The Student XIX, Issue 2

GADFLY taste-tests new food service is

T H E s

G A T A

Editor-in-Chief Nelson Hernandez, Jr.

Production Manager Abigail Gibbs

Web Editor Ben Speakmon

Ad Manager Camille Arbogast

Production Staff Robert Gambill Anne Mcshane Anne Needham Sarah Peters Jodi Schneider Crystal Welliver

D F

F F

y

Letters of 200 words or less have a better chance of being published than those longer. Letters submitted will be edited for grammar, punctuation, and spelling in most cases. The Gadfly is not obligated to publish all submissions and will not print anonymous submissions except un­der special circumstances.

Founded in 1980, the Gadfly is the student weekly distributed free to over 600 stu­dents, faculty, and staff of the Annapolis campus as well as tutors emeriti, members of the Board of Visitors and Governors, and the offices at the St. John's Sama Fe campus. Opinions exp>ressect sole responsibility of the author(s). The Gadfly reserves the right to accept, reject, and edit submissions in any way necessary to publish the most professional, informa­tive, and thought-provoking newspaper which circumstances at St. John's permit.

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Deadline: Friday at 5:30 pm unless permis­sion for a delay is granted in advance. Sub­missions will be accepted in any Macintosh or RTF format on a 3 1I2" disk along with a typed copy.

2 THE GADF Y

Dear Mail Patron:

As always, the Mailroom is open for

three kinds of business:

1) Third-Class

2) Second-Class

3) First-Class

Third-Class business is coming in to hear

me ramble about Postmaster General

Runyon, Reclassification, or some other

postal nonsense. Second-Class business is

asking for some of our Priority and Express

mailing supplies, seeking a rate calculation,

or complaining. First-Class business is, of

course,

in hand, 12-1 pm or 6:30-7:30 pm, doubt­

less).

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> IL

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.··' ..... ·<·.... .< ..•.... · ...•.•.... ··· .. •.• ·····

Some of you will be glad to know that

lil' or me stayed right here in Annapolis this

summer and kept things rolling in the

mailroom. A few of you, not initiated to the

Ways of the Mailroom, will be dismayed to

know that we did not save the J. Crew cata­

logs you got over the summer to give to you

now. But the teeming majority, saavy as ever,

will remind those outnumbered few that

saving all of the summer catalogs and peri­

odicals would exceed the volume of the

mailroom and prevent our giving proper

attention to your first-class mail (e.g. credit

card But now are here,

mail patron, we can deliver J. Crew catalogs

(and all those filthy Chadwick catalogs) right

to your mailbox with the assurance that you

will pick them up promptly-leaving us the

excess volume we affectionately call breath­

ing space.

If you want to talk postal, you can always

call me at x299 220) or x361

(Mailroom). If you don't want to talk to me,

you can talk to Carmita Thomas, the Staff

Mailroom at x212

Dean's Office). If you don't want to talk to

either of us, you can talk to Dan Toulson,

Jessica Morgenstern, Amanda Valette, Sam

Byron, or Zach Swindler, the Mailroom

Staff. If you don't want to talk to any of us,

you're out of luck.

Wishing you the finest postal experience

the trivium and quadrivium can provide, I

re mail

Derek Alexander, '99

the Editor:

Letters to the Gadfly serve four purposes: they

allow you to comment on articles within the

Gadfly; to respond to other letters submitted to

the Gadfly; to express your pleasure or displea­

sure at what appears in the paper; and to ad­

dress the College Community for any reason.

Please contact Nelson Hernandez (x286) if you

have any questions.

by Sarah Dawson, '99

Last Friday, Dean Flaumenhaft

delivered the first lecture of the year. The

"Cosmic Views and Classic Supposi­

tions," seemed promising. It certainly raised

many expectations. It is also commonly felt

that the Dean's lecture is to be our annual

reminder we attend St. College

and how that makes us better than the hoi

uvJe>vi - all of which certainly raises an even greater While the 1"'rhir·pr .,.,..,..,,,

have intended to meet all of these expecta­

tions, it is not certain that, in the stuffy heat

of the auditorium, any great anticipations

were fulfilled. This lecture was, however, a

example of what is great about

question period, and how it can transform

disappointment into comfort­

able satisfaction.

The lecture itself to be an elo-

quent overview of Ptolemeic AstrcmcJmv.

(rr·es11m.entake note' The publl:sne~d.

will make excellent crib notes.) The speech

was arranged in four parts. In the first part,

Dean Flamenhaft reminded us that As­

tronomy is indeed a liberal art. Man natu-

looks to the heavens for practical rea-

sons, as well as intellectual and rea-

sons, so the of astronomy

to understanding our own

world view. (Sophomores take note! This

•• ",~'~ ... may alleviate Copernican colic.)

The second part of the lecture ex1)lamed

what one observes when one examines the

skies. lJescr:ipt1or1s

vided for the movements of the sun, the

and the sphere of fixed stars. The

third part addressed the Greek attempt to

describe these motions using regular, circu­

lar motion. It was the final portion of the

lecture in which Dean Flamenhaft

up the role of the observer in the cosmic

dance, which provided plenty of fuel for the

question that followed.

What seemed to be under the surface of

the lecture was the wonder and awe Dean

Flamenhaft has for astronomy. His

enthusiam became abundantly clear during

the period, when he had the op­~"r,_.,,,..,,t-.r to discuss the connection between

astronomy and philosophy. Dean

Flaumenhaft mentioned the Platonic dialog

Epinomis, an appendix to Laws, in which it

is decided that knowledge of astronomy is

wisdom. This concept may be supported,

he thought, by the 30,000 year old Ishago

bone, mankind's earliest example of record

keeping, which is thought to be a record of

the lunar cycle. The Dean also mentioned

the astro-theology of Mesopotamia and the

Babylonian astronomer-priests who tire­

lessly recorded the numerical data

to the heavens.

