Takin' A Break From Politics

So I got bored in English class (shocker) and wrote this blues song. Pretty much true to life, but names are changed. Guess who's who and get 10 points.

He hops into bed
All alone
It's 10 o'clock, he's thinkin' of her
He can't go to sleep
But he's dreamin
'Bout every word he's gonna say
Ben's been around
Not in this town
But now there's someone that he has found

She hops in her car
All alone
10 o'clock, she not thinkin' of him
She sleep easily
No chemestry
But when to tell him what she's got to say
She's been around
Ben's new in town
Throw me a quarter and I'll keep playin'

That's all I've got so far. At some point I'll write a third verse, but I can't really do that until more of the story plays itself out.

The Continuation of "The Acceptance of Diversity, or As You Like It"

Today, I recieved an e-mail back from Prof. Cramer:

Jeremy,
Does it seem odd? In a cynical way, no. I can readily imagine that the Chancellor is quite sincere but that people in Housing had no idea that Saturday was Yom Kippur (or felt they had no options to do otherwise given a tight schedule). More cynically, I can even imagine that the Chancellor put out his announcement for PR purposes but didn't intend to follow it exactly; but knowing the Chancellor personally, I very much doubt this.
Question: you say there were two move-in days. Did students have a choice which day to move in, or were half assigned one day and the others assigned the other day? If students were assigned, did they have an option to request the other day?
Jim Cramer


And this was my response:


Dear Dr. Cramer,
On the school's calendar, it only listed Sept. 25th as a move-in day, however, I later learned that there were two move-in days. Half of the housing had the 25th as a move-in day, and the other half moved in on the 26th. I do not know whether or not they had the option of requesting the other day. The students were assigned a specific day that their dorm was having their move-in day. For example, in the Cuarto Area, two halls moved in on the 25th, and two moved in on the 26th.
While I doubt the Chancellor put his announcement out for PR purposes, and also while the dates did not affect me personally, I still find the message to be ironic. I also think there could have been ways around it and completely avoid the situation. For example, UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz, also on the quarter system, moved in the week before. This difference in dates only changes their academic schedule slightly.
Obviously, I don't think anything can be accomplished about this year's move-in date, however, it is something that I believe the administration should take into consideration when planning school-wide events.
Respectfully,
Jeremy Gimbel

The Acceptance of Diversity, or As You Like It

Yesterday, Tuesday the 5th of October, I began a new class. It is a sociology class called "Multi-Cultural Societies" and we will be studying diversity on campus and in macro-sociological environments. I received a forward from professor, Jim Cramer, today that read, "Here's an example of how the University takes diversity into account - - FYI." The attached memo is from our Chancellor, Larry N. Vanderhoef, and the Chair of the Academic Senate, Daniel L. Simmons.

The first half of the memo reads:
"UC Davis is committed to providing students, faculty, and staff with an
environment that furthers their educational and career pursuits. Each year
we write to remind all members of the UC Davis community of our commitment
to avoid, when possible, the scheduling of campuswide events, retreats, and
meetings that conflict with religious holy days. The precise dates of these
holy days may vary from year to year, but they are usually indicated in
contemporary datebooks and calendars and may be found at
http://diversity.ucdavis.edu/html/calendar_holiday.html. We ask you to be
mindful of the Academic Senate resolution stating that "UC Davis seeks to
accommodate any student who, in observance of a religious creed, encounters
an unavoidable conflict with a test or examination schedule...." That
resolution may be found in the 2004-2006 General Catalog on page 63.
"In addition, as an educational institution, we can play a role in fostering
an awareness of, and respect for, the various spiritual and cultural beliefs,
practices, and needs of our community."
The second half of the memo describes how to tastefully decorate for the December holidays without offending anyone.

I decided that this hypocriticalism should be pointed out. So I wrote the following e-mail back to Prof. Cramer:

Dear Dr. Cramer,
This year, like every year, there were two move-in days for those living in the dorms. The first of those two days fell on Yom Kippur, arguably the holiest day of the year for the Jews. On this day, those observing the day are required to fast and some very observant Jews won't do labor of any sorts. That means no driving, lifting, etc.
For those with the move-in day of Saturday, September 25, they moved in on Yom Kippur. Does it seem odd to you that the University would put this message out after it had violated the policy itself?
Respectfully,
Jeremy Gimbel


We'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Gotta Love It!

I love it when a question mark turns into an exclamation point! Hopefully I'll have some more moments like that in the next few days! Good times in Poli Sci:-)

I've posted pictures!

If you'd like to see pictures from my college experience so far, go to this photobucket site:

http://photobucket.com/albums/v480/JerAtCollege/

the password is "davis" without the quotations.

Enjoy!