So far, COSMOS held two evening movie night activities showing movies from Studio Ghibli: Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo. It is apparent how Ghibli influences leaked into whiteboard designs. Girls decorated their dorm whiteboards with images from Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo. Look through this gallery to see their impressive artistic talents!
Cluster Chant Ratings
By Helena Spydell and Soyeon Kim
By Helena Spydell and Soyeon Kim
Cluster 1: 😛/10
For their chant, Cluster One had one person appointed to make a “BAAAAH” sheep sound. As explained by Litong Deng, the sheep sound “represents the fear of the hover sheep,” which is their mascot. The hover sheep, in true Cluster One fashion, involves bijections and counting. Cluster One believes that the neutral face emoji represents their chant, but we believe the silly face represents them more, as the sheep noise always makes people laugh in the mornings.
Cluster 2:💯/10
Cluster two is very enthusiastic about their chant. You can often hear them spontaneously yelling “Bucky! Balls!” at seemingly random points. Maya Sriram from this cluster explained the chant, saying, “Buckyballs are a type of nanoparticle”. Maya likes the chant and she thinks it is the best of all the clusters. Even the Cluster 2 professor (and COSMOS director), Prof. Shaowei Chen, loves the chant and is always grinning and chuckling when they chant early in the morning. He told us it was unique. We love the pride that Cluster 2 has for their chant and that they always yell it out with a passion.
Cluster 3: 😈🐛/10
Every morning, cluster three yells out either “Kill for science!” or “Die for science!” They chose this chant because, for their research, they collect bugs as specimens and study them for science. This process involves the bug having to “sacrifice” its life–but it is for science– and Cluster Three is learning much from the bugs. We adore the Cluster Three chant because it is creative and represents their love for learning. It has an aura of evil, which is why we chose the devil face emoji.
Cluster 4: 💢/10
The chant that Cluster four chose is highly indicative of their activities, as they are studying atom-thick sheets every day. One student commented that “Thick Sheets” is awesome and the cluster members have much pride in it. However, the chant is subject to change in the future—it changed for the very first time this past Friday! He would also like to point out that they were in the top five of the trivia night, which shows Cluster 4’s supremacy. The pride that Cluster Four has for their chant is evident in the way they say it - loudly, and with a lot of force, no matter the time of day. We chose the “force” emoji to represent this.
Cluster 5: 🐝/10
Hatsune Beeku is a play on the popular vocaloid character Hatsune Miku. She was created for a tabletop role-playing game called Honey Heist. She has since become a classroom meme. “Fun” is the f-word (f*n) because Cluster 5 students were not allowed to use an undescriptive word as fun to describe their playtesting experience. By putting these two words together, Cluster 5 students bring out their cluster spirit. We rated their chant 🐝/10 to represent Hatsune Beeku.
Cluster 6: 😴/10
Gordon Chen is the youngest student in Cluster 6 (incoming freshman). Since he is the youngest, Cluster 6 students are supporting him (helping him make new friends and get used to the environment) by yelling his name during the chant. They also mentioned how their members occasionally lack spirit due to their tiredness during the morning lectures. We believe the sleeping emoji represents this perfectly.
Cluster 7: 🙊/10
Cluster Seven students came up with their chant due to one member having the idea of saying “M-I-C-R-O”. They also wanted to include Britney Spears’ iconic anthem, Toxic, and so they decided to exclaim, “we’re toxic!” at the end of the chant. One member, Catrin, described how, “The chant was good at first but people became less and less enthusiastic about it,” and that “we will be making a new one soon.” We chose the covering-mouth emoji because it represents how many students are not enthusiastic about saying the chant. However, major brainstorming is taking place currently in Cluster Seven and they are soon to unveil a new and improved cluster chant!
Cluster 8: 🙏/10
Usually, Cluster 8 students describe themselves as chill, and sometimes not wanting to say their chant in the morning. However, their love for their chant is exceptional, as it was created by their wonderful RA, Jesus, who often says the word “slay.” They suggested that the praying emoji represents their chant due to their RA, Jesus.
Cluster 9: 🤩/10
Cluster 9 chant references themselves being always late to lectures. They say, “It was a little funny, and it became an inside joke,” explaining how they came up with their chant. We love Cluster 9 chant as it’s rhythmic and catchy, rhyming with “nine.” Every morning before the discovery lecture, it’s always fun to hear them yell out their cluster chant.
