Brittany

Gwinnett Battles Rash of Illegal Dumping - 11Alive.com | WXIA | Atlanta, GA

2010-01-22T07:54:00.000-08:00

Gwinnett Battles Rash of Illegal Dumping - 11Alive.com | WXIA | Atlanta, GA

Jerry Carnes

Lawrenceville-- It's yet another side effect of our struggling economy, and it's a messy one.

In Gwinnett County, a homeowner uses his video camera to capture a man as he dumps waste collected from septic tanks directly into the county sewage system. Companies that collect septic waste are supposed pay to to have it treated at a county facility.

"People are finding ways of not spending money," says TDyler Richards of Gwinnett Water Resources. "This is one of the ways they're doing it, unfortunately."

It's unfortunate, and illegal.

Employees who descend below street level to clean the county's sewer system are finding more and more evidence of illegal dumping. They come face to face with chemicals, untreated waste, and grease, a lot of grease.

Below one manhole they found a grease monster standing ten feet tall in the sewer pipe.

"When that happens, it clogs one up and causes an overflow," says the water department's Jody Braselton. "Sewage could get in the lakes and we don't want that."

It's the county that pays for the equipment and the manpower to clean it up.

"We could actually do criminal prosecution, but that's expensive," says Richards. "We'd like to fine or find other ways to stop them."

In the case of the man caught on tape, his company was fined 900-dollars.

Anyone who sees illegal dumping into the sewage system can call Gwinnett Police at 770-513-5100, or Gwinnett Water Resources at 678-376-7000.

Go Team Awesome

2008-08-27T17:05:00.001-07:00

U.S. News: Drexel One of Nation’s Top Six “Up-and-Coming Schools”

August 22, 2008

Philadelphia
Drexel University made the “up-and-coming” short list of national universities that have achieved “the most promising and innovative changes in academics, faculty, students, campus, or facilities,” according to top college officials polled by U.S.News & World Report for the 2009 edition of “America’s Best Colleges.” Only 20 universities in the country made the list.

These are “universities that have recently made striking improvements or innovations — schools everyone should be watching,” according to the publication. “These colleges may not be at the top of the rankings (yet), but they’re tops for innovation.”

Underscoring the point, Drexel jumped 19 positions in the U.S. News national rankings and is now ranked 89th among the “Best National Universities.” This is the first time that Drexel has broken into the top 90. It also places Drexel among the top 50 private universities in the country.

“Drexel provides a superior educational experience to students and outstanding use-inspired scholarship and research opportunities to faculty,” Drexel President Constantine Papadakis said. “Our success in doing so, under the stewardship of our trustees and the active leadership of our faculty, has led to Drexel’s unprecedented qualitative and quantitative growth.”

Drexel is also identified by U.S. News as offering one of the best cooperative education programs in the country. In Drexel’s cooperative education program, students alternate periods of classroom study with full-time employment in positions aligned with their academic interests.

Drexel has achieved unprecedented growth since Papadakis arrived as president in 1995. In just the past six years, as Drexel acquired the nation’s largest private medical school and opened a new law school that has already received national recognition, it has catapulted among the nation’s elite, according to U.S. News. In January 2009, Drexel University will open a Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento, Calif., the capital of the sixth-largest economy in the world.

The U.S. News rankings group schools based on categories created by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The rankings will be published in the magazine’s Sept. 1 issue, on newsstands Aug. 25, and available online at www.USNews.com/colleges beginning today.

DNC

2008-08-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

So for the past few days I've been avidly watching the DNC coverage the moment I get home until it concludes for the night. It's been fairly interesting thus far-- Hillary's speech was so intriguing and loaded with all of the "right" things. Michelle Obama was my favorite speaker by far though-- in many cases, I would actually prefer to watch her instead of her husband! I did, however, see Mr. Obama speak this past Spring on the lawn of the Constitution center right here in Philadelphia (about a 20 min walk from campus). Seeing Obama speak was one of the most invigorating experiences of my life, and thanks to Drexel and their VIP tickets they had to the speech, I had the opportunity to be directly involved in the political process.

