Shabbat Shalom

Last night, I went to the Adath Israel Temple to be present as the Jews observed the beginning of the Shabbat. At the time, the Episcopal church happened to be hosting an interfaith weekend for the sake of education, so the congregation was half Christian, and half Jewish. It was a lovely prayer service, and I got to brush up on my Hebrew (Honestly, the actual Hebrew was easier to read than the transliterations provided, since there were so many hyphens in it). Rabbi Danziger gave his sermon on the absolute truth of peace and how that relates to the violent situations around the world. Following the service was a potluck dinner, where many Episcopals had brought dishes as well as the Jews. During the dinner, I noticed that one of the dishes was green beans with bacon for flavor. As I ate it, it dawned on me that it was the first time I had eaten pork in a Jewish temple. But the fact that nothing came from that is a testament to the ecumenical nature of the community. Almost everyone is genuinely friendly here, regardless of faith.

שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם

Member hunt!

The hunt for all the members of the Delta State chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia has been very successful so far.  At this point, I have managed to find about 240 of the guys, complete with photos of themselves and their big brothers.  As I find each one, I put him on the web site at dsusinfonia.org under “Alumni Brothers.”

Learning about the various people in the chapter and the stories surrounding them never fails to be interesting to me.  While at the University Archives perusing the yearbooks between 1960 and the present again, I found two more chapter yearbook group photos that I had missed in my first perusal.  These were the 1982 photo and the 1974 photo.

The 1974 photo here shows a couple of familiar faces, but most interesting to me is the diversity of the whole group.  There are four African-Americans, one hippie, a few modern-looking white people, and a few 60’s-looking white people.  All these people were initiated into a fraternity chapter on a campus in Mississippi in 1974.  I’d say that this photograph is a good piece of evidence for the historical progressiveness of the chapter, as well as for the universal truth that the power of music transcends personal differences.  There are people in that picture who were members of the chapter during the civil rights movement itself.  This is particularly interesting in light of the recent article in the campus newspaper.  The article was about one of the “major white” fraternities pledging an African American man in the fall of 2008, and how this was somehow a new situation, to “sprinkle some chocolate into a sea of vanilla,” as the article stated.  The author of the article seemed to miss the fact that at the time of the article’s publishing, the Theta Upsilon chapter had five African Americans in its collegiate membership, and well over 30 in its entire membership.  In that article, that was only one level of inaccuracy.  Another level was the regarding a person of another skin color as different from the rest of the IFC fraternity men at all, which not only oversimplifies the difference between the people groups, but noticeably discriminates between them.  Diversity of minds is a virtue, I believe, but is it wholly necessary to write an article about one black man who pledged a fraternity that is not known for having black members, particularly even before his initiation into full membership?  In any case, the entire issue of celebrating diversity without discriminating is a very difficult issue to tackle.

Dunking

It seems the dunking booth was a bit of a success, even though technical difficulties made the second day of dunking impossible.  People had a good time.

A Rush by Any Other Name

About a year ago, the Delta State University Interfraternity Council (DSUIC) began instituting a council-wide shift from the word "rush" (to describe the recruitment processes) to "recruitment."  This was, I suppose, to reduce the public image that the formal process of recruitment was not stressful and hurried.  It was an intelligent advertising move, but I now consider it unethical.

To insist for one second that Formal Recruitment is not stressful for everyone involved is not only stretching the truth, but it is downright misrepresenting the facts.  To participate in Formal Rush, one must not have any obligations during the nights of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  No Wednesday night church obligations, no Thursday night classes, etc.  One is exposed to a fabricated image of each fraternity through four hour-long parties each night, which is very tiring.

To insist for one second that Formal Recruitment is not hurried for everyone involved is flat-out dishonest.  After experiencing a forced image of each fraternity for about two hours each over two days, on Friday, each potential new member must choose his lifelong commitment within only a few hours.

A rush by any other name is still hurried and stressful.

Antaŭ unu jaro, la Ŝtatuniversitato de l' Delto Interfratara Kunsilantaro komencis ŝanĝi la vorton "urĝiĝo" al "varbon."  Estis (mi opinias) por redukti la publikan bildon, ke la formala procedo de varbo ne estas hasta kaj ĝena.  Estis inteligenta reklama movado, sed mi rigardas ĝin esti maletika. 

Insisti dum unu sekundo, ke formala varbo ne estas ĝena ne estas nur maltroigas la situacion, sed ĝi estas misprezenti la faktojn.  Estas la samo kun hasteco.

Urĝiĝo por ajna alia nomo estas jam ĝena kaj hasta.

