Showing: Non-Wesleyan

Happy 106th birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Somewhat in keeping with the flood of parodies that have inundated Wesleying over the past few days, here’s one in honor of Dr. Seuss’s bday (which is today). It gets really good around 2:00.

via Jezebel

Posted by Alex on March 2, 2010 at 8:09 PM | Comments (0)

Does Wesleyan need its own YouTube musical?

Middlebury is the latest college to receive attention for having a video paying homage to it on YouTube.  “MIDD KID” is a legitimate looking music video produced by Middlebury kids rapping about themselves and their college.  Unlike the “Why I choose Yale” video, though, it’s not intended to attract pre-frosh.  The video was completely student initiated and had no relation to the Middlebury admissions office.  In fact, Middlebury neither gave the students permission or stopped them from producing the video, saying they would have no official comment.  Watching the video clearly shows why.  The lyrics go along the lines of:

I’m a Midd Kid
I roll my jeans up high
With my Teva strap tight and my flannel so fly.

If the comments on the video are any indication, they’re getting compliments from peers at other colleges too.  So any guess on how long until we have a new video lionizing Wesleyan and its noble aspects?  Not to say that we don’t already have a significant YouTube presence, though.

Posted by Syed on February 27, 2010 at 8:24 PM | Comments (20)

“Well, Naturally We’re Liberal”: Why Your Professors Lean Left

This has nothing to do with Wesleyan specifically, but it has much to do with issues and patterns concerning higher education in general, and it’s a fascinating read.

In a compelling (and admittedly provocative) article for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Jere P. Surber, professor of philosophy at the University of Denver, eloquently tackles what the media loves to term the “liberal bias of the academy.” Surber considers the left-leaning tendency of liberal arts professors to be not a meaningless phenomenon of naïveté, but simply common sense given the nature of a liberal arts professor’s job, as well as the often skewed relationship between hir level of education and salary:

Read More »

Posted by Zach on February 26, 2010 at 12:30 AM | Comments (0)

Vote for the Kibera School for Girls!

The Kibera School for Girls and Shining Hope for Communities is applying for the Dell Social Innovation online voting competition, and needs your help! There are only a few days left to vote, and they need as many as they can get:

Please, vote NOW, the deadline is coming up! It will take 1 minute of your time and will enable us to be candidates to win $50,000! This would allow us to establish the Johanna Justin-Jinich Memorial Clinic of Kibera, feed our students for a year, and pay our staff!

Our students are begging you to take a minute of your time to vote… vote now, help us to change the lives of our students and their families!

To vote CLICK THIS LINK!  You will need to create a login, and then just click “Promote”!

Want to help more? Spread the word! Tell everyone in your social network, send an email, donate your facebook status! We have only 10 days to get 10,000 votes! For more information please go to hopetoshine.org.

Facebook Event here.

Here are Kennedy Odede ‘12 and Jess Posner ‘09, the Kibera school founders, explaining what had already been accomplished there:

Posted by Sheek on February 22, 2010 at 7:57 AM | Comments (4)

Shag Frenzy – Post Valentine’s Day Love-In

Party up in February! The love continues after Valentine’s day! If you can, wear red! Wear lots and lots of red! Be in love! Dance, drink, make out, go home with different people, etc.

Drink specials as usual, and nasty disco action on the dancefloor.

New in the set this month: Ellie Goulding, Passion Pit vs. Jack Beats, Biz Markie vs. Phoenix, New Young Pony Club, Annie vs. Designer Drugs, etc. More on  shag frenzy.

Date: Feb. 20
Time: 10:00 PM – 2:00 AM
Place: The Shadow Room, 170 Main St, Middletown

Posted by crash on February 19, 2010 at 4:00 PM | Comments (0)

Become a Fan of WesWings and The Red & Black Café

Check out WesWings and The Red & Black Café’s fan page recent facebook status: Lindsay Abrams ‘ 12 won a $20 gift card. In the next 48 hrs, if we reach 300 fans we’ll make it $30, 400 fans for $40 and finally, 500 or more fans and she gets a $50 gift card. Help her out!

