Student Life

One [of a Kind] Weekend

Posted on October 30, 2011 by marcus luther

OCT 30^TH 2011—There many different roles and responsibilities associated with being the ASUPS President, but it is fair to say that none afford as much insight into the inner-workings of the university as the ex-officio seat I have on the Board of Trustees. And after an historic weekend that included a building dedication, millions of dollars raised and a campaign kick-off that will be remembered for years to come, I can’t help but take a step back and try to capture in words the weekend that was.

In a political climate terse with the Occupy-Your-Nearest-Location attitude, the arrival of thirty-plus trustees onto campus—most of them being 1%ers according to the Occupy Movement vernacular—could have been expected to raise the stereotypical ire of a liberal student body. And on cue, The Trail released a disparaging opinion piece about Weyerhaeuser Hall the day of the dedication. Without commenting about my disappointment in the choice by The Trail to stir controversy just for the sake of stirring controversy on a day that should have been anything but controversial, I want to talk a bit about the trustees and what took place this past weekend.

Garden Level performed for all of us in this dinner at LeMay Car Museum, in honor of Bill and Gail Weyerhaeuser

Looking back on all I saw and experienced, I only wish that more students could have been a part of it. Certainly, there were plenty of students who gleaned some perspective of the “business side of things” that the trustees and school administrators deal with on a regular basis, and groups such as RDG and Garden Level put on remarkable performances for all in attendance. But even including those performers, it was only a fraction of the student body that got to witness the incredible display of optimism, generosity and passion that was celebrated this weekend.

On Thursday and Friday, I sat in numerous workshops and meetings with trustees, listening to them articulately analyzing all the different facets of our university. Though I did participate a bit, for the most part I sat in awe and watched how they related the individual components of the Puget Sound experience to the broader mission. Listening to all of their wisdom and insights, I can honestly say that I am grateful that our school’s direction is in such capable hands. On Friday evening, I watched the quiet generosity of Bill and Gail Weyerhaeuser—which has been positively impacting our school for numerous decades—be recognized with the dedication of our new health sciences building, Weyerhaeuser Hall. Their love of the University of Puget Sound was evident on their faces and in their spoken words as they graciously accepted such a deserving honor.

Finally, last night I was privileged—along with quite a few other students—to attend the public kickoff of the “One [of a Kind]” campaign for Puget Sound. Already having raised $74 million dollars for the Puget Sound fund, the campaign’s kickoff event took place in a transformed Fieldhouse gym [see the picture above]. Though the evening was celebrated with fascinating performances, exquisite decorations and a savory four-course meal, the heart of the evening was in the speeches that closed it. We were able to hear different stories about the Puget Sound experience, about how undergraduate experiences here helped individuals discover their capacities, motivating them to go out into the world with a devout intent to change it for the better. And many of those individuals—despite being national and world leaders spread across the country and globe—still believe in our school, enough to come back and continue to help making the opportunity possible for our generation as well as those that will inevitably follow us.

It was a weekend to remember for all involved, but I only wish that more students could understand how fortunate we are to be at the school we are at, with the support we have behind us. If nothing else, my exposure into the Board of the Trustees has taught me to be thankful of all we have. It is a unique opportunity we have, being students at Puget Sound, and one that we ought to be appreciative of.

Yes, many of us students have worked hard to get here as well. Yes, many of us pay a fair amount to be here out of our own wallets [or those of our parents/guardians]. And yes, the school spent a fair amount of time, energy and money celebrating its donors this weekend. But I think everyone involved will tell you that what was really being celebrated was the Logger experience and identity, and the profound impact that our school has had on so many students.

All of us students should remain forever cognizant of and grateful for the work others have done to make our experience possible. There are many who have spent their lives working to make the school the incredible place it is, whether through service on the Board of Trustees, through public or private donations, through participating in the ASK Network and simply by staying connected to the school that changed their life when they were here. Though not many students got to see the inspirationally-authentic devotion for Puget Sound that was on display this past weekend, I hope that we all can remember to be grateful for the [often invisible] work being done for our school behind the scenes.

