December 1, 2011

The Scripps Voice Holiday Issue Volume XV, Issue Five

December 1, 2011

Scripps students singing around the Christmas tree in the Dorsey living room in celebration.

Image courtesy of Claremont Colleges Archives

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2 Demystifying Scripps through Peer Advocates

By Tori Mirsadjadi ‘12 Senior Copy Editor

Sunday’s snack was hosted by one of Scripps’ newest programs: Peer Advocates. Hosting snack was part of an effort to increase awareness of the existence of this new student group, and as the program establishes itself, Peer Advocates will be an increasing part of academic life at the College.

Scripps’ Peer Advocates are here to answer any questions students have about policy and academic procedures at Scripps.

Peer Advocates can help students fill out academic petitions and direct students with concerns to the appropriate resources.

Each dorm has an assigned Peer Advocate, but they are open to questions from any student, regardless of living situation.

The Peer Advocate position is a yearlong commitment, with applications going out in the spring. Anyone interested in learning about academic policy and judicial procedures, and who is able to be available to help out other students—in person and via email—can apply. All Peer Advocates have office hours for an hour a week—reminders of their office hours and room numbers should be going out to dorm mailing lists soon.

SAS Judicial and Academic Review Chair Leah Nunke (’12) is coordinating the Peer Advocate program. She filled us in on a bit more about the program. Peer Advocates are, said Nunke, “student resources who do what the RAs don’t—deal with academics and policies.” Though Peer Advocates are technically under Nunke’s jurisdiction in SAS, the advocates are not required to attend meetings, nor do they vote on SAS decisions.

Navigating the academic policies and seeking out resources can be intimidating and confusing. There’s a wealth of information in the Guide to Student Life, but not everyone knows to look in there. For many students, it’s easier to talk to other students than to search for answers in the guide. And it can be helpful simply to have someone there to give concrete advice on the inner workings of the College.

“Sometimes it seems like the inner workings of Scripps, especially academic procedures and petitions, can seem like a mystery,” said Nunke. “We want to demystify it.”

As SAS Judicial and Academic Review Chair, Nunke sits on the Committee of Academic Review, which looks at academic petitions. Because of this position, Nunke gets to see what gets approved, what doesn’t and how the committee makes decisions.

“Instead of sitting on that information,” said Nunke, “I want to make sure it gets disseminated to students.” The Peer Advocates are part of making the process “easier on both sides,” said Nunke, by making the information about petition processes, among other academic processes, more transparent.

Along with two faculty members, the Peer Advocates comprise the Scripps Judicial Board, which hears non-academic policy violations. The judicial board has not received training yet, but Nunke said that training is planned to take place before the end of the semester.

In addition to speaking on behalf of students on the judicial board, Peer Advocates serve in a programming capacity.

Advocates collaborate with hall councils and RAs—each advocate sitting on her respective hall council—and work to come up with ideas and funds for those ideas. Currently in the works are master calendars of academic-related deadlines, which Peer Advocates are going to post in the dorms “to help everyone stay on top of things,” said Nunke.

In heading up the Peer Advocates program, Nunke has been working closely with Staci Buchwald, who has led Peer Mediation and Conflict Resolution training for the Peer Advocates.

In addition to Buchwald, the program has received support from the dean of students office and the office of the registrar.

“This semester has been about getting [the Peer Advocates Program] off the ground,” said Nunke.

“This program will make the petition process easier for students,” said Nunke, “because they will have guidance for things like creating your own major, independent study and internship credit—things that the administration might think are straightforward, but which can be confusing [for students].”

The advocates also have a good list of resources in order to help guide students to the appropriate higher resources, whether they be the offices of the dean of students, the dean of faculty, financial aid or whichever other office might be relevant. Nunke emphasized the importance of having someone to consult and tell students who to talk to about whatever issues they may be having.

Since this is the first year of the program, Nunke said she is “looking for a lot of feedback from students and the Peer Advocates themselves as the year goes on.” Nunke emphasized that the advocates “would love input from students about what they would like to see from us.” She said that, in addition to the calendars, there are currently plans to host a workshop on creating a self-designed major.

Said Nunke, “Their job description isn’t set in stone, yet!”

Feel free to contact Leah Nunke, SAS Judicial and Academic Review Chair, at lnunke5732@scrippscollege.edu if you have any questions about the Peer Advocate program or about academic and judicial procedures in general.

Here is a list of this year’s Peer Advocates along with their office hours, which will be held in their dorm rooms. They are excited to help y’all out, so start taking advantage of what they can offer!

Dorsey Amy Hollander ‘13 Monday 9-10 p.m.

Dorsey 120

Routt Annabel Barraza ‘14 Friday 3-4 p.m.

Routt 300c

Frankel Casey Maas ‘14 Tuesday 8-9 p.m.

Frankel 200c

Wilberly Karen Castro-Ayala ‘14 Friday 1-2 p.m.

Routt 110d

Toll Marie Angeles ‘14 Thursday 10-11 a.m.

Toll 108

Browning Liz McElvein ‘14 Tuesday 5-6 p.m.

Browning 144

GJW Olivia Buntain ‘15 Monday 4-5 p.m.