First week of school

I have now attended all of the classes I will be taking this term. Along the way, I have had to figure out how to get a parking decal, how to use an okra kard that was not built to be used, how to explain grammatical structures and write a lowercase delta on the board in the New Testament Greek class, how to conduct an ensemble as if I am bouncing a tennis ball, how to read early American primary sources for American literature class, how to find Delta State University Human Resources (which moves every time I go to the administration building), how to avoid contempt from a council’s administrative advisor, how to write and distribute meeting minutes promptly while being tired, how to ace a choral audition, how to please my teachers, how to play six handbells at the same time in a handbell choir, how to recruit handbell players, how to understand the university driving regulations despite their interesting wordings, how to make a good first impression, how to stay hydrated using a hip flask during class, how to speak in front of a group of people without stumbling over words, how to drive so as not to kill pedestrians, how to function on just enough sleep to get by, and how to pronounce Old Church Slavonic.

This semester should be interesting.


Nun, mi estas ĉeestinta tutajn miajn klasojn, en kiuj mi estos ĉi-semestre. Dum ĉi tiu tempo, mi estas devinta eklerni kiel ekhavi parkantan glumarkon, kiel uzi gumban karton (kiu ne konstruis, ke ĝi povas esti uzata), kiel ekspliki gramatikajn strukturojn kaj skribi delton sur la tabulon en la nov-testamenta greka lingvo klaso, kiel dirigenti kiel mi estas resaltiganta tenisan pilkon, kiel legi frua usona literaturo en la usona literatura klaso, kiel trovi la homajn provizojn de la universitata (kiu movas ĉiufoje mi iras al la administracian arkitekturaĵon), kiel eviti malestimon de konsilanto, kiel skribi bonajn protokolojn kaj disdoni sin, kiel sukcesi ĥoran aŭdicion, kiel plaĉi miajn instruistojn, kiel ludi ses tintilojn en tintila ĥoro, kiel rekruti tintilistojn, kiel kompreni la veturajn regulojn, kiel fari bonan unuan impreson, kiel daŭri malsoifa per la ladbotelo dum klaso, kiel paroli antaŭ aro sen balbuti, kiel veturi sen mortigi piedirantojn, kiel funkcii sen multa dormo, kaj kiel elparoli en maljuna preĝeja slava lingvo.

Ĉi tiu semestro estos interesa.

Band Camp Cookout

Today, a few of us Sinfonian brothers got together to feed the marching band at the end of their band camp. It was nice to see everyone again, and to see the new faces that had appeared in the band this year.


Hodiaŭ, kelkaj de ni sinfonianaj fratoj kunvenis por manĝigi la marŝantan muzikistaron, post ilia muzikistara kampado. Estis bona, ke mi vidis ĉiujn refoje, kaj mi vidis la novajn vizaĝojn, kiuj aperis en la muzikistaro ĉi-jare.

Okra Kard?

Here at Delta State University, all students use Okra Kards to identify themselves and to pay for things from the student accounts. Personally, I have not had to use mine other than to check books out from the library or go to the fitness center. But this year, the school police department (or, the faux-po, as they are sometimes jokingly called) is requiring all of Delta State’s students, faculty, and staff to pay for parking decals through the Okra Kard.

That wouldn't be a big deal, other than the fact that I cannot add money to my card for some unknown technical reason. When I log into the service online, and try to deposit money, I see the above image. I asked a few other commuters to try to log in and deposit money, and they all succeeded. I tried to deposit using Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari, with no luck.

Nobody seems to know how to fix this problem.


Ĉi tie ĉe la Ŝtatuniversitato de l’ Delto, ĉiuj studentoj uzas gumbajn kartojn por identigas sin kaj aĉeti aĵojn de la studentaj balancoj. Al mi mem, mi ne estas devita uzi mian karton, escepte pruntepreni librojn el la librejo aŭ iri gimnastikejen. Sed ĉi-jare, la universitata fako de polico estas deviganta, ke ĉiuj studentoj, profesoroj, kaj la dungitaro aĉetas parkantajn glumarkojn per la gumba karto.

Tio ne gravus, escepte, ke mi ne povas aldoni monon al mia karto pro nekonata kialo. Kiam mi enregistras min al la interreta servo, kaj provas deponi monon, mi vidas la supre montritan bildon. Mi petas iom aliajn uloj, kiu ne loĝas en dormĉambroj, ke ili provas deponi monon, kaj ĉiuj sukcesis. Mi provas deponi monon per uzi IE, Firefox, kaj Safari, sensukcese.

Neniu scias kiel solvi ĉi tiun problemon.