ARTstART Training at RSABG

Art in Claremont? Is that a joke?

In fact, it’s not. Art is here, has been here, and is here to stay.

To those skeptical of an artistic presence in our little city: did you know that Claremont has been known as a breeder of fine arts since World War II? Did you know that Scripps’ Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery is currently displaying an exhibit of the birth of the Los Angeles art scene from the 1950s-60s? Or have you ever heard of the Petterson Museum of Intercultural Art located in town?

“Claremont is actually known for its artistic creativity. There are lots of galleries and things to see just in our own town. It is unfortunate that people come and say there is no art,” said Rich Deely, founder of ARTstART.

This is where the Claremont Museum of Art’s Project ARTstART comes into play. Deely created a program specifically for art appreciation in Claremont.  High school students and college students work together to teach elementary school kids the importance of art culture. The program consists of 6 Claremont College students, 27 Claremont High School students, and over 175 4th, 5th, and 6th graders from Sycamore Elementary School in Claremont.

“The goal is to increase cultural consumerism and to get more people to look at shows, recognize the art around them, and recognize Claremont’s unique arts heritage,” says Deely.

Sophie Gallant, CMC '15 Facilitating Small Group

ARTsTART started in early 2010 under the direction of Deely. Although the Claremont Museum of Art closed doors physically in late 2009, it still hosts several programs and activities to keep the arts & culture alive in Claremont.  The board of directors wanted to create a program to engage college, high school, and elementary school students, in order to connect the community to art.

High school students participating in ARTstART need to be trained to teach the elementary school kids about the different themes of art. They visit art venues such as the Williamson Gallery or Pomona College Museum of Art at the Montgomery Center, get advice from their college mentors on lesson plans for the elementary school kids, and even get to visit art studios to meet working artists in the Claremont Area. This year they were able to meet local artists Aldo Casanova, Anne Seltzer, and Jeanne Steffan.

ARTstARTer Bethany Crim Teaching

The college mentors and high school students meet three times a month at different locations such as: the City of Claremont Youth Activity Center (YAC), Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Scripps College’s Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, and the Claremont University Consortium. During meetings, students write and reflect on past lesson plans, field trips, and give feedback to improve lessons for the elementary school students. Mentor Kimberley Africa PO ’15  notes, “I am very impressed with how high school students know a lot about art. It’s been a really positive experience and I’ve learned so much by meeting artists.”

“I had no idea all this art was here,” said Zoe Jameson PO ’15.

Sophie Galant CMC ’15 specifically has been a big help since the beginning of ARTstART. “This year was great because it was a learning year, since it was the first one. I really liked getting out of the Claremont bubble and seeing what else is going on around Claremont. I never thought what is around here. Through ARTstART I get to learn what it’s like to live here,” Galant said.

Mentors who have worked with ARTstART include Sophie Galant CMC ’15,  Zoe Jameson PO’15, Kimberly Africa PO’15, Maddi Knaub CMC ’15, Sung Mo CMC ’15, Karen Herrera PO ’15, Heather Byrne PO’15, and Sarah Merianos (CGU). Mentors are recruited in the fall and can get applications from Amy Bibbens at CMC’s Center for Civic Engagement for next year.

There were around thirty students total, three of whom went to CMC.

Claremont McKenna isn’t exactly known for art, unless you count some particularly creative beer pong tables. It doesn’t have an art major, any art classes, or any artistic facilities outside of a few auditoriums and the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum. Sometimes, it’s easy to assume that CMC just doesn’t do art.

But that’s not exactly true. Every year, CMC’s Under the Lights presents their one-acts performance and the Athenaeum puts on a Dinner Theatre production. CMC students participate in Acapella groups, the 5C orchestra, and a number of other consortium-wide arts groups. Plus, it’s important not to forget the countless musicians, photographers, and craftsmen that decorate their dorm walls with their work, or play a little ukulele during a homework break.

With those individuals in mind, one student asked CMC President Pamela Gann about the lack of arts facilities on campus when she came to visit ASCMC Senate on March 27th. In response, Gann emphasized the availability of such spaces at other schools, explaining, “The arts are definitely in the Claremont Colleges, so we in the consortium subspecialize.” Seems fair. As long as other campuses meet the students’ need for studios and easels, CMC is free to subspecializes in gigantic, cubical study spaces.

Perhaps that’s not exactly fair to CMC, which, cube aside, has clearly focused its energy on developing world-class programs in economics, finance, and government, among other things. But Gann’s comment isn’t exactly fair either.

