The Fall Break-Down

If the influx of students running around Collins with to-go containers in hand is not a great enough indicator of midterms week, then the headphones parties held every night in Poppa at 1 am surely is. But we can all put our pencils down, close our MacBooks and let out that huge sigh of relief together because it is all behind us (for now), and starting tomorrow we are blessed with a little break. What do you have planned for your long weekend? While many are going home to relax for a bit, there is no doubt that the campus has also been buzzing with plans for autumn adventures of many kinds. A handful of students are roadtripping up the coast to San Francisco to start the Pirate Party a bit early at Treasure Island, a music festival featuring LCD Soundsystem, Belle & Sebastian, Deadmau5, Miike Snow, The National, Broken Social Scene, She & Him and Kruder & Dorfmeister, among other acts. Some may not make it all the way to the Golden Gate City, opting to channel their inner Kerouac on the shores of Big Sur. Other students are making their way to Vegas to play some golf and put their math majors to work at the blackjack tables, hopefully to return with stories comparable to The Hangover.

For those that are planning to stick around CMC, there are some cool things going on in the area:

• Some athletic events will be taking place on campus: Go cheer for the Stags in their water polo match vs. Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at 7 pm in the Pendleton Pool (Pomona). Stags Soccer also goes to battle on Saturday, at 1 pm on Pritzlaff against the Occidental Tigers.

• It's Los Angeles so you can bet there will be concerts in the area. On Saturday, The National will be playing at the Fox Theater in Pomona. Mumford & Sons will be playing at the Hollywood Palladium on Monday night. On Tuesday, Ra Ra Riot will be at the Glass House in Pomona.

• Take the opportunity on Sunday to go check out the Claremont Farmer's Market in the Village from 8 am to 1 pm.

  
  

• For those that are of age, the California Beer Festival will be making its stop in Claremont on Saturday, so buy a ticket here and head down to try out some of the "best craft beers from around the world."

• Grab a book (that was not assigned to read? My goodness!) and a blanket and drive the 20 minutes up to Mt. Baldy to take in some fresh air and Mother Earth right in the Inland Empire's back yard.

• Are the palm trees bringing down your autumn spirits? Five minutes away, Cal Poly Pomona's Kellogg Ranch is having a Pumpkin Festival this weekend. You can spend forever searching through the thousands of pumpkins (all $5) for the roundest one, then relive your younger, flannel-clad days of pumpkin carving. The natural apple cider, popcorn balls and honey sticks at the Ranch's Farm Store should also not be missed.

Some logistics for staying on campus over fall break (in case you missed Dean Castro's e-mail):

• No school on Monday or Tuesday, so see you all in class on Wednesday (October 20th).

• RAs on duty:

  
  

• Collins will be serving dinner Friday, but the wonderful people that nourish us four times a day are taking a break too, so Collins will not be open over the long weekend. It will open back up on Tuesday night for dinner at 5pm.

• However, for those staying on campus, you have some options. Frary and Scripps will be open during the following hours: