Hey hey hey. Curious to see more of Stony Brook? Well I made you a little video. It’s meant for those of you who just so happen to think you are impossibly far away and can’t visit. The video doesn’t really do the beauty of our fall foliage any justice. Health disclaimer: It’s shot from inside a car so if you can’t really deal with shaking, you had better grab your smelling salts. It features the West Apartments, Roosevelt and Tabler Quad, a shot of the Biology buildings and Hospital, and the Admin / Wang buildings. I added some annotations through youtube in the few instances where the text was just a little too small, but overall I’m quite pleased with it.

Deep fall is here. Leaves are covering the ground in a delicate layer of crunchy sepias, deep reds, and browns, and it seems the season’s metamorphosis is imminent in all aspects of life. In the past few weeks I’ve been subject to a steady, consistent drum-beat of work, obligation, fun, and change. Always change, and that’s what makes life beautiful.

For some reason, walking home the other day, I really felt like I was in college. I was just so aware of it. It’s difficult to define what exactly what I mean; it’s not just dorming, it’s not just studying at night in a library, and it’s not the late nights fueled by caffeine. It’s the sense of independence and enjoyment. When you realize that your destiny is in your hands, and your hands alone. I hope you all seek out that feeling when you’re searching for the college of your future.

Electapalooza

NEWSFLASH: Barack Obama is the new President-Elect. I guess you haven’t heard. There will now be puppies and sleep-overs at the White House. Awesome. Anyway, Stony Brook College Democrats had a grand old time celebrating the election and I was with them cheering and hooting all the way. Despite not being the most active member, I did draw them a nice map of the US which was later subjected to what I referred to as the Blue Tide of Hope. Projectors on a huge screen had my rag-tag team of Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, and Keith Olbermann kickin’ it on MSNBC as we watched the numbers roll in. We pretty much knew it was over by the time they called Ohio/Pennsylvania. Or if you’re going to argue about when I really knew, I’d say it was when fivethirtyeight.com started leaning towards Obama . We really started going bonkers once they projected California and they called the race for Obama. We were singing We Are the Champions a la Freddie Mercury and at some point I am fairly certain a bunch of shirtless men ran through the Tabler Arts Center, where the event was held, screaming in triumph. Of course, there were multiple election night parties going on - the honors programs hosted their own, the Patriot hosted a party (so fear not, conservatives, there is always a place for you on campus!), but by the tail end the celebration had taken to the streets. I know I was yelling, "Woo, Obama!" all the way home, and I got supportive yells back as I walked across campus. Obviously that’s nothing compared to the mass celebrations going on in major cities, but Stony Brook certainly held its own. We had a ridiculous, ridiculous voter turnout - around 80%. Stony Brook students gave those polling sites the business.

Student Faculty Staff Retreat

This weekend I was whisked away to the Glen Cove Mansion, where weddings, conferences, and birthday parties that cost more than my future Med school education are held. It was a very classy and beautiful setting for the Student Faculty Staff retreat, an annual SBU tradition dating back into the 80’s. The objective of the weekend was to meet and act as a sort of think-tank for several issues facing Stony Brook right now under the category of creating a more whole and enriching undergraduate experience. Not only was I able to sit down with Deans, Professors, active staff members, and my peers to talk about what I as a student want to see happen, but I got to break the ice and actually relax for one night - play Scrabble and eat catered food and sleep in a huge bed - all for free, just in exchange for sharing my ideas. A sweet deal, really. And my team won the trivia contest, too! Just another example of how you can impact your campus community if you come to Stony Brook - while it obviously doesn’t take a retreat to enact changes, the point is that SBU does wish to listen to what you have to say.

& In other, random news, I gave blood last Wednesday! I finally had a high enough hemoglobin count to make the cut. Go go iron-rich food products, yeah!~ The New York Blood Center usually comes around campus every few weeks, and in exchange I got Oreo cookies, a free movie ticket, and self satisfaction. I can’t wait until I can donate again. For now, it’s back to studying for midterms, doing presentations, and creating that silly old newspaper.

