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There will be three 20-minute debates, with each relying on two student debaters and one moderator from the faculty or administration. The student debaters will go head to head while moderators provide insight into the issue and give legitimacy to the discussion. It’ll be serious but entertaining debate.

The first debate will cover the expansion of the College to 1400 students. With the addition of Claremont Hall and other building projects in the works, the Board of Trustees is considering plans to make the student body bigger, possibly part of a larger effort to raise the visibility of CMC within the national rankings. But is this the best choice for CMC? Will the fundamental nature of the college change with a population increase? What elements of CMC’s character would be lost? Or improved? What’s the best way to proceed with the expansion?

The second debate will switch focus to current campus life: Should CMC change its alcohol policy? The role of alcohol in campus culture has been a long time issue for the college, since CMC remains a wet-campus. This policy, however, has come under fire in light of recent alcohol-related incidents, and the Dean of Students office has stated that “things have to change.” Do they? If so, how?

And for the final debate we will turn to a question that often goes overlooked, but seems to merit consideration: Is CMC male-dominated? The college abandoned its single sex admissions decades ago, and the name Claremont Men’s College only a few years later. But the college continues to be majority male, while outside CMC, women make up 57 percent of college students. Does this mean that CMC has a bias towards males? Do women have a different role on campus? Even if they do, does it even matter?

A full roster of debaters and moderators will be announced shortly. Stay tuned for updates, previews, and more.

Sign up here: http://bit.ly/athdebate2

The email goes on to imply that  the RA’s have stalled any drastic action by DOS, but it also states that “things have to change” if CMCers are going to be able to enjoy the alcohol-related privileges they currently have.   The rest of the email is a reiteration of basic tenets of CMC alcohol policy:

1.     Put it in a red cup. If it’s not in a red cup, it will be confiscated.

2.     No glass. If you break glass at a party there is a $200 fine.

3.     If you’re in trouble, don’t be afraid to call the RA on duty.

4.     Drink within your limits.

5.     If it’s a CMC only party, all other students (and townies) will be asked to leave.

CMC Public Alcohol Policy: Alcoholic beverages may be served and consumed only at private events limited to members of the College community and their invited guests. Alcoholic beverages may not be served or consumed at events open to the public, such as intercollegiate athletic contests, or outside the confines of a registered and fenced party area. (Guide to Student Life page 32)

The email singles out “one particular event”, which for “privacy” reasons it does not disclose,  but which sources say was the transportation of a student suffering from acute alcohol poisoning.

But what does all this really mean?  At the beginning of each Fall semester people are excited to return to school and freshman are still adjusting.  There are a few problematic alcohol-related incidents.  These incidents in turn prompt a response from DOS, who, with our safety and the image of the institution in mind, make a serious attempt to “remind” students to follow the common sense rules that most of us have no trouble following. The past few years, actual policy changes have been a part of this cycle.  These changes have included a prohibition of outside drinking games (last year), and stricter accountability standards for TNC (two years past).  Despite these measures, CMC’s drinking culture has remained largely the same.

Tuesday’s meeting between DOS and the RAs involved a more serious conversation than usual about the evolution of the school’s drinking culture, and is apparently only the first in a series of meetings that may very well result in concrete measures to moderate a party atmosphere that DOS feels has gone from fun to dangerous.

Resident Assistant Caroline Taylor (Apartments, ’10), was kind enough to talk to the Forum about what is going on.  According to Taylor, the crux of the problem is that too much of the focus is now not on “partying” but solely on drinking.

“The culture needs to be where it was five years ago,” she says.  “We are on your [the students’] side.  We want people to be able to drink.  Drink in your rooms, take shots, but then go out to the party and socialize!  It’s just not about drinking everywhere.”

Apparently a big part of the issue being discussed is the prevalence of actual alcohol bottles, particularly handles of hard alcohol, being brought to parties like TNC.  When this happens, the focus shifts from a friendly conversation with a trusty red cup in hand to putting down as much booze as possible.  This is why the “no broken glass” and “red cup” policies are receiving extra attention.

The take away is this:  yes, there have been warnings like this in the past that have had no serious consequences.  This time around it looks like the real deal.

I spoke with a producer on Wednesday morning who does not work for MTV, but was working on a project for MTV. He wanted a bright and airy facility where a fundraiser concert with a surprise musical act would take place. Everyone attending would have to pay to enter.

Not exactly the wild (and free) MTV party spring break makes you think of?  And that “bright and airy facility?” McKenna Auditorium.  What about the surprise musical act?

