I have decided to attend Pennsylvania State University in the College of Information Sciences and Technology.

The hope of attending this college, as opposed to the the computer science and engineering department, is that I will be more able to focus on my interests in information technologies such as machine learning. I intend to research a good deal, publish (ideally) and better understand my interests in this new and exciting discipline.

At the same time, I'm a little upset I wasn't even considered by higher-ranked programs that I applied to, such as Carnegie Mellon's machine learning department, MIT or the Berkeley statistics department. I certainly believe that I am capable of succeeding in these programs; why didn't they think so?

I hypothesize (a phrase I've become fond of) that the faculty thought that I was not yet ready to make the transition from Michigan Technological University to the "big leagues." This judgment is perhaps fair, as well. Sometime it's just hard seeing people I have previously found myself to be on par with attending graduate programs such as UMich's law school, George Washington University's law school, Stanford department of statistics and so on. Where did I go wrong? [Answer: MTU, of course]

That's not to say that Penn State's IST is bad or anything. I suspect I will find myself to be very much at home (in the program; perhaps not the city as I hear it is not very vegan-friendly). I just hope that some day I can be happy with my accomplishments... perhaps then I can feel comfortable among my peers.

Monday:
10-11: physics 2
11-12: billiards
01-02: revisions (writing)
03-04: real analysis
07-09: physics 2 lab

Tuesday:
12:30-2: Regression analysis (statistics)

Wednesday:
10-11: physics 2
11-12: billiards
01-02: revisions (writing)
03-04: real analysis

Thursday:
12:30-2: Regression analysis (statistics)
7-9: snowboarding

Friday:
10-11: physics 2
01-02: revisions (writing)
03-04: real analysis

"The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting." [Source]

First of all, for those not in Michigan, this piece of work passed by about 58% to 42%. This will amend our constitution right after last election season that outlawed the darn gays from having spouses and otherwise happy lives ("The union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose").

This wording is quite general, yes? It especially means that, say, Michigan Tech cannot give preference to female applicants to attempt to improve the ratio or to get more females involved with engineering and computer science in general (both quite respectable goals, methinks).

Notice also that while, for example, the University of Michigan can still grant preference to "legacy" applicants, it can no longer do the same for minorities. Of course, based on the actual reasoning behind them, this should be the opposite. If these people who drafted Proposal 2 were actually in favor of equal rights, why didn't they get rid of legacy preferences, too? since is is essentially a "middle to upper class, or rich, white people" preference.

The answer, I think? They don't care about egalitarianism; they care about their well-to-do children getting in to their first choice school over any "darkies" or women competing with them.

I demand everyone lift themselves up by their own bootstraps!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North   You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The South
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The West
Boston
North Central

What American accent do you have?
Take More Quizzes

On a whim, I bought a skateboard yesterday from the local, "Rhythm", skate shop. As I didn't have any pressing homework, I tried my hand out on learning to ride it and such for the rest of the day.

I found that it is surprisingly easy to ride. I don't know if it's that way for everyone who starts skating or if snowboarding was helpful. Either way, I sooner or later focused my energy on trying to do an ollie. Ryan said that he'd buy my way into the Clerks II movie that we were to see if I was able to do one.

And I did! It's hard, I think, but I pulled one off.

Then, of course, the inevitable happened. I tried to do something not very risky at all and started falling... and caught myself with my arm... which was in a locked-extended position. OUCH! I was worried I had broken it, but I've broken my arm before (twice) and it is MUCH more painful than this was.

I still can't really use my left arm today, though. But skateboarding is fun--and I can't wait for it to snow so I can go back to snowboarding :D :D (but this time with a helmet so I don't get a concussion!).

( Or: Holy crap, existentialism may not be as silly as I previously thought?! )

With all of these thoughts jumbled in my head, I'm starting to think that life is actually much simpler than it is commonly thought of as and it makes me view everyday occurrences with a bit of humor. Life... what a riot. :P

As of today, September 25, 2006, I am the proud owner of a Macbook.

That is all.

:D

( Wah wah )

After taking the GRE, I realized that I didn't get to all the math questions, since I got hung up on calculations (stupid me), didn't do all that much better on the verbal nor the analytical. So, I canceled my scores instead of having them on my record (and ETS requires that I do it without seeing, stupidheads).

My mom was shocked that I spent $130 on nothing, but that's the scamness of ETS for you.

I drove up here yesterday (10 hours, wee) and unpacked into the new house I'm living in with Ryan and his gf Eleanor.

More details later.