In April of last year, members of “responsibly” took a tour across America to learn how the budget crisis is affecting teachers and students in the classroom. They spoke with over fifty educators, and they soon realized that many of those teachers ended up spending $2000-$4000 of their annual income on classroom materials. Despite these teachers’ selfless efforts to increase their classroom budget, many creative activities fail to leave the drawing board simply due to a lack of funding.

This is where responsibly comes in. Felkner and Grant established a non-profit specifically designed to help connect patrons with dedicated teachers in need of resources for interactive educational activities. While reflecting on his own education, Felkner noted it was these experience-oriented projects that “made knowledge come alive and gave [him] the opportunity to apply what [he] learned in the classroom,” thus they are crucial to the educational process.

CMC alum Sandy Russell with her students

Responsibly uses a crowdfunding platform to fulfill its client’s goals. Teachers upload an idea to the platform by creating a movie pitch outlining the project as well as how much money will be needed to fund it. Responsibly serves as a controlled way to tap into both the teacher’s network, the non-profit’s network, as well as government grants for non-profits. After the donation goal is met, patrons are able to view the finished project through a video so they can see where their dollars end up. It also gives teachers and students a chance to thank those who contributed to the entire learning process.

With the help of funding from CMC alumni and other donors, responsibly was able to charter three buses from Oscar De La Hoya Animo Charter School to bring some of its students to CMC’s campus. OSCDLHA is a member of Los Angeles’ Green Dot Public School system, an organization that transforms schools into “high-achieving public charter schools that are focused on graduating students and fully preparing them for college.” On Wednesday, January 25, more than 150 high school students from OSCDLHA were given the opportunity to experience CMC’s campus and talk with our students about applying to college. The overall goal was to get these students excited about higher education and to show them what hard work and dedication in the classroom can help them attain.

Responsibly has already completed several projects, including ones involving CMC alumni and TFA teachers, Sandy Russell and Hunter Jackson. The responsibly platform helped Russell to raise the $623 necessary to take her first grade class on a field trip to the Los Angeles Zoo, and she is currently less than $100 shy of her $663 goal to take her students to the William O. Douglas Outdoor Classroom and Sooky Goldman Nature Center (WODOC). Jackson has been fortunate enough to raise the $1325 needed for a recreation of the BP Oil Spill, an explosive demonstration of how shifting tectonic plates cause volcanoes, as well as a hedgehog as a class pet.

Grant appreciates CMC’s generosity and hopes that it might lend its resources to continue enriching the classroom experience, which could include a “student tour of the Botanical Gardens, a science experiment in Keck, or flag football on Parents Field.” Both Grant and Felkner hope to expand nation-wide in order to increase utility for what Felkner hopes will become “ultimate tools for teachers.”

For those of you still hunting for summer internships, why not get a head start? Responsibly is starting an intern program to connect “responsibly teacher liaisons” with teachers seeking project funding. These account managers will work with a specific teacher throughout the process, from creating the right video pitch, to networking (what CMCers do best), to participating in the finished project. Some current CMC students are already working with responsibly to help strengthen the educational experience for disadvantaged students.

If you are interested in learning more, check out their company website, follow them on Facebook or Twitter, and even donate to a project to help support these dedicated teachers.

That said, the thought of dating is also potentially stressful; figuring out what to wear, who’s to pay, how reserved to be, navigating awkward situations and trying to gauge the interest of the other person. Now the Forum can’t help you with any of that, but what we can help you with is potentially the hardest part of all; figuring out what to do. Obviously a good date-plan will come from knowing the interests of your date, but if you’re stumped for ideas give one of these a try!

Traditional Date

From Union on Yale Facebook page

This date is admittedly not creative: Dinner, Movie and the Bar. Cliche as it may be, even the oldest standbys are standbys for a reason. Try starting your night by taking a walk into the village and getting some pizza from the village’s newest restaurant and bar Union on Yale.  Get a table outside by the heaters (inside can be distractingly loud). The restaurant is trendy with a friendly and fun atmosphere, perfect for a first (or second) date. From there, head over to Laemmle to catch a movie. If you want to prolong the date a little longer, stop by Eureka Burger for a drink or two: they have great cocktails and an outstanding beer selection. Some nights they have live music, and if you go on a Wednesday night you get a glass you can keep with whatever the beer special is that night, a memento for you to remember the date forever.

If you’ve got a car, another spin on this traditional date would be to take your partner to the Mission Tiki Drive-In Theatre in Montclair; comfortable, classy, and you have to ability to chat with your date during the movie if you so choose.

