How in the heck do you get HP out the door by 7am? It takes me at least an hour to get through the changing / feeding / probably changing again / cleaning up cycle. Yeah, it is crazy making. But it gets easier -- in 20 years they'll move out!
Well, feeding is still only nursing, which is probably a lot quicker and cleaner than actually trying to put solid food in the little squirmy-pants. Or in her mouth.
I'm staying until I find myself.
I've found it takes more time to feed a three year-old than an 12 month-old just on solid food. The younger one is hungrier and less able to invent new ways to play with food.
Also we spent too much money on a parent-saver exer-saucer which is God's Freaking Gift to entertaining babies. She can spend ten minutes totally rapt in that thing, and then another five distracting herself from growing fussiness.
So it should be no trouble to keep her in your office all day, in the exersaucer, right?
I love dropping my kids off at school. Very little makes me happier.
(I also love picking them up.)
exer-saucer
Man, I was generally opposed to gadgety things, but the exersaucer was gold. We wouldn't ever have bought one, but we put Sally in day care on a ski trip when she was six months old or so (day one: shrieking when we left, weeping when we returned. day two: crying when we left, babbling with an air of horrified relief when we returned. day three: grinning at the day care people when we walked in with her, too busy to acknowledge us when we came back.) and the exer-saucer was clearly the greatest thing ever. That was the only way I got to eat a meal with both hands for the next six months.
Of course, babies differ. Sounds like Hawai'i is like Sally, but I'm sure it leaves some babies cold.
It takes me at least an hour to get through the changing / feeding / probably changing again / cleaning up cycle.
But the daycare can do all of those things!
I'm placing all my faith in the notion that there's a learning curve and I'll get more efficient and less harried.
I doubt you ever get less harried, but you do get more comfortable with harried as it becomes routine harriedness.
I'm sure it leaves some babies cold.
Indeed. Rory hated the thing. She also hated the stroller, the car seat, and her high chair. Partly because she didn't like being confined, I suppose. Mostly because she believed she was entitled to be held ALL THE TIME.
First day of dropoff was extremely difficult for me, easier later, because the daycare was pretty good, I was lucky to get a good tip.
It gets easier to set priorities IME, though instability with respect to small problems took a couple of years to damp out.
Our son really like the exer-saucer and would sit there smacking the teddy bear like he was using a speed bag to prep for a fight. We also had a little chair that was fabric on a metal frame. I can't think of the name, but it was Nordic. We called it the "Swedish Pooping Chair" as everytime we put him in it, he took a huge dump.
I'm right now being a stay-at-home telecommuting part-time worker parent. I know from harried.
Wouldn't trade it for the world though. Except the part-time worker part.
By Monday morning, I'm totally relieved to get into my quiet, calm office after a weekend of noisenoisenoise. Much as I love my kids, I would make a shitty stay-at-home parent.
Speaking of noise, somebody (the leading suspect is grandpa) said "Fuck off" in front of our toddler. He is sharp enough to not only repeat the phrase, but to have figured out the proper context. Hearing "Fuck off" as a reply to "Time for bed" is not pleasant.
Oh man, the shouting. I tell them "whisper voices", and yet.
Oh man. I started with 'inside voices' and then realized that wouldn't work when they were outdoors. So I started telling them to use their 'inhabited region' voices. I couldn't actually say it with enough of a straight face to make it stick, though.
Whatever happened to the old tradition of "speak when spoken to"?
It is taking the little guys forever to find their "highly reverberent space voices", even though we have discussed bare walls and floors versus rooms with carpets and soft furnishings.
Rory never raises her voice enough to be told to use her "inside voice." She does hear alot of "What? Speak up, I can't hear you. Quit mumbling!"
I have to do that too -- Newt mumbles sheepishly when actually trying to communicate sometimes. It's the full range of audio annoyance!
15- If you catch it right away you can get them to think they misheard and that's it's really another (non-offensive) word. I took my 4-year old to Fenway Park a couple times this year and convinced him everyone was chanting "Yankees truck."
It's just different types of harried. As I was on the Metro this morning, I was standing next to a woman with a boy on her lap; I'd estimate he was five years old or so. They were on for at least nine stops, and every time, the kid was asking if they were there yet. At various times the woman had to tell the kid to give me some room for a handhold (they were sitting down, I was standing, and the only bar I could reach to hold on to was the one across the back of the seat in front of them) and to keep his hands off his mouth or his mouth off the bar or something. I really had to cough at one point, but after hearing that I was extra-conscious not to.
re: 15
An, ahem, younger male relative of my acquaintance came home from his child-minder's aged about 5 or 6 with a lovingly crafted Mother's Day card, in which he had carefully inscribed, "Fuk off Mum".
alot
Every time I see this, Di, I die a little inside.
Alot of us have alot of things on our minds and alot of the time we use alot of incorrect wordaging.
I only like to see Josh die on the inside alittle.
Heebie -- redaction needed in the Not OK thread! (I can't do it from work.)
25: I am troubled, Josh, by all the pain I have caused you.
29: It's all right. At this point my soul is mostly dead anyway.
OT bleg: Other than holding a baby, can anyone suggest easy bicep exercises. I just got started on the nautilus machines at the Y, and I can do most of the exercises fine, but the bicep curl is killing me. On the lowest weight I can do 3, barely 4 (That's 20 pounds). Should I get a resistance tube for home use? Or one of those vinyl weights. 2lbs?
I have to say that I like their fitlinnx system. You can keep track of all of your cardio exercise on a kiosk. When they set you up, the instructor figures out what your range of motion is, and plugs it into the machine, so you can make sure that you go from 0 to 100. If you go too quickly, it tells you to slow down.
20 pounds per arm? That is a lot.
31: Good question, BG! I wind up doing all lower body work when I make it to the gym because the arms are so dishearteningly weak!
30: Go pick up some dumbbells and do curls with those. Your gym must have a rack with tens and twelves -- if you can do three or four with twenty, you can do ten or twelve with tens or twelves. Or eights, or fives, whereever you want to stop.
Stop should be start. And not two pounds -- I'd be really surprised if you couldn't do eight or ten curls with at least fives, probably eights. Eight pounds is a gallon of milk. You could curl a gallon of milk. Repeatedly.
I was only able to do any with the trainer's help getting to my starting point, and I'm pretty sure that I'd injure my back. There are some dumbbells. I just wondered if I should be doing curls every other day instead of just twice a week.
I was only able to do any with the trainer's help getting to my starting point, and I'm pretty sure that I'd injure my back. There are some dumbbells. I just wondered if I should be doing curls every other day instead of just twice a week.
I curdled a gallon of milk. Repeatedly.
36: Curls are one of those things that are actually easier with free weights rather than Nautilus -- when you're starting out, you can recruit other muscles to help rather than it all being bicep, and then tighten up your form as you get stronger. Don't worry about your back unless lifting a gallon of milk would worry you.
