Photo Credit: Jessica Dang

Each of our fourteen dorms has everything needed to build the strongest communities on campus.  Every dorm has great people, great ideas, and great space; all your friends are just a quick jaunt down the hall.  And every dorm could have a stronger sense of community than it does now.  Here are some of the ways that we are building better dorm life this year:

Intramurals.  Last year we didn’t even have dorm intramural teams, and in years past they had been getting progressively less attention.  But this year we have re-instated dorm intramural teams, and everyone can play!  If your thing is football, soccer, or anything in between (read: innertube water polo) your Dorm Championship Series for that league is going on now!  Every dorm has a team, so if you’re not already reading your RA’s e-mails about those games, grab a quick word with your dorm jock or bra about when the next one is or checkout the Facebook group, and come out to support your dorm!  And if playing isn’t your thing there can never be too many fans, especially with all those Mudders coming out in droves.

Dorm events.  Every dorm is having at least one dorm event every other week, so it should be easy to get out and mingle with your extended roomies at least a few times this semester!  These dorm events can be anything from pre-games to dorm snacks to TNCs.  You may make dorm shirts, have barbeques or dorm meals, get subsidized concert or event tickets, or play broomball with that dorm across the quad.  These events are the perfect chance to get to know your hallmates, the girls upstairs or guys downstairs, and that kid in the corner room who you can’t believe you haven’t met yet. So get out to all of the events that you can!

Photo Credit: Heidi Carlson

Keeping up traditions.  For instance, Thursday Night Club is one of our best traditions, but every year it is in danger of getting shut down.  I’m working closely with the Dean of Students Office to make sure that doesn’t happen this year.  Also, having TNCs all throughout the quads as well as in new spaces is another priority of mine this year.  So be on the lookout for TNCs in south, mid, and north quads, as well as other new places around campus!

These are just some of the things, that we are doing to further dorm life this year at CMC.  It all comes down to one main goal: I want dorms to be like families.  No matter where your best friends live, you should always feel comfortable as an integral part of your own dorm community.  So I ask two favors of you all:  first, get to know everyone in your dorm.  Don’t just stick to the friends you moved in with; make an effort to meet everyone else.  Your dorm events are for your whole dorm, so never feel shy about going to one, even if you go alone.  Once you get there, you won’t have any problem finding people to hang out with—everyone is nice!  And if you’re at a dorm event and you see someone you don’t know, introduce yourself!  The first step to a tight community is to know each other. And second—take pride in your dorm!  Every dorm has something awesome about it. Claremont Hall?  Yeah, you’re the nicest dorm on campus and everyone knows it. And it may be nicknamed “the Dirty Berg,” but Berger has one of the strongest and most welcoming communities on campus.  No matter if you live in the Apartments, Stark, Green, off-campus, or anywhere in between, you can be proud of where you live, and the strong community that you’re fostering there.  So own it!  And if you have any ideas or questions about anything, you can always talk to your Dorm Presidents, and you can always contact me (CRiva13@cmc.edu).

Barbara Castillo is the warm and energetic housekeeper of Claremont Hall.  She has been in charge of the dormitory since it opened four years ago, and she runs a tight ship.  Her supply closet is immaculate and filled with photographs of her family and cards from students.  Though it was clear from the way she had kept every one and put them all up, she let me know how much she appreciates them.  She does her best to get to know all 108 of her students and make them feel at home, and keeps tight records of the goings on around the dorm.

She keeps records of everything that happens, from spilled tea to holes in the wall, on 8½ X 11 notepads, which she keeps neatly organized in the supply closet in a bin on a shelf.  She keeps them in case students or the administration have any questions about work orders or dorm damages.  There are four notepads from the first year, 2008-2009, three from the second year, two and a half from last year, and hopes to keep it down to one and a half this year.  It’s not that she is recording less; students have just gotten better about making a mess.  This fall, she’s only filled out a half-notebook—so far.

