Daniel Wolfert Snapshot #2: And We Became RST

Posted on November 19, 2013 by dwolfert

In which the unbreakable circle of Rat Skin Thong is revealed to the world.

The phrase “Rat Skin Thong” is one that, most unfortunately, I cannot claim credit for; it was bequeathed unto me, like a sacred name of unspeakable power, by the aunt of a very close friend of mine during a barbeque her family was hosting. The close friend of mine, whose name is Fiona Flynn, debated with me about changing the name of the band that she and I comprised from “Dwolf and the Fat Angry Chicks/Fdog and the Funky Crew” (depending on who was singing lead) to simply “Rat Skin Thong”, although ultimately deciding against it. Never did I think the name would arise again.

Three years later, I sat with my new housemates at 1210 North Alder, discussing how we all fit together as a group and what we could call ourselves. Some (undoubtedly lamer) names arose that I’ve long since forgotten, but I assumed that when I suggested Rat Skin Thong as a group name, it would be struck down. Miraculously, the name stuck, and here, ladies and gentlemen (and anyone in-between or outside), are the lovely ladies of Rat Skin Thong:

Rosa Dale-Moore

Autobiography Title: Oh Hai Squirrel

Major: Molecular and Cellular Biology – Neuroscience Emphasis, Honors Program

Spirit Animal: Rose-Tu the Elephant from the Oregon Zoo

Memorable Quote: “All my life I wanna be a doctor; HACK HACK CHOP CHOP.”

Isabelle Chae

Autobiography Title: I Live in a Perpetual State of Awkward

Major: Undecided

Spirit Animal: Nellie the Otter from the Point Defiance Zoo

Memorable Quote: “True life.”

Alexa Himonas

Autobiography Title: They Can’t Break You If You Don’t Have a Spine

Major: Molecular and Cellular Biology and Religion, minor in Music

Spirit Animal: Dolphin

Memorable Quote: “I want his face… on my face.”

Shoshana Strom

Autobiography Title: Smosh the Troll

Major: Religion

Spirit Animal: Chinchila

Memorable Quote: “Oh… sweetie.”

Kaylene Barber

Autobiography Title: At Least He Has a Penis

Major: Music Business

Spirit Animal: Mouse

Memorable Quote: “How sexual can you make these posts, Daniel?”

Daniel Wolfert

Autobiography Title: Drug Sluts

Major: Music Composition

Spirit Animal: Lion-turtle

Memorable Quote: “My spirit color is indigo, because I’m not red enough to be purple.”

Many things bind us together, among them food… jk lolz, that’s it.

Well, not exactly. Rosa, Isabelle and Alexa are bound by a deep interest in science, medicine and the disgusting, fascinating things that can be found on the interwebs concerning malicious maladies. Alexa and Shoshana share a love of religion and its social implications, while Alexa, Kaylene and I are fellow warriors in the never ending battle against the dark forces of Geoffery Block’s Music 230 class (Music History: Antiquity Through Baroque), as well as the glory of songwriting and arranging.

Collectively, we are bound by Katy Perry dance parties as study breaks at midnight, endless supplies of cheddar cheese, our fear of Pennywise the Dancing Clown (who is a monster that probably lives in the decrepit, foul-smelling basement of our house), and our love of Starbucks. We have made lumpy, delicious cookies, caused a baby to cry out of fear of being eaten, and found marvelous ways of procrastinating together.

But mostly, it’s just food.

Moral of the story: So, whether you’re looking for a good time, excessive stress from Organic Chemistry, cookies from my mother, or general panic about life, look no farther than 1210 North Alder. Rat Skin Thong fo’ LIFE, yo.

Thanks, Fiona’s aunt.

#RST #college #Pugetsound #I don’t know how to use hashtags

Major Decisions: Can The Sciences and Humanities Go Together?

Posted on November 11, 2013 by brathje

As a computer science/English double major, even I didn’t think I’d find a way to unify such an odd couple. In fact, I never expected to study these subjects before I came to Puget Sound. It was Puget Sound and its combination of professors, liberal arts courses, extracurricular opportunities, and classes in subjects that sounded compelling but that I never imagined studying until college that somehow edged me toward the two disparate disciplines. And it’s largely Puget Sound that’s ultimately done the work of bringing together this odd couple for me.

