It's 9:30 on a Saturday morning, and you have to wake up to get some work done; your mood is less than jubilant.

All your body desires is a solid dose of Maxwell House-induced rush and a jolt of near-boiling spray from the strongest setting on the shower nozzle.

You make your way down the hallway, jump into the shower stall and await the warm blast; but your senses are shocked by an unforeseen, skin-tingling chill.

Has this ever happened to you?

If it has, well, join the club; this Saturday, a loss of hot water across campus caused any student who decided to shower before around 11:30 a.m. to discover a similar situation of goosebumps and towel-snatching.

A physical plant worker said that a "power bump" in a town generator caused the College's steam plant to lose electricity. After working all morning, workers had the steam flowing again through the campus pipes before most students had awakened from their lengthy early-weekend slumber.

Even the dining hall could not escape the problems caused by the power malfunction. "The hot water went out early in the morning," said Jon Olson, Valentine's operations manager. "The physical plant sent in an employee to reset the steam generator switch, and we were fully operational again by 11:30." Plastic silverware and dishes were used to replace the materials which had been rendered unwashable.

For most students, the problem was limited to cold showers. "I tried to take a shower around 10 in the morning," said Emily Keiter '03. "Luckily, I'm not the kind of person who just jumps right into the water before checking it, or else I would have really been in for a surprise."

S'mores 'n' more

So there was nothing to do during Interterm? You came all the way back to campus, only to discover that your time was to be filled with night after night of hanging out in the same room with the same group of people? Well, the College figured you might be a little bored and decided to give you an opportunity to relieve some of your Interterm ennui.

Thus, this past Friday, Dean of Student Activities Sam Haynes organized a free Interterm slumber party in the Campus Center.  Featuring the routines of comedians Rob Weinstein and Jeff Vachon, the party provided a light-hearted opportunity for some students to let out some of their tensions and escape the monotony of a regular uneventful evening.  A volleyball net was set up in the Atrium; other events included karaoke, a concert by "Spanish for Hitchhiking," free temporary tattoos and a snow sculpture contest with a $50 Hasting's gift certificate as first prize.

 Many of the students in attendance were at the Campus Center to watch the FLICKS presentation of "Almost Famous."  "I was there to see the movie," said Alex Hochron '02.  "We were going upstairs to leave and noticed some people playing volleyball." Hochron took advantage of the free s'mores that were roasted in the Schwemm's fireplace; he also commented that the majority of the people were concentrated in the game room, where the games could be played free of charge for the evening.

 Christy Lee '03 also stopped by after attending the movie.  "The s'mores were the best part," she said.  "They were the best s'mores I ever made." She said that the makeshift volleyball court became chaotic, as a few people were kicking the ball around rather than hitting it over the net. She noticed that the event seemed poorly attended, even though the people there were taking advantage of most of the features that were offered.

-Tim Danner