TrinTalk

On Friday, October 31, President Jones is scheduled to give an all-campus address, regarding the recent happenings in the economy, and what kinds of implications they have on our beloved Trin.  Scheduled to speak are Trinity College CFO Paul Mutone, and CAO Ronald Joyce.  The meeting is slated to start at 12 noon, and will be held in the Washington Room, on the second floor of Mather Hall.

In related news, this morning the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its figures regarding our country’s Gross Domestic Product.  In the third quarter, the BEA’s findings show a decrease of 0.3% in the GDP, attributing it mainly to “negative contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), and  residential fixed investment.”  The impact of negative contributions from residential fixed investments comes as no surprise, following the recent subprime mortgage crisis.

Unfortunately, this can’t mean anything good for Trinity, due to the school’s endowment being composed primarily of a multitude of investments that feel the impact of the downward-spiraling stock market. Stay tuned for more news regarding President Jones’s meeting tomorrow afternoon.

—-UPDATE—-

President Jones has sent out another campus-wide email detailing the fiscal state of the school at this point, quoting numerous figures.  Evidently, as of September 30, “the College’s endowment has lost 14.9% of its value for the present calendar year.”  This does not bode well for the endowment, since such a substantial decrease in value can only lead to more financial hardship.

President Jones has outlined a course of action for the coming months, including cutting all non-compensation discretionary budgets by 5%, as well as ceasing the hiring of new campus staff, withholding essential positions.  Additionally, Jones plans to freeze all non-critical campus projects, as well as restricting the hiring of outside contractors for said projects.  This is a risky decision, especially given the number of campus renovation projects currently underway, including the still unfinished Jarvis, and Seabury Halls.

Keep checking back for more updates on the College’s financial status.

After a little while of downtime, we’re back online. During a WordPress (our blogging software) upgrade somehow the database that stores all of the posts, links, guts of the website got erased. When I tried to restore everything from a backup, it wouldn’t work. Finally after days of trial an error I got something to work and have salvaged all the old posts. I still have some loose ends to tie up but for the most part we’re back in action and should resume normal posting soon.

The Accidentals will be playing their first concert of the year at 8:00 p.m. on Halloween (October 31st). The concert will be held in the Trinity College Chapel Crypt and will feature a guest performance from the all-female a capella group, the Smith College Grooves.

What? Accidentals’ Halloween concert with the Smith College Grooves

Where? Chapel Crypt (basement of the Chapel)

When? October 31st, 8:00 p.m.

Cost? Free!

As the title says, Drs. Lee and Burns will be hosting an “important lecture about depression,” on Thursday, October 23rd from 12:00-1:00pm in Gallows Hill.

The flyer also lists this website for a self-assessment on depression. For questions or to make an appointment with a counselor call the Counseling Center at 297-2415.

Katie wrote in asking us to remind everyone that in Connecticut voter registratin ends on October 21st, and registration information can be picked up in both the FACES Lounge or the Community Service Office (both of which are located downstairs in Mather, to the left of the bookstore).

The Fred is hosting an 1880’s party on Friday October 17th, costumes are requested but not required. The night should include original performances, reading, and other fun.

When? Friday, October 17th

Where? The Fred (Summit East)

Cost? Free!

TCAC is hosting the annual 80’s Dance this Saturday (October 18th) in the Field House from 10p.m. until 2 a.m. 80’s dress is required at the door, as is a Trinity Student ID card (preferably one that’s yours…or at least looks enough like you).

What? 80’s Dance presented by TCAC

When? Saturday, October 18th

Where? The Field House (by the gym where Girl Talk was)

Cost? Free, Trinity ID is necessary, though.

Someone on the ACB posted a link to a very nice article that appeared in Friday’s New York Times. The article outlines the renovations done by the school and quotes Katie Marinello ‘11 and Sophie Starchman ‘11 about their experiences so far living in the newly renovated Jarvis. It’s a great piece and a short read.

Like many colleges on the East Coast, with long histories and traditional buildings that no longer suit the needs of 21st-century students, Trinity College knew it had to modernize some of its student housing and classroom buildings to stay current. So it spent $33 million to renovate three connected brownstone buildings from the early 1870s that make up what is known as “the Long Walk.” The project was funded through long-term debt that will be offset by fund-raising, officials said.

See the whole article here.

Reviews are something that I’ve been thinking about doing for a while. Food, movies, music, etc. are all up for review, and will hopefully be added on a pretty consistent basis.

Craving Chinese food a couple of nights ago, I decided to go back to a thread I had seen on TrinTalk at the begining of the month titled, “Best Chinese Delivery?” Eager to try a new Chinese delivery place, I chose Ting Ho instead of Peking Garden on the comment that they “used real chicken,” by one Guest.

Real chicken or not, Ting Ho was weak at best all around. The three of us ordered a few different dishes, vegie lo mein, chicken lo mein, pork fried rice, steamed dumplings, sesame chicken, and the customary white rice and egg roll. Finally, after almost an hour of waiting, the food came (still hot, props).

It just wasn’t that good, though. The lo mein was a molded chinese food container clump, you had to pry the noodles apart from one another. The semsame chicken was a weird brown instead of orange tint, and the pork in the pork fried rice kind of glimmered. Not the prettiest food we though, but we decided to trudge along and go for taste instead of presentation. Unfortunately Ting Ho didn’t really impress us there, either. The food tasted sort-of the way it looked, just a little off. Granted, each recipie can’t be the same, it just didn’t taste like your normal, run of the mill Chinese food, not as good.

While I’m not a food critic, I’m going to say that Ting Ho doesn’t get the seal of approval I was hoping to give out. A mediocre 2.5/5 stars.

A thread on the TrinTalk ACB reminded me to let everyone know that they should register for an absentee ballot STAT if you’d like to vote in the upcoming election. If you don’t know where to go to apply for an absentee ballot in your state, as the thread recommends visit VoteForChange.com and go through the process to apply for the ballot.

Note: VoteForChange.com is paid for by Obama For America, TrinTalk doesn’t endorse Barack Obama but feels that VoteForChange is a reliable source for voting information.