While the Babylonians noticed cycles

and strange numbers, he asserted, it was the

Greeks who first to the

movements of the stars. Indeed, it seems

that a culture's astronomy provides an in­

sight into its world view. This discussion led

to another based upon a Pythagorean say­

ing, cited in the Dean's lecture, asserting

that the best people who attend the Olym­

pics are not those who come to sell food

nor those who come to participate in the

games, but those who come to watch.

The question of what it means to be an

observer was posed. This question yielded

many interesting points about the sanctity

of Greek Theater and the Athenian practice

of the audience, the

Ambassador sent not to ne:go1tia1:e to ob-

serve, and the modern astronomer who

never looks up but analyzes data and still

sees These conversations as well as

other comments brought the subject of the

to

that awe which had been eclipsed by expla­

nation.

Friday's lecture, upon further consider­

ation, was food for thought.

Though for some it was simply review, it

was also dearly elegant and concise. The

diagrams, which may have seemed all too

familiar, are still no less beautiful what

they represent. The unfamiliar parts of the

lecture were still thought- and conversation­

provoking. Dean Flamenhaft's ori=se:ntat1on

was interesting and engaging. Without the

distraction of that uncomfortable heat, (ls

the roar of the air conditioner all that

Speaking continued on page 13

THE GADFLY 3

Nelson '99

Conv,xation on August 27 ushered in an

unusually, if not unprecedentedly,

freshman class of 124, to the dismay of some

upperclassmen who feel that the school is

becoming somewhat overcrowded,

"This is not the way we like to have

things come out," Admissions ..._,i .......... VJLJ'-''H.u

Christensen said. "The standard assump­

tion is that there will be a freshman class of

about 108." This for six seminars

of 18.

lhu•A'1Chr things didn't go as

this year, judging by the large crowd of new

students that stood Convocation to

rec:ogm2;e Dean Flaumenhaft and

President Chris Nelson. as is fairly

accepts most of its applicants.

ha:ppi:ne'.d was that an uncommonly

large number of students applied and ac­

cepted their offers of admission from the

school.

"This year was ever in terms

of " Mr. Christensen said. "It

was an anomalous year around the coun­

try." Combined with the high

of

40 percent at

Harvard), the admissions office found itself

at an in the

"We had committed at the awkward level

of 116," Mr. Christensen said. So the deci­

sion was made to add extra freshman semi­

nars and tutorials the class

size up to 126. The final number of students

who offers to attend St. John's was

only slightly short of this.

The largest class ever was 140 students,

but that was in 1988, a year the administra­

tion decided not to have a January freshman

class. Class sizes have tended to go up, with

a recent class numbering 122. The current

junior class began at 113, in the Admission

Office's ideal range of 108-114 students.

Another important matter,

more for the men on campus, is the fact that

men outnumber women in the new

freshman class, with 71 men and 53

women.

4 T E GADFLY

Mr. Christensen had no explanation for

this. It seemed to baffle him just as much

as it mystifies the rest of the student body.

"In 1995, we had many more men than

women, but that was kind of a fluke," he

said. As recently as 1994, the number of

entering women outnumbered the number

of entering men. But the trend of gender

imbalance has been for past

three years.

That outcome, at least, is one that the

Admissions Office is powerless to control.

But another question

men are asking is about the size of the Janu­

ary freshman class. The size of this class

has been steadily growing, with an unprec­

edented number coming in last year's class.

The reason for this is simple, according

to Mr. Christensen. "January freshman

classes are better if bigger," he said.

"We've found that there is a better summer

experience if there are more students." He

informed the Gadfly that at least 40 more

students can be expected mak­

ing the class of '01 potentially the biggest

St. John's has ever seen.

If this admissions story is not sim-

it means that the is

growing in popularity around the

country. the ideas of liberal educa-

tion are gaining acceptance. If that is

the case, it seems there is to com­

about.

---------- ---~~~--~-------~------

L1nr1raiAi Baisch, '00

first party of the year, the Convocation Waltz, was a great success. It was held in the Great Hall last Wednesday, August 27, and was attended by many mem­bers of College community. It was also an interesting way for the transfer students and freshmen to get to know the school.

was a fun and unique way to intro­duce people to the college. I really enjoyed it." It appeared that the ma-

of freshmen who attended the waltz liked it. Freshman Melissa Hutchins said, was a really good dance. It was a little crowded, but the food was okay, the atmosphere was nice, and people were all very freshman,

said she liked the fact that people were not

to ask to even though many from her class didn't know

Waltz Committee archon Chris-topher said, "I was very im-

'tYO.t""hm..,.n turnout this year. It is best that I have seen in years." He also added that the Waltz Committee is always look-

to and that bartenders are always needed. If

~w1tct1ooard for information. night's activities may have

been best summed up sopho­more Elisabeth Batchelder, who said, "It was a rip-roarin' good time!"

September 13 September 26 (Homecoming) October 18 October 31 (Halloween) November 22 (Thanksgiving) lar,omlho.- 9

Gibbs, '99

The Barr-Buchanan Center, originally

::;1...Ltcuu .......... for completion in August of this

year, is slated to be ready for use in late Oc­

tober. Most of the renovations on the Center

will be completed at the end of September.

However, a natural stream that runs under

the is causing many delays. Flood­

in the elevator shaft of the building has

made it necessary to redo

some work already completed. The con­

tractor has indicated that the work on the

elevator will be finished in mid-October.

