Andrea Hochkeppel, who plays Gertrude, rehearses a scene from Seussical. Photo by Emily Chow/North by Northwestern.

Correction appended.

Dr. Seuss implores readers to open up their imaginations, and this weekend, The Jewish Theater Ensemble (JTE) asks a lot of audiences’ imaginations as JTE transforms the Louis Room into a jungle and an invisible planet in its production of Seussical the Musical.

Seussical is an incredibly ambitious undertaking for a student theater production with a limited budget. To begin with, the production of Seussical is daunting; in its original reception on Broadway in 2000, Seussical lost 10 million dollars, closed after six months and was deemed a monumental flop. Most criticism focused on overproduction and an apparent desire to pack as many Dr. Seuss characters into one tribute piece.

But since the initial disappointment in New York, Seussical has found new life in reproductions throughout the county. The original writers of the show, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, crafted three new Seussicals for licensing. On community and high-school stages throughout the country, there’s a full-length production similar to the original and three new, abbreviated versions: a one-hour production for children’s performances, a 30-minute version for very young children and a 70-minute, “streamlined production” intended for all ages.

JTE’s version is most similar to the original, but the ensemble may have benefited from choosing one of the simpler versions. The main storyline gets a little mired in superfluous subplots, and I’m still not quite sure why Horton must save the Whos, his mission throughout the play. If the audience can pay less attention to Ahrens and Flaherty’s narrative mistakes and focus their attention directly on JTE’s work, it will see characters who are brilliant and inspiring.

Communication junior Drew Principe, who plays an incredibly earnest Horton, really makes you believe his repeated phrase: “A person’s a person no matter how small.” His voice is perfectly sweet and courageous throughout his quest; you can’t help but root for him.

Fellow Communication junior Andrea Hochkeppel, who plays Horton’s secretly admiring neighbor Gertrude, has the same childish innocence in her eyes. She adorably pines after Horton and when she bites her lip in shame for her pitiful feathers, her embarrassment is pure. She uses her ranging voice very effectively, belting out when she’s frustrated and almost whispering when wistful.

The narrator of the show, the Cat in the Hat, is portrayed magically and mischievously by Communication sophomore Johnson Vaughn Brock, who bounces like Tigger and transforms effortlessly into a few different characters. I wouldn’t be surprised if any kids in the audience want his autograph after the show.

The music is classic Broadway, resembling many of Alan Menken’s famed shows, especially Little Shop of Horrors. Catchy tunes, phrases and key melodies repeated throughout the show are sure to be stuck in your head for hours. Two members of the ensemble stand out in this respect: Communication freshman Carly Cantor, as the Sour Kangaroo, supplies great pipes as the conventional attitude-packed female with the big voice; and Weinberg senior Bryan Young, as The Mayor of Who, has very charming duets boasting great harmonies with his onstage wife (played by Communication sophomore Liz Olanoff).

The show’s duets and harmonies demonstrate immense talent in the cast, from The Bird Girls’ choruses to songs shared between Horton and Gertrude and between Horton and Jojo. The best musical sequences arrive in the first act before the plot gets a little complicated. “Horton Hears a Who,” and “Monkey Around” combine the talents of the whole cast into well-choreographed, fun numbers: The energy is focused and infectious and the audience can’t help but smile.

Had JTE condensed the plot (by deleting an unnecessary segment using Seuss’s The Butter Battle Book, for example) JTE’s Seussical would have been able to take its audience further into the Seussian world. It’s disappointing that the Cat in the Hat doesn’t don a suit jacket resembling the original, and the other characters on the whole lack convincing animalistic features (though Horton does use his tie as a trunk sometimes to hilarious effect, especially when matched with a whaling brass instrument).

The actors embody their characters with attitude or innocence, and the rosy rhymes that could come out corny manage to flow naturally from their lips. Yet some viewers may need more help to imagine birds and elephants rather than humans. While a white backdrop can invite bouts of imagination to fill in the blank, the audience may have benefited from a few more visual clues to help transport it into the jungle. Children may have an easier time picturing Seuss’s world than adults will. The Cat’s directions and colorful lighting aid in creating different atmospheres, but occasionally the combination of street clothes against a plain backdrop lets the audience forget where they are supposed to be. JTE’s vision of Seuss’s locations is a little more ambiguous than other productions and allows for more audience interpretation.