And as my junior year passes by faster than I could ever imagine and the prospects of internship and job searches loom increasingly close, I’m finally starting to see the connections between English and computer science that only a school like Puget Sound could help bring to light in the first place. This October, I was lucky enough to receive an internship as a feature editor at XRDS, the national flagship undergraduate magazine of the Association for Computing Machinery, a linguo-technophile’s dream come true, where I look forward to applying my interests in technology and writing to the publication. You can check out the magazine here: http://xrds.acm.org

I’m also in the process of developing a web app for Pearson’s first ever Student Coding Contest. The academic publisher sought out proposals for apps that integrate with their online learning module, and I was fortunate enough to have mine accepted. I won’t spill the details yet, but the app is designed to help bring the writing process online. The app’s due at the end of the month, and the ever-too-brief hours of furiously coding have commenced.

I’m a writing advisor, and I’ve also recently started working with some fellow writing advisors at the Center for Writing, Learning, & Teaching to contribute to a writing center blog and vlog, both of which are coming soon! Watch for them at http://www.pugetsound.edu/cwlt. It’s been another exciting chance to fuse my interests in technology and writing with many others who are equally passionate about writing. I also recently had a paper presented at a conference of writing center pedagogy. Another student from the writing center and I presented on interdisciplinary studies in the writing center, and the experience offered yet another chance to learn about how very different subjects can (and often do) collide and enrich each other. (For an interesting take on the humanities/sciences crossover and the ways the humanities and sciences overlap, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/education/as-interest-fades-in-the-humanities-colleges-worry.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)

So, I must admit that I was skeptical at first about finding ways to pursue both of my interests in computer science and English. Puget Sound is fairly unique, I think, in encouraging students to pursue such unusual combinations. International Political Economy; Science, Technology, and Society are interdisciplinary mainstays, while a new interdisciplinary biophysics program is developing, and I know countless people pursuing and loving a huge variety of double majors. Puget Sound is also unique in offering highly focused programs so that students don’t ever have to sacrifice depth.

Fun fact: over 90% of the food consumed in the TCI is imported.

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Leah Shamlian

Wednesday mornings have the best scenery of any day of the week. When I look out from the Center, I see a stretch of sparkling turquoise water, hopefully flat so it doesn’t limit our water activities for the day, the limestone-and-scraggly-vegetation hill of Long Cay, maybe a flamingo flying around or a local fishing boat getting some air off of wave crests on its way out for the day’s work – and a ship. Well, possibly multiple ships. But what makes this one particular ship exciting is that it carries all of our food for the next two weeks.

DSCF2039

The availability of food isn’t something that you really think about in the Unites States. I know there comes a point in every semester when all you want is a home-cooked meal, but still, the SUB exists so at least the food is there and you have the opportunity to eat it. This isn’t to say that we go hungry here on South Caicos at the CMRS – just that fresh food is less readily available than some places in the world (although certainly more readily available than others). Depending on a floating piece of metal with some boxes on it showing up every so often in your backyard is rather different than popping over to Safeway because you need your own personal jar of peanut butter.

In 2008, Hurricane Ike slammed into the Turks and Caicos Islands, severely damaging or destroying a third of the buildings on South Caicos and temporarily preventing the food ship delivery. Now, five years later, a lot of the buildings still haven’t been fixed – at East Bay, a favorite beach bonfire site near the Center, the remnants of a hotel development are scattered around the sand and pine trees. On any given visit, if it weren’t for the number of pine needles on top of the piles of lumber and insulating materials, the hurricane could have happened last week and we could be out surveying the damage for the first time on empty stomachs.

Basically, the ability to walk to the Met and take as many free cheese samples as your conscience will allow (not that I’m speaking from experience or anything) is a luxury. Which sounds a bit cliché. You don’t realize how different things are in other places until they are suddenly made relevant to you – like eating rice and cabbage for the fifth time in as many days while watching rusty shipping containers come trundling towards you over the algal plains and patch reefs of the Caicos Bank.

“Look at All the People You Helped Make Happy”

Posted on November 7, 2013 by rluvaas

I had intended for my first post to be an introduction so that any readers could understand what I participate in and what they can expect to see represented here. But I can’t do that at the moment. You see, I just had a great experience and want to share it as soon as I can.

Do you see those words up there? The title of this post? “Look at all of the people you helped to make happy tonight.” That’s what I couldn’t wait to tell you about.

I have a job at school as the Cultural Events Programmer for the Associated Students of the University of Puget Sound (ASUPS). I find, book, and promote performers that come to campus that fit into the label of Cultural Events. I also basically get to define what cultural events mean, so that’s pretty great.