This weekend affirmed my pride and humility in being a Logger; please take this as my 100% guarantee that you would be justified in feeling the same way.

“All my life I wanna be a Logger”

All my life I will be a Logger. We all will be, and we should be inexpressibly grateful for what that means.

(by the way, the entire reception area was filled with larger-than-life photos of students, staff, faculty and trustees. They didn’t let us know about this in advance, so I walked in and immediately saw myself [above left] staring back at me. It was surreal.)

Posted in 2011-12, Marcus Luther '12, Uncategorized | Tagged One [of a Kind] weekend Puget Sound campaign weyerhaeuser | Comments Off

Halfway there

Posted on October 26, 2011 by corrie wong

The semester is already halfway done! It feels like it’s gone by so quickly, yet slowly at the same time. It seems weird that Halloween is on Monday, and it also feels strange because I feel the urge to listen to Christmas music in October.

It’s also almost time to register for classes for next semester. I’m thinking Oceanography, Asia Pop! (about pop culture and music in Asia), First Aid and CPR (because it’s good to know), Bowling (I have been waiting years to take this), possibly Psychology (if only to have a class in the and the big T word. Thesis. I think next semester I’m going to need to move my inspirational poster to a more visible place in my room, though I really should have it right above my desk already instead of on the back of my door.

But, as for this semester, I was thrilled when I got to draw blood from crayfish in animal physiology lab a few weeks ago. I’ve also come to the conclusion that crayfish are really quite cute. Now, though, we are beginning our independent projects for animal phys, meaning a project that we work on with a partner that we come up with and conduct ourselves. It’s pretty awesome that we get to do that.

I also went to my second ever Sounders game this past month. It was exciting even though we lost. The garlic fries were amazing.

Remember how my last post was about how the rainy season has started? Not so much. The weather has made a liar of me. Although there were some rainy days, most days have been sunny or overcast but dry. Granted, it’s still cold enough for me to complain about my body not being able to handle it because I’m from Hawaii, but not too rainy. However, on one of the particularly rainy days I saw this massive puddle on campus and had to fight my inner five year old not to jump in it. I managed to refrain from jumping in that puddle, but I will not deny stomping harder than necessary in other, smaller puddles on my way to class.

But that’s what rain boots are for, right?

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…and where did October go?

Posted on October 21, 2011 by hshears

The halfway point of the semester has come and gone too swiftly…Fall Break always ends so fast. And it makes October go by so quickly too. September stretched on on, but I blinked and October is now half-over.

While many students choose to leave campus for a few days during Fall Break, I stayed in Tacoma. My Dijon study abroad program had its “25 + 1” anniversary weekend. 26 generations of Dijonettes were present in the Rotunda last Saturday night, and it was a lovely evening of music, reminiscing, and French cuisine. I enjoyed learning more about the history of the program as well as hearing stories of how it has influenced so many people’s lives. There was so much appreciation and love in the room. I consider myself so lucky to have been able to participate in such a culturally rich program. It made me miss everything about France more!

The best part of the weekend, by far, was getting to spend time with the woman who runs the Dijon program in France, Nathalie. Our group had so much fun showing her around Tacoma, telling her about our classes and our plans for the future, sharing meals with her again like we did every week in France. It was the perfect reunion. It was so sad to say goodbye to her again, but I managed to keep it together and not weep like I did when we said goodbye in France. I know I will be back in France one day. It is just a question of when. Europe and I could never be separated for too long.

When I wasn’t spending time with my 2011 Dijonettes, I was in the library writing papers. That part of Fall Break was not so fun. In between all the socializing and the writing, I managed to squeeze in a professional massage. I think it was enough time to catch my breath before running full speed ahead again into the semester.

