Want to read Flickering Light from the beginning? Click here!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Graffiti

BM got arrested today for spray painting a poem on one of the administrative buildings. I looked it up later and apparently it was one of Shel Silverstein's called "The Voice":

There is a voice inside of you
That whispers all day long,
“I feel that this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong.”
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What’s right for you– – just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.

She bolded and triple underlined the words "No teacher". I'm not sure what that was about, but she's being punished extremely harshly for just writing a few words on a wall. I looked up the legal portion of it, and Hilling University is prosecuting her as far as they can, even with it being her first offense ever - she's never even been pulled over. Some of my other friends suggested that maybe the university doesn't like being labeled as disreputable, which I guess I can understand. Hilling has a history of holding itself to be on a higher standard as a school, and they really boasted that in freshman orientation.

BM had texted me right after she talked to Dr. Murray, and it sounded extremely urgent. I didn't think she had time to spray paint the wall, but they found and arrested her soon before we were able to meet (I had work all day). I'm really worried and I hope she's okay. I don't believe that BM did it because she doesn't seem like the person to go out for spray paint and start messing up the place.

As for me, you can call me RF. I'm a third year Econ student, with only a semester left to take. I can't wait to graduate, too, since things are getting pretty weird around here.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Murray's Seminar Test

Hello everyone. I don't want to give you my name just in case, but I'm one of the students feeding you information to this blog. I attended Dr. Murray's Friday seminar, being an interested pre-med student. I had no idea that it was going to be this…extraordinary.

He began as any other seminar, introducing his topics and what it was he was working on. It sounded like he was in another world with his amazing claims of being able to practically sedate someone and have them perform tasks asked of them with just a shot. It was nuts, and few of us audience members believed him at first. His biological and neurological explanations were lost on me, though, as they were more complicated than I'd ever heard from a professor.

Then he moved onto the test, which was astounding. Dr. Murray brought forth two of his fellow professors and one of his grad students and took out a dozen or so needles from a locked briefcase. He injected a low dose of what he was calling "Behavior medicine" or "BM" into his graduate student. The student looked the same in general, but when the professor asked him to do odd tasks (ten jumping jacks, write the last equation he saw onto a piece of paper, recite a list of his ten favorite bands) he complied without question and without hesitation. Dr. Murray moved on to a higher dose of BM and gave it to one of his other professors. The professor would blink like he was sleepy, but that was the only indication of a change. Dr. Murray asked him to curse loudly at the audience, tell an embarrassing story, and to let everybody know how much money he made every year. Again, perfect compliance, but with slight hesitation when telling the story (I won't repeat it here for his sake). Finally, the last professor was given the strongest shot of BM. He soon seemed drowsy and had the face of a man who doesn't care about anything. Glossy eyes, not really looking at anything. The professor was asked to punch himself in the face. Not only did he do it, he gave himself a nosebleed and cracked his glasses. Then he went straight back to being glossy eyed, apparently not thinking about the blood staining his white shirt. Right afterward, Dr. Murray gave them all what he said was a BM antidote. They all regained their pre-BM behaviors except with a bloody nose and embarrassed looks.

Dr. Murray asked them to describe what they felt, and it was nuts! They all knew in their head that they didn't want to perform the tasks asked of them. Considering the story and punching in the face, I wouldn't have blamed them. But they all felt an irresistible compulsion to do what was asked, mostly because they trusted Dr. Murray as a professor and colleague.

I spoke with Dr. Murray afterward and asked him about the implications that something like this would have. He told me he had been too focused on his research to give any thought to the matter. I'm really starting to think otherwise. He was acting uncomfortably during out chat and quickly changed the subject after I brought it up. I did a little digging and found out he's got some close ties to university officials and a couple agencies I've never heard of. Seven years ago he was awarded a large government grant, but the specifics aren't public. I'm really not sure what's going on, but it feels…off. I'm still considering that the three guys tested were faking it, but I don't know for sure. I'm thinking about going to his office next week and seeing what's up. I'll let you know the results.

You can call me BM for now.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Dr. Murray's Seminar announcement

School of Sciences

Seminar Series presents:


Dr. Benjamin Murray, Ph.D.