I later found out the name of the musical act that this producer is working with, and although I promised him not to reveal the name, I’m even more convinced that I made the right call. If we made a list of the 100 most popular artists that CMC students, as a whole, would desire on campus, this wouldn’t be on that list. Probably not the next 100 either.

Unsubstantiated rumors overheard by our extensive network of sources suggest this mystery artist was to be Naughty By Nature, the corniest rap group of the last decade.

Given less than a week’s notice to set up an event for a mystery D-list guest, the administration could hardly live up the hype inspired by the magic words “MTV party.”

Dear Members of the CMC Class of 2010,

I hope this email finds you doing some interesting things, and getting excited about returning for your senior year.

It won’t be long before we start the fall semester, which brings me to the point of this special email. Please take a moment to review this information, as it contains information and deadlines about your life after CMC.

My colleagues and I have noticed, over our years of work at CMC, that some students will come back to campus having done some thinking about their lives after college, and they may also have a plan for how they want to approach those interests. Others have not done much thinking or planning, and they suddenly find themselves falling behind their classmates.

Regardless of your level of preparation up until today, we’d like to make sure that you have everything you need to advance to the next level of your post-college planning. (Special information for international students is also at the bottom of this email.) Here are some important pieces of information.

For Those Who May Intend to Enter the Job Market: Employer information sessions begin the second week of the fall semester, so you really need to get going! Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t know how the process works. Instead, you need to spend some time reviewing the resources at the CMC Career Services website (http://cmc.edu/csc/). Register for CMConnect and check it regularly. Then, under the section entitled, “Who’s My Counselor?”, you will find the name of the staff member in Career Services who will help you. You can schedule a meeting with your career counselor by calling (909) 607-7038. Whether you are an advanced job seeker or someone who is just starting out, there’s always more to learn, which will help polish your candidacy so that you are completely prepared and ready.

For Those Who Intend to Enter Graduate School: Hopefully you are planning for the standardized test that you’ll need to take (if you haven’t already taken it), and assembling a list of universities you will apply to. No one is better at advising you about graduate study than your faculty members, as they will understand the strengths, weaknesses, and subtleties of the different universities that you are considering. The Career Services website has links to the pre-law guide, the Joint Science Center’s pre-med guide, Professor Pitney’s webpage, and a number of other terrific resources. (Go here: http://cmc.edu/csc/, and select “Links”, “Pre-Law”, or “Medical” on the right column.) Also, if you don’t know which faculty members to ask about your graduate school interests or need any other help, contact Career Services at (909) 607-7038.

For Those Who May Be Interested in a National Award or Fellowship: There are many opportunities for graduate study, travel overseas, or both. I can’t fully explain the 22 we have on our website, so I have chosen to describe one of them to get you excited here:

· The Fulbright program will pay you to have an international experience next year, as well as give you the impressive credential of having been a Fulbright Scholar. (See www.fulbrightonline.org.) The US State Department awards about 1,500 Fulbright awards each year to college students who are US citizens. The Fulbright deadlines are very early in the fall semester, and you need to have started thinking and planning by September so that you are ready by the time you return to campus. (For CMC’s Fulbright calendar, email Ms. Joke Johnson at: jjohnson@cmc.edu.)

Information on all 22 National Awards and Fellowships that CMC participates in can be found here: http://cmc.edu/academic/nationalawards/ . The CMC Liaison on National Awards and Fellowships is Ms. Joke (“Yo-kuh”) Johnson (jjohnson@cmc.edu, Center Court B-17).

For Students Who Are Seeking to Travel, Perform International Service or Missionary Work, or Work Overseas: There is a new website which contains information on thousands of overseas opportunities, updated daily, which can be sorted by country or field. It’s called GoinGlobal.com, and the CMC Career Services Center has a subscription. (To get a password, call or stop by Career Services, Heggblade Center 2^nd Floor, (909) 607-7038.) Be sure that you are fully aware of the travel and immigration issues surrounding your work overseas. Some countries will require immunizations, special visa applications, and have rules about the kind of work you are doing. You should also check the U.S. State Department’s website for travel advisories and safety precautions. (See http://www.state.gov/travel/.)

For Those Who Aren’t Sure What’s Next: You need to get going! You haven’t really missed anything yet, but you will soon if you procrastinate. We have lots of resources and diagnostics for students like you, and perhaps the “perfect” opportunity is waiting for you. Again, we strongly recommend that you review the Career Services website (http://cmc.edu/csc/) and then contact your Career Counselor (at (909) 607-7038) about next steps.