In other news, I saw a Christmas themed commercial on TV today, and it’s not even Halloween. This does not assuage my sense that time is rushing by at unstoppable pace. As a senior, you want to slow down and consciously process and enjoy your college experience because each time you do something, it might technically be the last…but it’s hard to remember that philosophy at 2 in the morning when you’re trying to think of something intelligent to argue in your French essay.

On that note, my bed awaits me. À bientôt!

Posted in 2011-12, Helen Shears '12 | Tagged fall, paper-writing, Study abroad, time | Comments Off

Droppin’ Knowledge

Posted on October 18, 2011 by mkrauszer

There's a late-stage crustacean nauplius larva in my coffee!

I wish more people dropped more knowledge more often.

It’s the reason strangers think I’m ‘interesting’, friends think I’m annoying, and family thinks I’m pretentious. I have a tendency to drop knowledge. Usually shallow, loosely-relevant biology knowledge. Frequently even somewhat unsure and mildly wrong. But I just can’t seem to hold on to it. A lot of the time this is my brain’s socially-unacceptable way of digesting and retaining something I’ve just ‘learned’, repeating what I heard in class in casual conversation. Other times it’s just rattling off fun ‘facts’ I read on the Internet about earthworm gut proportions or flocking robots. Perhaps none of it is substantial but I think it’s more fun than talking either about nothing or about our own mundane lives (because that is really usually just complaining).

Sometimes this desire for a casual-knowledge-accepting society leaves me to act as a nerd-vocate. Advocating for the tolerance of the nerd lifestyle and encouraging the positive connotations of the word “nerd”. When I was the Resident Assistant in the Honors Program freshman house, I made a bulletin board of awesome nerd profiles (somewhat in response to some negative attention from the campus community). I put myself on the board, of course, sort as a ‘coming out’ statement. [Plus, I just wanted to see a picture of my own face with the likes of John Green.]

A depiction of me by my shipmate, Mattie, after 1.5 weeks of acquaintanceship. Apparently my distinctive characteristics were Star Trek, Set, and blowing up the world with my mind. I think I made a good impression

There’s stigma against being ‘too smart’ or caring about something as nerdy as scholastic accomplishment more than social endeavors. Even on a college campus, it is a trait often associated with a lack of social skills or ‘unfortunate’ misordering of priorities. But this isn’t elementary school anymore, folks. You’re all smart, and it’s ok.

During my time on land with the Sea Education Association, before our Atlantic voyage last semester, I had the opportunity to get to know the students who would soon become my shipmates. It was like the first six weeks of college all over again, only I was two years older and cared exponentially less about what everyone would think of me. I was soon deemed the “nerd” in my house for talking about slugs and social justice too much, but we all got along wonderfully. There was one other student, a freshman, who seemed to be more on my nerd-level. Sometimes we got some funny looks while we argued about biodiversity over dinner, but we persisted. We exchanged cool youtube videos and started most of our sentences with “did you know…?” By the end of the voyage, my fledgling freshman thanked me for showing her that it’s ‘ok to be a nerd’.

I realize it is a fine line between being obnoxiously obsessed with “I just read”, “today in class”, and “did you know” and just expressing productive enthusiasm. But there is an equally fine one between being unwilling to share what we know and trying to actively know less.

So, next time you suffer the word-vomit of a Mary Krauszer biology rant, try not to take it as just showing off, take it as an invitation to share what you’ve got sitting in the “personally interesting” section of your brain.

I think the world would be a smarter, or at least more interesting, place if people shared what they knew in casual conversation. I’m just too clumsy to hold on to mine, so I wish you would drop some of yours too.

Nerd up or shup up, Langlow 2008.

Posted in Mary Krauszer '12 | Tagged Nerds unite! | Comments Off

A Semester of Field Trips.

Posted on October 11, 2011 by rmallon

Starting the generator for the ROV.

It’s been the semester of field trips. I’ve been the majority of weekends this semester to explore really exciting places in around Tacoma.

