January 27, 2012

In my native Senegal, given that only 50 percent of the population is literate, going to school is a privilege. For most Senegalese youngsters, attending school is a great opportunity to travel outside of the country and go study in the West in search of a better life. Despite my teenage dream that I was going to end up in France, given the colonial history of Senegal I ended up at a United World College in Italy, then in America.

There is a lot of opposition to Tim Tebow at C.C. Over the past few months, the second-year Denver Broncos quarterback has won the support of millions of people throughout Colorado and the nation, yet our campus remains a stronghold of anti-Tebow sentiment. As a newly converted fan, I am trying to understand why we are resistant, and if he would ever be able to change our minds.

You’re late for class and speed walk across campus to reach your destination. You’re fully prepared to slink to the back of the room while your professor glares exacerbated daggers at you, but, to your surprise, you discover that your entire class is outside the room.Everyone is mulling around and someone informs you that the door is locked; they’re waiting for the professor.

What is the placebo effect exactly and what does that mean for our trust in our own mental healing powers? The placebo effect spans a wide variety of medical interventions for an ailment in which the placebo itself does not contain any “active ingredient” to cure anything but causes the person to show improved symptoms because of the person’s expectations to improve.

In one of the first events held by the C.C. Young Republicans group, created last year, political commentator Bay Buchanan will be giving a lecture in Gaylord Hall next week titled “The Failures of Feminism”. The lecture is sponsored by the Colorado College Young Republicans, Young America’s Foundation, with which Buchanan works, the Campus Activities Department, and the Political Science Department.

At the end of last semester, The Catalyst published a deeply personal editorial submitted anonymously by someone who suffers anxiety and depression. Anonymous rightly criticized Colorado College’s approach to mental health problems and really struck the truth when he said, “Those with mental health disorders at C.C. live in fear. This entire community is not that understanding about issues that plague a great deal of this campus.”

Photo by Hannah Varnell.

This past weekend, as most of the CC population reluctantly said goodbye to present- and powder-filled vacations, one group of students was already back in full force: the CC swim and dive teams. After an intensive 10-day training trip to San Diego in early January, the teams continued to train vigorously for nearly another month to ensure their season finishes on a high note. They’re also adjusting to a recent hiccup: head coach Anne James tore her ACL and MCL during the training trip in San Diego.