The most underrated class on campus

I had to write an essay today for my Writing class. I had to discuss how I ended up becoming a World Cultures and History major and Philosophy minor. I am a bad writer proven by my earlier blogs, but I think because this new essay is about myself, I might be able to pull off a decent grade.

After a theology reading group discussion for the philosophy club that I help get started, I went outside with my three other friends. I laid down in front of the school just starring at the sky (it was around 9:30 pm). I started thinking to myself, how did I end up with my group of friends, how did I end up with my job, how did I end up laying down in front of the school starring at the sky at 10 o'clock at night? I traced it all to my intro to philosophy class I took last semester. My friends, my job, my interests, my true college experience can all be traced to that class. I am still amazed at how much one class has influenced my life.

Let us start with my position as one of the officers of the Nonexistent Philosophy Club. I aced my philosophy class last semester so I already showed some promise as a philosophy student. Over Winter break, I kept in contact with my philosophy professor about the club and my interest as an officer. At the initial meeting, me and a few other people became the officers of the club (most of them being very much into philosophy). Two other officers (Meg and Mike), my philosophy TA, and myself all met the following day to create the NEPC constitution. Another student (Evan) who excelled in philosophy also joined us in creating the constitution. Little did I know that these people were going to be my future group of friends.

I sort of knew Evan from the World History class last semester. He changed his hair drastically so I didn't recognize him. I had met Meg a few times before at Starbucks. I had only met Michael once at Starbucks on the last day of school with Meg and the TA. Evan already knew Mike because they were roommates. I started hanging out with Meg a lot and then she started going out with Mike. Well, eventually I started hanging out with Evan and we ended up all hanging out together. I have a lot of friends I hang out with at UCM, but these guys are the ones I hang out with most. I even moved in with Meg in her off-campus apartment. I don't really talk to my TA anymore even though he is my TA again this semester for another class. He sort of hates me, but that's a long story. He's the one that actually introduced me to Wikipedia in which I am doing less and less editing with every passing day. The point is, I would have never met these people or decided to move to Merced if it wasn't for the philosophy class/club.

I work as a research assistant for my philosophy professor. I basically read Edmund Husserl and pick out quotes that explain his major concepts. It's quite interesting even though he is a horrific writer. I had only talked to my professor a few times last semester and during Winter break about the club. I also showed a big interest in philosophy and he obviously noticed because a few weeks into the next semester, he offered me a job. He read an article where I was quoted as saying that philosophy is one of the most important classes a student can take; that it is more then a class: it is a tool for life. He e-mailed me when he read the article and asked me to elaborate on why I thought it was such an important class.

I decided to write a not-so-cynical blog today for reasons that are unknown to me. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done to UCM to bring it to the level of the other UCs. But I felt like showing some of the good aspects of the school instead of the negative. There are things about this school that I actually like and appreciate. I am a centrist and for my blog to be purely negative, would make me a hypocrite. I preach centrism and moderacy and I like to practice it as well.

They're Joking, Right?

Last week my roommate tells me that a friend has told her that UCM has threatened to cut the World Cultures and History major, the only real humanities major there is at this so-called university. Their goal is to become purely a research university and they want to go about this by providing only math and science majors. I'm not sure if they know this but, there is research involved in a humanities major. I know, it might sound totally crazy and absurd and unthinkable, but it is true. When I hear this news, I start to freak out because that is my major they are talking about.

Even though I grumble and gripe about how the school is in disarray and the apathy of the students, I still care about the school and I want it to be the next Berkeley...... well at least the next Riverside. I have been called mellow many of times, but when I heard this news I became irate.

The idea of this school, to me, has become a farce with the administration as scientists who experiment on monkeys and the undergrads as wild baboons The graduates would be ageist, elitist, pretentious baboons and the professors would be the scarce but industrious hippie-vegan dissenters who protest of the experimentation of animals.

I found out a few days ago that WCH is not being cut, it was just some distorted information. Of course I returned to my normal mellow self, but the idea that the major might be cut is still lingering because the school wants to be an exclusive research university. They did do this to the psychology major so WCH will be on the chopping block in perpetuity.