In my Marine Biology class we got to spend one of the last sunny days on the boat surveying the rocky subtidal with a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV). It was like playing a video game, watching what happened underwater. The ROV can pick up something as heavy as a human body (yikes!!), but we just used it to pick up a Pycnopodia helianthoides, or sunflower star.

Pycnopodia and ROV.

This semester, I’m taking a ¼ credit class called Puget Sound Environmental Issues. We’re learning about the Puyallup watershed, via many different disciplines. The class is also open to members of the local community, which I felt was really beneficial to get perspective from someone who wasn’t a professor or student. The class consists of an intensive weekend of fieldtrips featuring local leaders whose occupations allow them close interaction with the watershed.

Salmon spawning along the Greenwater River. Photo credit: Rachel Ivancie

Our first speaker was Jeffrey Thomas, the Director of Timber Fish and Wildlife for the Puyallup tribe. He introduced the history of the Puget Sound region and especially focused on interactions with the Native Americans who lived in these areas before contact with explorers and settlers. I was surprised at how many of the historical buildings and streets I recognized from historic pictures of Tacoma.

Mud Mountain Dam

On our first field day we drove from school up to Sunrise and made our way back stopping to visit areas with differing use along the way. Our first stop was in the middle of lands owned Hancock Forest Management. Hancock is a trust of private investors that own lands and harvest the timber. Doug McClelland, from the Department of Natural Resources spoke about policies and laws that govern logging practices on state and private lands. We learned that the stocks invested in Hancock lands are maturing, and it may be possible that the lands may be going up for sale soon. These lands are private,and it is possible a change in ownership could cause future development.

At Sunrise, Mt. Rainier. Photo credit: Rachel Ivancie

Our next stop on our way up the mountain was the Mud Mountain Dam. Our Professor, Dan Sherman,spoke to us about the history of flood control in the Puyallup watershed and how this caused big dams to be built. We stopped along the Greenwater River to see pink salmon spawning, which may have been one of the highlights of the trip. We made it up to Sunrise and hiked for a little bit before jumping back into the vans to head home. We stopped at “Sky Island” to observe the successional development in the lower parts of the watershed, where farms are giving way to housing developments. We drove back through the maze of farms, developments, industry, and patches of Muckleshoot and Puyallup reservation to get back to school.

Rick Fuller. Museum of Glass in background.

Foss Waterway tour: plastic covering bridge is tearing in the upper right corner

Day two was focused on the development of Commencement Bay. We visited the FossDevelopment Authority and learned about the clean-up process that occurred. The City of Tacoma bought land on the west side of the Foss Waterway and assumed responsibility for cleaning up the contaminants there. We were able to speak to Leslie Rose, from Citizens for a Healthy Bay (CHB). CHB is a non-profit organization working with citizens to prevent water pollution and promote sustainability. She spoke about the history of the Foss clean up, which I thought was remarkable to see her perspective on the magnitude of change over the years, and still be advocating for increased change. We also got to talk to Rick Fuller, who works for the City of Tacoma about his job enforcing the contamination levels of runoff entering the Puget Sound. As we were on our tour, we witnessed the plastic covering of the 11^th st. bridge rip in the wind, and sand start blowing out with the wind. The plastic was used to contain sand from blasting off lead paint, and Rick had to call in the contaminants, both sand and plastic, that were flying into the Foss Waterway. We definitely got the full experience!

Photo credit: Rachel Ivancie

Touring Simpson-Tacoma Kraft

Our last stop of the day was at the Simpson-Tacoma Kraft paper mill. We visited the source of the infamous Tacoma Aroma! We learned that the smell has been drastically over the years, as they switched from new product (trees) to using more reused (recycled cardboard). We got a tour of the factory and heard about all of the environmentally based decisions the company has made over the last twenty years.

