Well, I graduated from UNC Asheville last weekend and now it's time to look for a real job.
I guess if I find a job where I get to utilize my writing skills, I will post those stories to this blog as a kind of running online resume type thing. But until then, this is probably going to be pretty dead.
Thanks for reading.
Patrick
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Asheville Citizen-Times "Answer Man"
I missed this one since it wasn't printed as an official "Answer Man" even though it was.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010304260014
Here's my little piece, although it might be illegal for me to put it up on my blog...oops?
Question: Several years ago the public was offered the opportunity to purchase honorary/memorial bricks to be laid in front of Pack Place. With the new park construction, they were taken up and supposedly stored. I cannot find out if/when/where they will be re-laid.
Smart-aleck answer: (Mass communication major Patrick Zarcone handles this one, and I gotta say I admire the way he's mastered smart-aleckage so quickly.) They were recently sold off in hopes of paying for the currently nonexistent bathrooms in Pack Square Park.
Real answer: When the construction workers came in, the 150 or so bricks came out.
“Those bricks are actually part of the Urban Trail collection, which is part of our public art collection here at the city, and they were pulled up during the construction of the park,” said Diane Ruggiero, cultural arts superintendent for the city of Asheville. “They will be reinstalled as part of station No. 1, which is yet to be built.”
The Urban Trail is an arts and history walking tour through downtown.
Ruggiero said they also need to see what happens with construction on the museum in Pack Place before placing the bricks. “We want to make sure if we put them out there, they're not going to get damaged.”
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010304260014
Here's my little piece, although it might be illegal for me to put it up on my blog...oops?
Question: Several years ago the public was offered the opportunity to purchase honorary/memorial bricks to be laid in front of Pack Place. With the new park construction, they were taken up and supposedly stored. I cannot find out if/when/where they will be re-laid.
Smart-aleck answer: (Mass communication major Patrick Zarcone handles this one, and I gotta say I admire the way he's mastered smart-aleckage so quickly.) They were recently sold off in hopes of paying for the currently nonexistent bathrooms in Pack Square Park.
Real answer: When the construction workers came in, the 150 or so bricks came out.
“Those bricks are actually part of the Urban Trail collection, which is part of our public art collection here at the city, and they were pulled up during the construction of the park,” said Diane Ruggiero, cultural arts superintendent for the city of Asheville. “They will be reinstalled as part of station No. 1, which is yet to be built.”
The Urban Trail is an arts and history walking tour through downtown.
Ruggiero said they also need to see what happens with construction on the museum in Pack Place before placing the bricks. “We want to make sure if we put them out there, they're not going to get damaged.”
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Symposium presenters deserved a bigger audience
Last Thursday’s undergraduate research symposium marked the end of four years of hard work and a few months’ worth of research for the students presenting at the event.
For many students who did not have presentations or poster projects for the symposium, it simply marked a day to sleep in late, sleep off a hangover, catch up on homework, play Frisbee on the Quad or sit around and watch television. And that is truly a shame.
Of course it is nice to have a random day off from all classes toward the end of the semester, but there is a reason the university cancels all classes for the day on which the symposium is held.
They cancel classes because they want students to show up to the presentations and take an interest in their fellow students’ hard work.
There were more than 170 presentations on Thursday, excluding poster projects. The presentation period went from 8:30 a.m until 5 p.m. All students at UNC Asheville had ample opportunity to attend the sessions put on by their peers.
It would not be fair to condemn all UNCA students because many did show up for the symposium, but still, many more did not.
Most of the students presenting, including the ones who put together posters, put in a lot of work for their presentations because for many, their very graduation from this university depends on the successful completion of an undergraduate research project.
It is not hard to roll out of bed and go to a 20-minute presentation, nor is it too much to ask of students.
It reflects badly not just on the students themselves, but on the university as a whole when the only people who show up for another student’s presentation are the teachers in the department and the other three or four students who are presenting in the same session.
Obviously, not every presentation is going to be entertaining or extremely interesting, but most were, and for anyone who attended the sessions, they more than likely came away having learned something.
The university does not give students the day off so they can sit around and do nothing while other students who worked their asses off for a semester or two on their project can talk about it to an empty room.
