The Scarlet Letter

Why yes, I am a beer pong champ. Funny you should ask.

By Ashley Klann
Editor-in-Chief

My coconspirator Alumni Editor Gwen Walsh, seems to come up with topics for her weekly editor’s corner like magic. Over winter break, I thought she was having email issues; I had not one, not two, but five separate emails from her, all titled “EC.” Somehow each week, she experiences some incredibly interesting event that comes out of nowhere. This week, I think she has a run for her money.

Yeah, it’s totally a sport.

Wednesday afternoon. I still had no topic for my editor’s corner. Sure, I encountered many interesting ideas and concepts in my classes this week. I could write pages about Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent or the importance of companies exercising transparency. But that’s not nearly as interesting as what happened to me later that afternoon.

While sitting in my room, catching up on work and reading, I got a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize. Usually, I’m apprehensive, but I went for it. “Hello?” A slow, staggering voice on the other end: “Yeah… Hi… is this The Scarlet?” Yes, I am the student newspaper incarnate. How can I help you?

After a few exchanges, the caller’s point became clear.

Clarkies in the limelight

A list of prominent alumni and former faculty

By Gwen Walsh
Alumni Editor

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We’re all a little concerned that post-graduation our pricey Clark degree will function as nothing more than a picture-frame filler for above our computer desk, but here is a little bit of hope for your professional future. The following is a list of former faculty members and undergraduate and graduate alumni who have made names for themselves in the “real world,” and some of them have made fortunes as well. So next time you are feeling pessimistic about life after Clark, just imagine Robert Goddard, the original rocket scientist kicking back on the green, or Paul Siple ordering at the Bistro after inventing the windchill factor. Or just flip on the television to watch Terri Bonoff at work on the Minnesota Senate, or to admire Padma Lakshmi, the hottest Clarkie ever, host Top Chef.

Finance Committee passes transparency bylaw

By Jeremy Levine
Scarlet Staff

Last week the members of student council were given updates on the progress of the projects that benefitted from last semester’s cumulative surplus allocations. This week, they were given a presentation by the Clark Food Co-Op.

The group’s main goal is to set up a grocery store in The Grind that features fresh and local produce. The group stated today that they’re planning on doing programming outside of The Grind, so that the outlet will be more visible on campus, as well as to passing Worcester residents.

Ideas such as this one are coming out of their partnership with Clark’s entrepreneurship program, and the initiative will be open to the general student body after Spring Break with a general interest meeting. They hope to open in April.

A Management 100 group asked from $300 from the Grants Committee to put on a FIFA Fundraiser Tournament for the Worcester Soccer League. The cost of the event will be $5 and players will be able to compete on one of two consoles. The two winners will win the FIFA games themselves. After discussing with the groups how they could cut some costs, Grants decided to recommend a $225 allocation, which is the amount approved by Council.

News of the Weird

Five articles about death

By Claire Tierney
Scarlet Staff

The fun in the funeral

Traditional funerals in Taiwan, particularly in rural and lower socio-economic classes, generally include pop singers and dancers in bikinis. This is a benefit for all, it entertains the ghosts that are meant to protect the deceased in the afterlife. Until twenty years ago, the dancers were often strippers who would provide funeral guests with lap dances. This practice has since been made illegal by the Taiwanese Government. Song and Dance shows are also available for Taiwanese funerals, often to appeal to “lower” gods. When the lower gods are appeased, they are more inclined to cleanse the deceased of their more mild offenses such as gambling or prostitution.

Morbid picnic

Los Angeles’ Westwood Village Memorial Park has quite the fight ahead for them. The famous park, which is the resting place of Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Frank Zappa, has asked Los Angeles county to allow them to build a massive mausoleum on open, green park space. The mausoleum will contain 463 caskets, and is at risk of potentially disturbing those situated around the park who are worried about spirits living in their back yard. It is also at risk of disturbing park goers who do not want upwards of 500 bodies resting in their recreational area.