This is how she feels about it: “I mean I don’t love that I write everything down, I hate that I have to write these things down, but just to me, you know, it’s something that I have to look forward to, to see how good my kids can be.  And so far this has been the best year, not even a whole book yet.  So I said, come on dorm, let’s not go over one book even—but if we have to go one and a half, okay!”  She laughs.  She is constantly smiling and has a powerful laugh; it’s hard not to join in.  “So far this year, these kids have been really good.”

She takes care of students’ rooms like they were her own children’s.  Make your bed, or she’ll do it for you: she insists “a room is not clean unless the bed is made.”

When talk moved on to party night aftermath, I asked her about how hard it was to get beer out of Claremont Hall’s plush carpeting.  She responded:

“I don’t call it beer, you know what I call it?  Devil’s water, the Devil’s water.”

“When it’s on the carpet, or when it’s-“

“All over.”

When I asked her what she does at home and what makes her happy, she had a one-word answer:

Jesus.

Barbara is deeply religious.  She was married to her husband twenty years and almost divorced because of her husband’s problems with substance abuse.  You can understand why she calls alcohol the Devil’s water.  When the problem came to a head and she was ready to leave, he turned to the church for help, found Jesus, and got clean.  Her kids convinced her to give him one more chance.  She was a Catholic her whole life, but started going to his church with him, and for a whole year before she started attending it full-time, went to her church in the morning and his in the afternoon.  They have been together 38 years now.  They are happily married, active members of their church, and spend lots of time with their large extended family.  During the holidays they all get together and make as many as one thousand tamales in an evening.

She is a happy woman.  She says, “God puts you through things, you know, but yet, he shows you all the Glory.”

About all of you that live over in Claremont Hall, she says: “I love my kids, I love them here, I just tell them, take care of the place, it’s our home away from home.  I love it.  I can’t tell you how much I love Claremont.  It’s so much fun to work here, and the kids, you know, some of my kids are really, really good.  They keep their rooms immaculate.  I got some kids, I’m like, oh Chihuahuas, do I have a bunch of Chihuahuas here?”  She laughs.  Clean or messy, she loves them all.

We talked through her entire lunch break, and could have kept going, there was a lot to talk about.  Share your favorite story about Barbara below in the comments section.

Though she has three different machines to get stains out of the carpet, she still has to get on her hands and knees to remove wine stains.  Please try not to spill your drink, for everyone’s sake, and pick up after yourself.  You know she’ll notice.  Don’t forget to say hello!

Interested in getting involved in appreciating our support staff? The Worker’s Support Committee (WSC) meets on Thursdays at 7:30pm.in Marks Lounge. Each month WSC holds student sponsored appreciation events for our service staff. 

Want earlier editions of Better Know a Building Attendant? Get to know Ilma in Green and Sylvia in Fawcett.

As of January 31^st, the campaign has raised $469,785,572 towards its goal of $600 million.

The record-breaking campaign, which entered its public phase in the spring of 2008, is the largest liberal arts college campaign drive ever announced. Although 2008′s financial crisis put a damper on the efforts to raise the money, the college is approaching its lofty goal.  Importantly though, as the endowment fund took a hit, the money already raised via the Campaign, about $400 million,  helped to alleviate significant losses for CMC investments in financial markets.

While many of the “mega gifts”, such as Robert Day’s $200 million commitment, were pledged before the recession hit, smaller gifts in the $250,000 to $3 million range were the ones that were noticeably affected.

“[When the recession hit] we didn’t change anything [about the campaign],” said Claremont McKenna President Pamela Gann. “We still wanted to raise money for the same things but we had to be patient and wait. The rate at which we raised money definitely slowed down but our activity level did not. It was a time to listen, not a time to stop.”

People delaying their gifts to the college or extending their payment schedule also had an impact on the campaign.

“We are trying to be donor-centric,” explained CMC Vice President for Development and External Relations Ernie Iseminger. “We are always trying to honor the donor and honoring what makes sense for them.”

The greatest effect of the recession on the campaign, however, was the hesitation of most donors to commit to  gifts of significant size.

“Most of our donors are 60 years old or older,” said Gann. “Whatever it was that created their wealth, they are not going to create another round of it. Most of them needed to pause and see where the economy was headed.”