On my plate for this week, in case you are curious as to what sorts of activities and responsibilities occupy my time:

had a Physics exam this evening

have a Mammalian exam tomorrow

have to drive home and vote (voting is good for you! makes ya feel real swell!)

prepare for midterms in two other classes (for my Drugs&theBrain and Mood Disorders classes – luckily my test in Drugs is on the subject of mood disorders!)

presentation to do for my Honors Class by Wednesday

draw a new comic for the next issue of the Press

get stoked & come up with good talking points for the Student Faculty Staff retreat I’ll be attending on Friday

get equally stoked to work on production this weekend!

Would you like to see the latest copy of my neeeeeeeewspaper? Yes, yes you do:

Also of note: there is now a Facebook group that you, the reader, can follow. It is rich with video, photo, and text-based information. Have a question nobody seems to be around to answer? Want to meet more prospective students while learning more about Stony Brook? Oh my gosh what are you waiting for click the link/image to the left right now.

We’re going to try to fill it with as much media as we can. We realize not everyone can visit us and not everyone operates on the same hours as we’re available to chat - so now you can Facebook private message us or follow our posts on there. Personally I just uploaded a bunch of photos I’ve been taking throughout the semester, with many more to come. I’ll probably be adding my dorm room video as well.

Anyhoodles that’s it for tonight. I’ll blog this week about various insane election related shindigs and definitely give you guys a peek into what the Student Faculty Staff Retreat is like . Till then.

This week was a crazy one - & it’s production weekend for me so it’s even crazier! But since y’all are so faithful to reading my humble blog I’ve got ever more photos to share with you.

This is Scott Higham. He’s a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. More importantly, he is a former Press Executive Editor. He came to Stony Brook to give a speech for a lecture series we have here entitled "My Life As…" but before the lecture he ventured down into the deep, dank, dark depths of the Union to talk to us face to face. He was down to earth (& this is going to sound corny) and inspiring. He only stayed for around forty minutes, but his passion and dedication left us all with the impression that we are part of a tradition that is greater than the sum of its parts. He also complimented my work on the cover layout!

This is an image from his actual lecture.

The place was packed. I had to stand!

The other significant goings-on of the week: Rock Yo Face Case! If you’ve been keeping up with the other blogs (Arianna, Karina) who have been praising this event, I’d have to say I completely agree with their stellar reviews. While I got there late (I was at the previously mentioned "My Life As" lecture!), what I did experience was surely face-rocking. So face rocking that I had to pick up the little pieces of my face that got rocked off and glue them back on later, my face then resembling a cubist painting. Carlos and Patrice, seen above, are the persons to thank for organizing the hopefully monthly showcase. They’re a prime example of how pro-active Stony Brook students are, and how if you want to make things happen on campus, Stony Brook will accomodate you if you’ve got enough drive.

Double Wonderful - a band whose name I enjoyed as much as I enjoyed their music.

Lookit, it’s fellow blogger Seth…

And his band, Dig Wells! They provided a very mellow and equally talented contrast to Double Wonderful’s intensity. Unfortunately I missed the first two bands, but I’m sure they were just as fabulous. Hopefully I’ll go to the next showcase and get pictures of all of the bands.

I’m sure you’re all agonizing over my lack of a weekend post (I hear your cries in the night, I hear them), but I was visiting friends in New Jersey and somehow between the horrible MTA and NJ Transit service that I just happened to have been subjected to (mostly New Jersey - seriously, the 5:01 express train left at 5:37 - what?) and the sudden drop in temperature left my immune system a lazy, vulnerable wreck - & so I am sick. Sniffles and general displeasure and discomfort, you know the deal. If we could harness the wind power of my sneezes we could solve the energy crisis. As such, this week you will be seeing photo blogs from me.

I firmly believe that a person’s shoes can speak on his or her behalf.

There were some rad fireworks going on.

Like I said, rad.

Ethereal, no? These are my friends watching mid-burst.

I know you’re all like "why is she posting this?" but seriously, there is a plant growing out of this fan. We don’t tolerate this sort of reckless growth here at Stony Brook, I assure you! Crazy Jersey!