"Behavioral Vaccines"



Can vaccines be created to promote or prevent a specific behavior in a human being? Dr. Murray proposes that, not only is it possible, but it has been done. He will be performing a live test with some of his trusted colleagues as proof.


When: Friday at 3:30pm

Where: Room 156, Biology Building


Post-seminar food and drink will be provided.

Photo courtesy of thebioblog.com

Sunday, February 19, 2012

HUB: Missing Student

HILLING UNIVERSITY BROADCAST

SUNDAY EDITION

[Note: Hilling University Broadcast is the name of the university newspaper. It cycles the full paper on Sunday and a smaller, compact paper on Thursday.]


Student Missing Since Friday

Staff Writer Christian Peterson


Last Friday, Hilling University junior Kaitlin Manning went missing. She was last seen by her roommates Thursday night at around midnight, and is presumed to have left between then and 7:30am. Roommates reported the main apartment door closing loudly somewhere around four to five in the morning. Police suspect no foul play and were unable to find any indicators of a struggle. Most of her personal belongings remain inside her room, with the exception of her purse, phone, and car keys. She is assumed to have left on her own accord.


"It doesn't seem like her to get up and walk out," Lisa Granger, one of her roommates, tells HUB. "I got up early for my Friday 8am class and her door was wide open, lights on. I thought it was weird, so I texted her and never got an answer. She's been my best friend since middle school. I don't know why she would just walk out. When she never came back that night, I called the cops."


Kaitlin's car remains in the parking lot. Investigators have found nothing unusual inside that may give any leads. Authorities are currently unsure how to proceed.


"It's as if she walked out the door and never stopped going," HUPD officer Mark Richardson commented. "We're working with other departments as well as family and close friends of Ms. Manning to see if we can find out where she would have gone."


Contacting her phone goes straight to voicemail, and text messages have been left unanswered. Anyone with any information regarding Kaitlin Manning's location is asked to contact HUPD immediately.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Student Interviews

The following are transcription excerpts from interviews of students who attended Dr. Child's final class. Surnames have been removed pending the conclusion of Dr. Child's trial.


Note: The interviewer is marked as "INT", with the subject marked as their name or the first letter of their name.



INTERVIEW WITH ADAM [REMOVED]


INT: "Well, let's get started. Please state your name and age."


ADAM: "So this is getting recorded and stuff?"


INT: "Yes, for documentation purposes."


ADAM: "Adam [removed], 20 years old."


INT: "About where were you sitting in the classroom?"


ADAM: "Third or fourth row, over to the left as you looked at the front."


INT: "Describe what it is that happened."


ADAM: "The whole thing?"


INT: "The important parts, and what you think would be useful information for the trial."


ADAM: "Well, professor Child did like to do some quirky experiments before all this. He had us all fill out questionnaires once and he showed how much the class varied in their thinking. I dunno if you know about the prisoner's dilemma, but he basically did that with us. He brought two guys down to the front, told them that their next test grade would be replaced here, and said that they'd make their decisions in secret. Professor Child gave them the choice of determining their grades for each other. It was weird. He said, like, if both of you want to fail the other, then you both get a C. If you want to pass the other guy, then you get an A. If one of you says pass and the other says fail, then whoever said pass would get a failing grade and the other way around. So they both made each other fail, and were gonna get C's because of it. Professor explained it all and didn't force the grades that way, though, so that was nice."


INT: "So these types of experiments on you as students was typical?"


ADAM: "Not typical, but not unusual either. Like, he did it whenever he wanted to prove a point about a class. It was kinda different than what I'm used to, but I liked it."


INT: "What about the last experiment, then?"


ADAM: "That was way over the top. We weren't really as surprised when he brought in a kid as other classes would've been, but it was still was a little strange, I guess. The first couple things he did were fine, having the kid solve puzzles to get food and money. I think he was homeless or something, 'cause he ate like crazy and looked dirty and stuff. When he started with the handcuffs, it was like, 'Wait, what's going on?' I don't think any of us knew where it was gonna go from there, but professor Child kept going on about pain and [expletive]. Oh, sorry, didn't mean to curse."


