Murphy’s gone and done it again. Though he didn’t screw us over royally, the law of anything that can go wrong struck again. But as usual, the ERAU Joint Color Guard pulled through and made a stellar performance on national television for the Daytona 500. What ended up happening was that, after two solid weeks of preparation to march out during the pre-game show, post for America the Beautiful, then do some rearranging for presenting for the National Anthem, we were told 20 minutes before actually going on that things had drastically changed. The beliefs that we were to present for the National Anthem were trashed and as it turns out, there were two organizing bodies preparing the pre-game show, one for the pre-game festivities and the other solely for the honor guard. These groups didn’t coordinate ahead of time, so when we were hired by the pre-game show organizers and given 4 minutes to get into position for the cameras initially, the presence of the second honor guard for the national anthem required us to remove ourselves from sight within the 2.5 minute commercial break and skip our “big moment.” An interesting run but definitely worth the combined 8 seconds of faded pans across the group.

In other news, I finally got a fantastically refreshing taste of real university life again with the presentation by Michael Adas, professor at Rutger’s University in New Jersey. Presenting on the “Fragile Giant” for the Honors Program’s last of their speakers series, Professor Adas touched rather in depth on the technological influence on society, politics, international government and relations, and had a key focus on the technology and architecture incorporated in the World Trade Center towers and how that impacted both the events leading up to 9/11, as well as the specifics of that date. This was particularly interesting for me not only because of my interest in such fields as they pertain to international politics and history, but also the professor’s thoughts are helping to give me some direction in my own scholastic pursuits outside of this place, particularly so with my research for my upcoming lecture in Lithuania. I had the tremendous opportunity to speak with Professor Adas just before and a while after his presentation on the notion of his help, and to my elated joy, he’s interested in meeting with me privately over the coming months to work on just that.

Time is also coming along to start considering just what to do about housing next year. One thing about living on campus, and it’s sometimes hard to appreciate unless you’ve lived on your own previously, is that being at school 24/7 not only wears on your patience, but also your sanity. There is something to be said for being able to take care of your own yard, do with your property as you please, and remove yourself from the school environment for extended periods and even at the cost of not being able to get out of bed, dressed, and into class within 5 minutes. Though many enjoy the conveniences and accessibility of having school completely around them, having lived on my own for two years, both internationally and domestically, the chance to get to a computer lab or anything on campus with little effort means nothing to me anymore. So the long trek of house/apartment searching begins. Several buddies and I have begun poking our nose around for places; some have even found things to settle on right away (the waiting list for the senior’s empty spots in May fill up very fast).

And finally, a major point I feel the need to address is the importance of finding the right fit in a school. Matching your particular interests and needs to what a school offers should be one of the primary goals on your list. I encourage all of you who are having trepidation over what school to attend, or if you’re wondering if Riddle is really right for you, to compose a list of what’s important to you and then find out what schools offer those things and, just as importantly, to what extent. Riddle has many programs, but some are underdeveloped. Some things are classified as minor but are actually major organizations (i.e. the Ice Hockey Club actually being good enough to be a varsity sport, though only classified as a club for the time being). Riddle is fantastic at what it does and you’re not number one for doing nothing. But it is different than any university out there.

If you have any questions about the actuality of a particular program, please know that all of us are more than willing to give you straightforward information about your questions. Emails always open to specific questions. Just ask.

Onwards + Upwards

Hello all, what’s up? There are still races and such going on down here. Trying to get to and from school on certain days can be trying, but at least most of the busy traffic days are on the weekends. There’s not really much going on other than that. Just kinda, sitting around, wearing out my TV and computer.

School’s going pretty good. The homework level has decreased slightly the past week or two. I think that is only because it’s coming up spring break, so it’s going to be LOADS of HW during that time. We had all of our first tests these last few weeks. I’ve done pretty well on them. I aced my AeroSci and Physics tests. I’m pretty excited about that. I’ve got another Physics test coming up in about a week. Should do pretty good on that too.

