GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Welcome Back and Happy New Year!

Welcome back to all Strong College members—we hope you had a wonderful break and are looking forward to the new semester. Our welcome-back Tea earlier this week was grand, and special thanks go to the Strong College Local of the Christmas Tree Workers of America who helped pack away the College Tree for another year.

Senior Tutor’s Awards

Please join Dr. O’Hara at Tea next Tuesday (January 14th) for the presentation of the Senior Tutor’s Awards for this past semester. The Senior Tutor’s Awards are given to Strong College undergraduates who earn a semester grade point average of 3.75 or above. The recipients will be: Rebecca Baldwin, Robin Banker, Shannon Burge, Monica Chew, Adam Cox, Mala Desai, Sara Dowd, Neal Doyle, John Ebel, Jennifer Ferguson, Susan Gibson, Sherrill Hayes, Stacy Hicks, Kristin Janiga, Hollie Jones, Jesse Krebs, Cecilia Ruth Lance, Reed Law, Robert Lawter, Kristen Leagan, Shelly McLain, Mary Minter, Kristie Parker, Brandi Robbins, Shelby Scheib, James Smith, Mickela Smith, Christopher Stein, Deborah Stewart, Todd Thomason, Kimberly Thompson, Amanda Waterhouse, Danielle Wise, Sean Wright, and Robert Yancey. They are examples to us all and they all deserve our congratulations!

Blue Lemur Coffee Bar and Wednesday Poker Night

The delightfully atmospheric Blue Lemur Coffee Bar will resume its regular operations this coming Monday at 9:00 p.m. in the Committee Room, and will be open every Monday evening for the rest of the term. The Blue Lemur usually closes around midnight, depending on when the Despot and Associate Despot (Tim Owens and Sherrill Hayes) get tired. Stop by for free coffee, conversation, sometimes music and movies, too.

And this coming Wednesday night in the Committee Room we will be starting another spectacular Strong College tradition, to wit: Wednesday Poker Night! Under the watchful eye of College Croupier Scott Thomason the Wednesday Poker Night will serve root beer and the early players will be able to win Strong dollars if they are lucky. Come and try your hand! Don’t know how to play? No problem: just bring lots of money and there will be plenty of people who will be happy to show you how. (Just kidding; please don’t send the vice squad.)

Welcome to a New Staff Member and a New Council President

Two long-time Strong College members have been elevated to positions of exceptional importance this semester. Laura Reese is our new Resident Assistant on the first floor south, taking the place of Deborah Stewart who graduated in December. And Kelly Woodfin now serves the College as Council President, replacing Rachel Wojnar who returned to her home state of Maryland. Please make our new College officers feel welcome!

Borders Bookstore Breakaway!

Start the year off right with a trip to the bookstore! Please join Pam Bulgin and Adam Cox in the Junior Common Room this Sunday (January 12th) at 1:00 p.m. for the first Borders Bookstore Breakaway of the semester. We ride out as a group, spend a couple hours, and then come back. These trips take place on the first Sunday of each month, and this semester they will start at 1:00 p.m. (instead of noon). Join us for intellectual excitement!

Ad Astra

The Strong College Library will be opening this Sunday night (January 12th) at 7:00 p.m. for the semester. Over the break the College acquired four fantastic new bookcases thanks to the kindness of Dean William Link, and we almost have them filled up already. Stop by Sunday night and take a look!

The Room 215 Report: Have you squeezed our frog? Forty-nine fortunate Strong College members had the privilege of squeezing the frog last semester and they are better people for having done so. Our goal is to have 100 people squeeze the frog by April 29th. So come by room 215 anytime, squeeze our frog, and greatly enrich your life, the frog’s life, and ours.

We would like to quietly announce that Adam Cox won the book prize in Fred Chappell’s class last semester for the best essay. This is the second semester in a row he has done so, a fact of which he is insufferably proud.

Poem-of-the-Week

The Strong College Poem-of-the-Week is posted on the bulletin board outside the College Office and is usually reprinted here. This week’s poem is Robert Frost’s “It is Almost the Year Two Thousand”:

To start the world of old
We had one age of gold
Not labored out of mines,
And some say there are signs
The second such has come,
The true Millennium,
The final golden glow
To end it. And if so
(And science ought to know)
We well may raise our heads
From weeding garden beds
And annotating books
To watch this end de luxe.

STRONG COLLEGE CALENDAR

11 January (Saturday), 7:00–8:00 p.m., Star Chamber — All intelligent life forms are invited to join us for Star Trek: Voyager! (Bob O’Hara)

12 January (Sunday), 1:00 p.m., Junior Common Room — Leave for the Borders Bookstore Breakaway! (Pam Bulgin and Adam Cox)

12 January (Sunday), 7:00 p.m. — Strong College Library opens for the semester. (Cliff Rhodes and Co.)

13 January (Monday), 8:00–10:00 p.m., Star Chamber — WCW Monday Nitro now appearing at this time in the Star Chamber every Monday night. Come witness the future of television. (Scott Thomason)

13 January (Monday), 9:00 p.m.–late, Committee Room — The spectacular Blue Lemur Coffee Bar opens for the semester. Join Tim Owens for free coffee, music, and conversation. It’s the place to be on Monday nights!

14 January (Tuesday), 4:30–5:30 p.m., Junior Common Room — the College Tea! Join all your friends for cookies and conversation, and this week for the presentation of the Senior Tutor’s Awards. (Laurie White)

15 January (Wednesday), 9:00 p.m.–late, Committee Room — Grand opening of Strong College Poker Night!

16 January (Thursday), 4:00–5:00 p.m., Senior Common Room — Strong College Literary Hour! We sit around and read favorite pieces of prose and verse. Everyone is welcome, so please join us! (Laurie White)

17 January (Friday), 12:00 noon, Strong College dining area in the Caf — Lunch for Strong College Fellows. Students are always welcome to join us; just pull up a chair.

OFFICIAL DISCLAIMERS: Nothing here is official. Please don’t sue us. Resistance is futile. Major funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Do not eat. Machine washable and dryer safe. Choking hazard. Product and colors may vary. This does not represent the official policy of Gerald Finzi, the Christmas Tree Workers of America, the College Croupier, the King Biscuit Poetry Hour, Rollo the Lemur©, Barbie of Borg™, or the Varmint Masters Association. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Eye irritant. Crayons not included. Endorsed by writers and professional hunters everywhere. Figures sold separately. Hold handrail. Easy to clean vinyl lining. This programme can be read in the dark. Will not craze most plastics. Easily slips beneath outerwear. Contains no squid. Do not shake. When dry, brush lightly. The most common things in the Universe are hydrogen and stupidity. Card subject to change. Do not leave in sunlight. Vapors may cause flash fire. Use with good ventilation. If swallowed, do not induce vomiting. Don’t feed them. Shown actual size. May cause burns. Read cautions on back. If we succeed there will be many songs sung in our honor. The better our fantasies are, the better our realities can become. A decent boldness ever meets with friends. Division I varmint hunting by 2001. Five-card stud, nothing wild, and the sky’s the limit. Per aspera ad astra!