Tag Archives: argus

Argus Seeks Paid Distribution Staff Member

Claire Bradach ’15 invites you to audition for the Argus staff’s production of Newsies:

Looking for an on-campus job? The Argus is looking to hire a paid distribution staff member to deliver copies of The Argus from the Argus office to locations around campus once a week. Like Newsies, but with less singing. Or with the same amount. Your call.

(Note: must have car or access to one.)

Please email argus(at)wesleyan(dot)edu if you are interested!

Deadline: Soon?
Contact: argus(at)wesleyan(dot)edu

Update: The position has been filled.

FEATURED
Fight the Power: Thoughts on Wesleyan’s Power Plant Proposal

Those who have not attended the minimally publicized meetings regarding the administration’s plans to build a new natural gas power plant on campus—it is time you paid attention.

After the Snowpocalyspe of last October, President Roth mandated that the University strive to reduce the risk of losing schooldays in the event of a similar weather emergency in the future. Some administrators and Physical Plant staff developed a plan to construct a natural gas co-generation power plant near Freeman Athletic Center to supplement a similar plant that Wesleyan built in 2008 on the corner of Williams and High Streets. This new plant, they claim, is necessary to allow us to go into “island mode” and avoid a blackout during the increasingly common extreme weather events. For a combination of logistical, budgetary, and moral reasons, I argue otherwise.

First, some background. The plan was set on trajectory behind closed doors, without input of the community or students, until Evan Weber ’13 gleaned through a comment made in passing at a sustainability meeting that this was being proposed. In fact, Wesleyan’s new Sustainability Coordinator, Jen Kleindienst, hadn’t heard of it either until about a week before Weber. By the time Weber organized an emergency organizing meeting, Wesleyan had already hired a firm to site and start designing the plant. As Weber told the Argus, “I want to start a conversation about the power plant with all constituents because students, professors, and other members of the community have been largely left out of the discussion.”

So why not have that discussion now?

There are many problems with the proposed plant, which are laid out in a recent Wespeak written by a few concerned students, including Weber and myself. These are what I believe to be some of the most compelling issues at hand:

Continue reading →

FEATURED
Allbritton Temporarily Shut Down by Gas Leak

“Nobody seemed to care all that much about the smell.”

The Almighty Allbritton, everybody’s favorite robot name of a campus building, has been temporarily triumphed by a gas leak, which Kevin Arritt ’13 noticed around 7 pm. A swarm of firetrucks quickly arrived on the scene, lights flashing, shortly thereafter and evacuated the building. Firetrucks are still speeding down Church Street as of this post, though it’s probably because you don’t know how to use a toaster. According to the Argus’ Facebook page, “QAC tutoring services have been temporarily transferred to PAC Lab.” Espwesso coffee services have been temporarily transferred to your dreams.

Here’s Arritt’s gripping first-person account of the emergency, which he kindly leaked (ugh) to Wesleying:

We were having a meeting in the QAC. Somebody mentioned it smelled strange. When I stepped out into the main QAC area, it definitely did smell like natural gas. The rotten-eggs smell from the additive is pretty distinct. Somebody called P-Safe and I rolled out, since I assumed the building was about to be cleared out anyway

Everybody was calm and fine. Nobody seemed to care all that much about the smell. Eric Stephen ’13 and Laura Machlin ’13 were two other people who were around.

Continue reading →

The Argus Seeks Business Manager

A. R. Gus ‘1867 needs your help doing businessy things:

The Argus is looking for a new business manager! So if you want to manage our business, please email argus@wes with a few sentences about why you would be qualified for the position.

Here’s what our business manager does:

Create/reviews the Argus budget

Coordinate Argus workers getting paid

Work to keep track of Argus finances and ensure that people get

reimbursed

Meet with the SBC to organize the Argus’ budget allotments each year

FEATURED
From the Argives: Wesleyan Uses Protection

Yes, that kind of protection.

September 1992 was an interesting time in Wesleyan’s history. “Fall Ball” was cut due to budgeting problems (an autumn version of Spring Fling?), and a whole new WSA was being assembled after the entire group had been disbanded during the previous school year.

However, squished between articles about how all the frats had to cancel their beginning-of-the-school-year parties and blurbs about every single WSA candidate was this gem of a post, titled “How to Use a Condom Correctly.”

Continue reading →

FEATURED
Election Special Argives: “Gore Criticizes Bush in Campaign Stop at Freeman”

No, not in 2000. The article’s from 1992, when Al Gore was the Democratic vice presidential candidate, and the headline refers to the elder Bush, then running for reelection. If you’re confused as to why Gore would bother campaigning in the middle of Connecticut, consider that this was 1992; the red/blue state divide as we know it today wasn’t quite in place, and Connecticut swung right for Bush in 1988 and for Reagan in both 1984 and 1980.

