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| − | Welcome to the '''Knox Survival Guide''', your portal to necessary information about "making it" at [[Knox College]]. Some of this you will learn during [[Freshman Orientation]]. Some of it you won't.
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| − | ==Overview==
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| − | It would perhaps be most useful to get some basic bearing on where you are and why you are there, and who all these people are around you. It's good to be a quick study.
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| − | To start off with the most painfully obvious, [[Knox]] is a small [[liberal arts college]] located in [[Western Illinois]], which is part of the [[Midwest]]. There are 1351 [[students]]. <ref>[http://www.knox.edu/x700.xml Knox Fast Facts]</ref> And you are stuck here for what may seem like an extraordinarily long time, about as long as a [[President of the United States of America|presidential administration]]. Added to them are several dozen members of the [[faculty]] and a number of [[staff]], both [[Administration|administrative]] and rank-and-file. The town of [[Galesburg]] is home to 33,000 [[people]] and a fluctuating number of [[train]]s. The trains will undoubtedly be one of the first things you notice, and you will notice them several times an hour for several months, until you don't even notice them anymore. You know how they say that people can learn to live with anything? That is [[the Knox Experience]]. Apparently it was [[Copy Editor|copy-edited]] out of the [[admission]] brochures.
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| − | This article makes much reference to cardinal directions to place items of interest. For those of you used to [[Denver|mountains]] and [[Chicago|city skylines]] as reference points, just remember that [[Old Main]] faces north, towards [[downtown]] Galesburg.
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| − | ==Your Fellow Students==
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| − | ===Origin===
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| − | Of the 1351 students at Knox, maybe half come from the state of [[Illinois]]. The bulk of those come from [[Chicago]] and its various [[suburb]]s (mostly the [[Outside of Chicago|suburbs]]). Generally, when meeting a person, you may as well cut to the chase and ask them what Chicago suburb they're from to save time. Those of you not from Chicago will soon learn the names and relative locations of all the suburbs. According to the [[The official Knox website|Knox website]], 14.1% of students live within 100 miles of Knox. This includes a number of Galesburg natives and [[non-traditional student]]s with Galesburg residency, as well as students from [[Peoria]], the [[Quad Cities]], and the [[farm]]s and [[small town]]s of western Illinois and eastern [[Iowa]]. The rest of the Illinois students come from places like [[Rockford]], [[Carbondale]], and other regions of northern, southern, and central Illinois. The local and non-Chicago Illinois students seem to comprise a remarkably large percentage of [[athlete]]s and possibly the majority of [[Beta]]s.
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| − | Beyond this, there are numerous students from surrounding states: [[Wisconsin]], [[Iowa]], and [[Missouri]] are the primary contributors. After Chicago, [[St. Louis]] and [[Kansas City]] may be the best-represented cities at Knox. There are a number of students from rural areas of these states as well.
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| − | Outside of the four-state area, the majority of American-resident students are from various sizeable cities. While for the more local students academic or athletic reputation was a significant consideration, for the rest [[financial aid]] often took precedence. Distant but well-represented cities at Knox include [[Denver]], [[Albuquerque]], and [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] ([[Oregon]]). Beyond the seven states so far mentioned, there are thirty-nine more currently sending students to Knox. These students are sad and all alone in the world. Comfort them. Instruct them in the relative fashionableness of Chicagoland's area codes.
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| − | We mustn't forget also the substantial set of [[international student]]s coming to Knox. These students have come looking for an American [[education]], and are on the whole able to pay for it. Some question might be asked as to why they would choose, out of hundreds of schools, Knox, but as Knox has made a special effort to attract international students one can make some assumptions. Generally, the largest sources of international students seem to be tropical western [[Africa]] (especially [[Ghana]] and [[Nigeria]]), [[South Asia]] (especially [[Nepal]]), [[Southeast Asia]] (especially [[Vietnam]]), and eastern [[Asia]] (especially [[South Korea]] and [[Japan]]). There are several students from [[Europe]], and one combination student and graduate [[teaching assistant]] from [[Germany]] each year. Many of the European students, as well as some of the others, are children of American diplomats or businesspeople.
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| − | Knox is said to be very [[diversity|diverse]]. If the American experience in diversity is a salad bowl, then we have thirty-eight [[major|types of dressing]] available. You are most likely a piece of iceberg lettuce, with a more than 50% chance of having been torn off a lettuce head named Chicago. Be proud.