GJW 125

Clark Alexandra Steward ‘15 Tuesday 7-8 p.m.

Clark 188

The Scripps Voice Editors-in-Chief Vritti Goel & Lauren Prince Adviser Sam Haynes Design Editors Nancy Herrera Anna Petkovich Charlotte Rosenfield Senior Copy Editor Tori Mirsadjadi Copy Editors Megan Petersen Kate Pluth Section Heads Michelle Nagler Rebecca Dutta Alissa Fang Kaela Nurmi Taylor Healy Ishmam Rahman Web Managers Meredith Kertzman Alix Franklin Printer Gardena Valley Press Comments and letters can be sent to Scripps College The Scripps Voice, 1030 Columbia Ave, Box 892, Claremont, CA, 91711. You can also email The Scripps Voice at scrippsvoice@gmail.com or visit our website at voice.scrippscollege.edu.

If you want to contribute to The Scripps Voice send your articles or photos to editor.scrippsvoice@gmail.com. The Scripps Voice is a student forum and is not responsible for the opinions expressed in it.

December 1, 2011• The Scripps Voice• Volume XV• Issue Five

Review of Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part I

By Charlotte Rosenfield ‘15 Design Editor

PHOTO COURTESY OF CINEMABLEND

Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart), has breakfast with Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) on their honeymoon.

When Taylor Lautner’s shirt is off within the first 10 seconds of the film, you know you’re in for another successful installment of the cinematic sensation that is the Twilight series. In all seriousness, director Bill Condon has created yet another movie phenomenon. Surprisingly, this one manages to live up to all the hype.

I may stand alone in my rave review of Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part I. As somewhat of a fan of the books—but not, mind you, much of a fan of the films— my take on this fourth and latest film installment is a bit biased. The plot very closely follows that of the first half of Stephaine Meyer’s last—and in my opinion best—Cullen-centric novel. The precise translation of the book into cinematic form was its main appeal for me.

If you haven’t read the Twilight saga, first of all, go out right now and read them. (If nothing else, do it for the sake of being up on your pop culture references.) A quick, spoiler-free synopsis up through Breaking Dawn, Part I: Bella Swan (Kristin Stewart) is a teenage girl who has moved to Forks, Washington and fallen in love with a 104-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). They get hitched. (In one of the most spectacular wedding scenes I’ve ever seen…) Edward agrees to turn Bella into a vampire.

Now, the question with Breaking Dawn as a cinematic installment of the Twilight series is not whether it’s a good or bad film.

The question is how it compares in relation to the other films. Taken alone, Breaking

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Dawn is a slow, ponderous film. There is very little meaningful dialogue, and the plot elements felt forced. Its cinematic virtue is salvaged only by some magnificent scenery in the Pacific Northwest and in Rio de Janeiro, where Bella and Edward spend their honeymoon.

So it’s no cinematic gem. However, when examined in comparison with the three other movies so far, Breaking Dawn, Part I stacks up rather well. While it is missing the interesting indie edge that director Catherine Hardwicke brought to the first film, this fourth film does not flat line as badly as the second film, New Moon, which would have died without Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and his packs (both the abs and the fellow werewolves…). The Twilight cast also offers a surprisingly high quality of acting compared to the previous films.

The actors seem to have blossomed into… actual actors. (A blossoming which began, admittedly, in the third film, Eclipse.) In the context of the Twilight film series, the first part of Breaking Dawn is probably the best so far.

As a downgraded “Twi-hard,” I enjoyed Breaking Dawn immensely. But as a critic, I have to admit that the film felt as though all the life had been drained from it. Not taking its cinematic Twilight predecessors into account, I have to agree with some of my fellow moviegoers who said that Breaking Dawn, Part I “sucked” (pun intended). But like its immortal Cullen clan, nothing could possibly kill this franchise. At least until the final film is released next November.

Art Conservation Pushing the Boundaries of a Liberal Arts Education

By Nancy Herrera ‘15

Design Editor

Do Scripps students have what it takes to preserve their founder’s history? With the training received in art conservation, the answer is a resounding “Yes!” Art conservation, one of Scripps’ newest majors, focuses on the science of preserving society’s cultural heritage, which can include anything from French gardens and statues to Ellen Browning Scripps’ handwritten letters. Doing this preservation requires a truly interdisciplinary approach, since it involves art, art history, anthropology, material science and chemistry.

Students in Professor Eric Doehne’s Global Tourism and Preservation Technology class have dedicated themselves to digitizing Ellen Browning Scripps’ travel letters. She wrote more than 100 letters as she toured the world, including places like the Egyptian monuments.

Meticulously scanning one page at a time, students take care to modify the scanner’s settings for each one, as the writing is faint. Preserving Ellen Browning Scripps’ travel letters means preserving a means to better understand how she developed her passions for art preservation, archeology and women’s education. The letters also elucidate tourism in the 1880s. The result of the project will be on exhibit next fall in Denison Library.

Doehne said of the students in his class, “Some of them are [first years], who want to try something interdisciplinary, and some are seniors that want to take a more art-related course after taking their tough chemistry courses.”