INT: "It's fine, continue."


ADAM: "Okay." [Adam gives a relaxed laugh] "I think half of us thought it was just an act, that the kid wasn't really getting hurt at all. I mean, since I was in the front row, I could see the pain on the kids face every time he got a shock. But we all just sat there like idiots. We didn't want to interrupt class or stop the test. I thought that if I tried, I'd probably be told to sit down or leave or get in some sort of trouble."


INT: "So nobody did anything to stop Dr. Child?"


ADAM: "Nope, no one."


INT: "Then what happened?"


ADAM: "He pulled out a gun and aimed it at the kid. Professor Child wanted the kid to do one last puzzle or else he'd shoot. It was [expletive] up."


INT: "Did the child complete the puzzle?"


ADAM: "Yeah. Professor gave him half an hour to do it. The kid was crying the whole time, it was sick. Then when the kid finishes, Professor gave some speech about how we didn’t speak up or something. I didn't really hear it since I was waiting for him to start shooting at us or something."


INT: "And after that?"


ADAM: "The police came in and arrested the professor. Hey [INT's name], is that kid gonna be alright?"


INT: "Lucas will be fine, he's in protective care now."


ADAM: "Okay, cool. I had a little brother that I'd hate to see something crazy like that happen to him."


INT: "Thank you for your time."


ADAM: "No problem."



INTERVIEW WITH LISA [REMOVED]


INT: "This will be recorded for documentation purposes. Is this okay with you?"


LISA: "Yeah, it's fine."


INT: "Please state your name and age."


LISA: "Lisa [removed], 18."


INT: "Describe what happened."


LISA: "Dr. Child went crazy on some kid and wanted to kill him. Then he made us all feel bad about not stepping in."


INT: "He went crazy?"


LISA: "Yeah, he gave a little boy electric shocks until he did one of those Sukodu [sic] puzzles. Then he pulls a gun on the kid!"


INT: "So what did you do?"


LISA: "I called the police."


INT: "When in class did you place the call?"


LISA: "I dunno what time it was, but I ca-"


INT: "Sorry, I meant what was happening at the time you called."


LISA: "Oh, sorry. It was a few minutes after the professor pulled the gun. I was sitting in one of the back rows. I tried to hide it, but he didn't really look at me when I was talking to the 911 people. He was just aiming the gun at the kid the whole time. 911 didn't sound like they believed me, but since the police came in full force, I guess they took it seriously."


INT: "Why did you call the police then, and not earlier when Dr. Child was administering the electrical shocks?"


LISA: "I thought the kid was just faking it. My cousins are kids that would do stuff like that. I mean, the kid got all that money and food, so I thought he was doing it for more money or food later."


INT: "So you never thought to step in at all?"


LISA: "Hey, it's just what happened, okay? I called the police, I did my part. I've got a friend, Katy [removed], that would've spoken out in a heartbeat, but that's her. I'm me, alright?"


INT: "Understood. What happened next?"


LISA: "That 911 operator stayed with me the whole half hour that the professor had the gun to the kid's head. When he lowered it, I told the 911 guy, and the police came in soon afterward. I guess he relayed that information over of something."


INT: "Alright, thank you for your time."


LISA: "Yeah."



INTERVIEW WITH JORDAN [REMOVED]


INT: "Please state your name and age."


J: "Jordan [removed], 21."


INT: "Where were you sitting in class?"


J: "Front row, like I usually try to do."


INT: "Describe what happened in Dr. Child's class."


J: "I might sound a little mental, but it was fascinating. His speech on motivations was impressive, and his test was definitely a little off-the-wall, but it was at least insightful."


INT: "So you enjoyed the class?"


J: "I don't think that 'enjoyed' is the right word. I'm here to learn, Mr. [Int's surname]. And I learned plenty about motivation and about how groups think as a collective that day."


INT: "Did you try to stop Dr. Child in any way?"


J: "Um, this is getting recorded, right?"


INT: "Yes."


