College then and now

How does Princeton of the 19-teens compare to college today?
Better or worse?  Why?
Princeton of the 1910s, judging by the novel This Side of Paradise, was very different from the college of today in many senses.  First of these is a reason we have discussed in class, the song and dance of the place.  Early in the first book, Fitzgerald describes the seniors passing by as singing about "going back--going back, going back to Nassau Hill."  The upperclassmen, who sang as they walked along to provide a background tune, are reminiscent only of a small category of Carnegie Mellon students today: the drama students.  Often have I passed a pair of drama students standing awkwardly across from one another and talking for a while before bursting into a song from Annie or The Lion King and being joined by any musical theater major they happen to pass along the way.  Music players, such as the iPod, as well as other concerns, seem to have driven most vocal music out of many students' lives.

I noticed another prime difference between Princeton then and CMU now, in the scene early on when Amory met the "highbrow" D'Invilliers.  He was going to a cafe that was neither particularly clean nor particularly good (we have plenty here that aren't particularly good, but they are all too new not to be relatively clean) and noticed that all the tables were occupied, so he would have to sit with somebody.  He chose the person engaged in a book because he too planned to be engaged in a book.
Here at CMU, I usually see the reverse happen.  At mealtimes, people tend to look for people they know to sit with, then complete strangers with open seats at their tables, and then empty tables if none of the above two categories contain any members.  The social system, or at least a certain social ease, depends on never having to eat alone.  Thus, friends coordinate dinner times, even if inconvenient, and clubs or teams often eat together in sports.

Despite the previous paragraph, college today seems much more academically oriented than the social lounge of Princeton circa 1915.  Students are often preparing hard for essays, exams, necessary blog posts, etc, and socialization tends to come second (school coming first, of course).  In college of the Fitzgerald era, status was purely social, and though grades mattered (Amory's flunking the math retake being a prime example of grades preventing stature), the students had a much more laissez faire attitude about coursework and grades than do students today.  Success in college depended on social stature when exiting.

A large part of the emphasis on modern scholastic pursuits seems to be because college is now not reserved for the elite, upper-class white child, often used to an artificially imposed caste system.  According to the US Census Bureau, 50.6% of 18-to-21-year-olds attend college, making collegians a majority among American youth.  College is often considered essential to obtaining a job or the skills necessary to complete one, and many of the factors Rebekah Nathan described of as pertaining to the New Outsider are in effect in schools today.

Princeton in the early 20th century seems to have been a four year networking party rather than an academically educational experience.

As to whether Princeton was better or worse, I cannot say.  It certainly had its share of influence on the world, and continues to, and such a college experience produced in Fitzgerald the desire to go to war, which prompted him to write his first novel in case he died.  That alone gets Princeton of yesteryear many points.  Also, college will always be an invaluable experience, provided a sufficiently curious student experiences it.  What is taken away from college only depends on what is given and the small nudges students get along the way.  I think the integration of the various economic classes into a student body is certainly in the right direction, and the centralized de-casting of the students leaves everyone on level ground in a place where the rules and responsibilities of the real world do not yet apply, an incubator for still-developing neurons.

TPA: somewhere between Nathan and Fitzgerald.

Ok. I’m going to try to talk about The Plastic Age, but bare with me if I confuse the two. There is a lot to get mixed up between them. For the benefit of those who haven’t read TPA and to help me keep things straight, I’ll go ahead and list the similarities. First of all they both are set most of the time in prestigious colleges of the Northeast in the 1920s. I think Sanford is a made-up school, but is supposed to resemble one of the Little Ivies. Both colleges are all men and made up of high society folk who care more about socializing and sports and prestige than studying. Hugh and Amory are both handsome athletes: Hugh easily makes connections through his natural charm and Amory considers himself irresistible for a short while.

At the end of the novel, Hugh also goes through a (less prolonged) struggle for identity, wondering whether he has matured or learned anything useful in college. This question goes unsettled, but it is clear that even if he hasn’t changed, his experiences have brought the best of him to bear.

Hugh’s obstacles are surprisingly consistent with college today, both by my account and Nathan’s. First he encounters incredible social pressure to fit in and conform, to hang out with the right people and do the right activities. Good quality one: he ends up defying many norms by befriending Catholic and Jewish boys. Next he loses but later regains his passion for hard work, which is evidenced in his improved studies and his triumphant last track meet. Additionally he faces enormous pressure to dehumanize himself through telling ‘smutty’ stories in bull sessions, being hazed and hazing other freshman, smoking, drinking, consorting with prostitutes and regular girls who get around. Ok the prostitute scene is probably a non-issue today. Although he ends up caving to pressure and participating in these activities, he still retains his high moral values, values which intensify as he ages. In the end college still seems to be a struggle to gain new experiences and find your passion.

Its pretty amazing how little alcohol’s role in colleges has changed. Consider how today the possession and consumption of alcohol is illegal for most undergraduates and back then Prohibition was in full swing. The proportion of students drinking is even the same, one character noting that though many drank, only a small fraction were despicably drunk; yet it still seemed that the entire campus was drinking.

I think the issue of conformity is completely different today. Nathan actually referenced this period’s conception of ‘grinds’ when she talked about academic conformity. Socially however, colleges are too diverse to even come near the standardization seen in the 20s. When everyone is male, and come from largely the same background, and have the same interests (college had much fewer extracurricular options then) the social pressures are astounding. If you were poor, or a different religion, gender, ethnicity, or even liked doing puzzles more than watching the Football game, you were really, truly different. Thankfully although we are to some degree similar, to some degree had similar upbringings, no one can fairly compare today’s undergraduates to those in the 20s.

Above all, chastity is the highest virtue in the novel. Hugh’s two lowest points are when he nearly loses his virginity, being drunk both times. His evolving attitude towards sex and relationships provides a clear chronology as it does in TSOP, and I’ll assume the movie will focus mostly on this structure.
eric

Riots in Schenley Plaza

On friday night, my frinds and I took a bus to downtown without knowing where riots were happening. We simply predicted that there should be something going on in downtown. We got off the bus near Duquesne university but we realized that it was awfully quite. We could not even see that many cars and people, although it was friday night. We were disappointed and got on the bus to come back to CMU. When we got to the Schenley plaza, the bus suddenly stopped and the drived told us that the bus can't move anymore due to roadblocks. Through the window, we saw a large number of people and cops who were waiting forming perimeter around the Schenley Plaza. We were all excited and got off the bus. We joined the crowd and move toward a person who was trying to make speech. I had never been to riots before and I was personally expecting a great speech that motivates people to stay together againt cops, just like I used to see from movies. However, my fantasy couldn't be fulfilled. The speaker was talking against democracy and urged crowd to remember the fact that Hitler was elected based on democracy. Then he soon started to talk about 9/11 and re-investigation should be done to uncover Bush administration's plot. He insisted that 9/11 was schemed by Bush administration to simply start war against Iraq and Afghanistan. I was deeply disappointed about the fact that his speech had nothing to do with G-20 which was the biggest issue during the time. Moreover, I could not understand how he was trying to make analogy between Hitler and Bush. I believe that lot of people thought the way I did and crowd did not even seem to show any reaction. After a while, cops started to move into the Schenley plaza. The crowd did not resist at all, btu I was able to here some curse words against cops. I was too deeply disappointed by riots because there was no scene that I dreamed about for so long, amazing speech done by passionate anarchist, or heated argument among the crowd, etc. Also, overall the crowd was passive and followed easily cops' order. I was happy that I didn't see anyone who got hurt but I couldn't hide my dissatisfcation about my unfulfilled fantasy....

