Sister Helen began corresponding with a prisoner on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary named Elmo Patrick Sonnier, and after several letters became his spiritual advisor. This relationship enabled Sister Helen to closely examine the injustices of the capital punishment system and led her to conclude that race and class serve to seal prisoners’ fates. Though she only describes two executions in her book, Sister Helen has witnessed five executions in Louisiana.

Since her first encounter with the death penalty Sister Helen has worked to raise awareness for her cause, and she continues to advocate for death row prisoners’ rights through lectures, rallies, and her books. Currently, Sister Helen is working on a third book entitled River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey to Death Row.

Both the book Dead Man Walking and the similarly titled film starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn are available to be checked out at Honnold Mudd Library.

Hulu.com has been distributing videos (including TV shows and B movies) from various networks since March 2008 free of charge, using advertisements for products ranging from Halo 3: ODST to Pop Tarts to generate revenue.

Hulu’s increasing popularity and the cultural shift which has come with it are the most likely the reason behind the decision to charge users. As viewers have become more accustomed to using their computer as an analogue for their television, one wonders whether Hulu stands to lose its popularity with the introduction of subscription fees. Hulu is free, slick, and legal, but it’s hard to believe that free isn’t the most salient feature to many of its users. Once Hulu is no longer free, people will most likely turn to watching their streamed TV shows on low-quality, illegal websites.

CMCers, as well as other college students, are likely to be affected the most because as it is now the price is right, the quality is good and most importantly, we don’t have to interrupt our busy schedules to view our favorite shows; instead, Hulu users are free to watch TV based on their own schedule instead of TV Guide’s. Perhaps if Hulu survives its decision to charge users, it will introduce more TV shows and movies than are currently offered. But that’s a big “if.”

The architectural firm Moore Ruble Yudell led the both workshops, beginning the second by asking its participants to “close your eyes and tell us how CMC culture will continue and evolve in the next 5-10 years.” Among many suggestions, concerns relating to Ducey’s aged gym equipment, CMC’s inadequate pool (in comparison to that of Scripps), and a lack of outdoor gathering locations (such as amphitheaters) were brought up the most. Several students also requested that CMC develop a unique and cohesive architectural style, as well as many other more specific suggestions pertaining to interior design.

After the group exercise, representatives from Moore Ruble Yudell presented on CMC’s sustainability as a campus and offered several statistics pertaining to our water and gas usage. According to Moore Ruble Yudell, approximately 70% of water consumed is used to irrigate the many lush lawns on campus, the average student expends roughly 30 gallons per day, and 50% of energy consumed on site is for gas. Many of the future plans involve introducing environmentally friendly practices like  rain water collection to make CMC more green.

Another issue the representatives from Moore Ruble Yudell hope to resolve is that of parking. Even with freshmen prohibited from having cars on campus, finding a parking space can often be difficult; Moore Ruble Yudell discussed subterranean parking as a solution. The primary locations of the anticipated parking would be underneath the senior apartments and underneath a proposed new Psychology building, which would stand where McKenna Auditorium and Heggblade currently do. The final activity of the meeting involved creating a collage of ideas and images on poster boards to further help Moore Ruble Yudell gauge student opinions.

Given the Board of Trustees unanimous vote to move toward a potential enrollment of 1,400 CMC students, these renovations must be made to meet the needs of additional as well as existing students. The campus planning workshop provided a forum for students to involve themselves in a project that will ultimately affect all of us, but whether the ideas generated by students will be used remains to be seen.