Please excuse any strange formatting or site outages you may experience over the next few weeks. We are doing our best to make this process a smooth one.

If you have any suggestions for things you’d like to see on the site, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

1. Go to your student portal.

2. Log in at the upper left using your email handle (mine is cpeaslee11) and password.

3. Within the student schedule box, open up one of your classes in a new tab.

4. In the new class tabs, click on the “Click here for textbook information.” This will open up a new page with a list of the required textbooks for your class.

5. Now visit Amazon or Ebay using these links (or through the links on the bottom of the Forum homepage) to buy your books (or anything else). 8-9% of your purchase will go towards improving services from your student government.

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Hats off at Commencement 2009

In the past, it has been customary for the Senior Class President to give a speech at Commencement.  Although awaiting final approval from President Gann, a change in this policy for the 2010-2011 academic year (and beyond) has already been approved by several members of the Dean of Students and Dean of Faculty offices, including Dean Mary Spellman and Dean Greg Hess.

Many people may be indifferent to the student chosen to speak on their behalf at their graduation, but I believe changing this process to a student-nominated speaker is more democratic and will ultimately produce a much more quality speech.  As the incoming Senior Class President, I am the first to say that I think there are people in my class who will be able to draft and deliver a much better speech than I ever could.  On top of that, it is not even specified in the ASCMC Constitution that the Senior Class President must give the speech.  The document merely states the Senior Class President “shall work with the CMC administration to plan the annual graduation ceremonies.”

I do not think that when students vote for their Senior Class President in March of their Junior year they judge the candidates based on their ability to give a great graduation speech.  The Senior Class President serves an important role for students in their final year here at CMC, but this should not necessarily include speaking at graduation.  It has also been my understanding that it is the general consensus of the student body that this will be a positive change.  Members of the ASCMC Executive Board, alumni, current seniors, current juniors, and even underclassmen have expressed their support for this new tradition.

The proposed plan is as follows:

• Applicants first encouraged to apply via The Forum around Thanksgiving
• Committee formed consisting of the ASCMC President, Senior Class President, a member of the Dean of Students, a Faculty representative, and two more student representatives to choose finalists
• Application will be open until deadline at the beginning of second semester (giving seniors time to write speeches over winter break)
• Speaker selection committee reviews applications after deadline at the beginning of second semester
• Committee decides on 3-5 finalists by March 1st
• Seniors choose the speaker from the finalists by a direct vote

This plan is tentative and definitely flexible.  I encourage all input from current students and alumni if you have alterations or suggestions to make for the current plan.

It’s that time of year again where the best of the best come out to compete for the coveted title of Mr. Stag!

This ain’t no rodeo show, folks. This here is a classy event with the likes of Tom Mourmouras, Mike Bagby, Scott Sanford, Kevin MacPherson, Taylor Berliant, Greyson Blue, Nick Thompson, Travis Roher, and of course, the one and only Moose Halpern!

These studly dudes will be displaying their washboard abs in a swimsuit competition, demonstrating Einstein-like wit in a Q&A round, making all the Athenas swoon while trying to pick up Claremont’s most eligible bachelorette, and finally showing why the mighty Stag is far superior to the lowly Sagehen with their personal talents. Carl “Emcee” Peaslee and Tessy Orbea will be hosting while Isayas “Kid Cudi” Theodros, Kenley Turville, and Julie Hailue will be judging the contestants with the most critical of eyes.

Be sure to come by Pickford Auditorium on Friday, April 23 at 8pm to experience all the excitement!

Dear CMC Students,

Last night, I sent an email clarifying that the Senior Thesis Fountain Party was NOT canceled, but that we were reviewing ways to make it less intrusive to the rest of the College. Later in this email, I am going to announce that the Senior Thesis Party can continue. However, here are some important points.

First let me say that I was the one who asked Dean Nauls to speak with the Senior Class President about ways to mitigate the intrusive aspects of the party. It was not Dean Spellman, nor Dean Nauls, nor anyone else. It was me, and I take full responsibility for it. Some of the vitriol that has been aimed at others was misdirected.

The reason I asked Dean Nauls to address this is because this event has not been without significant harm to a few individuals, and this has escalated in the last few semesters. In particular, students carrying laptops have been completely soaked, and they have lost everything on their laptop. Think about that for a moment; how would you explain to a student that the College condones this? And although it is less severe in nature, some faculty members have also said that it is difficult to continue teaching classes because of loud music. As an educational institution, we have to be concerned about this.

So I wanted Dean Nauls to speak with William Robelo-Lara about the event. It seemed appropriate for the Assistant Dean & Director of Student Activities to discuss this with the Senior Class President. Then a lot of misinformation about what happened began circulating in social networking sites.

This morning I met with William, Senior Class Gift Chair Kyle Block, and some members of the Dean of Students Office. We have agreed to let the Senior Thesis Fountain Party continue, in its old location, but simply want those participating to be respectful of others and noise issues. My concerns about this ought to be clear, and I am calling upon those who will be celebrating the end of Senior Thesis to be mindful of this. Have fun, celebrate, and please be respectful of others. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

Now with regard to issue of student traditions, I hear you. Although the TNC’s were never “canceled”, it feels like we have tinkered with many social traditions lately. The issue of TNC’s had to do with the safety of the events, and we now have a plan for those concerns. As a show of good faith that I am not against traditions, I personally will toast the Class of 2010 outside of the Registrar’s Office at noon on April 26th. I will also invite a few surprise guests to join me in toasting you.