Onward to actual pictures of Stony Brook! This is from the fabulous interior of the Wang Center.

There are fountains all along the lower level of the Wang Center, as well as an outdoor pond.

I found these scary yet beautiful painted wolves in the library. I wish there were more of them.

Castle I, in the Kingdom of West.

Best. License. Plate. Ever. See how creative and also slightly ridiculous Stony Brook students are? Join us. Join us.

Credits: vsolanoy, me, Roman S, me

♥ Studying, EWWW!
This week I had 3 midterms. That isn’t really something to look forward to — although the freedom of having all three be over is worth it. Typically I will study in my room, but I will retreat to the library when people are being too busy in the apartment. The Melville Library, despite its resemblance to a penal colony, is good for finding a secluded nook to call your own, buckling down, and getting work done. Long were my nights there learning about the wonders (yeah, wonders…) of organic chemistry last semester. Anyway after studying and such, this weekend I relaxed a little by indulging in long showers, spending time at home with my parents, and working on the Press.

♥ Blog Chat
Tuesday was the chatroom for high-achieving students interested in knowing more about our University. What a wild time, there were so many instant messages being sent at once that I could barely keep up! There will be many more chats in the future, so I invite you to check up using this page.

♥ Shirley Strum Kenny likes us, she really likes us!
This Wednesday at our weekly meeting for the Stony Brook Press, I witnessed our Staff conduct an interview with President Kenny. It’s her last year here at Stony Brook (with a huge search going on at present to find a replacement) so we were lucky she had time to come spend some time with us. She told us about her experiences as an editor of her college paper during an era in which civil rights was just beginning to be brought up in major court cases (Sweat v Painter directly affected her campus, the University of Texas). It was a very interesting conversation — it’s good to go to a school where you can sit down with the University President and ask about policies and her decision making process (of course, we had to schedule this meeting a semester in advance, but we still got it).

♥ Honors Presentation
On Friday of this past week, there was a very informative presentation about all the Honors Programs offered here at Stony Brook. They are the Honors College, Women in Science & Engineering, Scholars for Medicine, Honors Program in Computer Science, Engineering Scholars for Medicine, and University Scholars (Click here for more info!). I went, along with some fellow Honors College buddies, in order to tell them a little about what life is like in the HC and why it is an excellent idea to consider applying. Gabrielle and Bill Miller, the honors college advisors, spoke about the great benefits - they are great to go to for advice, and very approachable. I loved meeting prospectives, especially the bright young ladies who inquired further into the Scholars for Medicine Program! Stony Brook recognizes its best and brightest right from the get go, and strives to create smaller communities of higher achieving students within the larger community of students. The small groups through which I was initially introduced to Stony Brook created a great way for me not to be bewildered by the enormity of the campus by approaching it with others who were in the same boat as me academically.

& lastly, before I move on to my other features, just know that I’ll be participating in a chatroom discussion this Tuesday from 7-8:15 (approximately - I have a physics exam that day) to discuss academic honors programs (the besy kind). Find out more here.

Here are some links I recommend for this week!

The Stony Brook Press - I am currently production manager of this fabulous paper! We are a great mix of hard-hitting journalism and insane antics…and we love it that way! Check it out in case you want to see what’s up in the community and on campus.

High School Visitation Schedule for 2008 - Are you from Jersey? Florida? Massachusetts? Stony Brook Representatives could be coming to your school soon! Click that link for the schedule and make sure to attend if your high school is on that list (my old one is, funnily enough).

Stony Brook U Event Calendar - essentially lists major happenings each week at the University. This week is homecoming, so if you live around the area and want to experience what it’s like rooting for Stony Brook alongside its students, I would keep a keen eye on this week’s events.