I know I keep on bragging about all of these awesome field trips I’m going on, but don’t be misled into thinking I don’t have homework. It’s midterm week already, and I have no idea where the first half of this semester went. We now have to compile everything we learned from this one weekend into a 10-page paper. Yikes! Expressing my ideas on paper is not my strong point, which may be why I’m a Biology major…

Photo credit: Rachel Ivancie

These past few weeks have allowed me to get to know the place I’ve been living in so much more detail than I have in the past four years. I was impressed to see how much this community cares about what is going on in the local landscape, and what they have done to improve it. It’s going to be hard to leave a place now that I know so much about it.

Posted in Rachael Mallon '12 | Comments Off

Student Leaders

Posted on October 10, 2011 by mkrauszer

: This is me with Voldemort the giant Pacific octopus. He has nothing to do with this blog entry.

Being a “student leader”.

One of the largest groups of student leaders on campus, Resident Assistants hold significant authority in the residential setting. That's me at the back left. I led the good people of the Honors Program frehsman house.

It’s a head-inflating phrase. For those kids who list more jobs than hobbies on resumes and social network sites. You know, the ones who always have “meetings” to go to and “events” to put on. When your official titles out-number your Facebook list of favorite movies, you have a problem.

I have that problem.

I could rattle off all my lofty credentials, but that might be counterproductive to my point. So, let’s just assume I’m the snub-nosed, over-achieving antagonist on a hypothetical episode of Recess who has ruled the student government, lacrosse team, marching band, and honors society for all of elementary school.

I spend my lunch hour scouring the hallways for underlings to condescend and menial favors to be done that will make the administration like me (and boost my own ego) . Meanwhile Vince and Spinelli are out getting vitamin D and learning life lessons.

Student leaders also frequently get matching shirts. Some of my favorite past and present student leaders: the student staff of Multicultural Student Services and the Office of Spirituality, Service ad Social Justice (and our bosses).

Clearly, through my leadership experience I have gained important skills like respect for authority and understanding of power differentials. I’ve even amassed a hefty amount of self-esteem that should last me well through the dark ages of middle school, though perhaps at the cost of a little thing called perspective.

Being toted about as a “student leader” can instill in one not necessarily a false but, perhaps, a heightened sense of self-importance. I start feeling like it must be harder to be me than those “non-student-leaders”, and rolling my eyes at all the “stuff” they have to do. Try adding leading three club meetings, working five jobs, sitting in on nineteen committees, and writing a list of personal demands to Principal Ron Thom every week too. (Before his time as president of Puget Sound, the Thom did some time as a fictional elementary school administrator). But this amplification of self-worth through titles and over-involvement isn’t of mysterious origin. It is a learned behavior.

I was even a student leader in high school. As an officer of our National Honors Society I organized the blood drives with our local blood bank. Under my reign they let us borrow Buddy the blood drop.

Growing up through the public education system, the private university admission process, and the jam-your-resume-with-as-much-as-possible mentality, there has always been huge weight put on how much stuff you can do. And not just how much, but who knows about it. You can’t just spend all your time writing poetry for the sake of getting better at writing poetry or expressing what you think about in fun ways. You have to join the poetry club and enter the poetry contest and host a poetry reading in order to be a kid who “does poetry”. As if there is some necessity to legitimize the practice or confirm that you actually “do” poetry by the approval or supervision of some outside source. And if you really want to “do” poetry, you should probably be president and win the contest too. Just in case. We are trained to seek out the highest and most recognized means of participation. That’s what will get us accepted to this school or that program. That’s what will set us apart. That’s what makes us “better” than the kids who “just” write poetry.

Personally, I’m a fan of “leadership”. Having the authority and resources to make things happen the way I want them to is pretty nice. But the result of successfully implementing a cool idea doesn’t have to be the desire for more control or the need for an approving pat on the head by the cosmic distributor of self-worth.