Through the second part of the novel, I saw very little change in Amory. The scene when he quits his job and complains about being underpaid despite having never worked before, and defends his stance by revealing how expensive his college education was plays right into my current schema for graduates from top-flight universities-> being spoiled. After four years+ of expensive education at one of the top institutions in the world, students expect to bring home the $ from the first day of the first job. It seems that people forget the process of rising through the work force, and expect to start on top. Maybe this is why some companies subconsciously (or not) avoid the Harvard/Yale/Princeton types for workers from more humble beginnings.
Despite his fancy college education, Amory is quite shallow. His life revolves around drinking and women (some would argue this isn't a bad thing); nothing that is all too scholarly. Could we really expect something different from him? His whole "education" revolved around social standing, so I'm not surprised that his post-collegiate years are similar. His relationship with Rosalind makes him seem like a hopeless romantic, but when you look at his "body of work," the guy really just doesn't care that much. That was about as passive of a heartbroken character as I've ever met- possibly because I just don't like Amory, but I didn't quite feel his world coming to a crash. He would have gotten drunk if she accepted a proposal to marry him the same way he drank when she walked out.
The conclusion is nice and sweet- I am genuinely happy that Amory is humbled by his losses/ how he has wasted his life and the opportunities given to him. The whole good people going bad + heat transfer stuff is quite confusing... but I get the point that he has a change of heart, and thinks about others for the first time. Modern college culture is quite different from Amory's experience, but his story gives us something to consider- why are we here? Amory had no direction for his time @ Princeton, and his actions prove it. We should all strive to do what it right, and not just follow the systems in place, especially if they are corrupted/inefficient/"bad."

so anticlimactic

For someone claiming to be so highly sophisticated, Amory's life beyond Princeton is defined by his relationships with the women who left him. While i was reading, i felt as though everything that happened to Amory outside of a relationship, was just filler until the next one. He has so many great plans for himself but loses track, or even ambition for life after being harshly dumped by Rosalind. From there on it seems that he is on the road from which he will never be able to be proud of his old self ever again. Despite having come from a once wealthy family and having a Princeton education, Amory believes himself so well versed in the ways of the world that he doesn't realize how quickly it's leaving him behind. Even though he is not as pompus as he was in college, the older Amory seems to have experience in only two things: heartbreak and failure. He was more interesting when his ridiculous mannerisms actually amounted to something.

The dramatic return to Princeton that Amory sets in order at the end of the novel seems to be where Fitzgerald thought he could make a reasonable end to the winding road of his narrative. The aesthetic value cannot be argued. At this point i didn't care too much for what Amory meandered off to do. He is an absolute wanderer, never being able to find contentment in anything he does. Here at Princeton however, Amory rests in his memories. With most of his life having occurred with Princeton as a defining point he is able to make a return to the past, where everything and nothing happened. This allows the novel to end in a neutral position, even after all the back and forth Amory underwent during his time there.

I had the first impression that Amory was a romantic. Even from a young age, he had discovered the game of charming and leading women along. It seemed natural that he would marry a couple times, stopping only for cutthroat divorces, and then find yet another affair waiting for him. The only surprise of the whole novel was that although Amory falls in love a couple times, he never marries. Then again, knowing his habit of pursuing fleeing passions, i suppose Amory was never secure commit himself to another. The one time he had found his match in Rosalind, he wasn't able to satisfy her needs, as even he himself realizes that he's a basically selfish person. But if Amory had actually married, it would probably feel as though he wasn't, since he doesn't like to be tied down and is wandering, always wandering.

I think college is a lot different for college students of today, especially since women have entered the collegiate population. We also have different reasons for going to college and the journey to achieve admission is also much more rigorous than that which Amory experienced. For students of today, college is about being able to find the means to a career, rather than just a rite of passage, or a way to waste away four years. Since most of Amory's peers were from mostly well off, successful families, they did not worry so much about securing a living, since there were options and outlets for them to make money even if college did not work out for them. Amory's generation also did not have to fight through SATs, high competition, and the rigorous admission process that is normal today. College is shaped by the students, which are inevitably changed through their generations and the kind of world they live in.

The conclusion of This Side of Paradise.

I was really worried that Amory wouldn't change at all at the end of this novel, but with this ending I'm happy that he reached a state of enlightenment. He doesn’t regret anything; he doesn’t wish he were less selfish; he does not neglect, but he embraces who he was - flaws and all - as well as everything that has happened to him. He has gotten a better grasp of himself, selfishness and all, and he looks back at the events in his life upset that they’re over, not upset that they happened. I would’ve been disappointed if he didn’t reach such a pivotal point at the end.
The novel ends when Amory walks back to Princeton, and I think that’s because Princeton was where the most significant part of his character was built.

Another thing that humbled Amory was the fact that he lost all his money at the end. I think it was predictable - even a bit humorous - when Amory started preaching about socialism. Of course, since he's poor, he's all for socialism.

If Amory ended up marrying Rosalind or Eleanor or Clara, he would've never had to go through the pain that stripped him down to his real self. He would've never had the tough yet necessary time of self-reflection, which he had when Rosalind let him go. This part was essential to the building of “the fundamental Amory.” I think getting dumped also humbled him a bit.

In the novel, college life at Princeton showed the problem and pressures of conformity and social acceptance, as well as the need to stand out. This is still present in college life today, and it's an aspect of social life that Amory has struggled with throughout his career.

In the end, though, Amory claims that he knows himself. I don't know if that's possible - to fully understand yourself, but Amory does have a better grasp of his true character.

G20

On Thursday, at around seven, we walked down towards Oakland, feeling excited, nervous, curious about what could be going on. The statues outside the museum were covered with cloth, which sparked only more curiosity. What could be going on? Just off of Forbes, passed the museum, we see a huge crowd of people gathering.

As some of the previous posters said, it was disappointing at first. There were a handful of people who were serious about the issues, but the majority of the crowd were like us - inquisitive bystanders. There were signs that read things like, "Bring back Firefly," (a TV Show), or, "If your happy and you know it, clap your hands." I heard someone in front of me sigh and say, "Why are we here?" and I completely understood this sentiment. About 30 yards away, down the street, were about 60 policemen and countless cars, all of which were ready for anything. The people in the front were the ones who were serious, and their chants slowly got louder and louder. Still, there seemed to be no significant action or spirit in the crowd, and so we left to have dinner by the University of Pittsburgh's campus.