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| − | ===Academics===
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| − | Knox touts its distinction as the best liberal arts college in [[Illinois]], a state that, to be fair, has a fairly weak history in the liberal arts. After all, the [[Chicago|City of Big Shoulders]], which back in Knox's time was a relatively uncultured creep of Midwestern industrial growth and centralization, required a meat-and-potatoes sort of higher education system, and there were certainly plenty of well-established schools [[East Coast|further east]] for nancy English majors. Knox has, however, done fairly well for itself, placing somewhere in the seventies each year on the ''[[U.S. News and World Report]]'' rankings. It often garners good ratings in the [[Princeton Review]], and is a perennial favorite of the book ''[[Colleges That Change Lives]]''. Knox is quick to note whatever accolades it receives, and you can find them quoted [http://www.knox.edu/x703.xml here].
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| − | Quantitatively, 67% of Knox students were in the top quarter of their [[high school]] class, and 32% graduated in the top tenth. The middle of 50 percent of the [[ACT]] Composite score is 25-30; for the [[SAT]] (out of 1600), 1120-1360. Knox does not require the ACT or SAT anymore. This is because we are innovative. Remember this. We made [[Abraham Lincoln]], too, as far as we're concerned.
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| − | These statistics, while good, aren't quite as impressive as some of the more famous schools – indeed, while many in [[Illinois]] or [[Missouri]] have heard of Knox, if you utter the name in [[California]] [http://knox.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2202235148 then people will think you're going to school in Tennessee]. You will soon learn, if you have not already, that the official name of Knox outside of the Midwest is "Knox College, a small liberal arts school in western Illinois (not near Chicago)."
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| − | On the whole, the basic demographic at Knox is good students, with moderate achievements, generally with either a high personal concern either for community or a pressing practical concern for money. A larger than usual percentage are students whose work in high school was perhaps tempered by other concerns, usually social but sometimes associated with being batshit crazy. A fair number of intelligent underachievers add to the mix as well. Knox, while selective, is not ''that'' selective – it has been said that they have never rejected an [[IB]] diploma candidate, for instance. For reasons like this, Knox makes an excellent [[safety school]] for the high-school burnout.
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| − | ===Social===
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| − | As just mentioned, students often think much of social matters, and as the middle students of high school who, perhaps, existed without some firm sort of group identification, the social scene at Knox is quite involved. It is made the more so given Knox's small size and isolation: just as water boils faster in a covered, confined space, Knox's [[drama]] percolates up all the time. The wide availability of drugs and alcohol doesn't help anybody calm down, either. For [[Anso]] majors, it can be quite the opportunity for some ad-hoc fieldwork, but of course few of them can resist being involved themselves.
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| − | On the whole, Knox's drama appears to be more intricate than that at many other schools. And, as everybody pretty much knows everybody with at most two degrees of separation, and sees them once or twice a day, there are a lot of opportunities from social intercourse. This is the sense of community of a small school, but also one of its strangest phenomena. The [[rumor mill]] is especially large, and it is not unheard of for [[faculty]] to get entangled in it as well (they, apparently, need their [[sex]] too). Attempts have been made to catalogue the [[The Web|network of romantic and sexual relationships]] on campus, but the complexity and rapid changes have gotten the better of them.
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| − | ====The Greek System====
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| − | For first-years especially, the social scene is largely centered on the [[Greek]] system. After the first year, those who do join a Greek organization keep more within that organization and those that do not join any will coalesce their own social channels, but until then there is significant room for maneuver. The [[fraternity|fraternities]] are most prominent on the party scene, because they have residential houses. The [[sorority|sororities]] only have nonresidential houses, so they don't hold as many parties, instead attending the fraternity parties. The sororities are also larger and contain a larger variety of people within them than do the men's fraternities, making their identity somewhat more difficult to define. [[Rush|Recruitment]] for these organizations begins in [[Winter Term]].
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| − | [[Tau Kappa Epsilon]] (TKE, pronounced like the wood teak) is an early favorite, as they offer free [[beer]] for the [[fall term]] to draw in students. Their intentions for doing this are debatable, and speculation has ranged from innocuous meet-and-greet to part of a plan to take control of [[Student Senate]] (at which, in whatever case, they are generally fairly successful, although not as much thus far for the [[2007-2008]] school year). Their house is located on [[South Street|South St.]], nest to the [[Wilson House]].
