School of SSHA (Social Sciences, Humanities, and the Arts) Forum

I attended this thing called a "SSHA Forum." A student hosted the forum where about 8 to 10 SSHA professors sat as a panel and discussed any of the audience's concerns. This was such a great idea because there has been a lot of problems with SSHA. There were a lot of questions brought up. Some being why there weren't enough professors, majors, concerns about majors being cut, SSHA splitting up, new classes being offered, problems with administration, etc. It was quite interesting to see what both students and professors had to say about UC Merced.

I did notice the blame game going on. The students were blaming the professors for misleading the students about getting new faculty (one student heard that there were over 9,000 applicants, yet the professors could only choose one or two), then the professors blamed administration for taking to long to approve future professors. They told us that if we has any concerns, to go to administration but as I wrote in my earlier blog, that will be pointless because then they will blame someone else.

There is always someone else to blame, no one wants to take the responsibility for all the mess that is going on. At least Michael Brown admitted that his response to Katrina was poorly executed and he accepted the blame. Not to say that we was qualified or should get off the hook, but at least he took responsibility for his actions or lack there of.

In an ideal world everyone would take responsibility for their actions, no blame game here, no excuses. But in the real world this is definitely not the case. Who the hell would want to take the blame especially if there is someone else to take the blame or when that person has nothing to loose (well other then their dignity). This is why I am an optimistic cynic, I hope for the best but I expect the worst. I hope that people would be mature and take responsibility for their actions, but I expect people to backstab, cheat, and lie.

School is Ending, Damn

There are only two weeks left of school not including one week of finals. It's going to be kind of strange not going to school for 3 months. College is more then just classes as I have expressed in an earlier blog. I'm going to miss this "intellectual" community. I am still going to live in Merced, but it is going to be disheartening to not see the same people everyday. Change is good (just like "greed" -- Wall Street), I love change but it's sometimes comforting to see the same people.

I still plan to be active in the intellectual community as my roommate has expressed interest in doing as well. I don't want to do nothing over the Summer. I want to keep my mind stimulated. I have a list of books I plan to read (knowing myself, I probably won't), a list of things I want to do, people I want to see, events I want to be part of.

Primary elections are coming up and I am working on the Angelines campaign. I went to the Democratic Convention on Saturday as a volunteer to fulfill the 10 hour minimum requirement for me political science class. I had so much fun at the convention. I saw my political science professor who was a delegate for Stanislaus county. I saw him twice that day, once in the beginning, and once before I left.

Yeah there is a lot corruption and scandal in politics and most politicians are corrupt, but I still enjoy politics. I enjoy being part of politics. I was talking with someone during the convention and he offered me a job because he realized how great of a student I am (narcissism rules). We exchanged business cards (my card being a piece of paper with my name and e-mail address) and went on our separate ways.

There was a "no war" protest in front of the convention center. Then there was a Uhaul truck that had signs posted that expressed the view against what happened to Teri Shiavo. I took a lot of pictures that day. I saw a scientology church, that was interesting.....

For my political science class we are supposed to write a 3 page essay on our volunteer work but I decided that a 3-page paper will not suffice. I am in the process of making a creative project which includes lots of pictures and cut outs and stickers and colors. It might seem really childish and unnecessary, but I don't care! I am tired of writing bland essays; I can not fully express myself in an essay. I need glue, color paper, ribbon, and markers. Even though the paper isn't worth as much work as I am going to put in, I will be happy that I did at least one creative assignment this semester. What's wrong with bringing out your 8 year old self in college? Nothing. It should actually be encouraged, but most students don't want to put in the work that goes into a creative project. I must admit, it is a lot easier to write a simple 5 page essay.