Spring Break is Over and I am Screwed

So school is starting and I just realized that I still have so much work to do. There are only 5 weeks left of school and I have an 8 page paper due on this stupid, wasteful class called CORE. It is such a great idea for a class but it has been poorly carried out. It is a class whose objective is to bridge the gap between sciences and humanities. I love the premise for this class. I am very focused on humanities while my best friend is focused on sciences. This class personifies our friendship. We manage to get along even though we are studying in two totally different fields. I told her about the class and she said that she does notice a difference in talking to people in each field. I noticed when I was talking to her one time that I brought up something about the history of Mesopotamia and she pointed out that what I was saying was very much on the side of the humanities. I then realized that the difference between the fields were actually very prevalent in everyday society.

There are so many things to do and not enough time. I don't think I have reached my maximum, but at the rate that I am going, I think I might be there soon. I just got a job as a research assistant and the job is tough. I have to read Edmund Husserl and he is a very bad writer. I sometimes catch myself reading the same passage 3 maybe 5 times until I fully understand what he is trying to say. In one hour, I will finish maybe at best, 5 pages. When I read normally, I get through many more pages in an hour but in this case, I have to pick out important quotes and concepts. It is easier said then done. Here is one quote to represent the difficulty of his writing.

Apodictic evidence: “It [apodictic evidence] discloses itself, to a critical reflection, as having the signal peculiarity of being at the same time the absolute unimaginableness (inconceivability) of their non-being, and thus excluding in advance every doubt as “objectless”, empty”
(CM, 1st Med. pg. 15-6)

And this is some of the easier stuff. I understand now what he was saying, but when I first read this I was like "what the hell is he talking about?" Now it seems to have gotten easier to understand, but I have to get into my Husserl state-of-mind before I can start reading his text. But I strangely enjoy reading him and learning about his philosophy on phenomenology. In Cartesian Meditations, he is doing what Decartes did in his meditations but instead of building knowledge back up with CDP's (Clear and Distinct Perceptions) and God, he is using phenomenology. Right now I am in the middle of his second meditation which is that part where he builds knowledge back up. Decartes famously broke down all knowledge until all there was left was concrete and abstract knowledge.

Then I am helping my TA work on this Wikipedia project called Portal: California Central Valley. It was his great idea (not being sarcastic) and I offered to help. I am adding stuff to the page but I don't really feel like I am helping. See, I am not a good writer and on Wikipedia you have to be able to write articles. I think I might be creating more problems then I am helping. I'll probably stop editing soon. I am not much of a help, more like a nuisance.

My old buddies from NY are coming to visit me this Friday. I am worried that they might not have as much fun as they are anticipating. See I live in the Great Central Valley, I love it here even though I used to be from NY and still enjoy the city life. But the reasons why I like the Central Valley are a whole other blog. So back to the NY buddies, they have a concept that California is beaches, Yosemite, and Hollywood. Problem is is that all of those things are very far away from where I live. I live 5 hours from LA, 2 from Yosemite, and 3 from any beach. Though I do live about 5 minutes from a dairy farm. That's cool, right? I just hope we (California and myself) don't let them down. It is their Spring Break and I want them to have a good time.

So what else am I doing? Not much. Oh yeah, my roommate and myself are setting up a concert in the city I live in. We have about 6 bands that are willing to play. My only hope is that we get a big turnout. If we don't, I will be very disappointed not only because we didn't get a big turn out but also at myself. I will always think "what could I have done to get more people to show up?" and that is a thought I do not want to have to deal with.

It is so weird to have the apartment all to myself. I was thinking about calling some of my friends over for dinner but they just got back from Spring Break and they probably are really tired. I know how a week back at home is tiresome. Also it is already 9:00 pm and I am spent from a long day of driving, reading Husserl, surfing the net, and talking on the phone. I had to send out so many e-mails today. That alone took a few hours. Then I had to drive up to campus to print out my essays to make sure there aren't any major mistakes. I have to write a feature story, lucky me. That would be so great if my feature story got published in a newspaper, even if it was just the local city newspaper. Then again my writing is very poor so I highly doubt I would ever get published. I have a lot to say, and a lot of great ideas, but I can't really articulate them on paper. But pity me not for I am learning to be a better writer. I will eventually become as proficient as lets say, Edmund Husserl?

The Ranting and Raving of a Freshman

I am a student at the University of California, Merced. Yes, one of the pioneers, big wup. Every time I had heard about the new UC in high school (which was a lot), it would always be connected to the fact that anyone who went there for its first ''grand opening'' would be a pioneer and would help shape the school. It is sad how we (undergrads and graduates) all believed that we could shape the school. That we can create the new UC in the Great Central Valley by our standards. As for now, our opinion is carried out in surveys every few months for specific classes. That's great and all but what about "shaping the school," not just shaping the classes. A university is more then just its classes, yet our opinion has been reduced to such. They give us enough say so we don't go on complaining about not being heard; tricky bastards.

Then when students do complain and want to get something done, they go to the administration, for what? Do they really think they are going to be heard? Yes the administration will hear the students but they won't do anything about it. They won't truly hear them. They will pat them on their merry little naive heads and tell them to run along and to not worry about "big people" problems.

The university undermines the power of the student. They belittle us and condescend us by telling us that our opinion matters and we get to shape the school and by giving those damn useless surveys to try to shut us up. How did we fall into this trap. We should have realized that the UC is a bureaucracy and anyone who has taken a general 8th grade course in US government knows how a bureaucracy works and how hard it is to get anything done. We can't blame anyone in a bureaucracy and we can't get what we want through 10 minute speedy meetings with the personal assistant of the Vice Chancellor of UCM. What the hell is a personal assistant going to do? Of course I am exaggerating about the personal assistant. Some students actually get to talk face-to-face with the Chancellor or one of the three deans, but they have so many other things to do, they could care less about a bunch of whiny kids.

Two very high profile people are leaving the university by the end of this year. Kenji Hakuta and the Chancellor. Was the university that bad that they had to leave? Maybe they had a hard time getting their opinion heard from the people who are even higher then them. It would of taken a lot to get them so fed up that they would just quit. These are two very strong, powerful, influential people and even they couldn't get what they wanted for the university. Maybe they were listening to us. Maybe. Maybe they tried really hard to get what the students wanted but has no such success. If they can't do anything, what hope is there for us students?

So what to do? That has been the question that has been circling my mind for the last few days or so. (1) Should I just transfer out? No, that won't work because they credits here are not accredited so they wouldn't transfer. That would be a waste of time and money. (2) Talk to the administration? Haha, I can't believe I even asked that question. (3) Talk to students and see what they say and try to rally them up and them talk to the administration. Power in numbers they say. The problem with that is that UCM students just don't care. They are a bunch of lazy ass dip-shits. Not all of them, but most of them. Most of them don't even know what is going on with the UC. All they complain about it the crappy food and trams being too slow. There are a few that do care and that would help, and they are actually doing something, but that is a very small group.

My conclusion is to try to get people motivated. I have to do something that sparks an interest in the students. In order for students to do something, they have to feel that it somehow affects them. This is going to be a very hard task and I am not sure that is it possible. I have to remember that I am just a freshman and there is only so much I can do. Do I even have the guts to go out there and piss enough people off that they would get up and do something. Anything! To tell the truth, none of this is going to work. I'll probably get sidetracked; there are only 5 weeks left of school, finals are coming up, I have a million essays due within those 5 weeks, I am getting backed up at my job, blah, blah, blah. I guess if I had a bunch of others students that were passionate about changing the school, then I'd do something. But everyone else is busy as well and it seems that enough people are content with the UC. Eh, I guess this is just the way the world works. The little guy always loses and gets stomped upon while the big guy wallows in his piles of money and power (use your imagination) that he got from screwing over the little guy. The proletariat should stand up against the bourgeoisie and get in charge but our generation just doesn't care enough to do so.

We are treated like children, our opinion has be reduced to a few "yes" or "no" answers, the administration is fed up, there seems to be no progress being made, there is corruption and scandal everywhere, and students could care less. This is disheartening and it makes me lose confidence in my generation. Well not only my generation but the ones before me. Most grads aren't doing anything. I should be criticizing them more then my peers. They are supposed to be older and more experienced, they should be the ones to "spark an interest in the students" and deal with the administration. Their opinion holds more weight then ours yet they don't do anything. They are too busy criticizing their students and perfecting the art of being pretentious. But my problem with the grads are a whole other story.