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| − | [[Beta Theta Pi]] (Beta) focuses primarily on attracting [[football]] players and other athletes. Their house is on South St. between [[TKE]] and [[Alumni Hall]].
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| − | Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) attracts a lot of baseball players, a significant number of African international students, and sundry others. Their house is on the southwest corner of [[Cedar Street|Cedar]] and [[Tompkins Street|Tompkins]] streets.
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| − | [[Sigma Nu]] (SNu) caters largely to the less obviously fraternity-material students (the geek contingent), and tend to be as focused on [[video games]] or [[theatre]] as on anything else. Their house is located on [[West Street|West St.]], near the [[Service Ramp]] in the [[Quads]]. That house is technically temporary, as it has been for about forty years (see also [[Alumni Hall]])
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| − | [[Sigma Chi]], the newest fraternity (and, thus far, sadly lacking in a whimsical abbreviation) grew out of the [[Ultimate Frisbee]] team. Its members are fond of [[nudity]]. Their house used to be a very prominent [[crackhouse]] until the occupants were arrested and one fraternity member's family purchased the house, remodeled it, and gave it to the school. It is located on the southwest corner of [[West Street|West]] and [[Knox Street|Knox]] streets.
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| − | [[Delta Delta Delta]] (Tri-Delt) is one of the sororities. They maintain their Lodge on [[Academy Street|Academy St.]], behind [[SMC]].
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| − | [[Pi Beta Phi]] (Pi Phi) also maintains a house (the Bungalow) on Academy, just north of the Tri-Delt Lodge. This fraternity has somewhat more activists and dedicated [[feminist]]s than Tri-Delt.
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| − | [[Kappa Kappa Gamma]] (Kappa, KKG, and Kappa-Gam are some abbreviations, although none has become standard yet) is the newest sorority on campus (formerly, they were [[TSO]] colony, and they are at least loosely associated with the [[O2C]] girls of the [[2004-2005]] school year). They do not, as yet, have a house.
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| − | [[ATP]] is a sorority colony on campus. Originally branded as the female [[SNu]], they have backed away from that identity, although their social ties to SNu are various and unmistakable.
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| − | ====Suites====
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| − | The other major locus of social organization is the [[suite]] system. Upperclassmen generally [[Housing Lottery|get to pick with whom they are living]], if they have any preference in the matter, but [[first-year]]s are simply thrown together based on survey answers. Given the pressure-cooker social atmosphere, few people end up living with their first-year roommates, for instance, for any additional time. Some first-year suites end up becoming destinations, and others are simply bedrooms. Some suites have perennial reputations, [[Seymour 3B]] being the most infamous. Each freshman suite or group of suites comes with a Knox-issue [[Resident Advisor]] (RA), who will range in quality and willingness to overlook suite members' [[Drinking|actions]] and [[Marijuana|possessions]].
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| − | ==Your Room==
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| − | First-years are housed in [[residence hall]]s, usually two to a room. Students may request a [[single]], but it costs several hundred dollars. Generally demand is too low to fill them with paying students, so some first-years will be thrown into them at no cost. First-year singles are located in [[Five-Name]]. There are also one or two triples in [[Seymour Hall]]. Sometimes, due to dropouts, roommate moves, or the like, one might end up living alone in a standard room. This is called a [[double-single]].
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| − | ===Seymour Hall===
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| − | [[Seymour Hall]] houses about 80 [[boy|male]] first-years. There is one suite on the second floor of Seymour on the north side of the building ([[Seymour 2]]), and two suites on the third floor: [[Seymour 3A]] above Seymour 2, and [[Seymour 3B]] perpendicular to 3A, over the [[Oak Room]]. The suites are accessible by a spiral staircase above the [[Grab-n-Go Cart]] between the [[Campus Life Office]] and [[Founders]], and by the stairwell on the west side of Seymour, which leads down to the section of Seymour basement with the [[mailroom]] and the [[bookstore]]. These suites are the least secure on campus, as they are in a building that is open 24 hours a day, and the doors to them are usually propped (although [[Campus Safety]] unprops them on its rounds). The rooms are large, if not particularly nice looking. The closets are large enough to fit the [[Dorm furniture|standard-issue dresser]] in them. There is a single common area for all three suites, at the eastern end of 3A; it is hardly ever used, and usually is cannibalized for its furniture. There are [[vending machine]]s on the third floor. [[Laundry]] facilities are in each of the bathrooms, of which there is one on each floor. The roof of Seymour is accessible from windows in the bathroom and several of the rooms, but fines for being out there can be significant if caught.
