Snively '11 | April 22, 2009
"Mind Dump (Episode 4)"
The ironic part about MIT and wanting to share everything that happens here is that oftentimes there isn't enough time to get it all down. Pictures, links, narrative, and humor are a lot of work, and past freshman year it gets to just be too much. MIT is much better summarized in little snippits, flashes, and whispers. Almost like . . . Twitter.
Let me say, I'm fundamentally against Twitter, but sometimes something like that is necessary. So, we're going to try something new, something that's never been done on these blogs. This is going to be my official "Mind Dump" entry.
Whenever I have something to say about MIT that I believe is important or gives you a little insight into my current mental state, I'll dump it here. Most recent updates will be on the top. I will just re-publish this same entry every time there's a quick update (every several days or so) and in time you'll have a timeline snapshot of me!
This is an experiment, we'll see how it goes.
4/22/09
MIT no longer has a pistol team. It was announced this morning that 8 varsity sports were being cut from MIT's athletics program due to budget constraints, one of them being my sport, pistol. MIT's pistol team has 2 national championships under its belt (2005 and 2007), consistently places in the top 3 or 4 at nationals every year, oftentimes shoots better than some of the most prestigious military academies (we still love you guys!), and now it's all gone. There's a meeting tonight to discuss what steps can be taken from here, but at this point we essentially just have a lot of very upset shooters trying to figure out why one of the best pistol teams in the entire country just went away.
4/19/09
CPW is over and everybody (I believe) survived! The weather machine kept MIT nice and sunny, there was Jello wrestling, parties, exploring, fire, and good times had by all! My feet are permanently stained red from a bout of Jello wrestling, Burton-Conner is covered in dead glow sticks from our rave, and campus is becoming less and less lively as all the bright-eyed prefrosh depart. Now I'm knee-deep into my 2.006 PSET and looking forward to our Moonbounce IFAF tomorrow. On Tuesday I have tickets to a Red Sox game and then Wednesday it all starts back up again. To the prefrosh, I hope you enjoyed your stay!
4/13/09
My 2.004 test was moved up so it fits neatly between CPW and my 2.006 test. This, in addition to the fact that both my 2.004 final and 2.006 final are on the first day of finals, has pretty much sealed my fate. I've decided to drop 2.004 and focus on 2.006 so that I can get an A/B instead of what is likely to be a lower grade if I continue on with both classes. Also! CPW is coming up soon! We all got our prefrosh assignments yesterday so if you haven't gotten a call/e-mail yet, be patient, you haven't been forgotten.
4/9/09
I just realized that next week is Prod week for NextAct. That means 6PM to Midnight rehearsals everyday. In addition, I also have a paper due Wednesday, a PSET due on Thursday, a test on Thursday, a PSET due Friday, and CPW from Thursday through Sunday. This is when you just sit back and weep. *weep*
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Responses To This Entry:
(Please note that comments are closed after 30 days to reduce spam.)
There is a first time for everything. Today I have a first of being FIRST!
Posted by: Very Excited MIT 13' on April 9, 2009 01:17 PM
@ very excited MIT 13'
Hey! I too am excited! email me at jeasley7@yahoo.com, i love meeting other prefrosh!
Posted by: Justin E '13 on April 9, 2009 01:30 PM
This is a great idea! Like Twitter only 10 times better, obviously.
Posted by: Chris Praley on April 9, 2009 02:25 PM
This is an excellent idea! Although I think it would be awesome if a Twitter-esque thing can be incorporated onto the sidebars or something and all the bloggers can share it. Makes life easier too, you know ;)
(writing an entry for me usually takes 3-6 hours -_-)
Posted by: Oasis '11 on April 9, 2009 03:04 PM
Yeah, I agree with Chris (Oasis)-- it would be cool if, for the sake of the blogs, you created some kind of joint Twitter account for MIT Admissions, which all the bloggers could share and update at will (with relevant messages only, of course). This would also make it easier for Twittering prefrosh/potential applicants to ask questions and get quick responses. :)
Posted by: Anon on April 9, 2009 07:52 PM
Yeah, say, you guys should just have a sidebar that you can all post little "status updates" in.
Posted by: Anonymous on April 9, 2009 08:50 PM
@anonymous
well I think it'd be a good idea for the bloggers, but if anyone could post under them... there'd probably be alot of spam
Posted by: Anonymous on April 9, 2009 08:55 PM
actually, that was at anon, not anonymous
Posted by: Anonymous on April 9, 2009 09:14 PM
What's a PSET?
Posted by: Sparky ('14?) on April 9, 2009 09:15 PM
Congratulations on having to do work.
Posted by: Carmelita on April 9, 2009 10:39 PM
@Sparky
Weekly homework assignments (Problem Sets)
Posted by: Snively on April 9, 2009 10:56 PM
@Anonymous
I just meant for the bloggers.
