First, some updates:
1) apparently on the default settings for this blog you have to be signed into something in order to leave a comment. I changed it so that anyone should be able to leave a comment. Go crazy.
2) I was thinking that it'd be cool to start up a think tank-like group around grounds that discusses random topics in depth, maybe over some honey barbecue wings or something. Who knows, maybe we could get our own T-shirts. Anyhoodles if you're a UVA student interested in joining something like this, either leave a comment here, or leave a post on a forum thread that ill start up (but not both because I'd like an honest head count). I tried using a poll, but the settings only allowed for people signed up to vote. Also, note that I/we'd be totally open to people of all ideologies, so if you hate everything i'm writing feel free to show up and tell me why, although i'd like to keep it civil, if possible. Also, whatever topic you want to discuss as random as it may be would be totes open for the group. So yeah, I thought this'd be cool and enjoyable, and I hope it ends up working out.
EDIT 3/31
3) apparently the site that hosts my forum is down... so i guess the forum is too. Ill be working to see either how to fix it or how to get a new one up there.
The last is much more sobering. This past sunday night, Tom Gilliam fell from the roof of the Physics building here around grounds and later died from his injuries in the hospital. Urban exploration is popular past time here around grounds (steam tunneling, getting ontop of roofs), and this is the first fatality from it. I read on a news article that the university will be cracking down on urban exploration.
I was fortunate enough to know Tom personally, but not fortunate enough to say I knew him well. We had hung out a couple of times through mutual friends; we went sledding in a group last semester, and we were in a study group together last week for the international relations class we shared. Each time we were in a group together, I was always struck by his humorous good nature, by the way he was quick to laugh and make jokes, to bring smiles to other people's faces. As I said I didn't know him well, but the times I was with him I can say I greatly enjoyed.
As I eulogize him however, I am reminded of other people who have done the same. My econ professor, Prof. Coppock was a friend of the Gilliam family and also talked about Tom before our last lecture, saying that he had a light in his eye. I can't help but think about how... insufficient our words are in attempting to describe who Tom Gilliam was. Our words can never truly encompass who a person was in life, their triumphs, tragedies, and everything in between, even the thoughts in their heads that we'll never know.
Maybe thats one of the great tragedies in life, that no matter how hard we try, our words can never bring back the person taken from this earth.
Rest in Peace, Tom
What is urban exploration about and why do people do it?
ReplyDelete@ Anonymous from 11:44pm
ReplyDelete"Urban exploration" is what UVA students call their attempts at getting into (and usually on top of) places they're technically not supposed to go on grounds. Most notably it includes students trying to get onto the roofs of academic buildings such as the Physics Building and other halls.
David,
As much as I'd like for your idea to work, I only see such a "think-tank" group spiraling out of control very quickly as it begins to expand. The larger a group gets, the less sustainable it becomes without a formal -- and, I hate to say this, hierarchical -- structure. I can maybe see it working with a handful (or under a dozen) people, but not beyond that. Also, as great as it would be that every person who wished to join were a positive addition to the group, by nature of making the group so open you're also inviting potentially malignant (or in some way destructive to the group's functioning) individuals to join. These, and others, are difficult concerns to address when looking to form an idyllic group such as you seem to be describing. From my own efforts, I am inclined to believe that such a free-flow sort of group could not succeed without a narrower unifying goal than just the goal of intellectual discussion. But, perhaps I am merely a skeptic. These are just concerns I'd consider more thoroughly If I were you.
Well to be honest Id be thrilled to see it get to the point where it's size is a problem. As of yet, nobody has responded with a yes haha
ReplyDeleteAnd ordinarily I'd agree with your point about malignant participants, but seeing as it's focused on UVA students, I feel reasonably confident that everyone's input would be valuable and worth having in the group, and that they wouldnt come to meetings simply for the point of disrupting it. I do appreciate your concerns, however.