2011
SMITTCAMP SCOOP
DECEMBER/JANUARY
Family Traditions
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Featured Article
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MY FIRST SNOWSTORM
BY: DANIEL WARD,
JUNIOR
Growing up in
Fresno, I never saw much
snow. Of course, I’d seen
my fair share of the stuff on
TV and in magazines or
books, but it was never very
cold and hardly powdery to
the touch. I can’t say that I
was especially jealous of
those folks living in the
mountains, but I did know
that the childhood interestlevel of the weather down
here in the Valley was not
quite on par with that of my
cousins who regularly got to
have snow-ball fights in the
front yard. In Fresno’s
defense, going mudding
after a rain-storm is sure to
be a great time, but every
Christmas morning I would
look out of my window
hoping that I would start to
see those little white flakes
falling from the sky. No
such luck… except for that
one notable exception. Ask
any kid who grew up in
Fresno about the snowstorm
and you will instantly see a
grin spread across their face,
in the same way that they
would smile if you asked
them to recall the coziness
of falling asleep in the
comfy couch by the
fireplace at Grammy’s
house after the Christmas
meal has been enjoyed. It
might not have been much
in the way of winter
weather, but as Rudolph’s
nose is red, this was a
snowstorm! In what is
surely one of the fondest
memories of my childhood,
I am standing in my
driveway building a
snowman (okay, so
technically it was more of a
slush-man, but who is going
to tell an eight-year old that
there snowman, the first
they have ever made,
doesn’t really count!?) with
my brother. I bet if I asked
my parents, they could dig
out the home videos and
see footage of Michael and
me having a snowball fight
with the neighbors and
catching snowflakes with
our tongues as they fell
from the sky. That was one
of the happiest times of my
life, for the simple pleasure
that it brought a child. I apologize for
waxing nostalgic; once
those Christmas songs start
playing on the radio and
the weather starts to chill, I
go back to that wonderful
evening, shooting hoops
through the snowflakes and
asking my Mom if we
could keep a snowball in
the fridge (yes I watched
Arthur, too). In this
extremely busy and trying
time of year, I encourage
you all to take a (brief !)
break from studying to
reflect on those memories
from holiday seasons past
that continue to make you
smile, and to allow that
childhood spirit to surface,
transforming the stressed
and hectic to the exciting
and magical. The calming
effect of remembering that
first snow storm, no matter
the situation, is enough to
remind me of the good
times and those times yet to
be enjoyed, memories yet
to be made. When I walk
into my final on Monday
morning, right before the
test that dictates my final
grade in a course that I
have put countless hours
into, I will take a deep
breath and remember
building that snowman. And then everything will be
alright.
Best of luck to you
on finals and here’s wishing
you and yours a very Merry
Christmas and happy
holiday season!
After church
service on Christmas Eve,
my family piles into the
truck to take our annual
trip down Christmas Tree
Lane. The lights, the
sounds of Christmas
music, the sharpness of
the winter air tinged with
exhaust fumes, all creates
a drive like no
other. Without this family
tradition, the holiday
season just wouldn't be the
same.
TRADITIONS
BY: NICK VIZENOR,
JUNIOR
As you might have
guessed by now, sports are
a very important past time
for me and my family.
Therefore, having the
whole family together at
home for a month for
Christmas, there are bound
to be sports on TV and
discussions to be had. Just
as much as our traditional
Polish Christmas eve
dinner, the holidays
wouldn’t be complete
without these sporting
traditions:
· Bowling- No, not
knocking down pins, but
college football bowl
season. Bowl games are one
of my favorite aspects of
December and the
holidays. It is a great time
to be a college football fan
as for over 3 weeks starting
on December 17th, there is
a college football game
nearly every day. It might
not be two top-tier ranked
teams, but they are all D1
teams with winning records
and nothing to lose. This is
the excitement of bowl
games, guys playing their
hearts out for nothing more
than love of the game. For
the last few years my
brother and I have had a
friendly competition to see
who can pick more of the
35 match-ups correctly, and
as I write this I am
reminded that I need to
start looking into my picks.