We came back afterwards, and were startled: the gap between the police and the people disappeared; there were about 10 on horses just a few feet away from us. There were still chants, but no action. Everyone seemed too intimidated.

The next day, I learned that after we left, chaos ensued, and I was thankful I wasn't there. A friend, who goes to the University of Pittsburgh, videotaped some amazing, startling footage from her dorm. People got beaten, arrested, tear gassed - many were just trying to walk by, to get home. I still don't know how I feel about the riots; I admire someone who goes to such lengths to demonstrate what they believe in, but, at the same time, I think they have to realize the consequences of their actions, and know if what they're doing really has the effect they want it to have.

Though I hate that all this violence had to happen, I feel like I'd be surprised if it didn't. The G20 did decide to meet in a city with a high population of rowdy college kids.

Last night, I passed by UPitt's campus and saw police still standing around the streets. Their faces were solemn, grave, serious. I couldn't help but think about what they're going through, too. I'm sure they hate what they have to do sometimes - and I think that when looking back at this event, we have to consider the many perspectives, duties, and values of the people that took part in it.

Sorry this is so late; I had trouble posting before.

the end. (of the novel anyway)

I just want to start out by saying something I was meaning to say from the way beginning of this novel. I don't know why, by Amory reminds me of Dorian Grey. Why you ask? (Even though I don't know exactly why) Dorian was so caught up in the whole hedonistic life style. He didn't care what ever happened as long as it didn't impact him personally. He lives life carelessly. However in the end, he has this realization of all his ugliness, and he ends up killing himself. (Metaphorically... the painting...) Just like Dorian, Amory was all about himself. He didn't care about anything. His father died and he showed no emotion. The only time he would feel a little 'anxious' when he heard about his family's wealth dying off.
In the last part of the novel, Amory seems to show his emotions more when his love Rosalind doesn't want him anymore. I find that because Rosalind didn't want him, Amory was able to have a time of reflection. He quit his job he hated, and he was able to regain an interest for intellect. I feel as though all his 'loves,' in the end, taught him something. He learned to regain his interest for intellect, quit a job, and care about others. The incident with Alec, Amory actually thinks about how Alec's reputation would be marred if he was caught with a girl.
This act that Amory does did take me by quite a shock, but not at the same time. It felt like Amory did this to seem like a great, chivalrous guy in front of the girl. However, when he actually thought about how tainted Alec's image would be it shows how Amory comes to think of others. Following this idea, Amory later comes to realize and recognize the poor. I feel like when Amory comes to recognize and just simply acknowledges others, he comes to accept himself. In the end of the novel, he simply states "I know myself, but that is all." When Amory says this, this reminds me of Dorian - this self realization.When he comes to say this, I feel like he's being himself all over again. He becomes so consumed of himself. BUT! I also feel as though, he can't speak for the whole being of others...only himself because that is all he knows well.

A less peaceful protest...

Yesterday afternoon, I went looking for the protests that accompanied G20 into the city. There was blocked traffic and thousands of law enforcement personnel. But we didn’t see a single dissenter. I was slightly discouraged until I heard a news broadcast on a TV. Protesters were throwing rocks at buses in the Bloomfield neighborhood. I wondered what had compelled me to see such a scene in the first place.

Later last night, at 11:30 or so, a student came into the dorm and claimed that there was a huge protest on campus. We rushed out of the building, but there was nothing happening at Forbes. We decided to walk down into Oakland. I’m a sucker for novelty, and there were plenty of new things to look at. You could feel the tension in the air. A light rain was falling. Helicopters swept the ground with their searchlights, revealing a fantastic array of vehicles and cops with weapons. We made halting progress down Forbes and were finally stopped by a line of cops form into a wall of menacing batons. Up ahead we could see the “riotous mob.” They were shouting and arguing at the cops, but they looked pretty scared, pinned up against the wall of what I think was the UPitt library. They hid behind some trees as long lines of armored police opened fire on them with rubber bullets and multiple clouds of tear gas. The wind took the tear gas up towards the small crowd of spectators and press that were watching, and we got to experience for ourselves its unpleasant effects.

This went on for maybe ten minutes before the protestors broke and ran. One group ran farther downtown, another smaller group came back our way. The cops apparently didn’t think they were moving fast enough. That’s when this happened. I was standing right behind the news camera that shot this footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzOG7yghNvQ

I came out of the experience with mixed opinions. I don’t think it makes a whole lot of sense to be either for or against the G20. In itself, the G20 is just a meeting. There will be many policies associated with the summit, and it makes more sense to me to have an informed opinion on the policies individually than to stand against the G20 as a whole. On the other hand, there is certain nobility in what the protestors were doing. They were determined to have their voice, and they went out and stood up against an overwhelming police presence. Our culture places a very high value on the right to freedom of speech and opinion and on standing up for those rights. As an extension of that, I have respect for the protestors, who were willing to put themselves in a dangerous no-win situation to defend their ideals.

coming back to Princeton

Most definitely, Amory has changed for the better. After graduation, Amory faces endless miseries including war, failed love attempts, and loss of his close supporters such as Darcy. As he goes through misfortunes, Amory gets more close to what he has been trying to find, the fundamental Amory. However, change for Amory is extremely slow but steady. While he was in Princeton, Amory constantly try to fit into convention and attracts attention from other people. Even after he fails to do so by failing on his make up exam, Amroy can not take off his mask and realize who he is. When he admires Burn's idea of protesting, Amroy is still not able to understand who he is. I believed that the attitude of Amory was similar to that of little children who cry and complain to their parents when they can not achieve what they want, which proves Amory's shallowness. I believe that protesting is simply a way for Amory to show his unsatisfation coming from his inability to fit into convention. Also, the fact that he submits to the idea of enlisting proves that Amory is imperfect because he would have refused to do so if he had absolutely turned himself from convention and tried to find himself.
The fact that Fitzerald describes Amory's experience with short interlude shows that Amory does not learn much from war. However, at the end of the novel, Amory goes through bigger misfortunes such as death of Darcy who has been staying with Amory as a mentor and also as a father. Without Darcy, Amory realizes that there is no one who he can depend upon in his life. Moreover Amory's financial status is even a bigger hit for him. After all this misfortunes, Amory looks at himself again and realizes that he became fundamental Amory. Moreover, after thinking about his youth, unrealized dreams, and Rosalind, Amory says "It's all a poor substitute at best" (page 206)". Amory accepts how meaningless his youth was while he wasn't really himself. Also, as he cries "I know myself, but that is all", Amory finally finds himself and accepts what has happened. Since he finds himself and accepts the past, I believe that Amory will be able to do more meaninfull things in his life because now he does not have to spend him efforts to fit into others expectations.