The universal appeal of Dr. Seuss and his validation of imagination explains why Seussical has become so popular with high schools and community theaters. It’s not a perfect translation of his message, though. The show misses the quirkiness of Dr. Seuss’s books, but conveys his lessons of being thankful, being free to imagine and respecting all persons, yet with a somewhat sugar-coated feel. Despite the show’s narrative shortcomings that caused problems in 2000, Jewish Theater Ensemble’s production is supremely fun, and the talent of the actors, as charming characters and powerful singers, really carry the show.

Due to the credit system of the Northwestern directory, several students’ years were improperly identified. Also, Communication freshman Carly Cantor was not properly identified as the Sour Kangaroo. Additionally, Johnson Vaughn Brock’s name was spelled incorrectly. North by Northwestern regrets the errors.

When Alexander Yee, a McCormick junior and self-professed “hardcore gamer” broke the world record for known digits of the Euler-Mascheroni constant, he learned, just as Steve Wiebe did when he beat Jimmy Mitchell’s Donkey Kong high score, that veterans don’t like to be challenged.

Yee first broke the world record for number of known digits of Euler’s constant his freshman year at Northwestern with 116 million digits. Or so he thought.

Shortly after announcing his triumph, Yee received two e-mails from Shigeru Kondo, a professor in Japan, and Steve Pagliarulo, a New York software programmer. Kondo and Pagliarulo rebuked Yee and claimed that they had already set the record with two billion digits, but hadn’t announced it yet. Both were known in the field of computation records. Pagliarulo authored Quick Pi, the fastest pi digit generator to date, and Shugo had access to very powerful computers at his university in Japan.

“Then they started aggressively crushing all of the records,” Yee said. Since 2006, they set a new record each summer; two billion, then five billion, then ten billion.

But then Yee changed the game with his discovery of a new algorithm.

According to a Merriam-Webster definition, an algorithm is “a procedure for solving a mathematical problem in a finite number of steps that frequently involves repetition of an operation.” In early 2008, Yee discovered a new algorithm that computed those finite instructions to produce digits much faster than all of the existing ones.

“Like with most discover[ies], it’s just at the moment,” Yee said. “[It's a] lightbulb, and then figuring out if it’s true.” Yee worked on the algorithm until about April 2008, skeptical of its functionality because it was not published anywhere.

But by summer, most of his doubts were assuaged; it seemed very probable that it would work on a computer, and he finally got excited.

In September, Yee and his roommate, McCormick junior Raymond Chan, started building a computer that would nearly match the capabilities of the machine that Kondo and Pagliarulo used.

“To build a computer this awesome,” Yee said,”was the opportunity of a lifetime.”

By January 2009, the self-proclaimed computer enthusiasts finished their model with $9,000 worth of hardware. A comparable computer sells on Hewlett Packard’s website for 24,000 dollars.

On Jan. 13, 2009, after just 96 hours of computation, Yee and Chan shattered the world record. With the old algorithm that Kondo and Pagliarulo used and the fastest Pi program in the world, it took them 58 days to calculate ten billion digits. With Yee’s new algorithm, which multiplied faster and used less computer resources, it only took 96 hours to compute 14.9 billion digits.

“I had a new algorithm, matched them in hardware and owned them in software,” Yee said. He still had to verify the computations before officially announcing his record. On Jan. 18, after an agonizing five days of checking, Yee could finally send the e-mail to the world records website. And then he sent another e-mail, to Kondo and Pagliarulo.

“It was a little payback for two years ago,” Yee said. “I sent another e-mail a few days later about [breaking the record for] Apery’s constant. It was like rubbing salt in the wound.”

Using the same algorithm and computer, Yee and Chan now hold records for Euler’s constant, the log of 2 and Apery’s constant. They are now working on a fourth constant, which Yee may or may not notify Kondo and Pagliarulo of in another e-mail.