· Christmas gifts- Not
a year has gone by in my
recollection that someone
in my family hasn’t
received some sort of
sporting memorabilia. My
brother gave me my often
worn Carson Palmer jersey
three years ago, and this
year I am returning the
favor with a home LA
Galaxy jersey. One of my
favorite sports gifts
memories comes from last
year when, my parents
bought two tickets on the
glass to a Ducks Sharks
game in San Jose for my
brother and our grandma.
Seeing her reaction to
finding that she was going
to a hockey game with him
was priceless, and then
seeing her in a jersey at the
game a few weeks later was
the icing on the cake (she
really enjoyed herself by
the way).
· Friends and footballAnother exciting aspect of
going home for Christmas
break is getting together
with your friends from high
school and catching up. For
me, that means a game of
tackle football in the park
with some good buddies.
Depending on the year, we
get between 10 and 15
people to show up for a fun
but competitive game. We
share a few laughs and
catch up on everyone’s
goings-on and always
remind our friend Ryan of
his failed stiff-arm attempt
four years back. It has
become an informal
tradition that I have grown
to love and associate with
the holidays.
As I write, there are still 4
finals and one P-chem
midterm standing between
me and home. However, I
am hopeful and excited for
the prospect of a month
off, spending time with
friends and family and
partaking in a great time
of happiness, rejoice, and
sports.
DEFEATING
DROWSINESS
BY: PARKER NALCHAJIAN
Do you ever
experience the irresistible
urge to put your head
down and shut your eyes
“just for a second” in the
middle of class? Oh, wait!
This is college, known for
late nights studying (or
whatever else may be going
on in the social circuits). Everything is fun and
games until the morning
when you have to get up at
seven fifty for an eight AM
class. The cold
temperatures outside
require a significant
amount of bundling up
and before you know it,
your eyelids are getting
really heavy and you find
yourself doing the bob and
jerk. Nothing beats
actually getting the proper
amount of sleep each night
as far as staying awake in
class goes, but when that is
absolutely out of the
equation, there are certain
techniques that work to
stave off the sleepiness. A
quick Google search will
pull up quite the list of
techniques, my favorite of
which are as follows:
1. Drink something cold,
most preferably water. Sugary drinks work shortterm, but if you have a whole day of class ahead,
go with the water.
2. Eat something crunchy. The noise, texture, and
taste will help engage your
body into a better state of
wakefulness. I have found
apples to be the best option
here.
3. Take notes by hand. Laptops, for most people,
require less effort to keep
with the lesson and provide
more opportunities to hide
distraction and sleep.
4. Participate in class
discussions. Whether this
means interjecting a
question to clarify a topic,
or answering what the
teacher asks the class, your
involvement tells your body
that you need to stay
awake.
Some personal favorites:
5. Those little canisters of
mini M&M’s provide
excellent relief from the
3:30 physics fatigue. (also
try Atomic Fireballs if you
are desperate and really
brave!)
6. If you have a break in
your schedule for more
than an hour, find a
comfortable chair, set your
alarm on your phone/
ipod/whatever and conk
out for a little power nap. These help more than
anything else I have
experienced.
7. Pinch or poke yourself
in the arm/finger/leg. This is not preferable
because it involves pain,
but the pain usually wakes
you up (much like the
Atomic Fireballs).
8. Have a friend wait until
you are on or just beyond
the brink of sleepiness and
then jolt you awake with a
quick touch or word. The
panic of being woken up
suddenly causes a jolt of
adrenaline that won’t wear
off until well after the class
is over.
Taking it a little too far:
9. Aromatherapy is said to
work wonders, so why not
take a jar of horseradish or
mustard to class with you? When you get sleepy, just
unscrew the cap and take a
whiff !
10. Do not give your
friends permission to slap
you if you fall asleep. While
this may be funny for them,
it may quickly turn into a
game that you very much
do not want to play.
