Blog #5

In the class, there have been a lot of discussions about the pro and cons of our beloved university, Gallaudet University. We all have some burning issues about the university that we often forget and just put it back in the back of our minds and worry about something else. We also often blame the reason of things on the administration, but here’s something we often forget- this is our university. Without us, the students- this university will not function. So let’s do something different, stop pointing fingers and make this OUR place, our university. There are some things I would think the university need to change and one of those things are our meal plan. We have choices to receive 250 block plan along with $50.00 dining dollars (DD), 220 block plan along with $50.00 dining dollars (DD), 190 block plan along with $150.00 dining dollars (DD), 150 block plan along with $150.00 dining dollars (DD), and 100 block plan along with $100.00 dining dollars (DD). My plan is 150 block plan along with $150.00 dining dollars (DD) which seems very fair and accurate, right? Well, here is the funny part- I have to pay $ 2,030 per semester for that block plan. I often use it all up just right by the end of the semester. Last semester, I ended up having only 3 blocks and no DD left at the end of semester and it was just right but when you think about it- it does not make sense. If you subtract $ 200.00 from what I have to pay, it’ll be $ 1,830. So basically 150 blocks will cost you $ 1,830. That is $12.20 dollars per block you use. I think that is ridiculous because often when I go eat out, I would spend a lot less on a meal. With this situation, I would bring this topic up to the SBG and that way they’ll make some connections to the administration and change that information because it is too much for just a meal. This situation will not just take a week or few days to do but excessive planning and research. Gallaudet University loves money and would do anything to receive some more money and I think that is their other way of doing so, I would hope SBG has that much voice to make changes. If going through SBG does not work then I would meet up with the director of dining. I believe this is something that we should do something to change what it offers now.

Blog #4

Halsband, Frances. “Campuses in Place.” Welcome to the World is A Text. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc., 2009. 484-491. Print.

This article focuses on how different campuses varieties in their appearance wise of the campus with the buildings. Explaining how each university gives a design that has respect for tradition, that relates and works well with the nature around, landscaping which would invite us, the students to the campus. Some campus would rather to be busy, filled with buildings on the campus providing some secure feelings to students who would prefer that. It depends on which university would feel that their students would like better, some preferring more green space or crowed with buildings.

Campus Sustainability: Sustaining Our Terrapin Environment. UMD, 2010. Web. 6 April 2010.

This website provides several links which includes Gardening, Campus Master Plan, Department of Environmental Safety, Dining Services (Green Dining), Environmental Stewardship Guidelines, Management, Maryland Cooperative Extension, Recycling, Student Affairs (Environment Matters), Terp impact, and Transportation Services (Green Commuting). There were also several more links that is not mentioned here. It greatly focuses on how the University of Maryland is going green by buildings, dining, gardening, recycling and etc.

Gallaudet University. GU, 1995. Web. 6 April 2010.

This website is a general website for the Gallaudet University. It explains what this University offers and what information is provided. You can look at what majors Gallaudet University offer, you can see what the campus looks like, you can find out who’s the administration staff, or you can find out the office hours of different buildings. You can find out so many things just by looking at this website. This website basically explains how the university provide excellent bilingual education for deaf and hard of hearing undergraduate students here at Gallaudet.

Markel, Tabitha. University of Maryland, College Park. MD. 2 April 2010. Guest Lecture.

Tabitha Markel is a great friend to my group partner- Jessica Israel. She is a student at the University of Maryland majoring in Criminal Justice and is currently a junior. She took us on a tour around the campus, showing us so many things; we did not even cover half of the campus. It is a huge university so we all were overwhelmed with what is offered there. She said that there are 40 deaf students at the university out of 36,000 students who attend to the university. It also was brought up that it is very hard to make friends and she has about two or three close friends. She was very sweet and showed us what we should see on the campus. Provided us information that helped us greatly for our project.

The University of Maryland. UMD, 2010. Web. 6 April 2010.

This website is awesome, providing such detailed information about the university itself. Ranging from admission information to athletics. Information are so detailed that they have news on the front page keeping people updated with what is going on in the university. It also has information on the side keeping the students and people everywhere updated about what is coming up at the university. I did not have to try hard to find the information I needed because they gave us pretty much easy access to information I would want to find.