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| − | Seymour suites have unparalleled easy access to campus, as they are right upstairs from the eateries, the [[Founders|main computer lab]], and the mailroom. On winter days, one need not leave the building except for [[class]]. These suites are generally the least well-kept of all on campus, and the suites often incur high repair fees at the end of the year for their various drunken indiscretions. 3B is perennially the worst of the three in this sense, and has a long history of [[alcohol]] and [[drugs]] beyond the normal levels. The squalor is part of the ambience. Those with a heightened sense of [[hygiene]] will find life in Seymour to be [[Phantom Shitter|very hard on them]].
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| − | ===Post Hall===
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| − | First-year [[Post]] is an [[girl|all-female]] area of six [[suite]]s, with about 100 girls. These suites are on the north side of the building, along [[West St.]]; there are also four upperclass suites in the east wing of the building, and upperclassmen living in [[Post Basement]] (the rooms of which were installed to alleviate [[overcrowding]] during the 2006-2007 school year). [[Kitchen]]s and [[laundry]] rooms are available in the basements, and the [[C-Store]] convenience store is in [[Post Lobby]], along with a big-screen TV (generally controlled by the [[Gaming Information Network]] or other video-game players). There are stairwells between each suite
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| − | Each suite is two stories tall, with a common area on the lower floor, an internal staircase to the balcony, and two small bathrooms on each floor. Each suite has 16 to 18 students, making for a very small bathroom-to-student ratio – Post suites are likely the cleanest on campus. They also have very nice views of campus, with the huge suite window. Then again, this makes it very easy for [[Campus Safety]] to break up unregistered [[parties]]. Post suites are numbered from one to ten: Post 1 is the lower northernmost suite, Post 2 the suite above it, and so on, to Post 10, the upper-level suite farthest out on the east wing. Only Post 1-6 hold first-years.
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| − | ===Sellew-Raub===
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| − | [[Sellew-Raub]] is located in the [[Quads]], and is largely made up of first-year housing, although the amount of upperclass housing changes from year to year. It runs east-west, between [[Five-Name]] and [[Four-Name]]. The [[Service Ramp]] is at its western end. There are six suites on three floors, each with 10 to 12 students. On each floor, one suite is Raub and one Sellew. As with Seymour, these are designated by floor (e.g. [[Raub 2]], [[Sellew 1]]). There is a common area in each suite, and one bathroom separated in two parts for each floor. Sellew and Raub each have a stairwell. [[Laundry]] facilities are available in the basement, but no [[kitchen]]. Sellew-Raub is co-ed by floor. It is typical Quads and pretty unremarkable.
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| − | ===Conger-Neal===
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| − | [[Conger-Neal]] is pretty much the same as Sellew-Raub, and is located along [[West St.]] north of the [[Service Ramp]]. Most of the occupants are upperclassmen, but usually at least one suite is made over to first-years. The basement is the third-scariest on campus, after [[Aux Gym]] and [[GDH]].
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| − | ===Five-Name===
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| − | [[Five-Name]] is the large L-shaped building rounding the northeast corner of [[West Street|West]] and [[Knox Street|Knox]] streets. It contains five suites. [[Campbell]] and [[Elder]] are the two suites of the north wing, and [[Neifert]] and [[Sherwin]] are on the east wing. [[Furrow]] is in the bend, and houses primarily upperclassmen. The basements also have a few rooms, but these are usually given to upperclassmen as well, although many believe them to be the worst housing on campus. The basements are not linked. Each wing essentially has a double suite on each floor, with a shared hallway separated by a door that is usually open, and bathrooms at either end. The building is co-ed. There is a combination kitchen/laundry room in [[Neifert Basement]], along with the [[Roger Taylor Lounge]]. If the [[Student Health Center]] is ever built, it will sit on the outside corner of the building; until then it is the [[Counseling Center]]. Five-Name suites are numbered by floor, starting in the basement (Neifert or Elder 1, although usually they are referred to as Neifert or [[Elder Basement]], with the actual first floor being numbered 2, and so forth). Five-Name is far away from everything.