J: "Okay, well, just don't show this to my friends. I wanted to stop him, and at the same time...I didn't. He was going somewhere with this lecture in the end, and I wanted to see where it went. I'll admit that I got unnerved watching that kid getting shocked. Then when he pulled the gun, I couldn't do anything to stop it anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'd never put a kid through this kind of situation, and it's horrible that it happened. But Dr. Child had an extremely valid point at the end of it all. It's a shame he felt like this was the way he should get his point across, because his class had been one of the most interesting ones I've ever taken.


INT: "So you're saying that, as unethical as it was, it was worth happening?"


J: "I don't think my other classmates got as much out of it as I did, but it wasn't completely worthless, is what I'm saying.


INT: "Are you glad Dr. Child got arrested?"


J: "He broke the law, so he should have gotten arrested."


INT: "Alright, thank you for your time."


J: "Sure thing."


[END TRANSCRIPTS]

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Dr. Child's Unorthodox Class

HILLING UNIVERSITY INCIDENT REPORT

Incident Type: Illegal Misconduct

Disciplinary Actions: DR. CHILD IS HEREBY REMOVED FROM HIS POSITION AS TENURED PROFESSOR, AND ALL PROPER AND NECESSARY LEGAL ACTION IS CURRENTLY BEING TAKEN AGAINST HIM.

Incident Details:

Dr. Brian Child is known by faculty and staff to have something of an odd teaching style. He would use many sorts of odd and unusual examples and tests in his teaching, both metaphorical and physically present. Occasionally he would test his own students to see what their reaction was. As he was a psychology teacher, his students felt as if this was normal. His character hinted at him being eccentric, but nothing as extreme as his final class had ever been noted to have happened.

The following is the transcript of Dr. Child's 2:05PM PSYCH1502 class, as taken by third year psychology student Mary Telling. Ms. Telling sat in the back row and records videos of class for later. She states that this is her normal routine for her, as she claims it aids her study and she is unable to take notes as quickly as most other students.


[The video stream begins at 2:03pm with off-hand talking of the day's events and student's lives, presumably just before class begins. The 200-person lecture hall is generally full, with few empty seats. There are wooden doors behind the speaking area where a few stray students enters class at the last minute . Four electronic SMART boards line the farthest wall, with a long wooden desk as a border between lecturer and class. At the end is a podium with a standard Hilling University computer, connected directly to the four projectors in the room.


Dr. Child walks into the room, dressed in a white button-up, black suit jacket, light blue tie, and dark slacks. He is carrying a bag stuffed with a large, heavy object still out of sight. In one hand is a foggy, recently warmed tupperware container with food inside. Following him in is a young boy of 13 years, with general messy features including unkempt hair, torn clothes that are too large for him, and dirt on his face. He is approximately 5'9" with blue eyes, brown hair, and looks slightly underweight. He is staring at the tupperware container longingly, seemingly unaware of the mass of students watching. Dr. Child places the tupperware container on the wooden table, and the bag next to it. He takes out an instrument form the bag that vaguely resembles a defibrillator, referred to as "the shocker". Placing the bag on the floor, he walks over to the lecture hall computer and enters his login credentials. Murmurs run through the crowd as to what the boy is doing with the professor as Dr. Child turns the SMART boards to display four puzzles. He then takes some time to attach the shocker to the computer through a USB cable, works for two minutes on the computer, then begins his lecture.]

"Alright, let's get started. I'm sure you've noticed this little one with me. If not, then you might need more help than glasses can give you."

[Slight nervous laughter]

"He is here to assist me with class today. I have decided to skip ahead in my lectures for today and go straight to the topic of motivation. What drives us? What keeps us going? What is it that convinces us to do what it is we do? Let me bring your attention to our gut instincts, the need for survival…"

[Dr. Child lectures for approximately ten minutes before finally drawing attention back to the boy. The boy has been sitting in a desk off to the side, out of the way of the SMART boards. His eyes never leave the tupperware container other than to glance up at Dr. Child.]

"…which brings me to my little exhibition. As I said, people will do anything necessary to survive, as it is out instinct. This poor little one hasn't eaten anything but scraps for two days. The need to survive is strong for him - and he couldn't care less about anything else other than the warm, delicious meal waiting for him."