Do it, guys. We’re all fans already anyways, right?

Here’s the fan page.

Posted by ERG on February 15, 2010 at 7:51 PM | Comments (2)

TONIGHT: Emergency Candlelight Vigil for Student Massacre in Juarez

Paul Blasenheim ‘12 writes in:

“An on-campus group of students working to end the war on drugs will gather tomorrow night on the steps of Olin Library at Wesleyan University for a silent vigil to honor the recent victims of a drug cartel-related massacre which claimed the lives of 16 people, mostly students. This vigil is part of an international day of protest to stop the escalating drug war violence in Mexico and change U.S. drug policies.”

  • Who: Wesleyan Students for Sensible Drug Policy
  • Date: TONIGHT — Thursday, February 11
  • Time: 8:30 – 9:00 in the P.M.
  • Place: Olin Library steps

Background: Since President Felipe Calderon announced his war on drugs and drug cartels in 2007, more than 10,000 people have been murdered in Mexico. January and February have already proven to be two of the deadliest months for the country after 14 high school students celebrating a soccer team victory and birthday were gunned down by drug gangs in Ciudad Juarez last week.

Many are expected to take part in the vigil to honor those killed. Standing in candlelight, the mourners will read the names of those killed, and stand in silence for 82 seconds, matching the number of bullet shells found at the scene. The vigil is just one of dozens taking place simultaneously around the world including Washington, D.C, San Francisco, Vancouver, and London.

Posted by Marina on February 11, 2010 at 1:17 AM | Comments (0)

Andrew Breitbart Disses Wesleyan at Tea Party Convention

Did you hear the one about the angry conservative lashing out at Wesleyan with silly, decades-old caricatures?

No, not Martin Benjamin—this time it’s commentator Andrew Breitbart, best known as editor of the Drudge Report and contributor to the Washington Times. In his keynote address to the First National Tea Party Convention this week, Breitbart unleashes his seething manifesto against MSNBC, the media in general (“It’s you that sucks!”), and . . . Wesleyan?

“Bad, racist, homophobic—all those buzzwords that they learned in their freshman orientation class at Wesleyan—are used as weapons to try to destroy you and intimidate you to not speak up.”

(Thanks to anonymous shoutboxer for the tip.)

Posted by Zach on February 9, 2010 at 12:34 PM | Comments (26)

The Superbowl, as directed by…

Slate has a fantastic clip of Superbowl trailers for film majors and football enthusiasts alike.  It’s the Superbowl, as directed by Jean-Luc Godard, Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino and others.  Apparently Warner Herzog is a fan of da Bears.

Posted by Liz on February 6, 2010 at 1:16 PM | Comments (5)

Protect Respect

Samwell – of What What (In the Butt) fame – has released a new video, “Protect Respect.”

Remember, play safe kids!

Posted by Heather on January 29, 2010 at 7:08 PM | Comments (0)

Are You Yale?

I get that “we’re all in this together!”-type musicals like Glee and High School Musical are real zeitgeisty right now, but did Yale Admissions really need to go and do this?

Say goodbye to 17 minutes of your life:

And you thought our “Are You Wesleyan?” business was a disaster.

Posted by Sheek on January 20, 2010 at 10:49 PM | Comments (15)

Haiti Relief Efforts: Where To Donate

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive believes death toll from yesterday’s 7.0-magnitude earthquake will be in the hundreds of thousands. If you’ve been following the devastation in Port-au-Prince and might be interested in donating some extra cash to the relief effort, here, courtesy of MSNBC, is a list of reputable, charitable organizations currently active in the nation.

Or, a simpler and more immediate method:

Simply text “HAITI” to “90999″ and a donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your cell phone bill (more information).

Lastly, some hopefully common sense tips from the FBI to avoid post-natural-disaster relief fraud.

