My hits went up dramatically following my post of the first CS party, so I thought I should follow up with someting about the second party.

We've had a tradition of a CS department party on campus, and for the past few years it's been held in the Women's Studies building. There was a time when we brought food, pot-luck style, and the department provided beverages. But in the past 4 years or so, we've switched to a catered party.

The party this year was held in Holmes Lounge, a great space that was formerly a reading room for the old library, from what I have heard.

Something of the library atmosphere remains, as conversations were relatively subdued, as if a librarian would come by at any moment and ask us to keep it down please, people are studying.

Also in keeping with library polciy, food is not allowed. OK, I admit I ate my fill (and perhaps the fill of a few others -- I had no other dinner awaiting me), but I miss the days when the party had food that could fill the most starving of our grad students.

I hear the new library will actually serve food inside....there is hope.