Other than that not a whole lot going on. It’s been a pretty boring couple of days. I’ve been working with my computer a lot. Trying to get Linux updated and everything. Not as simple as downloading and installing like in Windows, takes some compiling and make files and lots of other stuff sometimes. So I spent some hours working on that. Finally got KDE 3.3 working right. Next is updating Open Office. Not cool trying to download stuff on a dial-up connection since I live off-campus, let me tell ya. I’m hoping to get some of my programs that are due done before mid-week, but we’ll see how well that goes. Anyways, going back to some downloads and stuff. I’ll talk to you all later.

-Darryl

Hello again. It has come to my attention that many people are beginning to think and make their final decisions as to where they will be going to college. I have received many e-mails asking many questions and I am actually having problems staying caught up. Keep on sending them, but if there is a delay, be patient, I will reply as soon as possible.

Well, not much has changed since my last time writing a journal. The weather here in the Daytona area has really deteriorated and has led to my flight activities being cancelled for about the last week and a half. I did pass my Private Pilot written exam this last Friday! I missed a perfect 100% score by one question. I was laughing at the one I had gotten wrong because it was one that I was very familiar with. It was a V speed question, which for most people would have been easy, but I guess I just got confused. Oh well, I passed and the studying for weeks was well worth it. About four more flights remain until I can take my check ride. So hopefully, by my next journal, I will have my Private Pilot license!

As for Academics and other stuff, everything is still going well. After the Daytona 500, it got quiet around here. It was kind of crazy to see so much going on so close by Riddle. It was fun to watch the 500, I saw it on TV. My favorite driver won the Daytona 500, Jeff Gordon! I really don’t follow NASCAR that much, but I do know most of the drivers and their cars. Gordon has been my favorite since I started watching NASCAR. It’s fun to see the high speed crashes, especially from the “Dash Cams.” Spring Break should be coming in soon; that will be quite interesting.

Well, I know many of you are in the midst of making your decision as to where to go to college, if I can assist you in any way, feel free to leave a message on the message board.

Sergio

Hello everyone – I hope everyone is doing great!!

So let me start with my new laptop, I just got it today. I am so happy. I had placed my order with Dell on Jan. 28, and I got it today – its quite late but I got it for a great price. Initially I was mad with them, but today when I saw my laptop, I forgot all about it. I am happy I wont have to run to 24 hour lab any more.

School is coming along great. While picking the classes for this semester I avoided those classes in which I have to write papers or some kind of projects, but to my surprise I have to do it in three of my classes out of five. Aahhh well……..

Let me explain what I am doing in those papers, for SS 325 (Eastern Europe) I am writing a research paper on Islamic Terrorism in Bosnia and Chechnya, I will have to focus on different aspects and factors leading to terrorism in the Eastern European area. The most important is the involvement of Al-Qaeda and their supporters working hard to exploit the youth of these two regions by misleading them.

In my COM 221 class, I am (my group) writing a technical report on the feasibility of laser propelled space travel. The problem our scientific community faces today is research and development of economic and fuel efficient technology which will grant us a permanent access to space. We have a way, the rocket propelled by fuel, which is highly expensive and not fuel efficient so the researchers are at work in developing these giant elevators which will make the travel from the Earth to space simple. These elevators are powered by high intensity lasers. Interesting right?!

And I am really looking forward to this one because we are working in a group of four persons, and each one of us will examine the feasibility of this new idea with respect to economic, environmental, technological and safety aspects. The project is really interesting because each person in the group has his/her own role; like editor, second editor, secretary, research manager and public relations manager. I am feeling like I am a professional doing an actual research.

The last but not the least is my C programming project where we are designing an actual program which we will use in the future, hopefully. I had my first exam for C programming today and I was up early-early morning preparing for it. I think I did ok in it. Last week I had my Static exam and I did great on it, got an “A.”

The spring break is just around the corner and I can’t wait for it. Officially we will have a week of spring break but unofficially eight (8) weeks, as schools from all around the country comes down for their breaks one after another, Riddleians will enjoy it all. How about you guys???

Leaving you all with that thought…peace.

OVER and OUT!

Hey guys! Thanks for all of the responses I’ve been getting; it’s nice to know someone actually reads these things 🙂 Keep the questions coming! Classes have been calming down again. I made it through the big test week, but I’m sure another one is just around the corner. Only 2 months of school left though…and a few weeks until spring break, so I think I’ll manage. This semester, I didn’t take any writing intensive courses so, while I have had plenty of homework, the lack of papers to write has been awesome.