I'm very excited to see what November brings. If you're 18 come November, regardless of your politcial preference, be sure to register to vote and have your voice heard!. Rockthevote.com is a great place to register fast, or you can pick up an application at your local post office or DMV. You can also register to vote in PA when you get to Drexel-- you don't have to be a resident of PA to vote in PA. If you prefer to register in your home state, make sure to request that absentee ballot.

How to make Oatmeal Cookies!

2008-08-08T12:15:00.000-07:00

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

1 1/4 c. softened butter or margarine

3/4 c. packed brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

3 c. rolled oats

Step1Heat oven to 375 degrees F and line some cookie sheets with baking parchment - or grease some cookie sheets, or use nonstick cookie sheets.

Step2 Beat together butter or margarine and sugars in a large bowl until creamy.

Step3Add egg and vanilla and beat well.

Step4Combine flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a smaller bowl.

Step5Add flour mixture to the butter/sugar mixture and blend well.

Step6 Stir in oats.

Step7 Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheet.

Step8Bake 8 to 9 minutes for a chewy cookie or 10 to 11 minutes for a crisp cookie.

Step9Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet, then remove to wire rack.

Step10Cool completely and store in tightly covered container.

Tips & Warnings

If you're on a low-sodium diet, you can omit the salt.

To make bar cookies, press dough onto the bottom of an ungreased 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool completely, then cut into bars.

For variation, add 1 cup raisins or chopped nuts or stir in 1 cup semisweet chocolate, butterscotch, or peanut butter chips and omit the spices.

My New Bundle of Love

2008-07-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

So coming to college was the first time I ever lived without any pets. Fish are they only thing allowed in the residence halls, so in my third term, I invested in my first beta fish.

Over the next few months my tank grew and so did my population-- I had guppies, sharks, plecos, and I even grew my own plants. But, fish just weren't doing it for me. I grew up with dogs, which are pretty much the antithesis of fish.

So this year when I moved out of the res hall, I was determined to get something warm and fuzzy. Most Philadelphia housing doesn't allow dogs, so my options were limited to those animals smaller than a cat. So what could I get that was as fun as a dog but smaller than a cat?

This past weekend I got my very own ferret : ) His name is Kiko and he's a 6 month old baby. He's very adorable, is quite the snuggler, and loves to explore. Most people think ferrets are just bundles of trouble, but they are actually very intelligent and very trainable. I mean, he's already learned how to open his cage in a few short days : )

I'm very excited to have him and it's nice to have a new face around my apartment.

A lesson in College 101

2008-07-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

Before you get to college, there is an important skill you must learn-- how to do laundry! I know, it may be scary to think that you won't have mom or dad there to wash your clothes, but learning how to get the job done now is better tan waiting until you run out of clean underwear!

So, some basic laundry tips:

Things You’ll Need:

Washing machine (Provided by your lovely residence hall)
Stain removers
Anti-static sheet
Liquid fabric softeners
Liquid bleach
Laundry detergents
Clothes dryer ( also can be found in your Res Hall)
Laundry baskets

Step1

To do laundry, first sort your dirty clothes, making separate piles for whites, bright colors and darks. If you mix whites with colors in the wash, the colors may bleed onto and ruin your whites. Also separate clothes that tend to produce lint (towels, sweatshirts, chenille and flannel) from clothes that tend to attract lint (corduroy, velvets and permanent-press clothes).

Step2

As you sort, close zippers to prevent snagging, and empty pockets (you don't want soggy shreds of facial tissue all over your clothes!).

Step3

Pre-treat heavy stains with laundry detergent or stain remover, heeding instructions on the product label.

Step4

Use the measuring cap of the detergent bottle or the cup found in detergent boxes to measure out the right amount of laundry soap according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Step5

Pour the soap into your washer or its detergent dispenser. Add liquid fabric softener, if desired, according to the product instructions.