[The boy's eyes light up as he looks directly at Dr. Child. A grin appears on his face.]

"But first, let us see how motivated he really is. Lucas, come here. You must solve the leftmost maze before being allowed to eat. If you do not finish, then you do not eat. Understand?"

[The boy, Lucas, nods excitedly. After walking over, he takes a marker used on SMART boards from Dr. Child and goes to stand in front of the leftmost board. It is a maze of relatively simplicity. Lucas finishes it after a minute, and turns to Dr. Child. Lucas hands over the marker and, after a nod of approval, takes the tupperware container. Sitting back in his desk, Lucas tears off the lid and voraciously eats the simple meal with his dirty hands. Dr. Child is seen taking a towel out of his bag and tossing it to Lucas. More nervous laughter ripples through the student audience.]

"The need for food, water, shelter, and that sort of thing can make a person…"

[Dr. Child lectures on the motivation of hunger and survival for twenty minutes. Lucas finishes the meal in ten, wiping his hands clean. He sits back, full and satisfied, and his eyes droop occasionally. Dr. Child eventually reaches another form of motivation: money]

"It is the world to some people, and the lust for more cash and more stuff can greatly motivate us. To the poor, it is how they are able to survive as well! Without it, how can they eat tomorrow? Which brings me to my second little exhibition. Lucas, finished already? [The boy nods happily to more comforted chuckles in the crowd.] Wonderful! Would you like to do another test, for food money this time?"

[Lucas stands up from the desk as Dr. Child pulls out several twenty dollar bills. The boy's eyes stare at them as they did at the tupperware container earlier. As a small joke, Dr. Child moves the money around, causing Lucas to watch it go around with his head. Some slight laughs are heard among the students. Dr. Child instructs Lucas to solve some simple math problems on the second SMART board from the left. Upon completion, Lucas receives what is later determined to be $220 in twenty dollar bills.

Upon attempting to return to his seat, Lucas pockets the money. Dr. Child grabs the boy's arm and takes out handcuffs from a pocket inside his jacket. Dr. Child then locks the boy to a metallic part of the shocker. Lucas looks back questionably as Dr. Child begins a lecture on pain as a form of motivation. The boy is visibly concerned, and begins resisting against the handcuffs. Dr. Child sees this, pulls out a small device from a pants pocket, and presses a button. Lucas lets out a yelp of pain from what can only be an electrical shock. He rubs his wrist where the handcuff chains him. Dr. Child instructs the boy to stay quiet as the lecture continues. Lucas backs away as far as he can, keeping his eyes on the professor.

Ms. Telling is heard whispering to a nearby friend]

"Oh my god, did he really just do that? Can he do that?"

[Several similar whispers are audible in the crowd. At this point, Ms. Telling picks up the camera from her desk and zooms in on the boy Lucas. He is visibly shaking. The machine looks too heavy for him to move effectively. The camera zooms back out, showing Dr. Child acting as if all is normal and continuing his lecture on the effects of pain and psychological conditioning.]

"Therefore, pain can motivate someone to complete a task correctly and carefully in order to avoid it altogether. Lucas, here is the marker again. I want you to complete this third puzzle behind us."

[Lucas is able to reach the board, but only to where the handcuffs will be stretched out as far as they can go. In front of him is a 3x3 Sudoku puzzle with instructions written at the top. The boy begins to fill it out. He gets through several numbers when he receives a second electrical shock. It is later discovered that Dr. Child had written a program to deliver an automatic shock for every wrong number entered. The shock takes the boy by surprise, and he yelps again. Ms. Telling zooms in again to see Lucas shaking as he writes numbers. Another shock hits him, and from the sound of the boy's cry of pain, the shock seemed to have intensified. He looks back at Dr. Child, who is only staring out into the students. The crowd makes no noise as Lucas turns back around and tries to continue.

The boy appears to lose his concentration and is quickly afraid to write in numbers for fear of them being incorrect. He gets shocked seven more times in increasing intensity. After a grim and tense 15 minutes, the puzzle is complete and Lucas puts the marker back onto the table. Dr. Child checks to see that the puzzle is finished, and turns to speak again.]