Credits: all by me except the yummy looking soup, which is by ckferguson11

So what was I up to this week? Well, I completed everything on my to-do list, that’s for sure! But here are my talking points…

♥ Neil Gaiman
One of my favorite living (knock on wood) authors, Neil Gaiman, came to Columbia Teacher’s College in Manhattan as part of a book tour to promote his newest Young Adult novel, The Graveyard Book. Besides being incredibly funny and affable, he read the first chapter for the audience spectacularly, with voices and gestures abound (enough to impress a former Speech Captain like myself, hee hee). He answered the questions that my friend and I asked, and we were able to exchange a few words with him after the whole thing was done. A great experience, despite accidentally taking a detour in Queens (don’t ask…just don’t). One thing I’d like to stress to you guys, even if you have no idea who I’m talking about or why I’d be so excited to go to a book reading: it is exceedingly easy to get to Manhattan from Stony Brook. Sticking around Long Island for college has made it possible for me to experiece bands, events, and shows happening during the school year that I couldn’t have if I went to school elsewhere (personal examples include art shows featuring professors that I have had classes with, going to the Daily Show, and seeing The Decemberists, just to name a few). Besides obviously following people and bands you care about to see if they’re coming to Manhattan, there are resources you can follow to see what kind of fun things are going on in the city and plan a weekend escape. My personal favorite is Time Out New York.

♥ Election Insanity
I know you guys are probably too young to vote if you are in high school, but before you know it, you will be of age! Some of you reading this blog are students here & potential transfers, so it’s pertinent to mention that we are a very politically involved campus. I have close friends who are part of the College Democrats and College Republicans who strive to let students know about how they can impact their communities in terms of political participation and raising general awareness (the College Republicans brought Ann Coulter here last semester — that lady gives me nightmares, but still, that’s a pretty decent achievement, wouldn’t you say?). I think the College Dems helped register almost 1000 people since school started - an amazing feat (Typically, taking care of registration would be done by NYPIRG, but they’ve received $0 funding for the next year from the USG Senate. We discuss this issue at length in the latest issue of The Press, so go check it out on the racks or online when the newest PDF goes up). Anyway, I’ve been watching the debates with fellow Press staffers and my apartment mates and we are having good time seeing candidates try to skewer each other under pressure. Unfortunately I think I’ll be taking a physics exam during the debate on Tuesday, but what can you do?

♥ Weekly Food Review - Thai Gourmet
NEWSFLASH: I like Thai food. This week I visited Thai Gourmet, about a 5-10 minute drive from campus. It’s a small place, but but what it lacks in space it more than makes up for in the quality of the dishes served. Their Thom Yum Soup is roughly $3.50, which compared to other places I’ve tried is not only cheapter, but better & more spicy (huzzah for spicy). I staunchly support going there just for the soup. The entrees are carefully crafted (and cooked only feet away from you), and uphold the classic principle of tasting as good as they look.

♥ Campus Lifetime
I’ve uploaded some new pictures onto my flickr [see sidebar] from the involvement day fair from a few weeks back, which featured students from various clubs setting up tables and enticing students to take interest in their respective activities. Look at that volume of students! Sheesh! Also appearing on my flickr are images from the Honors College Ice Cream Social which took place a few weeks back, as well. Look for periodic uploads.

& lastly, before I move on to my other features, just know that I’ll be participating in a chatroom discussion this Tuesday from 7-8:15 (approximately - I have a physics exam that day) to discuss academic honors programs (the besy kind). Find out more here.

Here are some links I recommend for this week!

WUSB Radio - the Stony Brook University radio station’s website. Not only can you listen on air, but take a look at programs and schedules for the week. According to their website, they offer "interviews, commentary, jazz, pop, punk, noise, funk, folk, blues, reggae, polka, world music, live music, spontaneous mixes and groovy combustion." Sounds like a winner..

MTVU Woodies - and speaking of winners, you can help WUSB win the MTV award for best college radio station! Go here and vote…please? Pretty please? What the heck are you doing for the next three seconds, anyway? Click that link, find WUSB, and click vote!

Stony Brook Spy - a great blog that highlights shops, restaurants, spots, and hideouts in the Stony Brook area. Rich with details and reviews of each place covered, it’s a good read. Even folks who’ve lived around here for years might find someplace new to explore.