At the beginning of the recession, losses on the return of investment from CMC’s endowment, which provides nearly 20% of the operating budget revenue, were projected at -30% for fiscal year 2008-2009.  While the college only realized investment losses of -21.7% in fiscal 2008-2009, an initial projected reduction of nearly $12 million was planned over three years in the operating budget, said Jim Floyd, Associated Vice President for Investments at CMC.

Although investment returns were better than initial projections, operating support from the endowment will likely remain near fiscal 2008-2009 levels for the next few years rather than increasing at the past normal levels of about four percent each year.  Currently, the endowment spending level remains well below pre-financial crisis expectation.

While in house projections expected worse than what in reality happened to the fund, the makeup of the pre-recession portfolio did not sufficiently protect itself.  The Forum, without confirmation from CMC administration, has gleaned from sources that the portfolio contained self-interested investment choices.  Additionally, the Forum has heard that the portfolio did not include adequate insurance on its investments should they have failed as they did.  The fund, as a whole, took a short position on volatility.  This position is taken via a type of options that allow the fund manager to bet that future volatility, meaning potential deviations on the market or certain investment returns, will be less than expected.  When the recession hit, these three factors contributed to significant financial losses.

Luckily, the campaign provided crucial funds for the college by replacing a portion of what was lost with new gifts. “It is safe to say that without the campaign, the recession would have been a lot more painful for us,” said Gann.

Scholarship funds and pledges for endowed chairs from the Roberts Challenge received prior to the recession provided CMC with a smooth transition into their new economic reality and preserved CMC’s focus on the student experience.

“In that time period, we were true to what mattered,” said Gann. “We wanted to make our cuts in a way that had the least possible impact on students and their time here.”

Efforts to mitigate the effects of the recession on CMC manifested themselves in freezes on salary increases and voluntary early retirement plans for faculty and staff along with the layoffs of several staff members.

“We did a lot of things, I don’t want to say drastic, but things we had never had to do in any previous situations,” explains Robin Aspinall, CMC’s Vice President of Business and Administration and Treasurer. “If we had not made reductions, we would currently be in a much more difficult place.”

In spite of the hardships imposed upon the campaign drive and CMC, both have prospered in recent years. Even with more than a year to go, the campaign drive will soon become the largest in liberal art colleges’ history.

In rankings released earlier this week by the National Association of College and University Business Officers, CMC’s return on endowment investment, which grew +16.4 percent for fiscal year 2009-2010, was ranked in the 95th percentile for one year return, in the 75th percentile for three year average return, and in the 94th percentile for five year average return.

“To be in top five and six percent of a group that includes Harvard, Yale, [and] all the big endowments out there is a big accomplishment for us,” said Floyd.

With the campaign nearing completion,  parties involved with its implementation are eagerly awaiting the effects it will have on CMC’s future.

“[The campaign] is attracting the best students and faculty we can find,” said Floyd. “It will continue to improve our competitive position in the market place, but where it will take us, who knows.”

The sentiment was echoed by President Gann.

“CMC is a very outstanding college but we are also young and we are very ambitious to be extraordinary,” said Gann. “It takes a great faculty, great students and great resources to get there.”

Princeton Review

The Princeton Review released its college rankings list August 1 and CMC took top spots in flattering categories, including Happiest Students (#2), Best Quality of Life ( #4), Best Career Services (#7) and School Runs Like Butter (#7).  The full lists are available here.

The Princeton Review book, which profiles the best 300+ colleges in its yearly publication, is a trusted staple for helicopter parents, prospective students, and college administrators.   But the unscientific methods used to create the venerated lists suggest our adoration may be misplaced.

The rankings are calculated by current student surveys.  Here’s Princeton Review’s official word on methodology:

“Most questions offer an answer choice on a five-point scale: students fill in one of five boxes on a grid with headers varying by topic (e.g. a range from “Excellent” to “Awful”). All of our 62 ranking lists tallies are based on students’ answers to one or more of these questions with a five-point answer scale. Some questions on the survey are open-ended and offer students the opportunity to answer with narrative responses.

