The Mac Weekly

Head of Development to leave Macalester for Harvard

Associate Vice President for Development Tom Wick has announced he will leave Macalester next month to become dean for development and external relations at Harvard Graduate School of Education. Wick has been at Macalester's Development Office for seven years. He helped orchestrate the $55-million Touch the Future fundraising campaign. Richard Ammons, Vice President for Advancement, expressed his disappointment at Wick's departure but noted that the search for his replacement will begin soon.

"Working at Macalester has been an incredible experience," Wick said. "Over the past seven years, I have developed a great affection for its core values and a deep respect for our alumni, faculty, staff and students. It has truly been a privilege to be part of this community and support its advancement as a top liberal arts college."

Habitat for Humanity to participate in sleep out

The Macalester chapter of Habitat for Humanity will participate in a sleep out on Thursday, Nov. 21. Other participants will include formerly homeless people, service providers and homeless advocates, as well as students from Hamline and other metro colleges. The total number of participants is expected to be over 300.

The sleep out is called "A Night Without A Home" and will take place at the Saint Paul Area Council of Churches on 1671 Summit Ave. from 6 p.m. on Thursday until 8 a.m. on Friday morning. There will be donation boxes for items such as backpacks, blankets, coats, socks, gloves and footwear, and students will participate in the legislative process by learning about the pertinent issues and calling on their elected officials.

The event is part of Hunger and Homelessness ACTION Week, a national event from Nov. 18 to 22, the week before Thanksgiving, in order to raise awareness about issues of hunger and homelessness both globally and locally.

The Macalester chapter is also cosponsoring tonight's Battle of the Bands at 9 p.m. in the Alexander G. Hill Ballroom. Macalester's Short Order will compete with St. Thomas' Inspirado and the University of Minnesota's Nipson Lounge and Hollow Earth. Admission is $5 to the general public and free with a Macalester ID, but donations are welcome and will benefit Habitat for Humanity.

On a completely unrelated note…

The New York Times reported on Monday, Nov. 11 that the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary has undergone a revision for the first time since 1993. Among new additions to the dictionary are: "fashionista," "arm candy," "sticker shock," "snail mail," "go commando" and "pashmina." Some are specific literary or film references: there are "smug married" and "singleton" from the book and subsequent movie Bridget Jones' Diary as well as "Jedi knight" and "the Force," from Star Wars.

The usual process for word entry into the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (shorter in reference to its 3,792 pages as opposed to the full 20-volume dictionary) was shortened in certain instances due to the speed of integration of some words into popular usage. "By tradition a word has to be used five times, in five different places, over five years, but something like 'text messaging' got in sooner because it became so widely used so quickly," said Claire Turner, a spokeswoman for the trade and reference department.