Between finding a venue, setting a price, officially signing the artist, hiring sound, promotion, and other small pieces there were hiccups, but one stood out. We had partnered with professors from the Spanish and Music departments to provide classroom visits the day before the show, so Friday at 6:30 AM our Programs Office Assistant and I left Tacoma to pick up the artists in Seattle. For those of you not familiar with the area, the drive should be somewhere between 40-60 minutes. It took us two and a half hours. There was an accident and rush hour starts even earlier than I had anticipated. Luckily we built in time and made it back to campus with the artists just before their first classroom visit. I spent the next two hours being reminded how little Spanish I remember from high school before attending my one class of the day in which I am enrolled before their next classroom session and driving them back. All in all I was in a class that I was registered for one hour of the day, in classes in which I am not a student for two hours, and six hours driving a 15 passenger van. It was an interesting day.

An event like this is a lot of work. And a lot of the work is just grunt work that doesn’t require anything but time. And it sometimes feels tedious and you wonder why you are spending so much time on something like this when you have been forced to just skim readings for classes that you are paying to attend. It doesn’t make sense sometimes. But it’s a wonderful thing when you get to participate in something like this. When you look around at everyone dancing in the aisles, look back at what had to happen to allow for this moment and are brought back into the moment in order to witness the organic standing ovation. You know the kind where the clapping hands grow out of the music and act as an accent to the last note instead of an obligation and half the audience is already standing when the music ends so this is the only logical next step, the only way to show more appreciation for the music. When that moment happens, and you realize that you contributed in any small way to the experience in that room, when you see “all of the people that you helped make happy,” you feel like you can do anything. It’s a wonderful feeling.

Nobody told me Tacoma was foggy

Posted on November 6, 2013 by rtanoue

“Washington? Why would you go to college were it ALWAYS rains?!”

I was on the receiving end of this statement many times this past year as I shared with my friends that I wanted to come to Washington, specifically UPS for college. Coming from Hawaii, the state of eternal sunshine and moving to the Northwest of rain, doom and gloom, my friends thought I was crazy. Yet knowing how rainy Washington was supposed to be didn’t deter me from coming to UPS. I was more than willing to love the cold and learn in a completely new environment, specifically a community that shared similar values as I and help me achieve my goals. However, I was blown away by the presence of the fog that has permeated our mist.

A couple of weeks ago the fog started to roll in, and it never left. Sometimes it would be so thick when you woke up I couldn’t see Wyatt Hall from T/P. On that first day I couldn’t believe my eyes, the thickness of the fog completely obscured anything more than 20 feet in front of you and walking through it left a layer of moisture all over your body. As the days went on the fog persistently hung around, and I could see as the night wore on the fog getting thicker and hitting its apex in the morning. When we went out for our first morning crew practice (at 5AM mind you) the fog was so thick we couldn’t see the docks from the boathouse and the lights along the shoreline slowly faded into blots of light, it wasn’t a very productive practice always trying to watch out for other boats on the water. I was actually quite terrified of hitting the other boats, or even the shore, I had no way of knowing is something was nearby until I was nearly right upon it. The fog continued to surprise me even rolling over Baker Stadium during a football game a few weeks ago. I could barely see the bleachers on the opposite side; I don’t know how the players could see past their masks and the fog! The fog brought a different kind of cold and layer of shadow over campus.

The fog was a completely unexpected surprise but I think many things at Puget Sound continue to surprise me in many good ways. It’s wonderful learning in this new environment, living with new people and becoming a part of the Puget Sound community. The rolling fog is so amazing to watch and although I may not be able to always see what is directly in front of me, I’m slowly becoming familiar with this campus and know how to find my way to where I want to go. Dealing with the fog is very much like dealing with college and the next steps of becoming a contributing adult in the world. And sometimes the most surprising things offer the best insight you never thought you’d receive. When I go back home the first thing I’m going to tell my friends and family is, “Did you know that Tacoma is more foggy than rainy?”

Bats and Bacon: Behind the Scenes

Posted on November 4, 2013 by efranz

Warning: This post includes references to dead animals in edible and inedible forms.

One of my regular duties as a student worker at the diner (aka the SUB) is making bacon on Friday mornings. The methodical laying out of sheet after sheet of bacon and putting them into the oven has turned out to be a perfect way to start out my morning. I was doing this last Friday when I had a weird, sleepiness-induced déjà vu moment, as if I had dreamed about these bacon pans the night before. A few minutes later it struck me that I had indeed been lifting pans of a similar shape two days before, except instead of containing bacon they were full of bats.