Although Kondo and Pagliarulo have not responded to his e-mails, Yee knows they follow his achievements. Yee has tracked their visitation to his website and knows that Pagliarulo downloaded a version of the program that Yee posted. Kondo and Pagliarulo now hold the records for the golden ratio, e, the square root of two, and Catalan’s Constant G and Yee thinks are probably striving to return Euler to their mathematical mantelpiece.

Like Steve Wiebe, Yee will continue to be a hardcore gamer, but will let the Billy Mitchells of the world be consumed by the record books. He says breaking world records will not become an obsession. “The records will be of low priority,” he said. “It will be a side hobby. Let the programs run and get on with my life.”

Medill junior Bill Pulte, President of Pi Kappa Alpha, has been named Vice President. Weinberg junior Tom Smithburg, former President of Delta Upsilon, will become Human Resources Director.

ASG President Neal Sales-Griffin said that when he interviewed both Pulte and Smithburg their passion and knowledge of ASG were evident. “They did their homework. They read through quarterly reports, looked through candidates’ platforms and knew about the structural changes,” Sales-Griffin said.

The Vice President will take on some duties previously held by the President and Executive Vice President and serve as a liaison to administrators. Pulte will be working on executive-level initiatives set forth by the Academic, Student Services, Community Relations and External Relations Committees.

In his freshman year, Pulte founded the online business NUlist.org, which provided Northwestern students with a forum to buy and sell goods, and make announcements. He sold NUlist.org to help pay for his pilot’s license, which would be integral to his next business venture.

Pulte now runs Great Lake Helicopters, LLC, an aerial photography firm for the North Shore. Pulte told North By Northwestern last year that flying has been a dream of his since he was a kid. If he continues the business after graduation, Pulte said at the time, he would try to make it the “McDonald’s of aerial photography.”

Pulte also served as Blake Yocom’s campaign manager in the fall when he ran against President Neal Sales-Griffin. Sales-Griffin says he was friendly and cordial during that race and, while he and Sales-Griffin are both entrepreneurs, Pulte’s experience as a businessman was not a huge factor in the decision.

As Human Resources Director, Smithburg will help to manage student involvement and improve organizational efficiency. Smithburg was president of Delta Upsilon when the fraternity gained notoriety for bringing the Half Pint Brawlers, a midget wrestling group, to a pledge event.

During the selection process, Sales-Griffin said he viewed the midget scandal as a good thing for Smithburg as a candidate. “When Tommy explained to us what he learned from [the scandal] it said a lot to us,” Griffin said. “It’s important for people to learn from tough times and you can learn a lot from failure.”

The two positions were created under an amendment to ASG’s code in the spring. The change was subject to much debate.

During original deliberations of the constitution, then-senior Cassie Witten said changes to ASG “can happen within the framework we already have.”

“I didn’t hear in there any reason to add the positions that were added in the code,” said Witten at the time, who had been a senator for the last two years and a half. “Every year as soon as a president gets in, they look at the constitution and try to revise it.”

Executive Vice President Vikram Karandikar described the amendments at the time as “a call for help” with the overwhelming functions of the president and the executive vice president, while Sales-Griffin said that the “opportunities” they create are “way greater than the costs.”

Pulte and Smithburg will be presenting themselves and their positions at ASG Senate on Wednesday night.

A blue spandex unitard hides in Weinberg senior Lucy Dietch’s closet, and has made occasional appearances throughout her college life. No, she’s not a superhero — but she does wear the silly outfit with an altruistic purpose. Dietch will proudly don the unitard every minute of the first week of December to raise $500 for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. She’s putting on the charity stunt because of BeExtraordinary.org, a website run by her friends Jackson Froliklong and Matt Cynamon, senior social policy majors in SESP.

BeExtraordinary.org encourages its users to do almost anything — as long as it’s not illegal, pornographic or dangerous — they want to raise money for charity. Users conceptualize a challenge and then complete it for donations, with the website facilitating fundraising through social networking. On Monday Oct. 20, after eighteen months of development, Cynamon and Froliklong officially launched their site, which all started with Cynamon’s announcement of his own challenge.

In the fall of 2006, Cynamon and Froliklong began formulating the idea of fun, engaging philanthropy in their frat house Chi Psi, familiarly known as Lodge, as they considered how college life lacked connection to the real world.