Step6

Choose the water temperature for the wash cycle:hot, warm or cold; save on energy and opt for a cold rinse cycle for any load. Consult the labels on your clothes, your washing machine's instruction manual or the detergent container for recommendations on washing temperature. In general, use cold water to protect colors and darks from bleeding or fading, and to avoid shrinkage. Use warm or hot water for durable fabrics like cotton (make sure they're preshrunk), and to ensure that your whites stay white.

Step7

Start the washer before adding clothes, if you have time, to allow the detergent to dissolve in the water. The regular cycle suffices for most laundry, but use the gentle cycle for sheer or delicate fabrics. Adjust the water level to the size of your load.

Step8

If you need to add bleach, allow the machine to run for a few minutes to mix the detergent and water, then add about a cup of bleach to the washer or the bleach dispenser.

Step9

Add your clothes, close the lid and let the machine do its dirty work. Washing takes approximately 45 minutes.

Step10

Put the clothes (and an anti-static sheet, if desired) in the dryer after the wash is complete. Hang delicates (such as bras and certain sweaters) to air dry on a clothing rack or hanger. Check tags if in doubt.

Step11

Remove lint from the dryer's lint tray.

Step12

Select the correct drying temperature for your laundry load: low for delicates, medium for most fabrics and high for cotton. When in doubt, low or medium is the safest bet.

Step13

Close and turn on the dryer. Expect the drying cycle to take an hour or more for a full load.

Step14

Once the clothes are completely dry, remove them from the dryer or drying rack and fold your clean laundry.

Remember:

Do not put anything in the dryer that you feel may shrink. Let it air-dry, to be safe.
If you don't fold clothes right away, they tend to become wrinkled.
If you have an extremely large wash load, make sure you set the washer to its heaviest setting.
Establish a weekly plan so that you don't have a huge load of laundry & maintain the amount of clothes you wash at one time:
- Choose the clothes you will wear during the week.
- Make sure that they can all go together. For example, don't wear tie-dye one day then a white shirt another day because when you wash them together, the white shirt may get ruined.
- On Saturday, do the load of laundry, put it away, and be done with it.
- Do whites first

If you're more of a visual person, check out this how-to video

http://www.howcast.com/videos/176-How-To-Do-Laundry

ICE CREAM SOCIALS!!!

2008-07-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

New Buildings Coming to Campus!

2008-07-09T13:15:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July Festivities

2008-07-03T08:33:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow is the fourth of July and I couldn't be more excited. This year, instead of doing the typical backyard BBQ and fireworks, I'm working at the parade in Philly. This year, a major sponsor of the parade is Southwest Airlines. My job parade day is to be their assistant and take them anywhere in the city they want to go. That's right-- if they want to go to Wawa, my little golf cart will be shuttling them there.

As fun as it's going to be to drive around the high profiles of the day, it's also great experience and a resume builder. You'll find a lot of opportunities such as this in Philly-- one of the great perks of living in a metropolitan area. It's also an opportunity to make connections-- how many people can say they've met the top executives of a major company?

Hopefully I'll have time to relax a bit though and check out the fireworks. This will be my first 4th of July in Philly experiencing the festivities. If the fireworks are anything like the ones I saw on New Years, the show tomorrow night is sure to be phenomenal!

Check out all of the festivities here: http://www.americasbirthday.com/

Summer '08!

2008-06-23T10:44:00.000-07:00

The summer officially began and that means a new term of classes! Because I am an upperclassmen and on the Fall/Winter coop cycle, I am in classes during the summer. As much as I'd like to be at the beach right now, I enjoyed my 6 month "vacation" from classes while I was on co-op.

This term I have a very busy schedule-- I have 6 classes. Despite being so busy, I am very excited to be in the classes I'm in. I'm taking everything from Spanish II to Entrepreneurial Finance. If I had had any free space in my schedule I would have taken an organic cooking class with one of my friends. Oh well-- there's always next term for the fun electives!

With a busy weekday schedule, the weekends are going to be my haven. This Friday I'm heading up to NYC and CT to visit some friends. I love being so close to New York; it makes a great weekend getaway! It's also very cheap to get there. Did you know that you can take the Bolt Bus to NYC or Washington, D.C. for just $1? It's fast, cheap, and very student friendly-- they even have wireless you can use for free the whole trip.

