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Crazy cat adventures

Andrew Greenberg owns a cat named Chole who has her very own plan. He also, oddly enough, is a founder of Campus Carnivores and a member of Vegan Co-op

by Brendan Mackie

Andrew Greenberg is probably the only self-avowed carnivore who has ever cooked for Vegan Co-Op. Greenberg, with his former housemates from Russian House Allison Mynsberge '04 and L.P. Trotora '03, was a founder of Campus Carnivores, a group which Greenberg said was formed in 2003 to answer the timeless Grinnell question: "How can we get school money to buy meat?"

Campus Carnivores sponsored events like a barbecue to "advocate the responsible eating of meat" and to "increase appreciation for animals like tigers and bears." Sadly, after the graduations of Mynsberge and Trotora, Greenberg was the only active member of the group, and Campus Carnivores events declined.

The demographics of Russian House were changing too, and instead of sponsoring carnivorous events, the house started to host Vegan Co-op once a week. "At first I ignored Vegan Co-op in my house and hid in my room until they left," Greenberg said.

But after a while, he got used to the vegans, or was at least lured by the prospect of cooking for a large group of people again, and started to cook. "I like cooking, and after L.P. and Alison graduated, it was really hard to get events going on my own for Campus Carnivores," he said. "So [Vegan Co-op] is a good excuse to cook, and they're in my house already."

Greenberg's appreciation of carnivores extends beyond his student group to a love of arguably the most wired and active carnivore on campus: his cat Chloe. Chloe has two email accounts, a Plan ([chloe]) and an Internet photo gallery. Chloe's various exploits are lovingly recorded on her Plan-various activities include eating a bug, eating a piece of chicken, hunting rabbits and sleeping.

Greenberg says that Chloe, who of course is neither a student at Grinnell nor a student group, needs a Plan because "she has a lot to say and likes to walk on keyboards. She does a lot of interesting things and people need to know about them. Like bugs. She caught one and ate one. That was interesting. And the rabbits of course, which is a big deal because she is quite the hunter now."

Recently, Chloe has been hunting and killing rabbits and bringing them back to Russian house. Pictures of this carnivore at work can be found on her plan.

In addition to all this, Chloe is a character in Sarah Burghardt '07's comic "Add It Up," in which Chloe has been turned into a monkey and saddled with substance addictions.

Greenberg's love of carnivores and vegans came to him in Russian House, where he has lived since his sophomore year. "I have dedicated my education to Russian," he said.

He plans to pursue the Russian master's program at Middlebury after graduation, in addition to spending a year in Moscow. Undoubtedly, Chloe will find many rabbits there.

Sidebar: Cat tricks

• Catching and eating bugs

• Eating chicken

• Hunting and killing rabbits (and bringing them back to Russian House)

• Sleeping

• Walking on keyboards

• Updating her plan ([chloe])

• Starring in a comic ("Add it Up")

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