Once the work on the elevator is fin­

the college will move furniture into

uu.uu•,u~ and begin using the rooms.

Treasurer Bud

that the process would take only

a few though some spaces, like

offices, may not be occupied immediately.

Unfinished detail work on the main floor

window frames, supervised by the Historic

Commission and the City of Annapolis, will

continue into the late but will not fur-

ther the use of the bmld1ng.

Derek Alexander, '99

This King William's

will present The Book of job as the lecture­

Pr«)d1Llct:1o:n. Auditions for parts and

take

her at 4 pm on the stage. The

mances are December 3, 5, and 6 at 7:45 pm.

There is much to be done. Seven parts

are available: the Narrator (a female), Job,

Zophar, and the

Voice of the Unnamable from within the

Whirlwind (males). there is need for

-,.., .... 4 ..... management, costume ( a

tailor would be a real asset), hospitality

management, stage hands, accounts and

fundraising management, and an assistant

director. Tutors, staff, and Gis, as well as un­

dergraduates, are encouraged to take part.

One might well wonder why we decided

to attempt The Book of job as a presentation

Once the renovations are complete, the

former will be a center for student

activities, housing the computer lab, copy

room, Gadfly and St. John's Review offices,

and a new student organizations office. The

Graduate Institute offices will also move

from Mellon Hall to the main floor of the

Center.

In addition, Barr-Buchanan will house

two new conference rooms, faculty offices,

and spaces for four seminars to meet, includ­

ing in the West Reading Room and the King

William Room. The Robing Room, West

Reading Room, and King William Room

remain unchanged, though the rest of the

bu:1ld1,ng has been remodeled.

The front door of the building will be

,,.,,,,_r,,,..,.., accessed, making it available 24

hours a day. The door on the east side of

the is a entrance,

main floor. There are two floors below the

main level and one above.

The building, formerly known as

Woodward housed the library's col­

lections from 1899 to 1996. The renova-

text of sound and silence, nearness and dis­

tance, conversation and statement, light and

presence and absence, being seen and

heard. These, account for

pn:sumr)t1''e environment of the stage.

Furthermore,

book in the

----~-~·-~ like no other

One might also wonder how we intend

to present The Book of Job. We that

many will offer their thoughts on this to us,

and we will be glad to hear them. However,

we have set the following guidelines:

First, what we read is what you hear.

There will be no modification of the text,

since we want to present the book, not dra­

matize it. That is, a blindfolded audience

would hear us read the book vividly. We are

not interested in presenting a covert J.B. Second, we are looking for visual dar­

Looking should help illuminate the book

ABIGAIL GIBBS

tions in 199 5, and Greenfield

was dedicated on June 1996

leads to quest1011s

(or to)

staging and --.v.,.u.uuu;;

stant commentary on the book.

Third, rhetorical c0Jh.e1~e11tce

ment. The Book

translations. These are

the most hearable translations know of.

The Mitchell is full of drive and

intensity, but since it fails to translate the

speech of Elihu, we will turn to the

James for that section. The is at

its best when heard.

To get involved, contact Derek Alex­

ander at x299 or x36 l, or a note in cam­

pus mail. The Book deserves to be well at often asks its questions in a con- for the audience, not obscure it. ReadingJob

THE GADFLY 5

NATO clashes with Bosnian Serbs U .S. AMBASSADOR Robert Gelbard

condemned Bosnian-Serb hard liners

and warned them of dire consequences Sat­

urday, in meetings that came two days after

a clash between NATO peacekeepers and

residents of the Bosnian-Serb town of Brcko,

last Thursday.

Gelbard accused the hard-line leaders of

terrorism, totalitarianism, and dishonesty in

their negotiations with international lead­

ers, following a meeting with Momcilo

Krajisnik, the chief aide to Bosnian-Serb

wartime leader Radovan Karadzic.

"They are resorting to the worst excesses

of totalitarian behavior. I warned Krajisnik

in the most serious terms that there is a need

to change this behavior. The consequences

will be the most serious imaginable ,"

Gelbard said. "We don't believe that they

are interested in implementing the rule of

law or pluralist democracy-let alone Day­ton."

Krajisnik, a member of the three-person

Bosnian Presidency, responded on Bosnian

Serb State Radio, saying that he took

Gelbard's words seriously but that the Brcko

confrontation was not orchestrated. Satur­

day, Krajisnik accused NATO of "playing

around with the Dayton peace accord." He

said that by positioning its forces outside

Brcko and Bijeljina, NATO was "working

against the Dayton agreement."

"Somebody wants a war," Krajisnik said.

NATO had deployed the forces in re ­

sponse to information indicating that

Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plasvic's

forces planned to take over police stations

and media centers in the area. Violence

erupted, and UN officers were evacuated

from the police station in Brcko. ~

Terrorist attackers slaughter Algerian villagers FORTY-FIVE PEOPLE were discovered

massacred in and around Algiers, Alge­

ria, Saturday, one day after at least 230 vil­

lagers were found slaughtered in the worst

violence the country has witnessed in five

years.

This wave of terrorism comes just before

municipal elections scheduled for October

and brings into question the control exerted

by President Liamine Zeroual over his coun­

trymen. Zeroual' s government blames Is­

lamic fundamentalist rebels for the attacks.

Those rebels have been fighting a war to

overthrow Zeroual's government, which

cancelled a general election in January 1992,

6 THE GAD F LY

when it seemed that the now-banned Is­

lamic Salvation Front would win. Since

then, about 60,000 people have been killed.

The rebels want to install a new govern­

ment based on their interpretation of

Koranic law.