Mercedes Teixido, representing the Pomona College Art Department, explained that Pomona College does indeed provide access to its arts facilities, but only to those students currently enrolled in art classes. She added, “We do not have open access even for Pomona students. Because we provide all of the materials for our classes, it would be impossible to just have materials for anyone available.”  She noted this policy was ”a matter of safety and space.”

Teixido went on to point out that Pomona does offer opportunities for students outside of classes, though they are limited.  For example, Pomona has “a Friday afternoon figure drawing session which anyone can come do.”

In short, opportunities do exist, but are significantly restricted. Teixido emphasizes that, “I do have to say that we allow very few allotments from CMC as we have extensive waiting lists for all our intro classes, therefore, CMC students barely benefit from our facilities.”

Christian Neumeister CMC ’15 is well aware of the difficulties of being an artist at CMC. As a member of a band composed of CMC students, he complains that, “there are practice facilities around the 5C’s, but they’ve been extremely difficult to access. Scripps has practice rooms, but they’re tiny. We’ve been told we need to be taking lessons at Pomona to access theirs. At Harvey Mudd, you must be a student to access them.” He explains, “No one is asking for an art department or a music department, just a room or two where we can do what we love without bothering anyone.” Neumeister is working on starting a Jam Society to help give CMC students the opportunity to practice their art, but still needs to secure some facilities to make it happen.

As CMC’s campus continues to grow, limited arts facilities ought to be on the wish list. Gann did point out at the senate session on March 26th that, “We do have a campus center in the Master Plan where we will have gallery space and performance space, but that is not a formal department. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”

This hardly seems to cover the current gap, especially compared to facilities offered to students of other schools. Compare these meager features to Pitzer college’s Media Studies Production Center which, according to their website, offers Pitzer students “24–hour access” to “professional-quality video and film cameras,” “a full complement of lighting and sound equipment,” “student-run and student requested workshops,” and even a dark room.

It can sometimes be hard to see at first glance, but CMC has a wealth of artistic talent, more than can be fairly represented by a few pictures on the wall of Ryal Lab and a handful of performances in Pickford and McKenna Auditorium. In my wildest dreams, I see a full featured dark room with enough chemicals to repeat the Cuyahoga River fire, but that’s certainly not fair to ask the school to support financially. But, as the campus expands and more buildings are added, a one-room studio with some lights, a few easels and music stands, and a couple sound proofed music studios doesn’t seem like too much to ask.

What brought about the decision to open-up TNC to the other colleges, as TNC has traditionally always been a CMC-only event?

Cooke: Over the past year, there has been a decrease in attendance at TNC’s, as Campus Security would not allow non-CMC students to attend the parties without a guest pass. The process was such that CMC students would have to register their friends in time for the party. TNC has always been a CMC only event; however, this rule was never strictly enforced until about the past year. Clare Riva ’13, the last DAC, had been working with the Dean of Students to make it easier for other 5C students to attend TNC’s and they were in the process of formulating a new system which allowed for greater attendance at TNC’s. In the past, such decisions have been mainly under the jurisdiction of the social chairs and have been supported by the rest of the ASCMC Executive Board. While we want to preserve the tradition of TNC being a mostly CMC party, we recognize that CMC students all have friends at other colleges that we want to be able to come and enjoy the party with us.

What is the new system of the guest list policy?

Cooke: One TNC a month will be opened up to the 5C’s, where any Claremont College student will get in with their school ID. At the CMC only TNC’s, a guest list policy will be implemented.  A Google form will open up every Monday to Thursday (noon) where CMC students can register guests from another 5C by submitting their name and student ID number. This will add the Claremont student to the guest list and the student will be able to check in with Campus Security at TNC to gain admittance.

What are the main concerns of the administration regarding this change?

Cooke: The Dean of Students Office is unwilling to make TNC a 5C event every week. The main reason is that we do not have large enough spaces to hold 500+ events every Thursday night. Dean Spellman is allowing one 5C TNC per month with 2 kegs, which is an increase from the single keg allowed at CMC only TNC’s.

In your new role as the DAC Chair, what other changes would you like to see for the forthcoming year?

Cooke: This year one of my main goals in terms of party planning will be to revive TNC. Alumni and upperclassmen always talk about how TNC was well attended, had great music or bands, was held at diverse locations, and rivaled the Saturday night party. I will be talking to past social chairs and looking into how they structured their events to figure out how to make TNC more epic, so to speak. I want to make sure that the CMC party and social culture from the past is preserved and not lost.

