I hope this doesn’t creep you out.  They look odd and I wasn’t to impressed with these pictures.  They were fun to play around with though.  Luckily, I’m glad I look the way I do and not like these pictures.  That has nothing to do with the different races – it’s just the fact that this thing really messed up my face...I don’t think I look Indian, Hispanic or anything, just odd.  Anyways, to the pictures.  The first picture, if can remember right, is supposed to be the Indian version of my face.  The second is the Hispanic, I think.  The third is the white version of myself…as if I’m not white enough.  The fourth is my projected image at age 45.  Not too bad ehh?

Posted by Philip Towne at 02:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The other day I went to a talk by a prospect for the Physics department next year.  There were a good mix of students and professors in attendance.  Of course we had pizza to eat too.  A lot of times people will joke that a student could go almost a whole year here without having to buy a lunch.  This would be due to all the meetings and talks that are held for students, all serving pizza for lunch.  I had to make sure I got enough pizza because I would be missing lunch at the Sparks center.  This isn’t because I’m ecstatic about the meals at Sparks.  It’s because we have an awful meal plan in which I’m left to suffer the costs of a meal I never consumed.  You’d think I might be able to use my “unused” meals at the Scarlet Inn later that day, but if I do so I can’t use my meal for dinner in the same evening at Sparks because I’ve already “used” my dinner meal.  The same goes for if I’d eaten at Sparks for dinner but want to use my unused meal from lunch to grab a bite at the Scarlet.  I know this whole thing is arguable, but when it comes down to it, the full weak meal plan is very inconvenient for busy students.  Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten a full meal plan, but I’m not about to try and use my excuse of a room for a kitchen, especially when I’m here all but a few days the first semester.  Even if I didn’t want a meal plan, it’s required if you live on campus.  I apologize for the complaints but they are important things for future students to know about.  We, the students, have managed to improve a lot of the aspects of meal at Sparks over time and still are working to.    

Posted by Philip Towne at 02:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night I attended the screening of a movie documentary titled “Indoctrinate U”.  It was a very interesting and (depending on your viewpoint) controversial film.  There is an article on the front page of the school’s web-site with more information about it, but the film discussed instances in which many of the nation’s leading universities have directly and indirectly tried to silence alternative viewpoints of diversity.  Basically, the desire for these institutions to ultimately uplift social diversity has led to a movement against the diversity of intellectual thought.  There were a lot of surprising, humorous, and sad aspects of the film and it really caused a lot of good discussion within the room.  Most importantly, I was almost proud to see how civil our discourse was over such a controversial topic.

This discussion ran over into one of my classes today and actually consumed the whole class period.  I think we settled on the possibility that the student body and faculty can have very different viewpoints of issues on campus….and why shouldn’t they?  Being among a different community of learners will have different impressions.  We also discussed issues such as the MXI being locked in the evenings after 6:00 and why it is or isn’t a pressing issue of exclusiveness.       

Posted by Philip Towne at 04:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With this amazing spurt of spring weather I had to get some of the team together last Thursday to play some ultimate Frisbee. It had been a while for most of us.  The lack of coordination (on land) made it easy to tell.  It’s just hard to sit inside at this time.  The next day we got around to playing some ball, but the campus quickly emptied itself of students who were making for home for Easter weekend.

Now everyone’s back and counting down the days.  There’s a new art exhibit in the library though that I definitely want to “try out”.  It’s called the Human Race Machine, and from what I’ve heard it’s like a photo booth that takes your picture and then profiles what you’d look like if you were a different race or age.  I’ll let you know that the Chinese or African Phil ends up looking like.

Posted by Philip Towne at 04:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So Honor Scholars weekend has arrived and it’s perfect outside.  I noticed that the same hypnotist comedian that we had last year will be back.  There wasn’t a large crowd last year but it was definitely worth going to.  I don’t know that I’ve been around so many hysterical people at the same time. 

It’s just hard to think that it’s been a whole year already and the colorful and prideful letter jackets of high schools are flooding the campus again.  Letter jackets are a funny topic here among students.  The fact is that we are so proud upon graduation from high school and of all our achievements.  We will welcome you here, but that jacket won’t get you any respect.  This is where humble yourself in an attempt to accomplish more.  Let that jacket carry you to a new experience in your life here, but don’t cling to it.

One thing I found fascinating about honor scholar weekend as a prospective student was that all the students visiting at the same time as myself were some of the brightest kids in the country.  It’s exciting that you are choosing to stand out.  Enjoy the weekend!

Posted by Philip Towne at 04:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Everyone has just returned from spring break and there are plenty of stories being told about all the trips taken this past week.  I know our break is a lot earlier than most schools, but we actually end the school year before a lot others too…I’ll take that any time.  

I didn’t go on any exotic trips or make a dash for one of the party coasts.  You can call me boring, but I went home and got to visit a lot of people and enjoyed it.  Any kind of break from school work is enough to refresh your life some.  I’ve come back to campus energized and excited for the end of the year (there’s really only eight weeks left!).  It could be the warming weather, but my outlook on the end of this semester is very bright and for no particular reason.  I suppose it all has to do with mind-set and I think spring break helped a lot with that for me.  I found some time to appreciate things I hadn’t considered much this semester.  For instance, we were able to play around with some of the lighting effects in a lab before leaving for break.  I was also was drawn to this particular sunset on my way home…and I’ve seen much more beautiful ones than this.

Posted by Philip Towne at 02:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)