The Unusual

The best class I have ever taken at the University of Miami wasn’t a class at all. In fact, I think that classes are the least important academic facet of University life. Don’t get me wrong. I study my ass off, and take my grades very seriously. What I mean is that there are more important things that students can do, academically, outside of class.

A substantial part of the school’s endowment goes toward attracting guest lecturers. Every single week, there is some major presentation being done by some major speaker somewhere on campus. The best part is that you generally don’t have to belong to any particular school to attend these presentations. I for instance, am a Business Law – Ecosystem Science & Policy Major double major. I have a far wider range of academic interest than can be covered by the classes I take for those two majors. Thanks to the tuition I pay, I can have it all! Thus far I have heard the Dalai Lama speak, I have attended lectures made by small and big time entrepreneurs,  lawyers, and I have seen other students present research projects that they have spent years working on. In fact, just this morning, I attended a seminar by the South Florida Water Management District.

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This class is called Theatre 101, but it is more accurately Life 101. I only took the class for gen ed purposes, and I thought it would just end up being a boring, easy A class. I was right about the easy A, but I also learned to think about college and life that go beyond a simple grade. While you could probably survive the course without going to half the classes, I found myself not wanting to miss any.

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FAMU’s band is in jeopardy after a seemingly negligent death. Al Golden stays with the U and talks about this and next season. UM basketball season has started, with mixed results awaiting us.  American Airlines joins most other airline companies in filing for bankruptcy. And the Miami Heat’s big 3 win their first NBA championship together.   

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Boom. Thats the sound my brain makes. Boom. Boom. Boom. Yep, it’s the last week of classes. Pow. That’s the sound my grades make. Pow. Pow.Pow. I can’t continue to act like the pile of books/assignments on my desk is just going to disappear. Puff. That’s the sound I wish my assignments would make as they evaporate into thin air. Knock. Knock. All of the girls on my floor knocking at my door, telling me their stories. I act like I care but sometimes I don’t. Especially today. I’m trying to not work on my research paper. Instead I’m watching gossip girl and writing. Best combination. Tomorrow I will be productive. Tap. Tap. Tap. The noise my computer will make as I work tirelessly to complete my paper before the midnight deadline. I should probably go back to pretending like I’m researching articles.  Maybe that prevent me from having a nervous breakdown.

I don’t normally study, but when I do, I determine my studying location upon my mood and how difficult the material is.  It all depends on your style and how much noise you can take while trying to concentrate. My top 5 favorite places, run as followed.

5. McArthur Engineering Building

When approaching the engineering building there are three tables under the shade. This is a quiet place to study but every now and then people come in and out of the building. For me, a little bit of noise every now and then helps relieve stress, thus helping me focus better on the material.  The problem with this study spot is that too many people know of it. With only three tables, it’s rare to find an empty place to put your books down.

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Back in the day, you used to be able to down a fifth of Johnnie Walker’s and then drive to Publix for more.  Everyone drank and drove in our parents generation.  Cops never pulled anyone over, and the breathalyzer hadn’t even been invented.  It was a beautiful time.

But then some staticians figured out that drinking and driving was responsible for killing people, and the madness began.  Over a million people get arrested a year for DUI.  Activist groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and RID (Remove Intoxicated Drivers) thrive like so many weeds.

Then some genius realized that text messaging while weaving through traffic is pretty risky.  Politicians got involved, and texting while driving became illegal in almost every state.  I even got a bullshit ticket while texting my bottom bitch at a red light on US-1.  Like, fuck you man, you know what I’m getting at with this text.  I even showed the officer the text to see if he’d give me a break.  Didn’t phase him a bit.

So drinking and driving is bad, agreed.  Texting and driving is dangerous, agreed.  But what about the other two?  Drinking and texting?

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A UM student was caught growing pot, midnight openings on Black Friday causing employee petitions at Target, Herman Cain isn’t doing so well, Newt Gingrich is the newest Republican star of the month, and Obama runs away from the far left to get re-elected.  So we haven’t really missed all that much from last week.

