From Naima: As the semester ends, it seems appropriate to give you all a quick little recap. This has been a busy couple of months; I guess taking five classes, working three jobs, and wanting to soak up every 乐播传媒 moment before going abroad might have been a bit much. I went on more sunrise paddles, sang in , frequented football games, and attended some wonderful dance parties.

I also went to class. I read Aristotle, explored intoxication, examined the human body, recounted black histories, and recorded literary methods. But now as I write to you, I have finished my four term papers and am beginning my week of tests with little worry. My lack of worry is not because I am excited to sit down for hours with a pencil in hand, pouring my thoughts and revelations from these courses into a blue booklet. Instead, I am drifting between stress and freedom, agony and excitement. Now don鈥檛 get me wrong, part of me actually enjoys spending late nights in PGill and the Ronj, inhaling caffeine until I place the last period on the page; but sleep is nice too.

Even on the busiest days in the old Commons, said Marty Laurita 鈥�08, there鈥檇 often be empty seats.

Those chairs were unoccupied 鈥� but not unused, Laurita explained. They had a vital function as buffer zones between student groups at the table.

It was a turf thing. 鈥淥nce we knit ourselves together with certain people, group space becomes a factor,鈥� said Laurita, of Camden, Maine.

No casual observer of seating habits in the now-closed Memorial Commons, Laurita based his anthropology thesis on a perception study of student cliques and their table choices. He asked some 20 students to map the dining areas and where distinct groups habitually sat.

鈥淲hether those groups actually exist isn鈥檛 the point,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the perception we鈥檙e looking for.鈥�

While the thesis was still under way at press time, Laurita could share a few common perceptions. It was thought, for example, that athletes tended to sit next to the salad bar in the so-called Big Room 鈥� a room that, in fact, seemed to serve generally as a venue for social display.

鈥淧eople there seemed to subscribe to the concept of status and hierarchy,鈥� explained Laurita, himself a denizen of the Back Room. 鈥淪o there are opposing ideas of what it is to be a 乐播传媒ie. Does that identity call for being part of a hierarchy, or not?鈥�

Given the demise of Memorial Commons, Laurita was proud to have captured this snapshot of a passing piece of College history. In a January interview, he was also glad he鈥檇 be around for the new dining hall鈥檚 鈥渟oft opening鈥� during February break.

鈥淔riends of mine are going to be here,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to go stake it out and see where we鈥檙e comfortable.鈥