Some professors require students to go to a session or two and then complete a short writing assignment regarding the presentation. While it does sort of take away from the experience when one is required to go to an event and do an assignment, at least it gets students out there.
Most people hate doing cultural events for their humanities classes, but at the very least, it gets students out into the community and to events they otherwise would probably never attend.
If students continue to be so disinterested in the undergraduate research symposium, then maybe all students should be required by a teacher in their major to attend a symposium event or two and write about it.
It would only take about 40 minutes to see two presentations, plus another 10 to 15 to do a write-up about the symposium. and then students could go back to sitting around, playing video games or disc golf or tanning on the Quad.
It is really not too much to ask of people when considering how much work their fellow students put into their research and their presentations.
It would definitely make the presenters feel better about their hard work, and actually showing an interest in the efforts of others would reflect much more positively on the university and the student body as a whole.
For many students who did not have presentations or poster projects for the symposium, it simply marked a day to sleep in late, sleep off a hangover, catch up on homework, play Frisbee on the Quad or sit around and watch television. And that is truly a shame.
Of course it is nice to have a random day off from all classes toward the end of the semester, but there is a reason the university cancels all classes for the day on which the symposium is held.
They cancel classes because they want students to show up to the presentations and take an interest in their fellow students’ hard work.
There were more than 170 presentations on Thursday, excluding poster projects. The presentation period went from 8:30 a.m until 5 p.m. All students at UNC Asheville had ample opportunity to attend the sessions put on by their peers.
It would not be fair to condemn all UNCA students because many did show up for the symposium, but still, many more did not.
Most of the students presenting, including the ones who put together posters, put in a lot of work for their presentations because for many, their very graduation from this university depends on the successful completion of an undergraduate research project.
It is not hard to roll out of bed and go to a 20-minute presentation, nor is it too much to ask of students.
It reflects badly not just on the students themselves, but on the university as a whole when the only people who show up for another student’s presentation are the teachers in the department and the other three or four students who are presenting in the same session.
Obviously, not every presentation is going to be entertaining or extremely interesting, but most were, and for anyone who attended the sessions, they more than likely came away having learned something.
The university does not give students the day off so they can sit around and do nothing while other students who worked their asses off for a semester or two on their project can talk about it to an empty room.
Some professors require students to go to a session or two and then complete a short writing assignment regarding the presentation. While it does sort of take away from the experience when one is required to go to an event and do an assignment, at least it gets students out there.
Most people hate doing cultural events for their humanities classes, but at the very least, it gets students out into the community and to events they otherwise would probably never attend.
If students continue to be so disinterested in the undergraduate research symposium, then maybe all students should be required by a teacher in their major to attend a symposium event or two and write about it.
It would only take about 40 minutes to see two presentations, plus another 10 to 15 to do a write-up about the symposium. and then students could go back to sitting around, playing video games or disc golf or tanning on the Quad.
It is really not too much to ask of people when considering how much work their fellow students put into their research and their presentations.
It would definitely make the presenters feel better about their hard work, and actually showing an interest in the efforts of others would reflect much more positively on the university and the student body as a whole.
Commuters get the short end of the parking stick
Any commuter students who did not see the e-mail from campus officials on Saturday evening probably tried to park in lot five behind the cafeteria on Monday morning only to find out the lot was closed.
For lot five parkers, Monday morning’s sight was not something new, although it probably was not any less aggravating than any other time parking spaces are barricaded.
It is rare that any faculty or residential lots are blocked off, yet it is quite common for commuter students, who pay $70 to park on campus and make up more than 65 percent of the student population.
It is simply not fair, and it is not right.
There are not enough parking spaces for commuters as it is, and every time lots and spaces are blocked off, it just results in more tardy students, more skipped classes, more walking in the rain or snow or blistering heat and, most importantly for UNC Asheville, more parking tickets and boots on cars, which of course means more money in addition to a $70 parking pass.
For students, it just means more aggravation.
Luckily, UNCA has a relatively small campus, and students can reach most buildings within five to 15 minutes of walking, depending on the lot a student parks in and the building in which they are attending class.
Not many students will complain about the walk to class, especially compared to larger universities like UNC Chapel Hill or North Carolina State University, which have bus systems transporting students to class due to the size of their campuses.
