The hate crime perpetrated in Haines Hall last Friday came as a shock to most everyone at Grinnell. Our community--known for its socially progressive policies and liberal student body--faced an unpleasant truth. Namely, that intolerance and hatred still exist on our campus.

Isn't it exhilarating walking around campus after a fresh snowfall? The overwhelming presence of white and that peaceful, post-snow quiet should make any morning walk to ARH a calming and enjoyable experience. And it would, if we weren't all terrified of slipping and breaking our necks.

Even with two days to vote last week, student initiatives barely managed to pass the 50 percent participation mark required for initiatives to pass regardless of whether or not people vote yes. Many would blame student apathy, but maybe the real concern should be student government.

I've won many dubious awards in my time. In third grade, my Church of England elementary school gave me an actual certificate for drawing (wait for it) the "most accurate picture of heaven." A few problems: first, as far as I know, my third grade teacher was not actually God. Second, my super "accurate" picture of Heaven featured dead people lying on velvet-lined coffins under a huge, floating, bearded face. Paradise!

The most enjoyable aspects of living in a one-hundred-and-fifty-year-old edifice are apparent only when one tries to conduct the business of life in said building. Unless we are mistaken, no building on the college campus is older than our house. When Goodnow Hall was naught but a glimmer in J.B. Grinnell's eye, the residents of our little house on High Street peered out into verdant forests brimming with button-eyed woodland creatures, unconcerned that a kegger in Soccer House would bump an erstwhile Bunsen burner in Meth House, triggering a chain reaction that would bring the chemical apocalypse and sterilize our grandchildren.