Every year that I’ve been at the UofC we get these lame letters asking us to relate our life and experience at the University to donors or prospective students. I don’t ever participate, as I’m sure that my statements would be heavily censored. Institutionalized education is a big racket; that’s true everywhere – its just more miserable here. If life is misery, then they do well to prepare you at the UofC....
I’m not sure that it is very reassuring as an indication of career prospects, but that depends greatly on perspective. What I am sure of is that it raises some very important questions. Read: http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0910/arts_sciences/philosopher.shtml it’s worth the time, in my opinion. Specifically, I think that the Subject hits a few ideas right on the head. Most importantly, to me: “Too often,” he declares, “the defenders of free markets forget that what we really want is free men....
So, I’m back in Chicago. Back in classes. Spanish is going well and Logic is quite fun. I was just sitting around thinking about the strange interpretation of if… then statements. In logic, they’re only ever false if the “if” part is true and the “then” part is false. For instance – imagine taking a business to court because they won’t refund your money despite the fact that they sold you inferior products and have the slogan :...
In an attempt to quantify educational success, most colleges assign some numeric weight to letter grades. Most are weighted on a 4.0 scale. Now, it has been well documented that this indicator has been on the rise for years… which poses a few interesting questions. Are students getting smarter, is the curriculum getting easier, or are higher grades simply being given out more often for equivalent work? Embedded in those questions are other questions: how has GPA importance changed, how have professors’ attitudes changed, how has education itself changed?...
I apparently had no idea. Well, I had some vague thoughts – I knew I would not set out to study anything I love doing. Computer Science was off limits because I really enjoy learning about technology and programming. It is always exciting to explore and teach myself new things in that field. Start forcing me to study and my enjoyment melts away. It becomes a chore – a burden – another imposed aspect of life....
First quarter, third year, gone. Very glad. I had my schedule for next quarter all planned out, then I ended up getting only one out of my four classes. So, how can you get the classes you want with a computerized system? That was my question, and the answer, at least here, is pretty simple. Class registrations are updated in real time, so for me to fit into a class I didn’t get, I just need someone to drop....
So, over the past few days I completed my final art project. (If you want you can view it here: final.) Which means that my art class is pretty well over. Aside from a few short essays due Friday. Which also means that over the next few days I’ll be doing nothing but… economics. Horrible. So, perhaps I’ll be posting plenty, to distract myself from my uninteresting alternative.
Well, I’m swamped. After doing dismally on my midterms, I have a ton of studying to do in preperation for finals. Classes are rough when you only have two grades. I have posted some of my artwork, with more on the way soon. You can look at it here. I’ve also redone my homepage, so check that out too. I’ll try and write later. Adios.
Well, the pictures are not up yet, but the art is complete. I spent a good deal of time on project one, with the final twenty-four hour stretch being the most creative. And yet, the art seems reminiscent of an eight year-old’s work. My critique went well, however… so perhaps my own view is too hash. I’ll try and get pictures of some of the pieces up within the next few weeks....
I’ve got a cup of green tea, three open windows (it is a beautiful 50° F), and a pile of homework due shortly. I’m [supposed to be] working on two multi-part (multi-part meaning over a dozen sub-questions each) economics questions due Monday and my first art project due Tuesday. After reading about mathematically described recursive data structures all day, I’m taking a little break to write. So, here we are. You, me, and some extemporaneous thoughts to follow:...