September 22, 2005
natural disasters and faith
ROB pauses at the top of the exterior spiral staircase of the Swenson building, and watches the ripples on the pond below |
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"Allah is really angry," said a friend as we watched the fearful symmetry of Hurricane Rita consolidating and moving relentlessly --- at a jogger's pace --- toward the gulf coast. Natural disasters will either affirm one's faith or rock it, but they won't leave it alone. The great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 was a key event in the history of the Enlightenment, and was called by some critics "the end of optimism." Every thinker took a side, many concluding that the event was evidence of a failure of authority ---- specifically the failture of the supreme diety's benevolence or his power. How will our culture spin this double hit of category fives? And it's not even the gnarly part of hurricane season --- that is October. |
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September 21, 2005
navigation without sacajawea
ROB huffs and puffs his way up four flights of Med School stairwell. |
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Follow Moose and Squirrel to the new Swenson Sci . . . I mean . . . follow Moose and Buffalo to the new Swenson Science Building!
When you sight these fine beasts, you are almost at the narrow skybridge, and your journey (to my classroom in the fab new lab) is near its end. "Navigation" is such a frequently-used metaphor in web design. But, as I tell my students . . . at some point we must remember that we're just sitting here in front of a screen . . . we're not "going" anywhere . . . the vast copy machine of the wwweb is simply sending us copies. So when we find ourselves with true navigation tribulations it is instructive. Our classes meets in the new Swenson Science building. Where is the new Swenson Science building anyway? I can see it when I drive by . . . but how the heck do you get there?
When you start to see signs like this one, you know there's a navigation issue . . . |
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| . . . so many helpful souls putting up vernacular signage to try to assist the wayward scholar . . .
And perhaps loveliest of all, this provocative warning:
"Foot Traffic Only" . . . what, have people been bringing their horses into the new building? |
September 06, 2005
a jumping-in point (to the blogoverse)
ROB stands and addresses his class in the fabulous new J.I. Swenson Science Building |
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Hi there! Well . . . . . . if you want to take an efficient introduction to the world of blogging . . . take a look at this then see some more Katrina blogs at http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/002862.php then bookmark this (it will be a required text this semster) . . . then take a quick look at these, and follow up a few links on each of them . . . http://www.antropologi.info/blog/ http://classroomconnection.blogspot.com/ http://www.thestage.co.uk/newsblog/ http://mbaleague.blogspot.com/ http://www.upforanything.net/poker/
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