Godiva Reisenbichler | Student Life

1. Lady Gaga: I can only imagine what type of costume Lady Gaga would wear to the Thanksgiving parade. If the songstress herself couldn’t make an appearance, I’d love to wake up to Gaga look-alikes in all her old crazy costumes.

2. The “Twilight” vampires: Accompanying the winter wonderland theme that Thanksgiving brings about, the Cullens could sparkle on a snowy float.

3. David Freese: The St. Louis Cardinals third baseman won both the National League Championship Series and the World Series MVP awards, and those honors make him deserving of the national stage. He gave a great interview on Leno, and he’s pretty much a cutie. Why not have him waving all day?

4. The Man in Black from “Lost”: We in Cadenza never need an excuse to bring up “Lost,” but the smoke monster would be an awesome balloon. It would barely need any engineering—just fill up some black fabric with helium. Plus, maybe the accompanying float would have Terry O’Quinn on it. That wouldn’t be the worst thing.

5. The house from “Up”: Since it already floats, the “Up” house seems like it would be a natural fit for a parade balloon. The colorful balloons attached to the house would brighten up the day.

6. The cast of “Community”: The parade airs on NBC, and NBC has a lot of explaining to do to “Community” fans for pulling the low-rated but beloved show off the midseason schedule. Having the cast appear would maybe soften the blow a tiny bit.

7. A giant pumpkin: This one doesn’t seem to make much sense, but let me explain. People always get mad when Christmas starts in October, claiming that it’s encroaching on the Halloween season. To get back at those people, have Halloween invade the beginning of Christmas.

8. Puss in Boots: His solo movie just opened a few weeks ago, but you may not want to shell out the money needed for the full 3D experience. Instead, wouldn’t it be great to stare at the adorable cat when he’s enlarged to balloon size floating over New York City streets?

9. Ted Drewes frozen custard: In order to drum up some interest in St. Louis tourism, why not advertise for Ted Drewes? The balloon would confuse and delight, but the float members throwing frozen custard to the parade viewers would certainly drum up some excitement. And maybe some brain freeze.

10. The remaining Republican presidential candidates: What better way to campaign than from a traveling float in New York? Judging who has the best wave is probably just as valid as judging their stances on issues, anyway.

• Bear’s Den open at 2:59 a.m. on weekends for late night munchies
• Friends who’ve got your back
• Hulu for everything you need, including procrastination
Johann Qua Hiansen, Co-Director of Image & Relations

• Great professors and faculty who really want students to thrive
• The plethora of fireplaces on campus that keep me warm and toasty
• The prospect of finally seeing Harry Potter over Thanksgiving break
Paula Lauris, Managing Editor

• A Student Life staff that impresses me every day with its ingenuity and initiative
• Jazz at Holmes
• Privilege, and the awareness thereof
Kate Gaertner, Editor in Chief

• Clusters, a Fall Break separate from Thanksgiving, and other sensible University policies
• Physical security, health care and comfortable housing. At Wash. U. we’re among the most privileged human beings on the planet
• Tofurkey, turducken, and the wisdom to know the difference
Dan Woznica, Managing Editor

• Students smart enough to stock up on Four Loko pre-ban
• Cranberry sauce (the canned kind)
• Boardwalk Empire
Charlie Low, Forum Editor

• All of my friends back from semesters abroad
• The new Nordstrom Rack!
• Classes that still take field trips
Brittany Meyer, Director of Multimedia

• The winter wonderland Christmas lights in Tilles Park
• Professors who are willing to negotiate due dates
• The chocolate chip scones at the Law School—best scone ever!
Hana Schuster, Senior Scene Editor

• Kayaks Coffee being so close to the new Engineering buildings
• Open source software like WordPress
• Google
David Seigle, Online Editor

• The workers at Wash. U. who quietly make this a beautiful campus
• Wraps at Ursa’s and Indian food at Bear’s Den
• My awesome residents
Cyrus Bahrassa, Forum Editor

• Lace-up boots being back in style
• Classes that let you do your final presentation early and then skip the last week
• Landlords who don’t make you pay for heating
Shayna Makaron, Managing Editor