And stick with the twice a week. Giving yourself plenty of time to recover between workouts is a good idea.
Milk works better with flow than with curl.
I don't believe it: Jr is asleep and the Ms has gone out, so I have the whole house for a whole evening all to myself! So of course I'm wasting time watching pr0n doing the housework on Unfogged.
BG, I don't particularly believe doing isolation exercises is an effective use of your gym time. I would suggest doing a pulling motion to work your biceps and back muscles simultaneously. This includes horizontal rows and pull up type movements. You should be able to scale a body row to all strength levels but adjusting the angle of your body (Google for body row to see an example of the exercise). There are pull up machines that provide assistance if you can't do a full pull up. All gyms will have some kind of weighted row machine, or you can use a barbell. I would recommend working in the range of 3-5 reps for 3-5 sets. This range emphasises strength. Higher rep ranges emphasise first hypertrophy (bigger muscles) then endurance.
Another good bicep exercise is lat pulldowns -- the ones where you pull a bar down from over your head to under your chin. It's primarily for your back, but works your biceps as well.
31: What LB said: dumbbells are your friends. I'd say start out with 5- or 8-lb. weights, and get to the point where you can do a couple of sets of 10 with them, then bump the weight up. 20 lbs. is way too much for someone who's just starting out.
And read this.
They've got a rowing thing on their basic circuit which also works the biceps.
That crossed with W. -- yeah, assisted chinups are very much the same thing as lat pulldowns. I find the assisted chinup machines tend to be badly designed for short people, though. At 5'7", I usually wish I was taller -- to get my chin over the bar, I'd have to actually chin myself off the kneepad.
46: You have an over-broad definition of 'short people.' At least based on current population figures by gender.
Well, yeah. I'm not short for a woman -- I'm sort of right at the bottom end of tall. But my experience of chinup machines is not being tall enough, so anyone actually short is probably going to have problems with them. And IIRC, BG is shorter than I am.
The one thing I'm really bummed about is that they don't have an assisted pull up machine. The staff manning the fitness desk at the Y are not super informed.
I'm barely taller than you, male, and trying to think of myself as average in height.
50: A good imagination is a big plus in life!
I'm a lot shorter than 5'7". More like 5' 2 and a 1/2"
I think LB's lifetime residence in the land of the model woman makes her think she's short when she's really 3 inches above average for American women.
Go pick up some dumbbells and do curls with those.
Believe me, I've tried. Maybe I need a cuter outfit or better lines/
49: If you poke around on stumptuous, they've also got a post specifically targeted for women about how to work up to doing pullups.
Seriously, while it sounds great, I've been disappointed by them in practice -- the height thing, and the grips also tend to be too wide. Lat pulldowns are almost the same exercise, and if you get to the point where you're pulling down close to your bodyweight, you can switch to negatives off a regular chinup bar (that is, jump or stand on something to get up with your arms bent and your chin over the bar, and then let yourself down slow). Those are great - last fall I got myself to the point where I could do one chinup by doing negatives, and then got distracted and stopped working on it. (All right, I did one chinup one time. But I was still very impressed with myself.)
Speaking of short, I just screwed-up big time in guessing the age of some kid. He was barely three inches taller than my three year-old. How should I have known he was nine.
49 crossed 48. I used an assisted chin up machine at a place in Davis, but I dropped the membership when I moved into an overpriced apartment with a "gym".
53: No, it was growing up with a six foot older sister. I know I'm tallish, but my self-image is of a tiny person, because I was always so much littler than her. But this is really about being too small for the machine, not that I'm short generally.
57: I have such a hard time guessing kids ages now as the kid I hang out with most is much, much, much smaller than average. I see one year old's and think they're 3.
59: Ah, you're the short one in the family. I understand that. My mom and I are pretty much the same height, which is not especially tall, but my sister is a fair bit shorter than us and always complains.
60: Yeah, and my judgment's off in the other direction, because mine are both monsters.
60, 62: I still feel bad about it. These are the neighbors' relatives and this kid is the same height as his 4 and 5 year-old cousins. He must take a ton of shit.
62: because mine are both monsters.
I don't care if the the closet rod is too high for you! And no wire hangers, ever!
63: At 9 it might not be too bad yet, but....
I was going to attribute it to the fact that I feel like people are growing monster children now. Better nutrition/health care, I don't know, but it seems like kids are way bigger* than they were even 20 years ago. I wonder where I could find statistics to back up this wholly unscientific claim.
* I don't mean fat, just taller, larger at birth, that sort of thing.
Me to nephew recently: "Pitching for the Red Sox is a perfectly fine thing to aspire to, but you're small and you can't see all that well, so you'd better have a backup plan." Psyche, schmikey.
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No more masturbating to Stanley Kaplan.
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65: Maybe, but nobody in my family has made it past the Irish/Italian famine-resistant short peasant genes unless they've married somebody freaky tall.
65: If I recall correctly a lecture from a friend's father, a prof at some prominent med school, if one wants tall children, one should (a) be tall, (b) marry somebody tall and (c) cause said children to drink a lot of milk, but (c) is pretty helpful on its own, so maybe America's cornfed dairy industry isn't all bad.
Or it's all the bovine growth hormone making its way into the system!
That's our problem: Organic BGH-free milk. Whole Foods has done us wrong.
Give it time, Mobius. Rory drank all Organic BGH-free milk and was quite petite for years, but she has really shot up as the tweens struck. (Come to think of it, I guess they give her hormonized milk at lunchtime at school. Which may in fact correlate with the sharp upswing on the growth curve. Huh. Damn.)
Wouldn't HGH have more of an effect? Nine out of ten elite athletes can't be wrong!
Drinking milk, maybe, but also, when our parents were born wasn't smoking during pregnancy more common?
I mean, I don't know how smoking during pregnancy affects lifetime height or height at various stages of childhood, but I have a recent increase in birth weight attributed to that, at least.
BG, the "lat pulldown" is similar in its effects to the assisted pullup. It is one of the few exercises I do regularly in my quest to avoid chornic back pain. And good for the upper arms too.
Sorry, that should be "chthonic back pain"
72: Nah, mine are brutes on the organic stuff. (And they don't eat the school lunch, mostly. Newt does on Fridays because he likes the pizza, but Sally never.)
I mean, I don't know how smoking during pregnancy affects lifetime height or height at various stages of childhood,
As I noted above, my sister is six foot. My mother attributes the fact that she survived the pregnancy and birth to the growth-stunting effects of smoking and drinking during pregnancy. (While she was pregnant with me, she had some heavy bleeding that made her doctor worry that a miscarriage was imminent. He prescribed gin. The early seventies were a different time.)
And they don't eat the school lunch, mostly.
Eventually, however, school lunches are going to crowd out private lunch providers.
I mean, I don't know how smoking during pregnancy affects lifetime height or height at various stages of childhood, but I have a recent increase in birth weight attributed to that, at least.
