While this is advice that applies to life every day, Yale Dining just sent an email informing us that “due to a flood from an outside source that affected the Saybrook dining hall servery, Saybrook will not be open for dinner tonight.”

Thoughts:

• They could have just let us in Saybrook anyway. Last time I went there, I had soggy carrots and soggy orzo. Does a little more flooding make a difference?
• Saybrook is landlocked. It’s like how Captain Von Trapp is a naval officer when Austria is a landlocked country – I never understood that either. So until you tell me otherwise, I’m going to assume either a secret ocean appeared in the Underbrook or maybe the orange-guava juice thing exploded. Or maybe Saybrook’s “Monday Madness” was too much to handle.
• Why didn’t I get a text from LKL about this? Ever since that time she told me that I had lost power after I had lost (and re-gained) power, she hasn’t been on top of her game.
• Branford shares a kitchen with Saybrook. Enjoy your orzo.

Check out an article for Quartz written by our own Bijan Stephen BR ’13 on the challenges this year’s seniors face as they venture outside the Yale bubble. Bijan’s comment that “my friends and I all know people who graduated from Yale and haven’t been able to find jobs that pay better than minimum wage afterwards: they work as bartenders and in sandwich shops, doing unpaid internships, living on tips” sounds uncomfortably true and a lot like Lena Dunham’s Girls. Also, take a look at the vocal response the article has received. Seniors, how do you feel?

Tomorrow, the faculty will vote on the ad-hoc committee’s proposal to change grading to a 0-100 point scale, a move opposed by 79% of students surveyed by the YCC. In response to an email sent out by Scott Stern BR ’15, students will be gathering at 3:00 pm outside Davies Auditorium to hand out leaflets and speak to faculty (check out the Facebook event here). Students interested in voicing their opinion about grading changes can also sign a petition started by Josh Kalla MC ’14 and Baobao Zhang CC ’13. As of now, it has over 1,200 signatures.

A recent YDN article on proposed grading changes was titled “Students hesitant about grading proposals.” I would say “hostile” is more accurate than “hesitant.” Of the 1600+ people who took the YCC’s recent survey, 79% of students are against a 0-100 grading scale, and the same percentage believe that changes to grading will have a negative impact on Yale culture. Unfortunately, because the timing of the YCC’s grading forum last Thursday, I worry that student input will not have a tangible impact on committee and faculty opinion. When YCC Vice-President Danny Avraham BR ’15 asked Professor Ray Fair, ad-hoc committee chair, how the committee will incorporate the YCC’s data, Fair’s response was along the lines of a vague dismissal—he claimed that students with concerns have had plenty of time to contact the committee since the report’s publication. Yet, Avraham’s point was important: this is the only open, comprehensive survey of student opinion on grading that has been done.

Perhaps, we should be blaming both the YCC and the grading committee—the YCC should have tried to create a barometer of student opinion earlier, and students should have been able to interact with the committee well before the report was published. Angry crowds with rambling, unfocused questions are no match for a well-thought out report with months in the making.

That being said, Fair’s responses to several student questions troubled me. When asked what the costs and benefits were of the new system were, he focused on the idea that the one student at the top is short-changed—i.e. they’re hurt from having to “share their A” with other students. This is probably true. The disparity in grades between departments should probably be fixed; having some departments give out 20% As and others 80% As is clearly unfair. However, imposing guidelines as to the number of As a professor “should” be giving bothers all of us. Many students made the point that professors should grade individuals in context of how well they know the material, rather than how they well they did comparatively. If everyone writes a great Civil War essay, give everyone an A. Yalies complain a lot, but I have never anyone complain about “sharing” their A.

Another student asked how new grading policies would impact Yale Admissions. I wish Fair had a better response to this than “Yale already attracts great students” and “better students will want to come here now that they know their As are valued.” This alienated and angered the audience and did not answer the question. Yes, the history and academic excellence of Yale will undoubtedly continue to attract students regardless of grading changes. However, brusque dismissal isn’t the way to treat this question. Yale still competes with other elite institutions to recruit students, and I consider our culture to be a huge selling point. I have told endless numbers of prefrosh that my favorite part of Yale is the collaborative nature of academics, and I want this to continue to be the truth. The committee tries to assure me of this without taking it seriously.

That being said, it could be that the committee’s proposal is the best option. We don’t know because our opinions weren’t asked. It is entirely possible that Fair and the others believe that a 0-100 grading system and additional measures to stop grade inflation will be in the best interests of student life, student learning, and student culture. However, without a student on the committee and such a dismissive view of student opinion, I find it hard to believe and harder to accept.

Tomorrow, Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire will be speaking at the Whitney Humanities Center, following a screening of the documentary based on his work at 4pm. You can also catch Pollan on Saturday at an event called Michael Pollan “Raw” (those WHC people are a clever bunch) where he will talk about cooking, eating and writing. I guarantee you like at least one of those three things. Anyway, if you’re a foodie, someone who did Harvest, someone who thinks the way we treat chickens is disgusting, someone who is wary of the large role corn has in American society, and/or if you like cooking, eating, and writing (as opposed to eating, praying, and loving) you should stop by.

