GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Grand Holiday Tea and Penny Drive!

The huge and spectacular Grand Holiday Tea and Penny Drive is upon us! This Tuesday from 4:30–5:30 p.m. in the Junior Common Room there will be fun, friends, food, and song, and you will want to be there! Come enjoy the beautiful tree that was so artfully decorated last week, and add your name to a magnificent signature page drawn by our own Emily Brown. And bring down all those stray pennies in your desk drawer for the College fish bowl! The Grand Holiday Tea is one of the most important events of the Strong College year—don’t miss it!

Mr. Daniel Looks Like a Spaniel

The annual Strong College reading of Dylan Thomas’ story A Child’s Christmas in Wales will take place this coming Thursday, December 10th, at 4:30 p.m. in the Senior Common Room. (A schedule conflict last week prevented it from taking place on the day originally announced.) Everyone in the College is most welcome to attend this delightful holiday event.

Strong-L for the Holidays

You may be anxious to get back home for the end of the semester, but we know after you’ve been there a few days you will certainly start to miss all your Strong College friends. But if you are on Strong-L you will be able to keep talking to them all the time you are away! (If you have a computer with email access at home.) Strong-L is the place to keep up with late-breaking news, fashion trends, political debates, and on and on. If you are in Strong College you should be on Strong-L! You can sign yourself up by writing your name and email address on the signup sheet outside the College Office. Why not do it today! And if you go home for the holidays, why not tell your friends and family all about Strong College by showing them the Strong College website. There may even be a picture of you there.

Going Anywhere Exotic?

Are you going anywhere exotic over the holiday break? If so, then be sure to bring along your Strong College tee shirt (or other CSC insignia), and get your picture taken in front of some noted landmark. In the Album section of the Strong College website we have a “Strong College Around the World” page with photos of Strong College people and their tee shirts in Costa Rica, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Sweden, California, Louisiana, and who knows where else. We want your picture there, too! Bring something back at the beginning of next term, and Dr. O’Hara will add it to the web page for all the world to see.

And Speaking of Tee Shirts…

Strong College tee shirts make excellent holiday gifts, you know! They are available in the College Office for $10 or $20Strong, along with Strong College note cards (perfect for that after-holiday thank you note), and two remaining hats, as well. Stop by and shop today!

Ad Astra

Dr. O’Hara’s Book-of-the-Week this week is The Oxford Book of Prayer (George Appleton, ed.), in honor of the many holiday traditions being celebrated around the world in the next month. (Or, alternatively, for consultation by those who need help with their upcoming exams!)

Our distinguished former President, Scott Thomason, has been selected to carry the College of Arts and Sciences banner at the upcoming December Commencement. Congratulations, Scott!

And not only that, three Strong College members have been elected to offices in the UNCG History Club for the spring term: Scott Thomason, President (he seems to be collecting presidencies; who knows where this may lead); Cecilia Ruth Lance, Committee Coordinator; and Greg Shealy, SGA Representative. Congratulations to all!

Our own Lennie Cooper is giving his Senior Piano Recital this weekend in the Hart Recital Hall, with the assistance of Amy Liu. He will receive rave reviews, we are positive!

Strong College Fellow Ginger Karb donated a vast hoard of candy to be dispensed at Tea. Thank you indeed!

Prof. Bill Tucker has donated several UNCG yearbooks to Strong College, and they have already delighted many Junior Common Room visitors. Stop by and browse them today!

One of Dr. O’Hara’s amusements is genealogy (it is an amusement of Dr. White’s as well), and to share the fun of this enterprise with any interested Strong College people he has just put a few blank family tree charts, free for the taking, in the College Office. Pick one up today if you like and start tracking down your roots.

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 is Tennyson’s “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal” (1847), a late meteor poem as well as an object of peaceful contemplation for those thinking too much about their exams. If you’d like to hear a beautiful musical setting of the poem sung by Paul Robeson come down to the College Office and ask Dr. O’Hara to play it for you.

Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;
Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;
Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font.
The firefly wakes; waken thou with me.

Now droops the milk-white peacock like a ghost,
And like a ghost she glimmers on to me.

Now lies the earth all Danae to the stars,
And all thy heart lies open unto me.

Now slides the silent meteor on, and leaves
A shining furrow, as thy thoughts in me.

Now folds the lily all her sweetness up,
And slips into the bosom of the lake.
So fold thyself, my dearest, thou, and slip
Into my bosom and be lost in me.

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. Lots of things don’t make sense to me, so I ask Kate. 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. 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. He just loves that Queen of his. 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!