It's Pittsburgh, We're So Tame

I just finished reading Eumie and Eric's G20 protest posts and i have a combined feeling of the two. I went to the one that Eumie went to at Schenley Plaza and just got back a little after 10 pm, so i think i went a little later. I was really excited for today and with classes being canceled and everyone warning about the dangers of G20, i was so disappointed when i stepped out of my apartment this morning. The campus was the same, only the UC felt more like prison with cops all over the place and even guarding certain stairways. I noticed that more people got their food to go rather than staying in the UC, including myself. After leaving the disappointments of campus i headed downtown but it seemed like a normal day. Despite the outspread of cops, i saw no protests or excitement. I even went to Schenley Plaza around 5 pm, but no sign of protests around there either. So i went home. Where was the excitement?

I didn't give up though. Around 8 pm i went back to Schenley Plaza, and the excitement level definitely had risen from before. There was a human barricade of police men surrounding a group of people. First getting on the site and just seeing everything gave me an intense feeling. After awhile though, it was fading. People were on cell phones or just standing around. I started asking myself what were they even here for? I wanted to feel inspired and a get a sense of excitement from the supposed G20 protests, not necessary protest anything myself. Maybe all of these people felt the same and we were gathered there just looking for inspiration. One of the first things i heard when i got to the Plaza was a guy say "It's Pittsburgh, we're so tame." I thought this summed up the whole calm atmosphere, despite the stone-faced cops staring us down. Also, people kept saying that "this is a peaceful protest" and when someone in the crowd threw a bottle towards the police, the crowd searched and scorned the person. Maybe the whole idea of a peaceful protest made things more calming and not quite what we were expecting. It also felt like the crowd was searching for a way to provoke the police. There were chants like "We have every right to be here, this is not your street" and "Who do you protect, who do you serve?" I was actually intrigued by the last chant. With the police and "peaceful" protesters, it was like them against us. People who were just standing on a street were considered the enemy. At the same time, the chanting was more towards human rights to be on a public street rather than G20 based. A lot of people i talked to said they just came to see what was going on, not necessarily to fight against G20. One guy i talked to described the scene as "one big staring contest."

The first slightly exciting thing was when the police pushed the crowd back off the streets and the crowd then reacted by sitting in the streets. Then, just as i was getting bored and about to head home, i heard this music coming from a group of people close by. I walked over and there was this pit of people dancing to this guy playing a bongo type instrument. At first it was so confusing. People were looking on and i heard some saying it was like "primal dancing" and one guy said to me that "the police don't look too worried because they probably think we are all idiots." I really didn't understand the whole primal dancing thing, but it was entertaining. It was like watching a tribe and the guy giving the beat was calling out these insane chants that people were actually repeating. I'm not sure if they even had meaning or it was random gibberish that he just came up with, someone made a joke that they want this guy's album when it comes out. Despite how insane it was, it definitely got the attention of the police and they pushed the entire group back onto the sidewalk and out of the street. The only G20 related chant that the group called out was something like "G20 soma", i'm not even sure if that was it but i'm not even sure they knew what they were saying either. As the dancing was becoming dismal, the crowd had rushed over to the left side. I rushed over along with them and when i got up to the front of the line i saw a guy was being arrested. The group had quickly began chanting "Let Him Go" and then even tried to ask the guy for his name while he was face down on the ground. While this was happening, i couldn't help notice this one policeman that had this huge grin on his face. I wonder what he was smiling about, the cameras in his face or the fact that they managed to capture one of the "enemies". I don't even know what they guy did to get arrested, but after about 5 minutes of intensity, the crowd was back to being mellow. I was there for a little over two hours and figured that was as good as it was going to get, so i left.

At first and even now, i too have feelings of disappointment in the G20 protesting events. However, i also came away feeling somewhat inspired. I got home and asked myself, what was the purpose of so many people being there if they had nothing to fight for? Was the dancing just some tactic to anger the police or was it just raw passion? I didn't get the intense feeling i wanted from the protest, but i still walked away feeling motivated. People were still there for a reason and passion still exists in some of us, maybe we just need a direction. It's sad though that people need policemen in full armor in order to gather on a street and rally. Why can't we do this whenever we feel like it? Also, is this idea of "peaceful protesting" effective? I heard so many people say how boring it was and by the time i left the crowd had gotten smaller. It felt more like going to see a band play and jumping around without a care in the world (while police looked on in what felt like disgust). I love that feeling though, it's just exciting and makes you feel good inside. However, other than that i'm not sure it has much purpose.

G20 protest... hmm.. not that great

Hello!
I just got back from experiencing the protest of my life...(not really, about the last part). It was a lot calmer than I anticipated. The police was standing across from the protesters, and it seemed like all they were doing were waiting for the other side to 'make the first move.' I was at the protest right in front of the Cathedral of Learning (Schenley Plaza). The 'anarchists'/protesters seemed to be more concerned about their next protest strategies than anything else. Supposedly, before I arrived, these protesters were tear gassed twice and were charged by police on horses. One exciting thing did occur while I was at the protest, the police line made a one step advance towards the protesters. The protesters responded by taking twenty feet steps backwards though. The humorous part about this whole experience was that, the anarchists seemed more focused on making marijuana legal. At least, while I was there, that was all the protesters seemed to be chanting about. ("420 G-20" was one that I heard coherently).
I guess a guy standing behind me put this protest the best. He said, "it's like we're all waiting for the new Star Wars to come out... like Star Wars 3 because it was a let down." This summed up the entire mood of the protest. The protesters seemed to be getting no where, and just waiting for the police to do something about them. However, since they were tear gassed twice and raged at with horses they talked strategies among each other and were trying to tell Pitt and CMU students about what they stood for. The protesters wore gas masks, which I thought were pretty intense. Also, the anarchist colors seemed to class. (The colors were blue and black with a silver lining). More than just the protesters, there were boards covering the museums up and there were blankets put over the statues to protect them. Another very humorous aspect was that, protesters were throwing rocks at the Boston Markets and Taco Bell, apparently.
The protests, at least the time when I went, seemed more of a joke than anything else. The anarchists were actually trying to organize! The protesters weren't doing much except chanting about marijuana, talking over new strategies, and sharing their theologies with students. I am glad I went when all the tear gas was over. I don't know how long the protesters plan on staying out there, but a man asked me where the "tent city" was. I am assuming that means the protesters plan on sleeping over in the streets - away from the police.

