The University of Alabama is having a...umm...long...err...stiff...ehmm...hard problem. Craig Wedderspoon, head of the sculpture program at UA, recently installed a 10-foot-tall sculpture entitled "Argyle". Wedderspoon saw it as an abstract artistic expression, which was all fine and dandy until people started trying to go past the abstract.
“We had a lot of people come by and comment ‘giant phallus,' ” said Wedderspoon, head of the sculpture program at UA's Department of Art. “When confronted with something abstract, we may not know what it is, it's curious how quickly it is we go to our sexual organs."
Yes Mr. Wedderspoon, curious indeed. Wedderspoon, who's previously had similar comments on his work, denies any (intentional) innuendo. It's a good thing that we don't have any statues like this on campus that could be potentially misconstrued. Oh wait...
Read on to get a closer look at Penn State's dirty statue.
Penn State recently announced that it will be using an automated system to handle all financial interest disclosures in its research. Penn State's research budget last year totaled $765 million, so any change involving any aspect of its allocation is something to take under consideration.
Click Commerce's eResearch software will be implemented, and through the software researchers can create and maintain their financial information. This information will then be linked into the university's institutional review board, where they can review potential conflicts of interest. Think Facebook meets Big Brother (1984, not the show). But more confidential. Hopefully. The University claims that:
Given the sensitive nature of the data we're gathering, our researchers can be confident of confidentiality as we'll be using Click's Web services to ensure secure data transfer between our systems and the Click platform
I think it's a great thing that the University is trying to streamline some cumbersome processes, but I'm not sure how I feel about this. Entrusting this information to a private company's servers? Penn State has already had enough problems (i.e. hacked social security numbers) keeping its own information secure, without sending it out to a private company. Will this "sensitive" data really be as secure as Penn State claims?
As I'm sure you all remember, the most important thing on students' minds last spring was not finals, term papers, or tanning in the quad (ed. note: we have quads?). It was whether Asher Roth was the right choice to headline Wallypallooza.
This year, though the UPUA is determined to organize another pre-finals music festival, the name is very much undecided. Since Mike Wallace resigned from his position as UPUA Programming Chairman, naming the festival after him makes even less sense than it did last year. Though Leanna Usnik has taken over the position, Usnikpalooza just does not have quite as good a ring
What should the new festival be called? Read on to find out a few other people we could name it after:
There are some days that you just wake up at 8:45, have a 9:05 class, and just don't feel like going to class. We all have those days. I have those days every day. The question is, how do you know which classes to skip and which to suck it up and attend? Read on to follow Noah's simple point system for skipping class and you'll be a regular Ferris Bueller (and still get good grades) in no time.
A recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education discusses the evolution and incorporation of video games into the academic world, and their use as didactic devices.
The article markets the potentials of this relatively new medium with a discussion of how fun, yet educational games, could augment (or even replace!) the classroom.
In 20 years, are you going to remember anything you learned in English 15/30? Probably not. But you will have better teamwork skills because of the practice you received working in groups. Some of the most profound skills we learn here are how to listen to a presentation, how to interact with out peers, how to work in a group. Teaching through video games is certainly a new and revolutionary idea, but I think it's a slippery slope away from our humanity.
It starts with online classes and learning through video games, but it's not too far of a stretch to go from that to a Matrix-esque world; all of us plugged in and having information loaded straight into our brains. What do you think?
I'm sure you all know SOMETHING about economics, and there's nothing more simple than supply and demand. That is, when a service or good is in demand, someone will usually step up and supply that good. Here at Penn State, what do we demand? Big 10 championships. God-like football coaches. Clutch field-goal kickers. Money for the kids.
But an under-appreciated (until now) demand is that of fixing all the things that frats break. Imagine you're a fraternity brother, you're having a party, and someone breaks a window. It doesn't matter how it happened, what matters is that the windows broken and it's cold outside! What are you going to do? You could fix it yourself, but that would probably require actual effort. So you duct tape a piece of cardboard over it, and that seems to do the job.
Are you tired of that being your only option? It no longer has to be! Fratfix is here to help you out! Fratfix's stated goal is to "assist fraternities with preventative maintenance and management of the fraternity house physical plant."
Honestly, this company is a brilliant idea. Sure, there are tons of companies out there that do the exact same things for normal houses, but none of those have the word "Frat" in the name! Come on, who do you want to come lay your pipes? Some middle-aged guy with plumber's crack, or Fratfix?