Posted by Zach on January 13, 2010 at 3:05 PM | Comments (16)

DKE Brothers at Yale, Screaming

Artist Richard Mosse asked a bunch of Yale DKE bros to scream for as long as possible, and made a video of it called “Fraternity.” According to Mosse:

Fraternity was shot at Yale University’s infamous DKE frat house in under an hour. The men were happy to participate in the project in exchange for a keg of beer. They compete against each other to shout or scream the loudest and for the longest time. When they cannot scream any longer they must stop, and cannot begin again.

The effect is mesmerizing. See if you can guess the winner of this primal battle:

Yes, that Delta will never die.

[via IvyGate]

Posted by Sheek on January 9, 2010 at 9:49 AM | Comments (8)

Sen. Chris Dodd will not seek re-election

Connecticut senior senator Chris Dodd, who had trailed potential Republican challengers Rob Simmons and Linda McMahon in his bid for re-election, has decided to retire. Dodd becomes the second senator in as many days to announce he will not seek re-election (joining North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan), and his announcement likely paves the way for attorney general Richard Blumenthal to announce his candidacy:

Read More »

Posted by Ben on January 6, 2010 at 1:57 AM | Comments (3)

“So, What Are You Going To Do With Your Degree in Bisexual Asian Studies?”

english-degree-part-2An article in today’s New York Times—“Making College ‘Relevant,’” by Kate Zernike—provides an insightful glimpse at recent attempts by colleges to tailor majors and courses directly for the 21st century job market—even at the expense of notoriously *unpractical* majors, like Philosophy:

Dropping a classics or philosophy major might have been unthinkable a generation ago, when knowledge of the great thinkers was a cornerstone of a solid education. But with budgets tight, such programs have come to seem like a luxury— or maybe an expensive antique — in some quarters.

When Louisiana’s regents voted to eliminate the philosophy major last spring, they agreed with faculty members that the subject is “a traditional core program of a broad-based liberal arts and science institution.” But they noted that, on average, 3.4 students had graduated as philosophy majors in the previous five years; in 2008, there were none. “One cannot help but recognize that philosophy as an essential undergraduate program has lost some credence among students,” the board concluded. Read More »

Posted by Zach on January 4, 2010 at 3:02 AM | Comments (9)

Yale-admitted Quadruplets also considering Wes

yale quadruplets

In the midst of finals last week we missed posting this from last Friday’s NY Times front page: for the first time ever, Yale admitted a full set of quadruplets from its early-admission applicant pool, the high-achieving Crouch siblings of Danbury, Connecticut. Like many multiples, the Crouches are hesitant to follow each other to college, and apparently half of the tetrad is considering Wesleyan.

The “obvious free spirit” Martina, who wears a smudge of bright red makeup under each eye to promote eye contact, is intrigued by Wesleyan and NYU, as is Carol, “the family’s acknowledged social conscience” who wears her hair in an oversize Afro.

Sounds about right! But really, if the four-way foray to Yale is too much to bear for the Crouch women, they are clearly an automatic match here.

NY Times: Boola Boola, Boola Boola – Yale Says Yes, 4 Times

Posted by Sheek on December 26, 2009 at 3:39 PM | Comments (10)

40 Things That Were Popular At The Beginning Of The Decade That Aren’t Popular Anymore

So the decade ends in a week. And for a generation that came of age at the dawn of the 2000s and entered adulthood (sort of) at its conclusion, you know what that means: rampant meaningless nostalgia.

BuzzFeed’s list of 40 Things That Were Popular At The Beginning Of The Decade That Aren’t Popular Anymore (highlights: Fred Durst, The “Weakest Link” Lady, Hanging a Flag Outside Your House) does a pretty damn good job of portraying 2000 as some sort of quaint, Norman Rockwell-esque alternate universe, where people wore frosted tips in their hair and watched music videos on MTV.

Maybe it really was like that.