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| − | ===I-House===
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| − | If you are an [[international student]], you may end up in the [[International House]], which this year will be entirely first-years due to problems with the [[2006-2007]] occupants. It is a [[house]]. Congratulations.
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| − | ==The Campus==
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| − | Knox strives for a parklike setting. It used to strive for a tree-lined sort of parklike, and then [[Dutch Elm Disease]] happened, so now it strives to evoke more of a [[prairie]] thing. In the summer and early fall it is very green, what with the well-kept lawns. The small nature patch east of the quads is what the land used to look like. One can imagine that in the future, when deer become sentient and take over the world, there will be a small patch of manicured lawn west of the quads at Deer-Knox (undoubtedly refounded by gazelle-slavery abolitionists) that will be visited by [[Anthropology and Sociology|Human Studies]] classes.
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| − | On the northeast quarter of campus are most of the academic buildings on campus. [[Old Main]] is the old one, with the [[belltower]]. [[Seymour Hall]] is the one with all the stuff in it, in the center. You eat at it. [[GDH]], the [[Aux Gym]], and the [[Old Jail]] are around, along with administrative buildings outside of the campus proper. [[Alumni Hall]] is the one that doesn't even have stairs to its doors. To the west is the gray building that looks kind of like a scale model of itself, which is [[Seymour Library]] (not to be confused with Seymour Hall – [[Knox]] may have few wealthy [[alumni]], but those it has are sometimes suitably generous). [[TKE]] and [[Beta]], as well as the [[Wilson House]], are nearby. North of [[South St.]] are the [[apartments]], which are home mostly to seniors and some juniors, as well as the [[Naked House]] and the [[Jazz House]]. West of South [[West St.]] (confusing? Just wait) is [[SMC]], the large building that suggests a swastika, and behind that the [[sorority]] houses, another house, and the [[Human Rights Center]]. On the eastern side of the campus is [[CFA]], and in the southeast corner the [[Memorial Gym]]. The [[Quads]] are essentially the southwest corner, including the [[Old Quads]] ([[Four-Name]], [[Conger-Neal]], etc.) and the [[New Quads]] ([[Five-Name]]). [[Post Hall]] is just north of these, and a number of campus houses, including [[I-House]], the [[Old Phi Delt House]], [[SNu]], [[Sigma Chi]], and [[Yellow House]] are strung out along [[West St.]] from [[Berrien St.]] on the north end to [[First St.]] at the southern end. The [[Steam Pipe Network]] connects many of the campus buildings. Here, look at a [http://www.knox.edu/prebuilt/PDFs/Campus_map.pdf map of campus].
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| − | [[Elevator]]s on campus are about as common as [[Republican]]s in [[Chicago]] city government (see? Even if you're not from Chicago you pick up fast on these things). ''[[BLADU]]'', the now-defunct humor magazine, had a feature in its early years called "This Month's Event that Disabled Students Can't Attend" or something to that effect. If you're wheelchair-bound, you might have done well to visit first.
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| − | ===Old Main===
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| − | Knox's signature building. It's on the letterhead. The school makes a big deal about it being the only remaining site of the [[Lincoln-Douglas debates]]. [[Abraham Lincoln]] climbed through a window to get to the debating platform – He'd "been through college," he said. You may have sat in [[Lincoln Chair|his chair]] as a [[prospie]]. If Knox knew exactly where he had walked while on campus, they would surely mark it off as the Lincoln Trail, litter it with interpretive signage, and all but worship it. More prosaically, as it were, it holds the [[English Department|English]] and [[Philosophy Department|Philosophy]] departments, as well as some key administrative offices on the first floor, including the office of the [[Dean of the College]], the [[President's Office]], the [[Business Office]], the [[Office of Student Development]], the [[Dean of Students]], and so on. Major meeting rooms in Old Main are the [[Alumni Room]] (if you can't have a hall you might as well get part of one) on the first floor in the northwest corner, and the [[Common Room]] along the southern side of the second floor.
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| − | ===Alumni Hall===
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| − | Alumni Hall is kind of like a classic car – it's old, and really beautiful, but it's been neglected for forty years. [[Knox College|Its owner]] always talks about restoring it, but doesn't have the [[endowment|balls]] to do it any time soon, so the car rusts out on the [[South Street|driveway]], looking pretty stupid to anybody who drives by. At some point the owner goes and asks [[James Kilts|his friend]], the former CEO of Gillette, who once landed his helicopter in the owner's backyard, whether he would be willing to give him several million dollars to restore the car and name it James Kilts Alumni Classic Car, to which this lugubrious CEO, already glorified to no end in the owner's [[admission]] brochures, will reply, "I don't do buildings." And here the analogy falls apart.
