One of the most vied for positions for students here at New College is that of the Residential Advisor, more commonly known as “RA.”  In every dorm complex there are RAs, who are students who work for the Office of Residential Life.  RAs are equipped with toilet paper and condoms to give away to students for free.  They are also trained in the art of mediation, which is especially useful for students who are not getting along so well with their roommates.  Basically if something is off in any way in terms of a student’s housing needs, RAs are the first people who students can turn to.

While RAs are trained to deal with the more emotional side of things, they also serve other very practical purposes.  At New College we have a number we can call to reach the RA on duty when the Housing Office closes for the day. Someone is guaranteed to pick up the phone at anytime, even if it is the dead of night.  The RA cell phone comes in especially handy when students lock themselves out of their rooms.  RAs also put on substance-free events for students that tend to be quirky and seriously fun.  One of my favorites from my first year was a massive game of Capture the Flag that my RA put on.  RAs also tend to have food at their events, which is always enticing.

RA hiring happens around this time of year each and every year.  Any student can apply.  Students who wish to be RAs have an interview with a panel of students and staff members from ResLife, and a final group is selected before Spring Break.  They tend to try and pick a diverse group of people, including people from all disciplines, as well as people with different personalities.  Just because a student is quiet does not mean that they cannot be an RA!  The RA Selection Committee also tries to choose students from all years to make students feel as comfortable as possible with going to RAs with any concerns that they have.  Just after RA selection happens, the New College tradition of Room Draw begins, which is an event that allows students to choose where they are living next year based on the number of contracts they have satted.  I will be writing a blog about my Room Draw experience in the near future, so stay tuned!

This weekend welcomed the third annual All Power to the Imagination Conference.  It was very refreshing to have people from other schools come to New College to discuss interesting and progressive topics.  I had no idea NCF organized such an awesome event.  I’m definitely looking forward to next year’s.

We also enjoyed an Open Mic at the Four Winds Café with talents from NCF and the guests from the API Conference.  I was very pleased to see how much talent we have here at New College.  It was most definitely a great way to relax on my Friday night.  The tough part came later, when I stepped out to take a look at an exhibition they had about modern day slavery in Immokalee, Florida.  I knew tomato workers were exploited while getting paid very little for their work, but I didn’t know they actually chained and locked up these men in trucks to prevent them from escaping and keep them toiling there.  I was disturbed that people have gotten away with this for so long.  After the 2008 trial where some of the workers managed to escape and take the men to trial, many fast food chains were forced to stop buying from these companies who were exposed.  However, Publix Supermarkets has refused to do so, which has prompted a lot of activists to make it their goal that Publix stop purchasing from them.  As somber as this story is, we are lucky to be able to get together, like we did this weekend, to discuss topics like these and to become aware of what’s going on around us that is not readily visible, and most importantly, to do something about it.

On a lighter note, to finish the weekend, a couple of us got together to watch the 82^nd Annual Academy Awards.  It is tradition in my family to watch them every year (even though I don’t have too much respect for the Academy nowadays); but this year I got to experience them with different people who also made it feel like home.  The person who put it together even had a pot, where people could put in a dollar and take a guess at who would win in each category.  The person with the most right answers would win the pot.  We only had $3 but that’s something!  We made jokes, laughed and even yelled at some points, but we had fun.  It was a great way to end such an interesting weekend.

Hello again!

First, I would like to excuse myself from not writing more about my new college life for the past couple of months.  I have been busy procrastinating with various other activities.

On Friday for example, I went to the Sarasota Orchestra concert.  They played Brahms Symphony No. 3in F major, Op. 90 and Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 15.  College students could buy a $5 tickets to this amazing concert with  pianist Andreas Haefliger who is a very intriguing performer.  He plays with his eyes closed and stays connected with the rest of the orchestra through sound and feeling.  His visual performance was just as moving as his wonderful music, as Chicago Tribune put it “Unlike many virtuosos, Haefliger is a musician first and pianist second… Andreas Haefliger is a pianist to watch. More importantly, he is a pianist to listen to.”

I was moved by Brahms music.  It is filled with  pure emotional and aesthetic romanticism.  Sometimes, if music is not for my taste, just like any other concert, classical concert can be difficult to sit through, but if music accords with my inner feelings, it is the best way to spend an hour or two.  During this concert, I meditated on love, performance, learning, and academia…

While we are on the subject on academia, I want to share with you a book I am reading for my American City in Literature and Film.  Martin Dressler by Steven Millhouser is a must, if you are interested in 19^th century New York.  The book discuss subjects of consumerism, American Dream, individualism, American history, gender, marriage… and many other interesting things that I cannot think of right now.  It is a brilliant page turner.  I have been reading it this sunny Sunday at the beach and feeling happy and content to be living in Sarasota and taking a literature class where we read all kinds of good books.