“I’m wasting my time, I’m just going through the motions of college,” then-sophomore Matt Cynamon complained to his Lodge brothers as he threw aside his economics textbook. “Forget this. I’m dropping out of school and walking across the Great Wall of China.”

“He wouldn’t stop talking about it,” says Jackson Froliklong, a Lodge brother and business partner. “So we said, ‘Hey, if you can’t beat him, join him.’”

After what could have been easily dismissed as a joke, the conversations about Cynamon’s Great Wall journey began to take a serious turn. Froliklong and other friends brainstormed ideas about how to realize his goal. Quickly, the idea of attracting sponsors and then donating the money emerged, along with some key strategies that shaped the beginning of the challenge-for-charity system. In the fall and winter of 2006, the group members convened and decided that they could quickly start fundraising through a Web site.

Cynamon’s original ambitious goal of conquering the Great Wall of China for charity became a template and a serious business plan for BeExtraordinary.org. The group, consisting of Cynamon, Froliklong, Weinberg student Micah Friedland (now a senior) and Communication student Devin Balkind (who graduated last year), decided to apply for a few grants. But Froliklong called participation in the NU Venture Challenge, inNUvations’s entrepreneurship challenge, the tipping point.

InNUvation, an entrepreneurship group on campus, describes their Venture Challenge as a “platform for entrepreneurial students to experience first-hand the process of cultivating a business idea from scratch.” During the first annual NU Venture Challenge, the undergraduate team from Lodge proposed their concept for BeExtradordinary.org to a panel of judges. The website team beat 30 semi-finalist teams, many of which consisted of graduate students (the second-placed team even had a Feinberg faculty member), to win 3rd prize overall, best social entrepreneurship idea and best undergraduate pitch. The competition netted them a total of $7,000 in start-up capital.

“After the competition, we got to work doing everything we thought we needed to do to get a business off the ground, with relatively little knowledge about what it took.” Cynamon said.

Froliklong describes three distinct phases of development since the initial influx of money. The group knew immediately that as non-tech people trying to start a tech company, they needed web designers. After enlisting Northwestern friends to lay the infrastructure for the Web site, the group linked with a University of Chicago professor who facilitated a relationship with web developers in India.

“Talk about a concrete learning experience,” Froliklong says. “I now have experience managing web development in another country, which is absurd.”

After a few months, the relationship with the Indian developers dissolved because too many details were getting lost in translation, so Cynamon and Froliklong began working with Chicago web-development company Midventures, and they eventually finished the site with Michael McNally, an independent contractor from Texas.

“There was no straight-line trajectory,” Cynamon said. “Everything was two steps forward, one step back.”

Before the beginning of their senior year, Froliklong and Cynamon decided that they needed an office. “We are college students but we are doing something very serious, especially when it comes to handling money,” Froliklong said.

They now rent one of the offices at a business incubator at 820 Davis Street. The room is small, with one table for laptops and a landline. The large whiteboard that occupies most of the right wall is so cluttered with black marker splotches that it slightly resembles a Jackson Pollack painting. In the upper right corner, one phrase is outlined: “minimize the office frat.” It helps the group reduce conversations of collegiate activities — beer pong and kegs — and maintain a professional atmosphere.

Walking down the fourth-floor hallway, one might hear the faint electro funk beats of Chromeo’s ”Bonafide Lovin”; one might also hear a curse word, quickly followed by chastising.

The idea for BeExtraordinary.org may have been born out of Chi Psi, but Froliklong and Cynamon emphasize how far from that starting point they have come. Their office shares a building with the Evanston Family Therapy Center and Chicago’s Green City Market. Although Cynamon and Froliklong still take classes and focus on graduating in the spring, they constantly remind themselves that this is a professional business.

By Friday of the site’s first official week, six challenges had been published. Posted challenges now include running the 2009 Chicago marathon and wearing a full mustache for the week (The marathon challenge is aiming for little bit more money than the facial hair feat). Dietch’s blue spandex unitard challenge has almost reached her fundraising goal of $500.

“Matt approached me about doing the first challenge for the site and I’ve always had this blue spandex suit,” Dietch said “I thought it would be a funny, eye-catching thing to do.”

