Archive for October, 2007

Dorm Life OR How to find a maintenance tunnel before graduation

Published by
Chris
October 21, 2007 in Relationships and ResLife. 0 Comments

2. Living in the dorms

One of the big advantages of being a Schreyer Scholar is guaranteed preference in Honors Housing.  At Penn State, almost all incoming Scholars will be housed the two Honors dorms – Simmons and Atherton (also, see Wiki).  What this means for incoming Scholars is that they are surrounded by other scholars from the beginning of their time at Penn State.  With no disrespect to my non-Honors friends, this is a great perk when compared to the regular Penn State experience .  In addition to being incubated in a comfortable academic environment, the Honors dorms are bigger, cleaner and quieter than the hive-like East Halls towers.  There’s also some nice features, like the two pianos and the integrated computing facility and SHC administrative offices.  Academically, this means that you can find a quiet place to work without much trouble; socially, it means that most of your best friends are within shouting distance.

While the two dorms are reasonably similar, they each have a unique character.  Simmons, for example, contains the integrated dining hall, serving up palatable, reasonably healthy fare, as well as the mail room (two more reasons why Simmons is far superior).    It’s also the largest dorm on campus (unconfirmed rumor?) with a greater percentage of non-Honors students (we don’t quite fill both dorms to capacity, both because of selectivity in recruiting and the necessity of keeping the promise of guaranteed Honors housing). While Atherton feels quieter and little more studious (read dead), Simmons has a much more vibrant atmosphere, with ping-pong and pool tables, a big-screen TV and lots of kids who know how to have fun.  Atherton, on the other hand, is a quieter locale, with a two beautiful courtyards and a garden right next door (read romantic). Rivalry between the two houses is fierce, both on and off the playing field (this year’s Frisbee game was dominated by Atherton; Powderpuff football is still coming up).

Rumor also has it that Simmons and Atherton are connected by a tunnel formerly used by maintenance personnel (not to be confused with the steam tunnels all around campus). Investigation of this report is currently underway, but no details are available yet.

A Prospective’s Guide to PSU: Part I

Published by
Chris
October 14, 2007 in Research. 0 Comments

1. Size

Penn State is a huge institution. With around 6,000 freshman in every incoming class and 40,0o0 students on campus, University Park is one of the largest campuses in Pennsylvania. The consequence of this enormousness is being at Penn State feels like a safer version of life in a big city – only with all the residents between 18 and 22, no pollution and a wicked penchant for a weekly football game.

Culturally, the consequences of this size mean that each person finds a niche – a group of friends who will hang together throughout their university careers. Often times, the niche comes from a common interest – a club or sports team – but most often, that group of friends happens through sheer proximity. Honors Housing does an excellent job of fostering friendships among Honors students; my hall, for example, does a great deal of things together – from working out to late night philosophical talks to destroying each other in Halo.

Although some groups will form much quicker than others, niching tends to occur predominantly during the sophomore year, when students start committing to activities and their academic major(s). While it may seem almost cliquish to start hanging out with one group of people, it’s nearly inevitable – there’s simply not enough time to spend with every group of friends. This is a distinct adjustment from high school, where students could typically manage close relationships with a number of groups of people. At the university, however, the size of the groups tends to make this impossible. The big-city culture strikes again.

Academically, Penn State’s size influences everything from research monies to class schedules to website design (check out the Elion page – no pretty graphics or fancy layout – just pure, raw functionality. You can guess how many students it manages every day). First off, the number of grants and scholarships that PSU professors receive makes the university an excellent choice for any aspiring researcher or engineer. While, a large part of our dollars – especially in the engineering sector – come from corporate sponsors, a substantial portion also comes from government sources like the NIH or NSF. If you want to do research in engineering or science – as many Honors students do – then Penn State is a great place to be.

That said, however, PSU’s size means that you have to be pro-active if you want to get things done, even as an honors scholar. Although passively taking classes will get you a degree, that’s not going to get you a job after your four years of fun are over. So scholars become aggressive in their pursuit of outside opportunities. In some ways, I think our bulletins are deceiving: in reality, the SHCis not a college that’s going to make you into a great scholar, it’s only going to provide the tools and opportunities for you to get there. The rest is your responsibility. Some students don’t understand this, and then end up complaining that the SHC means nothing (I should know, I was one of them). But the heart of the Honors College is not in what great classes you can take (although we do have some stellar courses) but in how you will take advantage of the chances that Penn State has to offer. And herein lies the strength of Penn State – that our numbers are not only a source of anonymity but also a crucible that fires your character for years to come.

