GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Valentine’s Party Thanks!

The College Council hosted a spectacular Valentine’s Day party last week—one of the best the College has ever seen—and a thousand thanks are due to all those who helped from planning to set up to take down: Bri Payne, Jen Stumpf, Jordan Sanders, Sherrill Hayes, Tiffany Lewis, Carrie Bogart, Jessica Zellers, Chris Hall, Chris Bird, Sara Neeves, Josh Orchard, Tammy Thorarinson, Krista Noll, Stephanie Crews, Brad Peltzer, Crystal Stroupe, David Simon, Scott Thomason, Bob O’Hara, and Teresa Staley! We couldn’t have done it without you!

Merit Visit Thanks!

This past week Strong College hosted a vast crowd of visitors who were here as Merit Award candidates. Many of them will be joining us in the fall, we hope! A thousand more Strong thanks to everyone who hosted, toured, fed, entertained, escorted, and otherwise assisted these visitors during their stay. Special thanks to Sherrill Hayes for managing everything in the College Office, and to Kelly White and Mary Minter for coordinating all the activities of the Welcoming Committee. A fabulous job was done by all!

Literary Hour

The Cornelian Literary Society, a.k.a. Literary Hour, a.k.a. Lit. Soc., now meets every Thursday evening in the Senior Common Room under the sponsorship of Dr. O’Hara. What do we do? We sit around and read and listen to others read favorite literary items (sensu lato), always including a ceremonial reading in dialect by Kate Peeples of “Ode on the Mammoth Cheese.” How much does it cost? Nothing, of course! We want you, so just come on down to the SCR next Thursday and find out how much fun everyone else is having at the Literary Hour!

Attention Gardeners!

Spring is springing and a young person’s fancy turns to gardening, of course. Dr. O’Hara would like to recruit some Strong College gardeners to head up our gardening group, the Garden Weasels, and to plan an operation of the Daffodil Liberation Front for this coming Thursday afternoon, February 24th. If you want to be a Head Weasel, or just a mere laborer, let him know this week.

News From You!

Ever wonder why your name never appears in the Newsletter? Maybe it’s because you haven’t been telling us what you are up to! There is a tray in the College Office right inside the door for Newsletter items, and if you have anything to announce, just drop it in that tray and the Editorial Board will find a place for it. Have you recently won a prize, climbed a mountain, cured cancer, started a revolution, acquired a fish, performed a heart transplant, or inherited a million dollars? Strong College wants to know! Leave a note in the Newsletter tray in the Office today! (Actually, if you have recently inherited a million dollars, the Editorial Board would like to take you to lunch at the restaurant of your choice, purely for the purpose of congratulating you, of course.)

Aspera and Astra

The entire Editorial Board was out sick last week, so there was no Newsletter, alas.

Barron Thompson has donated our first Sacagawea $1.00 coin to the Strong College coin collection—thank you!

Sherrill Hayes, Southern Man, reached beyond the boundaries of his natural range to donate the first state quarter of 2000 to our coin collection, the one from Massachusetts (produced at the Philadelphia mint). Hard on his heels, Tammy Thorarinson, coin-finder extraordinaire, contributed the Massachusetts quarter from the Denver mint. Stop by the College Office to take a look! There will be eight more coming out this year, so keep your eyes open!

Tim the Lemur, M.O.T.U., extends cordial affection to all His subjects who took time from their busy schedules doing His work, to write Valentine’s cards for Him. Keep it up.

Poem-of-the-Week

The Poem-of-the-Week appears regularly in this space. The Editorial Board noted a good deal of angst among the Masses leading up to Valentine’s Day. On the theory of literature that says “we read to know we are not alone,” this week’s poem is Edna St. Vincent Millay’s amnesia-desiring sonnet of angst, “Time Does Not Bring Relief”:

Time does not bring relief; you all have lied
Who told me time would ease me of my pain!
I miss him in the weeping of the rain;
I want him at the shrinking of the tide;
The old snows melt from every mountain-side,
And last year’s leaves are smoke in every lane;
But last year’s bitter loving must remain
Heaped on my heart, and my old thoughts abide.
There are a hundred places where I fear
To go,—so with his memory they brim.
And entering with relief some quiet place
Where never fell his foot or shone his face
I say, “There is no memory of him here!”
And so stand stricken, so remembering him.

STRONG COLLEGE CALENDAR

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

22 February (Tuesday), 4:30 p.m., Junior Common Room — College Tea! It’s the social event of the College week!

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

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

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

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

24 February (Thursday), 8:00 p.m., Senior Common Room — Cornelian Literary Society. Everyone welcome!

24 February (Thursday), 9:00 p.m., Committee Room — Blue Lemur Coffee Bar! Come and get caffeinated!

25 February (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. I am not fluffy. No fungi, no future. I feel an interpretive lobster dance coming on. Where’s my Egyptian techno music to go to sleep by? Lemurs don’t wear pants. I’ve got way more minions than you. This does not represent the official policy of the Flecker University Department of World Domination or the Daffodil Liberation Front. Dr. O’Haraaaa, she stole my homicidal tendencies. Eeeew, she wrote “gurge.” When you live in the water it’s hard to keep your hair neat. It’s a good thing he has an exoskeleton. If this works out, you may be able to live in a glass ball on Mars. I’m a decapod girl in a decapod world. I have one of those disorders or something. It’s hard to be the girlfriend of the Master of the Universe. Color swirls are a natural occurrence. I just sort of squatted and billowed. If you experience eye watering, headaches, or dizziness, increase fresh air or wear respiratory protection. Pizza Hut and the world wide web are not infallible and errors sometimes occur. 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. Without struggle, there is no progress. Why are we here if we’re not magic? Per aspera ad astra!