Special Information for International Students: The process of entering graduate school in the United States is very similar to the application process for undergraduate education. But with regard to working in the United States after graduation, there are some limitations on the length of employment or practical training for visa students. (The length of employment varies depending on your visa status.) If you are unclear about your employment status, please considering contacting one of the staff members at International Place (http://iplace.claremont.edu/iplace/main/contact.php) for more information. Also, many of the awards and fellowships that you may hear about are only open to U.S. citizens. However, most nations have various relationships with other countries, and an Internet search may result in identifying awards and fellowships that you are eligible for.

What’s the next step for you? We want it to be one that you’re very happy with, and we’re here to help. You probably noticed that many of these resources encourage you to use Career Services; you really should make sure you’re using all of their resources.

You can do this; now go out and execute! Best wishes, and see you soon,

Jeff Huang

VP & Dean of Students

#16 Best Campus Food (+1)
#7 Best Career Services (-5)
#11 Dorms Like Palaces (no change)
#3 Happiest Students (+1)
#15 Lots of Race/Class Interaction (+3)
#11 Most Popular Study Abroad Program (not ranked last year)
#10 Most Politically Active Students (+1)
#13 Professors Get High Marks (not ranked last year)
#10 Most Accessible Professors (+1)
#3 School Runs Like Butter (+2)
#13 Great Financial Aid (-3)
#1 Easiest Campus to Get Around (not ranked last year)
#3 Best Quality of Life (+2)

And lastly, the ranking that CMC Public Affairs left off in their annual self-congratulatory mass e-mail…
Lots of Beer #5 (+8)

You can bet your Icehouse keg that President Gann is getting angry phone calls from alumni and parents about that one.  It’s not surprising that Public Affairs left it out in the e-mail, but it is strange that the e-mail is from “Public Affairs Office,” as if someone (Richard Rodner?) doesn’t want to stand behind it.

Anyway, expect to see some backlash against ASCMC in the form of increased security at parties, RA narc-ing, and difficulty when registering kegs.  In addition, Dean of Students will get some heat, and Trustee committee meetings will dwell on the issue for far too long.  Last year I wrote a post on the topic of beer at CMC, but it goes without saying that this ranking is based on widely-held misconceptions about CMC parties.  (On a side note, Preston Waserman ‘11 thinks we can do better: “I really think with the right attitude we can get to top three,” Waserman said in his most recent Twitter.)

As for the rankings as a whole, they seem to indicate that not only did we drink more, but we admitted three or four more minorities and international students, got rejected from lots of jobs, fired a housing coordinator, and had slightly better weather.  Not a bad year.

Overall, I would say that Princeton Review does a good job of ranking the Claremont Colleges within the Claremont Colleges.  Yes, CMCers might drink more than Pitzer and the other 5Cs, but we’re pretty comparable to Pomona and pale in comparison to most state schools.  And yes, Pitzer has lot more “Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians” who happen to smoke pot than the other 5Cs.  But I wouldn’t say Harvey Mudd is truly among the least beautiful campuses in the country or that CMC’s beer consumption per capita is anywhere close to that of some Ivy League schools.

Here’s how the other 5Cs fared:

Scripps:
#4 Dorms Like Palaces
#4 Most Beautiful Campus
#19 Easiest Campus to Get Around

Pomona:
#14 Dorms Like Palaces
#7 School Runs Like Butter
#5 Great Financial Aid
#13 Least Religious Students
#1 Best Classroom Experience
#19 Best Quality of Life

Pitzer:
#10 Most Popular Study Abroad Program
#12 Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians
#19 Gay Community Accepted
#7 Lots of Race/Class Interaction
#14 Reefer Madness
#11 Least Religious Students
#11 Most Liberal Students

Harvey Mudd:
#7 Least Beautiful Campus
#17 Intercollegiate Sports Unpopular or Nonexistent
#15 Professors Get High Marks
#12 Most Accessible Professors
#18 Students Study the Most

CMC is joining with Pitzer College and Pomona College in restricting freshmen from bringing cars to campus next year. It’s my understanding that HMC is also considering a similar decision for the future, but no decisions have been made for the coming year.

Each of the Claremont Colleges has a slightly different set of circumstances for their decisions, and I cannot speak for the others.

In CMC’s case, the construction of the Kravis Center and the re-routing of traffic around the College have caused us to become concerned about the supply and location of parking for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. There are also environmental and community reasons why we think a restriction on freshman (not transfer students) cars will be beneficial. But the supply and location of parking is a concern.

Of course, there may be a few new students who have exceptional situations that request a waiver to the parking restriction. A few already have. We’ll review them on a case-by-case basis.