A friend who gave birth to two 10-pounders vowed that the next time she got pregnant she was taking up smoking. Of course, her real mistake was marrying a tall, broad-shouldered man with a ginormous head...
80: Yes. I had an aunt who was told by her doctor that smoking would make for an easier delivery.
Also, seat belts were some sort of exotic safety measure that everybody ignored. When they got a car that buzzed when you didn't buckle, my dad knotted the seatbelt to keep the sensor from triggering the buzzer (and anybody from using the seatbelt).
I think they knew about the connection between smoking and lower birth weight before they knew that lower birth weights were a problem -- the idea was that the baby would be smaller, but otherwise fine. Which would be a great idea if you could pull it off.
Or they just didn't like kids. Based on the clothes we had to wear, I wouldn't ignore the possibility.
You didn't like that acrylic poncho? You know how long it took Grandma to crochet that?
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Oh my god, my most least favorite cal II student ever is back in my cal II class again.
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Does that mean you failed her last time? Good for you!
(65): I've been getting the same sense that Kids Today are getting much taller, but I've also been sensing a class difference to it. When I taught at Stately Landlord University, it seemed like the place was crawling with female students my height (six foot) and male students who looked down on me. You could tell that their parents fed them the best food, drove them to soccer practice where they got plenty of exercise, and scrubbed their faces until they had a permanent glow. Here at Last Chance Community College, people seem about normal.
I just got started on the nautilus machines at the Y, and I can do most of the exercises fine, but the bicep curl is killing me. On the lowest weight I can do 3, barely 4 (That's 20 pounds).
Adding to the chorus of people saying you should use dumbbells, with yet another reason: depending on what era nautilus machines your Y has, they might not actually be good for someone your size. There are only one or two of them on the entire circuit at my gym that are adjustable enough to fit me. And you're only a touch taller than me (though I think you probably have longer limbs).
Actually, I need a better pseudonym for my old place of employment. My current school has the initials LCCC and is really called Last Chance Community College by its students. My previous school (elite, private, liberal arts) had the initials SLU. What should it be called? Slightly Liberal University?
I trained for pull-ups by stepping into very large rubber bands that gave me a boost at the bottom. Started with two thick rubberbands, which gradually went down to one, then smaller rubber bands until I could do jump-pulls.
If your gym isn't willing to get new big equipment, they might buy a set of bands.
Stately Landlord University,
I initially read this as a sort of reversal of something like Landlord Stately Jr. University.
Stuffwhitepeople Like University.
I think your college was the one that, for mysterious reasons, sent me more than twice as much literature than any other college, when I wasa bsdaihs high schooler.
93: I like Stately Landlord U., actually. Evocative.
I think your college was the one that, for mysterious reasons, sent me more than twice as much literature than any other college, when I wasa bsdaihs high schooler.
They do have a top notch typing program.
When I was in high school, apparently I looked like somebody who wanted to go to college in rural Minnesota.
"Yes sir! Here's your baby Kools!"
Megan, I hear those bands can deliver a wedgie of gigantic proportions if you use them wrong right.
(But don't let this be construed as a vote against them. I also hear they're awfully good, wedgies aside.)
Actually, I think Ned nailed the university culture there perfectly.
USC used to send me these incredibly elaborate full-color glossy booklets and stuff. Several times. Even though I had never contacted them or expressed any interest in going to USC.
Texas Tech sent me a t-shirt. Also totally unsolicited.
I kept getting brochures from a college with a name like the one teo went to, only it was in Iowa.
I got fuck-all from colleges. They could have at least hooked me up with a mop and some coveralls.
I don't know if they still do this, but when you got accepted by Oberlin in the late '90s they would send you a little care package of t-shirt, bumpersticker, etc, but the best part was the coupon for the free pint of Ben & Jerry's.
Ah, I thought perhaps it was referring to a State Land Grant university.
Dammit, eb, now everyone will know that I went to the upstate New York campus of the Maharishi University of Management.
Ah, I thought perhaps it was referring to a State Land Grant university.
Like the one teo went to?
107: I don't know if they still do this
If they still do it was hidden from me. (Perhaps wisely.)
111: He's at one now, although it was established well before the designation as land-grant.
I think we should speak in more generalities, here. Somebody might catch on. I'm talking to you, commenter with a pseud that contains vowels.
I kept getting brochures from Purdue with accompanying letters thanking me for my interest in their nutrition program. At one point I got a letter informing me of my acceptance to the nutrition program at Purdue. I hadn't expressed any interest in nutrition!
rh-c, every once in a while I'll read one of your references to SLU and for a moment I think, huh, I didn't know he taught in St. Louis.
I remain a little puzzled about how the legal status of, um, the upstate New York campus of the Maharishi University of Management as a state school functions. On the one hand, it seems that only certain divisions (the Ag school, the Vet school) are considered state schools, but on the other, any meals eaten on the University's dime are tax-exempt, regardless of department affiliation.
Texas Tech sent me a t-shirt. Also totally unsolicited.
The most embarrassing (and possibly only) solicitation that I got from a college was a call from a prof in the Math department at the university of Montana asking if I had any questions.
I kept thinking about how awful it would be for the associate professors to be forced to cold call high school students. I'm sure nobody with tenure would do that.
At one point I got a letter informing me of my acceptance to the nutrition program at Purdue.
Some of the acceptance letters I got from places I never applied were really puzzling.
114: I'm confused on what would be the unwanted specificity. As I was last night with regard to the specific city in another thread. I don't see race nuanced obfuscation. (Or maybe just "shut up" would be work.)
Yeah, I'm surprised by how often schools do that. My high school had a deal with the local, excellent state school that anyone in the top 10 automatically got in (which they didn't seem to actually tell us about ahead of time); I didn't apply and yet, there was my acceptance letter. So strange.
Oh look, I overuse the words "puzzled" and "puzzling".
121: It's complicated, and I'm not sure I understand all the intricacies myself. Basically, the colleges and schools that make up the university are split roughly 50-50 between state and private, and the university-wide offices and functions are, I think, considered private for legal purposes. Even the private schools and offices are still non-profit and tax exempt, though, which may explain the dining thing.
124: well, I think that if people can come in here and determine the specifics of what the given term at issue here refers to, then of course that could lead to the specific consequence or set of consequences that all or some of us may be aware of.
I thought it was a play on Leland Stanford.
I'm confused on what would be the unwanted specificity.
I'm pretty sure this is all joking about keeping secret what has already been revealed in other threads. But if not, I'll exercise more discretion.
128: Someone said something about that specific in front of Eisenhower and next thing you knew Patrice Lumumba was dead.
Arizona State sent me a brochure explaining their admissions requirements. It was a chart with GPA on the x-axis and SAT score on the y, with various shaded areas detailing the scores needed for admission and scholarships. It was nicely to the point. I think I would have qualified for a full academic scholarship even if I had had a something like a 2.1 high school GPA.