AN21, the younger brother of Steve Angello of Swedish House Mafia, will DJ at CMC’s White Party this year on Saturday, March 31.

More information about AN21 can be found on his website.

Tickets for the White Party  are $15, a $5 increase from last year, and go on sale this Saturday at noon.

While ticket sales were supposed to begin tonight, technical difficulties with Google Checkout pushed the sales date back. Tickets can be purchased online starting Saturday via Google Checkout.

There is no limit to how many tickets a student can buy, and Steven Limandibhratha, the current Social Affairs Chair (SAC) mentioned that buying in bulk helps reduce purchasing cost. “Google Checkout charges a small transaction fee, so having one person buy multiple tickets saves us money. The money we save goes to ASCMC and could be used for party funds in the future.”

As for the ticket price increase, Limandibhratha noted: “The growing popularity of electronic dance music as well as the higher quality of the event this year account for the price increase. If we were to bring in Glitch Mob (who performed at the White Party last year) the event would cost twice as much.”

Tickets can be purchased here. 

A giant sports banner in Ducey gym reads, “3 schools, 2 mascots, 1 spirit.” But do we really have one spirit? The Stag and Athena mascots divide us, splitting our spirit in two. The jumbled, half combination “Stagthena” reminds me of stagflation, and I’d rather not think of economics when cheering for sports.

Before Claremont had a women’s sports program, Claremont-Mudd shared a sports team, the Stags. Once the women’s program was added in the late 1970s, there was some talk over what the mascot for CMS should be.

According to Michael Sutton, the current director of athletics for CMS and a CMC alum, there was a lot of push to go with one mascot and logo. However, a lot of CMC alumni weren’t willing to change the mascot from the Stags, and the women’s athletics weren’t willing to accept that mascot.

While the widely known and accepted current definition of stag is a male deer, the word carried several negative connotations for quite some time. The third definition of stag, according to dictionary.com, is “a person who attends a social gathering unaccompanied by a partner, especially a man who is unaccompanied by a woman.” The fourth definition is “a social gathering for men only.” And one of the adjective uses: “pornographic” (i.e. stag films).

Sutton also said that in the 60s and 70s  ”Stag” often referred to activities objectifying or demeaning women. While he admitted that he’s unsure how much weight this definition still holds, he added: “I guarantee you that if you surveyed some women (about the term) they’d be offended.”

Hence, the CMS committee was reluctant to band behind the Stags to encompass both the women’s sports as well. Out of this controversy, the Athenas were born.

Since the definition of Stag has changed substantially over time and I doubt anyone even knows of the old definitions, I don’t think people find it offensive.

On a quick tangential point, it probably disturbs a lot of you, as it does me, that if ‘stag’ truly was an offensive term, it was still allowed to be our school’s mascot, even if it was once a men’s college. If it really is chauvinistic, it remains that way with or without the presence of women at our schools. But that’s a topic for another article.

Sutton noted that while our current two-mascot predicament is odd, it works. “The conversation (to consolidate to one mascot) has come up over time, and we haven’t come up with a better plan that we’ve felt strong enough about,” Sutton said.

“At the end of the day, since we haven’t come up with a more popular idea, we are fine with what we have” he noted.

Some student athletes feel differently.

Carmen Lundell, CMC ’13, feels the differing mascots divide the rift between male and female sports even further. “The problem is that when you go to a sporting event that’s a coed sport there are Stags and Athenas there, so people have to choose between the two. So people say, ‘Go Stags,’ typically,” Lundell, a varsity diver and former track runner commented.

Both track and field and swimming and diving are coed, and it’s tough for fans – and for students – to feel like they’re cheering for one team when the mascots are divided.

“I see it as further perpetuating the stigma against women’s sports. People do choose to cheer for Stags. I would say there’s no guy here – maybe a couple – that would say ‘Go Athenas,’” Lundell added.

We can change the rift that having two mascots creates. If we all became Stags, at least women’s sports – and women at the school for that matter – wouldn’t feel left out during the cheers.

Having two mascots also further divides our fan apparel. The CMS athletics website has separate merchandise for Athenas and Stags apparel. Students are explicitly choosing whether they are supporting male or female sports based on what apparel they buy. This clearly divides us.

So why should we consolidate to just Stags? Why not change our mascot entirely?

There are some solid arguments against changing our current mascot. Although the word stag has some remnants of its past offensive definitions, the word merely means “male deer” for most people. Most students probably don’t even know the other definitions exist, or even care.