Let me explain. These bats were specimens that had been prepared for the Slater Museum of Natural History on campus. We had taken them out of their cases for Bat Night, an open house event where we showed off our many bat specimens, a live fruit bat from Pt. Defiance Zoo, and even some guano that visitors could look at under a microscope. It’s fun getting to be part of these events as a Slater volunteer, even if I felt a little underprepared for the questions of a few genuine bat experts. My station consisted of two large trays filled with big brown bats (eptesicus fuscus) from Oregon, most of them from 1974. Examining these preserved, stuffed skins made me wonder about the future of the skins I have prepared. When properly cared for, these specimens can last a mighty long time and hopefully be of service in education, outreach, and scientific investigations. Through natural history museums like Slater, scientists have a physical record of how species can vary over time and geographical location in response to changes in their environment.

The usefulness of natural history impresses me greatly, but I’ve been impressed by Slater since a friend who works there gave me an impromptu tour freshman year. There is so much wacky and beautiful and awesome (in the awe-inspiring sense) to be found in the collection that I knew I wanted to spend more time there, which is how I ended up volunteering. It’s always great to discover another little world inside the bounds of campus, and this has happened to me again and again. Working for the diner is another example. While I have obviously eaten there hundreds of times, I never had any idea who the chefs were or how all the food gets made. Outside of the kitchen, you only get to see small quantities of each dish at a time, and I never really thought about the mass of food consumed by the student body every day, the trays and trays of bacon, the spices that get measured in by the cupful rather than by the teaspoon. I’m sure that many students walk by Slater every day without having any idea of the trays and trays of bats and other animals inside. Our campus is not large, but there is so much that goes on unobserved by many, and much for the curious mind to discover.

Fun fact: lionfish create jets of water to orient their prey for headfirst consumption.

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Back in September, we were taken to a site called Admiral’s Aquarium for our first snorkel of the semester. There wasn’t much of a current, but there was more than we were used to, and the swell was pretty big – as in every time you lifted your head to try and listen to the intern showing you around, you got a face full of water. My first night snorkel here was at a site called Shark Alley, which is really quite spectacular, except that we had no idea what we were doing and ended up on a shallow shelf of coral, turning it into a mind game that went along the lines of “if I suck my stomach in enough I won’t hit those corals.” My bazillionth snorkel here had both big swells and shallow reef – and I was carrying a laboratory.

Okay, not quite, but it was our second time collecting data for directed research and we hadn’t gotten used to the equipment yet. Directed research projects started last week, and the resource management professor and three other students and I are studying the proliferation of the invasive lionfish, Pterois volitans, at various sites near South Caicos. When we go out for a research dives or snorkels, we carry underwater slates, pencils, transect tapes, clip weights for the end of the transect tapes, and plastic T-bars with centimeter increments.

Besides the fact that it means I get to dive between four and eleven times a week, this is a fascinating and relevant research project because it involves the world’s most ecologically-harmful marine invasion ever. You know the stereotypical look-at-this-reef-and-all-the-pretty-fish-isn’t-nature-amazing type of picture? A lionfish will eat pretty much every single fish in that picture as long as it can open its mouth wide enough. They eat up to 6% of their body weight per day (even as a rower, I can’t eat nine pounds of food a day); not only that, but native reef fishes haven’t figured out an effective defense mechanism to avoid their predation, and the only fish that eat them are the hugely-overfished grouper. Also, they’re venomous.

The environmental morals of the story: don’t let your cool aquarium fish out into the ocean because they will take over everything, and use reusable water bottles instead of buying those single-use plastic ones. That latter part was absolutely unrelated to lionfish, just something I thought I’d throw in there after a recent lecture on pollution and marine debris (remember that campaign on campus last spring with the plastic jellyfish hanging in the SUB?). I’ll get down from my soapbox now.

pumpkins, mist, and magic

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Kira

Hello-Hello and Happy Halloween! For my first post I’ll give you a taste of what’s been going on at campus this fall:

1. SCHOOL-WIDE PUMPKIN CARVING CONTEST

Apparently our school is home to some master pumpkin carvers. Here are some of my favorites:

”’CANNIBAL PUMPKIN,,,

Puget Pumpkin ’88 (go loggers!)

and my personal favorite:

(*(Planet Pumpkin)*)—

2. CHEMISTRY MAGIC SHOW

It’s become a UPS tradition for the “Wizard” (famed Chemistry professor) to put on a chemistry magic show every year before Halloween. This year’s show, sadly, was his last as he is retiring next year and consequently the turn-out was ENORMOUS. I arrived 30 minutes before the show thinking I’d be one of the first in line but found myself walking to the back of a line that began at the door to Schneebeck concert hall, filled the courtyard, and snaked all the way around the science building. Somehow, miraculously, I just escaped the cut-off point (an usher clicked her tally counter after I walked in, shouted “460, that’s it!”, and shut the door behind me. I thank my lucky stars I got in. Here is a portion of the line in the courtyard:

I have several video clips from the show I wanted post here, but this site keeps playing tricks on me. If you are interested in chemistry/witchcraft check out past shows on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL14C9CAADF8F4430A Never before have I seen been in a room so bubbling over with nerdy science enthusiasm!