I've been getting the same sense that Kids Today are getting much taller, but I've also been sensing a class difference to it. When I taught at Stately Landlord University, it seemed like the place was crawling with female students my height (six foot) and male students who looked down on me. You could tell that their parents fed them the best food, drove them to soccer practice where they got plenty of exercise, and scrubbed their faces until they had a permanent glow. Here at Last Chance Community College, people seem about normal.
This is true, sort of. Here at my land-grant institution the really upper class people are small and go into comp lit or some other annoying discipline where you read a lot of Negri and snot off to people; the merely wealthy are tall and scrubbed and go into various professional programs where they learn to condescend to secretaries. Regular people do regular people things.
What's really clear, though, is the class-weight-aging link. Whenever I'm in a large meeting, the upper-level folks are thinner and look much younger than their age peers in lower-status jobs. I just sit in the corner and snarl, class-x-ing with all my might.
When I was a mere slip of a girl, I was heavily recruited by Princeton. Also by Bradley University, located in scenic Peoria. I could have had a full ride and an extra grant on top of it at Bradley.
I'm delighted that AWB has already generated a nickname for my current employer. Nerd U it is!
I'm sure nobody with tenure would do that.
Au contraire. It happens in my very department.
local, excellent state school that anyone in the top 10 automatically got in (which they didn't seem to actually tell us about ahead of time)
Wasn't this about the time that they changed admissions rules? I thought the top 10 thing was a way to get a diverse class without applying diversity criteria on an individual basis.
This is true, sort of. Here at my land-grant institution the really upper class people are small and go into comp lit or some other annoying discipline where you read a lot of Negri and snot off to people; the merely wealthy are tall and scrubbed and go into various professional programs where they learn to condescend to secretaries. Regular people do regular people things.
This is such a crazy weird sentence. Don't let your activism lead you to eugenics or phrenology, okay Frowner?
"I just sit in the corner and snarl, class-x-ing with all my might."
I always though Fussel's Class X was a whole lot of him thinking about what he liked rather than, as he did in the rest of the book, pointing out something that was commonly observable. If I recall correctly, snarlying isn't Class X. However, heavy drinking and visible protruding nipples are.
I'd like to think that when I was accepted at Cal they sent us rocks with which to break windows. But, no, even in Pre-Prop 13 Utopia, you were expected to supply your own.
But, no, even in Pre-Prop 13 Utopia, you were expected to supply your own tear up paving stones.
I'm sure nobody with tenure would do that.
Au contraire. It happens in my very department.
Cold call HS students with good SAT scores? That can't have a high success rate (though, I suppose it works if you make enough calls . . .)
It's considered good training for working in a call center on their furlough days.
I think she's right. At my 20th HS reunion, it was really noticeable. There are subcultures where being pasty and overweight is accepted (programmer, attorney), but it's prosperity theology of the tailored shirt and small waist elsewhere.
Off to swim....
Cold call HS students with good SAT scores? That can't have a high success rate (though, I suppose it works if you make enough calls . . .)
Ohhhh. No. Sorry, I was confused.
I am reminded once again that teaching is really physically strenuous, at least the way I do it. I'm pooped.
149: RFTS is John Cleese? (Probably NSFW.)
149: You're not supposed to use the paddle until midterms.
Wasn't this about the time that they changed admissions rules? I thought the top 10 thing was a way to get a diverse class without applying diversity criteria on an individual basis.
This was separate from that, I think. It was only for the local state school and applied to the top ten of the graduating class, not the top 10%. Unless I'm confused - I thought that if you were in the top 10% of the class, you were sort of guaranteed acceptance at one or another California state school (under the old rules).
The thread where you say you "are listening to neb's show"?
Dang. I shoulda read the other thread.
OT: I know it's supposed to be a scam (or sign of one) when "landlords" ask you to wire money as a deposit. But what about PayPal?
152: I think you're right; I confused 10 with 10%. That does sound like an odd policy. Though my local state school had a deal with local high schools to accept seniors who met a set level of test scores + GPA. That required its own application, though - basically a college application without essays - and you took classes during your senior year.
After the deadline for applications, I was asked by Harvard to apply. I did. Then, they rejected me.
But, they told me that I come the following year.
Clearly, the standards went WAY down after that.
OT: Hey, will, did you see this? Number 25, baby!
Yes, but I'm loving Duke at #2.
"Home of: The O.D. (Original Douche). They're probably number one. But we'd rather not rank Duke number one at anything."
160 gets the douchiness of the university that currently employs me just about right. I sort of object to tarring all of Chicago with the Wolfowitz brush, though.
That list is kind of uneven. Some of the entries are dead-on, though.
I was surprised by how few of the universities were in CA. It displays a certain east-coast tilt; surely we have our own brand of douchery?
164: I was going to suggest that USC sucks up all the douchiness in the state, but then I remembered a few other fine institutions.
They were using a pretty broad definition of "douchery" to include all those different types of schools, I think. It presumably has an east-coast slant because the writers went to east-coast schools (they're clearly much more familiar with east-coast schools than with schools anywhere else). Still, they had USC there, and that's got to be douchiest California school by any definition.
They also got the University of Colorado exactly right. "In 10 years you will be: a junior." So true.
Is there really any reasonable metric by which Harvard is douchier than Princeton? I don't think so. (But, I have a deep fondness for Harvard that's probably borne out of visiting at length but never having studied or worked there.)
Aww, I have a real fondness for the University of Colorado also, which probably comes from spending a month there in the summer when basically no students were around.
It is weird that everyone always confuses Brown, the Eurotrash Ivy, with imaginary Brown, the Hippie Ivy.
The order really didn't make any sense. Brown was way too high, of course, and UVA too low. At least they had a reason for only putting Duke at #2.
Douchiness is not a descriptor that comes to mind for any CA schools I'm familiar with.
165: Chico douche. UCSB douche. USSC douche. Stanford Douche. Cal Douche. And so on and so forth. I'm just feeling slighted, don't mind me. I might have to make up my very own top 25.
Hm, I wonder if my definition is off.
and UVA too low
No arguments against that here.
173: See, that's like the whole range of douchiness exhibited by all the schools that did make the list.
By which I mean, of course, 3 > 4.
164: Don't forget they had Deep Springs.
California's kind of insular. Most of the schools () names aren't that familiar to people outside the state.
Stuff white people like: Making lists of fine-grained distinctions between groups of similarly-situated white people.
Stuff white people really like: Arguing over Finding mistakes in those lists.
The inclusion of Deep Springs was actually kind of weird. I think they were just showing off that they'd heard of it.
UC Santa Barbara, Berkeley, and Stanford aren't widely recognized? I'll allow that perhaps Santa Cruz and Chico don't have wide name recognition, beyond both often making the top party school lists.
Stuff white people like: Making lists of fine-grained distinctions between groups of similarly-situated white people.
So true. The narcissism of small differences.
By which I mean, of course, 3 > 4.