Dates don’t all have to be about eating or doing something stationary, there are plenty of options right around Claremont for more active dates. For example, beat the California heat by taking your date ice skating in Ontario-Mills. Admission and rental skates cost $9 per person, and you can find their public skate hours here. If that’s not enough activity for you, grab your date and head for the hills! There’s plenty of beautiful, good, mellow hikes for people of any fitness level. Claremont Wilderness Trail at the end of Mills Ave is a nice loop, and Barrett-Stoddard Truck Road (also known as Storybook Trail) a trail off of Baldy rd. has some great views.

Adventurous Date

Photo from skydiveelsinore.com

Sometimes the stress of school can make you want to jump out of a plane or off a bridge. Why not take those urges and make them into the best date ever? Skydiving and bungee jumping are activities sure to get your adrenaline pumping, and they will give you the opportunity to see your date in a completely new context outside of his or her comfort zone. If you want to quickly  bond with your date, high-intensity outings are a must. As we learned from Dr. Love last semester, high stress situations like skydiving, roller coasters, or bungee jumping produce a lot of oxytocin, a chemical hugely involved in building relationships. If these ideas are up your alley, check out Skydive Elsinore, and Bungee America. This is a pricey date idea, but also an experience of a lifetime and a date you and your partner will never forget.

Cheap Date

Admittedly, so far the dates I’ve recommended could do a number on your wallet and require a car. I don’t mean to suggest that all dates must cost a fortune: in fact you can have a perfectly romantic date without ever leaving the 5C’s. Start off by getting takeout from the dining hall of your choice. Grab a blanket, a bottle of wine, and head over to the Pomona Green across from Bridges and have a picnic. Once dinner is over, there are many options for what comes next. One of the greatest advantages of the consortium is the sheer number of opportunities of things to do. With minimal digging (Good Morning CMC, E-mail alerts, and Facebook events are great places to start) you can plan the date around an on campus event like a Without-A-Box performance, an a cappella  concert, a big sports game, or even ballroom dance lessons. To those who think an on campus date would be lame, you aren’t trying hard enough to find interesting opportunities.  It could definitely be one of the cheapest and most interesting dates you ever go on.

Beach Date  

Photo from Paradise Cove website

Whenever I go back home, one of the most frequent questions I’m asked is, “So do you go to the beach a lot?” to which I always respond, “Occasionally, but not as much as I’d like to.” I imagine this is the same for most people; you get wrapped up in things on campus and go to the Scripps pool when you get the urge to swim or lay in the sun. A date is a perfect opportunity to get out of the Claremont bubble and actually visit the great beaches our friends assume we go to on the reg. Beach options are truly endless around here (Santa Monica, Venice, Laguna, Huntington), but if you want a less well-known option try Paradise Cove in Malibu. It’s a reasonably priced and casual restaurant with outdoor seating (definitely sit outside) and its own section of private beach.  With the beautiful scenery, hot weather, and wide array of activity offered by the waterfront this is a date sure to be both memorable and fun. One word of advice though, this is a date that will require a lot of conversation due to the long car ride and downtime on the beach. Make sure you have some ideas of conversation topics and activities ideas that you can pull out if the conversation hits a lull. Try to think ahead of things you can do on the beach, like frisbee or building sandcastles.

Okay CMC, now go forth and woo! And commenters, we would love to hear from you too! Share your stories! What other date ideas do you have?

Photo: ITV / TELEVISION STILLS

Succumbing to my sister’s persistent nagging, I decided to try out the newest buzzworthy series du jour, Downton Abbey.

With the help of a steady dose of Lortab, I was transported to 1914 England, where the stately Earl of Grantham and the entire Crawley family sustained a crisis of succession when the two closest heirs died in the catastrophe of the Titanic.  Due to England’s law of male primogeniture, the Downton estate and the family title was to go to an unknown third cousin who was a (gasp!) bourgeois lawyer.  So a ten minute scene about a fictitious aristocratic succession not really striking your fancy?  Well I didn’t think it would for me either, but I was hooked.  And it turns out, it wasn’t just the meds, because I’m not alone.

Filmed in the real life Highclere Castle, Downton Abbey has turned out to be the best British import since Wallace & Gromit or beans on toast (okay, so no one actually eats that here).  Maybe not yet deserving of a place in the TV pantheon alongside The Wire and Seinfeld, Downton has been racking up the accolades nevertheless.  Scoring a bevy of Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe nods and wins, Downton Abbey entered the Guinness Book of World Records 2011 as the “most critically acclaimed English-language television show” of the year.  So isn’t it high time to see what the fuss is all about?