Burial blunders

The Zimmick family filed a lawsuit this past autumn against the St. Stainislaus cemetery of Pittsburgh. When Agnes Zimmack passed away back in 2009, her burial was deemed unprofessional by her son, Theodore. You see, Agnes had purchased a grave plot in 1945 with 11 foot by 8 foot dimensions. When she finally passed away, half a century later, her prime cemetery real estate had become so crowded that workers were forced to dig a much smaller hole. According to the lawsuit, they had “to jump up and down on the casket and whack it with poles” to fit it into its place.

Sustainability Task Force:

You’ve never heard of them, but they’re dreaming big

By Michelle Scott
Scarlet Staff

There’s a not-so-top-secret group on campus. They’re called the Clark University Environmental Sustainability Task Force, or just the Task Force for those in the know. Even though chances are you’ve never heard of them, they’ve been convening in monthly meetings since 2007. Their members

Image courtesy of http://www.bourboncountyks.org

travel amongst us; our professors, our classmates, the administration and staff are all in on the job. In all reality, behind this mask of mystery, they are the good guys. They just have a potentially maniacal-sounding name.

The Task Force functions mostly as an advisory board for different green initiatives; they receive sustainable proposals and make suggestions for Sustainable Clark and administration. Since September 2011, they have been functioning with four different subgroups: Visibility for Sustainability, Alumni Outreach, Integrating Sustainability into Academic and Financial Planning and Climate Action Plan Update. For the most part, their aims are obvious just from these titles. But what is this Climate Action Plan and why are they updating it? That leads us to possibly the most important document to come from the Task Force.

Clark among top volunteer-producing colleges

Peace Corps ranks university #20 for contribution to world peace

By Shalmali Ghate
Scarlet Staff

Image courtesy of http://graduate.gcsu.edu

In 1960, students of the University of Michigan were challenged by senator John F. Kennedy to serve the country by living and working in developing countries around the world. Stimulated by this, the Federal government established Peace Corps, which is dedicated to world peace. From then, the  Peace Corps has successfully been developing various projects involving 200,000+ volunteers in 139 countries around the world.

The Peace Corps ranked colleges in the United States based on their contribution to world peace. In the 2012 rankings of top volunteer producing colleges and universities, Clark University was ranked 20th among small universities and colleges.

Clark has encouraged students to explore different opportunities and challenge convention. Today, we can all be proud of the fact that seventeen Clark alumni are serving in the cause of world peace in Armenia, Benin, Cameroon, Dominican Republic, Eastern Caribbean, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Uganda, Ukraine and Zambia. In addition, The Graduate School Of Management (GSOM), a partner of the Peace Corps program, is doing its best to serve the world.

This achievement adds yet another feather in Clark’s cap.

Clark’s recycling rate is up 60%

By Claire Tierney
Scarlet Staff

Clark students generally consider themselves environmentally conscious. We are all familiar with the plastic blue and grey receptacles conveniently placed in our dorms and living spaces. And we are all familiar with the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction we get when we utilize them. But did you know that your recycling efforts have been paying off?

Image courtesy of chdist.com

Clark University has had an active recycling program for about twenty years now; with its best recycle rates hovering between 15-18%. In this past year, however, Clark students changed matters by bringing the recycling rate from 18% in 2010 to 29% in 2011; that’s over a 60% increase.

These are not made up figures; they are quantified annually by EcoReps, who take all of the waste acquired in all of the residence halls throughout the day. According to EcoRep Jake Kailey, it is then separated and sorted as either “recyclable, compost, landfill, or thrift store (functional but not new).”

The sorted recycled pile is then weighed and compared to the amount of recyclables sorted out of what students put in the garbage.

This massive increase in recycling is due to a conscious effort on the part of the Office for Sustainability, EcoReps, and countless others. The Office for Sustainability took a new approach and looked at the whole picture, asking themselves how Clark could better use its resources in order to diminish its wasteful impact on the planet and community. While the campus has worked tirelessly over the past couple of decades to “reduce, reuse and recycle,” Clark began to look at ways of doing things differently, more efficiently, and more resourcefully.