Dietch said that she has relied exclusively on e-mail chains such as school listservs to raise the money and was surprised by the quick response. She thinks that the site’s main strength stems from tapping into this generation’s obsession with online communities.

“It does a great job of incorporating fun elements of Facebook: making a profile, adding a picture, comments,” she said.“There are a lot of elements to make it fun and keep you involved.”

Cynamon and Froliklong recruited friends to undertake challenges, and the founders personally know most of the challengers on the site now. One recently completed challenge though, which raised more $200, was completed by two Northwestern students whom Frolkilong and Cynamon didn’t know.

“Right now what we’re doing is trying to get people on the site and build community at Northwestern before expanding it nationally,” Cynamon said. BeExtraordinary.org is still a work in progress. Cynamon and Froliklong want to use Northwestern as a model to work out all of the kinks and that’s easier to do here, where the site has been positively received.

Although the ultimate goal is to get local businesses and corporations to sponsor different challenges on the site, its success isn’t a numbers game right now, its founders say. According to Froliklong and Cynamon, if people use the site, raise money for charity and have a good time, the founders will feel like they’ve accomplished what they set out to do.

“In a year’s time I’d love to say that we have funding from investors and that we’re at another university,” Froliklong said.

Their vision extends beyond just a year. With the possibility of investors still only on the horizon, a lot of the money they are now working with is their own: Both Froliklong and Cynamon say they have invested their life savings in this project.

“Honey, are you sure that was the right decision?” Froliklong’s mother asked. “No, I’m not, but I did it,” he replied.

Cynamon’s parents were thrilled about the project and supported him in using his own money. “My goal was to make this a viable career option. And what better time than in college to take on a risky venture,” Cynamon said. “I have no children, no mortgage, so why not try to launch our own company?”

In addition to “minimizing office frat,” the BeExtraordinary team has another, more serious mantra: “Philanthropy is greater than advertising.”

“We’d like to change the paradigm of marketing and how businesses communicate with our generation,” Froliklong said.

There’s evidence that Foliklong’s ambition might be attainable because of recent trends toward investors supporting altruistically minded companies. A study of investors’ behavior by the Social Investment Forum in Washington showed that socially conscious investment assets grew by 18 percent from 2005 to 2007. The inaugural Conscious Consumer Report from marketing and branding firm BBMG claims that “nearly nine in ten Americans use the phrase say the words ‘conscious consumers’ describes them well” and many consumers are more likely to “buy from companies that manufacture energy efficient products, promote health and safety benefits, support fair labor and trade practices and commit to environmentally friendly practices.”

“Instead of pouring money into silly TV commercials, corporations can put that money into positive initiatives, charities and challenges, and frame themselves on our site by how they interact with challenges,” Cynamon said. “We want our site to be on the forefront in pioneering the trend. All it takes is for this community to be successful to move onto stage two and start what we see as the philanthropy-is-greater-than-advertising movement.”

Before Cynamon or Froliklong can think about expanding, they still have to graduate. Both say that the site is their number-one priority after finishing school. Froliklong is going to apply for Teach for America, depending on BeExtraordinary’s financial viability next year. Cynamon says this whole process has imparted a passion for social entrepreneurship, and he sees the Web site as an introduction to the field.

Two years ago, Cynamon’s original declaration may have seemed like the grumbling of a discontented college student, but he wasn’t joking about the Great Wall of China.

“I want to spend a good portion of next year actually walking across the Great Wall,” he said. “As soon as things calm down here a little, I can put the challenge up and start promoting myself.”

But enough with school. The sixth annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival brings two powerful films to Lincoln Park’s Cinematheque, off of the Fullerton El stop. Cocalero, a film about controversial Bolivian President Evo Morales, will be screened at 7 p.m. followed by White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at 9 p.m. Both movies were nominated for the grand jury prize at Sundance Film Fest.

Downtown may be too far for some and that’s the beauty of the Block Cinema. It shows Fear Eats the Soul at 8 p.m. English and African American Studies professor Alexander Weheliye will hold a discussion after that. Fear Eats the Soul is a “short, tough tale… that reveals melodrama in the cheap loneliness and banality of everyday life.”