Additionally, the Stag mascot already has name recognition in Claremont. Since the term probably doesn’t offend anyone anymore, there’s no reason to completely take away from a dominant, well-liked symbol. And the fact that a stag refers to a male deer specifically does not exclude female members of the student body. A stag is an animal, and I would no more feel a kinship to a female animal than a male one.

And most importantly, Harry Potter’s Patronus is a Stag, which should be reason enough.

Ultimately, it’s more worth it to have one united fan base – one mascot and one spirit – than to continue the divisions the dual mascots bring because of an antiquated definition.

But hey, at least we’re not the Sagehens.

Editor’s Note: This article was written independently of the Idea Night talk by Jen Rignoen ’12 on March 6.

Last year, I took a British Fiction of the 1980s class, where I had the privilege of reading relevant, interesting fiction by authors like J.M. Coetzee and Salman Rushdie. I became acquainted with British politics, history, and culture in the 1980s and learned much more from that class than I thought I would.

It wasn’t until this class, until I was weeping over The Remains of the Day, that I realized I could really intensely enjoy my Literature classes, that I would want to do the homework and reading for these classes.

Unfortunately, the CMC Literature major consists of several required courses whose subjects often tend toward older British writers. As is, the CMC Literature major is too confining and should either be completely restructured – similar to the construct of Pomona or Scripps’s major – or should favor more general electives in its requirements.

The Literature Department offers an array of interesting courses and is composed of talented faculty. However, a lot of these courses–the more modern Literature courses that appeal to students–cannot count toward the Literature major. By adding new contemporary literature electives and offering students more choice, the department could make room for more types of Literature electives.

Photo Credit: morhymesdapoet.wordpress.com

The CMC Literature major consists of seven required courses: two required survey courses, British Writers I and British Writers II and a few elective courses that fulfill the pre-1700 Lit course requirement or single author course. The major has two electives as well. Two.

Conversely, Pomona College’s English department requires 11 courses for the major, which consists of three required courses and “eight additional courses,” which each major selects after consulting with his or her advisor. Scripps College also requires a minimum of 11 courses for the major, constituting five survey courses in British or American Literature and four electives, with the last two reserved for thesis.

CMC’s Literature Department used to be structured similarly, with five survey courses and the rest electives. According to Professor John Farrell, the current chair of the Literature Department and a Literature professor at CMC for 22 years, this policy changed in the mid-1990s because the department felt like they were teaching too many survey courses and wanted to go more in depth in other subject areas.

“Surveys have their purpose, which is to orient you in a grand way with the subject,” Professor Farrell explained. He also noted that the classes were getting too big, and the department thought it was better to switch to a two-semester survey course.

Survey courses, generally, are more limiting than the elective style courses CMC currently offers. For example, students have to take British Writers I and British Writers II, but then can choose which elective they take that falls under the category of a pre-1700 Lit course. In a way, survey courses can be more restrictive, but the existence of survey courses allows more electives and less restrictive elective courses (like a 1700-1900 elective, which the Lit department currently requires).

Farrell also emphasized the importance of reading authors like Geoffrey Chaucer and William Shakespeare. “All the modern writers read Chaucer, and all the great writers before them,” he explained. “You can’t read modern authors without reading these.”

While I agree with the basic premise, I think that message can, and has, been taken too far. There is a reason authors no longer write in the style of Daniel Defoe or Henry James. Literature has developed, I would argue, for the better, and it is a shame that more of our classes shy away from these incredible new novelists. Studying the “grand” writers of the past seems to overemphasize their historical importance, which in turn underemphasizes the literary merit of newer writers.

Farrell noted that there is generally high demand for Literature courses, and that most classes don’t have a problem reaching capacity. While this may be the case, the narrowness of the CMC major might still deter students from majoring in Literature.

While it is important to read original, classic authors, it is equally important to read authors who currently demonstrate a mastery of the English language. I will always love Jane Austen and appreciate her development of complex, interesting characters, but she can’t make me cry like Jonathan Safran Foer does.

The Hub seems designed specifically to satisfy the ‘bro culture’ at the college. Over the past six months I’ve spent at CMC, my time at the Hub has rapidly diminished as I feel more and more out of place going there. CMC is known to embrace bro-esque behavior, and the Hub is the ultimate example of why this culture exists.