Scripps is a natural fit for the major, since, in Doehe’s words, “Scripps students don’t want to speak just one academic language.” Through courses like those of Core, Scripps students have developed a skill at integrating knowledge from different fields. Said Doehne, “I really enjoy the students. They are very diverse, interesting people.” Professor Anna Wenzel, who teaches organic chemistry, said that “students who major in art conservation want to have a good balance between a liberal arts and a scientific background.”

The art conservation major was created two years ago after Mary McNaughton (’70), director of Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery and professor of art history, responded to student requests to create a major that would help students enter competitive programs in the field. This year, the first class of art conservation majors is graduating. They are doing diverse set of activities after graduation, including working at the National Gallery in London,

studying at UC Berkeley and interning at an archaeological site in Central Anatolia.

Robin Dubin (‘12), who is majoring in art conservation, said, “I love how hands-on and practical it is... It’s so satisfying and fulfilling to get to work with objects directly to preserve cultural heritage for the future.” For her thesis, Dubin is doing a conservation project on a Greek black-figure vase in the Scripps collections. The vase will be used as case study in examining the issue of antiquities in museum collections. Said Dubin, “Majoring in art conservation is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’m excited to be one of the first Scrippsies to graduate with this major! I really hope the program will keep growing after I’m done.”

Since the major is still new, most of the courses are a blend of curriculum designed for other majors. However, the department has plans to add a course specific to the major, called “Material Science: History of Technology.” The material science course would be an important addition to the art conservation offerings because it would enable students to learn how substances behave and respond to the environment.

Since the topics around art conservation have broad appeal among Scripps students, professors are planning on creating multiple minors within the program, hoping to cater to different facets of the field. These minors will effectively act as different tracks within the major. For example, one might focus on chemistry and material science, while another might focus more on art history. One of the proposed minors is “heritage science,” which deals with trying to preserve cultures through the use of tourism. A meeting to discuss plans for the minors and potential major tracks is planned to convene on Dec. 12.

To Doehne, students who major in art conservation can serve as “bridges” between different departments in academia. In galleries, they can serve to translate important scientific concepts in art to more traditional art and art history majors. They can also serve to make science more exciting to the general public. Said Doehne, “When people hear of art like the Mona Lisa and the Dead Sea scrolls, they get excited. It can be the same way for science.”

For scientists like Wenzel, art conservation is a way to give an outlet to her creative side.

“I have learned a lot about art, which is a passion of mine. As a scientist, it is engaging when science is being applied,” said Wenzel. “The art conservation major is the ideal manifestation of what is amazing in a liberal arts education.”

Ben Stein: He’s Coming

By Lauren Prince ‘14 Ben Stein is this year’s Elizabeth Hubert Malott Public Affairs Program Speaker.

The mission of the Elizabeth Hubert Malott Public Affairs Program is to “to bring the world to Scripps students” by instituting a speakers program that facilitates informed debate on topics of public policy.

Elizabeth Hubert Malott (’53) lends her name to a program whose mission is “to bring diverse points of view to the campus by way of a public affairs program emphasizing substantive expertise to which students may not be exposed every day.” This person is chosen and voted on by Scripps students. Last year, New York Times columnist and author David Brooks came to campus to discuss his latest book, The Social Animal.

According to Vice President of Communication and Marketing Marylou Ferry, students submitted names for speakers they wanted to come, and Stein was chosen by a committee of students, faculty and trustees.

Ben Stein. You might recognize him as the teacher from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. And for those of you who are more politically oriented, you may remember Stein as an economist at the Department of Commerce, a lawyer, a columnist for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and an author of both fiction and nonfiction.

In true Scripps fashion, there will be a conversation between Ben Stein and a group of selected students followed by an intimate dinner in the Hampton room.

He will then give a lecture open to the public entitled “Dark Days in America: How to get to Daybreak.” If you have free time this winter break, you might want to take the time to read a couple of Stein’s books: The Gift of Peace: Guideposts on the Road to Serenity and How to Ruin the United States of America.

Scripps will welcome Ben Stein to the campus in the spring on Feb. 9.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DUNCE ACADEMY

Editor-in-Chief

Ben Stein in his classical scene from the 80s film, Ferris Buller’s Day off.

December 1, 2011• The Scripps Voice• Volume XV• Issue Five

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Meet the Editors Holiday Special

Vritti Goel: Editor-In-Chief

I can’t complain about retailers pulling out holiday items before Halloween’s even over, because holiday season for my family goes beyond just Christmas and New Year’s.

Part one, or, as I like to call it, Hindu Festival Season, runs from August to late October/early November, depending on when Diwali, the Hindu festival of Lights and New Year, occurs. Part two, or American Holiday Season, runs from November to January, beginning with Thanksgiving and ending with New Year’s.

Our Christmas begins the day after Thanksgiving. Satiated from the previous night’s rich traditional meal and poker-playing, and exhausted from that morning’s Black Friday shopping, the six-foot plastic Christmas tree is dug up from the depths of our house, the two large red and green containers of Christmas decorations heaved out to the living room. The assembly of our Christmas tree falls to me every year. As Christmas music blares from my computer, I must decide which tree skirt to place under the plastic legs, I must build it up, branch by branch.