My next week is not very busy academically but Renaissance Conference is coming up which I want to check out. Also, Ashlyn, (PEI dorm RA) and I are organizing Female Orgasm Celebration event.  It is meant to bring awareness about female castration, which is still happening in various countries around the world.  The event is partly inspired by woman’s month and bell hooks talk which happened last week and was very inspiring.

If you a senior in high school, I hope your decision time in choosing what school to go to next year is exciting and happy.

Take care,

Agne

Tonight I attended a concert at the Asolo Theatre.  This is an extension of the Ringling Museum and a marvelous place to go for a fancy night out.

The Asolo has three theatres all together.  There is the Mertz, Cook, and Historic Asolo Theaters.  The Mertz holds most of the plays and is very pretty.  It was built when the company outgrew the Historic Asolo.  There is more information about the different theaters at this link.

The Asolo has a special rate for students, so you can get a $70 ticket to the Mertz theater for $10 and a $5 to the Cook theater.  This is a great deal, because the plays have such beautiful sets and terrific actors.  I must tell you, I tried to get a picture of the set for you (my blog readers) and got into some trouble.  I was told I had to delete all the pictures off of my camera, because it was a violation.  I had not been informed!!  So, blog readers lesson is I not only got into trouble for you, but now we know not to take pictures in the theater!!

The play I went to was the Perfume Shop, which is about a little Perfumerie in Hungary that is struggling in the economy.  The different characters get involved in love twists and turns, but I won’t give away the show!  I really hope that those of you that are coming to New College take advantage of this theater.  It is a mere eight minute walk away from the dorms and a great chance to wear some fancy clothes for a change!

So, Future NEW COLLEGE STUDENTS, What are you most excited about as you get ready to come here?

*Remember you can ask me any questions you have! 

February 14, 2010

I am back to my New College schedule that supposedly keeps me sane and productive.  Between classes, jobs, social life, and Pilates, I sleep fewer hours that I feel a need to.  Despite that, I feel that I am growing into a productive and independent individual.

So what my life has been like for the past couple of weeks since the classes started?  I will start from the closest thing to the present.  The last thing I did, of course was participating in Palm Court Party.  This Saturday after babysitting Eila, I woke up from my late night nap around 10pm.  I dressed up in my single black warm dress and a fur coat (which I snatched from the free table at the end of last year).  While I was napping, Alex and Gianna did amazing make-up and dressed up gorgeously.  I wish I had a picture of them but my camera battery died, so I am left with no proof of our fun times.  Just imagine one of these filled with colorful joy facebook pictures that make you wish you were taking part in somebody else’s fun….They looked like they belonged in those pictures.  Since it was freezing, we did not have a choice but to dance.  Soon after, we got rid of our coats and danced in short sleeves.

At New College, PCP brings out the most costume and decorative creativity.  The ones that I remember the best, were avatar, tiger, and a guy on gigantic stilts.

Every year, students put so much time picking theme, organizing it, advertising, selling T-shirts, partying, cleaning up.  It is a team effort that I am sure feels very rewarding to see hundreds of people dancing, observing, or wondering around.  Most of the New College students come out of their rooms, at least to check it out, a lot of students invite their friends to come to visit and experience it.  I wonder whether it is similar to the famous ancient Greek festivals. Both are organized mass fun times that bare a lot of cultural and release weight.

Around midnight, I got tired, so I came back to my room  and built a paper panda palace, and after talking to Nolan, Alex, and Gianna in the Bdorm lounge went to dream about birds and fish.

 -Agne

Hello Blog Readers!

I have told you before that I am a fan of the gym, and I love workout classes, but for a long time there was not one that fit me very well.  I tried Tango, which was a lot of fun, but it had very detailed movements that I just wasn’t capable of doing.  Iaido was a class my roommate was very interested in, but it felt like more play than exercise for me with a wooden sword and bowing.  I was getting a bit discouraged about the fitness centers classes, until my friend suggested I go to the pilates class she attends.

I went and was pleasantly surprised.  The class was very small and taught by a New College student that graduated one year before.  It was a lot of toning and the teacher made sure that everyone was doing motions the correctly, so there wouldn’t be unnecessary stress on other places. It was a fun class for beginners and more experienced Pilates students alike.

If you enjoy working out late, New College offers many classes in the afternoon, so that more people can attend and not conflict with class scheduling.  Also, the gym stays open until 10 pm on weekdays, so most days people can fit their workouts in.  There is most likely a class for you here, and if there is not, there are ways you can request one. Also, if you are very good at a certain exercise you can try to teach it.  I have a friend that is currently teaching salsa classes!

I am sure you are going to love it here!

P.S.- If you like swimming, there is a swimming club that swims in the morning, and during the day the pool is almost always empty, so you can always do a few laps for fun!

New College is a unique place for more reasons than one.  One of the most amazing aspects of New College, at least in my opinion, is the fact that funds are so readily available to help students finance all kinds of projects from different branches of student government.  At most other schools, student government is huge, but at New College, the tiny size of our representative bodies makes things like money for projects much more accessible.

