Gideon Bass

= Division III =

This article is part of a Climax Div III Issue. By Josh Schneider, Arts &amp; Entertainment Editor.

“Well, my visit as a prospie was pretty terrible, actually,” said Gideon Bass. “The tour guide started the tour by saying this was his first time doing it, and things went downhill from there. But I still came!” Despite poor first impressions, Bass has excelled at Hampshire in the field of intergalactic exploration. Concentrating in astronomy, Bass worked with professional astronomer and extraterrestrial studies enthusiast Salman Hameed.

Bass, a son of Baltimore, described his Div III work as “a survey of star formations in thirty-one southern hemisphere galaxies. We are looking for general trends in star formation and unusual features that have not previously been detected, and then we’re comparing our results with previous studies.” Bass has also excelled in the field of athletics, citing his inception into Hampshire’s Frisbee team, The Red Scare, as a fond memory. Reflecting on great times spent playing Ultimate on the lawn, Bass noted the Scare’s ridiculous and unusual cheers as an example of Hampshire’s creative spirit and the team’s colorful attitude. In Bass’s words, “This team is awesome!”

In offering advice to upcoming Hampshire students, Bass wisely warned, “Don’t spread yourself thin. Find a few things you love and actually do them fully, rather than a ton of things you think are important and doing nothing but talking about them.” Well put. Friends and “the craziness that is Hampshire College” are what he will miss most about his undergraduate experience.

With intentions to pursue a Doctorate degree in astronomy, Bass has already been accepted into a Masters program but is prepared for a few more years of focused study. When considering astronomy, a field populated by the lonesome stargazers amongst us, there is a certain romantic element in contemplating the vast expanses of the cosmos. But back on Planet Earth, Bass identified the Spiritual Life Center as a favored spot. “It’s this really cool space that not many people know about,” said Bass. (The SLC is located in Greenwich on the second floor of Donut Five.)