The hardest part is decorating it, because there is so much to put on the tree and so little space. Every year we try to stick to a theme, deciding to use only these ornaments and those beads. As usual, however, our Christmas tree turns into a mish-mash of everything from traditional shiny baubles and metal nutcracker soldiers to family pictures and clay ornaments proudly created in elementary school. A flower star, a few petals missing from use, adorns the top of the tree.

This tree stays up until finally, in the first week of January of the new year, after all the gifts have been opened, critiqued and returned, and the day-after-Christmas and day-after-New-Year’s sales have been perused, we decide it is time for this tree to retire for the rest of the year. And, so, starting at the top with that flower star with its missing petals, and take it down, light string by light string, ornament by ornament, branch by branch, until everything is packed neatly away in the storage containers and placed back in the dark depths they’d initially emerged from, there to stay until the next November.

Kate Pluth: Copy Editor

My favorite holiday tradition when I was a child was the entire “Santa Claus” routine. Unlike many families, we opened presents on Christmas Eve, which created a different sense of anticipation. After devouring my family’s special Dec. 24 meal of plump shrimp, green vegetables and warm, homemade bread, I would instantly feign fatigue. I knew Santa wouldn’t come until I had fallen asleep, so my bedtime became a prompt 7 p.m. on those evenings. Then, in what seemed like the dead of night, my parents would awaken me with excited whispers that Santa had made his notorious visit. I descended to our living room to find all the incriminating evidence—cookies half-eaten, milk half-drunk and new gifts set at the base of our Christmas tree. I knew these gifts proved Santa’s existence, because his elves used different wrapping paper than my parents did. And after all, who would ever think to purchase and hide separate wrapping paper only to deceive one’s child?

Christmas is not Christmas without Jim Henson’s A Muppet Christmas Carol. This adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale leaves viewers both cheered to the marrow and laughing their heads off. From the skilled narration of Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat, Ebeneezer Scrooge (Michael Cain) faces the reality of his greed and learns the true value of Christmas—that in giving gifts and gestures of love, one receives the same. In addition, the plot is accompanied by a handful of musical numbers that will keep you humming about the joys of the season for days. I watch A Muppet Christmas Carol every year, and it never gets old.

Lauren Prince: Editor-In-Chief

Ever since I can remember, there has always been a place for the little basket on the Thanksgiving table. This basket is home to many secrets. The slips of paper inside have been inscribed—not with gossip, trivialities, or negative thoughts, but with thanks.

Each person attending our Thanksgiving dinner—whether it’s at our house or not—is required to write at least three things she or he is thankful for. We then fold them up and place them inside the basket. After dinner, we pass the basket around and pull out the slips of paper one at a time and read them aloud to the group. Sometimes, we even try to guess what each person wrote.

Some are sentimental, while others invoke laughter, some can reflect multiple people in the room, others are clearly a reflection of an individual. This tradition, not only makes you think about what you are thankful for, but also shares with the people around you what is most important to them.

My favorite holiday movie is The Miracle on 34th Street—the black and white version, of course. No matter how many times I watch this movie, I love it. Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and all other childhood make-believe characters have such an important place in the lives and imaginations of children. Miracle on 34th Street reminds us all of that, and that it why is it my favorite holiday movie.

I spent all four years in high school singing carols with my a cappella group and choir class. Therefore, my favorite songs are the traditional songs sung at this time of year (in multi-part harmony, of course), both for Christmas and Hanukkah: Stille Nacht (in German) O Star Oe’r Bethlehem Still, Still, Still (in German) Ding Dong Merrily on High!

Carol of the Bells (which is now stuck in my head) S’Vivon Mi Y’Maleil

Tori Mirsadjadi: Senior Copy Editor

Anna Petkovich: Design Editor

My family’s not big on holiday traditions, but when it gets colder we certainly do drink a whole lot more hot beverages. I drink tea year-round, but come December I shift toward more nutty, minty flavors. Orange citrus fruits, nuts and chocolates seem to be more abundant in general once it turns wintery. Which is certainly enjoyable. Winter also means it’s fuzzy sock time. I have quite the sock collection.

I’m a sucker for Christmas kitsch. I hardly consider myself a holiday lover, but come the Christmas season, I always fall for it—the music, the lights, the drinks and the food, the movies, the trees decked out with ornaments and the Christmas smell that is some delightful mixture of pine trees, chai, peppermint candy canes and warmth. One of my favorite moments of the holiday season is when I get home from my grandparents’ house on Christmas Eve, get cozied up in the new (and usually embarrassing) PJs my grandma always gives me, and turn on the TV to watch Meet Me in St. Louis. It isn’t quite Christmas until I watch Judy Garland sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

Holiday Playlist: Quite a few of these songs are annoying, but they put me in a festive state of mind nonetheless… ¿Dónde Está Santa Claus? (Augie Rios) Happy Christmas (John Lennon) Holly Jolly Christmas (The Format) Baby, It’s Cold Outside (Zooey Deschanel with Leon Redbone) The New Year (Death Cab For Cutie) The Love Actually soundtrack Silver Bells (not by anyone in particular, I just enjoy singing it in a deep and manly voice) Winter Wonderland (Jewel sings a version with a yodeling interlude, if you’re into that sort of thing)

