Ben Casnocha CMC '11 was in the Providencia neighborhood of Santiago, Chile when the 8.8 earthquake struck. Excerpts below, but you can read the whole post over at his blog.
At 3:34 AM I awoke to my entire apartment shaking violently. My bed creaked and I heard a vase of flowers in my kitchen fall over. I did not mentally process or consciously think of anything, not even "earthquake," but I had an instinct to walk over to my desk and grab my laptop. [I'm not what it says that my first thought was to protect my laptop, but there you go.] Propped up on a stand I feared it would fall over the desk and break, and indeed it was going to do so shortly had I not grabbed it. I stood clutching my laptop. A sliding French style door that separates my living room / desk area from bedroom moved and hit me, so I backed up and leaned against the wall for support. The shaking continued for a bit more time and then stopped and everything was silent and dark. The power had gone out in my building so all white noise and power lights: gone. I heard no screams or sounds or anything. Just total black silence.
...
In the late afternoon, I walked around my neighborhood a bit more. The sky was a gray haze from a supposed chemical fire that had started downtown. Nevertheless, I was amazed at the tranquility of Santiago. Public buses full of people passed by. Cars drove calmly. People chatting on the streets. I ate dinner at my favorite local restaurant and it was full of people. Much of the rubble and glass I had seen earlier had already been picked up. The scene was such a contrast from the images on TV. I know what I saw was a million times better than what the scene is like more north in Santiago, or especially in Concepción and along the coast. Still it's a reminder that it's hard to generalize about a situation in an entire country, let alone in one city.
Rainbow Destroyer and its embedded blog has been a crashpad for the music of a lot of Pitzer kids since August 2008. It's home to a lot of the bands you should know: Let's Go Guantanamo, Fitness, Death by Panda, etc. etc. Click through to all its parter sites/musicians/bands for some pretty cool stuff. Below is a behind-the-scenes look at a Rainbow Destroyer music video, shot by Jeff Katz '10.
Next, Shmul Howls is the photography of Sam Monkarsh '10 aka SAMUEL WOLF MONKARSH, who makes the world look gritty and cool.
Below are some selections (I avoided ones with Pitzer faces, but if you click through to his blog you'll see people you know).
Before starting class in Broad Center this afternoon, Senate Secretary Buddy Bennett and I noticed that there was no candy in the upstairs candy bowl. At 6:30 pm I sent the following email to the President's office:
President Trombley,
Many of my readers and Pitzer students on all sides of the recent constitutional debate have commented on the lack of candy in the upstairs bowl in Broad Center. Are there currently plans to replenish the candy or is this an effect of the recession?
Thank you,
Amy Jasper
Pitzer College 2010
President Trombley responded at 7:47 pm:
Dear Amy,
No worries. I ran to the market and bought candy, topped off the fish tank, and spruced up the lobby. All are welcome to visit the president's office.
All Best,
Laura Trombley
I have not yet been to Broad Center to verify President Trombley's claims but I am delighted at the response.
It is my pleasure to share with you that Sol Estin ’10 has been named a Best Delegate at the 2010 Harvard National Model United Nations and Alex Friedlander Moore ’10 has been named to the Teach for America Corps.
Sol was named a Best Delegate for his representation of Costa Rica in the United Nations Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean Committee. He is a political studies major and his advisor, Tom Ilgen, is also Pitzer’s Model United Nations team’s faculty advisor.
Alex is a psychology major whose advisor is Mita Banerjee. After training in the summer, Alex will be assigned to an elementary school in the Mississippi Delta in the fall. Teach for America assignments are awarded to outstanding recent college graduates who commit to teaching for two years in urban and rural public schools.
This is Katie Ferrara '10 at the recent "Talent Night" in the Grove House, with Kellen Wohl ’13 on piano, Sophie Beiers ’13 on violin, and Alycia Lang ’13 with accompanying vocals. Thanks, commenter Brian!
Although results haven't been released online yet, Mimi Krumholz '12 was seated in Senate last Sunday as the sophomore class representative. She beat out Hale Shaw in the online election two weeks ago.
"I hope to represent sophomores and reflect the quality of our class," says Krumholz. "But not the horrible smell."
Although I'm loathe to miss another mariachi performance, I'm at home helping my parents with something. Somebody take notes/pictures/video and pass them along!
11 days after ballots were counted and unofficial results for the constitution were released, there has been no mention of who won the race for sophomore class representative. What's going on here?