Of course, the walk will not always be a long walk in harsh weather, but the issue is whether or not that walk is taking place five, 10 or even 15 minutes after class has already started.
Just because a student finds a space does not mean they found the space quickly, and that is what is wrong with campus parking.
Commuter students should not have to come to campus 20 minutes before their class just so they can spend 10 minutes driving around looking for a space and 10 minutes walking to class.
Obviously, not every commuter student drives their car, but for those who do not walk or ride their bike, parking is certainly an issue.
The university has at least made it look like they are trying to make things easier for commuters by running the shuttle, but that does not work with everyone’s schedule, nor does it go to all of the apartment complexes or neighborhoods where students live.
Students living in Weaverville or around Asheville have no choice but to drive and hope there is a spot open near where they have their class.
Three solutions immediately come to mind when analyzing this problem.
Solution one is to stop randomly blocking off commuter parking spaces for no reason.
Solution two is to make these large groups of people who visit campus during school hours park in a lot other than commuter parking.
There are other lots around campus where non-residential students cannot park, and if these people are coming for the faculty’s benefit, perhaps the faculty spots are the ones that need to be given up, not the parking spaces of the people paying for an education.
Solution three is the most obvious and probably the most unpopular among university officials. Either put in more parking spaces or allow commuters to park in the partly empty faculty lots that they currently get ticketed for parking in.
These solutions may not be perfect, but they are something, and something is better than nothing, and nothing is what current parking policies are accomplishing for commuter students.
http://www.thebluebanner.net/commuters-get-the-short-end-of-the-parking-stick-1.1390678
For lot five parkers, Monday morning’s sight was not something new, although it probably was not any less aggravating than any other time parking spaces are barricaded.
It is rare that any faculty or residential lots are blocked off, yet it is quite common for commuter students, who pay $70 to park on campus and make up more than 65 percent of the student population.
It is simply not fair, and it is not right.
There are not enough parking spaces for commuters as it is, and every time lots and spaces are blocked off, it just results in more tardy students, more skipped classes, more walking in the rain or snow or blistering heat and, most importantly for UNC Asheville, more parking tickets and boots on cars, which of course means more money in addition to a $70 parking pass.
For students, it just means more aggravation.
Luckily, UNCA has a relatively small campus, and students can reach most buildings within five to 15 minutes of walking, depending on the lot a student parks in and the building in which they are attending class.
Not many students will complain about the walk to class, especially compared to larger universities like UNC Chapel Hill or North Carolina State University, which have bus systems transporting students to class due to the size of their campuses.
Of course, the walk will not always be a long walk in harsh weather, but the issue is whether or not that walk is taking place five, 10 or even 15 minutes after class has already started.
Just because a student finds a space does not mean they found the space quickly, and that is what is wrong with campus parking.
Commuter students should not have to come to campus 20 minutes before their class just so they can spend 10 minutes driving around looking for a space and 10 minutes walking to class.
Obviously, not every commuter student drives their car, but for those who do not walk or ride their bike, parking is certainly an issue.
The university has at least made it look like they are trying to make things easier for commuters by running the shuttle, but that does not work with everyone’s schedule, nor does it go to all of the apartment complexes or neighborhoods where students live.
Students living in Weaverville or around Asheville have no choice but to drive and hope there is a spot open near where they have their class.
Three solutions immediately come to mind when analyzing this problem.
Solution one is to stop randomly blocking off commuter parking spaces for no reason.
Solution two is to make these large groups of people who visit campus during school hours park in a lot other than commuter parking.
There are other lots around campus where non-residential students cannot park, and if these people are coming for the faculty’s benefit, perhaps the faculty spots are the ones that need to be given up, not the parking spaces of the people paying for an education.
Solution three is the most obvious and probably the most unpopular among university officials. Either put in more parking spaces or allow commuters to park in the partly empty faculty lots that they currently get ticketed for parking in.
These solutions may not be perfect, but they are something, and something is better than nothing, and nothing is what current parking policies are accomplishing for commuter students.
http://www.thebluebanner.net/commuters-get-the-short-end-of-the-parking-stick-1.1390678
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