Wow.

We have just finished the initially judging for the Eckles Prize and all I can say is, “Wow.” We had a lot of great entries and it was rough to decide on the finalists. Everyone who entered did some very fine research and wrote some kick-booty papers. However, as much as I thought every single entry deserved an award, we only have three prizes, so finalists had to be chosen.

After the initial judging by the Eckles Library staff, the eight finalists for the Eckles Prize will now be judged by our panel of librarians and professors. Winners will be notified prior to the beginning of the academic year and an awards ceremony will take place in the Fall.

And now (drum roll please) the finalists for the 2008 Eckles Prize:
Nancy Barry
Celeste Carano
Straker H. Carryer
Kimberly Davis
TJ Ducklo
Ben Graham-Helwig
Jesse Regis
Hilary Swaim

My favorite thing to do right now (other than, you know, work at Eckles) is to watch the ongoing destruction of Pelham Hall.  For a few days it looked like they were just playing around over there, but then yesterday it got REALLY exciting.  For those of you who aren’t near the campus right now, here is a picture so that you can share the enjoyment of watching Pelham become rubble.

It is finally happening! Brick by brick Pelham Hall is coming down. Check out these cool photos of the first day of destruction.

Without our students to occupy our time, it can get pretty dull during the summer. Eckles is quiet and we just aren’t used to that. Sometimes the staff wanders around asking each other if they have a reference question or need a book checked out. It can get kinda sad…

So we are always happy when one of our beautiful Eckles Babies drops in for a visit.

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This young beauty is Melis, daughter of Mehmet Gorgulu. You know Mehmet as the man who keeps the computer labs running on the Mount Vernon Campus. His office is located on the first floor of Eckles (across from the bathrooms) and I’m sure he’d be happy to show you more pictures if you drop by.

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This gorgeous kid is Brandon, standing with his Uncle John. You may know John as our Library manager, but you probably don’t know that he has nicknamed his nephew, “The Chubbers.” I have a feeling Brandon may not like that is a few years, but it is sure cute now!

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And then of course, there is the beautiful AnnaSophia. Her parents selfishly stole her from us when they moved to Houston, but you can tell she still has the Eckles love! She is wearing an Eckles t-shirt.

Okay, perhaps I didn’t actually bring Pelham down, but I did get to take a whack at it with a sledge hammer! FYI - This picture is of Elan Schnitzer of the Mount Vernon Campus Life Office. He was just doing the preliminary hammering to get things ready for me…

Today, much of the Mount Vernon Campus gathered for a goodbye picnic for Pelham Hall. We ate hotdogs and then took turns donning the hard hat for our chance to knock a few bricks off the old girl.

Like any good retirement party, there were also tributes read. Here is a little excerpt from Nina Mikhalevsky, former Dean of Students at the Mount Vernon College (before it became part of GW):

Flood: I called it The Poseidon Adventure because whenever we had extremely heavy rains it flooded–prodigiously: the water ran down the inside walls, the water cascaded across the slated windows and into rooms, the water bubbled up through the lower floor.

Pestilence: One spring, Pelham had the worst, most pervasive and recalcitrant mice problem– for months, we tried a variety of exterminators/services/methods as well as some draconian rules for the students managing their cooking/snacks/food but within a few weeks, t he mice always returned in abundance. Finally, three students went to the DC animal shelter and adopted three cats–in three weeks the mice problem was solved–whenever I went up to check on things at Pelham, I pretended I did not see the cats.

Madness: one year, a two students set up a grill on the ledge outside their window; they…sunbathed, and grilled hotdogs–we found out when we saw the smoke coming up over the hill…

Goodbye, dear Pelham!