Philonoist.net

Pulled minutes ago, from everyone’s favorite site.

Good to know I’m living in a building “currently under construction”. And that I lived in one all last year.

Technorati Tags: Olin College

Maybe she’ll never listen to Shakira again. Currently stuck at #1 on Google Video. Warning: Don’t eat while watching. I speak from experience.

Technorati Tags: Olin College, Shakira

Folks around Olin know this already but for those who dont: One of the cool parts of Olin is that our laundry machines are hooked up to the internet. We’re able to check when our whites are done. It’s a pretty sweet setup, and given the choice between this and its bastard cousin the OneCard system, I know which one I’d pick.

Still, the funny arises when you see graphs like this…

Honestly, who’s routinely doing their laundry at 3 AM??

Technorati Tags: Laundry, Olin College

Last night, a large number of e-mails were sent to the randomness mailing list. (Of course, if you’re just hearing about this, welcome back from your coma.) These e-mails, a long thread on politics, the seperation of church and state, the ten commandments, and so on, were all pretty tasteless, right from the beginning. At the expense of not getting everyone who should read this to read it, I’ve opted to talk about it here rather than innundate the mailing list with another barrage of e-mails.

A lot of things made last night worse than it should have been: people looking for distractions from work found it in, of all places, their e-mail inboxes. Randomness has long been touted as “the place where all other e-mails go”, but flamewars have no place anywhere, including Randomness. People will disagree. People will taunt you if you disagree with them. With lots of smart, fast-typing people, this effect multiplies. One of the great lines I’ve heard another Oliner say about Oliners is “We’re all a little too smart. Whenever we get into an argument, we’re already thinking about the next thing we’ll say in response to what they’re saying now.” Last night proved this.

What made me so mad? The fact that, for a large part, people didn’t care how much they were abusing the list. Thing the first: If you’re going to respond to an e-mail 30 seconds after somebody else sent it, take the time to delete everything they said. I have it already from their post. Even if you’re directly quoting someone, take that small snip and put it in the body of your message. Most of us have basic time-telling skills. If I don’t understand your post, I’ll assume it’s either 1) total bullshit or 2) referring to a previous e-mail.

Point 2: Think about what you’re saying. Flamewars happen because of the anonymity of the medium you’re using. Would you really tell someone to fuck off if you were looking them face-to-face because you disagreed with what they were saying? Probably not. And, directly related to this, think about the audience you’re trying to reach. There’s no way to win a flamewar. Regardless of how thoughtful, well-put, and well-researched your point is, the other side is pretty stuck on their convictions. They’re not asking for your opinion. 99 times out of 100, their mind is already made up. Don’t waste keystrokes trying to change it.

Third: Personally, I think it’s total crap to tell people to go elsewhere. Don’t tell people to sign up for the politics mailing list. Instead, tell people to send e-mails back and forth with no lists in the subject group. In other words, the “Reply to All” button is sacred. If you can’t tell the difference between “Reply” and “Reply to all”, ask me and I will gladly remove the button from your toolbar.

Fourth: Most important to this particular discussion, remember that Olin is a community built on openness to change, understanding, and respect for others. Not everyone at Olin is Christian; not everyone here believes in God. I, for one, respect your right to believe what you want provided that you never force that belief on me. Don’t insult me by trying.

Maybe you feel this is excessive. Maybe it is. But these are my views on the subject. If you read and agree, pass the message on. If we don’t talk about it, it’s likely to occur in the future. I doubt any of us want that to happen.

I got asked to take a survey (did everyone?) on the new careers site here at Olin. I’m extremely impressed, it’s a nice-looking site with lots of content – a rarity in these parts (cough projects.olin.edu cough) Props to Sean and the PGP staff for the hotness. I know I’ll be using it in the coming months.

Day 1: “This is pretty cool. I don’t think I’ll spend a lot of time on here, but, it’s nice to finally have it.”

Day 2: “Hey! I can make a profile with all sorts of interests. Hmm… I’ll just add a few. Ok. Make that a lot of things. After all, I’m multi-interested, right? So, I’ll just add everything I’ve ever been interested in ever.”

Day 3: “Neat! I found all the people I went to high school with. I haven’t really talked to them in a while, but that’s OK. I’ll just add the three or so that would really remember me. It’s not the number of friends, it’s how friendly you are with them, right?”

Day 6: “I look at other people’s profiles, and they have so many friends! I’ll just add a couple more so I don’t look desperate. But that’s it.”

Day 6, 10 minutes later: “Click! Add to friends! Click! Add to friends! Whee! So much fun! Click! Add to friends!”

Day 6, 20 minutes later: “Click! Add to friends! Click! Hmm.. I don’t really remember her. But she goes to an under-represented school. I need more people from Texas! Add to friends!”

I’ll be honest: I’m still doubtful I can reconnect with people from high school. But we’ll see.

Some other things I’ve noticed since I’ve been back:

I keep running into the same dozen or so first-years. I’m making a real effort to keep saying that instead of freshmen, but I slip sometimes. Personally, I don’t think it’s as big of a deal as some people make it out to be. Maybe it’s ’cause I’m a guy. Maybe it’s cause “first years” sounds like Harry Potter. Whatever. Point is, there are, what, over 70 of them? Where are they all? I went over to West Hall night before last, and there were only a handful of people in the lounge. I feel a little awkward just walking into a first year’s room, but I would like to meet 25% of the school’s population.

The number of quirks Olin went up astronomically with the opening of East Hall. I understand, it’s a work in progress, etc. But the wacky door on the West Wing is still tricking me. And the motion-detector lights – I feel like I’m breaking out of Alcatraz everytime I walk down the hall. By the way, we need a better system of saying things like East Hall West Wing. It’s getting confusing. In the future, when corporations run everything, Oliners will say “I live in Starbucks Hall, Amazon.com Wing” It’s inevitable.

The dining hall is now constantly crowded for lunch and dinner. Damn.

East Hall isn’t as close to the rest of campus as I originally thought. I know, I know, it’s no where near as far as the mods, but still, it looked so close. Even if you lived in East Wing of West Hall (see, it’s confusing, dammit!) you could walk in the West Wing door. Now, it’s all the way down the path. Far away. In the mud. I hate mud.

Already, I feel like the social dynamic has changed. It could just be me, but I don’t see or hear in East Hall on my way back to my room. Granted, my room is 25 feet away from the door on the first floor in the corner with a sign that says “Beware of the Leopard”, but still: no one’s in the lounge. No one’s coming over to hang out.

Maybe (this isn’t a plea, or a feeling sorry for myself moment) it’s just I don’t have as many friends as I thought. Maybe it’s just that the people I thought were my friends were the ones I lived near, saw constantly, and mistook that level of familiarity for friendship. I guess I saw the writing on the wall last year: I knew it was bad news bears when I couldn’t find a suite that made sense. And while I love my giant corner room, I’d trade it for being closer to cool happenings. (That’s not a real offer, so don’t ask.)

Still, all in all? It’s great to be back. Seeing everyone makes me so happy. And happy is good.

Ah, Olin, you’re a pretty kick-ass place.

Even the Princeton Review thinks so.

Meh. There are some things I disagree with. Like our #2 in food (since I personally think the dining hall missed the mark last year. Does this mean food at a non top 20 school is served by persons wearing radioactive hazard suits?) but overall, a pretty good picture of the school.

is a Progressive Politics and Ideas Club.

I’m not joking. While we may be a left-leaning school in the most liberal of states, we’re certainly not doing our part to ensure progessive ideas are heard and acted upon on our campus. So, in all seriousness, why hasn’t Democrats of Olin College started?

Yes, part of it is preaching to the choir. And I’m not really afraid that Olin will ever lose its left-leaning position. But, in reality, just how left-leaning are we? I’m sure anyone who is interested in politics at Olin can pick out most of the Republicans. That certainly doesn’t mean everyone left is a Democrat. And just because someone chose not to vote for Bush doesn’t mean they liked voting for Kerry.

As the Center for American Progress notes, “While the media perceives U.S. campuses as bastions of liberalism, the right wing has spent 30 years organizing to gain the upper hand. Conservative groups spend over $35 million every year pushing their agenda on campuses through speaking programs, funding for student publications, and leadership training, plus tens of millions more for academic programs.”

The fight back begins now.

I just recieved an advance copy of the 2005-2006 Parents’ Handbook (not a personal copy, obviously, but one for the library’s collection). I’m impressed with the number of people, especially in my class, who elected to change their picture. If you’re not an Oliner, let me backtrack: there are two handbooks published yearly, one for the students, and one for parents. What’s always interesting is the photographs of everyone that are included in both. I’ve always used my crappy (and now outdated) high school senior photo. I’ve just gotten used to it being in the handbooks.

Oh, and I suppose I should say that there aren’t any suprises as to who is in the lists. If you don’t know, several people left the school for one reason or another since last semester. The handbook has been updated accordingly. It’s not my place to report on missing persons, but most of the removals are just cleaning up people who have been gone a while. It’s refreshing to see that Olin is finally OK with the idea that not every student works here, and our graduation rate will never be 100%.

(And personally? The cover’s not my favorite.)