It’s a Big, Big World
Throughout the semester I’ve addressed a number of topics such as poverty, sustainability, culture, trade, politics, and activism. However, I’ve overlooked specific examples that require last minute mentioning.
Brouhaha Rhythm
Oh, Summer … so long have I longed for your kind and merciful embrace. For two semesters, I have quested through the academic labyrinth. I have endured perpetual confusion and ceaseless frustration, hoping to find you around every corner, only to find another serpentine passageway in my path. Now that I have traveled so far through this dim dungeon, the glimmer of your reward shines clearer even in my tired eyes, but one more challenge lies between you and me. The Minotaur of finals week stands ominously before me, offering one last, fateful change to strike me down. Yet as worn as I am, I am prepared to stand tall and slay it with the last of my energy, if only so I may crawl from beneath its corpse and find myself at your feet, bloody and bruised, yet ready for you to lift my spirits.
Squid vs. Whale
It’s around this time of year that American Idol starts to really bug me. Now it’s not ‘cause of the contestants, Simon, or Paula’s every slipping grip on reality, it’s mainly Seacrest. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have anything against Ryan Seacrest. I think he’s an affable guy and an all-right TV host. It’s simply the idea of Seacrest that bothers me.
Ramblings From Hell
It occurred to me after the fifth straight day of clouds and cold rain last week that the magic in my life has disappeared. Maybe it’s because it’s finals time and I’m stressed, or because there’s always more work to be done, or even simply because it’s raining. I have a sense, though, that it’s more than just the rain and the homework and the exams. I think the magic is just gone.
Squid vs. Whale
Sam and I were thinking about the new Indiana Jones movie. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the series or not, but it’s quite popular with the youth today. It involves the escapades of a professor of archeology who has a penchant for mischief, Nazis, and biblical artifacts.
Brouhaha Rhythm
You’d think it would be redundant to write an article for MIT students about the effects of stress, yet here I am. I suppose I just can’t help inflicting my thoughts on all of you — sorry about that. As it happens, stress is much like physical illness, in that it can manifest itself in physiological symptoms like muscular tics and discomfort, which is why over the next few weeks, you’ll be seeing MIT undergraduates all over campus twitching and jerking like they were inventing a new dance style. In my particular case, my abdominal muscles keep contracting involuntarily, so on the bright side, my core should be a good bit stronger by the time finals are over. As a point of additional irony, other symptoms of stress include memory problems and insomnia, which cause our already stressed bodies to put on quite a dance. The obvious solution to stress is to relax, but when there are only so many hours between now and crunch time, that solution becomes less and less of a viable option.
Summer Style
Summer is fast approaching, and with warm weather and no classes comes a new focus on fashion. Indeed, this is the perfect time to experiment with your own fashion sense, and get a better understanding of what trends, fits, and colors suit you. Although we’re excited to get started with this time of year, we wanted to warn you all to avoid some of the pitfalls that can keep you from feeling the full warmth of summer.
Special Thanks to the MIT Flying Club
The MIT Flying Club is a student-run organization. The MITFC is free to join and offers opportunities for free or subsidized hands-on flying experiences in General Aviation aircraft, lectures, free use of a fully-certified FAA-instrument simulator, carpools to airports, and FAA seminars. The club also sponsors two students per semester to train and fly with the Hawk Flying Club in Lawrence, brings helicopters to Briggs field every September (and offers free rides around campus and Boston to MIT students) and is working on obtaining funds to offer flying scholarships to offset the cost of training for ratings.
Brouhaha Rhythm
Those of you who know me particularly well know that I was born and raised in suburbs just about all of my life. Consequently, my time here at MIT is my first time living in a major metropolitan area for any extended period of time. Bearing that in mind, I have to say, it’s been an interesting experience. Boston and Cambridge may not be quite so urban as Los Angeles or Coruscant (we can see the Boston sky), but I’m working my way up to the full-fledged city experience.
It’s A Big, Big World
I firmly believe that knowing a city requires exploring it by foot. Fortunately for me, one of my class’ first activities in Buenos Aires, Argentina was a downtown walking tour. This tour completely altered my first impression of a city with a European look and feel, which was formed by a bus ride. Walking on sidewalks and approaching buildings and graffiti up close uncovered a characteristic that was truer of the city: one of political charge and change.
Happy Feet
There is one piece of attire that is so indispensable to our lives that we felt it was necessary to dedicate an entire week’s column to it: our shoes. Certainly, we aren’t encouraging everyone to buy the 400 pairs of shoes that would rival Carrie Bradshaw’s collection. However, after extensive investigation (meaning delirious hours spent in all sorts of shoe stores), we are sure that shoes contribute the most to style, posture, and unique self expression.
A Good Move
Looking for a mate? Want to construct a mating net? Larry Christiansen can teach you how. No, he is not an online relationship expert, but rather a chess grandmaster and three-time national champion. In honor of CPW, the MIT chess club hosted Larry last Friday to lecture, regale and battle a field of prefrosh and undergrads in the game of chess.