Supercuts was Closed So I Decided to Go Downtown and Check Out the G20…

Since we’ve been discussing globalization and the G20 in my history class, I decided to go downtown today and check it out. I wanted to see what was happening, who was being represented and what their grievances were. Luckily on the way down I met three Pitt students (Warren, JP and Tim) who knew which busses to take there and back. They were going for the same reasons, although I had to explain to them on the way there what the G20 was for and the possible reasons people would be upset by it. It was harder than we thought to find some action. There were police and roadblocks all over the place, and they never helped when questioned.
Finally we found some Ethiopans (they were protesting genocide in Ethiopia). Unfortunately they were going home instead of moving to a larger gathering, but we shortly found a group of Tibetans (Liberty and Smithfield) chanting “Free Tibet before Free Trade” “Killer Killer Chinese Government” “Go back Hu Jintao”. As that was the ONLY protest going on we stayed there for at least an hour and a half. A couple things to note about the proceedings from today from what I witnessed. There were more bystanders than protesters. Half of the bystanders were freelancing or amateur journalists (the image-capture technology ranging from cell phone cameras to bigger video cameras). Then there were the cops (about 80 of them in that cityblock, 10 on horses). Some just had regular cop uniforms on but most had half to full riot gear: boots, kneepads/greaves, body armor, face shield, helmet, nightstick, gas mask (none had theirs on their heads), sidearm, and plastic hand-ties. The cops had the protesters flanked on both ends of the street and all sidestreets were blocked off. We saw a bus pull in loaded with riot shields, but I don’t think those were ever distributed to the cops. The protesters were facing off with a line of cops facing the convention center which was two blocks away. At one point the mounted cops moved through a barricade and to the rear of the protesters, and then continued to sit for another hour. Nothing else ‘happened’ while we were there.
The real “action” I heard was in the march from Arsenal down to the convention center. About 500 marchers, mostly anarchists were harassed, tear gassed, and shot at with rubber bullets. Granted, I think to some extent they meant to meet hostile police resistance since they advertised the event as an unpermitted mass march. Oh there was ONE other “protest”: about 6 people who weren’t advocating legalization of marijuana, just that people smoke more of it, celebrating the G420, chanting “a little more weed is all we need”. I randomly met two HS friends at the fence today who are in town protesting coal mountaintop removal (there was a coal summit immediately before the G20 started).
There are obviously many valid reasons to be upset by the G20. I may march tomorrow with the permitted one starting at CMU at 11. The problem on the people’s side seems to be lack of knowledge of what the G20 is really about and the actions its delegates have taken. Democracy and the exercise of our rights would go so much farther if all of the bystanders that knew enough to be downtown also knew enough to join a cause.

The Devil Inside

In the middle section of "This Side of Paradise", Amory is more lost than ever. He is unaware of his own emotions, the emotions of others around him, and has trouble defining himself as a person. Amory stated "My own idleness was quite in accord with my system, but the luck broke (110)." Instead of taking responsibility for his own laziness and failure of getting on the senior council, he blames luck. Amory is using luck as a scapegoat, if he admitted that he was producing his own failure then maybe he would realize he wasn't such a genius after all. Not even a genius, it would just make him grasp a sense of himself and he's not ready for that yet. This reminds me later on in the book, when Amory's cousin Clara states that he is a "slave to his imagination". Amory seems to have no emotions at all and when he does, they are simply made up emotions that he has invented in his mind and believes he truly feels. We see this with his love for Isabelle or should i say lack of love. Amory convinced himself that he loved Isabelle and had such passion for her, but it felt like a great love story Amory wanted to create in his head rather than a real love affair. Amory had no real desire towards Isabelle, if anything he only liked the idea of her. Amory was so caught up with creating emotions that his actual feelings were lost along the way. Something did disturb me though, when Amory's father died and the one thing Amory thought about was "his old boyhood choice, slow oxidation in the top of a tree (111)." Amory had not an ounce of mourning for his father. In fact, he had no emotion at all towards the death of his father! With that said, maybe he just wasn't close to his father and i can understand that. However, what child thinks about how they are going to die? I just get this sense of negative air surrounding Amory, yet he is so involved in his imaginative state that he hardly recognizes it.

"You've lost a great amount of vanity and that's all (115)" replied Monsignor to Amory's declaration of losing his personality. Despite Amory's infectious imagination, he has grown a little from the overly vain boy we first met. He is no longer striving to "fit in" because in a sense he has. Yet, this only leads Amory into a lazy and unmotivated state. It's as if he needs something to hold onto and once he has it, he throws it away like a broken toy. Or maybe Amory is just growing as a person, realizing that fitting into a certain society isn't the highlight of life. Amory is reaching that point of self realization, but he is still so far from finding it. It's a journey. Amory is conflicted with what he wants and he is so unmotivated to figure out what it is he is searching for. With this said, he clings on to the characters of other people that essentially have what he lacks. In one scene, Amory is "taking down the "Kreutzer Sonata, searching it carefully for the germs of Burne's enthusiasm." He describes Burne's enthusiasm as germs, what does this say about Amory? That emotion is like a disease, if you want enthusiasm you need the "germs" of others to infect you? As he latches on to Burne we see a change in Amory's attitude, but i feel like he is trying to live through Burne's motivation and passion. The same with his cousin Clara, he is so consumed with her because she has this self confidence that he doesn't. He seems more in love with Clara's character and stature, rather than Clara the actual person.

Towards the end of the middle section though is when i get a sense that Amory is going to find his own path instead of binding to others like a parasite for emotion. Before joining the war, Tom tells Amory "What we feel now is the sense of all the gorgeous youth that has rioted through here in two hundred years (168)" I like the idea that Tom presents here, i can see Amory getting a sense of his own motivation from past generations rather than leeching on to people and trying to take over their same motivations. I also love this statement because it takes us back to the whole college experience. I think it defines what a college campus should feel like and how being in college can be one of the most inspiring times in all of our lives. People can inspire us in numerous ways, but this doesn't mean we need to be exactly like them. Inspire us. Shine a light on us so that we can find our own path, which i think is what Amory is finding out.

Section 2 Pg. 98-178 Analysis

In the second section of Fitzgerald's, This Side of Paradise, Amory's adaptability which has allowed him to succeed in social situations and to a degree love, finally seems to unravel. Amory since his early years has prided himself on his ability to "play the game" by getting accepted into elite clubs and maintaining in his own mind a sense of popularity. However, once in New York City where Amory has his encounter with the devil, it seems to entirely alter his personality. Amory's manipulative and to a degree socially successful personality is replaced as Amory strives to rediscover his image, the change is most evident after Amory fails the make up test.

Amory's constant failures and changing mental states seem to depict a youthful character, prone to making mistakes, which would seem to relate well to all readers as who hasn't made mistakes grown up and learned from them. Amory's failed attempt at love with Isabella, is more a result of his immature behavior in an inconsequential moment rather than a long history of arrogance and self indulgence. Amory appears as shallow and self-indulged as ever as he consistently leaves people worse off than before they met him, but the blame tends to shift from Amory himself to a sense of youth and naivete that goes hand in hand with growing up. While Amory has in my opinion failed to really learn from these mistakes, Amory maintains a me-first attitude and a lack of care for those around him, there is no doubt his failures have changed his character. Amory drops his social climbing friends and some of his unsuccessful activities, but seems to maintain the old Amory's passion for working the system.