Megan Petersen: Copy Editor

Santa Bear was a Christmas-themed, plush polar bear that Dayton’s (later bought out by Marshall Field’s and then Macy’s) sold for I think something like 20 or 25 years. The Bears were a bit of a commitment. Each year’s bear was different, so you just had to get the newest one to add to your collection. Furthermore, storage became an issue as the years passed, because the Bears were probably 18 inches tall and weighed a couple pounds apiece. Then in the late 1990s, it was announced that Santa Bear was getting married. Suddenly you not only had to buy the one Bear, but you also had to buy Mrs. Bear, and, eventually, their twin babies.

My grandma had every one, I’m pretty sure. She stored them all year in a huge closet upstairs dedicated almost entirely to Christmas decorations. My sister and I always helped her decorate her house for the holidays, and the Santa Bears were our favorite part. We had to haul all these Santa Bears out of the upstairs closet and pull them out of their protective bags. Then we got to throw them all down the stairs, and jump in the huge pile at the bottom once we were done. We’d play with the Bears for a while (Grandma had enough for an entire city) before arranging them around the house with her other ornaments.

As I got older, I realized the Bears were pretty excessive and thought they were a little silly. Now that my grandma’s gone, though, the multitude of festive polar bears brings my family closer to her. When we cleaned out her house last summer, my mom took most of grandma’s Santa Bears, which means that one day, my storage closet will also be filled with grandma’s love for years to come.

Holiday Movie List: Elf Elmo’s Christmas Wish Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV special from the 60s

December 1, 2011• The Scripps Voice •Volume XV • Issue Five

Charlotte Rosenfield: Design Editor

Holiday Playlist: “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” Sixpence None The Richer “Christmastime,” Jimmy Eat World “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” Bright Eyes “Christmas Tree,” Lady Gaga

Even though my family is 100 percent Jewish, when I was younger, my family would celebrate Christmas as well, though only for the festivities and presents. It was our tradition to get a honeybaked, spiral-cut ham for our Christmas Eve meal. One year, when my father and I went to pick up our ham from Smart and Final in San Rafael, Calif., we couldn’t find any. There were absolutely none left. Being an emotional youngster, I was extremely disheartened by this and was near tears. In an attempt to soothe me, my father asked one of the saleswomen if they had any more hams in the back of the store. She said that she didn’t have any more for sale, but that she had set one aside for her family and would be willing to bring it out for us. Immediately, I felt horrible. I couldn’t believe how selfish I was for taking away this woman’s ham for her own family. My father gratefully accepted the ham and pulled me towards the register, as I squeaked out a meek “Thank you.”

I always tend to remember that moment during the holidays, and consistently give thanks for the wonderful food I am able to enjoy each December.

Holiday Playlist: “Charlie Brown Christmas” “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” Frank Sinatra

Nancy Herrera: Design Editor

My favorite part of the holiday season is the posadas, which I celebrate with my family. Starting December 16, one family member chooses to host the rest of us. We all hold candles and sing a song outside that person’s door, asking for shelter. Eventually we’re let in, and then we pray the rosary and eat delicious food. We do this every day for two weeks, so it is quite a marathon!

Holiday Playlist: “All I Want for Christmas is You” Mariah Carey “So Merry Christmas” Mihimaru Gt

December 1, 2011 • The Scripps Voice •Volume XV • Issue Five

6 Scripps College Problem #32: Occupy Honnold

By Earnest Eleanor Staff Satirist

As the days tick toward December, the time draws nearer—finals are coming.

The most hated time of the year, followed by the most peaceful bliss one can imagine: winter break.

Thanksgiving gives us a tease of the wonderful break after fall semester: sleeping in, eating to your heart’s content, endless amounts of television…But then it ends. All too soon, we’re dropped back in to the harsh realities of Claremont, where we return to the seemingly infinite pile of homework that had blissfully slipped our minds during the fourth Thursday in November.

When we return to Claremont, the occupation begins. Students head to the library in droves, praying for that coveted library café booth or that isolated, silent corner of the fourth floor.

Sweatpants become the norm. Groups of discouraged comrades huddle around each other for comfort, and the occasional tear of frustration is not uncommon when one enters the warzone that is now Honnold Mudd Library.

I know the sweeping sensation that runs through Claremont students during this time of year. I’m familiar with the way we all suddenly want to work in the library. It’s an unavoidable consequence of returning from Thanksgiving break with work yet to be done. So I arrived a bit earlier than I normally would to grab my customary table in the café.

(It’s one of the only sturdy tables near an outlet that also faces the drink counter. Library perfection, in other words.)

When I walked into the café to scope out the seating arrangements, I was much chagrined to discover that someone had already taken the seat of library perfection. Someone was at my table. My table. It had been mine since the beginning of the semester, before all of this finals madness had infected fellow students and made people think that it was

okay to just walk in the library and take any table they want.

