GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Halloween is Coming!

The Strong College Council is planning a wonderful and spooky Halloween Costume Party for Thursday, October 28th, at 9:00 p.m. in the JCR! This is one of the great fun events of every Strong College year, and the Council will be putting a lot of effort into decorating the room and making outstanding costumes. There are rumors of fortune tellers, palm readers, and all sorts of other eerie things happening, so you won’t want to miss it! Make yourself a costume simple or complex, and come join the fun!

Trick or Treat!

The afternoon before the Costume Party, Strong College will be hosting a group of children from the North Carolina School for the Deaf who will be here for trick-or-treating! Elizabeth Hargrove will be our local sponsor, and there will be sign-language interpreters escorting the children around. If you would like the children to visit your room, just buy enough candy for about 50 kids and put your name on the sign-up sheet outside the Office so the children will know which rooms to go to. The date is Thursday, October 28th, and the time will be 6:30–7:30 p.m. Any questions may be directed to Elizabeth (Room 170; x1688). If you’d like to learn how to say “Happy Halloween” in sign language, you can also come to a sign-language workshop on Tuesday the 26th at 9:00 p.m. in the JCR—this is not required at all for participation, but you might have fun being able to greet your visitors!

“And gentlemen in England, now a-bed, shall think themselves accursed they were not here!”

Monday the 25th is St. Crispin’s Day, and every year on St. Crispin’s Day we have a showing of Shakespeare’s Henry V. This year the showing will be the regular Lemurodeon movie at 9:00 p.m. in the Committee Room. Don’t miss this annual event! (Don’t know why we do this on St. Crispin’s Day? Come watch the movie and find out.)

Tee Shirt Samples!

A sample of the new Strong College tee shirt is now on display in the College Office! The excellent design is the work of our own Courtney Via—stop by and look today! We expect to have them available very soon. Hooray!

Next Star Party and Observatory Trip

The next Strong College Star Party will be Wednesday, November 3rd, a 10:00 p.m. in front of the College. Jupiter and Saturn should be visible, along with other celestial wonders. And the next day, Thursday the 4th, we will take a special trip to the Three-College Observatory courtesy of our own Steve Danford. The Observatory has a really big telescope (one of the largest in the Southeast). We will meet in the JCR at 5:50 p.m. sharp to go to the meeting place, and will return about 10:00 p.m. Drivers will be welcome! This is a real treat, so don’t miss it!

Ad Astra

More gardening has been going on, with thanks this time to Jessica Zellers and Bob O’Hara. Dr. O’Hara and Dr. Tucker are plotting (get it, “plot-ing”—ha ha) an educational rose garden for Strong College. Stay tuned.

Poem-of-the-Week

The Poem-of-the-Week appears regularly in this space. This week’s poem is William Butler Yeats’ horticultural essay “To the Rose upon the Rood of Time” (1892):

Red Rose, proud Rose, sad Rose of all my days!
Come near me, while I sing the ancient ways:
Cuhoollin battling with the bitter tide;
The Druid, gray, wood-nurtured, quiet-eyed,
Who cast round Fergus dreams, and ruin untold;
And thine own sadness, whereof stars, grown old
In dancing silver sandalled on the sea,
Sing in their high and lonely melody.
Come near, that no more blinded by man’s fate,
I find under the boughs of love and hate,
In all poor foolish things that live a day,
Eternal beauty wandering on her way.

Come near, come near, come near—Ah, leave me still
A little space for the rose-breath to fill!
Lest I no more hear common things that crave;
The weak worm hiding down in its small cave,
The field mouse running by me in the grass,
And heavy mortal hopes that toil and pass;
But seek alone to hear the strange things said
By God to the bright hearts of those long dead,
And learn to chaunt a tongue men do not know.
Come near; I would, before my time to go,
Sing of old Eire, and the ancient ways:
Red Rose, proud Rose, sad Rose of all my days.

STRONG COLLEGE CALENDAR

25 October (Monday), 9:00 p.m., Committee Room (230) — Monday Night at the Lemurodeon! (Free movies!)

26 October (Tuesday), 4:30 p.m., Junior Common Room — College Tea! The social event of the College week.

26 October (Tuesday), 5:45 p.m., Dinner at Spencers — After Tea, come join the crowd for dinner at Spencers!

26 October (Tuesday), 8:30 p.m., Junior Common Room — Card Games Galore! Everyone is welcome to come!

27 October (Wednesday), 8:00 p.m., Committee Room — Strong College Council meeting. Everyone is invited!

27 October (Wednesday), 9:00 p.m., Star Chamber (362) — Star Trek: Voyager! Join us in the Delta Quadrant.

28 October (Thursday), 6:30 p.m., Junior Common Room — Trick-or-Treat for school children. See details above.

28 October (Thursday), 9:00 p.m., Junior Common Room — Halloween Costume Party! See details above.

29 October (Friday), 12:00 noon, Strong College section of the Caf — Fellows’ Lunch; students are welcome!

OFFICIAL DISCLAIMERS: Nothing here is official. Please don’t sue us. No fungi, no future. Get that lobster away from my flaxen hair. Face up, chip first. Overexposure may result in nausea, headache, confusion, and instability. I was being molested by a porcupine. When I grow up, I’m marrying an aardvark. With a little luck, they may revere us as gods. Together we’re one weird person. There are people praying in my card parlor. I thrive on menial labor. This does not represent the official policy of the Alliance of Professional Tattooists, the Association of Professional Piercers, the Department of Interpretive Lobster Dance, or Tammy the Perfect One. Eeeew, she wrote “gurge.” I didn’t know it was a lemur pick-up line. When you live in the water it’s hard to keep your hair neat. I’m still trying to work through my Tang buzz. She’s a cave-dwelling entity. Edibility not known. I’m Amish; I’m in disguise. From contented cows. It’s a good thing he has an exoskeleton. My vocabulary shouldn’t be limited by a deficient language. Don’t let that quiet, fuzzy demeanor fool you. If it’s velour, I’ll buy it. If this works out, you may be able to live in a glass ball on Mars. Promptly refrigerate unused portion. McDonald’s wishes you every happiness in the new millennium. Can I share your biscuits? Color swirls are a natural occurrence. Sealed for freshness. Stuffed with polyester fiber. If you experience eye watering, headaches, or dizziness, increase fresh air or wear respiratory protection. It’s hard being secret agents. Everything’s better with a halo. The better our fantasies are, the better our realities can become. Second star to the right, and straight on till morning. If we succeed there will be many songs sung in our honor. A decent boldness ever meets with friends. Think continually of those who were truly great. Risk—risk is our business; that’s what this starship is all about; that’s why we’re aboard her. Smaller, better, quicker. Per aspera ad astra!