Monday, January 31, 2005

Higher Education: Mulletman owns at Asteroids.

It's a little after 4:00 p.m. EST, and I've ventured over here to the library to hop on EconLit--I'm scouring for journal articles on market structure effect on discrimination. As you probably expected, these articles come from the top econ journals and are predominantly esoteric. That is, it takes a substantial amount of power from my 486DX2 math-coprocessing equivalent brain to dissect what the hell these things are talking about (I've been thinking about upgrading to a pentium, but I don't know any surgeons to do the transplant).

I find a free computer and set sail on the ocean that is the world wide web. Much to my disdain, however, I quickly sense a disturbance in the learning environment. A man, deeply engaged in intergalactic warfare, captures my attention. I will describe him:

Mid 40's, unkept beard of the multicolor variety, dark eyes, slight build, gaudy clothing, distinct graying mullet, and an intense passion for space fights.

Usually, a harmless game of Asteroids in the library doesn't bother me, but this man has decided to implement ear goggles into his library gaming experience--and he's got 'em cranked to 11. Also of note is his gusto in absolutely mashing the fuck out of the keyboard. Each explosion rocks my concentration, which is particularly surprising since there is no sound in space. And as I sit without the ability to do any serious work, it dawns on me that most of the computing in this room is not of an academic nature. Which is fine, but I think it tells something about the student body, or perhaps the non-student body.

The moment I laid eyes on the guy, my sensory intake instantaneously formulated a very logical possibility...this man does not attend school here. I could move to another computer, but why? I've already moved from one station with a shoddy internet connection, so further migration seems silly at this point. Besides, it's almost time for Calc 3 now. Perhaps the most interesting part of this is that the guy could easily read everything I'm writing at this proximity.

What's the point of this post? Well, it leads me to a question. "What kind of computing activities do you guys notice at serious academic institutions?" A vague observation is fine, but a quantified answer would rock. For instance,

15% serious research
50% normal study
20% blogging when you should be working
15% dudes with mullets destroying ships from planet Zantar

1 comment:

Garrett said...

Among UM males, time is spent on computers 70/30 between ESPN score updates and www.globulos.com.