Blog #3

I had the pleasure of creating my own campus map, which I was never able to do before. I teamed up with Amy Batchel, Janna Dibiase, and Ben Taylor and I believe we created something really cool. We decided our campus would be located in somewhere warm and the name of the university would be Pajka University. ☺ Fear not, Mr. Malzkuhn, the river around the campus is named after you- the Malzkuhn river and it is just as famous as the University. The campus is full of warmness, you feel it as the second you enter our beautiful campus. I decided for this blog, I would be talking to you guys about what Pajka University provides for our fantastic students. First of all, we offer fantastic service for our students especially when they are hungry. A lot of time, college students are in a hurry to get their meal before their classes so a bunch of fast food (healthy ones) are provided in every lower basement of every academic building. Also, there would be one main cafeteria near the dorms so it gives students easy access to their food. We provide different sports fields since our school is well known for our athletic program. We have football field, golf course, basketball court, and so on. We provide twenty-four, seven days a week weightlifting room and exercise room because we believe in health for all of our students. You can take strolls around the campus and around our river. We also provide top kind of dormitory, which have brought some students to say that it is just like being at home. The dormitories give the students full access to each other since all of the dorms are around in a circle so they all are not that far from each other. There are also fraternity and sorority houses behind the dorms. From The World is a Text by Johnthan Sliverman, he mentioned that “The totality of these elements sends a clear message: This place is palatial, this place is imposing, this place is fancy, this is a place to be taken seriously” (speaking of University of San Francisco). What he said is what I want my campus to look like, and sends out that kind of message. My university meets all of the requirements especially what it offers the students. The buildings is unique but in symmetry with each other. I do not like different kind of buildings so what my university offers is just right.

Blog #2

When they first announced that there was a blizzard coming, I did not believe it at all. I lived in Maryland my entire life and sometimes the news tend to be wrong about the amount of snow. It happened so often, me waking up in the morning seeing only one inch of snow when the news said it would be ten inches that morning. It became a habit for me thinking that there was not going to be any blizzard or something like that so when it actually came, I was completely shocked. I did not expect that at all. My roommate made a smart decision when she decided she would go home that day when Gallaudet University decided to close school. She ended up staying home for entire week, having another break. I decided to stay back and see what the weather would end up like. I did not believe that Gallaudet University would close school the next day so I thought I was doing a smarter thing by staying at Gallaudet University. Oh my god, I did not expect it to last all week! At first I was thrilled, I finally could lock myself in my room for an entire day. I enjoyed watching movies, and did things I could do when I could not with my busy schedule. I was so so so lazy that week, I basically did nothing but chatted with my friends and watching television. It was fun for me the first few days, I got the chance to really relax at Gallaudet University. Most of times, I would have to go to home to finally relax so that week was the first time I relaxed really well here at Gallaudet University. By the time it got to Thursday or Friday, I was really restless. I mean, imagine sitting around for seven days! ( I do not have any classes on Fridays). I could not go anywhere but only the places on this campus. I became so sick of the cafeteria, I wanted to get out and get some food that is not from the cafeteria. I lost the concept of my routine, I was beginning to get used to my second semester schedule, so when I came back to school- I forgot completely what my schedule was. It took me some time to get myself back in groove. The blizzard sure gave me time to rest and really let myself go but it became a bit too long. It sure wouldn’t be something I’d forget.

My room

I grew up in one place growing up so last fall, I moved to somewhere new for the first time. I lived in one place my whole life so moving to Gallaudet University was completely terrifying for me. When I knew I would be living in Benson dorm in the room 310, I imagined whole summer what it would look like when I first arrived. As I turned my key to 310 for the first time, I saw a place where in few months I would feel so comfortable. This is the first year in a long time that Benson Hall is for freshman students so I kind of expected the room to have a history of being a mellow place. I always believe that freshman students would cause more damage than older students would cause. My room does not have that much of damage expect for one place near my door, which has some kind of white stain. I wish I knew why it is there but I can never know why and who made that stain. It is interesting because I know my room contains years and years of history but I can only just guess what happened in my room. My roommate and I made sure that we would feel comfortable in that place so we decided to cover one wall of our room in pictures of us with our friends. That wall reminds me of home because it has a lot of pictures of our friends in high school, which is really nice. I also added bunch of quotes on our wall in different color papers. We recently bought a couch so that we would be able to chill on it sometimes and it really works because I feel so much more at home. My friends really like to come in and sit down on my couch and watch movies along with us, it is great because I know they do feel comfortable in my room. It is very often that they do their homework here too. We hated the lights because it felt like “school” kind of lights so we decided to bring our own light lamps and etc. We even went above and beyond to make the room ours by decorating the front door with pictures of us. I truly feel comfortable in my room and I know I wouldn’t feel comfortable if it wasn’t for what we did with our room. It is kind of cheesy but I know this is the last semester I will be living in this room and I don’t want any other room on this campus because right now, my room is the room to be.