Posted by: Anon on April 10, 2009 02:37 AM
@Anonymous
sidebar idea is cool
Posted by: Ruhban Shah '14 on April 10, 2009 03:14 AM
Wow. I'm gonna follow this alright!
MIT: Morbid Indefinite Twitter
gah that was lame. Anyone got a good MIT acronym?
Posted by: K on April 11, 2009 04:29 AM
I got an idea (it may or may not have been previously thought of, but here I am proposing it).
How about someone take a picture of some place at MIT, everyday, for the next, say 4 years. And make a video of it. It could be executed pretty well if done creatively enough, choosing a location etc.
People have done it before on themselves before, but I haven't seen one done on a place as such.
Something like this:
Posted by: K on April 11, 2009 04:37 AM
yesterday my teacher said that all undergrad degrees are basically the same, and that a undergrad degree from mit is no better than one from a community college... i am fairly certain he is wrong about this, but would someone please confirm it
Posted by: Anonymous on April 11, 2009 10:07 PM
From personal experience, I can tell you that some schools teach better than others and some have a lot more opportunities than others - and names can help, too.
That said, I'd wager that the single most important factor for how you do in life will be how much effort you put into doing things.
Posted by: Piper '12 on April 11, 2009 11:08 PM
I'm surprised there is no entry for the day one out of four Doctor Who episodes comes out this entire year =P
Posted by: D on April 12, 2009 02:17 AM
@ Anonymous
It's not so much about the degree at the end, but about the experience you will have getting it, and that is a HUGE difference.
Also, the number of doors that will be opened to you during your undergraduate experience at a college like MIT cannot at all be paralleled by a community college.
Community colleges aren't all bad. But it's almost like apples and oranges.
Posted by: yay mit! on April 12, 2009 10:15 AM
Oh, and agreeing with Piper, the "experience you will have getting it" at MIT I mentioned is largely because of your own effort and the effort of the other students who are admitted, because as a driven person, you'll be able to thrive with the other driven people around you.
Posted by: yay mit! on April 12, 2009 10:17 AM
CPW!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Ronny '13 on April 13, 2009 12:47 PM
Do people normally drop a class at the end of the semester? And if so, is it easy to?
Posted by: Sujin Park (Sparky '14?) on April 13, 2009 07:36 PM
Are we supposed to get phone calls from our hosts for CPW?
Posted by: Mel on April 13, 2009 08:36 PM
@Mel
Yeah, but if they don't call you (SHAME ON THEM!) then you'll get all sorted out once you get to campus. We have alternates and such.
Posted by: Snively on April 13, 2009 09:03 PM
@Sujin - It's not unusual at all, and very easy if it's before drop date (it hasn't passed yet this term).
Posted by: Piper '12 on April 13, 2009 10:02 PM
I would just like to let all of those who are applying to MIT or got in know that I feel your pain on English homework. Right now I am doing a rhetorical analysis essay on a passage from Orwell's 1984, and I must say that I can not even conceive how someone likes English. And I wasn't handed this essay a few days ago or anything; I received it today. SCIENCE AND MATH RULES, ENGLISH DROOLS.
Posted by: Vinay on April 13, 2009 10:19 PM
There is a huge difference between undergraduate degrees. WTF. I am a mom with 2 bright undergraduates with similar interests and the experience at the 2 very competitive institutions they chose is serious.It's not just the credits, it is the experience and how much the aduts around you care about you.
California Public University -MITcompetitive - has been deathly.
MIT is supportive- both the students and institution. I recommend it.
Posted by: another '12 on April 13, 2009 10:50 PM
while typing this message with my laptop
my first ovvn-made cheese is on my lap
sorry, i did not make the bread.
link to yummy pics will be on Ahmed blog after i upload everything in Flickr. let me put the cheese on keyboard to make it easier to see when i shoot the last picture.
Posted by: comboy on April 19, 2009 02:06 PM
Seems it's very nice. Can someone who participate CPW show us his nice experience there!
Posted by: Someone on April 19, 2009 02:42 PM
Comboy....*/cough* bloggers */endcough*....your code/puzzle is driving me nuts. I've sifted through many pages of comments from the past 3 months or so of blog posts, and am quite puzzled. Well done
Posted by: Tommy '13 on April 20, 2009 12:22 AM
Puzzle? I've been assuming that comboy is a troll.
Posted by: Piper '12 on April 20, 2009 02:44 AM
;)
Posted by: Tommy '13 on April 20, 2009 11:30 AM
thanks Tommy, meantime i'm eating last parts of my first ovvn-made cheese
don't think i will finish it all in front of laptop. yummy photos are being uploaded right now. i will tag them when i overcome my starve with my cheese.