I officially survived my first speed week. True to legend, it was impossible to go anywhere in Daytona for about 5 days. Some of the roads were converted into 1 way roads during certain hours, so even in trying to get away from the speedway, I couldn’t get to the beach. I worked parking on Saturday with S.O., just camped out on campus and waved cars in the right direction. This proved to be a much better option than working the actual races. For the 500 on Sunday, I worked with S.O. again, but this time at the track, handing papers out at the gate for Crown Royal. Being from the North and keeping a running count of mullets, drunks, bad pickup lines, and individuals of questionable gender made the time pass a little more easily. It was definitely an experience.

The deadline for housing contracts has come and gone and I got my apartment! It’ll be weird to not be able to run upstairs to visit friends, and while finding a parking spot in the AM is not on my list of favorite things to do, it should be worth it.

I applied to be an orientation team leader,which ended up not working out (maybe next year?), but the interview process was pretty intense. Each applicant had to run a mock orientation group with current team leaders acting as new students. We had to come up with ice breakers, take questions, and maintain some sense of control. It was a lot of fun but they gave me a hard time and came up with some pretty oddball questions. It’s a tough job, so all of you who will be attending orientation next fall, be nice to your orientation team leaders!

There has been a bit more to do lately to break up the monotony of sitting at a desk on campus. I went to Disney World last weekend with a couple of friends and had a good time. The park hopper pass (gives you access to all of the parks) is only $60 for FL residents, Riddle students included. It’s worth it if you go for the whole day. The weather (until a couple of days ago) has also been pretty nice so my friend John and I can get back into our routine of going to the beach, which I’d have to say is my favorite part about Daytona.

Duty calls. Enjoy your day. Melanie

Hello readers, hope all is well. I’ve had a busy couple of weeks since the last entry. First, there was the Daytona 500, then there was the soccer clinic which I set up, and just yesterday, we had our first two games of the spring semester.

To start, the 500 was an early five o’clock start on Saturday morning and it was a long day. By the time the race started we decided just to head on back to the dorms. We got to work on the infield, which was a new edition this year. It is a new area by the pits which holds about 50,000 people and allows the spectators to view the pits and walk on the track before the race. This seemed to go down well with all the hard core race fans that have been going to the 500 for years. It seemed that every club and fraternity associated with Riddle were working the races. It was pretty good money for pretty easy work, and it allowed us to earn some money for our soccer program. There were even a few stars at it, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore where there as well as some Red Sox baseball player whose name I don’t know. I have to say that I have never seen so many people in the one place at the same time, and I don’t think I ever will again. I’m not sure of the exact figure but I think it was about 400,000. It was a good thing to see, although I regret not staying for some of the race but at the time I was wrecked and just wanted to get back into the pit.

Then last Monday, president’s day, I ran a soccer clinic on the intramural field. I was a bit worried about whether or not I would get a good turn out. I spent the previous Thursday night handing out flyers at the Ormond Soccer fields, and then I emailed coaches to invite their teams etc. So I was hoping that I would get at least fifty kids which would have been about a twenty percent return. I never realized there was as much stress in setting something like this up, having to organize facilities, coaches, flyers, emails, and of course getting the kids in. After going over to set everything up at seven for the nine start, I was pleasantly surprised by the turn out of ninety kids. Although this was a free clinic, a lot of the parents made very generous donations which went to the soccer program; overall it was a good day and something that I will definitely think about doing again. Oh and I would like to thank the boys off the team for helping with the clinic and the parents for their donations.

Yesterday we went over to Stetson to play our first two soccer games of the spring semester. We played against Florida Southern and Eckerd, and won both games comfortably enough. We went up with only thirteen players, which is the bare bones because usually a soccer squad will travel with about eighteen players. So by the end of it we were all tired, but this didn’t stop us going out on a team bonding session at a local Oyster Bar.

Anyway I am in two of the boy’s room writing this, and its 12:30am so they are kicking me out, so I will say goodbye for now.