To help mitigate the situation, we have a couple of things we’re working on this summer. First, we’re building a small bike shop in the basement of Wohlford Hall. Students will be able to sign out “loaner” bikes for free, as well as get tires inflated, minor repairs, and things like that. It will be staffed by students. Of course, bikes aren’t helpful for every situation, but you can take one to run an errand in the Village.

Second, the Claremont University Consortium is in discussions with a national bank to add an ATM machine and/or branch bank in the Honnold-Mudd Library. There will also be a new coffeeshop opening in the Honnold-Mudd Library this year. These services may cut down the number of off-campus trips students need to make.

Finally, all of these issues are going to be more comprehensively addressed through the master planning process, which will be completed in the next one to two years.

Jeff Huang

When asked to elaborate on the “exceptional situations” that may justify a waiver on the parking restriction, Dean Huang offer this:

If you’re wondering what an “exceptional circumstance” is for the sake of an exemption to the parking rule, I cannot possibly define all of them. As a general rule, I would think that family and medical matters would be two important categories. An example might be that a student lives in Southern California and has a family member with an ongoing illness. Of course, we would verify this and then approve it.

More information will be posted as it is made available.

While some have heard through the grapevine the graduating class is getting duped out of tradition, many have been unaware until recently. Barely graduating senior Austin Soldner exclaimed in reaction to the news, “That is not very cool at all!” Riled seniors are all asking the same question: How could something so terrible happen?<

“Liberal arts colleges all across the nation are cutting costs,” says Dean of Faculty, Gegory Hess. “The college is undertaking a comprehensive review of all budgets and adjusting them down. This is consistent with President Gann’s communications and the decisions made by almost all colleges and universities.” In response to a struggling endowment, CMC has identified champagne as a frivolous cost to the college. Graduation champagne now joins Collins Dining Hall doughnuts on the list of the enjoyable perks BMW type tuition will no longer get you; an intellectual spa with no cucumbers.

A sacrifice was made, “It was either champagne or the graduation tent,” says Hess. The 3,500-person tent that will be covering Pritzlaff Field Saturday, May 16^th, runs CMC about $32,000, more than quadruple the price of champagne. Some argue about the necessity of a tent, wondering what could be nicer than sitting under the bright blue sky. Yet common sense says not to put so many grandparents under the California sun unless there will be saline bags and visors in close vicinity.

In reality, yes it sucks there won’t be free champagne, but it is not like students live more than seconds from Pritzlaff where they can retrieve their own $20 bottle of champagne ($4 for Andreists) after the ceremony. And while CMC does spend money on things that are far more trivial than champagne (i.e. replacing the perfectly good looking flowers throughout campus every month), cutting a beverage out of the graduation mix is applesauce compared to something like this. How hammered does one need to be in front of their family anyway? Just joshing, I know, quite hammered. Pre-game at Gui’s apartment.

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.

Yohei, last week CMC held no sponsored parties. We all understand that you need a break from throwing events and that there has been an increase in alcohol-related incidents at CMC. Is there anything else you can tell us in terms of what to expect in the future and what really happened?

Recently, the Dean of Students’ office told us there were a few issues we needed to deal with. We started discussing those issues and were unable to reach a solution in time, which is why last week’s parties were canceled. Fortunately, we had a meeting last Friday discussing each issue and changes that needed to happen. We came up with a few changes. We’re going to start implementing those and bringing back parties this weekend.

What are the changes?

Well, it’s a lot and not all of it is clear at this point. For one thing, we have to register our parties with the school differently. [Parties have to be registered at least two weeks in advance with details such as the number of attendees. The regulations for a registered party are correlated with the estimated attendance of the event.] We’ve always registered TNCs as a 100-person event because we used to get about 100-150 people at each one. The average TNC attracts about 300 people now, sometimes more. We’re going to start making changes reflecting that.

We will have more security to keep non-affiliates out. We’ve always had fenced off parties once in a while and they’ve been great—it’s just that they’re all going to be like that which will be different.

Additionally, there are a lot of parties, like the 24 Hour Party, that people expect to happen that are looking very iffy right now. The DOS is against having a 24 Hour Party at this point. We will continue to talk to them. We’re doing our best to keep the same fun continuing.

To what do you attribute the increase in attendance at CMC’s parties?

I think there is a misperception that people are more out of control than in the past—that is just not true. There have been more reported alcohol-related incidents this year than in the past, but we’ve also had many more attendees at each event. So proportionally, alcohol-related incidents are probably not more prevalent than in the past.

As for parties in general, there’s been a lot less intercampus partying over the last couple years. We try to pick up the slack at CMC, which causes problems. My freshman year I went to a lot of Pomona and Mudd 5C parties. I think people still go to Mudd but not Pomona.

Why is that?