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| − | If you ever get a chance to go inside (usually when the [[Trustees]] come – the open it up to try to get them to feel bad and give money), go. It's very nice. Otherwise, it stands empty, and glows sodium-orange at night.
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| − | ===Seymour Union===
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| − | Where to begin?
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| − | [[Seymour Union]], also known as Seymour Hall, has three floors and a basement. The second and third floors are entirely all-male [[residence hall]]. If the right doors and windows are open, sometimes [[marijuana]] smoke wafts down to the first floor. On the first floor are three different eatery options. Along the south side of the building is the [[Hard Knox Café]], known as The Caf, the buffet-style option, and the most well-used (if not the most popular) one on campus. Just north of it is the [[Oak Room]], which is single-pass and has less variety but is often better quality. Across the hall from the Caf is the [[Gizmo]], the snack bar/fast food sort of place, which is open all day and is a major gathering spot. Next to it just outside the building is the [[Gizmo Patio]], which is very popular for [[drama|socializing]] and [[studying]] in warmer weather and [[smoking]] even in the winter. The windowed hallway from the Caf and Gizmo past the Oak Room to the north side of the building is known as the [[Gallery]]. This is where [[tabling]] happens. Often the school will bring traveling merchants in the Gallery to hawk their wares, most notably the [[poster sale]], the book fair, and most often a woman who sells clothes and woven items.
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| − | The Gallery ends and a new perpendicular hallway takes its place for the north side of the building. The northeast corner of Seymour is taken up with [[Founders]], the main [[computer lab]]. It has mostly [[Windows]] computers (but a few [[Mac]]s), as well as a tricked-out laser printer. It is open 23 ½ hours a day (closed from 5-5:30 AM for computer maintenance). Across the hall from Founders is the [[Campus Life Office]], where [[Craig Southern]] (the housing guy) and [[Cindy Wickliffe]] (the campus events organization lady, and the sender of campuswide [[e-mail]]s that you're not supposed to respond to) work. The building foyer on the north side also has [[change machine]]s and an [[ATM]]. The change machines are broken almost as often as not. You will get used to it. Be nice to the Gizmo people, because if you are they might give you change even though they're not supposed to.
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| − | Further west along the hall is the [[Carl Sandburg Study Lounge]], which is basically the only study lounge open 24 hours a day. It is especially popular with [[international student]]s. Next to that is the [[Publications Office]], where staff for ''[[The Knox Student]]'' and ''[[Catch]]'' work. A hallway branches off to the west stairwell, which heads toward the [[mailroom]], and after that there is [[Ferris Lounge]] and the [[Lincoln Room]], which are sometimes used for meetings, a number of smaller rooms off a hallway, and [[Steve Farris]]' office (Steve is the Director of [[Dining Services]]). The [[Loading Dock]] is on the west side of the building, and receives shipments for Dining Services.
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| − | There are actually three separate basements in Seymour, at least as far as student accessibility is concerned. Students can only get into two, unless they work for Dining Services, which uses the third section for storage. One section, on the northwest side of the building, contains the mailroom and [[bookstore]]. The other section is accessible from a stairwell near the Gizmo. At the landing there is the [[Union Board]] office, and some other [[club]] office space. At the bottom are two bathrooms, the [[Student Senate]] office, and [[Wallace Lounge]]. Currently, Wallace Lounge is largely off-limits due to [[Winter 2007 flood|flooding last winter]], and there are plans to put another eatery down there. The left side, which has windows, is/was the game room, and had some pool and ping pong tables, the equipment for which was usually broken. The windowless right side used to be a bowling alley, but more recently has been an unpleasant lounge area that few used. At the back of Wallace Lounge is the old ''[[BLADU]]'' office, which is now used by the Free Store. This is the only public building open 24 hours a day.