• Awesome late-night Village food
• A thriving and active Greek life system
• Expanded WUCrsL search options
AJ Sundar, Senior Forum Editor

• Ibby’s lunch buffets
• Seasonal lights on the loop
• Roomates that throw a blanket on you when you are too cold to get out of bed and get one yourself
Alissa Rotblatt, Forum Editor

• Finally being able to wear my wool greatcoat
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer for keeping me entertained the past few weeks
• Wash U.’s nerdiness for not judging me on the above
Daniel Deibler, Forum Editor

• The Lions playing on Thanksgiving
• Reuniting with family pets
• Tuna sandwiches at Subway
Alex Dropkin, Senior Sports Editor

• The opportunity to sleep on a weekly basis
• Scrabble at Blueberry Hill
• Four great years at Wash. U. with great professors, friends, fun and learning
Perry Stein, Director of Training

• Being surrounded by great students and professors
• CPC Happy Hour
• Peter Great Fireplace
Eve Samborn, Forum Editor

• Stuffing!
• A slightly longer Thanksgiving break
• The few days we have left before Christmas music floods the airwaves
Percy Olsen, Senior Cadenza Editor

Your first hurdle: Thanksgiving. Extended family, heavy food and too much wine. If you’re anything like me, which hopefully you aren’t because if you are, you should probably be in a place resembling jail or a quarantine, this is a recipe for disaster. So how do you resist the puckish urges that old people and sickly cousins seem to bring out in you? The answer lies in preparation. Do as much diligence before this holiday as you would for a philosophy paper. Devote as much energy to developing Buddha-like restraint as you would to sourcing Four Lokos before they become illegal. Make sure to know your exit plan. If moldy old Aunt Sally waddles up to you and wants to know about Wershington University and how the weather is in California, you need to be on your A-game. For guys, the safe and easy option is Thanksgiving football. Whichever demigod thought of this idea, I will build a statue in your honor. For girls, well, I’m no expert, but pretending your biffer just broke up with her bf of three months and is going to commit carbocide without an emergency chat-sesh seems like a solid option to me. Everyone can rest easy though, knowing that the tryptophan in the turkey will knock out the predators sooner rather than later.

If you’re lucky enough to make it through Thanksgiving without being disowned, you’re on the right track, and you’re making good progress. But ahead of you lies a marathon, a Goliath of holiday schmooze, if you will. From Hanukkah to Christmas to New Year’s, religion and culture are throwing down a serious gauntlet. If you had to equate this stretch of time to a terrible movie, I’d have to say that these upcoming weeks caused the storm in “The Day After Tomorrow.” If, like me, you’re of the Jewish persuasion, don’t be bitter that the goyim have a far superior holiday (come on, a jolly fat man who brings you stuff you want!), we have eight nights to make up for the inferiority complex. And at least we aren’t targeted by those elf ads. Regardless of your cultural leanings, you have to make it to New Year’s somehow. To get through these weeks, take advantage of being home. See your friends; if you live in a city, explore it; and this is getting too genuine, so also make sure to abuse the excess gratitude your parents feel now that you’re home. A well-balanced and relaxed break is integral to your vitality during this trying time.

Congratulations, you’ve made it to New Year’s Eve. What to do now? Well, really, what else does one do on this delightfully overhyped night than get delightfully inappropriate? Why, you ask? Because you deserve it. Make yourself a soothing Jägerbomb, and peacefully, with the most precise focus on debauchery, head on out into the night.