I think our parties are just a lot better (laughs). Also, maybe people are used to our parties and don’t want to go other places. I think Mudd has some crazy parties and they put a lot more effort into them than even we do, but our parties have just as many people now.

Is there anything CMCers need to do to help the current party situation?

We want CMC students to keep doing the same thing, but watch out for non-CMCers more. For example, if a Scripps student comes here and has an alcohol-related problem, the parents call the Scripps administration who calls the CMC administration, and that’s hard to deal with. (If you have a friend visiting, whether it be from the other 4Cs or from further away, I want CMCers to realize that they have to be responsible for their friends actions.

Have you thought about charging other schools for parties like our TNC? Something like requiring non-CMCers to pay $3 at each party?

Haha, that’d be awesome. We can’t do that though, it has to do with our rules.

Every CMCer knows your name—the Party Inform is the one weekly digest e-mail students anticipate all week and hold dearly when they receive it. Some people even print it out and hang it on their wall. Who writes the Party Inform? How early in the week do you know what will be in it? What is the process involved each week?

(Laughs) People actually put it on their walls? Well, TNCs are thrown by dorm presidents. Sam Stecker, the Dorm Affairs Committee Chair, is in charge of rotating which dorm throws that week’s TNC. Sometimes multiple dorms help out. Fridays are often uneventful, but CMC usually has non-alcoholic events like movie night. I often feel like Saturdays are my responsibility, so unless another school is throwing a party I throw one at CMC or find someone to throw one with me.

I meet with the Social Affairs Committee Chair from the other colleges every Sunday and discuss the upcoming weekend. In general, we try to plan as far ahead as possible. If there is an open Saturday, CMC always ends up picking it up and hosting a party. The other schools don’t make sure they have a party every Saturday. That’s another reason we have had a hard time—we always make sure there’s something going on.

As for the other events, anybody who wants an event to be in the Party Inform sends me an email by midnight on Wednesday.

How much planning goes into each event?

The bigger the event, the earlier you’d like to plan ahead. We have to register smaller parties two days in advance and larger parties two weeks in advance. The hardest part is the brainstorming. We—a group of people consisting of dorm presidents and other involved parties—sit around and talk about what we want to do. In the days leading up to the party, we spend a few hours shopping every day to go buy the decorations, beverages, and whatever else we need (cups, etc.). The day of a party, the people involved in throwing the party usually end up spending the entire day on that event.

How much does all this cost?

The cheaper parties float around $300, most of it for decorations, beverages and cups. Bigger parties on Saturdays like the Toga Party can go up to $1,000 or more. A lot of that is security and fencing. Security is especially expensive, as you can imagine. The new rules we are discussing with the DOS will make TNCs cost twice as much.

Where does the money come from?

All of it comes from the ASCMC from SAC, DAC, Senate, dorm funds, etc. It’s all money allocated from the ASCMC from student membership fees and fundraisers like yearbook sales. Everything is on the books and done through reimbursement as the ASCMC is a 501(c)(3) organization. We also go to different CMC and 5C organizations to get money depending on what the event is. For major 5C parties we get funding from all 5Cs.

Last weekend’s White Party, for example, was primarily funded by CMC, but we asked for the maximum from the other schools. Of course, not all 5C schools have as much money as CMC does.

What role does the Dean of Students play in all this?

The Dean of Students’ office deals with the issues when things go wrong, and then they talk to us. This year we’ve had a lot of communication between the DOS and ASCMC. They keep us updated on issues we have and talk to us and discuss possible solutions with us. It sucks that the rules are getting tougher, but they haven’t dropped a single rule on us without talking about it, which is great. Overall, there’s a lot of communication.

What drew you to the position of Social Affairs Committee Chair?

I wanted to be SACC within the first month of my arrival at CMC. Basically, I realized that we had a large budget we could throw parties with and all we had to do was throw parties with it. I was dorm president last year and saw how things worked via that job. I threw a lot of parties without an official title in my suite, and I guess it just went from there.

Who will be the next SACC?

I haven’t heard of anyone who has wanted to step up. Hopefully someone will. I don’t want to do it next year because there are a lot of other positions I’d be more interested in. If I were going to run for an ASCMC position I’d want to run for class president. The senior class president gets to throw the 100 and 200 days left parties, as well as frequent Las Vegas trips.

Can you talk about the White Party controversy from last week and what your role in it was?

Fortunately I wasn’t the one who had to deal with it. Isayas Theodros, the Sophomore Class President, hosted the party and had to deal with it the most. Still, the ASCMC sat down as soon as we heard about it and discussed what we should do. I think we did exactly what we should have done—nothing.