Sallyportal: Madly Blogging Reed

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"Reunions"


Deal Faster, Cried the Losers

By Brandon Hamilton '11

No one likes to lose, and when the cost of defeat is an entire year's worth of timê, the stakes are high.

Continuing a long tradition, classmates sat down at the poker table in the Capehart room at Centennial Reunions to indulge in a little exercise in combinatorics.

Making Waves: Alumni Generate Mini Tsunami

Never underestimate the power of Reedies. At a Centennial Reunions class on Thursday, June 9, I learned firsthand that all we need to create a tidal wave in our very own sports center swimming pool is two dozen Reedies and a leader with an understanding of classical physics.

Okay, perhaps "tidal" is a bit of an exaggeration of the wave's size. But it's no overstatement to say that we managed to slosh water out of both ends of the pool by doing nothing more than hopping in and out of the shallow end at the direction of Brad Wright '61. Brad gave an explanation of the physics of wave-making before the experiment began (here is an extended version of the video above, complete with full scientific explanation). I confess that between the poor acoustics of the pool deck and the anticipation of jumping in the water, most of the science to passed me by. I can tell you that coordination of the physics of the event required someone to stand at the pool's edge swinging the so-called Pendulum of Destiny, a group of four rubber duckies with a golf balls attached to their bases floating in the middle of the pool, and our willingness to hop in when the wave was at its highest point only to hop back out each time it ebbed to its lowest.

Rugby: Eighties vs. The World!

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Brandon Hamilton '11

It's an ancient debate--are youth and speed a match for age and guile? At Centennial Reunions, Reedies traded eye goggles for mouth guards and lab coats for cleats to settle the question on the pitch as alumni from the eighties (the "First Fifteen") faced off against younger grads for a little post-thesis physics experiment.

At the Helm: Bragdon, Koblik, Diver

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By Ethan Knudson '11

Reed presidents past and present Paul Bragdon [1971-88], Steve Koblik [1992-2001], and Colin Diver [2002-] held a panel at Centennial Reunions to discuss how they surmounted immense challenges to preserve Reed College amidst financial and national turmoil (video).

Reed Breaks Ground for Performing Arts Building

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By Alex Walker '12

President Colin Diver and several professors broke ground for Reed's new $28 million performing arts building before a crowd of alumni celebrating Centennial Reunions last week.

A Song of Two Syllabi with Prof. Wally Englert

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The first lines of Homer's Iliad reverberated to the carved rafters of the chapel on Friday as Reedies of all generations were reunited in the shared experience of reliving their first Hum lecture during Centennial Reunions. However, there was a twist. On the back of the lecture handout (distributed by a beaming President Colin Diver, who marched up and down the aisles brandishing copies) was a timeline that began, not in Greece, but in Egypt. And the Homeric epic of choice for the semester was not the tale of Achilleus and his anger, but that of Odysseus and his quest to return home. As professor Wally Englert [classics 1981-] explained, the Hum syllabus has undergone some significant changes in the past year...

"We used to say 'The Greeks were strange,'" Englert noted, while discussing the inclusion of new material from other Mediterranean cultures on the reading list, "But I'm going to do something a little radical here and say: Ancient cultures were strange."

Olde Reed: Was It Better?

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It's a cry familiar to freshmen from every decade of Reed's existence: "You're doing what? Hah! Back at Olde Reed..."

Yes, it's Olde Reed! That elusive golden age in which classes were harder, Renn Fayres were crazier, laurels were shinier, and hijinks were, er, jinkier. Olde Reed was always dead by your freshman year, unless you are telling the story, in which case it was dead by your listeners' freshman year. It was epic, it was extraordinary, and it was, in whatever indescribable fashion, better.

100 Years of the Canyon

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Ask anyone about Reed's campus and they are sure to mention the canyon. The 28-acre watershed--a critical part of the Crystal Springs Creek--is a beautiful sanctuary for observing wildlife, taking a walk, or simply gathering your thoughts. It's also, as one alumna put it, "very romantic."

Biology professor Keith Karoly agrees. "That's biology, too," he quipped during his presentation on science in the canyon, a lecture he gave June 8, as part of Centennial Reunions. The participation of the audience--alumni from the 1940s to the present--made it clear that the canyon is a central part of both Reed's and Reedies' identities.

From Prometheus to Pork Shoulder

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Steven Raichlen '75 knows more about barbeque than Prometheus knew about fire. His stat sheet includes 26 books, five James Beard Awards, three IACP awards, a PBS-TV series, his own line of grilling tools, the founding of Barbeque University, a beat-down of Bobby Flay in a barbeque cook-off, a BA in French literature from Reed, and his liver has never been eaten by a raptor. Not to gloat, but another advantage over Prometheus.

"I'm not a chef," Raichlen told alumni celebrating Centennial Reunions this week. "Food, for me, has always been a window into culture."

Reed Activists Stage "Sit-Down"

By Brandon Hamilton '11

Several generations of activists assembled in the Chapel to trade insights, strategies, and stories as a part of Social Justice 101, one of more than 200 events being held this week to celebrate Centennial Reunions.

Speakers ranged from Peter Bergel '65, executive director of Oregon PeaceWorks, whose self-styled "graduate education" took the form of years of living in a commune, to professor Kristi Hansen '96, an agricultural economist who teaches at the University of Wyoming.

Get Your Kicks at Reunions

Yes, there's still time.

Register for our spectacular Centennial Reunions, June 6-12. And check out a sampling of the incredible delights that await you. Rugby. Dance. Basketry. Majuscules. A HOT-AIR BALLOON. Gary Snyder '51. Eggdog. (No, not eggnog. Eggdog.) Tikkler. Davis Rogan '90 and the Allstar New Orleans Rhythm & Blues Revue. FERRIS WHEEL. Stand-up economics. Gilbert & Sullivan. Fireworks!

For more about Reunions, especially the amazing art that will be be everywhere on campus, see more on our sister blog, the Riffin' Griffin.

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