11. By no means decide to
take it upon yourself to
commit to some repetitive
task that achieves nothing. If you start arranging
eraser shavings to resemble
famous art or counting the
number of anything in the
room, you might as well be
asleep instead.
As with any advice
column, take these
suggestions with a grain of
salt. If anything, just heed
the first thing I said about
getting more sleep. Sometimes desperate times
call for desperate measures,
and I hope that these
suggestions help you the
next time you feel your eyes
starting to roll back in your
head.
DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS
BY: JENNA MERSEREAU,
SOPHOMORE
Decorating for Christmas
Dropping a stick of cinnamon in the hot apple cider on the stove,
Mom mixes a blend of spices and flour in a large Ziplock bag. A
cassette is playing Bing Crosby’s ‘Do You Hear What I Hear’ through
Dad’s old Advent speakers. In the bag, Mom puts thyme and sage to
give the chicken its flavor and paprika gives it a brick red hue. She
plops a couple chicken legs and thighs in the bag, seals it, and hands it
to me. While I shake the bake until my arms run out of energy, she
goes outside to grab a few logs of firewood from the pile under the tarp. We put the
chicken in the oven to bake and keep the potatoes company. From the purple bins in the
garage full of tinsel and strings of lights, we pull out the Nativity Scene. We carefully
arrange it on the mantle above my Rudoph stocking and my sister’s bearing Frosty the
Snowman. The three Wisemen look over Mary’s shoulder at an empty manger, because
we save putting the baby Jesus figurine in the manger until Christmas morning. The
familiar beep of the oven sounds just before we hear the keys in the front lock and see my
sister stamping off her oversized rain boots on the welcome mat. Using all the strength
she can muster from her 4-foot body, she proudly carries the top end of a full 10-foot
Douglas Fir through the door, while my dad, carrying the majority of the weight, follows
behind holding the trunk end. As mom and I serve up dinner, Brianna and Dad set up
the tree, shedding pine needles all across the carpet.
THINGS THAT
MAKE MY BLOOD
PRESSURE RISE
BY: SHAE DOUGALL,
FRESHMAN
We all get a little bit
angry on the occasion.
Whether it’s a friend who
won’t speak to you, the
NBA lockout, or the
nuisance of having to go to
Math 45 when you already
know everything worth
learning, we all have
something we just need to
vent about. The holiday
season provides many
opportunities to rage at
various things, and since I
am so angry, I’d like to
unleash my wintery fury
now, before my head
explodes at the Christmas
dinner table.
· Thing #1: PEOPLE
WHO COMPLAIN
ABOUT THE RDH
I know it’s not the greatest
food in the world. I’ve
eaten great cuisine before.
But, seriously? I GET IT.
It’s food. Eat it. You know
what my parents would
make me do if I didn’t
want to eat my dinner?
They would make me eat
it. Guess what? We’re in
college. That’s not how it is
anymore. If you don’t like
the food, you can go
somewhere else. Go to
Taco Bell and eat a
Mexican pizza. Bottom
line, you have options. Stop
whining.
· Thing #2: PAT
HILL’S PLAY CALLING
Most of you have better
things to do than waste
your time on mindnumbing sporting events,
but I don’t. I love sports. I
think we should all be
forced to play some sort of
sport. And at this rate, I
think I could probably go
out and play better zone
coverage than Fresno
State’s cornerbacks. But I
want to talk about Pat Hill’s
play calling. It’s
embarrassing. We can’t
beat Ole Miss? We can’t
score in the first half
against L.A. Tech? We
don’t get an offensive first
down against Boise until
midway through the second
quarter!? You know it’s bad
when I can figure out what
he’s going to call on 2nd
and 4. A sweep play on 3rd
and 18 was certainly
unexpected, though. ARE
YOU KIDDING ME?
· Thing #3:
WEATHER
It’s too cold! I’m from the
dang Central Coast, where
the median temperature for
every day of the year is
between 65-71 degrees. I
don’t have cold weather
clothes! I have one jacket,
and 4 pairs of jeans and
about 34 t-shirts! To top it
off, it’s not only too cold in
general, it’s cold every day!
