D-town buddies!!!

Who created that font?

Most likely Matthew Carter did. Matthew Carter is a man with a passion for something rather unusual: designing typefaces. For instance, have you ever read Time, the Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, or National Geographic? Or perhaps you read one of various newspapers in the morning, such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, or the Boston Globe. If you have ever read any of these, then you have come into contact with Carter's work. Yes, he created the typeface that is used in each of these magazines or newspapers. If this is not enough, he also created the typeface that is used in the A.T. & T phone book and the typeface that was used by Microsoft for many years. Such domination in his field speaks well for his innate talent; however, it was not always like that.
Carter was born in London in 1937, where he became a prominent creator of typefaces. However, it was not until he moved to New York in 1960 where he was challenged. Surrounded by so many impressive and diverse typefaces already in use in advertisements and other written works, he "was made abruptly and forcefully to realize that [he] knew nothing." He was then faced with a career and life-changing decision: "to slink home or to resolve to stay." Not one to back down from a challenge, he resolved to stay and became very successful in this country, too. His determination proves his strength of character, and this is an admirable quality.
One of the things that struck me while reading this article was how much work goes into creating a typeface. The height and weight of each individual letter is crucial to its legibility and therefore its effectiveness. A slight mistake at the beginning is multiplied once other letters are created. So much planning and foresight must go into creating these typefaces. Had I not read this article, I would not have appreciated this fact. Now that I know, I will never look at written or typed texts the same.

My surprise for family weekend 2006!!!

Turnitin

The concept behind Turnitin is agreeable to most people, I would think. Plagiarism is becoming far too easy to do in today's world of advanced technology. Most would also agree that it is wrong to take credit for another's work. Because of this, I agree that measures must be put into place that discourage plagiarism. While having its flaws, I support the use of Turnitin. The fact that all student papers would be run through this system eliminates any bias. There are not just certain students who are chosen; all can and should be put through the scrutinizing process that is Turnitin. Just knowing that their papers will be put through this process will hopefully deter students from plagiarizing. In response to the comparison of some students who said running everyone's paper through Turnitin would be like drug-testing all students, I do not see the problem. If a student has nothing to hide, and testing all students may prevent one or two from actually doing drugs or plagiarizing (depending on the comparison being used), I would say that the system worked.
Having said all of this, I also agree that there is some merit behind the students' argument that their work is their intellectual property. There must be some way to reconcile the good that Turnitin accomplishes with the means it uses to get there. Finally, it bothers me that Turnitin is a for-profit organization. I am skeptical of for-profit educational services. I would like to perform more research on Turnitin before I form my final opinion of it.

Haircuts.

I think that I have found my second calling in life: a haircutter. However, the only cut that I will give is a buzz. I came to this realization last night when I borrowed a pair of clippers so that I could give one of the other RAs a buzz. I had never cut anyone's hair before, so I was a little nervous. My worries were put to ease when I was told that it's impossible to mess up a buzz. So, we sat at the end of his hall. Well, naturally, a small crowd gathered to watch. It was really easy and a lot of fun. Then some guys from the audience started to question whether they wanted a buzz, too. I was having a blast, so I began to flatter them, saying how good they would look with a buzz. They were sucked in, and I got to give buzzes to two other guys! While we were doing this, another guy decided that he wanted to shave his chest. (I let him do that himself.) It was pretty much one of my funniest nights in Gries. And now I get to check out my handiwork everytime that I rub their newly buzzed heads! :o)
(I'm also thinking about doing a building program where we give buzzes for $5 and donate the money to charity. I guess we'll see if that works out!!)

"E-Mail is for Old People"

I completely disagree with the claim that the title of this article seems to be making. E-mail is the number one mode that I rely on to receive important information. This includes information from my professors, from my bosses, from the university itself, and even from my family. While I occasionally use text messages and more frequently instant messenger, this would never replace email for me. People lose their phone, and many people do not constantly stay signed onto instant messenger. This would prevent a message from successfully being received in a timely manner. However, e-mail messages go through whether or not a person is physically at his/her functioning computer.
Because of its reliability, students should get themselves in the habit of checking their emails multiple times a day. Personally, it is the first thing that I do in the morning, the last thing I do at night, and various times in between. I have missed important messages when I have failed to do this. Even students that do not have their own personal computer should check their e-mail frequently. I did not have a computer freshman year, so I went to the library, to the Bean, to a friend's computer. There are means to do this, and students must get in the habit of putting these resources to good use. Furthermore, even if this is not the number one way that students prefer to communicate, they must realize that it is the number one way that most professors communicate with their students. For the sake of their grades, they must adjust accordingly.