First years, welcome to the greatest four years of your life at the best college in the country. Here at the University, you'll find plenty of traditions.
As a new crop of students begin to flood first-year dormitories, upperclassmen are handing down indispensable advice about their time at the University. The best advice Student Council President Dan Morrison said he received was from his first-year resident advisor. "At our first hall meeting, [my RA] said, 'When you go back to your room and start your year, don't close your door; leave your door open for people so they can come hang out or ask for help,' and this proved really helpful as the year went on," Morrison said.
The thought of Greek initiation ceremonies often calls to mind private events and the passing down of secret traditions, but many of the University's fraternities and sororities take a more public approach to bringing in new members.
If Lorleai Gilmore went to the University, she would not be reading this column. She simply would say "Oy with the poodles already!" - a phrase she coined which can be used to shut up a person who is talking nonstop about a certain topic - and keep flipping the pages until she found the comics page.
This past Wednesday, I turned in my organic chemistry lab notebook. I realize that something as mundane as carrying a notebook across Grounds and putting it in a box at the Chemistry Building isn't particularly newsworthy; it's more symbolic than anything. When I was a first year nearly done with general chemistry and introduction biology, I was more scared of organic chemistry than I was about my final exam in either course. I saw the look that crept over most people's faces when I asked about it.
For most students, when finals roll around, good diets usually take a backseat to food and drinks that quickly satisfy hunger or temporarily raise energy levels.
Whenever I pull out my fashion magazines to show my mom the latest trend that I'm dying to have, she always rolls her eyes and laughs.
I was sitting on the steps of the Rotunda the other night. I was not naked, running up the steps like my first-year self.
University students are well known for the many ways they show their pride, wearing orange and blue, quoting Thomas Jefferson, or even just the occasional boasts about their school's academic ranking.
Summer often means going to the movies to see the blockbusters. But before the movies and the trailers come the advertisements.
Jewish life at the University found a renewed identity April 10, when the Brody Jewish Center building - Hillel's 10,000 square-foot addition to its existing space at 1824 University Circle - officially opened. "There's now this glorious space to be Jewish in together and to invite others in to experience what Jewish life is like," said Vanessa Ochs, associate professor of religious studies and member of the Jewish studies program.
In my three years here, I've worked my way through a lot of what I would call the traditional "wisdom texts": those works that we read time and time again, because either directly or indirectly they seem to offer us a message on how to live our lives.
I keep having to double-check my planner. I always have had trouble with dates. I still can't believe its 2011.
Charlotte Hobbies: I write plays and fiction, I play guitar horribly and I make stuff out of other stuff. Typical Weekend Plans: I hang out with my friends in Brown, where I live, which usually includes moderate to heavy partying on any given night.
"I salute you." I last said that phrase to a woman who single-handedly destroyed the Ruby Tuesday salad bar.
The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections library is nestled in a high-traffic area of Grounds, but as students walk by, few are aware of the rare objects which lie within. Wednesday evening, the library hosted an open house to display its many artifacts, exposing students to a treasure trove of items many did not realize were so readily available. The event, called "The Most of Special Collections," was put together by four students: second-year College student Anna Bninski, third-year College student Tess Goodman, second-year College student Maggie Moriarty and fourth-year Engineering student Emerson Prebil, all participants in the Wolfe Docent Program this semester.
What's the best part about Easter? Many might say that it's the chance to go home and attend church with their families.
No one ever claimed that watching the Bravo or E! channels on TV would make you smarter, or even more culturally aware.
Spring has sprung on Grounds and the pavilion gardens surrounding the Lawn are blooming with green life again.
I have fallen in love. No, there is no new beau involved; just an old flame from high school who has raged back into my life like a bull let loose in the streets of Spain.
