Fort Lauderdale Campus Surroundings

This is my first semester at the Fort Lauderdale campus of FAU and so far my experience here has lead me and my friends to not want to leave the school grounds. 

We have been hassled by many homeless people coming up to us. One night while we were at dinner in a restaurant a homeless man came inside walked over to our table and began to beg for food or money. Within no time at all the asking turned into yelling at us. The situation became uncomfortable and we ended up leaving the restaurant right after that incident occurred and decided that for now it was the drive through or bring your own dinner on Thursday nights. 

There is a astounding number of homeless people who my friends and I come in contact with when we are down here on Thursdays. I live in West Palm Beach and I know that this issue exist in every town, but I have never had to come face to face with so many or with so many rude homeless people before. They come up to us and practically get in our faces, placing my friends and I in a very uncomfortable predicament. 

Note to female students when in Fort Lauderdale stay near the FAU buildings where there is security on hand.

GO OWLS!

Eat at the Cafeteria!

I had the funniest conversation the other day with one of my fellow seniors in one of my classes. My friend and I were telling him how Yummy dinner was. When he asked us where we ate, we told him the cafeteria. His response was, "the freshman cafeteria." To which I replied with "Huh?"

This guy proceeded to tell my friend and me how upperclassmen do not eat in the cafeteria and that is why it is called the freshman cafeteria. So in the cafeteria's defense I put up a pretty good fight supporting the delicious dinner I just ate.

First off college students, or at least all the ones I know are broke! We don't have excess amounts of money to spend. So why not eat at the cafeteria? It is $6.75 for dinner and you can eat all you want.

They have a drink station, a fully stocked salad bar, a new feature item on the menu every night, and then they always have pizza and fries. The desert bar is oh so yummy as well. Last night it had spice cake, brownies, rice crispy treats, cookies and Cinnamon rolls. There is also a place where you can have sandwiches and/or wraps made, if you should choose to keep your meal on the lighter side. This place also always has open availability, so your never without a seat. They serve three meals a day there, but I have only been for the dinners.

with all of these benefits and my tight budget, why would I eat anywhere else on campus. Oh, and the food really is good too!

New Editions to FAU are Popping UP!

There are two new editions to our lovely university that I have just recently discovered.

First off the Boca Raton campus is getting a Dunkin Donuts! Yes, after spring beak this year we will return to have a Dunkin Donuts in the S.E Wimberly Library. This is already generating buzz, because with the Starbucks being a ways from the Library students had to pack up all their materials walk over to Starbucks and then turn around, walk back to the Library, and hope that they can still find a work space to study. Now all you have to do is take a walk to the next floor level!

The Boca campus is also receiving an elaborate gift. We are getting a new cinema complex on our campus. However, this cinema will not show the newest block buster hits; it will be showing new and old independent and documentary films. This cinema is being made possible from the $1.5 million donation from Living Room Theater's Inc...This complex will feature, classrooms, a cafe and four theaters. The total amount of this project is $3 million, meaning that the other $1.5 million is being granted to FAU from the Courtelis Capital Facility Enhancement Challenge Grant Program.

This theater is scheduled to be completed and up and running towards the end of the year 2010.

http://wise.fau.edu/artsandlettersnews/2.php

Storytelling is More Than Speech

I know when people hear the word storytelling, they probably think of their childhood and how their parents read them bed time stories. We'll there is so much more to it than just that, and storytelling is an art that can remain with a person all of their life.

FAU offers a class that is focused on storytelling. Now when I signed up for this class I was going in for an easy "A". As the class progressed from its first evening I began to realize that I was actually going to have to work in this class. You see, storytelling is not like taking speech and it is most definitely not just talking in front of a class. Storytelling involves properly choosing a story to tell, reducing the story as to hit all the highlights and main ideas, but to not drag on forever.

Storytelling involves tone, vocal range, motions, an organized train of thought from beginning to end. All of which are very important, but the most important thing about storytelling is the words you choose to tell your story.

Dr. Caren Neile is the professor of this class and she is fantastic! She teaches the class with such enthusiasm that not only do you have to participate, but you want to. Dr. Neile has a number of publications and is the founding director of the South Florida Storytelling Project, which is an organization that uses storytelling throughout the community for good causes and entertainment at events.

This class was extremely hands on and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun and eventful class. By the way, I did get an "A"!

GO OWLS!

http://www.fau.edu/scms/neile.php

http://www.fau.edu/communications/mediarelations/Releases0109/010920.php

Owl's Handling The Cold Weather

Okay so one of my most favorite past times is people watching. My friends and I love to do it, and we do it all the time on campus. Just this past week South Florida had some not so warm weather and while the change of temperature was nice, it also provided me and my friends with an entertaining experience.

WOW! The way we South Floridians dress for cold weather is hilarious. It is forty degrees outside and we had students roaming around campus all bundled up in warm clothes, but they are wearing open toed sandals...WHAT? This makes no sense at all. Now most of this style belonged to the men on campus. In regards to the guys on the campus, we did not see any good fashion represented during the cold weather. I saw lots of baggy flannel pants and largely over sized sweatshirts. Those items need to be worn only inside your dorm room and/or house, not to school.

I also get a nice chuckle when I see, and I see plenty of it, girls wearing their long sleeve tees, jackets, UGG boots and a mini skirt.... again... WHAT? The outfit was going along nicely, but then you ladies pair it with a skirt that is extremely short and you have your bare legs revealed to the harsh weather. This completely defeats the purpose of even trying to bundle up the rest of your body in the first place.

Lets face it, Owl's love their sun :)

GO OWLS!

Special Collections and Archives, they do exist at FAU.

While sitting in the Library the other day I was observing all the hustle and bustle that was taking place around me. I was watching students pacing up and down the isles roaming for books and/or a place to plug in!

Then I thought about the actual books housed at the S.E Wimberly Library on the Boca Raton campus. My Aunt recently told me that our library contains a rare book collection. So with an inquiring mind, I asked one of the librarians who answered some questions and referred me to the website(listed below).

This reserved section of the library cannot be accessed by just anyone on any given day. A person has to file a written request as to why they would like to or need to view a book or collection of papers from this rare and historical collection. If the person's request is granted acceptance, then they will be given an "appointment time" and when they arrive they will be escorted in and monitored while in this room. Due to the condition of these pieces, some cannot be photo copied and some cannot be handled with bare hands.

There are books such as the Yisker-Bikher memorial books, which were written by survivors of the Holocaust. These memorial books contain names of people killed and a detailed description of what life was like living before and during this time of warfare.

Theodore Pratt, has a variety of pieces here such as his personal copies of all his first and foreign editions of his works. Wimberly also houses his personal research notes, screenplays etc...

These are but a few of what makes up this very rare and valuable collection that we are fortunate enough to have here on our home turf.

GO OWLS!
http://www.library.fau.edu/depts/spc/collist.htm