Author: Gary

Enough of school talk…..

1) I finally got around to watching “Once Upon A Time in the West” last night. I think it might be the best western I’ve ever seen and probably on my list of greatest movies ever. Chock full of great one liners.

The DVD itself is one of the better transfers I’ve ever seen. The colors and the sound are outstanding.

2) Extempers had their first tournament this weekend. Performance wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. We still have a lot of work to do, but I’m confident we can make large strides.

3) We should be getting our ass handed to us with snow tonight and tomorrow.

4) Pete and I watched the Royal Rumble tonight. My speech kids just don’t get wrestling. I mentioned it and one of them said, as if on cue, “its so fake”. Well, duh. That’s not really the point. Movies are fake too, as is TV. If you get the chance, go see WWE live and sit as close as you can to the ring. Don’t think of it as ‘wrassling’, but as interactive physical performance art. The crowd is part of the artwork. The wrestlers perform morality plays….and toss each other through folding tables.

I sat down and figured out what I’ll need to do to finish my major:

Summer 2004
-Physics I

Fall 2004
-Physics II

Spring 2005
-Physics III

Summer 2005
-Astrophysics I

Fall 2005
-Quantum Physics
-Quantum Physics Lab

Spring 2006
-Astrophysics II
-Analytical Mechanics

Summer 2006
-Electricity and Magetism
-Astro 5xxx

I’m making some big assumptions regarding course availability in the summer sessions. This summer is fine, but beyond Physics III, I could move everything around. 3-4 more physics classes beyond this and I get credit for a plain ol’ physics major too. Untill I finish Physics III, there aren’t any other classes I can take I can apply towards the major.

I also finally got a copy of Mathematica. Being a student has its perks. In fact, there are enough perks in being a student that its almost worthwhile to stay one forever just to get the benefits. (Really Cheap software, discounts, etc)

I’m stting on the floor of the commuter lounge. There is an amazing shortage of chairs in the union. This is on top of the shortage of outlets. Tuesdays and thursdays seem busier than wednesdays. I have no class on Friday.

Last night I did homework. I never did too much homework in college 1.0. Not only did I do homework, its not even due for a while.

My fears about this math class are pretty much gone. Most of the material I’ve had before in some form, and if I didn’t have it previously, I’m not worried about learning it in small chunks. If anything, this class might have been the perfect class to ease back into things.

I’ll probably be taking a class or two this summer. Physics I for sure. I don’t need anymore math for the Astro Phy major, and all my classes are bottlenecked by physics. I can’t take Astro 2001 till I at least take Physics III. The issue for me isn’t the raw number of classes, its the sequence. I could take some jackoff CLA classes.

Its noon and I got class in 20 min. Got to go and brave the -3 degree weather.

“Sequences, Series, and Foundations” started out pretty easy. The first week or so is just boolean logic, and I’ve had all that before. It also seems to dabble in set theory, which I have no problem with. The textbook is not a textbook at all, but a photocopied booklet created by the math department. Total cost: $16.

The companion website for my astronomy course is pretty cool. I’ve talked about and read about the use of the Internet in the classroom, and the University of Minnesota seems in it pretty deep. (Almost) All course registration is done online. There are no course catalogs printed. All the classrooms I’ve seen so far have digital projectors on the ceiling. 802.11b is everywhere.

Something that has suprised me is how many students have cell phones. This is true in high school as well. All of my extempers have a cell phone. All of them. Not nearly as many U students appear to have laptops. If they do, they don’t bring them to class. The bandwidth at the U is great. Wireless here is faster than my DSL at home (which is to be expected).

They do need way more outlets in the union and more places to sit. Its much less crowded here today than it was yesterday. I’d attribute that to everyone having already purchased their books. My classes are all near the union, which is great. I don’t have to cross the river for anything. (have pity on Bietz)

I sit writing this in Coffman union at the University of Minnesota To my right are two (I assume) freshman girls asking each other if they are in the same classes and wondering where their buildings are. To my left is a woman who is studiously highlighting something in a three ring binder. All over a 20 something men and women buying books. I have about and hour and twenty minutes till my first class in almost thirteen years.

Having a computer I can put in my lap with a wireless internet connection makes this a ery different experience from college 1.0. I’m seconds away from Google, which means I’m really seconds away from the answer to pretty much anything that might come up in class. (well, almost. Probably can’t solve math problems) I purchased a flow pad and some pens because I rarely use paper anymore and I don’t think i can type notes in a class on series and sequences (I might be wrong). My math class didn’t have a text book for sale that I could see. My astronomy textbook is by far the coolest textbook I’ve ever had, complete with 2 CD-ROM’s and a companion website. Its chock full of graphics, but not in a high school dumbed down sort of way.

Somethings never change. Some lefty group has a table up in the union (animal rights I think). I’m sure there will be another there tomorrow, and probably once every two weeks a christian group will make a cameo appearance. College 1.0 had no real involvement in campus life, and college 2.0 wont either.

I’d lie if I said I wasn’t a bit nervous about my math class. Its been a while since I took one and I haven’t really been doing problems in my spare time since then. On the other hand, I can focus more time on one class than I could in 1.0. My astronomy course looks to be a total breeze. I read most of the textbook and knew most of it already. (famous last words)

If anyone else is reading this who is taking classes here, my class times are 12:20 – 1:10 and 2:30 – 3:20. My classes are not far from the union.

I’m going to have to get into the habit of recharging my laptop nightly. I’m going to have to use a few hours of battery every day now.