I am not saying that we need to work to make the Hub more female-friendly, but instead work towards “un-bro-ing” our convenient hangout spot. It’s not just CMC girls who tend to stay away, but also guys who aren’t loving the ever-present bro culture. As much as I wish I could quantify bro presence, I can’t. What I can and will do is look at the ratio of guys and girls at the Hub and other 5C cafes to provide evidence that the Hub appeals largely to a male-oriented bro culture. The Hub doesn’t exclude girls, but it isn’t exactly the most welcoming place to females and non-’bro’ males. Here’s why. Let’s break it down piece by piece:

A view of the Hub and it's hearty meal offering

Atmosphere

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think ‘Hub’ is an outdated man-cave. For goodness sake, there are framed portraits of CMC athletic teams hanging on the walls. I totally agree that the furniture was awesome in 1992, but it is 2011 and the tacky retro look has got to go. Those gritty couches don’t exactly make for a fun hangout spot. I am not saying I want the Hub to turn into a girly hangout place. I went to the Motley and left within a minute after looking at the jar of tampons for sale and Diva Cups by the register. That might be overcompensating. But it’s true that the Hub atmosphere could be improved with some small changes. The Coop, for example, is a perfect example of chic, clean design that everyone can enjoy. It’s tidy and not so blatantly sports-themed. That is what the Hub needs: a change in ambiance and décor to allow for everyone’s comfort.

The Ratio

In case you don’t believe that the Hub is disproportionately “bro,” I decided to do some research:

For one week I spent my afternoons at the Hub from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 pm. On weekends and weeknights, I popped in from time to time as well. I also compared the guy to girl ratios in the other 4 college’s cafes, including Pomona’s Coop, Scripps’s Motley Coffeehouse, Pitzer’s Pit-Stop Café, and Harvey Mudd’s Jay’s Place (The Muddhole).

I started on a Monday and walked in at 2:30 pm to take a headcount: 10 girls, 35 boys. I hoped Tuesday would be better. Nope. 13 girls. 32 boys. Wednesday 14 girls, 38 boys.

I know my data collection isn’t the most perfect, nor by any means thesis-worthy, but those numbers should make you stop and think. On four random days, the ratio was always more than twice the amount of boys to girls. On weeknights it was even worse. I walked in on a Wednesday night to find 9 boys watching Sports Center and two girls sitting at a back table. That same Wednesday night, I walked into the Coop and saw 18 boys and 16 girls. Much better. The Friday before my investigation ended, I went to all five cafés to compare girls to guys. The Muddhole 3:5, Pit-Stop  8:11, The Coop 18:30, The Motley (I stopped counting after the zero-eth boy), and The Hub 5: 13.

Every time I went to the Hub in the past week, there were at least twice as many guys as girls. Sure I could just walk to the Coop or the Pit-Stop, but it’s a hassle, and I am a CMCer. Why should I go to another campus’s student center to feel comfortable?

Cleanliness

Cleanliness is definitely not the Hub’s forte. Walking in and seeing tables dripped with leftover grease from fried foods, chicken tenders in the couches, and the remnants of last week’s curly fries all over the floor doesn’t inspire much confidence in the Hub’s upkeep. I don’t think the problem is the staff.  People just don’t always seem to pick up after themselves. Maybe most Hub regulars do not care, but after speaking to all my girl friends, we all agree that such an environment is gross. Of all my girl friends surveyed, none eat in the Hub at all and noted the leftover trash as reason enough to avoid spending time there.

Sportscasters are a regular feature at the Hub

Menu

Admit it: every time you walk into the Hub or anywhere near it the smell smell of fried food lingerings. It is no secret that the Hub’s menu is not the most health conscious. Sure there are wraps and paninis, but everything else on the menu is either a sandwich, burger, or fried-something. Granted, that fried-something has a place in everyone’s heart on a Thursday night, but it would be nice to have more variety on the menu like salads, fruit, bagels, or muffins. One time, I asked for a fruit salad and, in return, I got a big slice of cantaloupe. Even the way the food is presented–big portions slapped onto paper plates–could also be more appealing.

Television

The lack of variety on the two television screens in the Hub is another gripe. The TV is always–let me repeat–ALWAYS playing ESPN. Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes, I want to watch ESPN. Since the NBA season is finally back on, I’ll be perched on those grimy Hub couches and armchairs for the game. But having sports channels on from the minute the Hub opens until closing hours is excessive. The addition of another TV would allow for more viewing options, perhaps to watch non-sports shows. With more options, the Hub is far more conducive to everyone’s entertainment tastes. More important than adding viewing variety, however, is the need to get rid of the “channel-changing” stigma. Doesn’t it say something about Hub culture when changing the channel from Sports Center is considered near sinful, even when it’s playing on both TV screens?