Not from me, but from Roxy Cruz '09, who is on a Fulbright Fellowship in Nepal. She just updated her blog with tales of her fascinating life in Kathmandu. Those of you with Pitzer study abroad programs in your future should give it a read; those with Nepal in your future should commit it to memory.
But Shivaratri was the most intense time and atmosphere there that I have experienced. Throngs of people, music, smoke, games, fires, pujas, bajaans, chillums, ganja, prasad and excitement from every corner of everywhere. Shivaratri lacked the whole commercial-consumer-goat-sacrificing-new-appliance-buying atmosphere that Dasain had. It was refreshing. I think it is by far the most fun and lively holiday I have experienced yet.
As Sadhus come to stay there beginning a week before the actual night of Shiva, I also began my daily visits to Pashupati a week early. I talked with Sadhus (sometimes called Babas) from all over Nepal and India. We sang songs in bajaans, did puja, and ate prasad in honor of Shiva. The Sadhus that spend time in the Himalayas had incredible stories and oral maps of sacred lakes and temples to share with me. Many gave me advice on sleeping, eating, and my lifestyle in general. One even told me Yoga shuru garnu parchha, that I needed to start doing Yoga because he could see my body aging too quickly.
From her blog's inaugural post:
By in it, I mean life in Kathmandu:
Constant nonstop traffic. People, cars, buses, microbuses, taxis, tuk tuks, rikshaws, motorcyles, scooters, bicycles, dogs and cows moving in masses together through both big and tiny streets. Paved streets, unpaved streets, trash, burning trash, holes.
Cows blocking traffic. Cows walking in traffic and obeying traffic signs. Cows sitting in trash, eating trash. The saddest looking dogs. Happy dogs. Hungry dogs. Temples and stupas every few blocks filled with people doing puja (Hindu worship). Wearing face masks to avoid inhaling exhaust fumes from the polluted air. Buddhist prayer flags. Women in beautiful saris and brightly colored kurta surhwals.
Young girls in shorts and tank tops. Old women out of the 8th century squinting their eyes as they make their way through traffic. Lepers laying on the sidewalk, begging for money. Little kids on the sidewalk, begging for money. Women from India walking around in tourist infested Thamel holding babies, asking you to buy them milk for their child just so that they can immediately return the milk for rupees. Hard stares from some of the most beautiful faces I have ever seen.
Haggling with taxi drivers. Haggling with street vendors. Haggling with store owners. Haggling. Watching awkward tourists walk around in expensive gear and speaking loudly to Nepalis in english, as if speaking louder will make themselves better understood. Watching those Nepalis understand those tourists perfectly, and then speaking back to them in perfect english in an even voice. The occasional monkey crawling on a building, tree, or stoplight.
The occasional monkey stealing Momos (Tibetan dumplings) right off my plate. Little Tibetan kids playing soccer in between the monks circling Boudhanath. Sadhus (Hindu holy men) posing for pictures in Pashupatinath. Bodies burning at the funeral pyres at Pashupati, and then the remains pushed into the Bagmati river.
A hillside near the 10 Freeway and Highway 57 in Pomona collapsed Thursday, shutting down two interchanges as dirt and large rocks tumbled into traffic lanes, authorities said.
Boulders were reported sliding down the hillside about 8:30 a.m. near the westbound 10 Freeway transition to northbound Highway 57, and a light pole was lying in the road, said California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos.
Part of Highway 71 to the northbound Highway 57 also was closed.
Caltrans crews were en route to the scene. Villalobos did not know when the roads would be reopened.
[Updated at 10:42 a.m.: CHP officials said the interchanges will remain closed for up to a week while crews work to repair the sinkhole and clean up the debris.]
Investigators were trying to determine what triggered the slide.
According to the meeting minutes recorded by Abi Darin '10, all five Executive Board members were absent from last Sunday's Senate meeting. Only Communications Secretary Leah Kahn gave notice that she wouldn't be attending. Abi's minutes [blogger's emphasis supplied]:
Student Senate currently meets at Sunday at 6:30 pm in the Founders room above the d-hall.
We appoint Rob Ramlow-Sachs as Chair for the evening of February 14, 2010. A day for the lovers. Since Rob is a love symbol (lover of the outdoors) for Pitzer College, he was the obvious choice for a makeshift chair person for the evening.
Motion has been passed to move the budgetary requests to the front of the meeting.