Saturday's attacks occurred in Algiers

and in Maalba, a village about 140 miles

southeast of the capital. Attackers took food

and livestock. Victims were slashed to death

before dawn Friday. Local newspapers said

that many victims begged for their lives, or

barricaded themselves in their homes, only

to be murdered when rebels broke down

their doors.

Other attackers set fire to occupied

homes. Residents were stranded on roof­

tops, while others who fled were shot or

axed, doused with gasoline and set on fire.

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia spoke

on television and promised more security

measures for country villages . Authorities

have already armed some villagers, but

other villages complain that they are being

left defenseless.

Algeria, an independent state since its

recognizion by France in 1962, has been po­

litically unstable since the arrival of large

numbers of French-Algerian immigrants,

who disrupted the economy. ~

AlumniChat: Interview with a Hollywood star by Roberta Gable, Director of Alumni

I'm tickled to announce that the Gadfly has graciously permitted me to undertake

a regular feature this year, a sort of a gossip

column about alumni. Who are they? What

do they do? Up until now, your guess has

been as good as mine. But let's bask in ig­

norance no longer, my friends! Your trusty

reporter will trick alumni into baring all.

My guest this week is Becky Einsig, class

of '86, who used to be sane and East Coast

but is now a total L.A. girl.

RG: What do you do?

Einsig: Currently, I'm a production coordi­

nator in the "business." No, not the Mafia,

but show business. (Although coordinating

production for Murder Inc. is probably a

full-time six figure a year gig.) Basically; in

show business, "production coordinator"

translates to Emergency Management Tech­

nician. Paramedic to the stars. Producers

call me on the phone after it dawns on them

that they have to film a television show that

day; and video and film don't run at the same

rate! So I arrange for the video to be con­

verted, equipment to be sent out, and an

operator to go to the set. All this for only a

thousand bucks a day. I've also formed my own group of

taggers. We wear backwards baseball caps

with the college logo on them. Our merry

band goes about in the middle of the night

tagging bridges with such slogans as: I

Think, Therefore I Am; Know Thyself and

the Person Next to You; and Tend Your Own

Swimming Pool. Our motto is, ''.An edu­

cated commuting populace will always be

found to be the best army." If the LAPD ap­

proach us, we defend ourselves with Kant's

categorical imperative. Which so far has not

made much of an impression on the LAPD,

so we're thinking of switching to full body

armor.

RG: How did you get to where you are to­

day?

Einsig: I got to where I am today by taking

the 101 freeway. We have over 512 miles of

freeway in Los Angeles so almost everyone

here has gotten to where they are in life via

the freeways.

RG: What did you write your senior essay

on?

Einsig: Courage.

RG: What would you write your senior es­

say on if you had to write another one?

Einsig: Carnage.

RG: Can virtue be taught?

Einsig: Virtue cannot be taught but it can

be transmitted if you fail to have safe Epoo with your soulmate. 1-900 numbers are

completely virtue-free, so don't agonize.

RG: What was your least favorite book on

the program?

Einsig: War and Peace. First off, 1,400 pages.

If I have to read 1,400 pages, I don't want

the guy I like, Prince Andrei, dying in the

middle. That's a definite dis to the reader.

Then, when I get to the end of the book,

Natasha marries some fat guy and has 14

children. What is this, a paean to spousal

abuse?!

RG: Any advice for current students?

Einsig: Since I'm a writer, I'll address the

writing .issue. There are two main 'tEXVE

that one must have to be a great writer. You

must be an excellent thief and a first class

liar. So don't steal from Tom Clancy, plun­

der Euripides. Then make it up entirely.

Never do research. Oliver Sacks, in a recent

interview, when asked what imagination

was, dropped the ball completely. What he

did say was that imagination was such a

powerful brain function, that it was the only

way man could get at truthfulness. He gave

the example of Prescott the Historian, who,

blind from the age of twelve, still gave the

most vivid and truthful depiction of the

Aztecs and their country at that time. The

man could not see a thing! Of course, that

doesn't excuse Homer's killing off Hector.

RG: What's the most important single im­

provement you'd recommend for the col­

lege?

Einsig: The college really needs an Olym­

pic-sized swimming pool. Swimming naked

is the ultimate end of man, although not

many of the Great Books authors seem to

have realized this. Plato probably knew, but

he never mentions it.

RG: What's the best book you've read since

you graduated?

Einsig: The most important book that I've

ever read and which I continually reread is

"Go, Dogs, Go." There is one scene in there

which is just the most poignant, most pro­

found scene ever written. All the dogs are

in their small dog cars wearing their doggy

party outfits driving at breakneck speed to­

wards the mother of all parties. Their cars

stretch back to infinity along the highway

in all directions. The lead cars are approach­

ing an intersection. A very tiny bird steps

into the intersection, puts up his bird hand

and says, "Stop, dogs, stop. The light is red

now." All the dogs have to slam on their

brakes, their cars plowing into the backs of

each other, their hoods and trunks crinkling

under the massive force involved. Then the

bird says, "Go, dogs, go . The light is green

now." And all the dogs proceed on their way

to the mother of all parties. A superficial

interpretation of this scene would lead one

straight to Newtonian mechanics and the

equations governing partially inelastic col­

lisions. Some of you may feel , quite smugly,

that a deeper interpretation would be that

the scene clearly represents the triumph of

relativity and quantum mechanics over

Newton and his ilk. For it is the tiny bird

representing the laws of the subatomic

which bring the dog-eat-dog world of clas­

sical physics to a grinding halt. Still others­

visionaries, freethinkers, and caffeine ad-

AlumniChat continued on page 13

THE GADFLY 7

I f

SE E ES I Meals last year tended to be nasty, Now u new group called Bon

and short. But the era of Marriott has been brought to a close, to the widespread roir1;,.,;,,.,,., of students. faces the test of institutional food interesting, and so far, it has been successful.

s 0 y

French, but I know food;

and this is good food.

