Historically, otters were present throughout Minnesota. Unfortunately, during the 1800s, demand for otters’ sleek and dense fur combined with wetland drainage destroyed the population in southern Minnesota. For nearly 100 years otters were locally extinct, a phenomenon called extirpation. Since then, otters in the U.S. have been monitored and their…
The Bald Spot
Another day, another dollar—so they say. Beginning work as an OB-GYN, you quickly realize how soon everything becomes the same. All the idiosyncrasies of all the hundreds of thousands of deliveries you oversee blend together into a blinding gray landscape of nothingness. At the end of the day, there are…
This winter, the college sent 40 students and one professor to study geese in the Canadian Arctic through the Canada Goose Arctic Program. While most students go abroad to escape the tundra-like conditions of Northfield, these brave souls are running full-speed to Earth’s freezer. “We’re really thrilled about this exciting…
Has campus felt empty to you lately? Noticed a lack of tiny, living bodies running aimlessly across the Bald Spot? I know I’m not the only one who’s noticed the stunning lack of squirrels studying on campus. For the first few winters of my Carleton career, I’d simply assumed they’d…
Snow on the ground in the past week sends a clear and cold signal to the residents of Northfield: winter is fast approaching. Boots are retrieved from closet corners, shovels extricated from the garage, thin socks switched out for the woolen thick as we feel the sting of air temperature…
Carleton College has just announced that it is starting an experimental ROTC program in partnership with the Department of Defense. This was surprising to many, considering Carleton’s lack of focus on being strong, avoidance of taking orders, and disclination to organized physical pursuits. What makes the program experimental is that…
Numerous treatments have been proposed in response to the ongoing epidemic of EAT, or Excessive Awareness of Triviality, a condition associated with unwanted recognition of life’s meaninglessness and inability to function without the prospect of reward. The most effective treatment is not new but has been used by some subsets…
As finals approach, Carleton students are working tirelessly to prepare for exams and finish their lengthy essays. Many on campus are running on little to no sleep, relying on obscene quantities of coffee to keep themselves awake. Despite what students think, however, they cannot burn the candle on both ends…
It is mid-autumn in the arboretum: many trees are bare, a few hearty bird species remain, and white-tailed deer mating season is in full swing. Referred to as the “rut,” white-tailed deer mating season occurs from October to December. Because whitetails are short-day breeders, behavioral changes are trigged by reduced…
Watch out: Jay/Jerome Levi is set to return to campus next term. What most people don’t know, however, is that he returned to campus long ago as a squirrel. He has been back on campus for weeks now, functionally living on the 20 meal plan by eating from the dumpsters…