Author Archive
Monday, November 17th, 2008
Williams hosts Lewis, Clyburn, Patrick and others
This is a pretty unbelievable get for a college like Williams:
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and 10 members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) will join in a discussion of “Race and the New Congress” on Monday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m. in Chapin Hall on the Williams College campus. The event, to be moderated by [...]
60 Comments » - Posted in Politics by Ronit
Friday, November 14th, 2008
Raising prices, now? You must be joking
Much of the recent discussion about the impact of financial losses on college endowments has focused on ways in which colleges can make up the shortfall. Since no one really likes to contemplate layoffs and cutbacks, most of the suggestions tossed around in forums both high (the pages of the NYT) and low (EphBlog threads) [...]
22 Comments » - Posted in Endowment, Finance, Financial Aid by Ronit
Saturday, November 1st, 2008
College Newspapers go 63-1 for Obama
And yet, the Record is nowhere to be seen on the list. What’s the matter, Record editorial board? Afraid of reprisals from David Kane should you declare yourself to be in the tank?
9 Comments » - Posted in 1 by Ronit
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
Predicting the Rate Cut
The Federal Open Market Committee, which began its meeting at 2 p.m. today, will announce its interest-rate decision at 2:15 p.m, or just about 25 minutes from now, New York time. According to Bloomberg News, 43 out of 69 economists surveyed forecast a half- point reduction from the current 1.5 percent rate, 18 economists expect [...]
10 Comments » - Posted in Finance by Ronit
Friday, October 24th, 2008
Not Roseman
There, that’s over. Now we can lay off the public character assassination until the next Williams staff member starts a job search.
9 Comments » - Posted in 1 by Ronit
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
True maverick: Arne Carlson ‘57
From Minnesota Public Radio:
There’s plenty of buzz in Minnesota’s political circles today about former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson endorsing Barack Obama. But the move isn’t terribly surprising.
Carlson is a more traditional East Coast Republican — a Williams College educated intellectual with an appreciation of both social service and fiscal conservatism — a progressive Republican. That’s the [...]
28 Comments » - Posted in Alumni, Eph Pundit, Ephs in Politics by Ronit
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Eph Word of the Day: Palinode
From A.Word.A.Day at Wordsmith.org:
palinode
PRONUNCIATION:
(PAL-uh-noad)
MEANING:
noun: A poem in which the author retracts something said in an earlier poem.
ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek palinoidia, from palin (again) + oide (song). It’s the same palin that shows up in the word palindrome…
NOTES:
The illustrator and humorist Gelett Burgess (1866-1951) once wrote a poem called The Purple Cow:
I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope [...]
6 Comments » - Posted in Alcohol, Alumni, Arts, Blather, Drinking in the Berkshires, Eph Pundit, Purple Cow, Williams History by Ronit
Monday, October 20th, 2008
Electoral vote prediction
Now that 7-11 has gotten in on the electoral prediction game, I suggest that the time has come for EphBlog to jump on the bandwagon, because, hey, no matter how much you people hate Eph Pundit, it’s better than ungrounded rants about Bolin fellowships, no? We did this four years ago on WSO, and, though [...]
40 Comments » - Posted in Eph Pundit by Ronit
Friday, October 17th, 2008
Simon v. Skelos
Most interesting race featuring an Eph this election cycle? Not Chris Murphy’s re-election bid in CT-05; his seat should be safe in a year when Democrats look set to control every single House seat from New England. Instead, I would keep an eye on the race for New York State’s 9th Senate District, where Roy [...]
8 Comments » - Posted in Alumni, Chris Murphy '96, Eph Pundit, Ephs in Politics by Ronit
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
In Memoriam: Francis Sayre ‘37
From the New York Times:
The Very Rev. Francis B. Sayre Jr., who in his 27 years as dean of the National Cathedral in Washington raised his sonorous voice against McCarthyism, segregation, poverty and the Vietnam War while presiding over construction of the cathedral’s majestic Gloria in Excelsis Tower, died Oct. 3 at his home on [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in Alumni, In Memoriam by Ronit
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
Bethany McLean ‘92 on Colbert
Not one of Stephen’s better interviews. Bethany seems at times to be speaking to a kindergartener.
No Comments » - Posted in Alumni, Bethany McLean '92, Finance by Ronit
Thursday, October 9th, 2008
This recession thing is starting to get out of hand
Forget about unemployment numbers or new home starts or LIBOR. Henry Blodget (formerly an analyst at Merrill Lynch (formerly an investment bank)), posts some seriously troubling news:
ERIN BURNETT IS CUTTING BACK ON SPENDING
Okay, now try not to panic. Although this proves that the bailout and the coordinated central bank rate cuts have been abject failures, [...]
8 Comments » - Posted in Alumni, Erin Burnett '98, Finance, The end of the world as we know it by Ronit
Thursday, September 25th, 2008
Bill Bennett ‘65 Wins Coveted Award
(This gets at the argument started by Frank here. One of the perils of a Williams education is that you can never convincingly be one of those mythic “real people”. You will end up looking like a giant phony if you even try.)
6 Comments » - Posted in Alumni, Eph Pundit by Ronit
Monday, September 22nd, 2008
Endowment Return: -5%
Curious how the Williams endowment is doing? David asked about this earlier, and even came up with a forecast, but now we have some actual numbers. The Record reports, in an annoyingly vague fashion, that the total value of the endowment dropped 5% between June, 2007 and June, 2008. There is no information at all as to [...]
7 Comments » - Posted in Collette Chilton, Endowment, Finance by Ronit
Saturday, September 20th, 2008
David Foster Wallace on the liberal arts
From a commencement address given at Kenyon in 2005:
Probably the most dangerous thing about college education, at least in my own case, is that it enables my tendency to over-intellectualize stuff, to get lost in abstract arguments inside my head instead of simply paying attention to what’s going on right in front of me. Paying [...]