But, for now, I'm just going to focus on getting through week 1 of classes!

Football season!

2007-08-31T14:58:00.001-07:00

So I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere Virginia (aka Blacksburg). However, football season is the one time a year this town actually looks like more than farmland. Blacksburg is home to the Virginia Tech Hokies, so the town basically consists of college students during the school year. But for some reason, the entire town is OBSESSED with VT football. I mean, we have 70 year old alumni holding season tickets. You'd think at some point they'd realize they graduated 50 years ago and move on with their lives, but no. This town goes insane every weekend there's a game. I work at Ben and Jerry's in downtown Blacksburg, and today (the day BEFORE the game) every other customer was already decked out in their Hokie gear. Not to mention, when I got off work I tried to go to Kroger, which happens to be in the same parking lot as our ABC store (aka the liquor store for those of you who don't live in states that have sate regulated alcohol sales), and there was not a SINGLE open spot. How crazy is that? This is definitely a drinking town with a football problem. Traffic tomorrow will be tons of fun : )

Housing assignments!

2007-08-15T22:17:00.000-07:00

Check them out by logging on to drexelone then clicking on "myhousing"

I hope you all are satisfied with where you've been placed; if not, remember the first two weeks of every term you can apply to switch rooms.

If any of you are in Race on the 9th floor, let me know!

Summer Reading

2007-07-27T14:02:00.000-07:00

So all of you freshmen have been assigned a wonderful book to "enjoy" during your summer off. If you would like to actually enjoy a book, there are several new ones out that are worth picking up.

Of course, the new Harry Potter is a top pick. I'm a big dork and already finished it, but I was left content with the way the series ended. So, if you're up to some 1,000 pages, check it out.

Chuck Palahniuk released his new book, Rant, this year, which I picked up yesterday (along with a study guide for my GMAT'S. yay for grad school!). If you haven't heard of Palahniuk, you definitely have heard of his work. Fight Club was written by him, but made famous on the big screen with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. If you enjoy the sick and twisted mindset of Fight Club, check out Invisible Monsters-- hands down one of the best books I've ever read. If any of you are Panic! At the Disco fans, their song Time to Dance is actually based on Invisible Monster's storyline. It's interesting to listen to the song after having read the book and actually knowing what the heck they're singing about.

For the political mind, The World is Flat is a GREAT book. It's not exactly new to this summer, but if you enjoy satire, you'll enjoy this.

Augusten Burroughs also released his new book, Possible Side Effects this April. Burroughs is the author of the book, now movie, Running with Scissors, which is a hilarious dark childhood memoir. I haven't read his new work, but it's definitely on the list!

So, if you're a reader, hopefully these will keep you entertained during the next 2 months until college!

A tough decision

2007-07-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

Hokay, so the job offers are in...

Synthes, Banccorp, and Admissions offered me positions. I am the QA at 4 other places, 3 of which I don't really care about. So, now comes the tough part...which to accept?!

Admissions would be perfect-- I know the job, love the people, and not to mention it pays well : P

buuuuutttt Synthes is more of a job with real experience in the field I'd like to enter. However, it pays less and it would require me to have a car an commute 40 minutes each way.

There's also Monell where I'm the first QA, but who knows if I rank if I'll actually get it.

Help?! Any input??

Co-op job offers!

2007-07-10T18:08:00.000-07:00

So tomorrow night co-op job offers are posted! EEEEK! It's so stressful not knowing who will offer you a position or if you have to go through to round B or C of interviews. Fortunately for me, I've already been notified that I have a job at Bancorp Bank and am the first qualified alternate at Monell. But I'll know tomorrow if I am offered any others.

The whole co-op process is quite stressful, but is SO worth it. I mean, Drexel is so unique with their co-op experience; most undergraduates don't graduate with 1.5 years of experience. Also, in a person's lifetime, they may interview for 10-15 jobs. I interviewed for 10 this MONTH. By the time you graduate, interviews are like second nature, which is critical when it comes to the BIG interview that will get you a good paying job when you graduate.