Oh hey, you're right. I misremembered the list after closing the window. Oops.
181, 182: In fact I think title of this post goes well with the construction of such a list.
UCSB is douchey? Maybe I was just too well-insulated while I was there.
I know I have no ready stereotypes about UCSB. I only have some about UCSC because I've been there.
Berkeley and Stanford, yes. Well-known.
187: I'm sensing a pattern to essear's comments on this subject.
UCSB is douchey? Maybe I was just too well-insulated while I was there.
Isla Vista is a scary, scary place. Halloween? Douche central.
Berkeley and Stanford, yes. Well-known. Douchey.
Oh man though, really, humans of all varieties love obsessing over small differences in subsets of their cohort. It might even be humanity's top leisure activity.
IV is definitely a weird place. But I was only in IV about three or four times during six months in SB, and wasn't in the area at all at Halloween. I suppose I didn't get much sense of student culture outside of a couple of cliques.
187: I'm sensing a pattern to essear's comments on this subject.
That I live in a bubble and don't notice the douchiness, except when it's so overwhelming (Princeton) that I can't avoid it?
193: Obsessing over the differences is number 2. Punishing the deviants is number 1.
It might even be humanity's top leisure activity.
Obligatory link to archives.
And on that note, I'm headed for bed.
It's a cheap shot, but reading about Princeton, I could not help but think of John Malkovich's character (Oswald Cox) in Burn After Reading. And the Princeton Club dinner in particular. Samuel Alito-vintage Princeton. (But then appearances can be deceptive.)
I am sure there are better examples, but, well, when I was there, this sort of thing was on the lower end of the douchery on display.
161: Except that they botched the Duke entry. There's very little old money there, it's mostly a school for children of doctors and grandchildren of plumbers. To be honest, you're much more likely to see pressed Oxford in Chapel Hill.
Oh, oh, I found a better example.
Punishing the deviants is number 1.
Ah, but is that truly, purely a leisure activity? Punishing deviants (like marriage!) is HARD WORK.
Wow. Come to think of it, I did see more public vomiting in downtown SB on a typical Friday or Saturday evening than in, oh, a typical year anywhere else I've lived, which surely says something about the student culture there.
I did see more public vomiting in downtown SB on a typical Friday or Saturday evening
I feel bad judging on the basis of Halloween alone, but I figured that I could more readily find pictures if I concentrated on that. The party school atmosphere of UCSB is pretty intense, though.
Looking back through the list, about half of the entries are seriously phoned-in.
204: Eventually, all that public vomiting is going to put the private vomtrepreneurs out of business.
UC Santa Barbara, Berkeley, and Stanford aren't widely recognized? I'll allow that perhaps Santa Cruz and Chico don't have wide name recognition, beyond both often making the top party school lists.
Why would Santa Barbara be more famous than Santa Cruz?
The sum total of my knowledge about both is the words "banana slug" and "Ezra Klein".
207: In Canada, old people sometimes have to wait weeks to vomit.
Why would Santa Barbara be more famous than Santa Cruz?
Santa Barbara is a much, much bigger school than Santa Cruz, but I think teo's right and I'm just suffering from California-blinders.
Ah, but is that truly, purely a leisure activity? Punishing deviants (like marriage!) is HARD WORK.
But yield who will to their separation,
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future's sakes.
Also looking back through the list, I see that of 25 spaces, 2 are occupied by California schools, so I think California is amply represented.
I must admit that in my experience the soul of true campus douchitude is captured in the phrase, "work hard, play hard". Especially if it has been adopted by the college community to describe itself. Kiss of fucking death.
But California has a shitload of people, and while it does send a goodly number of douches elsewhere for school, it also imports them.
213: We're more than 10% of the population! We only got 8% in the list. And I don't really count Deep Springs. It's practically in Nevada.
Why would Santa Barbara be more famous than Santa Cruz? The sum total of my knowledge about both is the words "banana slug" and "Ezra Klein".
You could add to your knowledge the nickname "UC Surfboard" and UCSC's annual pot-smoking event. That might just about cover it.
213: When I saw Randolph-Macon made the cut, I figured it was a DC-based crowd who made the list.
215, 216: True enough, but note how massively overrepresented southern schools are on the list. Douchiness may not be equally distributed across the country.
Santa Cruz is a really weird (and, imo, kind of unpleasant) place.
As much as anything, I think what they were more precisely trying to measure was Pretentiousness, which isn't exactly douchebaggery.
Santa Cruz is a really weird (and, imo, kind of unpleasant) place.
Unpleasant? Really? I love it there.
219: I don't dispute the douchiness of Southern schools (or of the Ivy League), and it's true that douchiness is not spread evenly (University of North Dakota: probably not douchey, if anyone could be persuaded to go check), but I'm going to have to take issue with the idea that California punches below its weight in any douchitude contest.
I think what they were more precisely trying to measure was Pretentiousness, which isn't exactly douchebaggery.
I think they were including pretentiousness as a variety of douchebaggery.
Georgia Southern University is much bigger and more prominent than North Georgia State University, but it doesn't affect many people outside Georgia.
Oh, I also know UCSB has a really good soccer team one of whose stars was railroaded into jail a couple years ago on apparently evidence-free date rape charges. Although that might be Long Beach State.
I'm going to have to take issue with the idea that California punches below its weight in any douchitude contest.
I don't doubt that it has plenty of douchebags, but, again, insular. So many of them stay there that the rest of us don't notice them as much.
226.1: Right, I totally acknowledged that I was seeing it from an insider's perspective.
225: I'd go with that. Maybe they were leaning heavy on that knob? I mean "Cali Surfer Dude" is a sort of douchebag but not the same kind as Ivy Leaguer wearing topsiders and going on about summering in Maine.
I'd advance an argument that the latter is more pretentious than the former, but they're both douchenozzles.
UCSB also has several really world-class research departments and institutes, in a way that I don't think UCSC does. (I could be a bit myopic here; in my field, somewhat broadly construed, UCSC is strong, but UCSB is arguably in the top five anywhere.)
223: It felt like kind of an overgrown beach town, and the campus is completely and utterly isolated from the rest of the town to a bizarre degree. (From talking to people there I came to understand that this was a deliberate decision when it was founded.) I dunno, it just didn't feel very comfortable to me. Different strokes.
So many of them stay there that the rest of us don't notice them as much.
NOT my experience.
230: No, you're totally right on that front. UCSC has some great people in most fields but they're not as strong, academically, as UCSB.
Somewhat relatedly, I don't think I realized that UCSD was actually a good - and according to many studies, a great - school. Everyone I know that went there just wanted to surf.
work hard, play hard
For instance,
"Work hard, play hard." I heard the motto my first week at Princeton two years ago. Since then I've come to realize that it's much more than just a saying. It's a way of life; it's a mentality; it's an obsession.
To truly understand the seemingly ideal balance, you must live and observe it. But since freshmen are at a disadvantage, having only set foot on campus for an overzealous orange key tour, I'll be your candid teacher.