Once the surveys have been completed and the responses stored in our database, we tally the results. Our methodology and the math by which we calculate our ranking results are quite simple. Each college is given a score (similar to a GPA) for its students’ answers to each multiple-choice question. These scores enable us to compare student opinion from college to college. They are the sole factors that determine which schools make it onto our 62 ranking lists.”

Of course, a rank near the bottom or the top of the pack has some truth to it.  Yes, our professors are accessible, perhaps too accessible when they wander through North Quad on a Thursday night.  But we’re #5 in “Lots of Beer” and UC Santa Barbara is #20?  Is our standing meant to imply that there is more beer consumed per capita at CMC than Santa Barbara? Anyone who believes that, to speak proverbially, clearly has had too much to drink.  That’s up from #13 since last year, but our alcohol policy has only become more restrictive.

CMC, at #8, outranked Scripps in the “Dorms Like Palaces” category.  If the category was “A Dorm is Like a Palace,” then perhaps CMC’s Claremont Hall could give Scripps’ GJW a run for its money.  But no one would doubt CMC’s founding fathers had utility, not luxury, in mind when designing North and Mid Quads.  Save a few hinges, the dorms could have been tipped on their sides and hosed down after a keg tap gone wrong.  Compare this to Scripps, where the sheer number of clinging vines may be enough to qualify it for a feature piece in Martha Stewart Living. The dorms also boast stained glass windows, coincidentally the window material favored by those who live in… palaces.

Forbes

CMC ranks between Harvard and Yale in the Forbes ranking.

The new Forbes Magazine college rankings were released on August 11 and soon became linked and liked all over Facebook.   The Forbes rankings system is its infancy–it’s only three years old–and the magazine is admittedly still working out flaws in methodology, which may explain dramatic year-to-year changes.  CMC moved from #27 in the “Best Colleges” list to #9 in the span of one year, placing it between Harvard (#8) and Yale (#10).

The rankings here are compiled from a combination of student opinions, including 17.5% from RateMyProfessors.com, and objective data, including alumni salaries from Payscale.com.

But the factors included range in legitimacy. Under “Postgraduate Success” is the outright absurd measure of listing of alumni in Who’s Who in America, featured only ten years earlier in the same magazine as “The Hall of Lame” for containing “a lot of relatively unaccomplished people who simply nominated themselves.”  This makes up 10% of a college’s score.

Since last year, they’ve dropped faculty awards altogether from consideration.  Previously, faculty awards made up 8.33% of the rankings.  They’ve included new variables to measure alumni success and default rates on loans.

U.S. News & World Report

The only rankings to get a school-wide email shout-out from President Gann, the U.S. News Rankings released yesterday are the gold standard in college rankings.  They’re also the most methodologically rigorous, incorporating objective measurements as well as subjective evaluations by students, peer institutions, and high school counselors.

The much-anticipated rankings varied only slightly from last year, despite changes in methodology that diminished the influence of ratings by peer institutions’ college presidents that attempted to quantify the reputation of the school.  In 2010, Claremont McKenna was ranked #11 on the list of best liberal arts colleges, a position shared with Vassar College.  In 2011, CMC retained its spot at #11 but has edged ahead of Vassar.   Pomona College, #6 last year, also remains at #6, suggesting to consumers that the methodological changes were not as dramatic as expected.

In 2011 the magazine placed more weight on graduation rates, increasing the measure’s weight from 5 percent to 7.5 percent of the final score.  High school counselors are now given a say and college officials’ opinions will receive less weight to accommodate them.

High honors or cheap sales?

“Top” liberal arts colleges formalized their objections to college rankings by circulating a petition in September 2007 agreeing not to use rankings in promotional material. Notable signatories included the presidents of Amherst, Carleton, Haverford, Wellesley and Pomona Colleges.

In a wide-ranging interview conducted last year by Forum Editor-in-Chief Michael Wilner, Pomona President David Oxtoby discussed his position on college rankings. Although he does think rankings in general have helped all liberal colleges by placing them among larger, well known schools including Ivies and public universities, he wished colleges and prospective students would place less faith in them.