34 Comments » - Posted in Advice to Undergraduates, In Memoriam by Ronit
Tuesday, September 16th, 2008
Jon Stewart recapitulates last 2 weeks of EphBlog comments
Now can we please move on to more important things? Thanks.
8 Comments » - Posted in Eph Pundit by Ronit
Sunday, September 14th, 2008
Death of a Bank
Lehman Hall on the Williams campus is named after Herbert H. Lehman ‘99, the son of Meyer Lehman, who, along with his brothers Emmanuel and Henry, founded Lehman Brothers. The building bearing the Lehman name was completed in 1928, at the very height of a prolonged stock market boom. The Lehman Community Service Council is also, [...]
24 Comments » - Posted in Alumni, Blather, Eph Pundit, Ephs in Politics, Williams History by Ronit
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008
Eph Pundits: Get off your butts
In recent threads, we have expended much energy and clogged up the EphBlog tubes with hundreds of back-and-forth comments on the election. Some commenters have been actively donating to their candidate. But money alone will not be enough - ultimately, this election will be won through organization and ground game.
Clearly, you people have a lot [...]
15 Comments » - Posted in Eph Pundit by Ronit
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
Stetson-Sawyer Pictures
Go here. Looks like construction is complete.
5 Comments » - Posted in Construction, Photo IDs by Ronit
Tuesday, August 19th, 2008
After-School Fun
Good to see an idea from Williams infiltrate the University of North Carolina:
Last year, graduate student and teaching assistant David Ticehurst had a few students from his Astronomy 101 class over for dinner.
Ticehurst went out and got barbecue, and he and his students discussed the stars until late in the evening.
He thought it was such [...]
15 Comments » - Posted in Alumni, Drinking in the Berkshires, EphCOI by Ronit
Friday, August 8th, 2008
NEWSFLASH: MUST CREDIT EPHBLOG
So, yeah, David Kane was right all along. For previous discussion, see here and here. In other news, Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) still stalks Senate bathrooms, Senator David Vitter (R-LA) still enjoys wearing adult diapers during his visits to DC-area brothels, and the US government still authorizes torture. But let’s just go ahead and crucify [...]
14 Comments » - Posted in Jay McInerney '76 by Ronit
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
Study Challenges David Kane’s Entire Worldview
From Inside Higher Ed:
A major new study of the political correctness of faculty members may challenge assumptions all around. For those who deny that there is an identifiable group of PC professors, the study says that there is in fact a group with consistently common perspectives, largely based on their views of discrimination (that it [...]
11 Comments » - Posted in Academia, General, Blather by Ronit
Friday, July 25th, 2008
They were leaders
Remembering the end of the Korean war:
July 27 is not one of those days that stirs the American soul like Dec. 7, July 4 or June 6.
We have so many memorable days in our history that forgiveness is appropriate if you can’t recall that on that day in 1953, the guns fell silent along the [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Alumni, In Memoriam by Ronit
Thursday, July 24th, 2008
Art Mafia, Cleveland Chapter
Congratulations to C. Griffith Mann ‘91:
The Cleveland Museum of Art appointed C. Griffith Mann as chief curator. The medieval art historian, noted for skill in organizing exhibits and expanding access to museum collections, will begin his new duties at the museum in early September. Mann arrives in the midst of the largest renovation and expansion [...]
9 Comments » - Posted in Arts by Ronit
Friday, July 18th, 2008
Theater in the Berkshires
Thanks to Larry George for pointing out this article in today’s New York Times; it features the WTF as well as a number of smaller, less well known theater festivals taking place in the Berkshires this summer.
Any students spending the summer in Williamstown should know that WTF student rush tickets are available beginning at 6 [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in 1 by Ronit
Wednesday, July 16th, 2008
Economist visits Williamstown
The Economist’s “Correspondent’s Diary” this week features a loving profile of the arts in the Berkshires, written by an (unnamed?) Williams alumnus and former inhabitant of the Greylock quad. It will be updated daily through the end of the week. Enjoy:
An outsider in the galleries: Looking over what the arts have wrought on the mill-towns [...]
6 Comments » - Posted in Arts by Ronit
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
Fear and smear: Chris Murphy ‘96 update
The Great Orange Satan reports on how this year’s race for Connecticut’s 5th District is shaping up:
The Fifth is Connecticut’s least Democratic district (D+3.7). Republican Nancy Johnson represented the area for 24 years until 2006, when she was defeated by Democrat Chris Murphy.
Murphy, 34, has had a remarkable record of political success, particularly for such [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in Alumni, Chris Murphy '96 by Ronit
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
Erika Iverson ‘94 in “The Witlings” by Frances Burney
Of interest:
Dear New York Ephs–
My apologies to anyone who is getting this twice– just trying to spread the word about my latest project– a New York premiere of a play written in 1779 by Frances Burney. Her writing for the stage was censored in her own time, but now it is brought for the first [...]
No Comments » - Posted in 1 by Ronit
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
Reasons not to let dkane teach a Winter Study, pt. 1
He might be victimized by the plague of intolerance and harassment against junior lecturers.
9 Comments » - Posted in Academia, General, ECON 18 by Ronit
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
How to respond to a Tom Friedman appearance
Notorious windbag and NYTimes columnist (yes, I realize that’s redundant) Thomas Friedman has a fond relationship with Williams College, appearing multiple times over the last few years, even delivering the commencement address in 2005. I can’t find a transcript of that address online, but if you’d like to know what he said, you can create [...]
