Steve Voelker, tenor saxophonist, was trying to earn his pork pie hat in the Jazz Ensemble’s concert Saturday night in Kendall Hall.

The junior musician had the task of playing tenor on the Lester Young piece “Tickle Toe.” Young was famous for wearing pork pie hats, and for his cool tone.

So we’re almost halfway through another brutal New York Knicks season. Things have certainly improved under Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni, but like any good Knicks fan, I’m not happy. Supposedly, the team is more fun to watch thanks to D’Antoni’s impulsive offense.

A malfunctioning heating unit produced smoke on the fourth floor of Holman Hall at about 8:30 a.m. Monday.

The malfunction was caused by a power failure, according to a firefighter on the scene.

Students heading to their first classes of the day had a chance to sleep in after the building was evacuated and fans were installed to get rid of the smoke and odor caused by the unit.

The halls of the Mildred & Ernest E. Mayo Concert Hall were graced with a virtuoso performance and some holiday-appropriate song selections from the College Orchestra on Saturday, Nov. 22. A number of audience members had to stand at the sold-out concert.

The centerpiece of the performance was faculty soloist Tomoko Kanamaru, assistant professor of music, on the piano.

As a way of avoiding writing an editorial that no one will read, I have instead elected to write a goodbye letter – that no one will read. What can I say about my time at The Signal that will do my experiences here justice? This newspaper has taken five semesters of pure youth away from me.

This semester’s Jazz Ensemble concert was a blend of old and new. Special guest Roger Dannenberg, a trumpet player and computer scientist, brought a hefty dose of innovation to the proceedings.

Dannenberg composed the most remarkable piece of the night, “Looking Up.

Prior to the Raiders’ Week 7 matchup against my perennially middling Jets, Sebastian Janikowski had never kicked a 57-yard field goal. As I was watching the Raiders go three and out in The Signal office, I was celebrating because of the ludicrous, impossible length of the kick.

The closest most people come to listening to sitar music is the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood.”

Not to take anything away from former Beatles guitarist George Harrison, but he could have learned a lot from Sanjoy Bandopadhyay, who showcased the instrument in a sitar recital Oct.

A power outage caused by a lightning strike to the College’s Cogeneration Plant on Aug. 30 is still affecting campus power, causing a string of short power outages in the past two weeks.

This past weekend, the College performed tests on the electrical system, which led to more outages.

The stars were suddenly clearer when a campus-wide power outage struck the College Saturday around 12 a.m.

As of Saturday afternoon, Campus Police officers still didn’t know what caused the outage that morning, or another blackout that occurred just before 5 p.

College is often marketed to incoming freshmen as leaving the nest. It is presented as a chance to take one’s first steps unassisted, cord cut. This is an exaggeration of course. The problems of tuition, room and board, as well as dental and health insurance are taken care of by our parents for all but the most independent students.

As Gary Fienberg, the College Jazz Ensemble’s director, said, the night’s theme was dance.

“We’re going to talk a lot about dancing,” he said before the band played “Smoke and Mirrors,” a funk number composed by Mike Tomaro.

Fienberg and the Jazz Ensemble, a 20-piece big band, took to the Main Stage in Kendall Hall Friday night for a diverse seven-song set, plus an encore, that featured a pair of funk pieces, as well as music from the Caribbean.

On the night of April 19, many Jewish students will be at home with their families to celebrate the first night of Passover, one of the most important nights of the Jewish year. During this night, Jews face certain restrictions.

They can’t use electronics.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine recommended a $76 million cut in higher education funding during his budget address for the 2009 fiscal year on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The cut includes a $3.7 million reduction in funding for the College.

The cut was one of many of what Corzine called “painful reductions” in a proposed budget of $32.