As the real Mary Krauszer, senior in college and student leader, this is a constant struggle. I have to work at deflating my own cartoon-sized, student-leader head: appreciating leadership as an opportunity to positively affect my peers; developing self-importance not from what I do, or how it sounds, but from who I am and why I find value in being a “student leader”; decoupling self-worth from an exhaustive list of official titles. I’m getting there.

Plus, there just aren’t any movies worth listing other than Galaxy Quest and Kung Fu Panda.

The time the university sent me to Washington DC as a student delegate for a national conference. We rode back from the airport in a limo. NBD.

Note: I’m not accusing any of the other student leaders at this or any other institution of suffering from the same “leadership” side effects that I do. Namely, you’re not all pretentious caricatures. It’s more of a generalized self-reflection. Dangerous, I know. But maybe it’s all just because I’m a youngest child.

I would also like to point out that Mike Segawa knew I was a control freak almost a year before I did. Mike is the Dean of Students. He administered a “work styles” test during one of my “student leader” training sessions. My style: Controller. The more you know about yourself…

I apologize for the over-use of quotes and hyphens.

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Work as Play

Posted on October 6, 2011 by hshears

When I’m not in class, I’m usually in the Center for Writing, Learning, and Teaching, which is one of Puget Sound’s primary sources for academic support for students. I’m work as a French tutor and as a Writing Advisor, so I’m there a lot. I love working there: it’s helped me grow as a student as well as helped me improve my teaching skills. Teaching writing, real writing, not just grammar and sentence structure, is a lot harder than it might seem. Trying to communicate these concepts has really broadened my perspective concerning the writing process, as well as helped me improve my own skills. Sometimes there are days when the job is difficult, but what I’m learning makes it worthwhile. It has helped me identify some of my own career goals, namely that I really do want to revisit the liberal arts, academic environment at some point in my life, only as a professor or faculty member.

Also, sometimes I get do really cool stuff (even cooler than talking about writing all day, I know) like go see plays in Seattle with my liaison classes. Some of the freshmen seminar classes are assigned to a specific writing advisor for more specific kinds of help, should they ever need it. My seminar was going to a play in Seattle, and the professor invited me along. So on Wednesday, I went to see Mary Stuart, by ACT (http://www.acttheatre.org/Tickets/OnStage/MaryStuart). Mary Stuart was the tragic Queen of Scotland who was executed by Elizabeth I after nineteen years of imprisonment. To illustrate how much a giant European royalty nerd I am…I actually REread a biography about Mary Stuart this summer. One of my first beloved historical fiction novels was about Mary and one of her fools. (It was called Queen’s Own Fool, by Jane Yolen and Robert Harris. If you’re interested in royal history, this is a must-read).

On the way to the play, we had a little bit of excitement when the back tires of our bus blew out. Luckily, our bus driver was great and got us safely to the side of the road where we could wait for another bus. The theater seated us late, and we ended up only missing the first half hour (our bus driver was a wizard who got us from the I-5 to downtown Seattle in record time…) I was so glad we made it! The play was incredible…suspenseful, tender and heart-wrenching, and I didn’t even mind the historical liberties. I did spend intermission telling my friend all about Mary and how she was implicated in the murder of her second husband and and then married his murderer and most likely did play SOME role in plotting against Elizabeth… The acting was powerful, the writing was brilliant and the music was creepily haunting. I had goosebumps the entire time. I even had to cover my eyes at one point (I cover my eyes A LOT during movies and plays…so maybe this isn’t the best way to measure how intense this play was…but believe me…it was INTENSE).

It was such a lovely evening, and when I got home I didn’t even mind my giant pile of homework that had patiently awaited me. Midterms are looming…essays and presentations and, oh yes, the question of what I am going to do for the rest of my life, but for right now, it will wait until tomorrow. I got to see some great theater for my job, at school…you can’t beat that, in my opinion.

