Nothing brings out the worst in us quite like holiday shopping. Working in retail over winter break, I saw friends and neighbors at their nastiest, victims of the season of giving. The holidays mean big business for department stores.
Living in a country home to the fifth largest Spanish-speaking community in the world, it comes as no surprise that the department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese is one of the largest departments at the University. "Spanish has become de facto the second language of this country, and people have started to realize this," department Chair Randolph Pope said.
The only audible sound was the faint patter of bare feet on wooden floorboards as a group of 20 people walked aimlessly around The Forum at Observatory Hill Dining Hall.
You're so wise, personality test. Like an online Buddha covered with ads for online dating services.
There are several schools of thought on the existence of God. On the one hand, there are those who believe in God and would say, "Yes, there is a God." On the other hand, there are those people who do not believe in God and, if asked, would probably answer, "No." On the third hand, there are people who are not sure either way and tend to respond, "Meh." These three groups are called theists, atheists and mehists, respectively.
"Appearing as a white male, I was raised in an almost all-black community," Sociology Prof. Matthew Hughey said.
"I deem this the happiest movement for the University that has ever been made. I have no doubt that a large proportion of the students, if not all, will eventually join." Professor William Barton Rogers, 1842. I know what you're thinking.
Yesterday's frigid weather and light snow marked a radical change from last December's mild temperatures and warmer winter. Students who received new outdoor apparel for Christmas found themselves leaving their gifts inside the boxes since they had little need to wear them. "I got all these cute winter clothes for Christmas and now I can't wear them," first-year College student Kayce McGehee said. In addition to holding off on coats, jackets and mittens, many students found themselves pulling out summer apparel to keep cool. "I was wearing shorts for about a week because it was over 60 degrees," second-year College student Richard Murray said. McGehee also said she was shocked at what she was wearing during her time off.
After several months of our complaining about temperatures above 50, Nature has graced us with some snow, which is on the ground as I write this column — although by the time the column runs, it will likely have melted away, like Tom Cruise’s sanity.
In Friday's article, "Hangin' Around This Town," journalist Bob Gibson attended graduate school at the College of William and Mary, but did not receive a degree.
Even as the bitter cold of winter is finally setting in, my mind cannot help but skip to the chaos to come.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day rarely intersects with the University's academic calendar because the third Monday of January is often during Winter Break.
Normally I do not write advice columns, because whenever I do offer advice, I somehow instigate a world war ("Why yes, Archduke Ferdinand, I think going for a drive is a great idea") or some freak coal mining accident ("No, guys, I'm pretty sure the canary is just playing dead"). Recently, however, I've been receiving a lot of letters asking for advice.
I have this strange sort of "like" for llamas. I wouldn't quite call it an obsession, but it is pretty close.
It is -- literally -- faster than a speeding bullet. The supersonic combustion ramjet, or scram-jet, currently being designed at the University's Aerospace Research Laboratory is expected to fly at 3,700 miles per hour, nearly twice a bullet's speed. The University is working in conjunction with the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, which includes researchers at Virginia Tech, Old Dominion University, Hampton University and the College of William & Mary. At that speed, the five-hour plane ride from Charlottesville to Los Angeles could be cut down to about 40 minutes, according to Aerospace Research Laboratory director Christopher Goyne.
Over Winter Break, the field of technology made several impressive breakthroughs. A 108-inch TV was unveiled, Apple announced its way cool iPhone, video game nerds scrambled to find a PS3 to buy and my grandmother has developed an addiction to Nintendo Wii.
The new year is well under way, but a few Life columnists took a look back at 2006 (in their own special way) to see what was popular, and what they hope will stay in the past. HOT: Retirement University alum and New York Giants running back Tiki Barber announced that this NFL season will be his last before he enters the world of broadcasting.
Coming back to the University in the fall is always strange and imposing, because you've lost the habits of life here and adapted to a whole other, and hopefully less bizarre, world.
Happy 2007, everyone! 2007, wow, it feels weird to type that, let alone mentally process it. Year of 007.
This weather is freaking me out. It was, like, 70 degrees the other day. Do you realize what that MEANS?!?!? It means, from now on it will no longer be impressive to say you streaked the Lawn in the middle of January.
