universityofstthomas
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Snowman Light
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Philosophy says you can not have good without evil. Which is to say you have no frame of reference, no true way to define “good” if you don’t have it’s opposite. Now, I haven’t the philosophical experience to discuss good’s definition in terms of evil, but I believe it is related to another universal facet of the human experience: joy’s definition in terms of pain.
Mykala’s getting her MA in Human Development and another MA in Counseling and Psychological Services, so she’s reached the point where she’ll do something called a practicum. It’s not unlike an internship, except you earn credits for doing the work and getting the experience. We’ve talked a lot, and Mykala is interested in, well, not pathologizing people. Clinical psychology, the DSM diagnoses, etc. have their place, but she wants to take a well-adjusted person and help them stretch to reach their potential. So, Mykala interviewed for her practicum at the St. Thomas Career Development on Friday. The interview went so well that they called back later that day to offer her the position!
My alma mader, St. Thomas, is upgrading its email system. Though I use a dedicated desktop email program, sometimes I do have to check email through a web browser — so, with some trepidation, I clicked over to the tutorial for the new version of Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access.
My German prof (Professor Paul A. Schons) from freshman year of college has a “German History” mailing list in which, on weekdays during the school year, he sends out historical German facts and current events. He has got to be one of the nicest people I have ever met — sharp witted, too. So, I never unsubscribed to his mailing list… so, four years later, I’m still receiving it. Today, he writes:
According to Bulletin Today, the UST news source: Brass plumbing pipes stolen from campus restroom last week:
The University of St. Thomas Public Safety Department posted an alert Friday regarding the theft of brass plumbing pipes from men’s restrooms in O’Shaughnessy Educational Center on the St. Paul campus.
The pipes were stolen Wednesday evening, March 26. That same night, pipes were stolen at Macalester College. Pipes in the Murray-Herrick Campus Center restrooms were tampered with, but not removed.
St. Thomas recently relaxed their admissions policy. This has resulted in swelling class sizes… but apparently an average reduction in the qualification level of undergraduates. You see, I overheard this today in the weight room at St. Thomas:
Guy 1: Dude, are you going on spring break? Like, Fort Myers or something?
Guy 2: Psh — does the sun set?
Guy 1: What? … … … Oh, right.
The iTunes we all know, love, and use has a convenient music sharing feature. It allows people on a the same network to listen to one another’s music. This is particularly useful in a University setting; you can see the music of everyone in a dorm, in a common area, and in the library. Recently, when Mykala and myself were studying for finals in the library, I decided to open up iTunes and see what libraries were available from my collegiate colleagues. The list of the library names that appeared follows:
I have a nice RA here in Morrison Hall, and I don’t mean to criticize him with this post, but I must point out an unintentional (subconscious?) commentary he made with a typo of his. You see, RA’s are held responsible by the University to put up door decorations and generally make the hall look lived in with personable posters, discussion boards, etc. These are most effective in the more jail-type floorplans of the underclassmen dorms. I’ve seen some women RAs really shine at this floor decoration thing. However, we are in upper class apartments here in Morrison, and we’re guys … so the door dec/floor decoration thing kind of falls apart. Now, my RA put up some posters at the beginning of the year, with some thoughtful motivational words next to them. They’ve hung there since September, and I’ve seen them every day I’ve been here.
My lab this past Monday was significantly longer than the time I spent sleeping last night. I find that curious.
A lot of work to do before graduation, yet I feel quite ready to be done.
To augment this post, I will (happily) provide you with some lyrics to a very short Fountains of Wayne song.
Saint Thomas is situated in a very safe part of St. Paul—crime is low, and the safety measures in the dorms are high: keycard access and check-ins after hours. You start to take it for granted how safe it is to be on campus. In the past few years, however, we’ve had a marked increase of muggings only blocks from school. It’s usually dark, and the victim usually gets hit on the head. One guy was running with his iPod and didn’t even know what was coming because he couldn’t hear anything. Another guy was something like 6’5”, and he still got attacked.
I don’t have class tomorrow. *So happy*. Just have to go in for labs on Friday and Monday. Hurrah!
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