"Interesting note to make is that pain can perhaps reduce our motivation to continue with a process. Of course it would! Why would someone want to continue with something that gave them pain? It would make no sense, unless it is a person that is into that kind of thing."

[Dr. Child chuckles to himself at his own joke, the only one in the room to do so. Lucas appears to be breathing hard and looks at Dr. Child pleadingly. Dr. Child only continues with the lecture.]

"And lastly, I shall bring this full circle and continue with the base motivation, survival. Without this motivation, we would never be here. We couldn't continue existence without the instinctive motivation. So finally…"

[Dr. Child pulls a rubber glove from his bag and drags the shocker in front of the final SMART board, pulling Lucas with it. The boy is on the verge of tears and clearly distraught.]

"The fear of death. We will do anything to keep it away. When we fear death, we stay quiet and obedient, and dare not raise a hand against the one who has the power to kill. Therefore, Lucas, if you cannot solve this final puzzle, you will die."

[Dr. Child steps back and pulls out a .45 caliber handgun from a jacket pocket and points it directly at the boy. Lucas is heard whimpering loudly. Dr. Child appears not to notice. Lucas cowers away from Dr. Child with tears freely rolling down his face. Several cries of "Oh my God!" and other curses are heard throughout the crowd.]


"You have thirty minutes."


[The puzzle reads XQU NTN USP NS BSLQTBM LS QAEZ FA, AJAB XQAB QA QPGL FA?, with the following instructions: "Every letter is to be replaced by another letter until a fully formed question appears. For example, 'ZKYXMPZZKS' would equal 'LONGFELLOW'. Hint: N->D, A->E"

Lucas slowly regains his composure and reads over the puzzle. He casts nervous glances at Dr. Child every minute. He begins to fill in letters.

Ms. Telling zooms in one final time. Dr. Child has a serious, ominous look on his face as he keeps aim at Lucas and occasionally looks down at his watch. Lucas is unable to control his shaking, and his tears refuse to stop falling. His handwriting is shaky and he can barely hold onto the marker.

One by one, Lucas fills in the letters of the puzzle. He eventually reaches a point where most of the crowd can mentally solve it, where another murmur runs through the crowd, and slight sobbing can be heard nearby. Lucas finally finishes the puzzle, twenty seven minutes after beginning it. His hand falls to his side and his head bows, clearly traumatized. Dr. Child lowers the gun. The finished puzzle on the board reads "WHY DID YOU DO NOTHING TO HELP ME, EVEN WHEN HE HURT ME" Dr. Child addresses the class a final time.]

"And so, you as students have refused to interrupt my class to help this boy. He was clearly suffering from electrical pain and extreme discomfort, and none of you dared speak out against me. I had a gun to his head and none of you asked me to put it down. I threatened to hurt and kill Lucas and you did not raise your voices. The next time this happens in your life, it won't be myself doing these things. It won't be just a single child standing in the front of the room. You could be one of the crowd that says nothing to someone begging for help. You could be in your living room, watching the newscasters tell you all sorts of things that authority figures are doing that they should not. If you fall into the crowd and stay the same course as those around you, then you have no power as an individual, and you cannot control what happens around you.

Today's topic was never changed, it was always going to be Groupthink. You have failed this class, all of you. Make sure that next time, you speak up.


Dismissed."


[Dr. Child places his gun back into his suit jacket and releases the boy from the handcuffs. Lucas falls to a sitting position and is obscured from view by the table. He can be heard sobbing loudly from behind the table. Sirens had become audible outside the building, and two minutes after Dr. Child finishes his monologue the room is stormed by policemen. No shots are fired, and Dr. Child peacefully surrenders.]


End transcription.


Further Incident Details: The boy in question was Lucas Black, a homeless child with no surviving family. He had been living in the streets with a group of vagrants for the past three years. According to him, Dr. Child approached him that morning and promised him food and a comfortable home so long as he was obedient. Since Lucas had not eaten for two days prior, he was quickly agreeable and travelled with Dr. Child to the class. He is now currently with Child Services to be placed in a suitable home. It is likely that he will keep the $220 once trial has ended.