Restaurants In the Stony Brook Area - a very simple page organizing off-campus dining in terms of walking distance, price range, and type of establishment. Great if you’re interested in seeing what other options there are around the area other than the campus dining halls.

“There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy & the tired.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby

What are you, my readers? I’m certainly busy! Here’s my to-do list for this weekend (more for my sanity than anything~!):

• Finish my new comic for The Press (want to see my most recent one?)
• Begin layout work for the new Press issue
• Read copious amounts for Mammalian Physiology
• Study for Drugs & The Brain test Monday (eep!)
• Do Physics lab (we have Tue & Wed off so I’m getting it in early!)
• Finish reading The Graveyard Book so I can go to Neil Gaiman’s book signing on Tuesday!
Luckily I have Tuesday and Wednesday off this week (but a Mammalian test on Thursday, oh joy of joys!). Any little break helps.

THIS WEEK’S TALKING POINTS

Credit (left to right, top to bottom): Richard Wanderman, Coffeelovr, Digital Tradecraft, Polimom

♥ Exercise Classes

Stony Brook, besides having excellent gym facilities (at the Student Activities Center & in every quad), also offers exercise classes! Ever wanted to try yoga, pilates, or belly dancing? There are oodles of classes you can attend; take a look at this semester’s schedule and see for yourself! While I personally don’t do more than a few a week, I have been to the Yoga and Spinning classes. They are two very different methods of exercise, but they balance each other out quite nicely. While there was a really demanding yoga instructor last fall who worked me until my muscles were sore (I don’t know where she went, I’ll miss her and her ability to get me to do a partial head-stand), the yoga instructor I encountered during my one class so far this year was able to put my body in an unbelievable state of calm…& all she did was adjust my shoulder muscles and rub my temples during meditation!

♥ Friday Night Lights

I’m going to be honest. Today’s morning rain made me so unequivocally wet that when I was done with classes & research today, I went home and sought dryness for the rest of the day. This involved not going out into the misty trenches of the Kenneth LaValle Stadium, but I trust my fellow bloggers were braver than I am when it comes to the elements – perhaps they will post their accounts, so look out for that. After I heard we lost to Hofstra (43-3 – yes, we only scored 3 points! Eep!), I didn’t feel as bad for not going (secretly, I was watching McCain and Obama duke it out in Mississippi). It sort of makes me wonder why our new school-spirit related slogan is, “Show Your Swagger”. While I’m all for Stony Brook showing swagger in terms of displaying bravado, I never pictured Stony Brook as an arrogant, cocky place! Football prowess aside, pride can be an empowering and uplifting thing, & Stony Brook has a lot to be proud of. In any case, some great photos from the game should be in the next issue of the Press.

♥Food, Glorious Food
Today I tried a burger from Bobby Flay’s new "Burger Palace". I wouldn’t call it a restaurant, I wouldn’t call it a diner, and I wouldn’t call it fast food establishment - it was a mixture of all three, & it was certainly tasty. It was casual dining with a lot of style; just take a look at this interior, reminiscent of a “classic” burger joint. At the recommendation of my lovely friend Hala, I got the LA burger, which had avocado and watercress in it. Yummy, but definitely not the type of place I’d go to every week (I just got done talking about exericise classes, you see).

♥It’s the Economy, Stupid!
If you are completely oblivious to the news, I’ll share a little secret with you: the economy is a little under the weather recently. There’s a disasterous and potentially crippling economic crisis, if you will. The dollar is on the decline, the unemployment rate is higher than my GPA, and a credit crisis is whirling a path of destruction through US banks. What am I getting at, here? While I’m not stressing the idea of going to a school merely because it’s cheap, the price is definitely a significant draw. The key to choosing a right college is keeping options open so that when you make your decision, you know it wasn’t because you were forced down a certain path. So why not apply to the Honors College, which pays for tuition? Why spend money for a private school pre-med undergraduate experience in which you learn the same exact material for exponentially higher fees? Education & what you learn in college is what you make of it, no matter how much money you are paying to supposedly learn something. I don’t know how rich or poor you all are, but I assure you, I don’t want to spend the rest of my 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s paying off debts. Just something to think about while watching banks eat one another.

