Students socialize at Table Manners on Tuesday night. Three times the number of students have been hospitalized from alcohol abuse in one semester than all of last year. .

Sponsors Critical of New Alcohol Policy
By Lori DesRochers
News Associate

One semester after the implementation of Pomona College’s new alcohol policy, nine Pomona students have been hospitalized due to alcohol abuse. For the entirety of last year, only three students were sent to the hospital.

“This may not be a record-breaking year, but it is certainly a year when we’ve had difficulties,” said Dean of Students Ann Quinley. Quinley denies that there is a connection between the effects of the new alcohol policy and the spike in incidents of alcohol abuse, but also finds it difficult to come up with a solution to the problem.

“I don’t really see how there could be a correlation,” she said. “I don’t think that there’s a reason for people to drink hard alcohol more.”

Pomona Lags Behind Peers in Alumni Donations
By Kyle Warneck
News Associate

At a college that ranks among the happiest colleges and universities in the nation, and with the largest per capita endowment, Pomona College lags surprisingly behind its peers in rates of alumni giving. This year’s US News and World Report ranking lists Pomona at 51percent while Carleton (tied with Pomona in the rankings) claims contributions from 65percent of alumni, Amherst 64 percent (second overall) and Williams 60 percent (first overall). However, if the recent trend holds true Pomona may close that gap very quickly.

Over the past three years, contributions have been steadily increasing. Internal numbers show the average contribution rate for the past three years is up from nearly three percent from the previous period. This year, the College is on pace to exceed those numbers again. Director of Annual Giving Scott Peters reports that early numbers suggest Pomona is on pace to shatter previous fundraising records. By the end of November in most years, between 9 percent and 11 percent of Pomona alumni have contributed to the Annual Fund. At the end of November this year, already 17.4 percent of alumni had contributed.

Campus Construction Continues
By Logan Steiner
Staff Writer

In a few years, both sides of Sixth Street on the west end of Pomona’s campus will look significantly different than they do today. Crookshank Hall, which sits on the south side of Sixth Street and houses Pomona’s English and Classics departments, is currently being remodeled. On the north side of the street, the new Richard C. Seaver Biology Building is currently under construction, and Seaver South will be renovated between 2006 and 2007.

Architects are also in the process of designing two connected buildings scheduled to be completed between 2005 and 2006, on the parking lot site at Sixth Street and College Way.

Associate Dean of the College Patricia Smiley is in charge of overseeing the Crookshank and Seaver South renovations as well as the construction of the new buildings. Smiley said she is confident that the renovation of Crookshank will be complete by the beginning of next summer.

Mayor Held Meets with 5C Student Presidents
By Joshua Tremblay
Editor-in-Chief

In a move to improve the sometimes strained town-gown relations between the Claremont Colleges and the City of Claremont, the mayor of Claremont Paul Held and ten student leaders met December 3 in the Sprague Conference Room at Harvey Mudd College.

The student delegation consisted of each college’s presidents and an accompanying senator from their respective governing bodies; the mayor led a group of city leaders including representatives from the police.

Prospie Applies Early with 248 Others
By Caleb Oken-Berg
News Editor

For most of high school, Michael Bayley had no idea what he wanted in a college. In the back of his mind, he had always figured that he would end up at a nearby state university, walking at least a half-mile to class and attending large lectures filled with hundreds of students.

Then, last spring, he set foot on the Pomona College campus.

“It was all in one day that I realized what I wanted,” said the senior at Lincoln, a public high school in Portland, Oregon. “I went from thinking I would just go to the University of Oregon, to realizing that I really wanted a small school where teachers actually know your name.”

Students Will Soon Lounge with New and Improved Amenities
By Caitlin Collins
Staff Writer

As a new program this year, the Residential Life Advisory Committee (RLAC) has worked hard to get its name out and to improve residential life.

“The primary thing that we’ve really talked about is really trying to get our name exposed and organizing getting our group together, which I think we have finally done,” said Associate Dean of Campus Life Frank Bedoya. “We now have a representative from each of the residence halls except Oldenborg.”

As a committee, RLAC is focused upon improving residential life in any way possible.

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