Amory puts this knowledge to good use by helping out Burne with his club boycott and later in his own sense joining the war effort. Amory seems to be clinging to his old ideals of self-indulgence, however called to action and motivated by a terrorizing figure Amory begins to make small changes in his personality slowly bringing him down to a more human level. Amory displays some of his greatest emotion just before he leaves Princeton for the war, something that up until this point in the novel was hidden by laughter, arrogance, and a genuine disinterest. Amory's sudden emotional connection to a place, serves as a starting point from which Fitzgerald can build a carrying and emotional character the reader can connect to. This change in emotion coincidences with notions that Amory's fortune is diminishing, which seems to serve as a transition from the old, rich, self-indulged Amory into a new and more everyday but still passionate human being.

Amory's Love Affair in Section 2 of This Side of Paradise

In the second of “This Side of Paradise,” amongst the commotion that occurs in the section, Amory’s love affair with the upper class, Isabelle, fails.

This shouldn’t come to the reader as a shock that self-centered Amory couldn’t with hold a relationship for very long, although the pair had exchanged long letters with each other previously.

The very irony of the whole love affair is what ends up due a miniscule event. While Amory was cuddling with Isabella his shirt stud brushes against Isabelle’s neck, leaving a wound. Mockingly, Amory tells her to massage it, while he tires to hold his laughter. As a result, the two enter into an argument.

“He became aware that he had not an ounce of real affection for Isabelle, but her coldness piqued him. He wanted to kiss her, kiss her a lot, because then he knew he could leave in the morning and not care. On the contrary, if he didn’t kiss her, it would worry him…It would interfere vaguely with his idea of himself as a conqueror. It wasn’t dignified to come off second best, pleading, with a doughty warrior like Isabelle” (103).

A kiss is the ultimate expression of romantic affection/sexual desire; in this scene Amory completely disregards this fact and views kissing Isabella just as a deed, or better yet, as a sign of egotism and male dominance.

Soon, Amory realizes that he doesn’t love her and the fiery flame of love is quickly put out.

The biggest irony of all is that fact that the root word in Amory’s name is “amor,” with in Spanish means “love.” Fitzgerald cleverly names Amory for this reason to point out his lack of outside awareness and his inability to love others. For example, the subsequent death of Amory’s father does not seem to affect Amory very much.

This again, emphasizes the naivety and egotism that envelops the young man.

In the end it was not Isabelle’s feisty attitude that brought an end to the relationship, but rather Amory’s vanity and internal struggle.

While looking at the bigger picture, it seems as though Amory’s failed romance with Isabelle and his inability to show concern for others represents one of Fitzgerald’s themes which is the hollowness of the “new world” (the new world can be seen as college or even the current era of the times).

Section 2 p. 98-178 analysis

During this section of This Side of Paradise, it appears that Amory is losing his literary mind in that he is just going through the motions at Princeton and things get worse when he finds out that he was not selected to be on the committee of the Princetonian. It also seems that he starts to break down mentally when he begins to have visions. Specifically, when he is at a party with friends he notices a man belligerently staring at him form across the room. He tries to get others to notice the man but he is ignored. When the party shifts to the apartment Amory sees the same man that is now only 10 feet away from him. Amory suddenly freaks out and runs out of the apartment because he discovers that the man could possibly be the ghost of Dick Humbird. I don't really know why Fitzgerald put this part in the story and what he meant by it but it was very captivating and certainly kept me on the edge of my seat while reading.
When Burne Holliday instigates an argument throughout Princeton that the clubs around campus should be abolished, Amory is inspired. He suddenly returns to the Amory of old in that he is very analytical and is always challenging the system of old. Amory and Burne's friendship becomes stronger when they take walks together and discuss issues about society, politics, and the sort. Many of his friends start to ridicule them saying that they're detaching from their older selves or losing their grip. On the other hand, this situation was just what Amory needed to relive his old dreams and passions.
Amory is further shaped and molded when he meets with a relative on Philadelphia named Clara. Amory cannot stop discussing all of the aspects that he adores in her. The main reason for this is because many of her aspects such as self- confidence and a calm and living demeanor are things that Amory don't have. Amory explains that he genuinely is beginning to fall in love with her but that fantasy is quickly diluted when Clara states that she has never fallen in love and will never marry again.
At the end of the section World War 1 breaks out and many are called to duty. Both Amory and Tom enlist but Burne sells his possessions and travels to his home in Pennsylvania. A very important aspect of this section is when Tom and Amory are about to leave Princeton to go to training and all of their emotions build up and they seem to break down. This is huge because they don't really realize how much they care for this place called Princeton until they leave it. This is extremely similar to college experience that most students go through. The old saying holds up, "you don't know what you have until it's gone."

Attitudes Toward College

There were a number of generational differences that stood out to me while I read This Side of Paradise. For instance, I have no idea what a “bobbing” party is (unfortunately a quick search on the topic yielded only vague, unverifiable answers), nor am I familiar with schools such as St. Regis', Groton, or Pomfret, all of which seem to be well known at the time. These differences are almost irrelevant, however, and do not contribute anything to an analysis of the book. The more important differences are those concerning attitude, particularly Amory's attitude towards school.

Amory seems incredibly nonchalant about the subject of school. His request for schooling comes up in passing during a conversation with his mother, only to be thrown aside for the time being. Similarly, his decision to go to Princeton seems as though it was a last-second, easily made decision. This attitude is vastly different from today's general feeling toward school. Rarely is someone presented with the difficult choice between Princeton and Yale—and if they are, it certainly isn't taken lightly.

Beatrice's reaction to Amory's request for schooling strikes me as interesting. Rather than emitting pride at her son's precociousness, she is shocked by the request. Soon after, she confronts Amory with the news that he is to be enrolled. What changed her mind in such a short period of time? How could any mother go from shock to certainty concerning a path that did not match her original plans for her son? Furthermore, it seems strange that she is unconcerned about his future, saying “for the present, we'll let the university question take care of itself.” Modern parents—especially those of the upper class, I would imagine—think differently. School is often a necessity, one that should be handled with proper care. Applications and “resumé-building” are now crucially important, and applying for college is now a stressful process.

My first thought was negative; that perhaps our current attitude towards college is too competitive and harmful. Why can't it be a relaxing process? Go where you fit in, study what you enjoy. I certainly wouldn't have minded a more laid-back time while looking at colleges. A second look at the demographic seen in This Side of Paradise changed my mind. The students were not going where they belonged, but rather where their parents belonged. Those attending Princeton and Yale did so not because of grades or activities, but because they were expected to. Their social class led them on a specific schooling path, and they accepted it.

Contrast that with today, and the current system's benefits appear. No longer is acceptance based on financial situation or heritage. Hard work and dedication are the required assets. A quick look at Carnegie Mellon's diversity confirms this. Not all students here are rich, or come from well known families. Many, in fact, are the first generation in their family to attend college. Our generation is no longer confined by predetermined factors.

My thoughts on the first part of This Side of Paradise...

