Problems with Tech

In class today we are given an assignment to compile a list of things that we thing are problems with Tech and things we are having trouble with. One thing that I see is a problem is that the food courts close too early. Just when I am really starting to get hungry, every one of the food courts (except DX) are closed.

It is pretty cold, especially of late. This goes hand in hand with the fact that you have to walk a good 10 minutes or more in the freezing cold just to get somewhere. Even if you take the bus it sometimes takes longer than walking and is not worth it.

Personally, I have a huge problem with security and cops are constantly stopping my friends and I for skateboarding to and from class. It is so agrivating when they say there is no skateboarding allowed anywhere on campus when in fact this is not true. It is only illegal on certain parts of campus and plus buses are so much more dangerous for pedestrians and traffic than skateboards.

The fire drill schedule seriously needs to be revamped. I am so sick of being woken up at 3 in the freaking morning to go downstairs and outside into the cold to stand for 20 minutes with hundreds of other pissed off people until they tell you it is ok to go back in and go to bed.

Another thing that bothers me about tech is the freshman football lottery. It is the most flawed method of ticket distribution ever. I have friends here who have won a ticket every time so far this year, but I have not won a single time. The only opportunity that I have had to go to a game was only because one of my friends gave me his ticket due to the fact that he didn't need his because he was going home for the weekend.

All of these are things that I find annoying, but in all seriousness, these are things that I have found to live with here at Tech. They are tollerable and worth tollerating in order to attend Virginia Tech.

People need to be more considerate

Something I've noticed about the people here at Tech is that alot of them are very inconsiderate, especially to people in a hurry. I was walking back from class the other day and saw a friend of mine who was in a hurry and riding his longboard to make up for the time. He was coming around a corner in and gave fair notice that he was comig. Note that nothing was blocking him from view in any way. When he came around the corner there were three people standing in a row across the path and flat out refused to move out of the way as any considerate person would. It took for him to be almost on top of one of them, who still wouldn't move, to realize that they weren't about to budge. So he had to jump off of his board, catch himself from falling, and watch his board go shooting off into the distance without him, while the person he narrowly avoided did nothing but look back at him and just keep right on walking.
Just yesterday I had a similar encounter while trying to get to Chemistry on time. I decided to ride my board because it is alot faster than just walking. I was going down the hill by Owens food court and being considerate of the people walking by politely saying," Excuse me." Most moved out of the way with plenty of time, but there were the few that just plain refused to move. I ended up having to jump off my board as well and while wearing my laptop backpack, lost my balance and rolled right onto my back. Those same people just kept right on walking after simply glancing back at me and not even asking if i was alright or apologizing. I was so scared for my laptop that I didn't bother saying anything to them. I ended up tearing up my hand and wrist which I had just landed on last weekend and sprained badly.
So in conclusion: People, if you see somebody in a hurry or hear them try to warn you that they are coming, please do the considerate thing and simply move out of the way. It will save all of us a bunch of trouble in the end.

Comments on Research Proposal

Thanks to Mrs. Scott for all of the extremely helpful comments on my research proposal. I knew I had work to do on it, but I did not quite realize just how much was needed.

Fall Break

I, like most of the people I know here at Tech, went home for the recent short break (one day) we just enjoyed. I had been ready to go home and visit my family and friends for quite some time and I must say it was so enjoyable I almost didn't want to come back to college. I really appreciated the wonderfulness of getting to sleep in my own bed without having to climb up into it or risk waking up my roommate. It was amazing getting to sleep in and not having to worry about getting up and walking somewhere to get breakfast. I got my laundry done and got some home cooked meals in the process, something that I had grown to miss very much. I had the oportunity to spend some time with my closest friends back home for a few days and enjoyed evey second of it. I realized just how much I had missed them. I am already counting down the days until Thanksgiving break when I'll actually have a week to spend with the people I care about the most. Why can't November hurry up and get here already?

the hatred of ARIS

For those of you who are in a chemistry lecture where you have to use the ARIS system for your homework, you know how painfully agrivating it can be. The system always seems to be down for some reason, and if it isn't, it experiences glitches. The latest example of the ARIS's failure was yesterday where I spent-I kid you not- 6 hours trying to log in to do my homework, unsuccessfully. It kept saying that they were doing maintenance on the system and simply wouldn't let me in so that I could do my homework that was due at 11 last night. I found out throughout the course of the night that I was not the only one who was experiencing this problem, and that at least 3 of my friends were having the exact same problem. Needless to say, homeworks went uncompleted last night, lots of emails were sent to professors, and a lot of things were broken in all the frustration. Hopefully they will find some way to fix the problem before all of us end up failing based on incomplete homework grades. But I'm not holding my breath.