Link: 40 Things That Were Popular At The Beginning Of The Decade That Aren’t Popular Anymore

The Nelly song you hated before hating Nelly was cool:

Posted by Zach on December 24, 2009 at 1:51 PM | Comments (4)

D.C. Council Gives Final Passage to Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Woo! From the Human Rights Campaign:

The D.C. Council voted today 11 to 2 to give final approval to the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009.  The vote recognizing same-sex marriage was the second in two weeks for the Council, which approved the bill in an initial vote on December 1, 2009 by the same margin.  Since last July, D.C. law has recognized marriages by same-sex couples from other jurisdictions, including foreign countries.  The new legislation would permit same-sex couples to marry in D.C. itself while ensuring that clergy and religious organizations would not be required to provide services, accommodations, facilities or goods for the solemnization of a same-sex marriage.

The legislation now goes to the desk of Mayor Fenty, who has said he will sign it.  The law would take effect at the conclusion of the Congressional review period, which lasts for 30 legislative days following the Mayor’s signature.

As a retrospective, here is a 1950s PSA about the roaming homosexuals:

Posted by Heather on December 17, 2009 at 11:21 PM | Comments (3)

Countdown To The Oscars

Oscar 2

The Golden Globe Awards were announced yesterday furthering speculations of what the 10 Best Picture Nominees will be this year (The Academy has doubled the number of spots in the category for the 2010 awards). Here are the films you should see over the break if you want to be Oscar savvy…

Avatar
Precious
A Serious Man
A Single Man
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Read More »
Posted by rshenker on December 16, 2009 at 11:01 PM | Comments Off

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) Spreads the Hanukkah Spirit

“I feel sorry I’m not Jewish sometimes.” – Orrin Hatch (R-Utah)

Apparently Orrin Hatch, the conservative Mormon senator from Utah, is an amateur song-writer (he writes love songs!) and a big fan of the Jews.  Like many Mormons, he agrees with the Old Testament that the Jews are the chosen people.  To express his love for the Jews (despite our Democratic leanings), he wrote a song for Hanukkah for Tablet Magazine, which you can see below.  Don’t miss the senator whipping out his mezuzah.  What a mensch.

Eight Days of Hanukkah from Tablet Magazine on Vimeo.

NY Times: A Senator’s Gift to the Jews, Nonreturnable
Tablet Magazine: ‘Eight Days of Hanukkah’: How Orrin Hatch Came to Write a Hanukkah Song

Posted by Liz on December 9, 2009 at 10:41 AM | Comments (3)

350 Wesleyan takes on Lieberman’s office

Some Wes students went and made quite the ruckus over in Hartford. Check out this video of the 350 Wesleyan demonstration outside of Senator Lieberman’s office:

This Friday, Wesleyan students marched in Hartford to press Senator Joe Lieberman, key architect of the Senate climate change legislation, to protect the EPA’s authority and stabilize CO2 at no more than 350 ppm. By the end of the demonstration, the students had interacted with hundreds of people in downtown Hartford, passing out fliers and information, and the students extracted a promise from Lieberman’s staff that Senator Lieberman would personally view their 4-foot petition stating “For our economy, for our planet: Protect the EPA” signed by the march attendees.

Lieberman, along with senators Lindsay Graham and John Kerry, is currently in the process of forging bipartisan climate change legislation- which is great. However, in the process, he is making too many concessions to the nuclear and coal industries- which is not so great. The EPA’s authority to regulate emissions as specified in the Clean Air Act is a critical tool that needs to be preserved in order to punish coal-fired power plants, which contribute to one third of the US’s carbon emissions.

The demonstration has gotten coverage at It’s Getting Hot in Here, the Middletown Press, My Left Nutmeg, and Clean Energy for Connecticut

This is only the beginning. As the climate bill takes shape and becomes the top concern of the Senate, 350 Wesleyan hopes to unify climate change advocacy groups around Connecticut.

Posted by sahm on December 8, 2009 at 8:35 PM | Comments (7)

Michael Bay ‘86 Directs Victoria’s Secret Commercial

It’s, um, pretty much what you’d expect a Micheal Bay-directed Victoria’s Secret commercial to look like. It previewed during the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show last Wednesday. Check it:

And thanks to anonymous shoutboxer for the tip. When I first saw this, I figured it was a parody of what a Michael Bay-directed Victoria’s Secret ad would look like. This is the real thing—but really, would a parody be any different?