I mean, any unusually cold
week in Santa Maria, it
could go from 55 and
hailing to 80 and dry in a
day. It’s nice that Fresno
has weather consistency, at
least, but would it kill you
to turn up the thermostat a
little bit?
· Thing #4:
NATIONAL NOVEL
WRITING MONTH
I’m doing this, yeah. In
order to make the quota of
50,000 words and at least
150 pages by December
1st, 2011, I need to type up
1,666.667 words per day.
WOW. I’m too lazy to write
the date on the top of a
paper, and these people
expect me to keep up with
a crazy quota like that?
They should just make it
National Novel Writing
Year. Even then, I probably
couldn’t keep up with the
137 words a day I would
GOD BLESS YE
MERRY
HIPPOGRIFFS
In Great Britain, in
Hogwarts
Our blessed Buckbeak’s
saved.
And in that very night,
Rescued a man be Kissed.
With Black he did less
wrong than right,
weren't he too sorely
missed.
O tidings of freedom and
flight,
Freedom and flight,
O tidings of freedom and
flight.
God rest ye merry
hippogriffs,
Let nothing ye dismay.
Remember, Hagrid, your
caretaker
Was born to giants away,
To feed ye all some
woodpecker,
When hunger gone astray.
O tidings of freedom and
flight,
Freedom and flight,
O tidings of freedom and
flight.
From the school of magic,
Hogwarts,
A righteous trio came,
And from the gentle
Hagrid,
Learnt tidings dreaded in
name How in Hagrid’s little
thatched hut,
Be Buckbeak killed the
same.
O tidings of freedom and
flight,
Freedom and flight,
BY: ABHIJIT SUPREM,
FRESHMAN
have to write! Who came
up with this stupid event
anyway? Now if you’ll
excuse me, I’ve gotta go
write some more.
O tidings of freedom and
flight.
“Fear not then,” said
Granger,
“Let nothing ye affright,
From this day we will aid
you
To help you see side
bright,
To free your worry on
Buckbeak
And his life from
Macnair’s might.
O tidings of freedom and
flight,
Freedom and flight,
O tidings of freedom and
flight.
On hearing such soothed
voice,
Hagrid felt good in mind,
And worked the work with
friends,
Through tempest, storm,
and wind,
And talked to the council
straightaway,
Buckbeak’s repreive to
find.
O tidings of freedom and
flight,
Freedom and flight,
O tidings of freedom and
flight.
And when the Council
came to hear,
Macnair’s vile wrath cried,
“Ahoy!”
They found him in much
glee,
His axe held so much sway.
Sweet Hagrid on seeing the
sad truth,
Unto Merlin did pray.
O tidings of freedom and
flight,
Freedom and flight,
O tidings of freedom and
flight.
Now to the save comes
Harry,
and Hermione’s magic gift.
And with some brains and
sorcery,
Gave Sirius Black some lift,
To escape as Voldemort’s
enemy,
On Buckbeak was he swift.
O tidings of freedom and
flight,
Freedom and flight,
O tidings of freedom and
flight.
REMEMBER
BY: RAVEN KAPPHAHN, SOPHOMORE
Only once in my life have I seen pure flakes drift from the sky,
While in every house I enter, flames leap in cozy corners.
And then, there are those notes that are whirled through the sky
Getting jammed in my brain, matching the tune of the season.
I’ve observed mobs of people who gathered for quick deals,
And now have to wrap toys and gadgets by the dozen.
I go to parties where there is eggnog spiked with the best,
With friends and family gathered for the occasion.
This is the time where I give gifts and receive some as well
And I am abraded with an onslaught of holiday cheer and treats.
When just recently I abruptly paused and remembered a child,
The child that once laid in a manger.
A meaning that I lost in all the commotion of the season,
A meaning that is fading from the eye of many souls,
Fading a little more each season that goes by.