Flaumenhaft's position could not

unenviable: not does he have

to follow in the fabled footsteps of Eva

Brann, but even as the new Dean, he is far

from the most exciting novelty on campus.

Even freshman who are usually the

primary of attention in the first days

of school, are running a distant second in

the category of

ics.

The reason is very

conversation top-

Bon Appetit.

new service has rocked and

shocked the campus in just a few short days.

At first, there were just febbies ,..,..,,m.,,..,,.,. a vast change in the last days of

their summer, Derek Alexander spreading

the word of a real improvement to anyone

who would listen. By Wednesday

though, talk of the breathtaking improve­

ment was everywhere.

President Nelson, in his convocation ad­

dress, received a resounding ovation at the

mention of "a new food service which has a

chef instead of a 'food service m::i.mtge:r

The the coffee shop, and about

all of campus was buzzing with talk of the

new food, but the dining hall was

8 THE GADFLY

b y T m o h y

than usual. People were too busy eating.

The question to be answered is this: is

the apparent pleasure of eating Bon Appetit

pH:as1.ire in an sense, or is

it merely the relief of pain, which, as we all

know, is a fleeting sort of pleasure?

Immediately upon Randall's

first there is a noticeable difference

from last year: the absence of Warren

Powell, the "meal plan" fellow. One senior,

who had grown close to Warren, was

grieved at his absence, but his dicker re-

mains and his have so far been

perfectly and competent. The sign

in the hall which reads CAFE RANDALL

an unpleasant image from those who may

have lived in Randall and, despite loving the

building, associate it with squalor and filth.

Images of squalor and filth are soon re­

placed by fine decorations, elegantly dis­

and silverware. Ebullient men

in chefs' hats serve a wide of color-

ful and cryptic names while

various men in ties walk around lo<Jklng

busy yet caring. At this one wary se­

nior asked, "Is there any substance to this,

shadows of of 1 rn"'u'"""

So far, the answer seems to be: yes, the

food is very good. many people

do not know what is, it has

received rave reviews from diners

as have the fajitas prepared with your choice

spinach, or sun-dried tomato torti­

lla and of vegetables. The custom­

ized fajitas, just one of the many touches

that create a sense of intimacy, are a

uct of real labor as the fajita chef made dear

after one sophomore exclaimed that the

chicken was real. "Oh it's real," he assured

while mixing peppers and onions in a

pan full of actual olive oil. "I spent two

hours this morning I know

C a n e y

it's real."

Bon Appetit has also made some changes

with an eye to practicality; mainly the re­

placement of small glass cups with tall plas­

tic drinking glasses. These glasses can be

filled with soda, the addition of

Mug Root Beer, and four different types of

water. Some have commented, that

the sparkling water is not great and the juice

selection is too limited: many miss cran­

among others.

The tacos on Wednesday night appeared

better than in that the beef was

not drowned in grease and chef Ted Canto

served them personally. However, the taste

was not noticeably and not hav­

ing free access to the beef, which was slightly

too dry, stifled the of the more

serious taco eater. The sandwiches

Thursday's lunch were also unsatisfying.

Pleasant lunchtime surprises have been

the savory tuna melts on Muffins

with a tomato covered in melted

chi~ctciar, as well as the chicken patties, which

lacked Marriott's taste and texture.

Most students, clearly, are blown away. Not

does the food have taste for a change,

and good taste at but the and

creativity of the dishes is greatly increased.

The man behind the new and improved

menus is Theodore Canto, the Executive

Chef. His is to decide what is to be

served and to do this according to

what the students want. Mr. Canto, who has

been in the Culinary Arts for 34 years, tells

that he has "trained under some of the fin­

est chefs in the world." He makes an effort

to be visible, approachable, and responsive

to his customers-an effort he makes well

and willingly. "I want to be a part of this

community;" he told me over my dinner of

a fajita and pasta with a peculiar French­

dressing sauce which was slightly too exotic

for a side dish. As much joy and excitement as Bon

has brought to St. John's, St.

has the same back to Mr.

Canto. He says that he is overwhelmed by

the reaction to Bon Indi-

students thanking him af-

ter meals and groups giving him standing

ovations after special events, he tells,

feelings that cannot be felt in many

lines of work. "Food is a lot like theater, in

that your audience can show its approval,

and that makes everything worth while.''

Mr. Canto knows that following in the

roc1tsteps of Marriott is both a curse and a

blessing. Bon Appetit is cursed by being the

constant object of doubt and skepticism

from a student body which has grown ac­

customed to a food service which cuts cor­

ners. set ourselves apart from Marri­

ott in many ways," he declared. Some sig­

nificant structural differences are the re­r,..,,..,,~ ~ from a cycle menu like the four

week cycle used by Marriott as well as the

lack of corporate restrictions on the dishes

that can be prepared. "I can make anything

I want," Mr. Canto proudly proclaims, and

he says that he wants to make what the stu-

dents and the school want to eat.

Mr. Canto has also been disturbed to

hear students questioning whether the food

has been good because parents were

around. He responded by saying that the

food was top quality "despite the parents."

He claims a devotion to

and declares that it could not be any other

way. "I have a certain pride in what I do,"

he solemnly as I savor the moist,

rich chocolate cake. "That makes me have

to do it well."

