Notes & News - Week of November 10th, 2013

November 10, 2013

confirm: baraboo

MASTER’S PIECES

Good evening, fellow travelers. There are two places full of wonderful hiking trails that are a short ride away, and that you should know about. One is Sleeping Giant state park out in Hamden. The other is the extraordinary Westwoods complex, part of a land trust and state forest in Guilford. Today, I was out at Westwoods with our TD operations manager Bob Kennedy. For my money (and the cost happens to be zero), this is the number one best way to take a break from the relentless pace at Yale: connecting with an ecological system that’s operating on the million year time scale rather than the countdown to next midterm. Meanwhile, here’s what’s ahead this week as we get braced for next week and The Game:

·         Saturday, November 16, 11:30 am to 4:45 pm – Free TD Paintball Trip !!  Signup deadline is Wednesday at 8 pm.   This note is from Mott Woolley, Timothy Dwight’s College Council: “We have planned the ultimate community building exercise: Paintball! Join us this Saturday (November 16) as we head off campus for a few hours to enjoy the outdoors and the sport of paintball. A bus with a capacity for 40 people will depart from TD at 11:30 am; returning before 5:00 pm. As spots are limited, please enter the sign up lottery here by 8 pm on Wednesday: https://yalesurvey.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_86r5UMtSGGEt6Sx.  Direct questions to Ben.Ackerman@yale.edu.

Must close with a shout-out to Kellen Svetov and his merry TD SAC crew who planned and pulled off the annual TD Screw on Friday night. Dancing is maybe as important in my personal cosmological hierarchy of goods as hiking. Thanks to SAC for making it happen.

TIMOTHY DWIGHT

Deadline:  November 30.  For those who plan to live off campus in spring term, the last day to relinquish spring-term housing without incurring a fine.  See Dean Loge for the process.  [Relinquishing housing is done automatically by the registrar for students approved for study abroad in spring term].

The University will observe Veterans Day on Monday, November 11, with a ceremony on Beinecke plaza at 12:30 p.m. The ceremony will include remarks from Yale faculty and students, including those of Alexander Hawke, BK ‘14, and Sarah Barbo, FES ‘14, SOM ‘14, and the traditional laying of a wreath in front of the alumni war memorial.  The Veterans Day Brass Ensemble will offer a musical salute to each of the nation’s five service branches. Other School of Music and Graduate School students will provide a choral backdrop for the laying of the wreath.  Watch the ceremony live on Yale’s YouTube channel, youtube.com/yale

The TD Mellon Senior Forum will meet this Tuesday, Nov.12 at 5:30 over dinner at the Master’s House.  Tuesday’s presenters will be Ifeanyi Awachie, who will speak about her novel-in-progress; Cory Combs will speak on “Outer Limits: Detecting Earth-like Planets in the Kepler Field”; and Christian Williams will present the research she has been conducting for the Department of Homeland Security regarding US Customs and Border Protection.

A Message from TD Writing Coach, Diane Charney:  “Even if the Scheduler looks full, once you have registered at the writing center web site, feel free to contact me directly if you would like to come in. There can be cancellations, and in any case, I will do my best to make time for you.  First timers are always welcome. Best, diane.charney@yale.edu

TD Study Abroad Peer Advisers: Margaret Coons SM ’14 and I will be in the TD Common Room from 5-7pm tomorrow Monday November 11th to answer any and all questions about study abroad and/or internship opportunities.

Relay for Life’s Kickoff Event  Relay for Life: World Tour it’s never too early to start fighting cancer across the globe. So join the Kickoff event on Friday, November 15th at Dwight Hall from 3-5 pm. https://www.facebook.com/events/403534366440661/?notif_t=plan_user_invited .  Stop by and eat free food from around the world, play games, have fun, see performances from different cultural groups, sign up for Relay for Life, and contribute to the fight against cancer around the world! In accordance with this year’s theme, we will be focusing on diversity and experiences with cancer from across the globe–and get a taste of these different cultures and cancer experiences at Kickoff.

 SOPHOMORES

Sophomore Web Site:  www.yale.edu/sophomore or http://sophomore.yalecollege.yale.edu

The Mellon Mays and Bouchet Fellowships aim to increase the number of minority students and others with a demonstrated commitment to eradicating racial disparities who will pursue PhDs and subsequent careers in academia. The Fellowships are open to sophomores interested in teaching and research at the college and university level. Those interested are encouraged to attend the November 12th Information Session: SSS 410, 1 Prospect Street, 5:30-7:00 (Dinner will be served). For more information contact:

Dean Saveena Dhall, Director of Mellon Mays and Bouchet Fellowships (saveena.dhall@yale.edu) and Tyler Rogers, Coordinator of Mellon Mays and Bouchet Fellowships (tyler.rogers@yale.edu). Additional information and Application forms at:http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/edward-bouchet-undergraduate-fellowship-program ; http://yalecollege.yale.edu/content/mellon-mays-undergraduate-fellowship-program

Up-coming information meetings about majors:

English. Monday, November 11 at 5:30 p.m. We will gather to talk about the English major: why students love it, what you’ll learn, what our majors do after graduation, and how to explain the market value of a humanities major to any skeptical parents.  Pizza from BAR, the DUS, Associate DUS, Director of Creative Writing, and brilliant, friendly, experienced current English majors will be on hand. LC 211. 