~ The student body that has stepped up its activism this year, and constantly challenges the way I think
~ Pandora
~ The incredible Student Life staff which impresses me everyday and makes every hour spent in the office worthwhile
Perry Stein, Editor in Chief

~ Sunny, carefree afternoons on Art Hill
~ The library on the top floor of Brown
~ Professors who make connecting with undergraduates a priority
Kate Gaertner, Senior Forum Editor

~ Shaunda and Shawnique in the Business School café for their friendliness
~ Free backrubs from Stressbusters and friends
~ Student athletes for their hard work and amazing stories
Johann Qua Hiansen, Senior Sports Editor

~ The team that keeps Whispers open late and ensures there is always some place to work on campus
~ The facilities staff that works at all hours of the night to keep campus running, and, despite seeing all of our quirks and foibles doesn’t laugh at us
~ The students who make this University stand out, and especially those friends who have gotten to know me and decided it’s still worth hanging out with me
Sam Guzik, Director of New Media

~ Friendly professors who help you no matter what time of day (or night)
~ The fantastic staff of Engineering Student Services
~ Incredible living facilities
~ Working on a paper filled with such an amazing and fun staff
Matt Mitgang, Senior Photo Editor

~ All of the Aramark employees who work late at night to keep campus clean
~ Wash. U. housekeeping (The only good thing about ResLife)
Josh Goldman, Managing Editor

~ Ducks in the DUC, and other DUC programming
~ Flexible course scheduling
~ Having a landlord instead of an RCD
~ ResLife maintenance workers and food service employees
Brian Krigsher, Associate Editor

~ Wash. U. police who patrol off campus so I’m safe walking home
~ Amazing advisors who devote so of their much time to students
~ The fact that Einstein’s bagels are back in Whispers
Brittany Meyer, Design Chief

~ Flank steak at Holmes lounge
~ Forest Park and everything is has to offer—the Art Museum, Zoo, Science Center—being barely 10 minutes away from campus
~ Betty White surviving the Great Celebrity Massacre of ’09
Steph Spera, Senior Cadenza Editor

~ The collected papers of James Merrill, available from the Special Collections Library
~ Booze at Ibby’s, available before noon
Charlie Bohlen, Forum Editor

~ Cashiers and sandwich makers who smile and talk with you when they make and serve your food
~ The financial aid package that allows me to keep attending this school
~ WUPD for coming to help you out late at night when you accidentally lock the keys inside your car
Michelle Stein, Managing Editor

~ Family
~ The friendly chefs who work at Bear’s Bakery & Grill until 2 a.m.
~ The opportunity for this wonderful education
Puneet Kollipara, Copy Chief

~ Wash, U’s investment in MetroLink
~ Subway cookies that melt in your mouth
~ Friends and family
Aditya Sarvesh, Forum Editor

~ $1 “Milk and Cookies” on Wednesdays
~ Great professors and TAs who make time for students after class
~ Groupon opening in St. Louis
Paula Lauris, Senior Scene Editor

~ The field in Forest Park, where you can wander around and appreciate wilderness
~ Students who you can respect
~ The game room in the DUC
AJ Sundar, Forum Editor

~ Free printing in the Career Center (although maybe I should have kept it a secret)
~ The amazingly tolerant housekeeping staff on the 40
~ The days when I look around as I walk through campus and realize how lucky I am to be here
Eve Samborn, Forum Editor

~ A campus that’s beginning to break out of itself, with flash mobs galore
~ Professors who have found it in themselves to both produce high-level knowledge and treat undergraduates seriously
~ Food, always and everywhere, such that the lack of tomatoes is our biggest problem
Dennis Sweeney, Managing Editor

First off, there’s no need to give up food—you can throw a potluck dinner. Whether you know friends or vaguely familiar floor mates who are still in town, they will appreciate the company and food as much as you. If you’re not comfortable at the stovetop, check out the Internet for easy recipes. I recommend thekitchn.com, because it has plenty of traditional recipes and ones with new twists.

There are also a number of restaurants open and serving turkeys on Thanksgiving. There are more affordable options, like City Diner on Grand, which offers dinner for $15.95, as well as more expensive and classy ones, like Top of the Riverfront in the Millennium Hotel downtown, which has a $49.95 buffet. Many of these places require reservations, so if you’re planning on going, call ahead of time.

You can also go downtown and watch the St. Louis Thanksgiving Day Parade. There are balloons, marching bands and even a visit from Santa. It’s like the Macy’s Parade, but you have the actual possibility of seeing it all live and up close. The parade goes down Market Street and begins at 8:45 a.m. It’s advised however, that you get there early for a good vantage point.