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| − | ===Seymour Library===
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| − | [[Seymour Library]] is in the top 2% of [[college]] libraries nationwide, they say. However, they don't quote this rank like they do for ranks associated with [[financial aid]] or the [[WVKC|radio station]], so it's a little suspect. All in all, however, it's a lovely library for a school of this size. Jobs at the library are among the most coveted on campus. It contains the main copy machines for public use, a number of [[computer]]s (including laptops you can check out at the front desk), and a few dozen or so books, too. The study carrels are numerous and generally fairly quiet, although may of the red swivel chairs squeak horribly. The catalog is online, and accessible [http://library.knox.edu here]. You can check out movies too – the VHS library is larger, but they continually acquire new DVDs for [[professor]]s' class needs. The [[Special Collections and Archives]] room has a lot of very interesting old things. The major meeting areas in the library are the [[Muelder Reading Room]] (much, much better known as the Red Room, because of the red carpet), and a number of smaller rooms arrayed next to it, including the [[Bookfellows Room]], [[Finley Room]], and [[Cassidy Room]]. On the third floor above this area are [[Honors office]]s, for seniors who are doing an [[Honors Project]]. On the first floor, the study room at the east side of the building arrayed with glass-block windows is often referred to as the [[Fishbowl]].
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| − | [[Reserves]] for classes are available at the front desk. Smaller reserves are in manila envelopes and listed by a file number, which you have to look up in the catalog. The rest are by call number. There are also open reserves, which are located on the first floor, between the periodicals and the DVD shelf. There is only one bathroom in the entire building, off the foyer. There are two stairwells, one at the front and the other at the back, running just to the right of the Fishbowl.
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| − | If you want science books, those are available at the [[Kresge Library]] in [[SMC]] (another donation behemoth, that Kresge was). There is also a [[Music Library]] in [[CFA]].
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| − | ===SMC===
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| − | Officially known as the [[Sharvy G. Umbeck Science and Mathematics Center]], it is called SMC because many of Knox's benefactors (in this case a former college president) do not have pretty-sounding names. We can't all be Seymours or Kresges, after all. It contains offices and classrooms for all the sciences, including [[psychology]], [[mathematics]], and [[computer science]]. Its basement is creepy, and contains the [[Computer Center]] and two computer labs, [[Stellyes]] and [[Caterpillar]]. The [[Office of Advancement]] is located in the E wing. The [[Kresge Science-Mathematics Library]] is in the center of the second floor. The building has four wings, lettered B through E, with the core being A. The A-wing contains two large lecture pits seating over 100, one of which is the meeting place for [[Student Senate]]. There are six stairwells, two in the core and four on the edge of each wing.
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| − | SMC is not really shaped like a swastika, but it kind of looks like it. Perhaps they will make additions.
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| − | ===GDH===
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| − | Officially known as [[George Davis Hall]], this was the science building before SMC was built in 1970, and currently houses a number of [[Academic Department|department]]s, including all the social sciences, [[Department of Modern Languages and Literatures|modern languages]], and [[Educational Studies Department|Educational Studies]]. The radio station, [[WVKC]], is located on the fourth floor, accessed from the eastern stairwell. It contains the [[Centel]] computer lab on the first floor, which contains special workstations for use with foreign language instruction. The basement is the second scariest on campus, although it is sometimes locked. There is a 19th-century X-ray machine down there.
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| − | ===Old Jail===
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| − | The [[Old Jail]], just east of [[GDH]], contains faculty offices. It also holds the [[Lincoln Studies Center]] and the [[Underground Railroad Freedom Station]], as well as an actual [[jail]] in the back. The jail is multilevel and quite impressive.
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| − | ===CFA===
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| − | Officially known as [[Ford Center for the Fine Arts]]. This holds the [[Art Department|Art]], [[Theatre and Dance Department|Theatre and Dance]], and [[Music Department|Music]] departments. The main venue is the [[Harbach Theatre]], which is the [[mainstage]] for theatre productions and is across the lobby corridor from the [[Office of Admission]]. [[Kresge Recital Hall]] is used more often for speakers and musical performances, and for [[First-Year Orientation]]. It's on the south side of the main lobby. In the basement by the eastern stairwell is the [[Studio Theatre]], used for smaller, usually [[student]]-directed, shows. The south wing of CFA is the [[music]] wing, and contains offices, recital halls, practice rooms, and the [[Music Library]] on the second floor. On the north side of the lobby is the main art exhibition space, around an obviously curved wall. Inside this wall is the [[Round Room]], which would be the coolest room on campus if the seating weren't quite as unnecessarily cramped. The [[Office of Financial Aid]] sits above the Office of Admission on the second floor.