And this discussion.
And of course there is a lot of non-douchiness and non-pretentiousness at even the douchiest place (well maybe not at Washington & Lee, was that on the list?).
229: Yeah, I think that does suggest a DC sort of attitude, with all the attention to Ivies and such. Still, though, ASU. Definitely douchey, definitely not pretentious.
It felt like kind of an overgrown beach town,
I grew up in one of those, which probably explains a lot about why I like Santa Cruz.
Somewhat relatedly, I don't think I realized that UCSD was actually a good - and according to many studies, a great - school. Everyone I know that went there just wanted to surf.
It's a world-class biomedical center complexed with all kinds of Scripps and La Jolla this and that. I think of it as a sort of Thomas Jefferson University of the west which might not have any undergraduates at all.
232: Huh. Experiences differ, I guess.
233: I'd say, actually, that UCSD is better known outside of California than UCSB is, and it does indeed have a good academic reputation.
I think of it as a sort of Thomas Jefferson University of the west which might not have any undergraduates at all.
Only 22,000 of them.
230: My (mostly secondhand) experience as well. Of course, for schools like the UCs (and many other research institutions) the faculty/grad and undergrad atmosphere are worlds apart.
223: It felt like kind of an overgrown beach town, and the campus is completely and utterly isolated from the rest of the town to a bizarre degree.
Huh. All of that goes double for Santa Barbara.
233: I'd say, actually, that UCSD is better known outside of California than UCSB is, and it does indeed have a good academic reputation.
I totally agree. I only brought up UCSB because of the douche factor. I'm sure UCSD has it too but I have no personal experience with it.
22,000?!? That must be the biggest public school in the country without Division I athletics.
I suspect Santa Cruz is a lot nicer if you like beaches and stuff.
Washington & Lee, was that on the list?
No, but I'm always struck by the seemingly disproportionate number of moneyed New Orleans folks who end up there {I'm through there regularly for gigs}. Maybe that's a personal-anecdote blip, though.
My knowledge about CSU-Chico is that I think they filmed a series of porn movies there, and people make fun of its total lack of academic quality.
I think Randolph-Macon was the entry on the list representing places like Washington & Lee.
243: California has many very large schools without huge sports programs. USC is more the exception than anything else. I don't get the way many public schools on the East Coast are basically just overgrown football programs.
My dad went to Duke. He viewed Washington & Lee as the world's douchiest school. (though he would not use that exact word)
So, as Duke is to the rest of the world, Washington & Lee is to Duke.
1. P-ton is way more douchey than Brown.
2. The Chicago douche description is 25 years out of date.
3. NYU is in all ways guilty as charged.
4. Oh man, the take on Trinity was perfect.
233: Huh. Yeah, for UCSD, I think strong in life sciences (Salk Institute, etc) and oceanography (Scripps). But in my field it's fairly weak (except in one hyper-specialized topic, and one generally great guy who I think stays there only because it's a good place for his wife to work), so it's sort of off my radar.
248: Yes, the way Ohio State represented the big excessive school pride places.
I'm with Ned, but I'm also biomedical, so no surprise there. UCSD + Salk is one of the top programs in the country for my field; UCSB and UCSC presumably have programs in my field, but they're not much on people's radars.
To continue with this, there are 160,000 undergrads in the UC system. And another 415,000 in the CSU system. California is big!
Yes, the way Ohio State represented the big excessive school pride places.
And I'm *very* disappointed that my alma mater only ranked honorable mention in that category.
252: That is my impression of all of the non-Berkeley, non UCLA UCs, very strong academic reputations in selected programs. UCSB may be the broadest of those. And the general undergrad experience is almost totally divorced from any of that.
My UC doesn't even have an undergraduate!
Rankings of the UC, according to the AWRU:
Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
UCSF
UCSB
UC Irvine
UC Davis
and so on.
But of course it depends on what field you're talking about, yadda yadda.
256: If it's the place where you are supposed to respond in a certain way to a public shout of "We Are!", then I'm with you on that.
Look, just because there's twice as many college students in California than there are people, total, in my state, it doesn't mean anything.
Huh. All of that goes double for Santa Barbara.
I find the Santa Cruz campus to be more isolated than the Santa Barbara campus, though it's true that IV is distinctly separate from SB. But at Santa Cruz, it's like they put a ring of empty campuses around the campus as a moat.
How is Reed in the same category as Brown? Weird.
Berkeley - hippies
UCLA - football
UCSD - medical center
UCSF - another medical center
UCSB - surfing
UC Irvine - baseball
UC Davis - viticulture
That is my impression of all of the non-Berkeley, non UCLA UCs, very strong academic reputations in selected programs.
Sounds about right. Interestingly, one area in which Santa Cruz is really strong is linguistics, in which it's one of the top programs in the country. (Which is why I was there, of course.)
262: Santa Cruz does have a great bus system, though.
Huh. All of that goes double for Santa Barbara.
Only UCSB's campus actually feels like a campus, whereas UCSC's feels like a state park. The urban legend is that there are no large public areas (no quad or anything like that) on campus because the designers wanted to avoid events like the takeover of Sproul Plaza at Cal. Santa Barbara also doesn't have the Berkeley-wannabe feel Santa Cruz does.
Plus Santa Barbara has La Super-Rica.
262: My impression of Santa Cruz is that it is a bit saddled with an excess of self-consciousness of being "Santa Cruz". A lot of schools have that, though.
But at Santa Cruz, it's like they put a ring of empty campuses around the campus as a moat.
And sprinkled several more in between the buildings as well.
The only thing I know about Santa Cruz is the band Good Riddance's claim to provenance there from.
It's like you're camping at school. I think it's fantastic. (Full disclosure: My sister goes to UCSC.)
The urban legend is that there are no large public areas (no quad or anything like that) on campus because the designers wanted to avoid events like the takeover of Sproul Plaza at Cal.
I heard this story when I was there too.
Santa Cruz does have a great bus system, though.
It does, but it kind of has to, because there's no other way to get around.
UCLA - football
John Wooden would like a word with you.
I find the Santa Cruz campus to be more isolated than the Santa Barbara campus, though it's true that IV is distinctly separate from SB. But at Santa Cruz, it's like they put a ring of empty campuses around the campus as a moat.
Yeah, I guess I'm just thinking of the big desolate area near the airport that separates UCSB from SB. But it's true that IV and parts of Goleta are close. Plus, there's great public transit and bike paths everywhere, so it's never very hard to get around.
Just look how the Californians have strolled in and made this a conversation about them. Rank douchebaggery, I tell you.
It's like you're camping at school. I think it's fantastic.
Freaks me out. You can't even see anything! There are all these fucking trees in the way! And they're redwoods, so they're huge and dominate everything.
I should note that I was only in Santa Cruz for a few days, so my opinions on it should not be taken very seriously.
263: How is Reed in the same category as Brown? Weird.
