Archive for October, 2006
Star Wars at the OMSI
At the OMSI, Star Wars is.
Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination combines costumes and props from all six Star Wars films with real-world technologies, video interviews with filmmakers, scientists and engineers, and two large Engineering Design Labs, where visitors can build and test speeders and robots. Visitors will explore prototypes, learn about the engineers and designers who are creating new technologies, and discover intriguing similarities between how scientists and filmmakers think.
It made me laugh when I read this: “Masks and weapons (including prop blasters or lightsabers) are not permitted inside the exhibit.”
“Experience a full-size cockpit replica of Episode IV’s Millennium Falcon!”
I wonder if it will do the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs?
Towson University wants to enroll more white men
According to the Associated Press, “Towson University is trying a new tack to increase enrollment by men. The school is accepting students with low grades but high S-A-T scores. The formula allows the school to draw from a group that’s mostly men without actually making gender the reason people are admitted.”
It’s been proven that the SAT is culturally and statistically biased against People of Color. Towson University is essentially leveraging SAT scores to enroll more white men.
update: Towson University officials admit that students enrolled via this formula “have so far been mostly white men.“
Keeping Track of Higher Education
Diverse is the website for Diverse Issues in Higher Education. I subscribe to the magazine and enjoy a daily dose of e-news from Diverse. I’m not sure if the daily e-mail can be accessed without a subscription to the magazine…
Academic Impressions and University Business serve up 2 of the best daily e-mails on higher education news. They offer similar stories with slightly different slants.
Fix Firefox 2.0
Firefox 2.0 is now available for download from Mozilla. This is old news for most early adopters but I thought I write about it for the non-early-adopter crowd. One of the things that I love about Firefox is tabbed browsing. I can open up 45 tabs within one Firefox window. That many tabs can suck the ram out of my computer like an Anne Rice vampire but I am hooked on Firefox. It is infinity (+1) times better than Internet Explorer.
Not Ready To Make Nice
I think I’m going to buy the entire Dixie Chicks discography. I love the song “Not Ready To Make Nice.” The lyrics are very moving.
I can’t wait to watch “Shut Up and Sing.”
The movie from two time Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple and Cecelia Peck that chronicles the lives of the Dixie Chicks from 2003 to the start of their 2006 tour.
All the highs, lows and mayhem that occurred just before and for the three years following “the incident” are all here.
The personal attacks, personal growth, a changing world, making music, having babies, receiving death threats, and even a fair amount of laughter.
Shut Up & Sing will open October 27 in New York City and Los Angeles and will open in additional cities beginning November 10.
6th Erase Racism Carnival
The 6th Erase Racism Carnival is now online at Taking Place. Thanks VeganKid!
The Erase Racism Blog Carnival is dedicated to ending racism, white supremacy, and unearned privilege.
I would love to be an Assistant Dean of Students
An Assistant Dean of Students position just popped up in my Bloglines feedreader (Don’t worry, I’ll post more on ways to search for a job in student affairs using rss feeds and email digests…).
This position looks like it was written for me…if only I had 2-3 more years of experience. Sigh.
11 people named Eric Stoller
According to HowManyOfMe.Com, there are 11 Eric Stollers in the United States. Eric is the 52nd most popular US name. 2,430 people have Stoller as a last name. This means that they also get to listen to mispronounced versions of Stoller.
“Stroller, is there a Stroller here?” No, it’s Stoller.
Wendy always tells me that I can’t go on escalators — no strollers allowed. She makes me giggle.
Stoller. It sounds like bowler. Stoller. It’s Swiss/German. The graphic is the Stoller coat of arms/family crest.
Spelling variations include: Stolle, Stol, Stoller, Stole, Stohl, Stolhe and many more.
First found in Switzerland, in the canton of Zürich, where the name Stolle was closely identified in early medieval times with the feudal society which would become prominent throughout European history.
Some of the first settlers of this name or some of its variants were: Jacob Jansen Stol, who arrived in New York in 1630. Willem J. Stol sailed to New York in 1650; Ezekiel Stoll settled in Georgia in 1742; John Stole came to New England in 1757.
Stoller. It’s a vineyard in Oregon that has a LEED Certified Winery. Great pinots and environmental consciousness. I wonder if they would give me a free bottle…we might be related…
Eight Things I Find Amazing in Picture Form
Kevin tagged me with my first meme: “Eight Things I Find Amazing in Picture Form.” I think I’ll start out by being a little narcissistic. This photo set of 4 Polaroids always make me feel good.
I was 2 years old when this set of photographs was taken. My hair was curly and I apparently liked to walk about in my diaper. I think it’s amazing that my hair still looks like that when I wake up in the morning.
Oregon Institute of Technology 10/10
A couple of weeks ago I posted about the Oregon University System Application Fee Deferral Form. The deferral form allows students with high financial need to defer their admissions application fee ($50) at an Oregon University System School.
I decided to rank each of the state schools in Oregon on the basis of whether or not the fee deferral form was readily available on their websites. Initially, the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) received a ranking of 0 out of 10 since the fee deferral form was nowhere to be found on their website. 4 days after that post I received a comment from Palmer Muntz, the Director of Admissions at OIT, informing me that a link to the fee deferral form would be added to the OIT Admissions website.
Yesterday, I received an email from Palmer. The Oregon Institute of Technology is now a perfect 10/10. The fee deferral form can be found on the OIT Admissions Application Forms page.
From the OIT Admissions website:
If it is a financial hardship for you to pay the application fee, you may qualify to have the fee deferred until after you have enrolled at OIT.
I feel that Southern Oregon University and the Oregon Institute of Technology are doing the right thing by prominently providing this piece of information to students who have high financial need. The University of Oregon is not far behind. With a little web editing, the fee deferral form would be even easier to find…
Eastern Oregon University, Oregon State University, Portland State University, and Western Oregon University need to provide prominent links to the OUS fee deferral form. The amount of students who use the form would not cause significant monetary loss. The fee is deferred. Students would still pay the fee after they receive their financial aid packages.
Adding information about the OUS deferral form should be an easy decision for all OUS Schools.
Kudos to Palmer and the Admissions staff at OIT!