Dr. Child will be undergoing a mental evaluation before standing trial. Charges include kidnapping, assault, and cruelty to children. It is unclear how long Dr. Child was planning this “exhibition”, or if he had known or knew of Lucas prior to the date of the incident. However, it is obvious that the lecture was planned far in advance. Investigations are pending.

END REPORT

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Long Week

Whew, it has been a long week! I think taking it one day at a time was what needed to happen.

Monday was my first test, so naturally I was studying Sunday night/Monday during work (when I had time). It went well, though it didn't feel that way right after taking it. We received it back today - the average was around 67-68 and I got an 85. Considering that was an A in the class so far, I was elated. Therefore, last week started off badly, but this week began well.

Tuesday and Wednesday were boring. I don't even remember anything major that happened on those days. Skipping ahead!

Thursday was the ASCE Career Fair. I talked to potential employers and discovered that I mostly have to do applications online. But I do have my resume in order, thanks to someone in the CE department who helps us students with things like presentations, documents, and resumes. I still have the draft of my marked up resume with all the proposed changes. I left the career fair a bit bummed, but seeing that I'm still only a second year, I suppose I shouldn't worry too much. I was hearing talk from others in line about how they've been to a few career fairs and they haven't found anything. I'm a bit concerned, but we'll see how that turns out.

Friday started fine, then turned out sucky. A decent portion of it was because I spilled my soda on my laptop! It got everywhere! I tried my best, but the keyboard is permanently stuck in the position of "I don't want to work". It's quite impressive. I've bought a USB keyboard to cope with the problem, and after much frustration and cleaning today, I believe it's fixed. So far tonight, after cleaning, I have had no problems working with the USB keyboard. I don't dare try with the laptop keys, since they have a tendency to not want to give any output on the screen.

The fun parts was that certain keys would do certain annoying tricks pre-cleaning. The S key would try to take a screenshot with OneNote, the N key opened up a side note, and the L key would lock the computer. Alt-tab wouldn't work (but windows key-tab would), and the e and y keys wouldn't type. It was all sorts of "fun".

Saturday was volunteer day for me! Math competition for middle schoolers. I realized that I can't do mental math as well as I used to, and it's a miracle I can still do any elementary math at all anymore. The room I was proctoring had a kid who's nose started bleeding near the very end of the last couple questions. I had to resort to giving him my towel (they really are the most useful things in the galaxy!) so he could clean up his hands. Even though he had a good flow of blood coming out, he still tried to keep going on the questions. He was a real trooper, it was cool. I wouldn't be surprised to see him strolling campus again one day.

So that also explains the lack of posts. And because I found this while shopping the other day, I had to buy it. No questions asked. It was delicious.

Also, here's a fun little song for you to ingest.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

The Little Things

Happy Super Bowl Sunday! I completely forgot until earlier this morning. Currently I'm watching it with a bunch of other people in the music building! I don't have much stake in it myself, or much of any sports anymore, but it's a football game and I'll watch it.

One day last week I saw something cool. It was really small, really quick, but nice. I was walking back from work one day, near a three way intersection with a light. People cross the street constantly, but not all of them realize that they need to push the cross button. So while one girl was waiting for awhile, a guy passed by and hit the Cross Intersection button for her. It was just a small, nice thing that happened and it made my day, as strangely as it sounds.

On my way home, I had to take my headphones off. The birds were singing, and it sounded great. Just taking them off and listening to the sounds of nature (in the heart of Atlanta, nonetheless) was a nice change. Try doing that now and again - just stopping and listening to the noises around you. Enjoy your walk back home. Find a bench and just relax with the atmosphere around you.

Finally, I missed the first photography club meeting due to oversleeping, but I was able to go to their Saturday workshop. They went over flash and general camera settings. Since I have my mother's film camera with me (hurrah!), I figured out a few of the settings on it. I wanted to go out afterward, but decided against it. I forgot why I decided against it. I kind of regret it now.

That's all for this week. Best comic this week goes to C&H, in my opinion. I've got another blog post, some Calc homework, a test to study for, and a Super Bowl game to finish watching. See ya next time.