GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

So Many Things!

The end of the year is very busy in Strong College. So many things are going on we hardly know where to begin!

Senior Tutor’s Awards

Every semester Dr. O’Hara presents the Senior Tutor’s Award for academic excellence. We fell behind on the schedule this year (the award is usually given earlier in the Fall), but the list has at last been prepared and the awards will be given at Tea on December 1st. The Senior Tutor’s Award goes to those students who receive a one-semester grade point average of 3.75 or above for the previous term (Spring 1998). A record 52 Strong College students achieved that distinction last semester, and their names are: Angela Dawn Albertson, Cheryl Yvette Armstrong, Rebecca Marie Baldwin, Eric Daniel Bolin, Jane Elizabeth Brookshire, Shannon Elizabeth Burge, Brian Wayne Coker, Adam Lee Cox, Tracey Renee Curry, Aimee Asbill DeBerry, Amanda Carol Durham, Liesl Kyle Ehardt, Melissa Marie Feimster, Jennifer Camille Ferguson, Laura Gay Geouge, Whitney Paige Hartsell, Carl John Heidel, Stacy Denise Hicks, Misou Hood, Pamela Michelle Jackson, Nathan Wayne Jameson, Kristin Ann Janiga, Melissa Leigh Johnson, Jesse Daniel Krebs, Cecilia Ruth Lance, Robert Houston Lawter, Jr., Jennifer Gail Leonard, Brenda Elizabeth Loehfelm, Karen Ellen Marsh, Chastity Erin Melton, Leonard Francis Mitchell, III, Shanta Janee Mitchell, Ashley Arrington Palmer, Jason Michael Pflug, Sara Melissa Pulley, Brandi Odette Robbins, Jennifer Lindsey Rogers, Jennifer Elizabeth Scott, James Oliver Smith, Christopher Martin Stein, Melanie Lynne Swofford, John Brooks Thomas, Walter Scott Thomason, Barron Lloyd Thompson, Kimberly Ann Thompson, Tammy Helen Thorarinson, April Louise Thornton, Gregory Paul Shealy, Lisa Erin Whitley, Timothy Lee Williams, Jacqueline Wolochwianski, and Alice Lorraine Womack. Please come down to Tea on December 1st to congratulate these distinguished members of our society and see them receive their awards.

Special Teas

The last College Teas of the year are special ones as all our old-timers know. Just after you return from Thanksgiving Break the Tea on December 1st will be our Tree-Decorating Tea—don’t miss your chance to add some holiday spirit to the Junior Common Room and the College. And at that Tea Dr. O’Hara will also be presenting the Senior Tutor’s Awards for academic excellence. The Grand Holiday Tea will be December 8th at the usual time and place. This is one of the Big Events of the year, with special food, special guests, fun and song all around. Your grandchildren will never forgive you if you miss it, and it will be on Reading Day, so there will be nowhere else you have to be! And the very last Tea, on December 15th when most people will be gone, will be the Survivor’s Tea in honor of the brave souls still studying for late exams, and the staff, and the graduates. This is your chance to empty out your refrigerator and eat up the last of the food from 1998. Be there!

Mr. Daniel Looks Like a Spaniel

Another holiday tradition in Strong College is the annual reading of Dylan Thomas’s story A Child’s Christmas in Wales, sponsored by the Cornelian Literary Society. Everyone in the College is cordially invited to come to the Senior Common Room on Thursday, December 3rd, at 4:30 p.m. and join in the fun!

Last Borders Bookstore Trip for 1998

The last Borders Bookstore trip for 1998 will take place Sunday, December 6th, leaving from the JCR at 1:00 p.m. Join Pam Bulgin and a Strong College host for this social shopping opportunity (what a chance to buy presents!).