The Student Allocations Committee (SAC) holds the most amount of money to give to students.  It is comprised of a few students from each year, and the positions are elected.  Every Sunday night students go to the SAC to ask for funding for student events.  Given the volatile nature of the economy today, the SAC is pretty tight with its money.  This means that in order to get funding, students must be thorough and present an itemized budget.  An example of a proposal brought to the SAC actually happened recently.  A friend of mine has put together a small New College flag football team, and he wanted jerseys for the team.  He went to the SAC for funding, and he got it.  Now our budding team looks far more legitimate when it plays against schools like State College of Florida (formerly known as Manatee Community College), USF Sarasota-Manatee, and Ringling College of Art and Design, all of which are nearby schools.  The SAC is the best place to look for money for non-academic projects.

If a student is looking for help with an academic project, he or she should go to the Council of Academic Affairs, which I am in charge of until my term ends in January 2011.  We give funding to students who apply twice a semester.  The only real rules when it comes to CAA funding are that a student cannot apply twice in the same semester and can never apply more than once for funding for the same project (although that is kind of vague).  Because the CAA has seriously limited funds, the key to getting money is to have a super awesome, well researched application.  Our process is more competitive than the SAC because we give out less money less often.  In order to apply for funds from the CAA, students must apply by a given date and must show up to an interview session where the Council clarifies points that were not clear on some applications.  This past weekend, the CAA allocated money for the first time of Spring 2010, and we gave away a total of $7500 to 36 students.  The CAA funds things like thesis research, ISP, and study abroad, although there are definitely more things that qualify for funding based on academic merit.  Although we can rarely fund projects in full, the CAA can definitely help students make a dent when it comes to the costs of their academic projects.

So there you have it! If you have any questions about this or anything else feel free to email me at kathleen.mcqueeney@ncf.edu.  This access to money is totally nonexistent at other schools, so remember that when you are thinking about coming to New College!

Hello all—

Working for the Tangent, our student newsmagazine, has some pretty neat perks.

The other night, my friend and colleague Alexis and I were locked inside College Hall (the large pink marble mansion you first see on tours of campus) to see if the building is haunted.

Seriously.

We were decked out with videocameras, film and digital cameras, voice recorders, and an electromagnetic frequency meter to see if there was any paranormal activity going on inside New College’s most famous location.

In the interests of full disclosure, I do not believe in the paranormal, but Alexis and I thought it would be interesting to see whether or not there would be anything worth noting in the building at night.  While we didn’t see anything, there is talk that Cook and Caples Halls are both haunted, so we may have to head over there next to see if anything…strange…happens.

If I suddenly disappear from the blog, you’ll know what happened.

If you have any questions about anything at all, ask away!

Cheers,
Casey

Thanks to my Fairy Tales of The Brothers Grimm class I have watched about 5 different versions of Snow White (not including the Disney one because we don’t watch those).  It’s amazing to see how tales that I read and treasured as a child have so much underlying meaning and purpose.  I hadn’t revisited these stories in many years, so reading them now is quite an experience because I see so much symbolism.  At some point I wondered how interesting would such class be but now I know that there is always a fresh way to look at everything, even if it seems childish.

Another class that’s extremely interesting is my City in American Literature class.  We get to read great works that depict American cities at different time periods and we also get to watch movies that do the same.  Just recently we watched Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” (1985), which was fresh and entertaining.  We explored the contrast between uptown and downtown New York City and its inhabitants.  In light of this film we have also watched Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” (1954), a timeless classic.  We compared both films and their depictions of life in the city as well as the theme of voyeurism.  We also connected our observations to our previous readings of Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” and Wharton’s “The House of Mirth.”

It’s a great idea to incorporate film and other forms of literature into college courses.  Some professors are hesitant to do this because they see it as a form of entertainment rather than learning, but the truth is that learning should be entertaining, and who’s to say that film and graphic novels aren’t part of literature anyway.  I’ve found it very refreshing to be able to take classes where the students have a say in what they want to explore.

Questions? Comments?

Email me! : daniela.rizzo@ncf.edu.

Readers—

I hope all is well, first and foremost.

I’m quite pleased right now as I found out today that I did quite well on the first exam I’ve taken this semester, which was in Macroeconomics.  For someone who is not very keen on mathematics, Iʼm really enjoying the class—perhaps because of my interest in political science.  Just don’t tell Kathleen that I was thinking the class was going to be straining!

Everything in my other classes is going very well, but this semester is a lot more reading-intensive than I thought it was going to be.  That’s not a bad thing, but it does cut down on my time to read and write for leisure—two of my big hobbies.  I did just get to finish What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, the memoirs of Japanese author Haruki Murakami.  If you like Murakami or books about running, you’ll enjoy the book as I did.  What sorts of books do you like to read?

Hopefully I’ll find some new books to read that aren’t so entrenched in political theory—feel free to send me any suggestions.

If you have any questions, ask away!

Cheers,
Casey