I thought the selection, placement and write-up on Brown was one of the weakest items in the article. The use of "limousine-liberal" says it all.
You can't even see anything!
Spoken like a true desert man.
Spoken like a true desert man.
Guilty as charged. Growing up in New Mexico gives you an odd perspective on other places.
Just look how the Californians have strolled in and made this a conversation about them. Rank douchebaggery, I tell you.
Why thank you. I noticed Megan's not been around as much, so I have to step up and do my part.
You can't even see anything!
Clearly you didn't go over to Porter. The dining hall there has a magnificent view across the bay to Monterey.
The rankings in 259 are interesting. My own ranking of UC schools in terms of where I would like to get a job has Berkeley, SB, and Davis at the top (all in "probably hopeless, but I would be overjoyed" territory), Irvine next ("nice department, but who wants to live there?"), and nowhere else is really on the map.
I have no idea where on the campus I was (wherever the linguistics department is), but there were certainly some places with great views across the bay. Aside from that, though, it was all trees, trees, trees. The damn place is literally a forest.
Experiences differ, I guess.
Possibly Californians are more inclined to invade Hawaii, Washington, and Oregon than (most parts of) NM?
259: Poor Riverside never gets any love.
I bet 1 out of every 4 people in Santa Fe is a California-transplant.
286: That's what I was thinking. There are some Californians in NM, but way more Texans.
285: There's plenty of coastal grassland too. I happen to love it, but it's not for everyone.
how the Californians have strolled in
I thought most of the people discussing California are not Californians.
288: Probably, but Santa Fe's not typical of the rest of the state, and I haven't spent all that much time there personally.
Apparently there is a thing called "San Francisco State University" which has over 30,000 students. And so do San Diego State, San Jose State, CSU-Long Beach, CSU-Long Beach, and CSU-Northridge.
At least I'd heard of the last five, since they have basketball teams.
259: Poor Riverside never gets any love.
I was too lazy to go looking for it. It bears noting that all of the ones in the list were in the top 50 universities in the world according to that particular diagnostic. (And yes, I'll stop being California's flag bearer any moment now.)
292: I know, I'm just really amused by the specific sort of Californian that ends up in Santa Fe.
295: They are an amusing bunch, for sure.
I thought most of the people discussing California are not Californians.
Fair enough. I've been programmed to make cavalier assertions.
(And yes, I'll stop being California's flag bearer any moment now.)
Hey, if you let the flag fall I'll just pick it up. But don't you have to do this sort of thing in order to keep your funding?
297: to make cavalier assertions.
And so back to the original comment starting this discussion.
Even more astonishing, there is something called "California State University-Dominguez Hills" which has 2/3 as many undergraduates as the University of Virginia.
But don't you have to do this sort of thing in order to keep your funding?
It probably wouldn't hurt (and I'm really angry about what's going on in the system, but that's a whole other story and probably left for tenured people to discuss, not lowly grad students). But I've always, annoyingly, been a California patriot.
California really is its own world.
Huh. For the first time, I know someone in my approximate age cohort who is divorced. I feel old now.
At least I'd heard of the last five, since they have basketball teams
At least there are plenty of Mexican (New) in NM.
I heard the same story about UCSD. California has too many UCSx schools.
I know basically nothing about Trinity, but the one person I know who went there completely embodies the description. Same goes for Brown.
Florida has some fairly unknown massive schools as well (although they have been moving up to Div I sports). Number one campus in the country for undergrad enrollment? University of Central Florida.
Number one campus in the country for undergrad enrollment? University of Central Florida.
Huh. It used to be UT-Austin, didn't it?
Will the University of North Florida never get its due recognition? So sad.
309: Probably, it is now at #2, ~4K behind.
1 University of Central Florida a[›] Orlando, FL 42,933[1]
2 University of Texas at Austin a[›] Austin, Texas 39,000[2]
3 Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona 38,627[3]
4 Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 38,479[4]
5 Texas A&M University a[›] College Station, Texas 38,430[5]
6 Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania 37,988[6]
7 University of Florida Gainesville, Florida 35,528[7]
8 Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan 34,853[8]
9 Purdue University West Lafayette, Indiana 32,377[9]
10 Florida State University Tallahassee, Florida 31,508[10]
Oh, I'm around. I just haven't had much to say on the topics recently. Was someone calling for rank California chauvinism?
312: They largely left us out of the douchebag list! It was terrible!
310: It does every few days when I type "unf" into the URL area and then push Enter before selecting unfogged.com from the recently visited sites.
Oh, and for the locals:
Pie Contest is on Sept 13th. I'd love it if any of you could make it.
Don't forget UC Merced, a.k.a. the embodiment of the promise of California's future.
I'm rather surprised SFSU has 30K students. Their main campus isn't what I'd call large. (142 acres vs. the 6,651 for Cal's similar total number of students.) I bet a lot of those are of the commuter/evening variety.
My favorite Cal State campus has to be California State University, Channel Islands. Sounds so romantic!
CSU-Dominguez Hills was mentioned in Bring It On:
Aaron: We'll be reunited at Cal State Dominguez Hills! I'll be the experienced sophomore, you'll be the hot new freshman. It'll be just like high school, only better. Dorm rooms.
314: Thanks for making that explicit, ned.
My favorite Cal State campus has to be California State University, Channel Islands. Sounds so romantic!
But not, Google tells me, actually on the Channel Islands, or even on the coast. Sounds so disappointing!
316: Most of my compatriots who went there lived somewhere in the Bay Area and did indeed commute. Not quite evening commuters, though.
The Channel Islands are a state of mind. The headquarters of Channel Islands National Park is on the mainland, in Ventura.
So now I'm wondering, and Google Maps suggests a tentative 'yes': is UCSB the only university in California which is literally on the coast, as opposed to overlooking the coast, or just across a highway from the coast, or a few miles from the coast?
I think Pepperdine might literally be on the coast.
Amusing (to me. maybe teo) geography trivia from the list in 311. You will note that despite being already located in the most dominated-by-its-college town in America, State College, the campus of Penn State has "University Park" as its mailing address. Apparently this dates back to when Penn State became a university* yet the town refused to change its name, so PSU petitioned and got a different PO name.
*From 1855 to 1862 it was the Farmers' High School.
So I thought, but Google Maps says it stays on the wrong side of the PCH.
You will note that despite being already located in the most dominated-by-its-college town in America, State College, the campus of Penn State has "University Park" as its mailing address.
I have noticed that, and wondered about it, actually. Thanks for the explanation.
324: Then I bet UCSB is indeed the only one on the coast, though I'm really unclear on most of the Southern CA schools' geography.
325: Most of the campus is in fact within the Borough of State College.
I bet CSU-Northridge is thrilled to be the fictional school of the student who gets in the limo to make porn with Rollergirl near the end of Boogie Nights:
JACK No, no. Anyway. How'd you like to go round with Rollergirl? Have you seen her film work?
COLLEGE KID . . . yeah . . . yeah I have. (to Rollergirl) We watch your films in my frat house. I go to CSUN. The fuckin' guys are never gonna believe this --
I think that exhausts my knowledge of CSU mentions in cinema. Oh yeah, the kid in Errol Morris's Gates of Heaven went to Chico, I believe.
I bet nobody outside PA can guess which college is located in Collegeville, PA.
Megan! Did you know that they're turning the area around your home town into a mountain range?
I was curious how they could justify calling the school Channel Islands. Here's how:
On a clear day, you can see some of the islands from the University.
331: By that logic they could have called UCSC UC-Monterey.
Oh yeah, the kid in Errol Morris's Gates of Heaven went to Chico, I believe.
He did. I just watched it and thought he managed to represent the culture of Chico still.
Coming soon to California: CSU-Alpha Centauri.
Heh. I always considered Boogie Nights to be the story of Sherman Way Blvd, which I knew pretty well from driving between my parents' houses. My Mom taught at CSUN, which only reinforces my sense that Boogie Nights was a movie on my home turf.
334: "If you thought UC-Merced was the embodiment of the promise of California's future, you ain't seen nothing yet..."
they're turning the area around your home town into a mountain range?
"They" like the Pacific plate, trying to dive under the North American continent?
I bet nobody outside PA can guess which college is located in Collegeville, PA.
My guess (Dickinson, off the top of my head, and which I often confuse with NC's Davidson College) was incorrect.
338: They're tricky, those tectonic plates. Gotta watch out.
Throwing up mountains, higgledy-piggledy.
338: Don't be naive. That's what they want you to think.
If Alaska opened a campus called "University of Alaska - Putin's Head", then I would have to forgive the state for everything.
UC-Merced. I know nothing about the place, but this picture (captioned New students proceed through the "Beginnings" sculpture en route to an ice cream celebration) does not really entice one to learn more.
They're not higgledy-piggledy. You have to consider the possibility that they're targeting your house.
If Alaska opened a campus called "University of Alaska - Putin's Head", then I would have to forgive the state for everything.
But the campus would have to be either on Little Diomede Island or at the summit of Mt. McKinley.
Huh. Mike Judge (Beavis and Butthead, Office Space, some new movie that looks crappy) is an alum of UCSD.
346: He also grew up in Albuquerque.
343: Every so often the pincers close and one student does not get ice cream! A Beginning turns out to be the beginning of the end!
343: Merced is in one of the most economically-depressed regions in the state. It was supposed to serve the burgeoning population of the lower San Joaquin valley, but it is my personal theory that anyone who would be interested in going to a UC that lived in the region would leave it as fast as they could.
But they did get Michelle Obama as their graduation speaker!
Has there been recent seismic activity? Also, how closely have you pinpointed my home town (not that I've kept it secret)?
I see You See Us Booze apparently lives up to the nickname I heard for it once.
ABC says Ted Kennedy's shuffled off. I can't even make the requisite joke. Poor guy.
Before Merced opened, there was talk of setting aside a considerable number of slots for students from the SJValley. I remember speculation that since they were likely to be the first people in their families to go to college, and very poor, they likely wouldn't want to go far away to school.
348: I also thought that if you were showing off your new college you might display a picture that either actually shows the whole statue or the students well, or is otherwise competently composed rather than like, "I was passing by and saw these kids walking through this big metal thing so I took a picture on my cell phone".
350: From satellite, I feel confident I could target your house within 50 miles or so. I was just reading Atlas of the Former World, which mentions that despite being very flat, the area around Sacramento is rising rapidly (in geologic terms) and may eventually be part of a new mountain range. Since you're the only person I know who lives in the Central Valley, I thought of you.
353: That is the supposed speculation, and it's probably true.
When I was applying to schools, I had the impression that Santa Cruz was potentially better for undergraduate instruction, but that other UC's, Berkeley especially, poached the top research talent. Santa Barbara I think has some institutional strength based on being an earlier UC campus, although being a newer one hasn't prevented San Diego from becoming such a good school.
352: Seems to be reported all over.
Oh, I was confused. I think of the town of my birth as my home town, and there are already mountains around it. My current home town! Mountains are coming to visit us? For Pie Contest?
I bet mountains make the best pies.
354: Another message of the picture might be, "At our university, you will wait in long lines to access limited resources, and pass through arbitrary chokepoints on your way."
(N.B., I'm not actually interested in ripping on UCM.)
Uh, to continue my thought in 356, I was going to say it's probably true but having spent some time in Merced I like to at least pretend that the first-time college bound have hopes of going someplace that feels less depressed. Though, personally, I would like the chance to work at the campus and try to get involved in the community in a way that you can't at a more established school.
358: Yeah, went ahead and made a new thread for that discussion.
Haven't been to Merced in years or the campus ever. Your assessment of it is better than mine.
Haven't been to Merced in years or the campus ever. Your assessment of it is better than mine.
365: One of my friends from college got a job as a city planner there in 2004, when the housing boom was making Merced much more viable and there was much excitement about the campus. I hope that the university manages to push through the budget crisis.
352, 353: What, the existing cancer thread wasn't good enough for you?
366.last: That's what I was thinking, hell of a time to be a brand new public university in California.
359: Yep, your current home town. Rising faster than the Alps, apparently. The mountains probably won't be there in time for Pie Contest, though. They're always late.
338:"They" like the Pacific plate, trying to dive under the North American continent?
Actually, the relative motion between the Pacific Plate and the North American where they meet is transverse, so they are sliding alongside one another (the San Andreas of course). From Northern California on up there is a remnant of the Farallon Plate (Juan de Fuca Plate, part near CA sometimes further subdivided into the Gorda Plate) that *is* diving under the NA Plate creating a subduction zone with the resulting Cascade volcanoes.
Don't try to pretty it up with your fancy geology, JP. The Farallon Plate is being murdered, while we just stand here doing nothing but eating Cheetos and blogging.
The Farrallon plate is responsible for basically everything in northern California, and I don't just mean geographically.
The Farallon Plate is your father, nosflow? That must be tough.
I wasn't born in California.
I knew there was something weird about you.
I was all ready to defend dear ol' UCSD, but then I see nobody said anything particularly untrue about it. Oh well.
Don't go there for anything to do with humanities anything, but yeah, anything to do with wet human parts or computers or the intersection thereof it's great. Full of nerds, though. And surfers. But surprisingly few surfing nerds.
anything to do with wet human parts or computers or the intersection thereof it's great.
The intersection thereof? Electrocution?
356: Also, real estate more affordable, correlatively (word?)
I have been to UCMerced on my way to a possible fieldwork spot. Am working near Santa Cruz instead; can anyone recommend a good hardware store in town?
I keep trying to ask for a recommended hardware store in Santa Cruz but LeechBlock is...protecting me? What, doesn't it have an 'actual work question' heuristic yet? Phoo.
