Columns

The Fly on the Wall—From Dullsville to Delight, Part II

Limpid thought and diluted meaning beckon us when we relax our critical faculties; our egos may inflate as we mow down course after course, yet it remains for us to be reflexive and consider what we’d hitherto discounted.  Only fools rush in and when we draw conclusions based more on our disciplinary assumptions than on… Read more »

The Not-So-Starving Student—DIY Guacamole

“Guacamole for extra?”  is the phrase I hear the most at the local fast food chain or burger joint.  But why pay extra for guacamole when you can do it yourself? Moreover, many fast food chains’ guacamole is heavily watered down and loses the richness and nutrients that homemade guacamole contains. Guacamole is simple to… Read more »

The Fit Student—Put People to the Stress Test

What happens when we get cast out?  When people we love backstab us?  When we get fed fists?  Stress happens! In grade school, a girl got persecuted.  Swarms of students circled her, shoving her, day in, day out.  She feared for her life.  So, I started bringing her home at lunchtime.  That is, until Mom… Read more »

Course Exam—Physics 200

PHYS 200 (Introductory Physics) is a three-credit introductory physics course in algebra-based physics that introduces classical mechanics and includes a hands-on laboratory component.  PHYS 200, combined with either PHYS 201 (Introductory Physics II) or PHYS 202 (Introductory Physics III), is the equivalent of one year of introductory physics.  There are no prerequisites for this course,… Read more »

The Study Dude—Grandiose Goals

Make splashy goals.  You could wax into a star, a professor, a billionaire.  You could get stricken with deadly disease but thrive beyond your 80s.  You could get smacked with mental illness yet wind up a bank’s Chief Technology Officer.  Anything is possible, right?  Yes!  So set grandiose goals! Once I dreamt of hosting a… Read more »

The Not-So Starving Student—Kitchen Appliance Review

As I was casually browsing Amazon for nifty kitchen appliances to add to my stash (and to deal with my chef’s block—the equivalent of writer’s block except one grumbles over the next meal to create), I found a surprising number of highly rated tools to reignite my love for cooking. I decided to buckle down… Read more »

The Fit Student—Fitness Over 40

Fashion your figure after Farrah Fawcett beyond your fortieth birthday.  Yes, strut like a six-million-dollar woman.  Doesn’t matter if you’ve beefed up 200 pounds.  Just glance at me.  I once plunked my 180-pound beefcake on a dead-tired weigh-scale.  Now I tuck my tees into size two pants, fleshed out with leaner muscles by the minute…. Read more »

Course Exam—APST 340

APST 340 (Advanced Structures) is a three-credit, upper-level architecture course that will familiarize the student with the detailed considerations of structural design, including quantitative load, stress and strain analysis, structural member design, and most importantly, the requirements set by the codes on design and construction of different types of structures.  The scope of this course… Read more »

Dear Barb—Abused in Confidence

Dear Barb: I am a member of a huge family.  We often get together for family events and have lots of fun.  I know some families have problems, but that never seemed to be the case in our family, until recently.  After a few drinks at family BBQ a relative confided in me that her… Read more »

Women of Interest—Mary Ann Shadd Cary

“It is better to wear out than rust out.” (Mary Ann Shadd Cary)   Mary Ann Shadd Cary was North America’s first black woman to publish a newspaper.  She was viewed as an outspoken, forthright woman who overstepped the boundaries of a typical black woman in the 1800’s.  Mary Ann was also a notable figure… Read more »