Like most other girls in this universe, I was a Girl Scout at one point. People who know me are usually unsurprised by this–I guess I give off a vibe of green sashes and valuable life lessons, or something. Anyway, the point is that when I sold Girl Scout Cookies in suburban Washington state, they were $2.50 a box. I made rounds of my cul-de-sac and the nearby ones, and got a keychain shaped like a Hawaiian dancing cookie as a reward. I was not business-savvy enough to win any of the giant stuffed animals.

Today, more Girl Scouts have become business-savvy: I think boxes go for $4, and they know how to strategically appeal to college students. If reading this has made you nostalgic for cool, chocolatey Thin Mints or Do-Si-Dos or Samoas (don’t call them Caramel deLites, seriously, stop), cookies are going to be sold at 97 Audubon Street from Monday to Thursday from 3-6 pm. So on your way to TD Gheav/Moe’s/career advice, stop by, help some girls win a giant stuffed animal, and stock up on Samoas. Again, they’re not Caramel deLites–and at least 112 people agree with me.

It’s not about salads this time! The newest YCC email has important information about the grading report. If the new grading proposal (quotas, numeric scale etc.) is accepted this April, it will go into effect in the 2014-2015 year… so freshmen and sophomores, you should care about this. There’s an open forum with the ad-hoc committee Wednesday, March 27th, from 7 pm, in LC 101.

Two open forums for with the University Council Committee on Alcohol have also been scheduled, to provide input on alcohol policy changes: Tuesday, March 26 from 7:30-8:30 pm and Wednesday, March 27 from 3:00-4:00 pm in Woodbridge Hall. Show up, speak up and be the captain of your fate and/or the master of your soul.

If you’ve ever had a moment where you were like, “Man, I really wish I had a bar of chocolate that looked just like my favorite campus library,” it’s your lucky day. Well, almost. To celebrate Beinecke’s 50th Anniversary, the Yale Printer’s Office created a bunch of stationary from Ticonderoga (those were the pencils with the good erasers) and custom, Beinecke-shaped chocolates. Unfortunately, it looks like this stuff was  made for the 1963-themed Beinecke birthday party extravaganza, but I’m sure if someone writes a few op-eds, we can get our hands on a few.

Full disclosure: The Reading List sent me pancakes last weekend. They were wonderful–cinammony, fluffy, and when the signature maple glaze was added, heavenly. I ate them in my bed, and because I’m generous, my roommate got part of one. But what was special were the little touches: the melon, the Alice In Wonderland quote handwritten on the box, the cheerful delivery right to my door. “We really want to perfect our product–every little detail–and we’re focusing on a well thought out image,” explained Mona Cao CC ’14. Mona and three other juniors (Nicole Ivey DC ’14, Cora Ormseth MC ’14 and Yohanna Pepa BK ’14) founded The Reading List last month, a startup that delivers affordable brunch anywhere on campus.

I had dinner with Nicole, Mona, and Yohanna last week to learn more about The Reading List process. Every week, Nicole buys fresh ingredients from the Union Square Farmer’s Market in New York on her way home from work. They cook in the Davenport kitchen and run around campus Saturday morning with delivering delicacies such as chocolate hazelnut pancakes with espresso-chocolate ganache. “Yalies like convenience,” Nicole said . “We’re also thinking about having a pop-up brunch on Cross Campus sometime on a weekday so people can pick up their food on the way to class.” They’ve found a winning combination. A majority of Yalies are lazy, hungry foodies, and 9am lecture would definitely be improved by a “zesty carrot-cake pancake,” also known as the Watership Down.

What’s next for The Reading List? In their recent YDN interview, they discussed the possibility of opening a brunch restaurant. “We want to reach people outside the Yale community and hopefully give back to New Haven,” Yohanna said. “In the mean time, we’re working on getting established here.” The Reading List is working on hosting a formal Easter Brunch, so keep a lookout for that (and me… I’ll probably be there).

In the end, it’s about community as much as pancakes. “We’ve all worked for organizations that emphasize service and food,” Yohanna concluded. “Food brings people together.” Sounds like brunch done right.

Order pancakes from The Reading List here. Or stalk them on Facebook or Twitter. Happy eating!

“Beyoncé: Life is But a Dream” premiered last Saturday on HBO. Here’s what Yalies have to say about it, in ten(ish) words or less.

“Her self-absorbed majesty restored my faith in unattainable perfection.”

“Only Beyonce can make Photobooth videos look that elegant.”

“THIS WOMAN IS LIFE. Thank you for sharing Bey!”

“The world is a stage and Beyoncé is playing all the parts.”

“Just cover the bottom of Blue’s face [and] she still looks like Beyoncé.”

“Did she really just say ‘I want to listen to my song make love to me or make love to my husband’ on national television?”