Geology and Geophysics. Tuesday, November 12 at 6:00 p.m. Prospective G&G majors are invited to a sophomore dinner with Professor David Evans (DUS).  Berkeley College dining hall.

International and Area Studies. Tuesday, November 12 from 4:30-6:30 p.m.  The MacMillan Center is hosting a Sophomore Open House on November 12th, from 4:30-6:30pm in the Luce Hall Common Room , located at 34 Hillhouse Avenue.  This session will provide an opportunity for Sophomore students who are interested in majoring in International and Area Studies in some capacity, or in learning more about our many councils and programs. Sophomores are encouraged to stop by for more information and to speak directly with faculty members and current students about our programs.  Pizza and soda will be provided.  For more information, please visit:http://sophomore.yalecollege.yale.edu/departmental-meetings-and-placement and http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/index.htm

Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Wednesday, November 13 at 7:30 p.m. WGSS will hold a dinner for prospective majors from the classes of 2017 and 2016.  WLH 309.

Fall 2013 One-on-One Sessions, by Appointment with the DUS

  • Archeological Studies
  • African Studies 
  • Art 
  • Computer Science and joint majors (Computer Science, Computer Science and Mathematics, Computer Science and Psychology, Computing and the Arts, or Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)
  • Economics, and Economics & Mathematics
  • Modern Middle East Studies
  • Religious Studies
  • Russian, and Russian and East European Studies

- See more at: http://sophomore.yalecollege.yale.edu/departmental-meetings-and-placement

SUMMER

CIPE Summer Opportunities Fair:  Friday, November 15, 2:30-4:30pm, CIPE, 55 Whitney, Third Floor.  Explore your options for summer and beyond. Learn about internship, study, and funding opportunities in the U.S. and abroad. Chat with staff and peer advisers from Undergraduate Career Services, Study Abroad, Yale in London, Yale Summer Session, and Fellowship Programs to find the experiences that are right for you. Enjoy some snacks and enter to win raffle prizes. 

Start Up Fair
Thursday, November 14, 2:00-4:00pm, Center for Engineering Innovation and Design, 15 Prospect Street
Meet with recruiters from startups looking to fill summer internship and full-time opportunities.  Visit the UCS Calendar of Events for a full list of upcoming events. Log in to Yale UCS Symplicity under Events/Employer Information Sessions to RSVP

2013 Global Health Summer Experiences Showcase

Wednesday, November 13th at 4:30pm

CEID Lecture Hall (Center for Engineering Innovation and Design), 15 Prospect Street

STUDY ABROAD

TD Study Abroad Peer Advisers: Margaret Coons SM ’14 and I will be in the TD Common Room from 5-7pm tomorrow Monday November 11th to answer any and all questions about study abroad and/or internship opportunities.

SENIORS

Working in the U.S. after Graduation Workshop for International Students
Monday, November 11, 4:00-5:30pm, Davies Auditorium, Becton Center, 15 Prospect Street
The presentation will be led by Ron Klasko, an immigration attorney. 

Fellowships for Seniors Information Session

Wednesday, November 13th  at 3:00pm

CIPE, 55 Whitney Avenue, room 305

Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Arts Award Campus deadline EXTENDED: November 20, 2013, 3pm Supports up to three years of graduate study in the performing arts, fine arts, or creative writing at an institution in the US or abroad. Eligible: Graduating seniors who have demonstrated financial need (US citizenship not required) www.jkcf.org/scholarships/graduate-scholarships/graduate-arts-award/  

NOTES

The cool evening beckoned me.  I took a walk across the Green.  No one else was crossing the Green.  The park benches are empty. The surfaces of the city and Old Campus cast their dim and bright lights on the surfaces of the walks and grass and trees. As I circled back toward TD, I crossed the parquet of bricks under the archway at Hendrie Hall and caught the reflected light off the tarmac of the parking lot.  It is a Sunday night like so many on a night before a week of classes, tests, and assignments. Even so, the evening light renews the surface of things.

I know there is more than surface light. Although each of us has a surface, bright on one evening and dim on another, each of us like our tall Ginkgo also has much below that surface.  It is what is below that sustains us, hidden as it usually is, and private. The roots of the Ginkgo spread below the surface and out of our view but are no less crucial for that. I imagine the light on the surface this evening seeps secretly into the grass and into the ground, down, and into. The cool evening may show its surface but leaves the rest to my imagination and divining.

We all understand what we know to be true: Surface is surface only.  It is obvious that we see only what we see. It is learning that enables us to know and understand what we cannot see merely. I know the Ginkgo, for instance, has roots that drive deep and out even as his yellow leaves approach their time in this season. It is the idea of Ginkgo, the whole and complete Ginkgo that sustains Ginkgo-ness. It is the idea that each of us has of a self-ness that sustains our stand both on and below the surface of who we are and who we might be.

That idea may suggest perfection, but each of us knows that imperfection is the nature of our diurnal and nocturnal selves as others can and cannot see us. What to do? I suggest we acknowledge to others that we understand that more is below the surface. I suggest we acknowledge to ourselves that what is below our surface is what sustains us – hidden though it may be to others, deeper than what we show or reveal. And we might give to others the benefit of the doubt: we see what we see but we must set out to understand.

As I re-entered the TD gate onto our stone walkway, the shimmer of the evening was plain on the grass and stones of the courtyard. And behind the surface of the dark or bright windows reside our imperfect selves, working to divine some idea of who we are and who we might be. Sunday nights have something sacred and private about them.   

Dean Loge