I'll let you know tomorrow what jobs I am offered!

And if you have any questions about co-op, as always, feel free to ask : )

VT

2007-06-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you who don't know, my hometown is Blacksburg, VA, which is the home of Virginia Tech. I'm sure all of you followed the news this past spring in disbelief as the massacre unfolded, but things were a little different for me. Half of my high school enrolls at Tech every year, I have friends from work there, and then my cousin is also an engineer at Tech, so the whole week was full of anxiety awaiting the list of the injured to be released. Fortunately, no one I knew was on that list.

So, Saturday was my first day home for the summer, and on my way to work, I drove through Tech's campus to cut off some miles. The campus was simply moving-- banners everywhere saying, "We are Virgina Tech," flags everywhere, memorials still in tact....it was just overwhelming the power of the Tech student body. The community also stepped up; Main Street is lined with American and VT flags, local businesses have supportive signs in the windows, and you can't walk down the street without seeing someone wearing a memorial shirt, which are being sold to raise money for the families of the fallen.

This town is simply amazing.

Spring Jam week!

2007-05-14T11:18:00.000-07:00

So every year drexel's campus activities board has a spring-fling event. This year, they're bringing in Jack's Mannequin for the main event Saturday. All this week though, there's event around campus. On my way into Admissions today I passed by kids making tye-dye shirts in the quad. Quite a messy event, but fun nonetheless. There's also Casino night Tuesday and a pork roast Thursday.

Here's the list of events if any of you will be in the Drexel area this week:

Monday, May 14, 2007 (Rain Date: Tuesday, May 15) - Spring Jam Kick-Off will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. at Korman Quad. CAB will present music, tye-dye Spring Jam t-shirts and Spring Jam giveaways for Drexel students.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007 - Casino Night will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. at Grand Hall. Tickets are required and prizes will be given to the top three students. Tickets are $5 each with a limit of two tickets per valid undergraduate ID.
Thursday, May 17, 2007 - Fork the Pork Dinner and a Movie will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at Korman Quad (Rain Location: DAC North Gym). CAB will host a pork roast dinner while showing the movie Newsies, a musical about the New York City Newsboys Strike of 1899. Food is provided on a first come first serve basis.
Saturday, May 19, 2007 - Spring Jam Olympics will be held from 2 to 8 p.m. at Buckley Field, Green, and the Volleyball Courts. CAB and the Office of Recreational Sports/Intramurals will organize teams of 6-10 students to play kickball, volleyball, sac, three-legged races, and a tug-of-war. Students do not need a team to participate – individuals will be assigned to teams the day of the event.
Spring Jam is free for students with a valid undergraduate ID. Tickets for graduate students, faculty, and staff are $5 with valid Drexel ID. Non-Drexel guest tickets are $5, with a limit of one guest ticket per undergraduate student.office or at the door. The CAB office is located in MacAlister Hall (33rd and Chestnut Streets), around the corner from the bookstore. Ticket sales hours are Monday to Friday, noon to 1 p.m., and Monday to Thursday 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. CAB accepts Ultima Funds.

Saturday, May 19, 2007 - Spring Jam will begin at 3 p.m. with Jack’s Mannequin (above) performing at 9 p.m. at the Armory (enter on 33rd Street, next to Buckley Field, north of Market Street). Spring Jam is free for students with a valid undergraduate ID. Tickets for graduate students, faculty, and staff are $5 with valid Drexel ID. Non-Drexel guest tickets are $5, with a limit of one guest ticket per undergraduate student.

Campus Invasion

2007-04-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was the MTVU Campus Invasion tour-- 6 whole hours of music. Bands ranged from Gym Class Heroes to Augustana to Dashboard Confessional. I was quite disappointed when I found out The Shins weren't going to be at the Philly show. Overall, the show was disappointing as a whole. Augustana was the only good live band. Some, like dashboard, should just never leave the studio, because they just make fools of themselves 0n stage. I mean, the guy was freakin tone deaf in the opening song. You do NOT start the show with complicated vocals. That's just ignorance. But yeah, in addition to music there were free giveaways like candy and massages and make-up-- all new products looking for promotion of course.

