University News of Interest

Today’s news chum brings a number of items related to my favorite schools – UC Berkeley and CSUN:

• I’ve Got a Little List. The Daily Cal has published a number of interesting lists apropos for this time of year: (1) 5 Things You’ll Enjoy Now That You’re Home From School, (2) Things That You’ll Miss About Cal, and (3) 10 Great Things About Leaving the Dorms for Good.  What they neglected was a list of the things the parents will miss now that the children are home! Top of the list: Peace and Quiet!
• SNAFU. The Daily Cal also has an article on the message that was graduation, where students were frustrated by the process that took multiple hours to get diplomas. They weren’t the only ones. Parents and non-graduating students were also frustrated by the campus traffic mess that resulted from graduation being concurrent with the requirement to be out of the dorms by 10am on graduation day.
• Notable Graduates. I’m always impressed when Hollywood folk actually get real degrees — that’s one reason I’m so impressed with Mayim Bialik and her PhD. So I’ll bring you the news that Eva Langoria just earned a Masters in Chicano Studies from CSUN, with a thesis looking at the value of Latinas in STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) Careers. Good for her!
• Medical Insurance. Berkeley has dropped UC SHIP, but premiums are still going up to over $2K/year. UCLA isn’t faring much better.  As for us, I think I’ll just keep my daughter as a covered dependent and not deal with SHIP.

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Mapping It Out: What We Remember

An interesting article came across Google News today that discussed how the human brain makes maps. According to the article, it now appears as if all of the sensory cues around us – the smell of a pizzeria, the feel of a sidewalk, the sound of a passing bus – are much more integral to how our brains map our movement through space than scientists previously believed. What the article doesn’t explain is why some people are better at this than others.

I’m a primary example.

I have very good spatial memory. I can travel somewhere once or twice, and I’ll remember the routing and layout forever. I remember the layouts of friends childhood houses; I remember how to get places; I can navigate in areas I’ve never traveled because I have the map in my head. I don’t need a GPS if I can look at a map ahead of time — I can usually figure out what I need to get around (except right around the airport in Orange County — that’s a maze of twisty passages, all alike). On the other hand, I’m horrible with names. I’ll remember that I’ve seen a face, but I often forget the name that goes with that face unless I work regularly with that person.

By the way, my skill at remembering layouts extends to remembering what is in a room. I was at the Colony Theatre over the weekend, and pointing out the various furniture pieces they had moved since the last time I had been there. The artistic director noted they were from various shows, but I didn’t associate the pieces with the show — I just recognized they had moved.

Now I know people that are the other way around. A former colleague of mine was so directionally challenged he could get lost going down a hallway. But he is brilliant and has great recall of all sorts of other facts. There are people I know that are great on remembering people, but horrible on maps.

I’ve developed the theory that everyone has one thing they are exceptional at remembering. Mine is spatial layouts. What do you remember best?

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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What Parents Miss When The Kids Come Home From College

Earlier today, I linked to a number of lists posted in the Daily Cal, including a list of 5 things to enjoy now that you’re home from school. Of course, one thing the Daily Cal didn’t post was a list of the things the parents can’t enjoy now that the kids are home from college. I must oblige with a dozen… feel free to add to the list…

1. Peace and quiet in the house.
2. Only having to do a small number of loads of laundry.
3. Having an empty sink in the kitchen… and having it stay that way.
4. Most of the lights in the house remaining off.
5. Only grocery shopping once a week.
6. The house staying picked up for more than 30 minutes.
7. Control of television and other electronic media.
8. Not having to worry about when someone will be coming home… or if… and who they might be with… and if they are spending the night…
9. Being able to run around the house in any state of attire, or lack thereof.
10. Having your car available when you want it… and having it remain clean and with a full tank.
11. Having confidence that all the doors to the house are locked when the house is empty.
12. Yes that. You know you’re thinking about it, and you never want to think about your parents doing it.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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