Then, of course, there’s always the chance to start celebrating the holiday season—you know the “big” holidays. The day after Thanksgiving, holiday lights will go up all over town. The zoo, the Old Courthouse and most of downtown are good places to go and check out lights and decorations. The Steinberg Skating Rink in Forest Park will also be open for the great winter pastime of ice-skating on Thanksgiving.

So even if you’re not spending Thanksgiving exactly where you want to, there’s still fun to be had. You can continue to have your food, parade and good times.

Other Happenings:

The Rock-n-Roll Craft Show: November 28, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and November 29, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. at Third Degree Glass Factory, 5200 Delmar. An alternative craft show with innovated local artisans and musicians.

The Fair Trade Market: November 27-29, at the Manchester United Methodist Church, 129 Woods Mill Rd. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. A Market of Fair Trades Goods selling everything from toys to musical instruments to jewelry.

Guns N Hoses Boxing Showdown: November 25 at Scottrade Center, 7 p.m. A fundraiser for St. Louis fire fighters and policemen featuring local firemen and policemen as the boxers. Tickets required.

(Kelsey Eng | Student Life)

Oh, yeah! It’s that time of the year. Christmas ads start to taunt you through the television screen. Hanukkah ads don’t exist. Nor do those for anything else really. The generic “Happy Holidays” reigns supreme. Turkeys start gobbling knowing that their short and fairly meaningless lives are going to end in the culmination of their entire purpose: to feed an entire nation on one day. Poor, poor turkeys.

Luckily for you, the rest of this article will not be adding to your holiday cheer. This is a more ominous look at the wondrous holiday that is our Thanksgiving. Rather, this is an introspective look at the madness that ensues prior to our departure for Thanksgiving break. On top of the irony of celebrating a holiday in which we spread horrible diseases to the native population and stole their food, which they taught us to grow, there is still more to learn about the dark side of the onset of the holiday season.

Problem number one: The most important and all-consuming spectacle of Olin Library. Over the normal course of the semester, Olin is a quiet refuge for timely and efficient study. But hell hath no fury like the last two weeks of a semester at Wash. U., and the library becomes a black hole of soul-sucking depression. The blank faces of student zombies wandering the B-stacks in search of scholarly sustenance are enough evidence to bring in the Ghostbusters. Someone revive us!

If I could be so bold as to suggest that a student would prefer not to spend every waking moment either in class, slaving over a paper or studying for an exam, would I be venturing too far? Caffeine-infused binges and furious attempts to finish projects leave us rattled and crying for the days of pre-school. How I yearn for block-building, naptime and a refreshing glass of apple juice.

It has gotten to the point, at least for me, where the library has become the antithesis of productivity. It is incredibly difficult for me to enter the library and set myself to work, solely because the environment is near poisonous. There has been no change of scenery at all, and I suspect this applies to a few others as well. The reason I say this is because at this time of the year, there are so many people crammed into cubicles that the Internet crashes. Screw library bandwidth. What about our mental bandwidth?

Granted, I am bloviating and spewing hyperbole all over the place like Mount Vesuvius, but I needed to fill a column with something in the midst of my scholastic marathon that will hopefully culminate prior to the break. Why not rant and rave like a lunatic if you don’t know what else to write about? Perhaps it is a waste of your time and of ink and paper. Perhaps it irritates you. Such are the petty inconsistencies in life. One day you’re curled up in the fetal position after writing 30 pages of papers; the next you’re feasting on cranberry sauce and turkey legs. Are those parallel? Not really. One could argue that they are both feasts—one literal, one scholarly—but who cares? Inevitably you will partake in both. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Charlie is a sophomore in Arts & Sciences. He can be reached via e-mail at chlow@wustl.edu.

For those of you who are unaware of what the Turkey Drop is (freshmen, listen up!), here’s the basic formula: Take two students in a relationship who have been going out for approximately three months now, assuming they began dating at the start of the semester. Well, three months is often long enough for at least one party to get tired and start thinking that maybe there are better options out there. Then, said party (your significant other) goes home for his or her first vacation of the year, hooks up and, before you know it, you’re Turkey Dropped.