The Highclere Castle where Downtown Abbey is shot

While it can tend to err on the schmaltzy side, and has been criticized for being nothing more than a glorified soap opera, Downton Abbey’s plot is rooted in history, touching on the Titanic, World War I, Spanish Flu epidemic, women’s suffrage, and the Irish Republican Army.  The premier of the second season throws the viewer into the trenches at the Somme, as Downton evolves into an epic war drama.  However, one may even draw present day parallels.  The rigid, classist society of Downton depicts income inequality to the nth degree (albeit in a flowery depiction).

Between breathtaking landscape shots of provincial England and stylized, overexposed scenes of the castle’s lavish interior,the viewer is treated to an omniscient view of all of Downton’s goings-on.  A host of characters navigate the seemingly infinite dark corners of Downton, from the lowly kitchen maid Daisy to the high and mighty Lady Mary, to the deliciously sinister plotters Lady Maid O’Brien and Thomas the Footman.  Did I mention Maggie Smith plays the Dowager Countess of Grantham?  C’mon, you really can’t go wrong.

Catch the entire first season on Netflix Instant and new episodes every Sunday night on PBS Masterpiece Classic. You can countdown until the next episode with me here.

The third item that I want to say is this, and oh God what a pretentious jerk I am for saying it: the best band at Coachella this year is one you have never heard of, and, given my three-point-five years of experience with musical taste at the Claremont Colleges, it’s one that you’re not going to like.   In fact, you’re going to hate them.  But, nonetheless, this article continues.

This was also before glasses like that were "hip."

And the band, the one I am trying to talk about, they probably wouldn’t care if you kept reading, in spite of any disclaimers.  The band is called REFUSED.  They are from Scandinavia.  They play hardcore punk music.  They last played a live show together in 1998, when you were still learning how to write cursive.  They only had three records, all coming in the early-to-mid-90s.  Their last album was recorded mere months before the band, like, broke up.  What, exactly, one could reasonably ask, is hardcore punk?  Let me explain this way: the band’s last days were documented in a film named after a song on the final record, lovingly titled “Refused are F**kin’ Dead,” and that song, boisterous as it may be titled, was followed-up on.  The band, at the time of their disintegration, sent out press releases ordering newspapers to burn (like, actual fire, this was before the 21st century, remember) all existing albums, photos, and articles about them, and to pretend as though they never existed.  This was, it is absolutely vital to note, less than three months after recording their final album, entitled, “The Shape of Punk to Come.”

Okay, one second here for good measure.  Let’s talk about punk music for just a moment.  Sometime in the late 1990s, this “fantastic” thing happened wherein major record labels (the very same ones who are supporting SOPA, by the way) realized that punk music could make them money.  And so they signed “pop-punk” bands.  Here we go, you’ve heard of this, right?  Like Blink-182, like Green Day, like, um, I can’t think of another.  But this was going on in the mid-90s.  And believe it or not, this whole “making money” part of “pop-punk” was, well, not at all what punk music was about.

Sure, there were punk bands that had successful followings, maybe some you’ve even listened to, like Dropkick Murphys or NOFX or Flogging Molly.  But, well, punk music by its very nature is AGAINST that whole making-money thing.  Depending on who you ask, The Ramones may or may not be the first-ever punk band.  Regardless of “first-ness,” Johnny Ramone did something pretty ridiculous with his simple power-chords: he destroyed the era of guitar-solo-worshipping classic rock like AC/DC, Led Zepplin, Hendrix, and Van Halen.  Maybe he didn’t want to play that kind of music.  The more likely story is that he simply wasn’t good enough at guitar.

And that, essentially, is what Punk is about.  Destroying things, subverting conventional music, being, well, pissed-off about the status-quo.  And in 1998, when “The Shape of Punk to Come,” one of the greatest albums ever made, was released, that very status-quo was poppy, three-chord, sing-along punk.  And REFUSED demolished it.

This album has the name of the four guys ON THE COVER. Makes one skeptical they didn't think it was at least a little awesome.

Another moment, and a deep breath for good measure, along with a quick plea to bear with me.  And in addition to that plea, being the kind of pseudo-intellectual-quasi-fanboy I am with this band, I want to ask you a question: back before the TV series, did you ever watch the movie “Friday Night Lights?”  Well guess what: you’ve already heard REFUSED, then.  This scene, for just a moment, plays this song, entitled “New Noise.”  It is the centerpiece of the album.  If you are still with me on this whole thing, follow this link on these words right here, and watch this entire thing, listen to the song.  It will be okay, it’s not that long, but just, like, please do it.  I’ll wait, don’t worry.  I’ll be right here.

