Campus Confidential — July 9, 2010

We’re introducing a new feature today — Campus Confidential, proving that here at Happenings there’s an appreciation for even those tiny tidbits of news  that don’t quite fit anywhere else. So read, enjoy and send in what you know or hear around campus!

Campus Confidential – July 9, 2010 

• The West Palm Café in the West Palm office complex will be closed for the rest of the summer.  So, West Palm Complex employees, you will just need to get your caffeine fix elsewhere for a while…poor you!
• Campus denizens are noting that Memorial Hall and Roosevelt Hall are looking mighty beige, while the rest of the historic buildings around the Bert Williams Mall are still white. New color scheme?  Will they all eventually be beige? Or white?  What color do you think looks best?  We will try to run down the answers…
• Urban legend alert! It seems to be “common knowledge” among our Greek Life students that the City of Orange has an ordinance forbidding more than five females from living together in a single-family dwelling, because, according to this common knowledge, it would then be considered a “brothel.”  This, so say the spreaders of common knowledge, is the reason Chapman has no sorority houses.  Cool!  But – utter nonsense.  The city does have zone-enforced limits on maximum occupancy, but they apply equally to all genders.  Orange limits Zone R1 (single family residential, which is basically Old Towne) to occupancy by families only, which extends to “not more than six persons” not related as a family “living together as a single housekeeping unit.” It’s boarding houses, not brothels, that are forbidden in R1.  The city defines a “boarding house” as “a residence or dwelling, other than a hotel, wherein three or more rooms are rented under three or more separate written or oral rental agreements, leases or subleases or combination thereof, whether or not the owner, agent or rental manager resides within the residence.”  
• The reason Chapman has no sorority houses (or fraternity houses, for that matter) is precisely because of the boarding house rule, in addition to the fact that Orange doesn’t really have many of the big manor-style houses that generally are used for Greek houses near large universities.  What may happen sometime in the future, say our sources, is that some floors in the current Chapman residence halls may be subdivided into “living communities” for the various Greek chapters.
• But hey – at least we got to use the word “brothel” in Happenings!
• The Chapman booth at the City of Orange’s July 3 Celebration and Fireworks was a big success – the item most in demand were the Pete the Panther keychains handed out at the booth.  Oh, and the Chapman Summer Concerts postcard, too. 
• The 150^th Anniversary Committee is firing on all cylinders to come up with a schedule for next year’s anniversary activities. Stay tuned for the announcement of a new 150^th Anniversary logo and seal that will become Chapman’s trademarks for our sesquicentennial year, 2011.
• And that will no doubt be the first and last time you see the word “sesquicentennial” used in reference to our 150^th anniversary.  Great antique word; except it’s a “thinker” for too many of us. (“What does that mean, Maude?” “Is it 125 years, 150 years? I can’t rightly remember…”).
• Grace Fong, Ph.D. will give Chapman’s third annual Lectio Magistralis (“lecture of the master,” in case you were confused by “sesquicentennial”), presented by the Office of the Chancellor, on Monday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.  Have you ever wondered what kind of work goes into a performance by a world-class pianist?  Dr. Fong, director of Chapman’s keyboard studies program and acclaimed concert performer, will discuss the creative and intellectual process that leads from the notes to the stage.  It’s free and open to the public.
• The upcoming Chapman appearance on Oct. 27 by author David Sedaris is causing more excitement in the Twitterverse and Facebook-land than anything since the Great Ketchup Theft of 2008.  (Sedaris would appreciate that.)  We didn’t even need to do a press release (we will, but not yet) – just dropped the info in a couple of places around social media and let it run free.

Got a hush-hush tip for Campus Confidential?  A burning question you need the answer to?  Drop us a line at
pr@chapman.edu
.