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COLLEGE CORNER<br />
Northwestern University: A rock-solid college choice<br />
NORTHWESTERN<br />
FACT BOX<br />
DEADLINES<br />
Early decision: Nov. 1<br />
Regular: Jan. 1<br />
Cost to apply: $65<br />
Percent admitted: 30<br />
Financial aid: loans and<br />
grants to 76 percent <strong>of</strong><br />
students<br />
Tuition and fees:<br />
$31,789 a year<br />
‘The Rock’ can be<br />
viewed at www.north<br />
western.edu/wildcam/<br />
rock.html. The image<br />
is from a webcam installed<br />
in University<br />
Hall and is refreshed<br />
every minute.<br />
By LINDSEY YOUNG<br />
Staff Writer<br />
Most would think that<br />
splattering paint on a college’s<br />
memorial boulder is an act <strong>of</strong><br />
graffiti worthy <strong>of</strong> expulsion, but<br />
at Northwestern University, it is<br />
tradition.<br />
For over a century, NU<br />
students have taken an oath to<br />
forsake sleep, the bathroom and<br />
even their homework to guard a<br />
paint-bespeckled rock in hopes <strong>of</strong><br />
coating it in the morning mist.<br />
Once dawn sets, students<br />
stop patrolling and add their own<br />
colors to the already multicolored<br />
rock.<br />
“Every NU student has, at<br />
some point or another, claimed<br />
and painted ‘the rock.’ It’s a rite<br />
<strong>of</strong> passage here,” ’05 NU alumni<br />
Jordana Mishory said.<br />
That tradition amplifies that<br />
“Wildcat spirit,” especially for<br />
the sports team.<br />
“After our girls became<br />
national champions in lacrosse,<br />
COURTESY OF GROUPS.NORTHWESTERN.EDU<br />
As part <strong>of</strong> tradition, these Northwestern University students are<br />
painting the college rock. In 2002, they celebrated an event called<br />
“The Watermelon Bust”, where students painted the rock like a watermelon.<br />
‘the rock’ was plastered with<br />
our school colors and ‘we’re<br />
number one!’” Mishory said.<br />
This spirit is evident throughout<br />
campus, where students lounge<br />
under sculptures and picnic by<br />
the lake.<br />
“Everybody hangs out with<br />
FEATURE<br />
SUMMER 2005 THE LIGHTNING STRIKE PAGE THIRTEEN<br />
REMEMBERING FACULTY<br />
Dreyfuss’ retirement makes a hole-in-Krop<br />
By BENNY HYMAN<br />
Staff Writer<br />
Errol Dreyfuss always had<br />
his eye on students, whether<br />
pestering them to wear their I.D.<br />
badges or cruising in his golf cart<br />
with his flowing salt-and-pepper<br />
hair dancing in the wind. He was<br />
as well-known to students as<br />
Shaq is to Miami.<br />
Because Dreyfuss was so<br />
well known, students can’t help<br />
but notice his absence. He retired<br />
after the 2004-2005 school year.<br />
“He’s probably somewhere<br />
in Scotland working on his golf<br />
game,” said senior Eric Kaplan,<br />
who has been on the golf team<br />
since freshman year. Scotland is<br />
where golf originated during the<br />
16 th century.<br />
“He’s not as cutthroat on the<br />
course but he was still not easy to<br />
deal with.” Kaplan said. In fact,<br />
Kaplan admired Coach Dreyfuss<br />
because he was stern.<br />
“If the team’s results were<br />
less than his expectations, we<br />
would feel the heat. I appreciated<br />
the way he pushed us to be<br />
perfectionists. He took it too<br />
far sometimes, even when we<br />
performed well. He taught me<br />
so much though so it was for the<br />
best,” Kaplan said.<br />
Opinions <strong>of</strong> Dreyfuss vary,<br />
however. “If you can’t beat me,<br />
don’t teach me,” senior Shane<br />
Hodson, a golfer, said. “Dreyfuss<br />
wasn’t bad, but he would make<br />
a better assistant coach. I think<br />
he lacked the general knowledge<br />
<strong>of</strong> the game to be an effective<br />
coach. His motivation to win was<br />
not the problem—it was his lack<br />
<strong>of</strong> resources to win that held us<br />
back.”<br />
Among other things, Dreyfuss<br />
taught Hodson how to deal with<br />
conflicting personalities. “He<br />
busted my a-- when he saw me<br />
in school. He expected more <strong>of</strong><br />
me as his student athlete.”<br />
Dreyfuss wasn’t completely<br />
stone-cold, however.<br />
Senior Bruno Chiurliza said,<br />
“People didn’t like Dreyfus<br />
because he got them in trouble.<br />
Everyone is going to say the<br />
same thing about Mr. Aristide.”<br />
Chiurliza had no personal<br />
relationship with Dreyfuss;<br />
however he did have a single<br />
conflict with him.<br />
In his sophomore year, SADD<br />
members were gathered around<br />
the year’s wrecked car with their<br />
faces painted and their mouths<br />
shut, not a word was uttered from<br />
them that day as is tradition.<br />
“I was bored, so I ran up and<br />
I drop kicked the car and ran<br />
PHOTO BY KATIA PHILIPPEAUX<br />
Administrative Assistant Wallace Aristide instructs a student to<br />
wear his I.D. After taking over Errol Dreyfuss’ former position and responsibilities,<br />
he has assisted in keeping students in line.<br />
away,” Chiurliza said. With that,<br />
the entire club, faces painted,<br />
went on a manhunt for Chiurliza.<br />
They stopped their silence and<br />
started their cursing.<br />
“The black makeup was<br />
especially frightening.” Chiurliza<br />
had to change his shirt and hair<br />
in order to avoid them. Security<br />
caught him in class, and Chiurliza<br />
had to answer to Dreyfuss.<br />
“I was so scared <strong>of</strong> him<br />
from hearsay, but Dreyfuss just<br />
laughed it <strong>of</strong>f and told me to<br />
apologize to SADD. He’s really<br />
not a bad guy at all.”<br />
Even when Kaplan posted<br />
Dreyfuss’ J-Date pr<strong>of</strong>ile, which<br />
was personal information not<br />
intended for student eyes,<br />
Dreyfuss remained unflustered.<br />
“I didn’t admit it to him, but he<br />
knew it was me,” Kaplan said.<br />
Filling his shoes <strong>this</strong> year is<br />
Administrative Assistant Wallace<br />
Aristide; however, it appears he<br />
will have a tough act to follow.<br />
everybody; you know everyone<br />
here,” ’01 Krop alumni and ’05<br />
NU graduate Ashley Shapiro<br />
said.<br />
Even Chicago is second to<br />
<strong>this</strong> intellectual base, whose<br />
students prefer an evening in the<br />
school theater to walking the city<br />
streets.<br />
“Students will go to the city<br />
on the weekend, but you can’t<br />
beat the campus; there is always<br />
something fun going on,” Mishory<br />
said.<br />
For example, the film club<br />
hosts a night once or twice a week<br />
to show block-buster movies,<br />
indie films or school-produced<br />
documentaries.<br />
Activities like these aren’t what<br />
attracted NU students initially.<br />
They came for an education. “It’s<br />
not a party school at all,” Shapiro<br />
said. “NU is definitely a learningcentered<br />
school.”<br />
“It’s kind <strong>of</strong> a nerdy school,”<br />
’04 Krop Salutatorian and NU<br />
sophomore Baylee Shapiro said.<br />
Don’t cross <strong>of</strong>f other schools,<br />
however, if you can’t fair cold<br />
weather. “Last January and<br />
February, it was never warmer<br />
than 20 degrees,” Ashley Shapiro<br />
said.<br />
So before shopping for paint<br />
to show case your wildcat spirit,<br />
remember to buy a decent coat.<br />
ECOLOGY<br />
Blooming beauty<br />
PHOTO BY KATIA PHILIPPEAUX<br />
Students help with greens<br />
Science teacher Sue Green and her AP Environmental classes<br />
help clean the pond area and butterfly garden. The two gardens,<br />
left unattended during the summer, were rid <strong>of</strong> weeds and overgrown<br />
plants during their class period on Sept. 1. More gardening is<br />
needed; however, once these gardens are fully finished, Green and<br />
her classes will only need to do minimal work for upkeep.