Let’s talk about that song for a second.  What on earth is going on?  In five minutes, we get a sports-anthem caliber introduction, an electronic dance interlude, screaming vocals, dramatic-ish spoken word, synthesized/sampled crowd cheering, and finally and outro of the phrase, “the new beat” screamed well after the rest of the band is done playing.  Is this even punk?  The answer, if the album’s title is any indication, is “probably not.”  Though in the realm of hardcore music, such a statement may as well be damning.  Few kinds of music devote themselves to consuming and all-important taxonomies as those with screamed vocals.

The outcome of Refused’s album, at least for the band, was catastrophic.  The quartet engaged in a brief tour that ripped them apart, disbanding via aforementioned militaristic press release, moving onto other projects, some abandoning music, yet all, in interviews given years after the dissolution, giving a pretty definitive statement: the record was bad.  Or at least not good.  But something strange happened: just about everyone else in punk music completely disagreed.  A few years after its release, a host of “hardcore” bands, many of them spawning the “emo hardcore” branch of things, invaded Myspace and cited Refused as a huge influence.  They were covered by everyone from Paramore to Anthrax to Crazytown to Between the Buried and Me.

Now, due to some perfect storm of events, Refused are playing Friday evening at this year’s Coachella, getting billing just under The Black Keys and before The Shins.  Is this real life?  And furthermore, why would a band that began their magnum opus with a hearty “I’ve got a bone to pick with capitalism, and a few to break” reunite for one of the highest-grossing music festivals in the world?  The answer came in a press release on the group’s now-reactivated website:  ”We never did ‘the shape of punk to come’ justice back when it came out,” the band says.  ”We wanna do it over, do it right, for the people who’ve kept the music alive through the years.”

If I can find a ticket, I’ll be front-center.  And just maybe, “The New Beat” will return for good.

That’s why it seems so silly that, during two days before classes start, probably the biggest arrival day for returning students, ID cards can only be reactivated for a few hours. Over winter and summer breaks, most ID cards are deactivated, and must be reactivated at Story House. One problem: Story House is only open from 10am-3pm on those days. I’ve spent more time than that on a Daily Show bender. Story House hours don’t seem like much of a problem until you arrive at 3:30pm and don’t have a place to sleep that night.

With a little rethinking, activating cards can be made far more idiot proof, and, as an idiot, I would love to see that happen. For those of us who drive to school or take a particularly long flight, a five hour window during the middle of the day can be a difficult target, and the options for those who miss it are limited.

During the day, it’s easy to get a hold of an RA or find a friend to let you in, but at night? Not so easy. I’ve faced a locked front door late at night and I bet I’m not the only one. At that point, you meet a pretty nasty dilemma: risk pissing off the sleeping Resident Assistant, calling Campus Safety or sleeping in a bush. And if nobody answers your phone call, that bush starts to look pretty cozy. If not for a couple of night owl friends, I would have faced a pretty interesting night.

By keeping Story House open for just a few more hours during the two days prior to classes restarting, we can make the whole process a lot easier. Students can afford to arrive a few hours later, and RA’s can rest easier.

Keeping Story House open isn’t free, but changing around the hours doesn’t have to come at a significant cost to the school. Currently, Story House is open for five hours in the middle of the day, when traffic is probably going to be the slowest. By shifting those hours to later in the evening, say 3pm to 8pm, Story House can ensure that more students will be able to reactivate their cards before it closes and nighttime arrives. Sure, arriving at 7am and not getting into your room until 3pm is inconvenient. But, arriving at 3:30pm and realizing you don’t have a place to sleep that night is much worse. The administration could also give Story House two days off during the middle of the semester in order to allow for extended hours when it really counts.  At the end of the day, even if keeping the card reactivation station operating for longer does cost a little extra, that’s price worth paying.

It seems that most students plan their return trips more effectively than I have, and we don’t see an epidemic of lockouts during the days before the semester officially starts.  For the most part, students are going to be able to find a way to get by without their cards for a night, but a simple change can remove a bit of the travel stress from move-in day. Every little bit helps.

Many of my friends used to know me as one of the worst procrastinators, but this past semester I tried hard to improve my work habits, and saw great results. I know that these same tips will not work for everyone, but even the process of analyzing your study habits and dedicating yourself to make positive changes (especially for you underclassmen) can improve your sleep schedule, stress level, and maybe even that pesky-all-defining-parent-pleasing-or-displeasing number on your transcript.

1) Choose your environment

She did not read this article...

