In the vein of VH1! But without Michael Ian Black.
Photo: Graphic by Sam Wagreich
As the snow begins to fall and summer tans are but a distant memory, we at Buzzard can’t help but be nostalgic about fall quarter. Unlike spring or winter, a sense of novelty and free spirit fills the air during the time the leaves are changing colors. From the free-for-all that is Wildcat Welcome to football on Saturdays to 2,000+ fresh faces on campus, we here at Buzzard love fall quarter. After the jump, a rundown of the quarter’s events—and our favorite moments in Buzzard.
We were there from the beginning. It all started on that fateful September day when Tom Hanks dined in Norris and freshmen separated from their parents in the McCulloch lobby (or at least pretended they didn’t exist). Twenty good minutes later and the Bobb freshmen already knew the address for the first off-campus party. But not everyone was happy with the off-campus debauchery. Barbara Blades led a crusade against rowdy upperclassmen and then held her own when said upperclassmen called for her eviction.
There was booze. Lots of it. We ventured inside a freshman speakeasy before we headed out to the Keg and the Deuce. While at the KOE, we shared a Blue Moon with bouncer George Vitzileos, a relationship we hope to maintain throughout our undergraduate years.
In November, controversy heated up. Two students painted their faces black and once again, race was propelled to the forefront of NU’s discourse. A student forum was held (we liveblogged it) and the mainstream media caught wind of what came to be known as the blackface scandal. In fact, fall was chock full of racial controversy. After NU Intel broke the story of an NUPD officer claiming to be the target of racial slurs, the Daily Northwestern followed suit and took the credit.
A group of plucky student journalists decided to step up to the big, bad state prosecutor who subpoenaed their grades. The prosecutor landed the first blow, revealing that Tony Drake told student journalists what they wanted to hear because they were giving him money to buy crack cocaine. And said he enjoyed flirting with the female Medillians. As a result, David Protess’ Innocence Project became a hot topic of public debate not only at NU but across the country.
We traced one man’s plight while reading about NU’s frattiest in the Purple Book. We man-flirted at Sunday Night Dinner and won a shorter freshman freeze. We followed a freshman girl through sorority recruitment previews and in doing so, started a thread on CollegeACB and incited a debate about whether or not the girl’s chances of joining a house were shot.
Henry Bienen rang in the new year, but Morty Schapiro spiced it up. From a Facebook page to an inauguration concert with John Legend headlining, our new prez was constantly in the public spotlight. Oh, and Ordinary People fill their prescriptions at CVS.
Norris got a Jamba Juice, the Garrett Theological Seminary got a Great Room and SafeRide got a financial boost from the university. See, it really is the season of giving. Thanks for reading and check back Jan. 4, when we resume our coverage of student life. Till then, feel free to e-mail us tips and suggestions at intel@nuintel.net. Otherwise, for now, we leave you with a list of some of our fall quarter faves.
Best of the Buzz: For our top pick, it’s Morty on Facebook. Not only is the headline fantastically droll, but this is exactly the kind of small item that’s fun, intriguing, and even says a little about the cult of celebrity gathering around Mr. Schapiro. Everyone’s favorite NU Dad is a close second: The dish on how Tom Hanks watched a football game from Ryan Field’s Stadium Club luxury box is another example of the kind of news that isn’t news, but is actually news. OK, that’s confusing, but the point is that this is a great glimpse into a rarefied world that almost no student will ever get a look at. Oh, and ASG prez Mike McGee over-tweeting the Packers game? Two words: Fuck. Yes.
Best of the Context: Here at Buzzard we have a soft spot for The Context, and we’re going to call this one a tie between Carretta Cooke and Amnesty. Both pieces spotlight the divide between students and the administration, with the former focusing on the search for Carretta Cooke’s successor and the latter on NU’s new booze rules. Runner up? The look inside the South Campus speakeasy, written by none other than Shiraz Ahmed—our “Senior Freshman Correspondent,” if you will.
Best of the Drunk Coverage: Our juiciest bit of the quarter involves one too many Long Islands and a friendly officer. Yep, we’re talking about the girl who got a cop to give her a ride back from Pumping Company in one of our favorite Confession Boxes. And how about our favorite failure? That time we tried to hook you up with your missed connections—thanks for the responses, guys. (p.s. The offer still stands).
Best of the NU Interviews: You have to respect a man who admits that his turn on is “Girls touching my penis. Really just that simple.” But if super senior DJ Simmons takes the win, our interview with freshman Ross Flores isn’t far behind.
Best of the 20 Good Minutes: This one’s a best of three: Eavesdropping at the Orrington perfectly captures the spirit of Parents’ Weekend; we venture to the Keg soberly so that you never have to; and Sigma Chi’s Derby Days lets us snap shots of girls in bikinis. Nice.
Best of the Power Profiles: Keg Bouncer George Vitzileos is one of the real power players at NU, and this profile is short, funny, and full of the stuff you have to know (hint: next time Vitzileos pockets a friend’s ID, try bribing him with a Blue Moon).
Best of the Comments: We’re split between the fratboys and the Medillians on this one, so Comment Wars boils down to another tie. The first of our fave debates was over our breakdown of the new allegations against the Medill Innocence Project (see again in “Best Week”), when a total of seven commentators—including the story’s author and one of the students involved in the project—hashed out their perspectives of both the article and the case. The second happened on, er, a post discussing other comments—namely, angry fratboys blasting one of our party reports. When we argued that said fratboys were covered by the statute of limitations, they shot back, with one commentator pointing out that “we don’t really have rights,” and another (name: “fratboys for freedom”) saying that he trusted us not to incriminate the frats. We appreciate your faith, FFF. The final say came from “Jason,” who wrote that our Party Reports could get the hosts in trouble, and then asked us to “please continue to publish information about fraternity parties.” Jason, what do you have against the frats?
Best Week: The Week of November 2, 2009 was the Best Week Ever (or at least of Fall Quarter). Why? We got to cover the Halloween and Parents’ Weekend aftermath, admissions statistics came out, and we tried to provide you with the best coverage of the blackface scandal—including a live blog, a look at the role of the media, and an exclusive interview with one of the main players. The week after was a close second: We broke down the new allegations against the Medill Innocence Project, interviewed project alums, and, in between, still managed to bring you the requisite dose of booze, in the form of an Alumni Association bartending mixer (yes, as questionable as it sounds).
you claim to be a legitimate newsource and you cite “collegeacb” as an example of your effect on the student body?
nuIntel, thats actually disgusting. how can you not see how negatively CollegeACB affects our campus? people get seriously hurt reading the things people say on that site. You should be %100 ashamed of yourself for attempting to legitimize the site that could potentially have destroyed a girls chances of being in a sorority, especially when that girl was writing the article for all of YOU.
i am no longer a reader of NUintel. I will not support such a despicable publication.
dunberg?
I like you guys. But Seabury got the Great Room, not Garrett. It’s not your fault there are two seminaries on campus.
Thanks for the shout out! But I didn’t write that…