Do you care about March Madness?
Max Moon ’29: No. I get why people do, and I’m all for that, it’s just that my focus is elsewhere. Of course, people can like what they like, though.
Max Colfax ’28: No, I am more of a baseball guy … unfortunately. [Rafi: Who are you a fan of?] Okay, I have to defend myself because I am a Dodger fan, and I have been a Dodger fan for ten years. I’m from California … [Rafi: You’ve had a good ten years] No, we haven’t! The past two years have been good. My uncle was best friends with [Dodgers Manager] Dave Roberts — they were roommates in UCLA. So I have a family connection and I am from California. I’m not a bandwagoner!
Celia Kanellakos ’28: As an athlete, yeah, I think it’s pretty fun. I think I’m not as into it as other people are, maybe ’cause my parents didn’t go to any of those schools that have big basketball teams.
Thomas Shelton ’28: I like March Madness. I did an experiment — I tried picking just the highest-ranked team in one bracket and then picking who I thought would actually win in another bracket. It didn’t really matter, both brackets kinda sucked. I don’t watch that much basketball, but I definitely always root for that 16-seed upset.
Zi Vick ’28: No. I just don’t like basketball as a sport. I appreciate it. But I am not like, “Oh yeah, let me watch it.” I am also like, really busy. I play volleyball and if it is finals, I won’t be able to watch it.
If you had to live in an academic building for a month, which one would you choose?
Max Moon ’29: I’ve actually talked about this with people. I’m like, “I love Martin. I would live in Martin.” I like its location on campus. I kinda like Kohlberg though — it feels nice and homey. It’s a little small — I think Singer would be kinda cool. But I feel like Kohlberg just gives the vibe of home. If there’s a building that I wouldn’t do, it would be Beardsley. Beardsley is a dungeon.
Max Colfax ’28: I would go … I would go with [the Lang Music Building]. Wait, do I get locked out of the library? Because I could sleep in the library … downstairs.
Celia Kanellakos ’28: Martin’s got the cinema. Does Sci count as connected to Martin? [Rafi: Nope.] Ok, I’d probably do Sci — it’s got the cafe and the library and there are comfy places to hang out and sleep. And it’s big enough that I could do laps which is nice. I don’t know how true this is, but when I first got here people were talking about the Singer squatter. Apparently somebody just lived in Singer and it was big enough that they weren’t getting caught. I wouldn’t have chosen Singer though.
Thomas Shelton ’28: Do restocks of vending machines still happen? [Rafi: Let’s say yes.] I think Sci, then. You’ve got the food there and everything you could theoretically need. You’ve also got enough space in the event that you need, you know, to have a paint-sock war where you hit people with paint-socks. I’ve honestly been living here already doing homework.
Zi Vick ’28: McCabe has nice couches. It is kinda homey — it is also kinda dingy, but also a little homey. Cornell is a little too warm for me. So … maybe Martin. It is really cute … It’s nice. I don’t really spend time in Kohlberg [or] Pearson. I’m really not anywhere that is not STEM related.
How often do you do your readings for class, and how important do you think it is to do them?
Max Moon ’29: I just got out of film class — did half of one reading and didn’t do the other. I think everyone should do readings, that’s my take, but I don’t always practice that. I do my readings selectively, but they get done. And I don’t like feeling like I don’t know what’s going on. Especially if you’re in a seminar — do your readings. You don’t wanna just be sitting there staring at the wall for three hours. But if you can’t, that makes sense.
Celia Kanellakos ’28: When I don’t do the readings it is when I know that the professor is gonna summarize them in class that day. I found that out pretty quick in a class last semester, especially since [I had] a big class. I didn’t do any of those readings. I do regret it, but I wasn’t really wasting my time.
Thomas Shelton ’28: I am a STEM and theater major, so I don’t do many readings. But in my poli sci class I do all my readings because it’s such a nice break. What’s really good is that they do actually relate to class so you can use them the next day, which is very nice.
Max Colfax ’28: I do some of the readings every week. Do I do all of them? No, usually not. So many readings. I do think it is super important. I wish I had time to do all of the readings, but I don’t usually.
Zi Vick ’28: I’ll do a skim a hundred percent of the time. Deep reading … only if I know I’ll have to present or discuss it. I’m not really going to do any deep reading if there is not going to be a discussion.
Last year, PubSafe reported a significant increase in alcohol referrals — what are your thoughts on PubSafe’s approach to alcohol on campus?
Max Moon ’29: Well, I think it’s a college campus — I think people are going to drink, especially when you have so many sports parties. So I feel like a large amount of those don’t need to be happening on PubSafe’s end. I guess it is sort of a fine line because you do have the obligation to protect people. Honestly, I just think people need to hide their alcohol better.
Celia Kanellakos ’28: I saw that stat line, and it sounds like the students are going crazy. I mean, I’m on a sports team and I know we’ve had a couple of run-ins this year … you know, just misunderstandings of course. They’ve been kinda strict about that sort of thing, so I get that there’s been an increase. I mean, I’m all about doing the right stuff, but them trying to release that stat and acting like we’re the problem … I mean, I don’t know about that.
Thomas Shelton ’28: I don’t drink, but I do feel like this is a little extreme. Most of the time, it is just college students doing things. I come from a state with really strong good samaritan laws, so to me it’s a little ridiculous to say that we’re going to punish you for this but we’re not going to say that you shouldn’t report. It seems like a self-fulfilling cycle that’s just going to cause more people to get injured. It’s not the way to go about helping people in need or supporting a community.
Max Colfax ’28: I think that specifically at this school there is not really a destructive culture around alcohol. I think that it is unnecessary for PubSafe to be cracking down on this. If you are at a school where alcohol is an actual problem, you should have a discussion about that, but here, no.
Zi Vick ’28: I know if they see it, they have to go through a whole system. They have to go through court … Swarthmore court. If you’re throwing a party and someone walks in the door … I don’t know, I think you should be smarter about it. If you’re gonna have alcohol and you know you are underage and it is not alcohol registered, you just have to be smarter about it. No one wants to get in trouble, so take the measures not to get in trouble. As for how they handle it, I don’t know that much about it, but I feel that it is fair. If something were to happen, the school would be in trouble. I think they handle it as well as they can, especially given that they are in charge and have to take full responsibility for whatever happens.