This Side of Paradise protagonist Amory Blaine is very image obsessed. He sees the world as broken up into different categories. He wants to fall into the different categories very carefully and exactly. The fundamental conflict of his nature, as presented by the story, seems to be the disconnect between how he sees himself and how people treat him. He thinks he is completely exceptional, but people do not always respect him. He is completely preoccupied with his own point of view. Because he is the center of his own universe, he cannot understand how others do not see him that way. For instance, as Amory walked through a crowd on the way home from the theater, he “wondered how people could fail to notice that he was a boy marked for glory.” He demonstrates at this early age an expectation for greatness that is somewhat foreboding. In other narratives, when a character begins with high expectations, often the crux of the story is defeat.

Fitzgerald begins the book with a very negative style in his prose. It begins with the very first sentence: “Amory Blaine inherited from his mother every trait, except the stray inexpressible few that made him worth while.” He begins the book by openly stating that the protagonist is barely worthwhile. Adjectives found on the first page run along the lines of “inexpressible,” “inarticulate,” “lifeless.” The focus here is on the absence of any good features or traits. It is an immediate set up for a story of defeat. Indeed, for the full first section of the book, successes for Amory are few and far between, and never as sweet as they might be. When Amory finally becomes successful and popular at St. Regis, we do not see him enjoying the fruits of his labor. Instead the focus is still on what confuses him and eludes him. He spends time alone, in a “dreamy content.” This is not happiness, but just satisfaction. He is puzzled by the nature of his success. “It puzzled him to see impressionable small boys imitating the very vanities that had not long ago been contemptible weaknesses.”

The book is written in a very interesting form. It is different from the conventional narrative in its structure. It seems to be built with the sole intention of revealing Amory’s character. There is no story in itself, only different depictions of Amory that allow to reader to attempt to understand him. I think that when Fitzgerald refers in the first sentence to the few traits that make Amory worthwhile, he may be revealing his intent. Fitzgerald is telling the story of many different moments in Amory’s life as a way to demonstrate the existence of these qualities. Amory is almost, but not, completely unlikable. It is his better qualities that make him a compelling character and make the story worth reading. In each of the different stories, Fitzgerald reveals Amory’s vulnerabilities. If these vulnerabilities may be intended as a benchmark for later strengths, but if that is the case, I’m still waiting.

Reading this book made me look at my own college experience. I have noticed that answering questions in lecture makes you seem like a smartass, and asking questions - simply annoying. People do not talk about their classes other than to complain. Some people do take up extracurricular activities just for networking and buffing up their resume. I have not thought about these things much before, but having them thrown in my face makes me feel guilty. Do we really hate our classes that much? Does that knowledge really have relatively no value compared to the "college experience"? Sure, the life lessons we learn here are extremely important, but is that all our parents are paying so much money for?

I kind of enjoyed Nathan's advice for time management, although it felt weird coming from a professor. For example, cutting classes to create time for other things, or doing low-quality work in less time. I was disappointed by the cheating section, though, because I am opposed to cheating. It is unfair and not morally right. How can you feel good about your test grade if you know you received it thanks to someone else? Or what if you help someone cheat, and then they do better than you? Not cool.

I was glad to find out that Nathan used her findings in a positive way. She did not take them personally, but incorporated them into her teaching. Hopefully that helped both her and her students.

Prompts for the Posts

Eric and Aaron both asked me what they were supposed to write about for tomorrow and when I was out of email range they each wrote wonderful, thought provoking posts on tomorrow's readings! I won't always provide prompts for posts (though I will try), and thus this blog is your opportunity to set the direction for our conversation. Given Eric and Aaron's posts, I think two things we'll be talking about tomorrow include, "how do you evaluate Nathan's project?" and "what is a college education for?" These are great questions, and I can't wait to talk about them. Now go to sleep!

Up to a Point...

Honesty I spent this entire read worrying. Worrying if Nathan’s observations define my actions. Worrying when I’ll discover a passion in any academic field or what I truly want to get out of college, hoping this book would help by at least showing me how not to act. And I found that much of what she noted was justified, but although Any U represents the typical college campus, the students she found there do not represent me. There was a resemblance…to an extent, and after that not at all. I do feel the same social and institutional forces she describes: don’t be too friendly with a professor and don’t isolate yourself from your class who’ll help you’ll need throughout the semester. Don’t take excessive pride in doing a reading or hw set a peer hasn’t gotten to, or show off grades where you’re the only one who has excelled. Do complain about the rigor, time spent, unfair policy or whatever, because that’s what we’re allowed to talk about as students. There are more rules and we all partially abide by them whether consciously or not. That’s where the resemblance stops.

So far at Carnegie it doesn’t seem like the professors have had any trouble getting people to speak. I have 2 English and one history course and they are all seminar based. Maybe these 3 professors have done something to get the ball rolling initially to spark our interest, but I come into those classes ready to talk and see how my ideas are evaluated by my peers. Conversations such as “did you do the paper today” and “my roommate was trashed after the party” are as typical here as anywhere. But partying as I have experienced it is a weekend event—the traditional 2 day weekend since most of us have Friday classes. But more often than not I chuckle to myself as I walk around campus at the tidbits of conversation I pick up “ok you multiply by ax^2 and take the integral…” “if you could stop time would photons still travel to your retina or would everything go black?” I find there is ample conversation outside of the Student Cynic register Nathan describes. I haven’t heard a single person complaining, as 50% of the interviews did, that they hate their gen-ed classes. In such a specialized school such courses are a cherished rarity. Cheating is also an issue that must be discussed in degrees. Luckily the student who said (I couldn’t find the exact quote) “if we don’t have to cite sources on tests why do we have to cite them in papers?” seems far away from a culture where as much money goes into buggy as it does the football program (maybe).

Its almost as important to note on a larger scale that college really isn’t about the things you actually learn in class. And it was easy for Nathan to foist this strawman upon me until I remembered the advice of nearly every graduate in the application process: college is about acquiring the skills for future jobs and future learning, not the knowledge you’ll need for that job. So in a sense all of those students who said the things they learned had nothing to do with the real world or their areas of study were right. Imagine the progress any historian, journalist, scientist would make if they only applied the factual notes they took in college to their job. I think I’m trying to say that knowledge alone gets us nowhere and that Nathan missed this point when she accepted and magnified the student’s mantra.

I felt that chapter seven was a welcome departure from the previous chapters of the book. While it was still critical, here is the first time that Nathan actually addresses being a student and gives insight from a student’s perspective. Before now she really had an outside look and seemed to be addressing non-college students. After being repeatedly reminded of my apathy and mistaken values, it was nice to finally get some empathy. At least she can recognize that students have a tough schedule, so socializing before or after class usually isn’t possible, reading isn’t always feasible, registering for interesting courses isn’t always practical.

Eric

Cooper's peons

So if college is not primarily about either intellectual ideas and issues or classes, then what is college for? Don't students come to college to learn?