HMC Two300 2010 Party on March 6, 2010. Ask for $300. Approved $300.
Sophy is coming to ask for the third time for monetary aid for the Super Mash Bros/ SAC birthday party for February 27, 2010. Now asking for $1200. Sean makes a new motion that we should change it from $400 to $1200. Will thinks Sophy has suffered enough, and we should approve $1200 today. Approve $1200 for Super Mash Bros/ SAC birthday.
What's happening on your campus this week?
5-C social chair: this coming weekend there is a CMC RAVE (Flauster Damus?)
APC: met at 8am, Sean forgot everything that happened. Director of local global studies position was discussed. Talks of creating an Ad-Hoc.
SAC: says come join us at 9 PM in the G-H.
PAct: Trips Medieval Times and Chinatown for the Chinese new year.
NRS: Meeting every other Tuesday, throwing a staff luncheon for the 10th of March. April 15, 2010 for a NRS prom.
***Brief interruption by the 5-C Mariachi Band. Happy Valentine’s Day everybody. That includes the lovers, the haters, and the fools. Dancing ensues. Senate just got about 100% more entertaining and pleasant. Motion for musical interruptions every week?
Holden Hall Council: meets on Monday at 7pm
Campus life: met on Thursday
FEC: talked about the global local position
Senior Class: meeting on Monday at unidentified time.
Junior Class: meets on Thursday, party on March 26, 2010. From 7-10.
OA: had a lot of applications, several proposed trips, keep proposing. Saturday afternoon is CPR.
Aesthetic committee: new benches will be for announcement painting purposes. (like walker wall)
New Dorms: got approved painting abilities.
Mead hall: is having some attendance issues, COME TO MEAD HALL COUNCIL.
WELCOME NEW SENATORS. Hazing ensues.
Senate Items
Sean motions to create an Ad-Hoc to reach out to the Senators that are not here this week and absent in previous weeks. Question if missing Senators are planning to resign or had alternative reasons for not showing up to Student Senate.
Sean, Nick, Megan, Liz, Charles, Marie Claire, Alex want to be on this proposed ad-hoc.
Megan recommends we reform senate. We talk about this collectively for 7 minutes.
Most people are looking to move forward, perchance by talking to the student body instead of just the senate. Megan recommends a Senate Retreat 4pm Thursday. Marie Claire recommends that we have the retreat next Sunday during senate.
Motion to add this lengthy discussion to the agenda next week. We ayed it.
Motion to only have this discussion at Senate next week. Approved. Abi will send out an e-mail asking students to solicit input on Senate, not on budget requests. This will include requesting agenda items. Nick brings up the by-laws and the constitution and the ad-hoc to amend these. The biggest issue was with appointments and elections. We decide to not put this on the Agenda for next week.
Sean motions to put Marie Claire and Megan in charge of creating the agenda for next week. Motion passes.
THE END.
Expect an email about senate agenda for next week. Happy Valentine's Day Pitzer College. Stay Classy.
What did you think of this whole Senate drama? How crazy was "Mudd Goes Madd"? Why is Student-talk so quiet right now? Talk about anything you want, unmoderated, from now until Monday morning.
I'll be in Boston until Sunday night, so besides the random HNMUN-related post/picture, Pitzer Uncovered is on a break. I'll post an open thread that anyone can comment on later today. Consider it your digital "free wall".
While the results of other elections will be forthcoming this week, I am able to report on the status of the constitutional change on the ballot:
The proposed constitution was defeated by a margin of 330 to 148. There were between 510 and 487 votes (depending on how duplicate votes and other abnormalities are counted) in the election, although not all who participated in the election voted on the constitutional change.
Especially as these are unofficial results, I will not hesitate to express a few personal sentiments. Many students at Pitzer expect more from their student government, and came to Pitzer with hopes that have yet to be met. We are by no means back to where we started in the process of attempting to bridge the gap between our expectations and reality. I am truly impressed by the amount of energy and time that students have put into attempting to create this reality; and, I am proud to think that Pitzer is one of the few institutions where students make manifest their commitment to the school by attempting to make it reflect their wants. I hope that the attached essay (Student Essay - The Political History of Pitzer College, 1988) is pleasurable reading for those who have already invested so much in trying to meet expectation with reality.
Happy Travels,
--
Buddy Bennett
Pitzer College c/o 2011
Student Government Secretary
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