“They have absurd claims to being scientific, which is really frustrating,” Oxtoby said. “On the other hand, the idea of protesting is a waste of time.  So I did not agree to the boycott. I think the reputational rankings are probably more valid that the rest of the survey components.”

He added, “I think we’re under-ranked. We should be higher.  In different ways, the other [Claremont] colleges may be under-ranked as well.”

President Gann had a different approach to the boycott, which she articulated in an interview with Inside Higher Ed.  Gann claimed that CMC only makes “very limited use” of rankings in promotional material, and that her objection to the boycott was the fundamental fissure it would create with the college’s core philosophy.   “Claremont McKenna College is very committed to free markets and individual choice,” she was quoted, “For-profit publications and rankings are what they are in our free-market economy.”

Staff Writer Sara Birkenthal and Editor-in-Chief Michael Wilner contributed to this article.

Inspired by a photo and a boring, blank cinder block wall, sophomore Rebecca Salzman had the clever idea to liven up fellow sophomore Diggory Rycroft’s Claremont double using the simple tool of chalk. This mural adds a real personal touch to his living space and is a great conversation starter. Unlike paint, Diggory will be able to wash this artwork down at the end of the year (how sad though).

Music lover? Blank wall? Sale at Rhino Records? Just purchase some fun records from the $1 bin and liven up your wall. Here sophomore Brendan McDonald demonstrates such an idea with Elton John, the Temptations, and yes, the Sound of Music.

Senior Courtney Dern has turned this wall into something truly special. Paint color aside (by living off campus, she has the good fortune to paint her walls), she purchased an assortment of small frames from vintage stores. Then, by incorporating her favorite images and art, her wall collage adds a homey feel to her room. Courtney doesn’t have one common theme, but reports: “I guess I’m just into making mundane 2D objects more extraordinary.”

Speaking of not being able to paint, a quick way to add color to your room is to adhere inexpensive fabric to your walls. Junior Aviana Gracial bought this roll of thin yellow cloth at a fabric outlet in LA. The block of color gives a fresh splash of sunniness to this Green room.

Apartments RA Aleksis Psychas had the awesome idea to decorate his family room by organizing a community art mural. Pairing the event with a senior class brunch after 6:01, he stretched out a length of poster paper and set out paint.  Anyone could add their special phrase, image, home state, or whatever came to their mind. The resulting mural is the perfect way to add interest to the upper part of the apartment’s vaulted ceiling.

Imitating a similar idea from fellow senior Kristin Dessie, Sandy Russell is able to exhibit her study abroad memories by graphically linking them to a map of Europe. What a clever way to visually record one’s travels!

The off-campus home of seniors Courtney Dern, Madison Gonzalez, Aisha Shaikh, and Hazel Joyce is known for its fun themed parties. By writing certain words in twinkle lights on the wall, the girls can set a unique mood for their visitors. The wall is your palette!

Send any dorm design ideas to Gloria Chang (gchang10@cmc.edu) or Cameron Hanson (chanson10@cmc.edu)! We’d love to come tour your rooms!

The update, which was covered in detail by Rodner’s email announcement, is just the first step of a process that will bring Claremont Mckenna College up-to-date with existing web technology.  “By comparison to where Web 2.0 technology is, we are far behind the curve,” says Rodner, but he stresses that the school will be able to expand its image and capitalize on the future re-design.  The result will be not only a site that supports CMC’s core image, but also a Web 2.0 element allowing student-generated content to be more easily reached by a larger community.

The sweeping success of social-networking sites has generated a host of new ways in which colleges can interact with their own and prospective students.  Some institutions, like Maine’s Colby College, are switching the focus of their admissions advertising away from costly paper and brochure campaigns and instead placing the emphasis on electronic photo albums, podcasts featuring interviews with students and faculty, and a student newspaper that recently switched to an all-electronic format.  Other schools, such as Northeastern University, are working to put prospective students in direct contact with admissions officials, with Dean of Admissions Ronné Patrick Turner developing a blog that has received consistent traffic since its debut.