This “Hub-Makeover” is in everyone’s interest. I think most guys like it when there are girls around, and most girls like it when they can get a bite to eat without their conversations being drowned out by sports news broadcasters. It’s important to remember that the Hub is CMC’s student center and should feel that way for every student, not just for CMC ‘bros.’ The Hub has the potential to be a hotspot where everyone could be equally happy with just these few minor adjustments. Until then, looks like I’m hanging out elsewhere.

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?

While many students who came into CMC with strong backgrounds in their high school bands, orchestras or art programs have adjusted to CMC’s lack of an art program, some still ask for CMC to change its ways.

Sophomore Chelsea Durgin says, “Students would really benefit from art as an outlet to the stress of school… I think that a lot of students at CMC are extremely talented in the arts, but they can’t express themselves because of the CMC reputation.”

Devashish Dey performs at the Athenaeum (Photo by Warren Bessant)

For students from neighboring schools and artistically-inclined CMCers, the school’s image as a leadership-driven institution for go-getters has left its commitment to the art world by the wayside. CMC has abandoned some traits of average liberal arts schools and become the economics-oriented school that it is, but as Durgin says, this doesn’t mean that CMC students are devoid of any artistic talent.

The idea of pursuing art on campus has inched into the spotlight with the appearance of Stark’s new piano and with growing involvement with arts organizations at the 5Cs. Yet, some students still argue that CMC is not currently an art-friendly school and believe that there is a stigma associated with pursuing a degree in the arts.

Freshman Becca Rosenthal says, “At the very least we can start putting student artwork in Kravis, but ideally there should be an arts GE.” Those who are proponents of larger changes to CMC’s image like Rosenthal argue that the school could start embracing its liberal arts label by requiring students to study art.

For other students, calling Claremont McKenna a liberal arts school is almost a misnomer. CMC has a unique approach to providing students with a well-rounded education: we receive the benefits of a liberal arts school, yet we’re unlike any other. One of the things that sets us apart is a focus on creating leaders in business and the professions. Advocates of CMC’s leadership-oriented mission point out that our access to the resources at the other 4Cs – including arts programs like theater, music, studio art, and art history – allow us to bypass the implementation of our own arts program.

Indeed, those who actively pursue the arts have many opportunities, even as a CMC student, to be involved in the arts. A CMC-specific theater club Under the Lights allows students an outlet for artistic expression. Other 5C opportunities include taking part in KSPC, Pomona’s student radio station; an acapella choir like Shades; or Without a Box, the Claremont Colleges’ improv group. For those students willing to integrate with the rest of the 5Cs, the abundance of artistic opportunities on our neighboring campuses offer CMCers a chance to pursue their artistic passions with ease. The beauty of the consortium is that each of the schools can specialize in a few fields, instead of attempting to do everything at once, which would be redundant and ineffective.

Local band Songword performs at the Motley on Scripps College campus (Photo by Yuqiao Guo)

The accessibility of the other Claremont Colleges and their strengths in the arts balance out the unique liberal arts appeal of CMC. The administration faces a choice between encouraging the appreciation of art at CMC and offering art programs on CMC’s campus. But one thing is sure: when it comes to whether art should be more encouraged on campus or remain an untouched issue, Freshman Erika Sa says, “I want more!” The best resolution is for CMC to encourage students to appreciate and participate in some form of art, but continue to utilize the other art programs in the Claremont Consortium instead of devoting resources and time to building a new one at CMC. In other words, take advantage of the resources that the consortium offers.

CMC students’ interest in pursuing art academically is less common perhaps than at other 5C institutions. Appeals for drastic changes to CMC’s academic focus seem to be coming from a unique group of students who would like CMC to acknowledge the importance of art by offering art programs on campus. However, this desire does not seem to apply to most students and thus no change will likely be made.

But CMC students as a whole do not disregard the arts entirely. The claim that students don’t care about art because CMC is a school focused on a couple of strong programs is simply not true. It is true, however, tacking on an art department to CMC’s academic offerings would not increase the benefit to CMC students enough to justify the cost. It would be both widely beneficial and much easier for the student body to simply ask CMC for more on-campus practice rooms or to see more student-made art in the hallways of our dorms. Adding small things like pianos or providing an area just to hang out and play music would give CMC some artistic flavor of its own. We don’t have to drop our reputation as a school of industrious students in order to appreciate the arts – we can embrace it without becoming a run-of-the-mill liberal arts school. With the new piano in Stark and the ever-growing involvement of students in artistic programs on and off campus, it seems like we’re on the right track.

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!