I hope everyone is doing great! Let’s start from Rolex 24; it is a 24 hour continuous endurance race for two classes of cars, Daytona Prototype and Grand Touring. We went there at around 6:00 on Saturday (already six hours in race) evening with an intention of coming back late night, but we ended up staying on ground and sleeping in our sleeping bags. The atmosphere was amazing, people were “grillin and chillin” in the infield. I personally saw two crashed and one burned car. By the way the winner was # 10, SunTrust Group racing their Pontiac Riley Prototype. The most amazing part of this adventure was that my friends and I were able to sneak in the pit road area where the cars come for refueling and tire change. I had seen it on TV before, the way pit crew waits for their car and as soon as it pulls they jump on it and get it going in few (12 to 18) seconds, I actually saw it and believe me, the scene was incredible. We also saw the place where the mechanical geniuses work on the engines and test that everything works precisely faultless before the race starts. The ticket was $10 with Riddle ID card.

The race was over on Sunday, noon. I was almost deaf after staying there nearly 15 hours but I surely enjoyed it, enjoyed the roaring of those prototype engines which were doing 180 miles an hour.

On Monday morning it finally happened, I missed my programming class, this time I woke up at 8:19. I was lucky that my professor didn’t take roll or any pop quiz. He posts his notes on web so I was able to look it up and study it by myself.

VERY IMPORTANT: Before I came here (I was kind of expecting it as Riddle is primarily an engineering school) everyone was complaining that the girl to boy ratio at campus is very thin (1:8), but now that I am here and school has started I don’t thing it is that bad. There are some decent good looking girls on campus.

Oh! One more thing I found a new job on campus. The office of records and registration is going paperless and every document is going on server, so for doing that they needed some students, so I applied and got the job. I will be able to work on it through summer. By the way, did I tell you that I am staying over here for entire summer and fall, then going back home in Christmas break – sounds great right??

We finally started working with Catia (in EGR 120 Graphical Representation), a program used by engineers to draw engineering drawings. The program is remarkable, one can virtually draw (design) anything with it. I think we will have great time learning it.

My COM 221 technical writing class is very interesting, currently we are working on a project where we have to design a pamphlet or an instruction manual on “How to wash dishes?” It is typically meant for Aliens who have just landed and have very little or no knowledge of what things is like on Earth. The document ought to be very technical and it should contain every detail avoiding any confusing text which might lead to lawsuits and loss to the company. In addition to that it should include visual aid, effective technical text, easy to understand language and user friendly format. Did I mention we are working in groups?? I will leave the rest on you.

Stay well and see you next time!

OVER AND OUT!!

Speed Weeks have started here in Daytona and it’s a busy fortnight of fumes, physics, and practice. Spring has also come and gone – it lasted all of four days and now Summer’s definitely showing how badly she wants to be here.

The big news this time around is the performances of the Color Guard team during Speed Weeks. After an exciting learning experience at the Tulane International Drill and Color Guard Competition in New Orleans during Mardi Gras, where the Color Guard performed phenomenally well given it was our first competition, we were chosen to perform a week later for the Daytona 500 Qualifying rounds. From that performance, some scouts picked us out and are now interested in having us perform for the Daytona 500 itself (the Superbowl of racing, from what people tell me). We have something of an interview this coming Saturday to confirm our slot, and, if we continue our standard with some improvement, your ERAU Joint ROTC Color Guard will be on national television for the presentation of the colors this coming Sunday.

Otherwise, major things coming up are working with the races themselves (primary money-maker for the Unit) and some mid-term tests in various classes. I’m also gearing up for my lecturing at the IX International on the Science and Quality of Life in Vilnius, Lithuania, continuing my now three year tradition of lecturing as well as teaching English for a Student International Summer Workshop through the former Universitas Studiorum Polona Vilnensis. It’s a long string of preparation for both classes and research/a lecture, but I’m hoping that the prospects of this will help me re-find my focus and motivation that’s been strangely missing since mid-winter break. Perhaps one factor, be it an element or cause, could be my recent alienation of classical studies and continuing my side-line St. John’s College education.

That’s all for now; classes are classes are classes. This semester’s no different than others aside from the extra curriculars. Keep those questions and thoughts coming. They help give a good sense of what all everyone’s interested and give me more ideas to write about. Find the email in prior posts.