What was I supposed to do, go to the third floor tables on the Mudd side of the library? The lamps there hardly ever work! Or would I be forced to stoop lower in my search for a library spot, setting up camp on the second floor near the Honnold entrance?

No. Not happening. I wouldn’t let my spot be taken by a member of the library’s flocking masses. I had been here first, staked out my spot before the library had been seized by the mass frenzy of late-semester workers. I bet my library-spot-stealer was one of those bumbling librarygoers who didn’t even know how to use call numbers. (There’s a MAP in the elevator, guys. USE it.)

I waited in one of the plump chairs in the café, biding my time. I knew it wouldn’t be too long until those ignorant fools vacated my table in order to go study somewhere else. They didn’t have the conviction to stake out a library spot earlier in the semester, surely they wouldn’t have the conviction to log the hours of studying (and checking facebook, and getting snacks) that came along with having a regular spot in the café.

I waited quite some time in that overstuffed library chair. I tried to make do with the spot, but my crooked highlighting and all the straining I had to do to access the outlet to plug in my computer kept reminding me of just how inferior my new spot was. All in all, it was a pretty useless study session.

Next semester, I’ll be looking into reserving my table officially. They let you reserve those puny little desks, so why not a nice café table? The library café should give us library veterans a special privilege or two, so we can avoid this end-of-semester occupation of public space that was rightfully ours.

It’s a tough life at Scripps, it really is.

NAKED Presents: Nipple Time with SHE Happy holidays, dear sexy readers! It’s been a warm autumn, but as the weather cools I’m sure you’ll find more and more ways to occupy yourselves indoors. Your Slutty Health Expert looks forward to reading whatever questions your indoor escapades provoke! Until then, what’s more festive than sitting in front of the warm glow of a computer screen?

(Okay, probably plenty of things are more festive, but I didn’t have a good segue for presenting these next couple of questions, and they were sent via the internet. Work with me here, okay?)

Are nipples the gateway to the vagina or merely the gateway to the breasts?

-Anonymous Ummm…the only thing nipples provide a gateway for is milk, Mr. Anonymous Internet Man. Nipple-pleasing techniques.

-Anonymous Fine. I’ll address the question. (Some of us are sensitive about our nipples, okay? And some of us aren’t. Everyone’s different, but I just thought I’d remind you that some people don’t even find the nipple region to be erogenous. So all this focus on nipples can get boring. For some people. Just so you know.)

The fact that you’re curious about technique is a good sign. It means that you’re interested in pleasing your partner. You know the best way to figure out how to please your partner, don’t you? It involves direct communication. Like: “does this feel good?” or “is biting okay?”

As far as sensitive regions of the body go, a light touch tends to be best. Just barely grazing a sensitive area sets the nerves a-tingling more than mashing your face into it. (Also, it doesn’t exactly feel sexy to have someone’s face buried in your chest, latched onto your nipple like an infant. See the previous question if you need to be reminded of the biological connotations of those deliciously round mammary glands you’re trying to pleasure.)

If you’re adept with the clitoris (and your partner’s of the nipplestimulation-enjoying variety), you might want to try some clitorallypleasing techniques on the nipple. Trace the alphabet with your tongue.

(It sounds silly, I know, but it’ll help you get a sense of which directions are most toe-curlingly appreciated. And you don’t have to hum to the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” while you do it…Maybe opt for “Silent Night” to set a festive tone? The vibrations from your humming might actually be appreciated…) Some people enjoy gentle pinching. Sometimes a hearty grab is nice.

What’s enjoyable varies person to person, but it also varies moment to moment. Pleasure can be derived from strange and unusual things, and gauging your partners’ reactions is an essential part of experimenting to find the appropriate technique for your specific partner in the specific moment.

Some people like hot wax (and around this time of year, aren’t there more than a few candles lying around?). Some people like honey, or whipped cream, or other sweet foodstuffs (you could heat up some old marshmallowy sweet potatoes if you’re so inclined). Ants are also keen on such foodstuffs, though…I take it I don’t need to remind you that sexual experimentation can be messy. And that Pomona has an ant infestation.

I sighted a few ants in Toll the other day, too…Stay safe, okay? Clean up after yourself if you’re experimenting with food, so you don’t attract ants.

Those buggers bite.

I LOVE YOU! Write SHE: Scripps Box #797 (no stamp required for intercampus mail!)

E-mail SHE: editor.scrippsvoice@gmail.com or scrippsvoice@gmail.com (SHE encourages you to make the subject “SEXXX” or something. SHE also promises to ignore the email address from which your sexy emails are sent and assume everyone’s writing on behalf of sexually-awkward friends)

December 1, 2011• The Scripps Voice• Volume XV• Issue Five

7

time for some winter fun: A holiday crossword 1

2

3

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7

13

8

9

10

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By Tori Mirsadjadi ’12

Senior Copy Editor

15

Across

19

*

16 20

L

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25

26

D

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38

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49 54

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58. To do with wine, cider or essay prompts 59. Stage name for New Orleans rapper Forrest Schab 60. Precedes “-da” in a Beatles song (following the syllables of 16 across) 61. 1984’s 101 (abbrev.)