The blessing, of course, is that in the

wake of Marriott, any food would seem

hP<lvPnlv LVV""-.•ui::. at the food on its own is

nearly impossible for most, but some stu­

dents have already had which

have put Bon Appetit in more realistic per­

spective. One student complained of an up­

set stomach after her first hall meal,

but attributed that to sampling too many

different dishes. It is easier, though, for fresh­

men to look at the food without compar­

ing it to Marriott, and some upperclassmen

believe that this is bad for their souls. "I

heard freshmen complaining about food the

other day," lamented sophomore darling

Sarah Siemering. Maverick upperclassman

Bob Dickson res:poinc:1,ea "What these wea-

sels don't understand is this: we walked the

line with the Marriott bunch for too damn

long."

Mr. Canto insists that his food is, with­

out but that does not

mean that there is no room for im1pro1ve­

ment and change. "We don't even have both

feet on the ground yet," he exclaimed. Fea­

tures which are yet to come include possible

international nights like Asian Night. He

hopes to have a make-your-own ice-cream

sundae night as well as other special meals

monthly or more frequently. is

also inviting your parents to send a copy of

favorite recipes, so that they can try them

out-they'll try to let you know

parent's recipes will be served.

Mr. Canto expressed his desire to change

enmlovc=es view

and the way the rest

of the school views their jobs. "I think a stu­

dent will be of himself after he has

just prepared the Fettudni Alfredo which

the entire school is about to he said

with a smile, "and I think the school will

respect that worker, too."

In addition to special features, there are

some daily which need to be

solved by Bon Appetit. Plates and bowls

re12:u!aLrlv run out after the opern,ng

of the dining hall for and the hot

chocolate machine has often been out of

order. Some students see little difference

between last year and in the

breakfasts. The sausage is far but

the bacon is not much better, and the syn-

panc;aK(~S are

institutional food. There is no quest101ung that in the cat-

egories of taste, selection, and excitement, Marriott. Some entrees

to find in a restau­

rant. Average or poor dishes appear but never ones disliked. And it is

never hard to put together a tasty;

and possibly meal, which is

all that we can ask. Most importantly, Mr.

Canto insists vigorously-and he wants to

be held to his word by his dining dientele­

that "this program will Especially

with student input and feedback, we will

only get better."

THE GADFLY 9

l I

" "

911 ri II~ 1111 1111111111111 rl ~ - ""'"" = ~ "-" ""' '" "" "" ; ~

F We would have liked to

Not

ABIGAIL GIBBS

ABIGAIL GIBBS

over time.

10 T E GADF THE GADFLY 11

tell Spartans, passing here, obedient to their words, we -signpost to travellers at Thermopylae

We wanted P to in one of his acclaimed columns the sports scene at St. John's. These are usually known as the "A.O. Notes." But the Athletic Director was.' to o~r dismay, too busy to submit an article. As a result, all pretense of being a fair, unbiased newspaper has been thrown out window decree of the Editor­in-Chief of the Gadfly, who in turn gets his orders from team captains Felix 41Lycurgus" Leslie, Ward "Leonidas" Kashiwa, and Josh 'takedaimon" Hendrix. Thus we bring

. you our Spartan Notes. Hostile letters submitted in reaction will not published. ~partan courage is th~ stuff of legend. Just consider how many readings in freshman year are dedicated to learning it. . He:odotus, _T~ucyd1des, and Plutarch all marvel at the fighting skill and of the Spartans, are from ch1ld_b1rth that 1t 1s better to c?me back either with ~heir shield or on it. individual Spartan may be matched by some of the warriors of other teams, but in the contest of armies, we are unbeatable. Last year we experienced some minor defeats at

12

and us our this year, rest will will not be gained at no cost and require mell-iren listed below to

receive orders in campus mail a schedule of the dates we intend to come our notorious enemies the Hustlers, Greenwaves. We hope to see you

Bucellati

Davis

Forester

Gorham Hayes

Henry Hernandez

Kashiwa Knight

Kurland Leslie

Lochner Moser

Poma role Richardson, J.

Rowe Simpson, R.

TH E GAD LY

Birk

Carrier

Conway

D'Urbano

Fu ks

Ko sens Sanyo

Shepherd Weddle

Young, B.

In of the fact that, techni-you all died at Thermopylae, we

expect you to come to games. Think of how it will freak out our opponents.]

Melson

Moussa Iii

Preisser Quick Rees

Sarazin

[NOTE: The fact that you passed our rig­ors screening process {that is, you fell into the part of the alphabet) means we have full faith in your abilities.]

Goodrum, '00 The RMt/P,hitJ Potemkin is the film that

thrust director Sergei Eisenstein into the

realm of greatness and changed the film

medium forever. Potemkin. is a fictionalized

account of the Kronstadt navy mutiny at

Odessa which gave birth to the 1905 Rus­

sian Revolution. Sailors on board the Potemkin are served

maggot-filled meat while the officers eat in

•

style. Protesting crew members retaliate by

buying provisions at the canteen. The crew

mutinies when the protesters face a firing

squad for their disobedience. Later, in one

of the film's two jaw-dropping sequences

(you will have to come to discover the

other), Tsarist troops indiscriminately kill

innocent people on the Odessa steps.

Funded the Soviet government in

1925 as a propaganda piece, the film reso-

•

nates more fully now, after the fall of the

USSR. With forceful visual juxtapositions,

Eisenstein raised the use of montage to the

level of art with the famous and often mim­

icked Odessa steps sequence. The film is 75

minutes running time and silent.