Til then, all the best and best wishes to all.

Onward and upward,

David

Well everyone, It’s happening!!! NASCAR is coming. The Bud shootout was held this weekend, and 3 Doors Down played at the event. In a weekend or two (not totally sure, don’t remember) is the Daytona 500. Which can only mean one thing, everyone hide in your dorms, stay in your apartments, cause OH MAN is it going to be exciting and loud around here. The Daytona 500 coming to town also means lots of people from my home state, Tennessee, will be making a pilgrimage to Daytona. I’m looking forward to hearing that good ole southern twang of an accent again. It just doesn’t feel like you’re in the south when you live in Florida. That’ll be good news to all of you that live in the north, but for those of us who grew up in TN, GA, SC, AL, MS, it’s totally not living in the south here.

Anyways, it’s the middle of winter, more or less, and let me tell ya, It DOES get cold in Florida, but thankfully not too cold. Actually it’s only cold when the sun goes down. Since there have been a few cold fronts move through the past few weeks, it’s getting to around upper 50’s to 60’s in the daytime. But in a week it’s going to be back to near 80!! yEaH!!! Back in TN it was snowing the other day. Boo is all I can say about that.

School is going pretty good this semester. Way better than last semester. I’ve been doing a BUNCH of programs lately. It’s sorta like when I’m not at school, I’m on my computer typing away punching out the next homework assignment or doing Math or Physics homework. After being in Daytona for my second semester now, I’m getting more used to everything around town and school and all. I can’t wait for spring break time because; not one, but TWO car shows are going to be the week before spring break! I’m used to going up to Pigeon Forge, TN for some of the best car shows in the country, but these down here are supposed to be pretty good. We’ll see. I know for sure in the summer time I’m going back up to Tennessee for the Camaro nationals. Well, I’m out for now; I think I’m going to make a run to Taco Bell. It’s a shame that the nearest Sonic is 20-30 miles away in New Smyrna Beach. Sonic is the BEST! Haha. Talk to yall later.

-Darryl

Hey guys! It’s been a rough week, so you may not get a novel out of me today. Lots of tests, midterms are even fast approaching (WTF?! we just started) and I’ve been overbooking myself a lot lately between volunteering commitments, family and friends, rotc, clubs, etc. I don’t recommend it. I’m not doing as well as I would like in PSY 220 (intro to psych). I genuinely enjoy the class and the professor, but it’s not as easy as it seems. Still doing pretty decently though. I got an 82 on my first ATC test and scored well over the class average on the first Seapower (NROTC) test…not bad for the only Air Force cadet in the Navy class. So, it isn’t all bad news.

Housing contracts are coming around again, and due on 2/25, so everyone is in a frenzy to choose roomies, room sizes, find apartments, etc. More stress. I think I’ve decided on a nearby apartment with some friends from school.. A bunch of my friends live in the complex, so it should be a good time. I look forward to being off-campus and having my own room, but I’ll miss the convenience.

I’ve also realized lately that my circle of friends has changed a lot since last semester. No real fallouts or fights or anything..just conflicting schedules, meeting new people, and changing interests. There’s always that initial group you cling to when you get to orientation..your roommate, people from your hall… Eventually you meet people on other floors, in your classes/teams/clubs. I guess I got lucky on both ends, I’ve got some awesome friends now, but the group I hung out with last fall definitely eased the transition, and we do still talk. I just got to thinking about it the other day and found it sort of odd how things worked out..

Spec. Ops is now in full swing. I got the spade again because I won Cadet of the Month in AFROTC. (: Team took a trip to Patrick AFB to get uniforms for the newbies. Flashbacks of last semester with my priors helping me out; it feels good to be in that kind of position and take on some responsibility and leadership. At the same time, though, it’s a little daunting to now be the people to look up to, that should always have the right answers and lead the team in the right direction. I screwed up that aspect pretty badly lately, and realized just how much that group of people means to me. (So if you’re reading, I’m sorry) We got off to a pretty good start as a team and I’m confidant we’ll get right back on track, so I hope to see some of you incoming freshman coming out next semester. It’s most definitely worth everything you put into it (and get out of it).

Later guys- pt, work, and meteorology test tomorrow.