Although not-so-good music, the show was for a good cause. All proceeds went to Darfur, so it was still worth going and supporting the cause. There are plenty of stops left on the tour, so if you're into the whole dashboard scene (or if the Shins are there!!!!) check it out, support Darfur, and get free stuff : P

Maybe next year the tour will be better. A little bit of The Format and Motion City??? Eh??? Sounds good to me.

Yay for midterms

2007-04-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

Oye. What a week. 3 exams = no fun. 2 to go next week. I'm sure all of you are getting down to finals and AP exams in the next few weeks, so I feel your study pains. I remember AP weeks quite well-- last year I had 4 AP exams and was near dead by the end of that second week. College exams aren't as bad as AP's though, well, at least in your first year : P Thank goodness they're shorter too-- no 4 hour chem exams or anything.

But, with exams getting closer, that means the end of your senior year is almost over! With prom, and then of course graduation was so much fun, from the class pictures to the BBQ's to the trips to the lake...I hope you guys end your year with some good memories as well. (Just try to stay safe!)

School spirit anyone?

2007-04-25T10:47:00.000-07:00

So, as girlfriend of the DAC Pack's VP next year, I'm pretty much obligated to promote them at least once in my blog : P And there's also a certain Rob Falcone (mister president to you) who seemed to think he was worthy of a shout out. You can be the judge of that in the Fall when you join the DAC Pack. In all seriousness though, the DP is a great student organization you should get involved with starting your freshman year. Essentially, they are the student group at sporting events, particularly basketball, but we ventured into lacrosse this season. I'm sure those of you who keep up with the FB group and who have been on my tours are sick of hearing me promoting the DP, but it really and truly is a TON of fun, a great way to make friends, and hell, you even get a free shirt and food. Not to mention you get to see FRANK THE TANK live and in action. There's no better way to spend a Wednesday night or a Saturday afternoon in Philly. So, when you get here in September, be on the lookout for DP announcements and events!

The kid with the blue hair is (Rob)Bert. Ernie isn't pictured, but he was the Pres this year : P Yes, Bert and Ernie were our leaders. Oh the crap I'm going to get for this....

3/10 of the way there....

2007-04-23T11:07:00.000-07:00

So it's the start of the 4th week of the term. 3 down. 7 to go. Spring term is flying by though. I mean, fall term seems to last forever, with new students week, getting the hang of the whole "college life," and getting accustomed to Philly. Now, it's hard to believe summer is almost here! But I won't be going home like most people will for their freshman summer-- I'll be in Philly working for Drexel performing research through the Honors college. And hopefully I'll be in admissions too meeting you guys at orientation! I'm actually really excited to be staying in Philly for the summer-- at first when I heard I would be in class during the summer after my freshman year, I was kind of skeptic about how much I would actually enjoy being here. But now, I'm choosing to be here. What can I say, I love Philly and don't want to leave : ) Although, I am going through the whole "missing mom" phase. At first I was so ready to get out and I really enjoyed the independence of college life. It's taken me two terms to realize that I'll never be living with my parents again-- this is it-- this is life. So my advice to you, as lame as it may be, is to enjoy this last summer with your parents, because unless you plan on moving back in after you graduate from college, this is the last opportunity you have to appreciate them fully. I wish I had realized this last summer, but I suppose we all learn to appreciate our parents at some point.

Ok I swear I'm done with the sad "love your parents" story. So back to Drexel.