For comparison’s sake, here’s Michael Bay eating a bowl of cereal:

Posted by Zach on December 6, 2009 at 12:34 PM | Comments (3)

The Muppets Sing “Bohemian Rhapsody”

This Thanksgiving, I give thanks for my ability to share silly Youtube videos with all our readers.   This is not particularly Wesleyan-related, but if being surrounded by relatives today doesn’t make you feel like a kid again, this video might:

You can view the original “Bohemian Rhapsody” video here.

Posted by Liz on November 26, 2009 at 11:22 AM | Comments Off

26-Year-Old To See Every Asshole He Ever Went To High School With On Night Before Thanksgiving

thanksgiving_article_large.article_largeThis Onion piece is from 2008. But it’s way too relevant not to share:

For the fifth straight year, Jordan McCabe will return home for the holidays and spend the night before Thanksgiving running into every smug and unlikable asshole he ever went to high school with, the 26-year-old reported Monday.

The trip back home, scheduled for later this week, will reportedly bring McCabe face-to-face with an endless string of pricks from his past, each of whom he will have to engage in awkward conversation, and generally pretend to be happy about seeing again.

“They’re all going to be there,” said McCabe, purchasing an Amtrak train ticket for Rochester, NY. “Every last one of them, just as shitty and conceited and phony as ever.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to see all those assholes again,” McCabe continued.

Read the whole thing.

Posted by Zach on November 25, 2009 at 11:05 PM | Comments (1)

Expensive Wesleyan Pride

Recently graduated and want to show off your liberal arts savvy to your investment banker colleagues? Looking to apply in December and need to show your senior interviewer that you’ve thoroughly researched your favorite east coast liberal arts school? Putting together your Thanksgiving outfit for your first visit back home since shipping off to college and can’t wait for your necktie to scream “I learned who Judith Butler is in SOC 151″?

Well, here’s the necktie for you!

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Available at the discounted price of $72.00, probably because the rare cardinal feathers used in its microfiber silk weave were purchased in bulk.

Thanks to Brian Glenn ‘91 and Wesleying founder superstar Xue Sun ‘08 for the tip, and to

Posted by MC Hall on November 21, 2009 at 12:12 PM | Comments (2)

UC Berkeley Students Protest Fee Increase

UC_Color_Logo

Students at the University of California, Berkeley, have been occupying a major university building all day to protest a fee increase at all UC campuses. From the Wall Street Journal:

The takeover by as many as 50 students and their sympathizers took place before dawn Friday, a day after the UC Board of Regents approved a 32% increase in student fees to cope with California’s long-running fiscal crisis.

Campus police made three arrests in the occupied Wheeler Hall classroom building after discovering furniture and other items propped up against doors at about 5:30 a.m. Friday, a school spokeswoman said. There were unofficial reports of at least one person arrested outside for allegedly crossing a police line marked by yellow tape.

By Friday afternoon, the standoff continued, as an estimated 500 other students and supporters assembled around the building, despite a driving rain. They banged drums, chanted and cheered as some of the occupants of the building used megaphones from a second-floor window to shout encouragement.

Pretty crazy stuff—but it must sound pretty familiar, I imagine, to some of the professors who’ve been at Wesleyan for 20+ years. Read the full article here.

EDIT: Apparently dozens of students have now been arrested in the protest. Updated story on MSNBC.

Posted by Zach on November 20, 2009 at 5:36 PM | Comments (2)

“Wesleyan Blouse”: an actual product

Hay grlz. If the garments pictured below look like something from your ensemble, know that You Are Wesleyan.

wesleyan blouse french

wesleyan blouse

At least according to ModCloth, a “mod retro indie/vintage” online clothing store which is marketing the pink one as “Wesleyan Blouse in French Class“, and the green one as “Wesleyan Blouse in History Class“.

