Calvin announced earlier today that they have successfully raised $25 million over the last eight months for the express purpose of reducing the college’s long-term debt.
The original goal, set by president...
There’s a peculiarity about human existence that we’re all familiar with, articulated best by Soren Kierkegaard: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” This is...
The professor of the year award for 2014 was awarded to philosophy professor Daniel Herrick. The award from the outgoing senior class was presented in the traditional fashion Wednesday by surprising him...
Everyone has that one story, maybe about that time when you were six and you got lost in a department store, or when you and your best friend climbed a tree and your best friend fell out and you had to...
This Friday and Saturday a succession of events, including talks, demonstrations and meals, will highlight animal advocacy and vegan cooking.
Together, the events, which will take place on Calvin’s...
This Wednesday was Honors Convocation, an opportunity to recognize the achievements of students who have demonstrated academic excellence, including myself and 60-odd honors graduates.
Certainly academic...
I have a longstanding argument with some chemists over whether plants or animals are better: I argue for plants, they think animals are superior. The joke, of course, is that neither plants nor animals...
A proposal for a new community garden located on properties off of Hampshire Street (west of the gym) was recently approved by the Planning and Priorities Committee (PPC). David Dornbos and David Koetje,...
In his poem “Marginalia,” Billy Collins says, “If you have managed to graduate from college / Without ever having written ‘Man vs. Nature’ / In a margin, perhaps now / Is the time to take one...
The chances that you, the reader, got more than eight hours of sleep last night is, at best, 50 percent. I’m going to refrain from guessing what the chances are that your eating habits are healthy, that...
Few people discuss masculinity as a gender to the same degree as femininity, and when they do, the focus is on the toxic aspects of contemporary masculinity. Toxic masculinity has been a serious problem...
Until last September, I had never had my own room. Well, that’s not entirely true. When I was 10, I lived on the landing above the stairs to the second floor, which I technically had all to myself; I...
Connor Sterchi’s recent article regarding the historicity of Genesis has sparked some conversation on what seems to me to be an issue with which Christians are still struggling. I am so far happy to...
The Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia this year were, as always, preceded and accompanied by critical commentary on the importance of the Olympics. Criticisms included concerns over human rights violations...
This past Friday, I jumped into the freezing, slimy, bacteria-infested waters of the Seminary Pond for the fourth year in a row, earning myself a coveted Golden Towel and, of course, undying glory.
But...
Raymond Kurzweil, chief of engineering at Google, is hopeful that humans will have pushed back human mortality before he grows much older.
Kurzweil, a longtime proponent of futurism and transhumanism...
Swedish Fish are a brand of candies. They are not produced by Swedes, nor do they contain fish or fish byproducts.
They contain primarily sugar, invert sugar (like antimatter sugar) and corn syrup, leaving...
As you may know, one of the trademark jobs of the editor in chief of Chimes is writing a brief letter to all of you each week, which typically takes the form of a short piece of heartfelt advice from the...
In light of recent financial difficulties, the board of trustees recently passed a prioritization report outlining Calvin’s plans for meeting its financial goals for the next three years.
The plan was...
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, John M. Perkins, one of the foremost evangelicals involved in the civil rights movement and the president of the John M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation and...
Linda Smith’s January Series lecture, “Renting Lacy: A Story of America’s Prostituted Children,” is an extension of her dedication to fighting sex trafficking, which was born on a trip she took...
Hello, I’m Joseph Matheson, and I’ll be the new editor in chief of Chimes, starting tomorrow. I’m a senior and I’ve been on Chimes as an editor since my freshman year, which has been an exciting...
According to a report released by Open Doors, a non-denominational Christian organization, the number of Christians killed for their faith in 2013 nearly doubled from 2012, due in large part to increased...
More than 1,000 students are enrolled in Calvin’s class of 2017 --- the highest numbers since 2007 --- despite news of the college’s recent financial difficulties and prioritization process, a recent...
Calvin College appointed former gift planning director and acting chief financial officer Sally Vander Ploeg as vice president for administration and finance Tuesday.