Indiana Jones and the Decade of Distinction

Published by
Meg
October 12, 2007 in Clubs, Events, ResLife and SHC. 0 Comments

HOMECOMING!

Before I go on, you need to know the background story:

So my school spirit lies in an unusual realm, split between two opposing views. On one hand, I Love Penn State. I love my classes, I love my campus, I love my football team, and I bleed blue and white. Somehow, through all of this, I hold strong reservations against getting caught up in the (borderline cultish) school spirit. Pep rallies? Not my scene. So obviously, homecoming was not really my “thing” either. I would always go out and watch the parade with my friends, but I never went for the whole nine yards–homecoming apparel, spirit points, guard the lion shrine.. too much for me. (I think this apprehension towards school spirit may be a remnant of my high school years that I can’t shake off, no matter how much I love my school now.)

This year, for the first time, the Honors College got involved with homecoming. I was not on board. I wasn’t a fan of homecoming. I don’t know the first thing about building a float. I am, however, Vice President of the SHC student council. And our Homecoming Committee was a branch of the student council. Therefore, I was obligated to go along with the whole thing. Plus, a lot of my close friends are also officers for the SHC Student Council, and they were all into it… So that’s how I got roped into homecoming.

I went to the meetings. Nope, still not into homecoming.

I bought the tshirt. Yeppp.. still not into homecoming.

Last weekend, I went downtown to sell homecoming fundraiser lollipops with two of my friends on Student Council. (Why we had to sell lollipops to finance homecoming is another long story.) We made some money, goofed around downtown, and overall had a pretty fun afternoon. Who would have ever thought I’d admit to having fun at something for homecoming?

On Sunday night, the flatbed to build the homecoming float arrived on Atherton lawn. Picture it: Most organizations that build homecoming floats are places with some sort of home base off campus, like fraternities with their big frat houses. Even most of the clubs and non-greek organizations build at houses off campus. You never see floats being constructed in the middle of campus. Until… Homecoming 2007, haha. Unlike frats, the honors’ college homebase is Atherton Hall; if you’ve been to Penn State, you know Atherton is situated on The Busiest intersection in University Park, right in the middle of campus. And here we are, out on the lawn, in the middle of the day, all set to build our float. Top secret? Not exactly. Comical? Yes.

So on Sunday, float construction started. I didn’t know where to begin.. luckily, we had a lot of other people who knew what to do, and they could help out by assigning tasks for the rest of us. I still didn’t know what to do.. so.. when someone said they needed to go to Lowe’s, I volunteered myself to go along. While we were at Lowe’s, I helped solved a minor architectural crisis we had encountered with the building materials. When we got back, I helped with the new plan. That was the first time I felt any ownership towards the float, and the first time I started to warm up towards homecoming.

I stayed until the end of the night, and helped my friends make a dent in the 20 pizzas we had delievered. Oh man, to see all of us tearing through those boxes of pizzas… that was awesome.

So over the course of the week, I ended up spending more and more time at the float. By Wednesday, it was official.

I was into homecoming.

Maybe I couldn’t use a nail gun, maybe I didn’t like to pomp, but if you are looking for someone to turn $3 baseball batting helmets into battered, skull-like Wisconsin football helmets, I’m there! And outfitting the people riding on the float for under $15? Yes, that I could do! I found my own little niche in the Homecoming Machine. Somehow, in spite of all my reservations and disinterest, Homecoming had worked its way into my heart.

Wednesday night was so much fun.. Since our float was in a very public location, we didn’t want anyone to come along and destroy all our hard work. So a few of us slept out on the float Weds night to guard our float. It was basically a big sleepover, complete with s’mores, cookies, and hot apple cider. On Thursday night, the faithful few who stayed out there had to get up at 4:00am to finish last-minute construction (postponed from rain) and get our float to check-in by 9:00am Friday.

So in 4 hours, Indiana Jones and the Decade of Distinction will make its maiden voyage down the parade route. Dean Brady (Dean of the Honors College) helped us get a truck to pull the float, and he’ll be the one driving the truck in the parade today. I can’t wait to see all this week’s crazy hard work come together when I watch our float!!!

I love homecoming. I had such an amazing time this whole week!! Bonding over s’mores while you sit on a giant float in the middle of Atherton lawn all night? How often do you get to do that? Who would have ever thought that I’ll hate to see Homecoming 2007 end….

RSS Podcasts from Dean Brady

  • The Jewishness of Jesus
  • SHC Oxford Debate 2009
  • Building College Communit Through Technology?
  • First Night 07
  • "Go and do likewise," Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial 2007

 

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