3. MORNING MIST

October in Tacoma means the air getting chilly and the gray setting in. At times it’s a little depressing (an entire week went by that I did not see the sun!) But truly- is there anything more beautiful than this morning mist?

That’s all, folks. Keep reading! or, as the Wicked Witch of the West would say,

Going so soon? I wouldn’t hear of it. Why my little party’s just beginning.

Happy Halloween, my pretties!!!

And the winner for best teacher goes to…

Posted on October 29, 2013 by efranz

A few weekends ago Clearcut, the women’s ultimate frisbee team, had our first tournament. I had mixed feelings going into it: at most of the previous practices I had been devoting most of my energy to catching our newer players up to speed, and had been neglecting my own improvement. My monologue went something like this:

So here’s this pie plate, okay? Well, it’s a plastic disc that has evolved from a pie plate. And you can throw it by spinning it with your wrist, not your arm, holding it level like you’re spinning it off a table. When you’re not holding it, just keep running up and down the field like mad, stopping only briefly as you plant your foot to turn around and cut in exactly the same direction as you came from. Also, there are picks to think about, and tapping the disc on end zone line, and soft cap and hard cap and universe point and… and… have I shown you how to force forehand yet?

Most first year ultimate players join the sport with minimal background knowledge, not really aware of what the rules are, or how to throw properly, or what the basic strategy of the game is. I’ve been trying to impart some of my great wisdom to these players, and I’ve realized that there is a heck of a lot for them to learn. It was difficult to imagine how it will all come together under the pressure of facing an opposing team for the first time. Well, our first tournament (Beaver Brawl in Corvallis) was a testament to the power of learning from doing, and over the course of three games and a scrimmage I saw our rookie players improve by leaps and bounds. Running around looking confused evolved into…Catching the disc! Getting D’s! Making assists! Scoring points! By the end of the tournament they were all presences on the field and threats to the other team. We managed to field two teams, and our combined score at the end was 3 wins, 3 losses.

Despite my efforts to be a teacher, I’m no match for the learning curve of competitive play.

“Hi, my name’s Leah Shamlian and I haven’t showered in three days, do you mind if I ask you a few questions about your eating habits?”

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Leah Shamlian

Grace Bay is the center of tourism on Providenciales, which is in turn the center of tourism in the TCI. Conveniently accessible by beach! Photo courtesy of Patsy and Larry Stout.

Unfortunately for the olfaction of the swanky tourists on Providenciales, the SFS students administered seafood consumption surveys immediately after a three-day camping trip. There is nothing like talking to a well-dressed and well-groomed couple to remind you that your clothes were washed in saltwater and your hair was last cut by a woman speaking an unidentifiable language wielding a thinning comb. (At least we got showers and a night in a hotel before touring a $3.6 million penthouse.) Surprisingly, the swanky tourists did not appear offended by our presence, and actually asked us quite a lot of questions about what exactly we’re doing here, attending school on a Caribbean island.

People on South don’t need to ask who you are – besides the fact that the island only has around 1,200 inhabitants so there aren’t too many unfamiliar faces, it’s a pretty easy assumption that if you’re white and/or around 20 years old, you must be here doing research with the School for Field Studies. It requires a bit more explanation for people on the other islands of TCI. Tell tourists you’re studying abroad on South Caicos and they laugh at you for having such a lavish life. Tell locals you’re studying abroad on South Caicos and they ask you why on earth you would choose to do that. (Turns out that South is like the West Virginia of the TCI.)

The swanky tourists have only taken over a part of Providenciales, though. I ventured outside of their sanitized area and spent my mid-semester break with an American couple who had moved to Provo two years ago. I’ve never been thanked so profusely for an hour of sightreading on a semi-broken keyboard as I was after I played the piano for our church service. And you know what? Even though I wasn’t in the scrubbed and polished tourist zone, I had a fantastic time and I was able to meet some locals and help them out. Despite my lack of sundresses, stylish floppy hats, and normal hygiene standards. Take that, materialism.

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