While the design and planning process for the new CMC website has yet to begin, Rodner says that student involvement and participation will be key.  “We want to establish a framework that is efficient and capable of serving our community’s needs.  Part of this will be search engine optimization and layout improvements, but part of this will also be more content: forums, opinions, blogs, and sharepoints coming from within the school.”  Additionally, changes to the website will profile some of the school’s newest selling points– the Robert Day School, Claremont Hall, and the upcoming completion of the Kravis Center.

The development of a new web portal is an essential tool in recruiting new students.  “One of our main challenges is name recognition,” says Rodner, “making sure we are visible in as many areas as our peers are visible.  Schools that are east coast-based have some advantages, with the density and exposure they get.  They have many more alumni than we do.”  By taking advantage of new technology, CMC is able to reach students who typically wouldn’t hear about the school, building upon attention garnered from national rankings such as US News and World Report and The Princeton Review.

While it won’t likely be until next semester that the new website is up and running, CMC students should be on the lookout for further announcements detailing changes to the web infrastructure.  If Rodner’s vision of a user-friendly interface combined with an increased net presence for the school comes to fruition, CMC could very well be making waves in cyberspace before 2010 is out.

“The ‘Environmental Crusaders’ name wasn’t effectively portraying our mission,” Munro explained.  Indeed, the Crusaders have frequently been at the forefront of some of the more controversial environmental efforts on campus.  For Earth Day in 2008, the Crusaders constructed a pyramid of trash demonstrating the amount of food waste produced at Collins Dining Hall in a single day.  More recently, blogger Charles Johnson generated controversy when the Crusaders took a school-funded trip to Washington, DC for the Powershift 2009 conference.   “I believe that this new name is representative of a new direction we are taking the club, helping to make Claremont McKenna a more sustainable college.”

The last several years have seen Claremont Mckenna College take a number of steps to conserve waste and reduce the environmental footprint of the school.  The opening of Claremont Hall, the school’s first LEED Silver certified building, was hailed as a breakthrough for the college.  Additionally, CMC (as part of a consortium move), eliminated trays from dining halls for the 2009-2010 school year.  Club Vice President Ashley Scott says the change was not directly linked to her group.

“The administration made the call on their own.  I think that some people don’t realize that this is a beneficial move for our campus,” said Scott, a junior who has been involved with the group since her freshmen year.  “Students are being asked to trade a little inconvenience for a policy that saves the school money.  It’s a matter of environmental economics, not something that’s purely ideological.”

SPEAR plans to push several campaigns for environmental activism on campus.  Among these, Munro points to Take Back the Tap, a national effort to reduce bottled-water usage as an important effort for CMC students. Drinking bottled water comes at a high cost both in terms of trash produced and money spent he says and there are opportunities for students to both save money and reduce waste.

Starting this month, SPEAR hopes to involve itself in the school’s long-term conservation goals.  “The Administration is forming an ad-hoc committee that will include students to revisit some of the conservation policy the school is involved in,” said Munro. This includes goals to make CMC a carbon-reduced or even carbon-neutral institution, provided there are opportunities to do so.  Also on the docket is continued support by President Pamela Gann of the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, which she signed in 2007.

So far, both Munro and Scott see their club’s re-branding as a success.  Although the group may still serve as a lightning rod for environmental issues on campus, the new incarnation of the club is working towards a more moderate and professional image.  With a larger-than-usual turnout for the club’s first official meeting, the group will continue to partake in discourse at CMC and on the 5C campus, lest we forget global warming has the potential to affect even the very beer we drink.

Claremont Hall, the future of CMC

When Claremont Hall was designed, our administration supposedly put thought into the “social life potential” of the new dorm.  Dean of Students’ office told ASCMC the new dorm’s design would foster an environment conducive to parties.   As of yet, ASCMC hasn’t hosted a party in or around Claremont Hall.

Alas, Claremont Hall has gained a reputation as the “morgue” or the next Stark Hall (the second newest dorm), the only “substance-free” dorm on campus.  Some have said there’s a pattern emerging– the newer the dorm, the newer the student body, the quieter CMC gets.  Maybe it’s a good thing; I don’t know.

Stay tuned for the Party Inform.