One of the things that really sets Olin apart from your average institution is the remarkably strong set of community values that we all enjoy. You can see our honour code in action when we respect one another’s belongings in shared spaces, when we build and share cool projects, or when we cook and share heaps of delicious treats with other students.

But something not-so-nice happens after our good deeds have gone down. All of a sudden, piles of clutter, malfunctioning oscilloscopes, or empty plates become Somebody Else’s Problem (SEP). Think about our kitchens, our stock-rooms, our lounges. Have you ever walked through them and thought to yourself “Yuck, I hope someone cleans this up,” and then carried on with your day? Maybe you accidentally made things a little more cluttered before you left. A dish in the kitchen drying rack. An emptied tray in the stockroom. A stack of semi-useful stuff in the lounges. A drop in the bucket, compared to the mess that’s already there. I know I’ve done it. Let’s be honest: It would be overwhelming to fix that mess myself. I’m busy. I didn’t make it. I’m not responsible. If I worried about every little thing I saw that needed attention, I’d explode!

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Clubs, organizations, CORe, SERV, Honor Board, faculty, staff, student groups, and individuals are organizing events for your entertainment. All sorts of events, activities, and fun meetings happen every week on campus. Don’t miss out!

How can you keep track of these various happenings on campus? SAC has you covered. Check out the events calendar at calendar.olinapps.com for an up-to-date calendar of events, including recurring club events and big ticket SAC, club and organization events, as well as other interesting activities. To submit your club’s event, email olineventcalendar@gmail.com with an ical, and your event will quickly be added to the calendar. I recommend downloading the calendar to your Outlook. Click “Add calendar to Outlook” in the top right of the page, and follow the instructions. Then toggle this calendar on and off within your personal calendar.

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We’re in Decade Two. What does that mean? Olin’s not just about getting a good engineering education, it’s about changing education across the globe. As students, we can be part of that mission. We want to make sure you know what’s happening and how you can get it resolved!

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Most of you have probably heard of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), released in 1990 in Japan and 1991 in the United States. What you may not know is that Nintendo was also planning on releasing a CD-based attachment for the SNES in 1992 or 1993. This attachment would have resembled the Sega CD released in 1991 for the Sega Genesis (rival of the SNES) and would have allowed for larger, faster games. While the Sega CD never did particularly well, at the time Nintendo viewed it as a threat. However, Nintendo had no experience with CDs, and needed a partner company to help them out. Phillips was among the list of companies Nintendo approached for help, but unfortunately, the partnership did not work out, and Phillips released their own CD-based system, the Phillips CDi instead. The CDi was not very successful, but due to the work Phillips did with Nintendo, the CDi saw the release of a Mario game – Hotel Mario – and three Legend of Zelda games – the Wand of Gamelon, the Faces of Evil, and Zelda’s Adventure. Needless to say, without Nintendo’s direct involvement, none of these Phillips CDi games were particularly good, and none are officially acknowledged by Nintendo today.

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Freedom of Speech and Respect for Others

We, as a community, struggle with the intersection of Freedom of Speech and Respect for Others every day. I do not, in any way, believe I am in a position to tell anyone what they should or should not say, do, or believe. Instead, I want to raise a few questions, start a discussion, and show you some of the responses I received when I asked some Olin students for their opinions. This is a personal piece, though, so in the end, you’re getting my two cents. Take it or leave it as you see fit.

Everyone at Olin comes here with their own set of experiences and values, which lead to some sort of framework for how we expect ourselves and others to interact with the world.

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As the newest figurehead for the Amount of Veggie Meals is Too Damn High! party, it is my responsibility to bring to light a repressed majority: Olin students who are capable of digesting meat.

For years, this group of students has silently perched in the dark recesses of the dining hall, pacified by the vocal minority of vegans and herbavores. Toiling through suppers of fava beans and tofurky, the meat-eaters have suffered. But they will endure. We will stay strong, and pray for a day in which the words “General Tso’s” are superseded by something other than “Tofu”.

Gastronomical warriors, fearless in solitude we have lived through the night terrors, the visions, the flashbacks of quinoa and carrots. Alas, there is hope, a glimmer of light. Today I found slivers of pepperoni on pizza, a quickly forgotten foreshadowing of better times to come.

In late October, I sent a survey to the carpediem mailing list asking if people would be open to having Meatless Mondays at Olin. Part of one of the responses in particular has stuck with me:

“…Fuck being “progressive”. Fuck being “good for the planet”. I went to this school because I thought we were above dumb ass social justice greenpeace peta levels of bullshit. Apparently not.”
– Anonymous, 10/28/13 at 1:02 am

Quite frankly, this scares me.

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