When it comes to studying, the top three factors for selecting a workspace should be the same as if you were buying a home: location, location location! Personally speaking, I get distracted in a dorm setting so I make my way to various spots around campus: one of our libraries (the School of Theology Library is practically deserted during finals for those of you with bikes/cars), the reading room, the “fishbowl,” an empty classroom, any café if you don’t mind the chatter, and if it’s sunny (we do live in SoCal) head outside for a couple hours. If studying at the same library carrel sounds boring to you (you can reserve a personal one on the first day of classes, look into it) take the initiative to find a few places where you’re comfortable and switch it up every once in a while. If you prefer to work in your room, make sure that you keep your desk and general workspace organized. I hate to sound like your mother, but she’s right (isn’t she always?); if the area around you is cluttered it makes it more difficult to concentrate on the task in front of you. So get the clothes in the hamper, the dishes washed, and your bed made to keep you focused on your work. Lastly, minimize outside distractions.  This includes a silenced cell, friends at a safe studying distance, and internet use on check with a little Self Control.

2) Establish a routine

After hitting the snooze button a couple of times every morning, I put on some music and while I munch on some breakfast food (your mom was right about that one, too)  I try to plan out what I absolutely need to get done that day, as well as what I would like to get done. Even if you don’t want to take a few minutes to jot down a list, you can take a minute to mentally organize your day. I grab water, snacks, a sweater, the books/print-outs I need for that days classes, and most importantly, any work for the next day. I’ve noticed the less often I need to come back to my room the less I’m tempted to knock on my neighbor’s door, check out Netflix, or Skype with a friend when I should be hitting the books. Being able to go from class, to lunch, to the library, to class, to dinner or work, to Poppa or the reading room, and then make it back to my room before ten to wind down for the night is what works for me. Find the time of day at which you work best and make sure to make the most of that time. Learn to break up your day so that you can avoid any one task for too large of a time block. Varying your studying as well as rewarding yourself with short breaks in between will help keep your mind from wandering.

3) Get organized

When your professor hands you your syllabus at the beginning of the semester, he or she is laying the foundation for your mentality in that class. Don’t avoid looking ahead more than a week because you don’t want to stress; getting a handle on the expectations and work load for the course will help you plan your semester. Whether it’s an iCal, a planner, or that animal calendar from grandma (maybe associating baskets of kittens with econ midterms isn’t so bad?) note the dates of all major assignments, quizzes, exams, and papers in one place. Make sure to organize your computer files by semester and course (and maybe back them up while you’re at it) so you won’t find yourself struggling to remember the title of a stray document you saved last year somewhere in the depths of your computer. Establish a filing system so that you can keep all of your syllabi, Sakai print-outs, class hand-outs, and returned work in one place (this also helps with visible clutter); you’ll be glad you did when exams roll around.

4) Shun the deadline mentality

This will not be you this semester

Many of us tend to work toward deadlines, letting them dictate our schedules, rather than working fromthe date the work is assigned. One of the most difficult and important pieces of advice is to start preparing for assignments and tests well in advance. Say I have a ten page essay due; as soon as the prompt is assigned I brainstorm topics. A daunting assignment cannot be tackled until you physically put ink to paper or words to screen. At least a week before the essay is due I meet with the professor if needed, I gather my sources, and start outlining my work. And then I edit until I know that it is the best of my ability. Does this mean I end up working for more total hours on the same assignment than the guy who writes it the night before? Definitely. But when most of us applied to CMC we didn’t picture our finest work coming from cram sessions.  The work we can be most proud of comes from an intellectual dialogue with professors and peers, research on a topic stemming from genuine curiosity rather than convenience, and time spent conscientiously crafting an essay or project that reflects your opinions and arguments. That’s the tricky thing about procrastination; you shouldn’t avoid it because it doesn’t work.  In fact for many students it works just fine, but in the process you cheat yourself from being the student you can be.

But when you come across one of those unavoidable sleepless nights of furiously typing away at the computer or pouring yourself over the pages of your thickest textbook, just soldier on and remember that you’ll be able to appreciate a lazy day that much more.

For those of you whom would still enjoy procrastinating (it’s ok… it’s early in the semester), relive the famous infamous 8:27 procrastination project. Procrastinate here (aren’t animals amazing),  here and here.  Haven’t procrastinated enough? Here is the full list.

No January 1st would be complete without a set of well-intentioned New Year’s Resolutions. Almost from the beginning of time, it seems, humans have regarded the first day of the new year as a day of fresh beginnings, a time to reinvent oneself and one’s life.  One can almost imagine the prehistoric caveman stumping out of their caves on the first of the year and declaring, “Me learn to make fire this year.”  Even at the Happiest College in America, we still all have those little things that bother us that we’d like to change.  And although most resolutions don’t even last as long as a Champagne hangover (another grand tradition of the New Year), 2012 just wouldn’t feel complete without making at least a few.  This year, though, let your first resolution be to make better New Year’s Resolutions: ones that matter, and which, with a little effort, you can keep.  Here are a few suggestions for goals for the New Year… and a few classic resolutions that you can burn along with the mistletoe.