Posted in Helen Shears '12 | Comments Off

Did I make the right decision?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by kdillmcfarland

A couple days ago, as I sat in my first rotation lab, taking a break from my NSF fellowship application, worrying about upcoming tests and paper discussions, I wondered, “Why did I sign-up for all of this?” I could be done with school; I could be at a job making (probably) more money than I am now; I could be an actual adult instead of still a student.

Then a third year burst in with a protein gel photo and exclaimed, “I got the expression to work!!” I felt so happy from him and excited because I had been at the lab meetings over the last couple months, hearing how much trouble this one assay was giving people in the lab. And now he had it working; this was great news!! I looked back to my computer and saw the above title and realized, “Yes, yes I did.” I was going to write a blog about my concerns over all this schooling and time spent before my “real” life begins but that one moment reminded me why I am here. If I wasn’t meant to be here, I wouldn’t have gotten so excited about someone else’s gel results after all…

So the moral of the story is that grad school is difficult and choosing to continue to be a student after already being one for 16+ years is a doozy. But if you love what you’re doing and know that the end result is what you want, it’s worth it. You got through 4 years of undgrad right (even those not so fun classes)? And grad school only really has two years of actual classes so it’s technically only really two extra years of student-hood. So this is to encourage you to go for it!

Posted in Kim Dill-McFarland '11 | Tagged graduate school | Comments Off

Time to break out the galoshes

Posted on October 3, 2011 by corrie wong

The infamous Washington rainy season has begun. That means rain jackets, rain boots, and people squeaking down the hallways as they walk (which means that if you’re late for class it’s considerably more noticeable).

I finally decided to get some new rain boots last week to replace the ones I used this summer with the rather annoying leak. They came just in time, before the misting turns to heavier rain. When I walk around campus and it’s raining, I like to see what kind of rain boots other people are wearing. It’s pretty common to see plain black and floral patterns.

Mine are in the middle. They have sea gulls on them!

Midterms are also coming up; actually I had one “midterm” last week and another on Wednesday. But the best part of midterms is what comes after…fall break! Which just happens to be in 2 weeks. Until then though, I’ve got plenty to keep me occupied. Studying for that exam, doing some stats homework, volunteering with Phi Sigma (biological sciences honor society) at Puget Creek, and maybe heading up to Seattle for a Sounders game. Busy busy!

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Catch Up Time

Posted on October 2, 2011 by ifox

Hello everyone! Time to catch you up on my life. These will be in no particular order and some will have more to them than others, but here we go:

I met my cousin at the art museum and we spent a couple hours looking at the pieces. I was pretty surprised at how much I’ve learned in this class, as I found out when I could explain half the pieces to my cousin. My professor was showing around some other students at times, but made sure to show me a few pieces. There was a piece that we studied, an urn from 2nd century China, that he brought me to. He pointed out a few things that we couldn’t see in pictures, like some hash marks around the side, as well as a replaced edge. My cousin and I walked around and got lunch after and said our goodbyes. One of my goals for the year was to go to Seattle by public transportation; done.
Seattle Asian Art Museum

So in August I got an email from President Thomas’s office asking if I would like to go to a luncheon in Seattle. The luncheon, it said, was the Judge Learned Hand award, an award for a judge who upholds the law to the highest degree etc., hosted by the American Jewish Council. So the story goes that Gail Weyerhauser had purchased a table at this luncheon and asked President Thomas to invite a couple students. Well, he asked my friend Meggie and myself, so last week we went. Did I mention that one of the speakers was Bill Gates Sr. and Bill Neukom, Managing General Partner and CEO of the San Francisco Giants? Also; the man who received the award was a UPS alumni. He served on the board for the school as well as the Seattle Symphony, the Washington Bar association, and the glass museum, among many others that I don’t remember.
So we went to the luncheon, (in my full suit, bowtie and all) and had an incredible afternoon. At our table were a few alumnus, President Thomas and his wife, as well as Gail Weyerhauser. I’ve never been to a fireside dinner at President Thomas’s house (he has them monthly), but it seems like he’d be good company. He’s a nice guy, and a smart one at that. Anyway, our table was three feet from the stage so we had perfect seats in a room full of a couple hundred lawyers. It was also really cool and encouraging meet a lot of alumni (we met about six or seven) who are doing awesome things. One is a partner at a law firm in Seattle, another owns a couples therapy clinic and others are lawyers in their respective fields (it makes sense that we would meet a concentration of lawyers, due to the nature of the event). So that was cool.