Um. Talk about niche marketing. This is the site’s description:

We think the educated ladies of Connecticut’s Wesleyan University would love to wear this ivy green/rose pink, vintage-inspired blouse! This asymmetrical top from Dainty June features a rainbow of over-sized buttons running down the front, a unique roll over collar with a notch accent, and cute cuffed sleeves. Match with a pencil skirt and oxfords for a look that will have cute study buddies following you around campus!

Cute!! The only semi-plausible reason I could think of why this exists was that some earnest Wes alum works for this company and wanted to shout this place out. But no Wesleyan graduate would be so devoid of irony as to write the above paragraph.

Anyway, I’m not sure what makes these clothes particularly suited to Wesleyan’s educated ladies. Is a Mad-Men-inspired ModCloth designer making an oblique reference to Matthew Weiner’s alma mater? Is our character once again being confused with Wellesley’s?

Especially in light of our recent collective identity crisis, I am really confused about what sort of image we project. Clearly Wesleyan has been presented as relatively fashion-forward in the recent past, but what is this?

Each blouse goes for $79.99. Are any of you educated Wesleyan ladies ironic enough/lacking enough in irony to wear one to history class? French class? Finishing school?

Posted by Sheek on November 19, 2009 at 8:57 PM | Comments (7)

Because making fun of Harvard never gets old . . .

Thanks to Jesse Porter for submitting this awesome “commercial” for Harvard:

Posted by Zach on November 18, 2009 at 8:54 PM | Comments (1)

Student Internships in Government Panel

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Jeff Bizinkauskas ‘10 writes:

Wesleyan students have long been recognized for their commitment to making a difference for our nation and our world. For many of us, careers in some kind of public service are considerately weighed alongside those in the private sector because they often entail a greater sense of meaning and involvement with the real issues of our time.

This Thursday, a panel of 8 Wesleyan students will discuss their undergraduate internships experiences in and around government. Those in attendance will be encouraged to ask questions and get a sense of what it is like to work in various aspects of the civil service, legislature, state government, foreign embassy, and Washington, D.C itself.

Various internship, fellowship, and career opportunity applications in the public sector will be disseminated.The application process for Wesleyan’s John W. Macy Internship in Government and Public Policy will also discussed.

Panelists include:

Jorge Guillermo Delgado ‘10: Intern for the Press and Cultural Affairs Office, Embassy of Italy, Washington DC

Jonna Humphries ‘10: White House Internship.

Lili Chen ‘10: Federal Reserve Board of    Washington and Dept. of Defense.

Ahmad Ismail ‘12: Intern, City of Newark, New Jersey, Office of Public Policy and Finance.

Lorenzo Angelo Piccio ‘10: Office of the NJ Attorney General; Office of the Governor, State of CA; Office of US Senator Dianne Feinstein.

Matthew Givner ‘10: Intern for Congressman Howard Berman (D) California, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington DC

Nina Chen ‘10: John W. Macy Intern, Strategic Issues Tax Policy and Administration Team, U.S. Government Accountability Office

Peter Gilchrist ‘10: John W. Macy Intern, Strategic Issues Human Capital Team, U.S. Government Accountability Office

Hope to see you there! Fruits and Beverage provided.

Event sponsored by the Partnership for Public Service and the Career Resource Center.

Date: Nov. 19
Time: 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Place: Usdan 108

Posted by Heather on November 18, 2009 at 12:53 AM | Comments (3)

Connecticut College Dems Fall Retreat!

democrat_donkey_logo-240x300

From Corinne Duffy ‘11:

Come to the first annual Connecticut College Dems Fall Retreat at Yale this Saturday! Featuring our representative in Congress Rosa DeLauro, Wesleyan’s own Matt Lesser, Ned Lamont, and several candidates for next year’s gubernatorial race.

With breakout training sessions, and an awesome afterparty to follow!

Rides will be provided; please contact cduffy01(at)wesleyan(dot)edu to RSVP and for more information.

  • What: First Annual Connecticut college Dems Fall Retreat
  • Where: Yale University
  • When: November 14, 2:00 p.m.
Posted by Zach on November 12, 2009 at 12:20 AM | Comments (1)