As funny as it all sounds, take it from a once-dropped turkey—the Turkey Drop is no fun. It’s right before finals and wildly frustrating after trying to make something work for so long. It’s enough to put a damper on the end of anyone’s semester. But there are some tricks to getting over this terrible holiday backlash.

Get “basted.” Not necessarily the best solution, but sometimes a good drink with a few friends can make the situation seem a little bit less painful—and often a lot funnier. Or you’ll get that chance you’ve been waiting for to cry until your tear ducts dry out.

Make it a marathon. My freshman roommate took care of me from the moment I got back to the dorm until our taxi to the airport before winter break. How? By renting all six seasons of “Sex and the City,” which we had worked our way through by our last final. The show can vary, as long as there’s plenty of laughter and perhaps a cynical romantic plotline. Doing a pseudo-sappy show marathon with friends is the equivalent of chicken noodle soup for the mending heart.

Milk it. When else do you have an excuse to guilt your friends into going out to eat or seeing a movie when they have a stack of homework to do? You only get to play the breakup card for a short period of time—so use it! Nothing is out of the question, from ice cream-eating contests to singing along to “Moulin Rouge” (that applies to guy friends as well as girls).

Do everything you’ve always wanted to do. That may be a little broad, but it doesn’t matter. That haircut you always thought about? Get it! A new workout you wanted to start? Grab a friend, and hit the gym. With your newfound time, there’s so much more that you can do with your life. And the more you get out there, the more likely you are to find what you love—whether it be a new hobby or a new special someone.

Breaking up is always hard to do; no one is denying that. But if you’re able to put a positive spin on it, then you’ll have a better holiday season—and even have a little fun while you’re at it.

So the most important thing to keep in mind this break? Keep it all in perspective. There’s so much more to Thanksgiving dinner than just the turkey. Maybe you’re more of a mashed potatoes guy or gal anyway—and now you’ve got the opportunity to try all the other dishes.

Earlier this year, a pregnant woman stood at the intersection of Forsyth and Skinker, holding a cardboard sign and asking for money. Though physically close to our campus, her situation is light-years away from the privileged environment that we inhabit. More than 18,000 people in the St. Louis metropolitan area are homeless, and the municipal government is notorious for its ill treatment of the homeless. In 2004, the ACLU won a lawsuit stating that the police had unfairly and unjustly attempted to remove members of the homeless community here for no reason.

The situation of the St. Louis homeless is easily stated, but difficult—even wrenching—to imagine. To know that it is you who enjoys a college education, relative financial stability, your own bed in November, and they who suffer the unimaginable daily indignities that attend American homelessness, engenders a vexing kind of guilt and shame. The fact that no one deserves what the homeless go through makes you wonder what you did to deserve what you have. Since you’re only a college student, the answer is nothing. So why you and not them? To say anything but “luck” seems like the height of vanity.

It’s no fun thinking like this. That, combined with the problem’s centuries-old recalcitrance, is what makes homelessness an under-examined issue even in as activist a community as Washington University. And this is why the efforts of the students who organized Homelessness Awareness Week are to be commended—all week long, the Student Alliance Against Poverty will be operating a campus-wide food drive with collection depots operating at the DUC, South 40 House, and the Village as well as various spots around campus to take canned food.

Homelessness Awareness Week kicked off with a screening of the documentary film “Tent City” on Tuesday night. Its organizers are also sponsoring two more events this week, a Hunger Banquet Thursday night at 7 p.m. at McMillan Café spotlighting the causes of global hunger, and a Holiday Dinner at the Bridge (run by the Centenary Church of St. Louis), a chance for students to share a meal with the homeless community.

We commend the organizers of Homelessness Awareness Week for the initiative they’ve taken in integrating the Wash. U. community in the struggle against homelessness. We’re going to try to make some of these events, and we hope that you will too. They’re doing a good job, and it’s up to us to ensure that an awareness of the pervasive problems associated with homelessness lasts more than a week. It’s important that we move beyond sponsored events with free food and toward activities that will make an impact—away from empty dialogue that declares homelessness a problem and toward actions that take steps to solving it. To do any different is to make Thanksgiving seem like just another opportunity to ponder the riddle of our own privilege.