Sincerely,

Jeff Huang

VP for Student Affairs

Dear Seniors,

I am truly apologetic to those of you who are about to turn in your thesis this semester. Unfortunately, the Dean of Students Office decided to end the Senior Thesis Champagne Fountain Party. The Dean of Students office received several complaints by professors due to the ruckus outside of their classrooms and by underclassmen who ended up getting wet when they passed by the fountain. I’ve talked to Jim about this several times, and the Dean of Students have made up their mind and are ending this tradition for good. For those of you who are submitting your thesis this semester, I will give you your champagne bottle at the Senior Apartments. There’s not much I can do to reinstate this tradition, but what I can do is make our Senior Thesis Party the best that it can be.

Robelo-Lara followed-up with another email reassuring seniors that he would take up the matter with the Alumni Association and encouraged students to contact the Dean of Students directly.

Seniors who completed their thesis last semester celebrate at the fountain.

When I was selected to edit the Forum, I happily agreed with one request: Emily Meinhardt. I couldn’t have done this without her. She has managed our team of thoughtful and dedicated editors — Carl Peaslee, Charlie Sprague, and Wyatt MacKenzie — as the publication has more than doubled in size. That growth would not have been possible without our business staff, headed up by Sarah Orgel. Providing no direction or any resources, we asked them to make the Forum into a business, and they somehow made it a profitable one. I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything less from CMCers. More than anything else about the publication, it’s the team that I’ll miss.

I’m sure that growth will only continue as the next editorial team takes over. I’m pleased to leave the publication in the capable hands of Carl Peaslee and Michael Wilner. Together, they’ll make a strong team with Michael heading up News and Opinion and Carl taking on Life and events. I wish them all the best, and I’m eager to see what they can do — you should be too.

It’s been a thrill — and a privilege. Thanks for that and for everything else.

Yours,
Abhi Nemani
Editor, 2009-2010
CMC Forum

Dear CMC,

Welcome back from Spring Break! We hope that you got some R & R during the vacation. Back to reality, though… Recently, administrators in the Dean of Students office have canceled Thursday Night Clubs indefinitely. Why did DOS cancel TNC? For a lot of reasons. As you read in the last Party Inform, “This isn’t because of one specific incident, but as DOS examines certain policy issues TNCs will unfortunately remain off the Calendar.” And here are the some of those reasons:

• We aren’t taking care of our campus: Story House charges caused over the course of the year have amounted to over $20,000 of damages. Story House charges are incurred when:
  • Party hosts and attendees don’t clean up after the event and cups, cans, bottles, and other trash are left everywhere
  • Things get crazy–broken window screens, furniture, and glass, bloody walls, hand prints, etc.
  • Story House housekeepers clean things up for professors, prospective students, and visitors, often charging overtime for their work.
• Fights: TNC is actually a CMC-only event. When non-CMCers attend TNC (other 5Cers or off-campus), things tend to become unruly (AKA: people fight).

• TNC isn’t what it used to be: Once upon a time, TNC was a magical event for CMCers. Dorm presidents were responsible for creating an intimate event that facilitated small-scale social interaction. It was an opportunity for students to talk, dance, and relax from the workweek. Recently, however, things have changed. After the party ends, students congregate outside and campus safety isn’t capable of keeping things safe with such a large, usually rowdy, group.

What does DOS want?

1. An elevated expectation of dorm presidents and their responsibilities when they throw an event
2. Better containment at events, so there isn’t a large mob of people outside the designated area, or non-CMCers sneaking into the party
3. Facilitation of more efficient security with higher expectations for maintaining the events as CMC-only
4. Students (innocent bystanders, party guests, event host) taking the initiative to clean up after events and prevent dorm damages and holding one another accountable
5. All events not in private residents’ rooms, like Beirut tournaments, with a large number of students (20-30+) to be registered with Jim Nauls in advance

What is ASCMC doing to try and save our Thursday nights? ASCMC members have met with DOS and the DAC and SAC have submitted a proposal to the Dean of Students office. The proposal includes such measures as increased security, ensuring TNCs are CMC-only by enforcing CMC IDs, a greater variety of event locations, a focus on the quality of TNCs rather than the quantity of them, and incentive-based clean-up crews.

DOS wants changes or TNCs aren’t going to happen anymore. We’re hoping that these initiatives, although new and different, will allow CMCers to have our TNC-type events again and even improve the social culture of Thursday nights. Much of the proposal has been well received and DOS may grant one Thursday night event next week as a “trial run.”  

What can we do as a school?

• Register events.
• Take responsibility and clean up after ourselves.
• Listen to the RAs. They want to save Thursdays, too.

And now?

Our Dean of Students office believes us to be responsible adults.  We all know we have a social life unique from any other school and it’s important to take the necessary steps to preserve CMC’s long-standing social traditions.  Step back, put things into context, and understand that there is not going to be any significant change for the worst if everyone shows up and does their part.    Feel free to reply to this e-mail with any questions. Be sure to check the Forum and tomorrow’s Party Inform, where more information will soon be available.
Sincerely,

ASCMC