The Goods

Reason to party
The Black Faculty and Staff Association at Chico State is hosting a “rent party” on Saturday (Feb. 2), from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Harlen Adams Theater. Costumes are encouraged, but they must be from characters living between 1919 and 1929—think Anaïs Nin, Langston Hughes, Louis Armstrong or Charlie Chaplin. The event will include food and entertainment, and there is a suggested donation of $5.

Men in tights
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is not your ordinary dance troupe. For one, the dancers are all male, and they’re renowned for playful parodies of classical pieces, like Swan Lake and Giselle. Thanks to Chico Performances, they’re making their way to Laxson Auditorium Tuesday (Feb. 5) at 7:30 p.m. to perform comedic snippets from famous ballets. Tickets for the ballet: $14 (for students). A meal at Tres Hombres beforehand: $25. Men dancing about in tutus as swans and ballerinas: priceless.

¿Hablas Español?
If not, now you can. Chico State is offering a new program of Spanish classes during lunch hour. Faculty and staff (and families of faculty and staff) can attend free—that’s right, free—conversational Spanish classes Mondays and Wednesdays from noon to 1 p.m. starting Monday (Feb. 4). Para más información: 898-5414.

Get a leg up
Chico State’s Northern California Local Government Leadership Institute is looking for—surprise!—local government employees to join its Leadership Development Program, which coaches people to be the leader they want to be … OK, to manage a productive government system. Courses include Redefining Leadership, Power & Influence Strategies, Leadership Ethics, and Creativity & Innovation. (All the things a good politician needs to know.) The program starts Feb. 14-15 in room 107 of the Continuing Education building. For more information, visit http://rce.csuchico.edu/leader.

Ivies dropping tuition
It turns out some schools view themselves as too pricey to be accessible. Dartmouth, for example, has an average annual tuition of $45,483. But all that is about to change: Next year, per a the recent trend of lowering tuition for low- to middle-class students, it will give those whose parents earn less than $75,000 a year’s free tuition. Yale also jumped on the bandwagon by announcing that it would sharply raise financial aid for students whose parents earn less than $200,000 a year. Harvard will institute a policy charging students with parental incomes between $120,000 and $140,000 less than 10 percent of their income. Way to go, Ivy Leagues!