So, on October 30, 1992, the VP candidate made his way to the relatively new Freeman Athletic Center, where he spoke for 35 minutes, “mostly criticizing President Bush, but also highlighting the ticket’s stance on the environment, healthcare, jobs and the Head Start program.” According to the piece, Gore spent the bulk of his speech attacking Bush in light of claims that the president knew about and was involved in the 1986 Iran-Contra Scandal. (Why these charges didn’t play a greater role in the election, I can’t say.)

Not all in the audience were solidly on board, though. The Argus article notes that a few Bush/Quayle supporters were physically ambushed when they registered their dissent:

Continue reading →

FEATURED
Weather Report: Will “Frankenstorm” One-Up the Snowpocalypse?

Many of you non-freshmen (with one possible exception) may remember last year’s cataclysm that closed school and is now referred to affectionately as the “Snowpocalypse.” It was a terrifying time, filled with stories of hardship and the need to adapt to post-apocalyptic living standards. Yet even during the worst days of of isolation there were still small, heartwarming moments of compassion that allowed us to make it through the trying times.

Just in time for Halloween and the first anniversary of that fateful storm, a new terror looms on the horizon. This is not a drill, not a conspiracy, not a troll. The Frankenstorm is coming. It is currently predicted to hit the day before Halloween (Tuesday), and there’s already speculation about potential blackouts affecting ballot casting in areas where early voting is occurring.

The New York Times reports that Hurricane “Sandy” has the potential to become a “perfect storm,” the likes of which we haven’t seen since 1991. CBS News provides a great video breakdown of just why we’re so totally fucked (again).

Continue reading →

FEATURED
From the Argives: Doug Bennet ’59 Becomes Wesleyan’s Fifteenth President

Ah, 1995: the year of the OJ Simpson trial, the fourth busiest hurricane season on record, and my 1st birthday (yeah, I’m a youngster, but I rocked those 90s children’s overalls so hard). More importantly, this week in 1995, Douglas Bennet ’59 was inaugurated as Wesleyan’s fifteenth president.

Bennet is more than just the new name of Fauver (or if you’re anyone who isn’t the class of 2016, the name of the dorm is in fact still Fauver). He has been involved with Wesleyan as a student, a parent, an alumnus, and an administrator.

During his time in the ~~Oval~~ Not-Very-Oval Office, Bennet had his share of ups and downs. Though he greatly improved several important aspects of university life (like nearly doubling the size of the endowment and overseeing the construction of many buildings on campus), he was criticized by some students for the lack of student involvement in Wesleyan’s decision-making process. Eventually, student dissatisfaction with Bennet culminated in a 250-person sit-in outside his office in 2004.

Continue reading →

EVENT
Argus Magazine Information Session

Alex Wilkinson ’13 has decided he wants to get involved with writing on campus for a change:

The Argus Magazine is Wesleyan’s only student-produced publication specializing in long-form nonfiction and journalism. By showcasing creative, engaging pieces from a variety of academic fields and personal backgrounds, we seek to channel the diverse array of student perspectives, experiences, and knowledge endemic to the intellectual vitality of our campus. Fundamental to this endeavor is an emphasis on collaboration between writers and editors, a process we feel is essential to producing polished, innovative work.

If you’re interested in writing, editing, or taking photography for The Argus Magazine, come talk to us. We hope to see you tomorrow!

Date: Friday, September 28
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Place: Usdan 110
Cost: Free

FEATURED
Wes(hare)Boxes: An Investigation

Want to know what your mom thinks about sharing WesBoxes? Scroll on.

Last week I squeezed my hand into my narrow postal cubicle and found a pretty standard assortment of Wesleyan junk mail: some coupons for Dominos, a direct deposit receipt, some CFA flyers about the so-called “arts.” At the end of the slot was a nondescript envelope. It didn’t belong to me.

If you’ve read Friday’s Argus, you know already that shared mailboxes were a thing before Usdan came along and that they’ve made a comeback due to increasing class sizes. The incoming class gets the outgoing class’s block, which can no longer accommodate the number of students, so recent freshmen have begun to share. But why do upperclassmen who formerly had their own mailbox get subjected to sharing? Any number of reasons: either they went abroad and a dissatisfied student hijacked their spot, or they were simply on the border of two class blocks (read: I don’t fully understand the ins and outs of this process or how these upperclassmen are subjected to sharing later in the Wes game). I was abroad last Spring, so I am now sharing a Wesbox. But nobody told me.

What I wanted to talk about was the pervasive vibes of culpability I got throughout the workings of WesStation. When I went over to ask them about the things in my slot, I started innocently asking about the whys and hows of this system.

Continue reading →


Name:
Email:
For: