Huddling for a photo

The Chips Quinn Class of Spring 2006 took a group picture yesterday on rooftop of the Freedom Forum. The photographer wanted to center the 16 of us around a bench by the balcony. He suggested some of us stand on the bench, but only a couple female members of the group did -- the rest stood scattered, looking at each other. (It reminded me of Thursday night in Georgetown when it took too long for the group to decide which bar to visit or whether or not to cross the street.) Perhaps people were afraid that the bench was too close to the edge -- a gust of wind or a clumsy Chipster could result in 25-floor freefall. So Benny Polacca and I climbed up on the bench -- which was very secure -- to fill in the gaps. The photographer quickly told us to get back down and let some of the more vertically challenged females in our group climb up. It was getting pretty chilly and everyone was anxious to get back inside. “This will probably be the last time all of you will ever be this close to each other,” the photographer said, followed by “awws” and chuckles from the shivering Chipsters. He probably was wrong. He hadn't heard about the salsa dancing.

-- Andrew Tran, University of Texas, The Jackson (Tenn.) Sun