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In whatever you do, try to be present, fully present. As Satchel Paige put it, “Work like you don’t need the money, Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.” You gotta be all in. This means leaving your technology behind occasionally and listening to a friend without half of your brain preoccupied by its inner longing for the red light on the Blackberry. I have gotten some glimpses of modern learning: In many college classes, laptops depict split screens - notes from a class, and then a range of parallel stimulants: NBA playoff statistics on ESPN.com, a flight home on Expedia, and a new flirtation on Facebook… I know how good you are at multitasking. You have developed the modern muscle set… But I promise you that over time this doesn’t cut it. Something or someone loses out. No more than a surgeon can operate while tweeting can you reach your potential with one ear in, one ear out. You actually have to reacquaint yourself with concentration. We all do. We should all become, as Henry James prescribed, a person “on whom nothing is lost.”

—Samantha Power, 2011 commencement address @ Occidental College

Former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky has been charged with 40 different counts of sexually assaulting minors, involving 8 different boys over 13 years. An assistant coach, Mike McQueary even witnessed Sandusky sodomizing an 11 year old boy in the shower. And its not like the two were roommates, this happened on campus. McQueary, an apparent man-child, decided the best course of action was to tell his daddy. Who then told Joe Paterno, the de facto ‘king’ of State College, PA. Any logical person could assume that at this point Sandusky was done for and justice would be sought.

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Study Abroad in Iceland and Greenland

“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods. There is rapture on the lonely shore. There is society, where none intrudes; by the deep sea, and music in its roar. I love not man less, but Nature more…” - Lord Byron.

At 1:00 pm, June 8^th, we touched the ground at Keflavik International Airport. As I walked through the terminal, and through customs, I felt like Christopher McCandless. Though I wasn’t to be alone as I tramped through Iceland and Greenland, I couldn’t shake this feeling that I had embarked on a journey of self realization. For three weeks I would have no cell phone and no computer. None of our group did. There were ten of us, and all we had to signify our existences were passport stamps, bank statements, and the occasional email.

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Signs like these have been posted all around campus. According to STAND, the student organization posting these signs up, Chartwells employees are only making $8-10 an hour and cannot afford to get healthcare for their families, since health insurance would cost them half their paycheck. They are looking for students to join them in their “stand” so these employees can renegotiate their contracts “without fear.”

A visit to their website led me to a video about the UNICCO protests in 2005-2006, when the UNICCO workers fought to get benefits (health insurance, paid vacation, etc). I think that the concept of organizing together to work for something you believe in is great, but I’m not so sure about how successful this Chartwells protest could be. When UNICCO went on strike, the economy was at its peak. Right now, Chartwells would have no problem replacing their employees. Another question is where would these employees go? There are not many places hiring and I really don’t think this is the right time to try and get this movement going. It sucks that they can’t afford to pay for their health insurance, but how would they afford it without a job? Even if they are able to find a job at another place like Chartwells (a Wendy’s, Sushi Maki, etc), what are their chances of affording health care?

I know this is UM and these students want to see fair treatment of every employee on this campus, but the problem is so much bigger than just our Chartwells employees. This is a structural problem with our society. It sucks that people can’t find a good decent paying job and be able to get healthcare. It sucks that chances are the kids of these employees don’t have access to the best education and meanwhile, they work at a university most of their kids won’t be able to attend. It sucks. What can we do about it?

“And what about you - the rest of you - did you notice the scars you left behind?

No. Probably not.

Because most of them can’t be seen with the naked eye.” 

When I started reading this book, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was afraid this would end up another book meant for middle school kids, too focused on delivering a message and not enough on creating the story. I was completely wrong. I was so engrossed in the story that I finished it in one evening. The book is the story of Hannah Baker, told by her on tapes she made before her death. It was the hardest book to read, yet I couldn’t put it down. I felt the pain and hated knowing how it would ultimately end. I wanted to save her. 

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Registration is here again and all around campus students are asking each other… “Do you know an easy (insert subject here) class I can take?”

We’re paying $50k a year to go to this University, yes?  Then how come so many students do their best to do as little work as possible to get by?

The main guidelines for an easy/desirable class appear to be…

1. Grades are based on exams, which cover test material only from the lectures.

2. Lectures are all on Powerpoints that are posted on Blackboard. 

3. No book required.

4. Attendance is not required, nor is it taken.

5. The class only meets twice a week.  A class on Friday?  You must be joking.  

What’s the purpose of going to a university? Are we only here for the diploma, and the handshake from Sebastian?  Does anyone care about leaving here with some knowledge, some kind of skill?

Do I?  Do you?