Colleges

David Liben-Nowell, associate professor of computer science, has been named a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and was invited to speak at the Fifth Indo-American Frontiers of Science symposium held in Agra, India, in early April 2013.

One of the best seasons in Carleton history ended one step short of the goal, as the NCAA Championships field was announced without including any Knights. Sophomore Kelsey Moede (Lake Oswego, Ore.) was on the outside looking in when selections were announced, as she represented the best chance of earning a national tournament bid.

Carleton College will host “5K for Hope,” a fun run/walk on Saturday, May 11 through the Carleton Cowling Arboretum with proceeds to benefit The Hope Center, whose mission is to create zero tolerance for sexual and domestic violence through Healing, Outreach, Prevention and Education. The Hope Center is located in Faribault, Minn., and serves all of Rice County. The 5K for Hope is open to all! Online registration is available.

Macbeth—considered one of Shakespeare's shortest, darkest, most psychological, and most popular tragedies—will be presented nightly at 7:30 p.m. on May 9, 10, and 11 in the Weitz Center for Creativity Theater. Produced in collaboration with the Department of Theater and Dance, this special production of Macbeth will be directed by Cinema and Media Studies major Daisuke Kawachi '13 (Pound Ridge, NY) and features Theater Arts/English major Emily Atlschul '13 (Encino, Calif.) and Theater Arts major Chris Densmore '13 (Williamstown, Mass.) as the tragic Scottish couple. This event is free and open to the public. Reservations are recommended and can be made online at https://carleton.tixato.com/buy.

Democratic strategist Bob Beckel and conservative columnist Cal Thomas, two political commentators with opposing ideological viewpoints, will jointly deliver Carleton College’s convocation address on Friday, May 10. Beckel and Thomas’s address, entitled “Common Ground” (named after their book of the same name) looks at ways that liberals and conservatives can work together to benefit the United States. Convocation is held from 10:50-11:50 a.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel, and it is free and open to the public. Convocations are also streamed live and can be viewed online at go.carleton.edu/convo/.

Students at St. Olaf College will soon be taking a few extra trips to the water fountain — and they couldn’t be more excited about it.

The student-run Take Back the Tap initiative, spearheaded by leaders from the St. Olaf Environmental Coalition, has collaborated with the college and its food-service provider, Bon Appetit, to dramatically reduce the sale and distribution of bottled water on campus.

"We are so excited about these changes on campus," says Cassie Paulsen '15, one of the Take Back the Tap leaders. "Not only is this a great example of our college putting ideals to action, but it is something the student body truly cares about."

Last year, after a campus-wide campaign by Take Back the Tap, the student body voted in support of eliminating the sale and distribution of bottled water on campus. The referendum passed with 86 percent of student voters supporting the idea.

Recognizing that the move supports the college’s sustainability efforts, administrators began working closely with Take Back the Tap leaders to dramatically reduce bottled water on campus.

While the college will retain the sale and distribution of bottled water at the St. Olaf Bookstore and at some catered events, the following changes will occur this spring, throughout the summer, and into the coming year:

• Beginning this summer, bottled water will no longer be available in the vending machines.

• Bon Appetit will remove bottled water from the bagged lunch line and for sale in the Cage.

• There will be no bottled water under the chairs of graduating seniors and faculty attending Commencement this year. There will instead be a common water source for all guests to use in filling their own water bottles.

• The college will begin a process of installing filtered water dispensers in bathrooms in residence halls and academic buildings on campus, with the intention of installing them in every bathroom as budgets and time allow.

Students involved in the Take Back the Tap campaign will continue to work toward finding alternatives to bottled water at other campus events as well. "We want to continue an education campaign for students, faculty, and staff about why bottled water is not a wise commodity for social justice, economic, and environmental reasons," says Sonja Helgeson '15.

Kelsey Moede and Taylor Wells fired seven-over par 79s to finish in a tie for fourth as Carleton wrapped its 2012-13 regular-season schedule at the Gustavus Quadrangular. Grace Gilmore added an 82, just missing a top-10 finish, as the Knights posted a 333 team score to finish fourth in the event. For Moede, it marked her final chance to make an impression on the NCAA selection committee in advance of tomorrow's national tournament announcement.

Carleton College alumna Milanda Landis ’12 has recently finished a prestigious arts management internship at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.  From January to April of this year, Landis served as the Graphic Design Intern for advertising at the DeVos Institute of Arts Management at the Kennedy Center.

As you may or may not be aware, you have been robbed. Over the last few weeks and months, there have been a string of thefts from the vending machines on campus. While to those involved this may seem trivial, the implications are far-reaching and have significant consequences for everyone on campus.

Everyone has heard the adage “you are what you eat,” but our personal food choices do more than shape our health, they shape the global food system, and by extension society. Furthermore, Carleton is what Carleton eats, and as an institution that feeds hundreds of people everyday, the choices Carleton makes about where to acquire its food can have real impact.

I’m in Italy, therefore I must write an article about travel.  To be honest I never used to like travel, in fact you could say I actively disliked it.  I was a pretty pretentious preteen and the thought of being dragged off to another city (much less country) was absolutely silly when I had a perfectly capable brain that functioned quite well in my hometown.

They’ve been hiding underground for 17 years, sucking sap and maturing. Now, they are digging tunnels through the dirt toward the surface. Soon, they will be swarming by the billions across the East Coast making a 90-decibel buzz. What, you ask? Some are calling it Swarmageddon. You might have heard of it as the re-emergence of the 17-year cicada known as the Magicicada.

Avery and Quinn are both students at Carleton, participating in a diverse array of extracurricular activities that round out their academic experiences. This morning, Avery and Quinn went to the library to finish their joint project for their Political Science class.

A few weeks ago I wrote a column for prospective students apologizing for the weather and explaining that it isn’t normally like this in Minnesota. Well, Minnesota, I’m done apologizing for you. As I write this, there is four inches of snow on the ground outside, delivered courtesy of a snowstorm…yesterday. On Wednesday, May 1.

While the Carleton College men’s track and field team won only two of the 17 events in this year’s Rolex Classic against St. Olaf College, the Knights claimed victory in the meet. As a tradition, at the end of the day, the teams pick a random event. The school that won that event wins the meet.

The Carleton College men’s tennis team closed the regular season with a 7-2 triumph over the University of St. Thomas in a matchup of regionally-ranked squads. The victory locked up the No. 2 seed and the coveted first-round bye for the upcoming MIAC Playoffs. This is the 11th consecutive season that the Knights have posted a top-2 finish in the conference standings.

Kaitlin Bagley ‘14 had five hits on the day, and Keelin Davis ‘16 tossed another gem as the Carleton College softball team split its third straight doubleheader. Host Hamline University prevailed in game one, 5-3, but Davis recorded her first collegiate shutout, 2-0, in the nightcap.

Claire Spencer ‘16 won her seventh consecutive singles match and closed the MIAC regular season with an unblemished 10-0 record in conference contests as the Carleton College women’s tennis team defeated St. Olaf College by a 7-2 margin. The match was moved to the Owatonna Tennis Center due to wet weather.

Jeff Dsida ‘14 set the tone today for the Carleton College baseball squad (12-14, 2-8 MIAC), homering to straightaway centerfield on the first pitch of the Knights’ first turn at bat. Carleton went on to sweep the Bethel University Royals (19-10, 6-6 MIAC) by scores of 5-4 and 8-4 to pick up their first conference victories of the season.

After a yearlong hiatus, C.A.N.O.E. House will return to campus for the 2013/2014 academic year to continue its long tradition of leading and facilitating outdoor trips for the Carleton community.