I, like many other seniors, have taken that exciting, but more difficult than initially imaged, step into living in a house. No more dorm rooms with mini-refrigerators. I was entering the adult world, a world where you buy toilet paper and own a set of silverware that isn’t disposable. One of the things I was most excited about was cooking. I had visions of a refrigerator filled with fruits and vegetables and standing in my pristine kitchen with my roommates making a healthy and delicious meal.

Well, two weeks into “adult” living, I’m here to say that a house beats the dorms, but is a far stretch from my hopeful visions. This weekend, I attempted to prepare my first real meal with my roommates, by which I mean something more complicated than a turkey sandwich or omelet. The menu included penne with red sauce, chicken breasts, and salad. Simple, right? Well the salad was, not surprisingly, the easiest part, and probably the most successful. Growing up, when my family would make dinner, my role was always the salad. So going into Meal #1 as an independent adult, there was at least one aspect I was adequately prepared for. Mixed greens, some cut up veggies, crumbled bleu cheese, walnuts, and balsamic vinaigrette equals success. Good salad? Yes. Great salad? Probably not. But in my opinion you can’t go too far wrong when crumbled bleu cheese and walnuts are involved.

Last Sunday was certainly a glorious evening to watch the film, Les Indigènes on the quad. With the big dipper shining brightly overhead, we had about 75 faculty and students eating popcorn and sitting on blankets or in lawn chairs as they watched our opening Tournées Festival film on the big forty foot, inflatable screen. Several students sat on the benches under the lamp poles and did their homework as they watched the movie. There were also a number of people who took ten or fifteen minutes to stop and watch as they crossed the quad on their way to the library or Farinon. Our next outdoor, cinema-sur-l’herbe, the Malian film Bamako will be shown on Friday, September 19, the rain date is set for Saturday, September 20. Professor David Stifel will lead a discussion afterwards in Farinon Center.

We are working on a Corn Harvest Festival for Wednesday, September 10 in the late afternoon and early evening. The idea here is to have an open celebration of the crop coming in--to share in the bounty, to learn about issues connected to corn production, and to have fun. Assuming our weather holds, we will be on the quad from 4:15-6:45--we will have Native American stomp dancing and powwow music, singing, storytelling, and Iroquois corn husk doll making. There will be conversation about ethanol, corn genetics, composting, corn in South America, and turning corn husks into paper. And if we can arrange it, we will be picking and roasting the corn for all to try! More details will become available shortly--All are welcome!

Since our world population has increased to nearly twice as large and automobile cars have been easily accessed to its consumers, we have been faced with a crisis in energy and fuel. With the oncoming technology in the past decade, fuel has been excessively used and prices in gasoline have continued to rise in all parts of America. What can be done about this situation? It is likely that ethanol-corn crops can be the ultimate solution to our energy problems? Are sugar crops also sustainable? What are the pros and cons in using corn as a solution? Are there any other alternatives?

Even though the International Energy Agency have been working to fix the “ethanol corn crop” problem, America has been unaware of what potential problems may lead to. The ethanol fuel that has been extracted from corn only serves as 10% of the gasoline that cars use today. Plus, the essentials for providing corn crops include fuel to produce them. Tractors are a must. Besides, where can we find the land to separately produce corn for fuel and food? Ethanol consumption in a car is nearly 35% higher than that of regular gasoline. This new energy source is not satisfying enough. The amount of energy produced is not enough to out lie the amount of gasoline and energy consumed in America. Oil prices will continue to stock up and Americans will continue to pay the necessary costs. People just generalize these ideas and ignore the lack of resource problematic issues.

Ingredients:
2 cups Flour (sifted)
2 cups Butter (room temperature)
2 cups Sugar
3 tablespoons Baking Powder
3 eggs
3 tablespoons Cinnamon
1 cup Cinnamon Sugar (instructions below)
Vanilla Ice Cream