4 to Ditch:

1)   Lose weight
Unless your weight is endangering your health, stop stressing about the freshman (or sophomore, or junior…) fifteen!  As long as you are eating healthful foods and exercising, and your body feels good, save the weight loss resolution for your middle-aged self.  For now, enjoy the fact that there are five dining halls that feed you delicious meals three times a day— this will never happen again for the rest of your life, I promise.  Embrace the fact that you are young, that for a brief period your body can get away with a few pizza binges now and then.  Most of all, embrace your body and your self, and have fun without obsessing over a meaningless number on a scale.  Live it up!

2)   Get an “A” in every class
Such a broad and ambitious goal is guaranteed to create stress.  It’s January, you don’t even know what your classes are and how difficult they may be, so why make a blanket resolution that might be hard to uphold?  Instead, make smaller goals you know you can keep, like: “This year, I will read the books in my class instead of using Sparknotes for all of them,” or “I will buy an alarm clock so I don’t miss my 8am classes this semester.”  Keeping it simple is less overwhelming, and little steps can lead to a boost in grades more effectively than one large goal.

3)   Land the perfect job/internship
Even if you are a junior or senior, remember that you are still young!  Going a school with as many ambitious over-achievers as CMC, it’s easy to believe that getting the perfect internship starting freshman year is the norm.  Many people don’t get their first job until long after graduation, and still wind up employed and happy in the long run.  This year, ditch the job-search stress, even if you’re a senior.  If the perfect job happens to wander into your life, fabulous!  But if not, let yourself spend more time enjoying life and pursuing your passions, rather than worrying about the future.

4)   Find a soul mate
Again, this is college.  I’m not saying it doesn’t happen: I am one of the biggest romantics you’ll ever meet.  But setting your heart on finding true love this year can lead to much pain and disappointment.  Resolve instead to build friendships and relationships that will last a lifetime, and to be open to love if it throws itself in your path.

6 to Consider:

1)   Be more eco-friendly
In our era of global climate change and economic difficulties, you can be a huge force for change with only a tiny bit of effort.  Make the little changes that you’ve been meaning to make: don’t let the water run while you’re brushing your teeth, turn off the lights when you leave a room and turn the heat down while you are out of your dorm.  These seemingly insignificant acts will add up and as you practice keeping this resolution you will find them becoming absentminded habits. It’s easy being green.

2)   Get moving
Gyms and personal trainers love the beginning of a New Year, because one of the most common resolutions that always comes up is to exercise more.  While a resolution like “get ripped” or “lose weight” can be counter productive, “getting moving” is a way to ensure that your year is a fun, healthy and productive one.  Not all exercise is boring, and it doesn’t have to involve lifting weights or running at the gym.  Instead of pledging your allegiance to the elliptical this year, find something you love to do already, like hiking or surfing, and resolve to do it more! There are so many places to go around Claremont too!

3)   Start things early
If you made a resolution on January 1^st, you’re already on track for this one.  Instead of letting time slip away from you while perfecting your procrastination skills this semester, try getting things done ahead of time.  Here’s an equation for those mathematically minded out there: Less procrastination=less stress= doing better= being happier.  A great way to ensure that you keep this resolution is by getting organized right away this year: get a planner, a calendar, and some colored pens and make it fun.  Sounds simple, but it will pay off more than you can imagine.

4)   8 Hugs a Day
Ellie Beckett’s article 8 Hugs a Day to a Better World inspired the 4th New Year’s Resolution to consider. Claremont Graduate Professor Dr. Paul Zak (a.k.a. “Dr. Love”), found that hugging releases a chemical in the brain known as Oxytocin, which “helps us feel empathy, experience love, and connect to one another.” So spread some love this year and make your New Year’s Resolution to give 8 hugs a day and help build that better world.

5)   Learn something new
I know, you’re in college, isn’t it all supposed to be about learning new things?  Knowledge doesn’t all come from books and professors, though.  Learn something you’ve always been curious about: take a cooking class, try karate for PE instead of going to the gym to jog, go bungee jumping or learn to play the guitar.  Explore and enjoy.  There are so many opportunities to try new things at CMC: you never know when you’ll stumble across a true passion.

6)   Get money smart
If you can keep this resolution this year while you are in college, still under the cozy monetary wing of your parents, your adult self will thank you later.  Try changing little things: keep track of your flex dollars in a notebook so that you aren’t surprised when you go to buy your twelfth latte of the week at the Motley and discover you’ve spent yourself dry.  If you ha20ve a job, keep track of your earnings and deposit a specific portion of the money you make into a savings account instead of spending it right away.  Just becoming more aware of your money intake and output will help you be more responsible and successful later in life.  Read Kevin Burke’s article on Personal Finance 101 to get you started.