Rebekah Nathan, page 101

I came to college to learn, which is to say that I came to college to gain both knowledge and vital life experiences. In only three weeks of attendance at Carnegie Mellon university, I have learned the habits of my teachers and peers, read several wonderful novels, joined Crew, gone kayaking and rock climbing, made friends vastly and vitally different from the ones I had at home, and been invited to parties almost every night, including weekdays. I have gained, for the first time, a sense of direction, and I have lost a vital sense of dread about the world that just seems impossible to maintain given the beautiful (thus far) weather and the shared experience of campus life. Three weeks seems like seven months, given how closely I've bonded with some of the people here, and occasionally, the simplest experience can leave me short winded. I came to college for the classes, yes, but also for the bad food and the good friends, for the disgusting anecdotes and amusing factoids. I came to get out of New Jersey, away from anyone I might know from that other life I lived. And I have learned, I have experienced. Yesterday, for example, I had finished class and grabbed a New York Times whose articles I had planned to make into songs, when I heard beautiful piano music coming from the CFA building. I entered, to see the floor swarming with a huddled, teeming mass of architecture students sketching the first floor hallway, complete with its flaws-included imitations of Greco-Roman statues. I decided to add another layer to the palimpsest of echoes, imitations of imitations of imitations, by walking a floor up and sketching the scene in my own way, a sort of groggy, impressionistic prose:

The light plays in soft gradients over the four-way-arched ceiling of CFA, illuminating quarter-circles of white plaster. A piano murmurs in the background. Blotches of blue and gray shirts, orange shirts with stick figures and white shirts with red stripes, a mass of architecture students sits sketching headless, amputee imitations of Greek and Roman statues. Every so often, a man in faded blue jeans and an olive-green shirt walks over to a student, stepping carefully around torso-sized clipboards, and relays his judgment: "The lines are too thick," he says down his nose, or "The perspective's off a bit," and then he takes the clipboard and pencil from the student to illustrate his criticisms. An upperclassman, seeing me at the balcony, confides that "those are Cooper's peons." Aren't we all?

--Aaron

Why CMU is not just another school

Alrighty. Since we're all students of CMU, we've all benefited and have been affected by the individual culture that this University holds dear. We have all realized the fact that CMU students are quite prone to remarking "only at CMU" upon witnessing something that represents the stereotype the students at our school adhere by. However, what does it mean, exactly, to be a part of this peculiar community that many of us have grown to call home?

First of all, I have never experienced another society that put so much store in the celebration of plaid. Of course, that just goes to show how much the Scottish heritage of our school's founder has left it's mark on the very foundations of life here. No other school in the country has a marching band, ours being fondly named "Kiltie Band", that requires its marchers to dress themselves in traditional Scottish outfits, complete with a gathering of blond hair (which could easily be mistaken for Hannah Montana's wig) down the front of their kilts. Here, at CMU, is also the only place in the country that provides a bagpiping major. And although not every student participates in scottish influenced activities, our lives related to this school has been pervaded by the very tartan pattern that represents our University. We are all proud to wear plaid patterns (which are usually complimented by fellow students) and get excited for little scottie dogs that remind us of our CMU fellowship underneath the umbrella of the scottish-influenced culture.

Another aspect of CMU that all students have been influenced by is the fact that we operate under a system of very distinct and separate colleges. With our 7-school system, including SCS, MCS, HSS, CIT, CFA, Tepper, and Heinz, everyone knows their home college and lives according to the preset requisites named by our different schools. Many students complain that because of the individuality of the colleges, it is hard to study outside of your school. It is a well known fact that students must gain admittance to CFA in order to major in music. However, since CMU is a top-tier school, many students are well-rounded and are therefore likely to be interested in many different areas of study. Although the school system makes it difficult to carry on with many different studies, it is true that this allows for a greater specialization in our areas of study, which can be beneficial when we move forward looking for careers.

Third, there are many things special to CMU that students here find themselves dragged into and able to become excited over. One of the more well known traditions is Buggy, in which small racing vehicles are engineered and raced competitively. Also, the infamous Fence, with it's "bloody" history is a trademark symbol of this university's campus. All the organizations around campus and the quirky students that fuel the community are all parts of what make Carnegie Mellon a place like no other. I feel lucky to be a part of this amazing experience.

My Freshman Year ix-89

Hello hello!
I guess I'll start out like this about the topic at hand. (The topic being: three things that might define CMU's unique culture). Diversity. This may start out as a tangent, but bear with me. I promise I have a point. I know that affirmative action was put into usage in a means to diversify all colleges across the U.S. To be honest, I'm not for affirmative action because I believe that diversity is so much more than color. It's about really sharing one's own culture and learning from others. I found it extremely interesting how Rebekah Nathan did a study when she was eating, just watching how different racial backgrounds interacted. She alluded to the idea how race was a problem in this university by saying, "...race or ethnicity is typically ignored as a topic of conversation...treated as an invisible issue and with silence" (60). I know that racism exists today but isn't as prominent in society anymore. However, on this campus I truly believe that this racism (in this context, Nathan is referring to how certain races tend to 'merge' together) doesn't exist. Maybe it's a stretch to say that because I know that certain clubs that has a race in their title sometimes creates these racial 'cliques.' However, in my personal life, my eyes don't see color but instead a person. A person I can learn from. I truly believe that CMU values this relationship.

I hope I haven't lost anyone yet, because there are two more points! I really find that CMU's culture is so different in the diversity aspect as well as the way the CMU's campus life is. CMU has a way of chalking every event on the side walks. I find it fun. There are always stands about different clubs outside of the UC or Doherty Hall. This is, well to me, awesome. It shows the sense of strong community that CMU values. CMU values its students to get involved with the campus. The social activities wrote on sidewalks further show how students can get involved in and out of campus. It keeps students informed in an unconventional and fun way. This atmosphere, at least for me, gives me a sense of activity and provides an excuse to never be bored. Nathan didn't talk too much about the social bonding and community of the college itself as much as she did about her dorm specifically. Since she emphasized the dorm community more, I shall too. I found it hilarious how in her college practically no one would attend floor meetings (50). My floor love each others company and really are good friends. We attend each floor meeting. During orientation week, we all contributed to what we expected from one another... such like respect and communication. True. Maybe all of my floor mates and I are just super enthusiastic about meetings, unlike Nathan's floor mates. True, the response to floor meetings or just getting involved in the college community depends on the person. From what I have experienced, we (CMU kids) tend to be more open to actively contributing to become apart of the college community.

THE LAST ONE! My last point connects to the last point I just made. It has to do with CMU traditions. House wars. Play fair. The fence. I truly believe that these things shape a university. Nathan never emphasized the little traditions that her college had. I found it a little sad that she didn't. It really shows how 'disconnected' the students are to their college. I find that each tradition that CMU has, it's a way that all the students connect. It's awesome how each student can just say, "Hamerschlag took over the fence" and every person would understand. Everyone knows about the legends behind the fence. The fun of play fair and house wars. This connects each student on our campus. The college that Nathan attended, however, does provide a way for each students to connect through intermurals and sports (14). CMU, obviously, offers these activities as well. What sets CMU aside from this state school that Nathan attended is that CMU provides more ways to connect to students.

I hope that I didn't lose anyone who may have read this, and I hope it helped somewhat!

-eumie kim