For an afternoon diversion, listen to Performance Studies Professor Esailama Diouf discuss African culture. Staging the African: Transnational Flows of West African Dance and Cultural Identity will be held at 620 Library Place in the seminar room at noon.

If Rent wasn’t your thing, there’s plenty of substantive films playing on campus. In the Family, a film about a woman faced with the looming likelihood of developing breast cancer based on a predictive genetic test, will be screened at Ryan Auditorium at 7 p.m. Block Cinema will show Black Girl, a 1966 Senegalese film about life after colonization. Professor Richard Iton will hold a discussion after the 8:30 p.m. screening.

Baskin Robbins is taking a twist on Wedensday’s colloquial label of hump day, inviting soon-to-be moms to celebrate “bump day.” Even if you don’t fall under that category, you might want to pass along the news to expecting women, who can receive some free soft serve ice cream.

Is the dancer turning clockwise or anti-clockwise? Explore your brain in 60 seconds and learn which side of it you use more.

Tomorrow marks the first Green City Marketof the season. Get up early and venture to Lincoln Park between 7:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to peruse aisles of organic meat, produce, artisanal cheeses and many more foods for the stomach and the soul.

After fulfilling your inner locavore, stay downtown for the World Fair Trade Day Festival in the Loop’s Daley Plaza. Wherever you stand on the issue, you can still learn about or buy socially- and environmentally-friendly goods from clothing to kitchen supplies. Vendors such as Ten Thousand Villages will sell fair-trade products from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

If El frustrations deter downtown diversions, exercise your mind with NCDC’s panel discussion on American Immigration Policy. Community activists and Northwestern professors will debate in Tech M345 at 7 p.m.

The Senior VP of the Field Museum will come to Northwestern to discuss the evolution of evolutionary thought. You can explore the new Pancoe Life Sciences Pavilion building on 2200 Campus Drive and investigate how history, museums, science and religion interact to shape evolutionary philosophy. The event will run from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Room 2401.

If you suddenly realized that Block Museum has a movie theater because it’s showing Planet Earth, head over there at 7 p.m. for Ten More Good Years and a talk with director Michael Jacoby. His film explores the unique difficulties facing gay and lesbian seniors, when growing old and gray becomes “growing old and gay,” as the description notes.

If gay retirement isn’t your thing, maybe the French school of clarinet playing is. Go see the principal clarinetist with the Paris Opera Orchestra, Philippe Cuper, in Lutkin Hall at 7:30 p.m. Life is all about new experiences, right?

Don’t wait for the Chicago Tribune to cultivate your own backyard. The Institute for Women’s Health Research at Northwestern is looking to link women with scientists conducting university-sponsored studies and clinical trials. The research projects will explore health trends among Illinois women.

If you don’t want to relinquish the dreams of starting a new stoic gang on your own back porch, take inspiration from the Butterfly Assassins, whose bassist Danny Yadron is a Northwestern undergraduate. They may not have to give up their “impractical” artistic lives, as the band is one of four winning local acts to play at Metromix Rock ‘n’ Vote 2008 in Wicker Park.

Check out the third night of Africa Awareness Week. A joint talk with Afrilogue will explore successful administrations in the African continent. “We Are More Than Corruption” will be held in Kresge 4-365 at 6:30 p.m.

If you just want to stay in Chicago this summer, consider CNN’s warning after the city experienced 36 shootings and nine deaths last weekend: “Now there is a growing fear that Chicago could be in for a long, bloody summer.”

Or you could receive a Congressional scholarship one day, just like five Northwestern juniors. Appropriately on Earth Day, juniors Samuel Schiller and Nikolai Smith were named Udall Scholars for their work as committed environmentalists. René Boiteau, Ryosuke Kita and Tami Lieberman clinched Goldwater Scholarships for their scientific accomplishments.

Still worried about money for this summer? You could start a business in the old Gary Poppins location that closed earlier this year. We need something to fill the void left by the once-pervasive smell of every-flavor popcorn. Just test the business ground by signing up for the Business-Law Conference at Northwestern that will explore how business and law intersect.