Vander Ploeg began as acting chief...
The Michigan House has approved measures that would deny welfare benefits to recipients with truant children or recipients who fail drug tests. Both bills (House Bill 4388 and 4118, respectively) were...
Nearly six months after Grand Rapids voters approved a measure to amend the city charter to make marijuana a civil infraction rather than a misdemeanor, the city has finally implemented the amendment.
Delays...
Legislators have introduced a bill to decriminalize marijuana in the state of Michigan with bipartisan support. The bill was written by Democratic Rep. Jeff Irwin, and several Republicans have supported...
Michigan lawmakers hope to pass a final budget for the state by June but face a few stumbling blocks, including education funding, transportation funding, film incentives and Medicaid expansion. The House...
Joining a larger trend of Michigan cities improving their waterways by removing dams, Grand Rapids is planning a $27 million project to remove dams and improve the waterfront of the Grand River. This project...
A growing group of local urban advocates are pushing to replace the S-curve of U.S. 131 that passes directly through downtown Grand Rapids with something more sustainable, aesthetically pleasing and economically...
Several medical marijuana dispensaries in Grand Rapids have been raided and arrests have been made as police enforce a Michigan Supreme Court decision that medical marijuana dispensaries are illegal.
The...
The number of homeless students in Michigan has increased 66 percent since the 2009-2010 school year, from 22,600 during the 2009-2010 school year to more than 37,500 homeless students in Michigan during...
The Wealthy Street Theater hosted a discussion on controversial issues of national security and civil liberties.
The discussion was organized by the American Civil Liberties Union with Justin Amash, the...
Michigan politicians are attempting to put together a plan to provide additional funding to road maintenance. Lawmakers are hoping to raise nearly $1 billion a year for Michigan roads, but they haven’t...
The looming government spending cuts known as the sequester could have serious impacts on the Michigan government and economy. The $1.2 trillion federal cuts could result in millions or billions of cuts...
A coalition of labor unions has filed the latest challenge to Michigan’s recent right-to-work law, arguing that if the law applies to unionized state employees, as it currently does, then it is in violation...
Michigan farmers may face a shortage of migrant workers during the upcoming harvests this year. A variety of factors, including last year’s poor harvests and anti-immigration laws taking place in the...
The popular Wealthy Street Bakery, a fixture of the Wealthy Street community, has plans to open a new location in the Ottawa Hills/Boston Square neighborhood. The owners of Wealthy Street Bakery, David...
Registration for those wishing to participate in Art.Downtown., an event created by Avenue for the Arts to showcase the art scene of Grand Rapids, begins today, Feb. 8. The event itself, involving over...
Matt Jarrells, a resident of Grand Rapids, recently launched Blanket Games, an independent card game company, to sell A-List, a card game that he invented himself. The company handmakes all copies of the...
The Eastown Community Association will be holding its annual meeting, in the form of a pancake breakfast open to the public this Saturday at the Calvin Christian Reformed Church at 700 Ethel Ave.
The...
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has asked the Michigan Supreme Court to give an advisory opinion on the constitutionality of the new right-to-work law that he signed into law last month. Snyder hopes...
Dr. Dwight Armstrong, in his talk “Feeding the World and the Future of Farming,” highlighted the challenge of feeding the rapidly growing world population, a challenge which often receives little attention,...
On the ballot in Grand Rapids on Nov.6 will be a proposal to decriminalize the possession of marijuana. The proposal would make possession of marijuana a civil infraction instead, subject to a slight fine...
On Nov. 5, local business Red Jet Cafe (located at 1431 Plainfield Ave) is hosting a fundraiser for ultra-local newspaper The Rapidian. The Rapidian is a newspaper focusing on providing news specifically...
Neighborhood activist Gabriel Works offered a nine-point plan for neighborhood improvement in Grand Rapids to the East Hills Council of Neighbors’ annual meeting. Her plan emphasizes community solidarity...
Grand Rapids has announced plans to add 26 miles of new bike lanes across the city over the next nine months because of rising citizen demand.
These bike lanes will be implemented in two phases. The...