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| − | ===Memorial Gym===
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| − | The [[Memorial Gym]] holds most of the important athletic facilities on campus. It is tucked behind [[CFA]] and the [[track]]. Inside is a [[basketball]] court on the first floor. In the basement there is a woefully small [[natatorium]] (pool). This used to be easy to break into, but then they changed the lock. On the second floor there are offices for low-seniority faculty, as well as the headquarters of the [[Black Studies Program]]. The new-looking, floor-to-ceiling windowed section is the [[E. & L. Andrew Fitness Center]].
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| − | Some other facilities, specifically for dance, are located in the [[Auxiliary Gym]], between [[CFA]] and [[GDH]].
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| − | ===Other Places on Campus===
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| − | In addition to the buildings described above, there are numerous other, smaller places on campus that are worth noting.
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| − | In terms of classroom and meeting space, there are several other areas. One, the [[Compass Room]], is a meeting and class room located on the second floor in the center of the [[Townhouses]], which are upperclass housing on the northeast corner of [[South Street|South]] and [[Cedar Street|Cedar]] streets. On class schedules it will show up as 251E in reference to the building's address, 251 South West St., and the letter E as coming after Townhouses [[Townhouse A|A]] through [[Townhouse D|D]]. It has a [[kitchen]]. Another, the [[Wilson House]], is sometimes used for [[class]]es, and is located next to [[TKE]]. It also has a kitchen. There is also the [[Center for Intercultural Life]], a small house adjoined to [[Simonds Hall]] (part of [[Four-Name]]). The [[Center for Teaching and Learning]] is used for tutoring and other functions, and is on [[West St.]], south of the parking lot.
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| − | Major named lawns include the [[South Lawn]] (south of [[Old Main]]) and [[Post Lawn]] (between [[Post]] and [[Seymour]]). There are [[Meridian Tennis Courts|tennis courts]] just east of the [[Quad]]s, and a track east of those. On the other side of [[Knox St.]] there is a [[soccer field]] and the [[Knox Bowl]], a [[football]] field with a manmade hill all around it. There is a hole cut in the chain-link fence that [[Campus Safety]] allows to remain unrepaired. [[Pot]] smoking and sledding are popular Knox Bowl activities. Getting caught in there incurs reference to the [[Office of Student Development]].
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| − | The main convenience store for campus is the 24-hour [[Quick Sam's Convenience Convenient]] (seriously, that's what the sign says) at the corner of [[South Street|South]] and [[Academy Street|Academy]]. Unlike the [[C-Store]], they sell cigarettes and alcohol.
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| − | ==Faculty==
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| − | The [[faculty]] are probably the best thing going at [[Knox]]. Many of Knox's professors are recent [[Ph.D.]] graduates who teach at Knox for a few years before moving to greener pastures, but the [[tenure]]d faculty are none the worse for staying (perhaps, in fact, they are better for it). Those who do stay are generally extremely committed to the teaching-college niche of Knox, as well as the slightly odd nature of the Knox and Galesburg community. Some of them just really like the house they bought, and/or don't want to sell it at a loss in [[Galesburg]]'s anemic real estate market. Students have a lot of contact with professors generally; some too little, some [[sex|too much]].
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| − | A lot of Knox's professors are married to each other, which is another reason they get tenure. Some of them are obvious, like [[Robin Metz]] and [[Elizabeth Carlin-Metz]], or the [[Fineberg]]s. Some of them are less so, like [[Nancy Eberhardt]] and [[Steve Cohn]]. You probably shouldn't badmouth one to the other.
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| − | Generally, professors get fired if they meet two criteria:
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| − | * They have sex with students
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| − | * They buy students [[alcohol]]
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| − | Sometimes a reprieve is granted for extremely popular professors. This is all unofficial, of course.
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| − | The overwhelming majority of students get invited to a professor's house at least once. Knox ensures this by having the first-year advisors invite their advisees over for dinner during [[First-year Orientation]]. [[Nick Regiacorte|Nick]] and [[Sunshine Regiacorte]] serve really good pasta. Some of the other professors can't cook and do [[Joy Garden|takeout]] or something. But it's the thought that counts, and now when the [[Office of Admission]] recalculates the number for the admission brochures you'll have to say that you went to a professor's house once.
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