So, what are my New Year’s Resolutions this year?  Make better resolutions, and embrace everything 2012 has to offer.  Oh, and write more articles for the Forum.  Here’s to the Happiest Year Yet!

What are your New Year’s Resolutions? Let us know in the comment section.

Read some of the New Year’s Resolutions from last year’s Forum staff. How did they do?

If you missed our recap of last semester, you should check it out here.

As always, be sure to “Like” the CMC Forum on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @cmcforum.

We are looking forward to another great semester and have a lot of great things in store for you!

Have a great semester! Welcome back!

It was a busy semester at CMC.

CMC moved up in the rankings to the 9^th best Liberal Arts College in the country.

The Kravis Center officially opened to students and faculty.  The Living Room (affectionately known as ‘the Kube’) attracted students’ attention  after some technical difficulties and the administration’s initial decision to limit access to students. This was all before the Kube became home to one Pomona student’s temporary interpretive dance studio.

The fall semester also celebrated and embodied student leadership at CMC.  Students started a movement to do a better job of cleaning up after parties and led an effort to change our campus conversation about sex and gender norms. Trying bridge the gap between our Building Attendants and their residents, the Forum got to know some of CMC’s friendliest staff members. CMCers led a campaign to be more environmentally friendly on campus and coordinated a day of reflection on 9/11. Others took the lead in social activity planning, expanding student involvement with Dean of Students and creating the College Programming Board (check out the big name they are bringing to campus). Student initiative also brought the popular TED talks to the Claremont Colleges, hosting a TEDx conference in September.

CMC also faced a number of challenges in the fall of 2011: an unexpected over-enrollment of students forced the conversion of two popular study spaces into four-person rooms and a large number of students returning to CMC in the spring from fall study abroad programs led to an on-campus housing crisis.  The story behind the “Marks Squatter” brought some humor to a rather-serious-but-now resolved issue of on-campus visitors.

The Associated Students of Claremont McKenna College was hard at work all semester, advocating for students on issues such as increased study spaces, building a better quality of life, and providing some much needed snack time.

The Occupy Movement swept the nation this semester and arrived at the doorstep of our Claremont Colleges. Students were active in the protests in Claremont, Los Angeles, and the rest of the nation. Indeed, two Pitzer students were arrested for their involvement in the Occupy LA protests.  Political dialogue was alive and well, especially towards the end of the semester, when CMC welcomed former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to our campus. Many 5C students, however, had a different plan in mind and formed an “unwelcoming” party for Rice’s visit. The planned protests forced a change in venue for Rice’s speech, which triggered an outcry from students. While the protests stirred up quite a controversy, the civility and political discourse throughout the evening exemplified students’ diversity of thought, without provoking violence or hostilities.

The Forum sat down with our very own college president Pamela Gann and discussed her current and future projects for the school, which included a revamp of the beloved North Quad and expanding the new Center for Civic Engagement.

But it wasn’t all business this semester at the Forum. Speaking with Paul Zak, a.k.a Dr. Love, the Forum got to hear the Doctor’s thoughts on love, life, and how giving 8 hugs a day will make the world a better place. Those student globe-trotters enjoying their study abroad experience took time to write home to CMC and share their experiences from far-off lands such as Washington D.C., South America, Italy and Oman. And for those bright-eyed freshmen, returning students and Dean Spellman gave them their two cents (sometimes musically) on how to navigate their first semester and discover how great this college really is.

We uncovered the top 5 companies that hire CMC students, brought Words with Friends lovers the 10 most useful Scrabble words, and suggested 8 classes to students that might have overlooked some academic treasures. Students contributed to the ongoing discussion on topics such as art, film, pop culture, public radio, music and concerts. And despite the delicious unveiling of a new Ath menu, the Forum offered some tips on how to stay healthy, even in the face of all those Rice Krispie treats.

A-Mitch even appeared for an encore.

ASCMC hosted a number of events this semester, improving on past traditions—Monte Carlo—and even starting some new ones—The Boardwalk Empire party and No Shave November. We know you can’t wait for the Wedding Party next spring—and neither can we. Expect even bigger surprises next semester.

Our tech guru offered some awesome tips on his #CMCTech blog, including advice on how to make your work faster and more effective, thoughts on the Semester in Silicon Valley Program and even a holiday gift guide (it’s never too late to get that perfect present).