I had my first RA staff meeting last night. In case any of you are planning on living in honors housing next fall, I am actually an RA in that building (so let me know who you are!). Race street dorms are ridiculously nice. I mean, they're the newest dorm on campus, so of course they're going to be high tech, but I wasn't expecting it to have it's own gym, reading lounges, SWEET kitchens, and an INCREDIBLE view. Philly is quite nice 11 stories up. Now for those of you not in honors housing, don't be too sad. The other dorms have their perks too. Kelly for instance is currently being gutted and redone, so it will be really really nice for the fall. Kelly also had Kelly Deli, which is basically Drexel's version of 7-11, and you use your meal plan dollars to buy stuff. They have everything from quesadillas to burgers to ben and jerrys to chips and salsa. If you're not a resident of Kelly you can still use the deli, but it's just nice to be living above it : ) Now Meyers is sweet for all you design kids-- Meyers has what is called learning communities, which are groups of people of a specific major living together. These are really nice for study groups, homework, and networking. The people you live with are the people you're going to class with, so you all have the same work. There is also the Business LC in Meyers, but the rest are basically CoMAD students. The top floor is really nice for you music industry majors-- there is a loft above your dressers and door where you can store a piano, drums, or amps, or whatever else you may wish to bring. Moving on, Towers is also a pretty cool dorm. It's the largest freshman dorm on campus, so it's where a lot of your friends will be living. Towers is essentially the dorm for the social butterflies-- everyone leaves their doors open, study in the lounges, pull all nighters together, and just like to have a good time. Honestly, you've got to be able to handle noise to live in Towers-- I'm one of those who have to have complete silence to study efficiently, so I would have done so horrible academically in Towers. However, tons of my friends live there, so when I'm visiting them, I still get to partake in the unique social atmosphere of Towers. There's also Calhoun, which is pretty notorious for it's design. It's shaped like a crescent. Go architects. But Calhoun has a similar atmosphere to Towers, it's just smaller. Lastly there's Van R, which is suite style living for non-honors freshmen. Honestly, Van R's rooms are really small-- you HAVE to loft your bed to get everything in, but you also get a common room, your own bathroom, and a kitchen, so you have to decide what's more important to you-- sleeping space or having the perks of an apartment.

But remember, no matter what dorm you choose, if for some reason you can't stand it or just aren't happy there, the first 2 weeks of every term you can move, no questions asked. I was actually a participant of the room-change during winter term. I wasn't happy with my suite-- personality/ respect differences, so I moved out into another suite. Very easy transition and I'm glad I got the opportunity to move.

SO that's all for now, I'm sure I've said more than enough, but if you guys have any questions about dorms or drexel or anything, IM me or email me!

There's a reason why baseball is a spring/summer sport...

2007-04-06T14:19:00.000-07:00

So I had my first Phillies experience this past week. Quite a memorable one-- opening night, college night, dollar dog night, free peanut chews...people getting kicked out left and right, dogs being thrown on the field, a Braves player throwing it back, freezing my butt off!!! (it rained all day and was like 35 degrees that night. April = spring = should not be below 50!)...ohhh what a night : P

The Phillies ended up losing after being up 2 runs til the last inning : (

But the highlight of the night occurred on the train ride home. We started off the broad street line, and every single car was full of college kids. A group of them were from Temple University and they started chanting "lick that pole! lick that pole!" They had the whole car encouraging a guy to lick one of the poles about 2 feet. This kid ended up getting paid $36. Ridiculous. As my friend put it, $36 won't even cover the doctor bills coming his way in the near future : P Go Temple.

The rest of the week finished up pretty well. It was the first week of classes, so nothing too exciting in class. The first week of Spring term is "Welcome Back Week" for upper classmen who were out on co-op the past 6 months, so there were a ton of events around campus. There was free ice cream in the quad, surveys to participate in for gift certificates, free food at Ross Commons, and a concert put on by MadDragon records (our student record label). So, tons of stuff to do, tons of free stuff, and a good way to start off the new term!

Rain Rain go Away

2007-04-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

So a rainy day in Philly is never a pleasant one. Especially when classes are alllll the way on the other side of campus. Who votes for an underground walkway system???? Word from the wise, rain boots and rain coats are your best friends in a city. Umbrellas are useless if there's wind and are a pain on sidewalks when you pass people.

And rain can ruin a good Phillies game. There's one scheduled for tonight, so hopefully the rain stops by then; if not, we're still going anyways! : )