Today's rambling: Complaints
Written on Friday, Nov. 08, 2002 at 3:12 p.m.
while feeling a bit

I am going to be alone alllllll weekend! :) Now, if only I didn't have homework and such to do, then I could fully appreciate my alone-ness. But I have to crank out a rough draft for Writing on Monday, and I have about 5 exercises to do for French. Oh, and if I can make it down to Becker Hall (which I don't really want to do unless I'm forced), I want to finish my programming assignment for CIS. So it's not as if I'll really be able to enjoy having time to myself. However, at least I won't get distracted by numerous invites, eh?

I was just getting on a roll with my CIS assignment this morning, after finishing my exam. I'd told Lauren I'd meet up with her after class (since she's right across the street from me), but I had about half an hour to start on my assignment. So I wandered into the computer lab and started up the program...and right as I was beginning my work, the little program decided to disconnect me. It's almost like being online, but it's not...I can't explain it, but all you need to know is that I was disconnected...and the program refused to start again for me. So instead of just sitting there, I decided to write the program down instead. After I'd finished that, I only had about 10 minutes left, but of course the program started again! I didn't get very far before I had to leave, and I was feeling very disgruntled because I would have liked to stay there and finish it. However, I couldn't just leave Lauren outside. :

We walked up to the Double Treat Bakery, which is right next to the dining hall, and the moment I walked in I felt like I was back home again. :P I could so do that job! Pretty much all the equipment I saw back there is the same as what I used at Genuardi's, so it would probably take very minimal training for me to be able to function properly. Their hours are very strange, though, so I doubt I'd be able to get a job there next semester, even though my last class ends around 3-ish every day! Oh well, we'll see what happens. It would suck to have to work every day, but at the same time I would fully enjoy that minimal amount of cash I'd be earning! I'm sure Mom would appreciate it, too!

Oh yeah, I have to get down to the student center some time very soon so that I can get my books reserved for next semester. The sooner I get in there, the better chance I have of getting more used books. The only bad part about reserving them is that Kristen said she'd just give me her Health book...and if I ask them to reserve all my books, it means I'll have to pay for another Health book! Oh well, I can always return it right after I pick up my stuff, and hopefully they'll give me the full price for it, since I obviously haven't used it. :-P

My side of the room is such a mess. I need to clean up my desk, start stuffing things under my bed or into the closet...all sorts of stuff! If I had this room all to myself, I probably wouldn't care how messy it got, but I don't want to get Kristen to start nagging at me, LoL! ;) I don't know if she'd say anything or not, but I wouldn't wanna take any chances either!

I was one of 500 Clarion students chosen randomly to participate in a survey about sexual harassment. I filled it out several days ago, but keep forgetting to mail it in! I feel kinda special in a way, even though it was random...I never get picked to do stuff like this!

Last night at the NBS (National Broadcasting Society) meeting, I found out that our Communication department is really kind of pathetic compared to many other universities. The NBS recently went to Millersville for this regional thing, and apparently Millersville's radio station is all computerized and stuff. Here at WCUC, we're still using carts (which basically look like 8-Tracks) and manually taking transmitter readings. At Millersville they don't need carts, because all their commercials and things are on the computer (as far as I know, even their music is computerized)...and the computer also takes the transmitter readings, so there's no need to worry about that. The television station for one of the colleges actually rivals one of the other local stations, because they've always got programming on. Here at TV5 Clarion, I have yet to see anything show up on that channel, other than the color bars. I've had an idea for a show for ages now, but since I'm not working on the TV crew I haven't really had an opportunity to suggest it. And even if I did, there probably wouldn't be anyone dedicated enough to want to work on it.

I can kind of understand that. I mean, this is college, and obviously not everyone is going to have tons of free time. However, if TV is something you want to do with your life, you ought to be dedicated enough to devote at least some time to projects, right? As far as I've learned, Clarion is really low on the school-spirit thing. People just don't care. And nobody stays here over the weekends, because there's absolutely nothing to do.

So yeah, right now I'm feeling this strong urge to just pack up and find another university to attend, one with a better Communication department. Our major is one of the largest on campus, and yet we have a woefully low number of Communication professors, which obviously puts a lot of us at a disadvantage. That, combined with the poor equipment and general lack of enthusiasm, just really turns me off.

But then there's the other side to the whole thing. If I left, I'd be leaving a bunch of friends behind, and I'd have to go through the whole friend-making process all over again. I'd also be leaving behind a familiar campus, and all this pretty scenery. Despite the fact that it's kind of like living in Nowhere Land, it's really gorgeous out here. And it's also affordable. But should I sacrifice my education just for friends (which I can make more of) and a familiar campus? If I went to a university with a bigger Communication department, that would also most likely mean that I'd have less opportunity to work on the radio and TV staffs. But you never know, I could possibly fit in somewhere. At Millersville, the NBS folks are really popular, whereas here if I were to go up to someone and mention the club, people would be like, "What's that?"

Millersville's tuition is $13,000, whereas Clarion is only $10,000. I would have to get some serious grants and things to be able to afford that. As it is, Mom and I are struggling just to keep me here! Is Millersville closer to home? I don't even know. Anyway, I'll have to talk things over--and then think A LOT about it--before I actually made a decision. I really do like it here...I'm just disappointed with the poor quality of our Communication department.

Anyway, I guess that's all I wanted to rant about. What I ought to do, instead of just packing up and moving, is work to better the department. There's not much I could do about the professor situation, but if I could find some other willing students, we could definitely work on trying to update the technology being used in the radio and TV stations! But I don't know if I can find anybody who's that dedicated... :