Staff Appointments

Some of our College Assistants will be graduating this coming spring, and people are already asking about possible openings on the Strong College staff for next fall. Competition for these positions is strong, but all interested students are invited to apply. What do we look for? Involvement in the life of the College, not only with other students, but with faculty as well. Have you been a Library volunteer, or active on the College Council, or a regular at Tea or the Literary Society, or a participant on Strong-L? Do you know many of the Strong College Fellows? Do you know Dr. O’Hara well and visit him in the College Office? (Dr. O’Hara oversees the daily life of the College and the work of the College Assistants, so this is especially important.) Have you contributed items to the Newsletter or organized special College events? Have you helped with the Blue Lemur Coffee Bar, or given tours of the College to prospective students? These are the kinds of things we look for in hiring staff members.

Ad Astra

A brave team of almost 30 Strong College star gazers assembled at 1:00 a.m. (!) this past week to go out onto the Peabody Park fields to watch the Leonid meteor shower. They did indeed see several spectacular meteors, and a grand collegiate time was had by all. Photos will be available soon, we hope.

Dr. O’Hara’s Book-of-the-Week this week in the College Office this week is The Collected Stories of Dylan Thomas.

Strong College Fellow Bill Magee attended a conference in Virginia this month led by nine winners of the Nobel Peace Prize. A report on the conference, and Dr. Magee’s meeting with the Dalai Lama, is now posted on the bulletin Board outside the College Office.

The first Peabody Park Ivy-Pulling Project took place recently under Dr. O’Hara’s direction. The object is to remove the introduced English Ivy from the Peabody Park woods so that the native wildflowers can return. Many people from all over campus helped, including our own Rob Lawter, Ryan Kelly, and Tammy Thorarinson!

The world premiere of Star Trek: Insurrection is expected to be out on December 11th. Watch for news around the College about a possible field trip to go see it!

Poem-of-the-Week

The Poem-of-the-Week is posted on the bulletin board outside the College Office and is usually reprinted here. This week’s poem, by UNCG’s own Randall Jarrell, is titled “The Meteorite” (1954), and it is in honor of the members of the Invisible University:

Star, that looked so long among the stones
And picked from them, half iron and half dirt,
One; and bent and put it to her lips
And breathed upon it till at last it burned
Uncertainly, among the stars its sisters—
Breathe on me still, star, sister.

STRONG COLLEGE CALENDAR

So much is happening the Calendar won’t fit this week! See above for the dates of various events.

OFFICIAL DISCLAIMERS: Nothing here is official. Please don’t sue us. Don’t put a Christmas hat on that lemur! May be harmful if swallowed. No caffeine. For external use only. Do not eat. Refrigerate after opening. This does not represent the official policy of Maxwell’s Demon, Plato’s Cave, Kekule’s Dream, Pascal’s Wager, Schroedinger’s Cat, Zeno’s Paradox, or the Star Trek Sewing Circle™. It does represent the official policy of the Invisible University. Use only in a well-ventilated area. If rash develops, discontinue use. Action figures not included. Choking hazard. Tamper evident. Eye irritant. May contain historical inaccuracies. Crayons not included. Do not inhale. I never had a plant before. If swallowed or lodged in ear or nose, promptly see doctor. Hold handrail. Read cautions on back. 100% undetermined man-made fibers. Rules subject to change. I can’t wait to be a world leader. Contains beta carotene for color. Point away from people while opening. Consult legal, accounting, veterinarian or other professionals before investing in the Ostrich Industry. Not a significant source of calories. Easy to clean vinyl lining. Will not craze most plastics. Easily slips beneath outerwear. Contains no squid. Shown actual size. Do not shake. When dry, brush lightly. The most common things in the Universe are hydrogen and stupidity. Second star to the right, and straight on till morning. If we succeed there will be many songs sung in our honor. The better our fantasies are, the better our realities can become. Think continually of those who were truly great. A decent boldness ever meets with friends. Risk—risk is our business; that’s what this starship is all about; that’s why we’re aboard her. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. Chance is irrelevant: we will succeed. Per aspera ad astra!