Another thing I’ve been working on is Minnesota Club! Last year I was talking with some friends, Laura Richardson and Sean Tyree, and we came up with the idea for the club. So this year, we did. We’ve gone through the entire ASUPS process, of finding an advisor (David Andresen, in the psychology department), getting chartering members, an exec board and a full ASUPS senate hearing. Amidst this, we also drafted a constitution, filled out lots of paperwork and made Minnesota shaped cookies. The intent of the club is to provide Minnesotans and allies of Minnesota an outlet for their love of lakes, loons and hot dish. The way we see it, there are two functions of it: one, to hang out with people from Minnesota and have awesome activities/events that are Minnesota related, and two, to provide a community and maybe support system for people who may be feeling a little home sick. And to spread Minnesota nice. Our planned activities include: watching Fargo, snowshoeing, making hot dish, making blueberry muffins (the state muffin of Minnesota), drinking milk (the official drink of Minnesota), cut out snow flakes, drink Caribou coffee, have a butter carving competition (with sticks of butter), listen to The Current, play hockey, and apple picking (among MANY others that we brainstormed). So when you take a tour and the guide says that you can start any club you want, it’s true. We’re an official club now and will be tabling for three days next week in the SUB, with a meeting (next Thursday at 6:30) and an apple picking trip planned (October 21, in conjunction with Puget Sound Outdoors).

This is getting long, so the rest of these will be really short bullet points, just to get you up to date on my life and share some interesting goings on.

His last week Hillel celebrated Rosh Hashanah (shana tova) and celebrated a nice new year, as well has had a minyan, Shabbat and challah baking (soon).
A few weeks back I was walk downstairs in Smith (my dorm) and saw my friend Sohan cooking with his friend Vikram. Long story short, I and lots of others, got home cooked Indian food. Win. Thought it was worth mentioning.
I accidentally rushed this week. I went through rush last year and had a great time, but decided that I didn’t have time for a fraternity. Which is the attitude I held until this year, when I realized that I was good friends with a lot of guys in one of the fraternities (Sigma Alpha Epsilon). I got a bid and have not made a decision yet, but will keep you posted. Stay tuned…
This summer I had an internship in the newsroom of Minnesota Public Radio, with Midmorning (I warned you I would jump around). It was awesome and I learned more than I had ever imagined. I’m also getting school credit for it, once I turn in my paper to my advisor. Which should be tonight.
I, along with four of my friends, have started a Jazz Combo! We practice every week and are having a performance in November. Here are pictures of our greatness:
With Lev Nachman on guitar, Kyle Dybdal on bass, Andrew Friedman on bari-sax (or tenor?) and Brady McCowan on alto, as well as me on drums.
A few weeks ago we had Rabbi Steven Greenberg, the first openly gay orthodox rabbi, on campus for our semesterly Swope lecture. He was a phenomenal speaker and I had the pleasure and honor of having lunch and dinner with him.

I’m sure there’s more, but in the mean time I’m sitting in the second floor of the library looking out at the gorgeous rain and I need to do work now. My posts will hopefully be more coherent and consistent now.

As you can see by this picture from my dorm room, the leaves are beginning to change and fall is upon us, here at Puget Sound.

Posted in 2010-11, Ian Fox '14 | Tagged ASUPS, Fox, Ian, Jazz, Jazz Combo, Minnesota, Minnesota Club, Seattle Asian Art, Swope, Weyerhauser | Comments Off