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| MSSA President Emily Hoffman is very sad. | | |
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Tragedy has struck at Northwestern University. The Department of
Materials Science and Engineering's weekly coffee hour, seen by many as
a lone ray of sunshine and laughter in the long post-Wednesday stretch
to the weekend, was by most accounts, "the worst ever". Dozens of
students, eagerly anticipating the break from checking facebook and
email, were dismayed to find the atrium completely empty. The long
plastic tables, normally arranged in the center of the room and nigh
overflowing with an assortment of store-bought or lovingly baked goods,
were bereft even of crumbs and shunted carelessly against the wall. The
ominous lack of coffee instigated a flurry of fearful discussion; a
quick check of the schedule soon identified the culprits as the
Wolverton and Lauhon groups, which could not be reached for comment. "I
keep hoping they'll trundle in with a big pile of delicious cakes.."
commiserated one 2nd year PhD student, but that hope was shortlived.
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| The first-years (and George) are not amused |
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lone representative soon came forth, bearing an offering of home-baked
cookies that, while extremely tasty, could not satisfy the ravenous
hordes for long. As the minutes passed more pilgrims arrived on the
scene, their faces demonstrating confusion, dismay, even bordering on
barely-contained outrage as their trust in humanity was forever
shattered. Several more items were added to the paltry collection of
foodstuffs, but the damage had already been done.
As
we try to put back the pieces and move on with our lives we can only
hope that the lessons of this day will be remembered lest the past
repeat itself, inflicting immeasurable frustration and despair on future generations of
graduate students, postdocs, faculty and staff.