62. Dwight’s first life was so good he got one of these (abbrev.)

63. Fictional duck princess, fourth wife of Charlie Chaplin (née O’Neill), Californian singer-songwriter Garthwaite, model who played Lynette in Vanilla Sky, Finnish actress Louhivaara, second black female MP (after Diane Abbot) and Spanish granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin 65. Alternate spelling of a long filamentous nerve cell, also what one might do in a forest to get firewood from a tree 68. The _______ Day, a book about D-Day as well as its cinematic adaptation 69. One of Rudolph’s reindeer friends*

Down

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48 52

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61 65

62 66

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36

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Solutions to crossword 4 P

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1. What snow is doing when you don’t get your white Christmas?

7. Tacky sweaters, generous home invasions, indoor trees and a romantic tree parasite?

13. Spicy-smelling coniferous tree 14. Where presents go, in relation to trees 15. Robert Frost poem “Stopping by Woods __ a Snowy Evening” 16. Ob-la-__ 17. Person you should believe if she tells you you’ve overindulged with holiday treats (abbrev.)

18. Word in a simile 19. What you might pour on an icy road this winter season?

20. Lighted sign you might find in a studio or a hospital 22. Persian poet 23. Initials of an American guitarist, a fictional cocaine-dealer, a comedian and a crosswordmaking copy editor 24. A people of the Centre Province, Cameroon 25. What a silent night would be, in a busy city 28. Santa is thrice-famous for these 29. Night caps, also what one does to its wearer’s hair 32. Scandalous French Finance Minister, QWERTY alternative and big Bulgarian bank 35. Type of horse not to look in the mouth?

36. Lower edge of a roof 37. Citizen Kane’s Rosebud was one 38. Santa’s are reined 42. Electric fish 46. Forests might be this so its homonym can happen to buildings (or to winter-solstice-timedecorations) 47. Cosmetic brand perfect for stocking stuffing?

48. Enrich with a (monetary) gift 49. Where you might end up if you get run over by a reindeer 52. Might precede Green or “and behold,” or follow Cee or J. 53. Society’s ____ (beyond the reach of some chicken noodle soup to solve…)

55. Obscene beginning of the alphabet?

O

17

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1. What a window, or a flake of cereal, might be 2. Artificial chilly breeze 3. Superman’s surname, or a place where you might have a white Christmas across the pond 4. This aspect of the psyche might need to be suppressed to avoid a stocking full of coal 5. Opposite of a zenith 6. ____ and bear it 7. Forests teem with creatures with these (not just coniferously-treed ones, though they’re thicker around their homonyms) 8. Character with a game, a shadow and a series by Orson Scott Card 9. Flash memory card format common in digital cameras

10. What you do to wrapping paper, and what might stream down your cheek if you get a paper cut doing so 11. Country code for Islamic Republic that is modern-day site of 22-across’s empire 12. What peeling a tangerine is, in relation to peeling an orange or a grapefruit? *Along with Dasher, Donner, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid...these are?

18. Keeps your hands warm 21. Preposition associated with the midnight clear 26. Abbreviation shared by LA-based indie rock band behind “Silver Lining” and Christian rock band behind “Let It Snow, Baby… Let It Reindeer” 27. Robotic way for a desert to identify itself; also New Years Eve, in relation to 2012 (2 words) 30. City in Utah, or American poet Nash 31. The Santa Clause movie in which Tim Allen’s character seeks a wife 33. New Years’-anticipating homonym for 36-across 34. Jolly ___ Saint Nicholas 38. I made it out of clay.

39. How men of Kent (the latter hint for 3-down) might feel?

40. Type of canned “cheese” 41. One did this over the cuckoo’s nest 43. Mister __ (1960s’ talking horse) 44. Funny way to describe what a lazy person does around the house 45. If you have encephalitis, your brain is this 50. Fitzgerald, Enchanted and Minnow Pea 51. Santa’s modest response to his sweater size (abbrev.)

54. What Brits do under mistletoe 56. Norwegian folk tale “____ of the Sun and West of the Moon” 57. A room without fairy lights?

58. Seasonal M&M flavor 63. “Up __ The Rooftop” 64. “Flat water” state (abbrev.)

66. Portuguese, British, Irish, Kiwi or Australian slang interjection 67. If you got 40-down, this one should be __ as well

December 1, 2011• The Scripps Voice• Volume XV• Issue Five

8

Ghosts of Christmases Past: Scripps Traditions

By Megan Petersen ‘15 Copy Editor

The College’s legacy is a fascinating one. One facet of Scripps’ rich and interesting history is the old tradition of holiday parties in the dormitories.

The tradition of holiday parties at Scripps began with the famous Medieval Banquet in the Grace Scripps Clark residence hall. Director and Sally Preston Swan Librarian for Ella Strong Denison Library Judy Harvey Sahak (’64) explained this tradition.

“Almost everyone in the hall was part of the production,” she said. “Whether they were part of a singing group or part of a skit...There were sword dancers, and there were tumblers.” A popular skit from year to year was one that told the story of St. George slaying a dragon.

The Medieval Banquet was not actually a full dinner, Sahak said. Only a plum pudding dessert, prepared by the hall dining staff, was traditionally served. In recounting the banquet held in Clark her first semester, however, Sahak recalled a few additions to the tradition. She said that they drank “wassail,” which was a non-alcoholic seasonal treat, probably little more than warm apple cider. At some point during the performance of singing and acrobatics, remembered Sahak, the door to the kitchen opened and a few students dressed as cooks came out, bearing a big platter which held a real roast pig! “The students had gone down to Chino and purchased a pig,” Sahak said. “It had been roasted, and [there was] a big apple in its mouth.”

Students would go to great lengths for maintaining the “accuracy” of the Medieval Banquet, and for entertainment purposes. “[The event] took on the appearance of a banquet in Medieval [England] and actually, it was fairly historically correct,” Sahak said.

The other residence halls also held parties. While Clark had their medieval banquet, the most formal and rehearsed event, Toll, Dorsey, Kimberly

and Browning also held seasonal parties. The other dormitories’ holiday parties varied in their themes, though Dorsey’s was always had international inspiration and Kimberly was “Colonial Williamsburg.” Browning, Sahak said, had a Spanish bull fighting production, with candles in paper bags illuminating the roof and front walkway of the hall, which would be, as Sahak noted, “terribly illegal” today.

The production was “a gift, it wasn’t just for us to have something to do.

[The students] really wanted this to be something special for the entire community.” Faculty, staff and their families were all invited to the dorm parties.

Students were not throwing a party for themselves, they were throwing parties for the professors and other Scripps employees. “It was an opportunity to do something really worthwhile and show their gratitude to the community for providing the kind of living space that Scripps was at the time,” Sahak said.

After the hall parties, the festivities were not over. The Scripps glee club, according to Sahak, would go hall to hall around campus, caroling and gathering residents and guests as they went.

The procession would carry candles and walk all around the campus caroling together. For several decades, the procession would end at a live depiction of a Madonna and child. Eventually, this concluding scene ceased, and the procession instead walked toward one of the fountains on campus and set their lit candles afloat.

After the guests left campus for their own homes, the holiday festivities were still not over at Scripps.

Throughout the holiday season, Sahak said, each student was a sort of “fairy godmother” to another student, and would secretly leave kind notes or treats for her “fairy godchild.” After the production and the candlelight processional, an elected Santa Claus would go through the dorm delivering presents on behalf of all the godmothers, at which time all the girls would learn who their fairy godmother was.

Part of the festivities too, was commuAbove, tumblers perform at the Clark Hall Holiday Party. Right, Kimberly nity service. Scripps Hall’s Christmas tree.

Residents of Dorsey perform a Scandinavian song and dance

students would donate to and volunteer with local organizations that gave toys to area kids who otherwise might not get any during the holiday season.

“We usually felt pretty good about that,” Sahak said, “giving back to the local community.”

Sahak said that she wasn’t aware of other elaborate holiday parties occurring at the other campuses. Sahak once attended a medieval banquet at the Athenaeum at Claremont McKenna College, and she attributed that event to a Scripps alumna who was the wife of CMC’s then-President rather than to CMC’s own traditions. There are also pictures in the Consortium archives of students from the other campuses decorating Christmas trees and attending holiday dances. But Scripps, to Sahak’s knowledge, was the only college to put on skits every year for the community.

Sahak said the holiday parties started dwindling in the 1970s, for a number of reasons. “Towards the end of the 60s,” she said, “everything changed.” With the civil rights and feminist movements in full force, many students were thinking of bigger things. The Vietnam War also had an impact on the productions. “When students knew fellows who were killed in the war, somehow putting on...what could be seen as a frivolous Christmas party or holiday party was just not important compared to some of the serious things that were going on in life.”

“They were really wonderful to have, but when students got very involved in civil rights and social justice, putting on a performance sort of honoring or memorializing the middle ages just didn’t seem to be very important,” Sahak said.

Another, perhaps more mundane, factor contributing to the end of holiday parties was a shift in the school’s academic calendar. Students used to have a two week-long break in December, then come back after New Years and have a few weeks before the semester was over. “It was terrible!” Sahak said. “You’d come back and of course you hadn’t studied [for finals] and done all your papers over vacation!” In the 1970s, however, the calendar changed to the one used currently, in which the semester ends before winter break.

“What was really the most important part of [the holiday parties],” Sahak said, “was feeling as if you were doing it for the guests. We were producing this really fun time for the community. ...It really brought the dorms together.”

But Sahak also noted, “Traditions can be outgrown, just like a pair of shoes. I think it would be wonderful to have some sort of dorm-centered activity that everyone in the whole community could participate in, but I don’t think that’s going to come back any time soon.”

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF CLAREMONT COLLEGES DIGITAL LIBRARY

December, 1 2011 • The Scripps Voice •Volume XV • Issue Five

An homage to the past...

The Scripps Voice was not always a newspaper. For several years it was known as voice, the Scripps College newsmagazine.

For this holiday issue, we pay an homage to the earlier versions of our publication by recreating a version of the front page, an image that relates in some way to the rest of the issue. In this issue’s case, we chose to continue highlighting Scripps’ holiday traditions.

Happy Holidays!