Posted by: comboy on April 20, 2009 03:06 PM
hey Snively,
i was there for the Jell-O wrestling.
i put the vids on youtube if you want to check them out :-P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twlvFk1ArfY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VKRm1zumDQ
Posted by: Carlos '13 (Prefrosh) on April 20, 2009 06:52 PM
@Tommy: Yeah, comboy confuses me too. A lot of posts are related to food though...So that must be Yan. There was also a post referencing homemade yogurt, which Sadie Scheffer '10 made a post on. We should collect all of comboy's comments in chronological order and collaborate to figure out the code. Facebook group maybe?
Posted by: Garrett '13 on April 20, 2009 11:56 PM
@Carlos
Nice! Thanks a bunch.
Posted by: Snively on April 21, 2009 02:10 AM
Someone help me out here! Is there any chance they will get some of the sports back at all? I'm a gymnast and gymnastics was one of them, and it was a huge reason I was considering MIT... Over Caltech.
Posted by: Anonymous on April 23, 2009 12:22 PM
It's sad the pistol team is going away, I was hoping to join if I got in, because I'm really into guns but now it's gone. I was expecting some other less successful sports to go but not shooting, it is after all one of MIT's strongest sports.
Well, is it gone like forever or just for a year?
Posted by: Labib(?14) on April 23, 2009 12:26 PM
One more thing, I like mind dump but when you go read the comments it's horrible - like an off topic essay that branches off into three different topics. There should be a way to classify which comment relates to which mind dump.
Posted by: Labib(?14) on April 23, 2009 12:30 PM
@Labib and Anonymous
It's important that MIT released this information prior to May 1 since that's the matriculation deadline. While there is a lot at MIT other than sports, sports is a large part of why many people end up deciding on MIT over other prestigious institutes. You should definitely factor these cuts into your decision.
As for when the programs are coming back, they aren't. This isn't a temporary cut, the programs are being completely eliminated as varsity sports.
Posted by: Snively on April 23, 2009 01:02 PM
@Snively
What about club teams? And there's absolutely no chance they're coming back in a few years?
Posted by: Anonymous on April 23, 2009 01:20 PM
Omg, they cut gymnastics!!! ='( I met so many gymnasts at CPW and now they likely won't come to MIT...
Posted by: Anonymous on April 23, 2009 02:49 PM
...What will happen to the gymnastics and pistol facilities and the ice rinks and wherever else these 8 teams practiced?
Posted by: Anonymous on April 23, 2009 02:51 PM
@Snively
Do you know why they would cut pistol as opposed to rifle? Seems like pistol has more people and better success.
Posted by: Anonymous on April 23, 2009 03:04 PM
Well the gymnastics facilities were just in the basketball gym, so I imagine they'll just be used for basketball, but I don't know about the pistol facilities.
Posted by: Anonymous on April 23, 2009 04:03 PM
NONONO! I WAS GOING TO DO PISTOL!
Posted by: NO! on April 23, 2009 04:07 PM
More info on the cuts can be found here:
Posted by: an MIT athlete on April 23, 2009 06:38 PM
NO!!! I heard today and my friend going to UPenn was snickering at me... :( BUT! It will come back eventually, hopefully! I mean they can't kill it forever! I've heard the recession is not as bad as everyone has anticipated but who knows with these political things.
and CPW was awesome btw! Thanks Snively! Great stories btw on friday
Posted by: Mariah Murray '13 on April 23, 2009 07:39 PM
NOOOO!!!! I really wanted to try pistol!
Posted by: Kim'13 on April 23, 2009 07:51 PM
Any possibility of a rich pistol alumnus making a donation to fund the team?
Posted by: Anonymous on April 23, 2009 08:45 PM
"very upset shooters" oh no...
Posted by: Anonymous on April 23, 2009 09:05 PM
@Mariah
MIT is better than UPenn anyway.... I have a friend who was accepted to the nursing AND business school there this year, but even with everything put together its overall academics don't match up... and quite franks, its sports don't match up even after these cuts.
BTW, nice, Snively, you seem to be an admin in the FB group for getting the varsity pistol team back (Enas just invites everyone on her friend list into these groups XD)
Posted by: Narce on April 23, 2009 10:17 PM
I know tough cuts had to be made - but I have no idea what they were thinking with pistol.
But as far as people making decisions - I'm sorry if a sport you were really interested in was cut. Remember, though, that there tons of things one can do on campus. I thought I'd continue flying throughout college, but have since decided to postpone it to do a bunch of other exciting things here :D
Posted by: Piper '12 on April 23, 2009 10:42 PM
maybe look into outside sponsors to make club teams...
Posted by: Anonymous on April 23, 2009 11:29 PM