Anyhoodles, I’m done ranting about burgers and fiscal drama. Definitely look for me on AIM with questions, comments, complaints, and anything else you would like to discuss! I’ll post my chat schedule for this week soon.

Greetings & salutations, darlings. How are you all on this fabulous Friday ♥? I’ve got something very special to share with you today. I wasn’t sure how exactly to go about describing my dorm here at SBU. It’s an on-campus apartment that has just been built in the West Apartment Complex. As my friend Tomasz says, “West is like the Hamptons of Stony Brook.” & as my friend Alex likes to add, “But not like Hampton Bays. More like East Hampton. Rustic and quiet, but nothing works…and every once in a while, you spot a famous person.” When I moved in a few weeks ago, the entire building was empty, inviting, and most importantly, clean! I was amazed at how new and unused everything was. My flatmates and I felt like we were living in a hotel, and to a certain extent, we still do! It’s reminiscent of my freshman year when I knew nobody in my building, since everyone who moved in this year has come from a different place. Anyway, describing it is all well and good, but there’s just something missing from mere words. So when I moved in and I took some video of the "before", I decided to splice it with some "after" and share it!

So, without further ado…

& In other news, I invite you all to chat with me about your Stony Brook related concerns! My screen name is TiaSBU and I am online most nights when we should all probably be asleep. Enjoy the weekend!

“The world is your school.” -Martin H. Fischer

Let’s face it: a lot of students not only see college as the next great adventure, but as a prime opportunity to get as far away from their parents as humanly possible. Some choose to exclusively apply to out-of-state schools, thinking the farther they are from where they went to high school the better their experiences will be. While I’m guilty of being only a half hour away from home (and delicious home food, yum!), I think if you are really itching to get away, you should think about studying abroad. In lieu of this and the fact that this past Friday there was an "International Academic Programs Study Abroad and Exchange Fair" on campus, I decided that before my dear friend Alisha (pictured on the left) bid me bon-voyage for Madagascar this week, I would sit down with her and ask her about her plans in what will hopefully be a two part interview. While Stony Brook has a plethora of specific programs involving certain countries, the SUNY system has a website that is very easy to navigate that lets you explore other options as well.
Why study abroad?
I think it’s important to get outside your comfort zone and experience another place and culture at least once. Studying abroad seems like it would offer a much different perspective on a place than just traveling through. Plus, my program includes field experiences that I couldn’t get anywhere else.
Why Madagascar? What about it do you look forward to?
I wanted to go somewhere that I would probably never go otherwise. Plus, the nature of the classes and research there really fit my interests. I’m interested to apply the ideas I’ve only read about in textbooks so far in the rainforest.
What is the weirdest thing you had to pack? How will you be getting there?
Kitty litter – they recommended that we pack our laptops in a ziplock bag with some silica gel, but one of the TAs said that pure silica kitty litter stuffed into a pair of panty hose would work, too. We’ll be traveling out of JFK with Air France, transferring at Charles de Gaulle in Paris.
Will you have time to try some honest to goodness French cuisine?
We won’t be in France long enough to eat there, but Madagascar was once a French colony, so maybe there’s French food there!
Are you looking forward to any particular animals or plants?
Well, obviously lemurs are a big deal. I’ve also heard a lot about the Madagascar hissing cockroach, which I’m understandably excited about.
Can you smuggle one back? How strict could it be at customs?
Well, those lemurs are pretty tiny and adorable. I can’t say I haven’t thought about it…but seriously, the program is very conservation-oriented. We’ve gone over what not to buy, right down to certain types of wood. They really encourage us to support only sustainable practices.
How was the process of getting in to the program? What would a student need to do?
There’s a pretty comprehensive list of programs on the university website. Once you pick a program, you can download an application. It includes an essay, references, and general information, and it goes to the study abroad office in the library on the 5th floor. The paperwork can be a bit tedious, but it’s really worth it!

Alisha will be back by Thanksgiving – look for a follow up interview in a few months. Hopefully she’ll bring back a lemur, or at least a cockroach (exotic!).