Living on a college campus with many student organizations surrounding us makes it relatively easy for Washington University students and faculty to demonstrate gratitude for our blessings. Campus groups focused on community service such as Give Thanks Give Back, Feed St. Louis and other Campus Y organizations are easy to become involved with. Many of us, however, overlook the simple things we can do to show our appreciation for those who serve us everyday.

Most of us who live on campus have come to take for granted this far into the school year that residential hall workers will clean up after our messes (well, not our dorm rooms—few are brave enough for that). Recently, my floor had a small mid-week study break in our common room during which we feasted on chicken wings and bread biscuits. We got our break from work, but in the process we created work for those who clean our residential building.

I wish I could say that my floor-mates and I meticulously vacuumed our crumbs and got rid of the grease stains left from our dinner food, but like most people, I left early with the excuse of “piles of work,” telling myself I would return later to check that our mess was cleaned up. I forgot, however, and only the next afternoon when I passed the common room did I see that the area was completely clean again, perhaps even more so than before our feast. Even if my friends who stayed back after the break had tidied up a bit, I am certain housekeeping had a big part in cleaning up our mess.

I certainly plan on giving back to the St. Louis community through charities such as Give Thanks Give Back this holiday season, but as I walk past the housekeeping staff in the mornings on my way to class, I have come to realize how hard and thankless their work is, and I have resolved to finally show them some of the much-deserved gratitude I feel. Leaving a small present of Thanksgiving goodies or holiday candy, along with a small note, seems a small service in comparison with having clean residence halls year-round.

Some may admittedly argue that as residents, our residential fees pay for the housekeeping services from which we benefit. The low worker wages that housekeepers receive, however, hardly compensate for the grimy work the staff does. After all, I know few mothers willing to uncomplainingly clean up an explosion of fried chicken grease and biscuit crumbs!

This holiday season, I plan to give back to those who truly deserve some appreciation because of what they do for my friends and me, and I sincerely encourage others to do the same. Giving back to those who make our residential halls clean and homey while we are away from our families is a great way to jumpstart some holiday spirit.

I told those people, “You have no idea.” Because they didn’t. They were adults.

As a rule, we look back on our younger years with nostalgia. “Remember all those days on the playground with yo-yos, when we were carefree, tossing a football and talking about what was on Nickelodeon last night?” we ask each other now. I remember. All we really did was stand around trying to figure out who was the coolest, who was the most physically dominant and who could impress those people when they weren’t either of those things. Being a kid sucked. That’s what I remember.

Same applies here. Adults think back with the lens of how locked in they feel now, how little opportunity there is to change, how they’ve gotten lost in their work and forgotten to do what they always wanted to do, and they remember that the opposite of all those things was true back in college. But, alas, they can’t do those things now. A pity.

This article is for those adults. Adults: remember harder.

Do you remember the pressure you felt to find a way of life that was really meaningful and worthwhile because of all the opportunities you had been given and all the resources—love, money and time—that had been put toward you doing just that?

Do you remember realizing that your very first move out of college would probably dictate all the other things that happen after that? Do you remember the feeling that this is make-or-break right now and that if you don’t make the right move you’ll end up upside-down in the wrong city, in the wrong job, with the wrong people, miserable for the rest of your life?

Do you remember doing an internship over the summer and coming to understand that, with an eight-hour workday and about an hour of transportation and transition time on the front end and back end of that, you only have about two hours a day when you’re not working, sleeping or eating? Do you remember fearing—knowing—that your life would be unbearable if you didn’t find something you loved to do with those eight hours a day?

Do you remember understanding the stakes? The gravity of your situation? Do you remember the burden that it is to want to be passionate about something but not to have found it yet?

Do you remember what it’s like to have no idea what the hell you’re doing but to know that every decision you make from now on is the real deal, irrevocable, so full with implications you can hardly move?

I didn’t think so.