The St. John's College Film Club has

lowered prices for 1997-98. Members of the

College community now pay $2.00 to

gain admission. Come to the Francis Scott

Key lobby at 8: 15 on Saturday or

night (now just after dinner!) and see a film

you'll be hard-pressed to find at the comer

video store. If you'd like to join the Film

Club and see all of this year's movies for free,

please come to the Francis Scott Key Lobby

at 4 pm this afternoon, Tuesday, September

2, for a meeting.

Speaking 3

bad?) the lecture doesn't seem so trustr;1tm12:.

As for the expected massaging of the

Johnnie ego, in its own way the unity of the

lecture and question period did something

more. The lecture itself served as a reminder

of an part of the Program and

oiled some gears in my brain made squeaky

over the summer-and as the pe­

riod progressed these gears began to turn

again. I found myself excited about

the Program the way I was when first ob­

served the stone. In the end I got

just what I needed.

I expect?

what more could

AlumniChat continued from page 7

diets-perceive chaos theory at work. If

butterflies in Brazil cause ice to form on the

windshields of Detroit, then small birds

causing major traffic tie-ups of dogs in party

drag is surely proof positive of chaos at

work. I don't believe that the depth of this

work has yet to be fully plumbed.

RG: What's your personal motto?

Einsig: 'Tll sleep when I'm dead."

THE GADFLY 13

0 IZATIO s

by Valerie Pawlewicz, x254

Welcome! It was great to see so many

Freshfolk and archons attend the Clubs

Meeting last Friday in the Boathouse. Be­

low you will find the list of those represen-

tatives that attended the group

represented. Please feel free to contact them

if you have any questions or are interested

in participating in activities.

There may not be such thing as a free

lunch, but at St. John's there is free latte.

Some of you may remember "Johnnie

Java" from last year. Well, it still goes on. In

fact, it's even expanded to include another

coffee shop. For all the new students, trans­

fers, and tutors, let me tell you about a great

program whereby certain magic words and

simple identification will allow you to sip a

latte or other in the

company of other students or tutors, and

the college foots the bill. At five local cafes, you can get up to $2.50

of food or beverage for FREE if you follow

0 s

these simple rules:

1) you, the student(s), need to provide

current student identification and

2) you, the student(s), need to be in the

company of one or more tutors.

Either student or tutor can initiate. Ev­

eryone wins. Support local businesses by

supporting community building.

The five participating cafes are:

•The Moon Cafe (137 Prince George St),

• Grattis Cafe (47 State Circle),

• Pony Espresso (33 1I2 West St),

• 49 West West and

• Coffee Gurus ( 601 Second St, Eastport).

Tell your server it's 'Johnnie Java." If they' re unclear, ask for the manager, then

sit back and enjoy.

There will be many events this semes­

ter, the first being a Baltimore Orioles

home game on Tuesday, September 16.

Watch the Orioles take on the Cleveland

Indians at 7:35pm. Tickets are $10. Trans­

porta1ticm is Look for posters

around campus.

P.S. I have extra coupons for City Dock

Cafe (25 cents off any and for

Pony Espresso ($1.00 off any coffee bever­

age). Just call me or write to me through

campus mail if you want me to send you one ... or twelve.

s Talk to oeoolle if you are interested in pa1rtic:iDclti111e: in

Athletic Training Program

Biology Study Group Book Job production

Buda Club Christian Fellowship Collegium The Collegian Croquet Association Dance Club Delegate Council E-Mail Fencing Union Film Club The Gadfly Golf Club King William's Players Mabel

Rob Holbrook & Brian Good

Heather Miller Derek n1e1v~nr1or Nathan ,h,., ..... ..., .. ri

Paul -..;nr-:>n11n"

Cindy Lutz Travis Dunn

Wood Jessica Brotman Hai Sun Josh

Sun

Josh Hendrix & Rob Holbrook Caton & Michael

14 THE GADFLY

Triangle .... ,...,...,,.,.,.., 1.1,....., .... ,. ..... Forum

Politae Project Politae tutoring Public Q.E.D. Productions Reality '98 Sailing Club Student Cmte. on Instruction Swim Club Tai Chi Chuan Waltz Committee Woodworking Club Yearbook

Sarah Dawson Casey Vaughan

David Bohannon Heather Deutsch Kathy Pluth Sandy Green Mark O'Flahavan Myke Soejoto Eve Gibson Cindy Lutz Casey Vaughan Ryan Emory Chris Gillen Thaddeus Verhoff Valerie Whiting

The Algebra Exam

The Algebra Exam is administered twice

the fall term and once toward the

end of the spring term. You are expected to

take this test every time it is offered until

you pass, and you will not be allowed to

continue into the second term of your

sophomore year without having passed the

exam. Old exams are available from the As­

sistant Dean's office or the Registrar, and

math assistants are available to help you

prepare for the test.

Students who have not passed by the first

administration of the test during their

sot>hc1m~::ire year will be to algebra

classes which will meet for approximately

six weeks before the last scheduled exam of

that term. If there are any students who have after the last regularly scheduled

the fall term of their sopho­

more year, the test may be administered pri-

vately one more time, for a significant fee,

but for students who have shown

faith taking the exam on every possible

occasion and by cooperating with our at-

tempts to them prepare.

Exam this term will be ..:.oau.u.ucav. ~ev1ten1-

ber 6, from 1 O am to noon, on the third

floor of McDowell Hall. You must a

ID. Calculators are neither necessary

nor allowed.

Student Delegate Elections

Watch for signs in your dorm and on the

Coffee Shop boards for times and locations

of Delegate Elections. Marjorie Truman,

the Polity Attorney, will be running these

elections. Please contact her or any of the

Delegate Council officers (President Hai

Sun, Secretary Derek Alexander, Treasurer

David Bohannon) for more information.

Addendum to Student Manual

This is an addendum to the Student Manual.