Cluster 10: 👍/10
Cluster 10 chant is always very fun to listen to; it makes all of us laugh. We definitely think that it’s one of the most creative chants, especially with the scream at the end. Justin Yu from Cluster 10 explained, “We have a magnificent TA who gives us mandatory office hours. We wanted to reference them.” He also mentioned, “I scream at the end because I want to.” Definitely showing their creativity and confidence, we rated them 👍/10.
Cluster 11: 😋/10
Through the chant of Cluster 11, we can estimate their love for their professor, Prof. Abhishek Halder. Cluster 11 students think that he is entertaining and his lectures are very interesting. Although he is only on zoom, they all agree that he is a good, funny professor. We think that this emoji best represents their cluster because it shows their enthusiasm for their professor.
Cluster 12: 🥰/10
“1, 2, Scatter!” represents how Cluster 12 students “scatter” after shouting out their cluster chant. Sometimes, they are not the most emotional cluster in the morning, their passion and love for their cluster are clearly visible as they say, “Our cluster and our chant are the best.” Cluster 12 students rated their chant 🥰/10 to show their cluster spirit.
Food Hacks
By Fiona Li
By Fiona Li
Dining Hall Tiramisu (unauthentic)
If you’re getting tired of the dining hall desserts, try this spin on the basic brownie—and maybe for a caffeine kick. As we all learned during the circadian rhythms Discovery Lecture, a midday cup of coffee does wonders for concentration in the afternoon—though you likely won’t fit a cup of coffee into this tiramisu.
1. From the dessert bar, grab a blondie, brownie, or piece of chocolate cake
depending on how chocolatey you want your tiramisu to be.
2. Take a fork and poke holes in your pastry all over so that it can soak in the
coffee more easily.
3. Head over to the coffee station and pour some into a small bowl or directly
over the pastry. Spoon the coffee from a bowl for more control.
4. From the milk fridge, find the whipped cream and add some on top of your
coffee-soaked pastry. Optionally,
drizzle over some chocolate syrup, which can also be found in the milk fridge.
5. Admire your creation, and enjoy!
If you’re getting tired of the dining hall desserts, try this spin on the basic brownie—and maybe for a caffeine kick. As we all learned during the circadian rhythms Discovery Lecture, a midday cup of coffee does wonders for concentration in the afternoon—though you likely won’t fit a cup of coffee into this tiramisu.
1. From the dessert bar, grab a blondie, brownie, or piece of chocolate cake
depending on how chocolatey you want your tiramisu to be.
2. Take a fork and poke holes in your pastry all over so that it can soak in the
coffee more easily.
3. Head over to the coffee station and pour some into a small bowl or directly
over the pastry. Spoon the coffee from a bowl for more control.
4. From the milk fridge, find the whipped cream and add some on top of your
coffee-soaked pastry. Optionally,
drizzle over some chocolate syrup, which can also be found in the milk fridge.
5. Admire your creation, and enjoy!
Chicken Lettuce Cups
Maybe you’ve got a craving for chicken lettuce wraps, or you’ve decided the lunch line is too long, or you just want to try something new. Either way, these chicken lettuce wraps can be customized easily and put together faster than the lunch line moves.*
1. Load up a plate with chicken, either from the halal chicken thighs they always
have (and that you don’t need to wait in line for) or if they have shoyu chicken,
that works well too. If you’re vegetarian/vegan, substituting tofu should work
as well.
2. Snag a couple pieces of sandwich lettuce (the big pieces), preferably without
rips. If the sandwich bar is closed, a bed of lettuce is also a suitable vessel for
your protein of choice.
3. Add sliced carrots and bean sprouts if they’re available.
4. From the condiment station, grab a cup and pour a little soy sauce and hot sauce into it. If you aren’t allergic to
nuts, add some peanut or almond butter and mix to make a sauce.
5. Using a knife and fork, shred the chicken into strips or cut the tofu into pieces. If using plain chicken/tofu, you
can optionally season with salt/soy sauce.
6. Portion the chicken into the lettuce cups, along with the sliced carrots and bean sprouts.
7. Sprinkle over some slivered almond or chopped peanuts. If the line isn’t too long, get a scoop of rice to go on
the side.
8. Dip or spoon the sauce over your cups and enjoy!
*not scientifically proven