The Stentor

As the year slowly winds down, The Stentor would like to offer some possible minor changes to the College that, if adopted, may make current students happier and prospective students even more excited to attend Lake Forest College. One immediate change that would make the campus a more enjoyable place is minuscule housekeeping projects over the summer of 2009.

The United States has an image problem. Part of that problem is how we appear to others-arrogant, aloof, disillusioned-but a larger part is the image we have of ourselves. Perhaps there was a day when the U.S. was a beacon of economic, social, militaristic, and ideological strength for the rest of the world.

It's the last issue of The Stentor and I am sure that the last thing anybody wants to read is a teary-eyed, sappy farewell from some nostalgic senior who wants to impart a word of advice before leaving. Guess what? I don't care. If there is one thing I have learned about voicing your opinion from four years of writing for our Lake Forest newspaper, it is this: offend people.

Two men can articulate my feelings about graduation better than anyone else. David Bowie and Wallace Stevens achieve a level of complexity in their emoting that puts stale feelings like nostalgia to shame. If I have to suffer one more analysis of the "big picture," I'll die.

At the beginning of the semester, The Stentor published a letter to the editor regarding the noise level in the library. With finals approaching and the library becoming increasingly crowded, I decided to send in a follow-up to that first letter. We're approaching the last few weeks of the semester, and I have seen many of my fellow students taking shelter in the library for hours at a time, surrounded by books, binders, and several empty cups of coffee.

Goodbye, Lake Forest! I bid farewell to four years of liberal arts education and the experiences of a small, incredibly wealthy town. I also say goodbye to four years of working on the Stentor as a staff writer, editor, photographer, and contributor, and the warm memories of working with dedicated news gatherers and professionals.

"I'll most definitely work and hopefully venture around the United States this summer. Each state has something different to show us, it will be a good opportunity to explore." - Prudencio Cabral '11 "I am going to Rome with my mom this summer and then heading off to New York!" - Wilhemina Heyford '12 "I will probably be trail running in Colorado this summer.