The Forum also better incorporated sports into our publication. The Forum now offers live broadcasts of all home CMS athletic games, complete with video and audio from student broadcasters.  We celebrated triumph, defeat and the utter domination at SCIACs.  The publication also took and in-depth look at sports at CMC and uncovered how SCIAC rules hurt CMS recruiting high school athletes and what many are doing to save the Intramural program.

Outside of the CMC bubble, the Forum checked in with our beloved Claremont village, celebrating the once-in-a-century Zipcode Day (9/17/11=91711) and partaking in the delicious festivities at the California Beer Festival.

It was a busy semester and time for reflecting has just begun. First, we would like to thank you, our readers, for your support, comments, advice, kindness, crudeness, humor and thoughtful discussion. But, we have one more request. The Forum has grown considerably in the last semester but we want to know how we can continue to improve. Below is a short survey that we hope you will fill out so we can make this publication stronger. We look forward to hearing your constructive thoughts, suggestions and comments.

The Forum wishes you a wonderful break and a restful holiday. We promise to bring you the best in news, opinions, and insights from Claremont College students as we enter our spring semester. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading with us this fall, and we’ll see you in 2012!

There are three different kinds of reactions you experience when you tell someone you’re studying abroad in Oman. One, they immediately admit they have no idea where that is. Two, they pretend like they know where it is, all the while maintaining a slightly confused look. And three, my personal favorite, they tell you that you’re pronouncing it wrong; that it’s Amman, “AAA-mman.” Yes, you’re very smart. But that’s in Jordan. And this is a separate country.

The land of the unknown, that’s where I am. Even some Arabs can’t locate Oman on a map. One of my friends at CMC asked if I had blindfolded myself and thrown a dart at a map of the world to choose where I was studying abroad. It would seem so, perhaps. Yet one year later, I’m sitting here during Eid, covered head to toe, speaking broken Arabic to women clad in brightly colored, bejeweled jalabiyas.

Oman represents an interesting dichotomy. Modern, yet incredibly conservative and traditional. Authoritarian rule, but steadily increasing its democracy. Friend to every country, foe to no one (yes, even Israel). As a result, in a typical day I could be driving around the city with my host brother who’s wearing Puma sweats and blasting techno. Or instead I may be drinking Omani kahawa (coffee) and eating dates with my host family adorned in dishdasha, abayas, and hijabs.
In the south of Oman, I sat at Job’s Tomb, watching Pakistani immigrants clutching their Holy Qurans, tears streaming down their cheeks. In Dubai, I was culture shocked by finding my own culture in such an unexpected place. I’ve been places where I was asked to cover my hair. I’ve been asked by an Omani why I’m covering my hair if I’m not Muslim.

At one Omani birthday party, the family rolled their bodies and shook their hips like they were trying out for a Shakira music video. At a different gathering, the women and men sat in completely separate rooms and music wasn’t allowed because they believe it’s haram, forbidden according to the teachings of the Holy Quran.

Eid Al-Adha was no exception to this merging of tradition and modernism. Eid is like a three-day Islamic version of Christmas. You’re supposed to eat, sleep, pray, and pass around babies. (I swear this is the informal criteria. Emphasis on the eating.) The second morning of Eid, the ten cousins sleeping in one room woke me up and we all began changing into brand new clothes. I’m talking head to toe, undergarments to head scarf, it has to be new. Walking into the sitting room, you must pay your respects to the elders and begin the traditional process of drinking coffee, eating dates and cutting fruit. We spent the day watching hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, on TV.

In a strange conclusion to the day, at night my thirty female host cousins picked up Pizza Hut for a picnic which culminated in the classic game familiar to every U.S. youth, Truth or Dare. A scandalous dare consisted of one of my cousins running around a tree ten feet away while waving her hands in the air.

Sometimes when I come home, my host family is watching a traditional Turkish soap opera, set in a small village in rural Turkey. Other times they’re watching So You Think You Can Dance. For dinner, there may be the customary Omani chicken and rice dish or it could be hot dogs. My very first night in my host family, they fed me a creamy pasta dish. I asked them what it was called in Arabic. They looked at me and said very slowly ma-ca-roni. Well, then. How exotic.

Beyond the food, the dinner conversation may be in Arabic, Swahili or English. The only thing you can be sure of is that they will talk about football and they will make you eat more. That’s the true Arab way. After eating with our hands and washing it down with the mandatory tea, I just say shukran, asantay sana, and thank you to be sure I’ve covered all my bases.

Surprisingly, I’ve gotten quite used to this strange combination of activities, foods, languages, and cultures. I never know what will happen or what customs I’ll be adhering to for the day. Just to be safe, I keep a head scarf in my bag and LMFAO on my iPod; I could need either at a moment’s notice. Now, there’s something I didn’t expect.