File it under the proper heading:

"No one may drive a motor vehicle on the

lawns or paths of the College. Permission

may be granted in advance by the Treasurer,

the Chief of Security, or the Assistant Dean.

Violations will not be excused post facto,

except in the case of emergencies. The fines

for an unexcused assault on our landscape

will start at $100."

Note that this will make the past practice

of using cars to transport kegs and stereos,

etc., to the Boathouse very costly. Hosts

may still use cars to move their freight

mulct-free by driving down St. John's St.,

and then taking the pathway to the left of

the overflow lot. This path goes down to

the creek; drive along the creekside to the

side of the Boathouse and move the

up the stairs and in the side door.

Pool Room Archon

The College requires an Archon for the

noble Pool Room. The archonship of the

Pool Room last year was splendidly success­

ful and enabled the often-destroyed and

widely maligned College facility to return

to service and remain open for another year.

Students of Periclean authority and un­

stained responsibility with a deep interest

in Community Pool should speak to Mr.

Schoener.

Arc hons, and Seekers

If you have business to transact with the

contact Derek Al­

exander, Polity Secretary. The fall disburse­

ment is coming soon, so get in line now. The

Delegate Council meetings are, of course,

open to all, and have agendas, times, and

locations posted throughout campus, but

always on the Coffee Shop boards.

National College Poetry Contest

The National College Poetry Contest is of­

fering $250 in cash and free

printing for all accepted poems in the ACP

Anthology. First is $100, deadline Oc-

tober 31. student is eligible to submit a

verse of fourteen lines or less. For rules and

information, write International Publica­

tions, P.O. Box 44044-L,

90044.

·--------------------------------------1 GET PAID I I I I I I I I I I

1 Spring Break I you more anyone else ... 1 NO RISK.. handle the bookkeeping. I I WORLD CLASS VACATIONS I 1-800-222-4432 I I I Our 21st year I

·--------------------------------------· THE GADFLY 15

E F St.John's P.O. Box 2800

Annapolis, MD 21404-2800

dialo The Convocation speech given by President Nelson last Wednesday afternoon received many ovations from the sizable crowd of upperclassmen who had come to Here is a of his speech, a dialogue "Meletus" Pickens).

by Nelson, President

Here we are today, ladies and gentlemen

of the jury, already unpopular from the days

of your childhood, accused of corrupting

our students-corrupting those who are

heirs to this of teaching them

not to believe in the gods of our society, but

in other spiritual things.

Let us take these more recent

point by I shall cross-examine

Meletus, one of our accusers:

Q: Meletus, is it better for a man or

woman to live among good or wicked fel­low citizens?

A: Among the good.

And benefit those clos-

est to them while wicked people do them

harm?

A: Certainly.

Q: Does the man exist who would rather

be harmed than be benefited by those he

associates with? Answer, my good

sir, for the law orders you to answer. Is there

a man or woman who wants to be harmed?

A: Of course not.

Q: Now, do you accuse this

the young and uu .. n.u''""

worse deliberately or

A: Deliberately

of

Q: Do you mean, my dear Meletus, that

we are so stupid as to make our students

risk that we in turn will

be harmed by our association with

them? ... and that we do this I

do not believe you, Meletus. Either we do

not corrupt the young or we do so unwill­

ingly, and you are not speaking in ei­

ther case. Now, if we do cause harm unwill-

then it's not task to

us but to instruct us and exhort us to fol­

low the But you do not do this.

You have no interest in making us better.

No, you would instead have us con­

victed, and punished.

See ladies and gentlemen of the

jury, how little our accusers care about edu­

cation at all. They only want to win cases.

Now

are not teaching our students to believe in

the gods the society believes in but in other

What do you mean this?

A: Why, I mean you care nothing for

your students' whether have

useful employment when

whether they have been taught to meet the

demands of the 21st century, whether

are prepared to be productive members of

a global society, whether they will leave this

college the kinds of careers their

A: To be sure.

Q: And if I were to admit that all of these

things are actually true and to congratulate

you for your wisdom in understanding St.

would you reward me for this, teach

me the error of our ways, me as a

scoundrel for playing games with you?

A: I would punish you-punish you, that

is, unless you could me that this

truth is good and beautiful too. In that

event, you would be rewarded.

So you will the

the college and reward me as well if I can prove that these

and false?

A: That seems to follow.

are both true

Then us first to

ask whether these new allegations of yours

are true, and if so, whether are good

and beautiful.

for them ... or even I can h.-..-r11i"u''";i-to hear what I

leave here better to serve the say next.

interests of and our American

,cu'uuuL. You appear to disdain the de-

that your

its need for

at work and greater

there's more: it's rr>·m?.,,.,,-, .....

th<>us,:mt that everyone at St. lives in

the past and cares for the present,

uv•1uui::. for what is relevant in our society,

dreadful.

is needed our students

teeming, changingworld of ours.

say that the food service is

Q: Is that all of it, Meletus?

A: no, actually it is not, but let's

take these as a good beginning.

If I were to prove to you that your

you would drop the

us?

... This leads me to our accusers' third

and the of conviction or

punishn1e11t or reward. In Plato's

Socrates is convicted as accused

of 280 to 221. His accusers demand

the death Socrates makes a just as­

sessment of what he deserves and argues

that he should be given free meals at the

community center. Now, those of you with

an for

that free meals in the St.John's dining room

is more than anyone deserves,

and our accusers charge us of much offense

there. But I know something some of you

do not-which is that we now have a new

food service, a national catering firm with

a chef instead of a food service manager, and

I will gladly submit myself to it as punish­

ment or reward, take your pick.