Tag: Rutgers University

Schools and universities closings throw students into panic

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My eldest child is a junior at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. On 10 March, Rutgers University announced it was suspending all classes and students must leave campus and prepare to work online for the remainder of the semester. Beginning Thursday, 12 March at 7 PM Rutgers University will shut off student access keycards for residence halls. Students were given two days notice. I am working in New York City that day, so my wife is doing the heavy lifting. Because the dorms will be locked, my child will be returning with all belongings.

Beginning Thursday, March 12, through the end of spring break on Sunday, March 22, all classes are cancelled. Beginning Monday, March 23, through at least Friday, April 3, all course instruction will be delivered remotely. All face-to-face instruction is suspended. This includes any class meetings. Individual instructors are expected to be in contact with their students regarding their plans for remote instruction prior to March 23.

But wait, there’s more, the Rutgers University Biomedical and Health Sciences department is like “whatever”.

Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences -- the division at Rutgers that includes the medical, dental, pharmacy and other health-related schools -- is not cancelling classes. NJ.com

Scaremongering and panicked decision making for sure.

Oberlin College (Ohio), where my second child is a freshman, has given students until 18 March, two days earlier than originally scheduled, to get the f**K out and also prepare to take classes online. Oberlin College is an 8-hour drive from where we live in New Jersey, and again, we will be returning with all belongings. What this means for us, instead of picking up our child for spring break on a weekend, we both lose two days of work time. I am an hourly consultant and Bjavana is an hourly office manager. Our child is also very stressed out about if she'll be able to complete all her coursework online should the school stay closed until the end of the semester. Do we get our money back for the food and housing we paid for?

We have a privileged life. My children will be able to return home and we have fast and reliable broadband. But what about all the students who do not?

International students and students from far-away States must be shitting their pants.

Students in poor school districts are even more f**ked.

This is a panic caused by panic.

Zimmerli Art Museum

After lunch, a Honeygrow, Shaan, Bhavna and I walked down Hamilton Street to the Zimmerli Art Museum which is located near the Voorhees Mall of the Rutgers University campus. We saw an exhibition of comic art by Alison Bechdel and a display of photographs of Celebrity Culture from the Zimmerli Art Museum.

Images shot on Fuji X-T2 + XF 16-55mm f/2.8. Images straight out of the camera.

Alison Bechdel created several large-scale drawings for Self Confessed! The Inappropriately Intimate Comics of Alison Bechdel.

Celebrity Culture
Photograph by Annie Leibovitz. Dominique Moceanu, Houston, Texas, 1996
Gelatin silver print on paper.

Windows

I prefer the light. I prefer warmth. I like the big windows.

I've Long noticed that many (most) of the homes I have seen in New Jersey have very few windows. Especially the larger houses. It's as though some architects found inspiration in a box with small holes—the kind of box you use to transport small rodents home from the pet store.

This entry is a response to the Daily Prompt.

When we take photos, we use all kinds of things to frame our images and get the viewer's eye to focus where we want it: plants, architectural elements, lighting. You know what else can be a great frame? An actual frame — a window frame.

I've seen homes where the entire side of the home is paved in vinyl save for a tiny and sad window. This is usually the side of the house with a two-car garage. Why can't garages have windows? It's not like people parks cars in garages anymore. The garage is a place to store all the stuff that used to be in the basement. The windowless basement has been finished and no longer looks good with all that junk.

So when did the "War on Windows" start? Was it around the time Americans stopped decorating rooms with personal items? When beige and white became the best colours because you know "resale value". Not all cities in the USA are lacking in colour. South Carolina, Florida, and California have some very colourful cities. Maybe it's a northern USA issue.

It's the same inside most office buildings. Beige carpeting. White walls. Grey cubicles. No light. The office building where I work has small windows on the outer wall. That's where the court executives sit. Staff sit in cubicles running along the inner walls. No windows.

Center for Historical Analysis, Rutgers University
Center for Historical Analysis, Rutgers University | Sunday 1 October, 2017 | Nikon D5100 | 1⁄250 sec | ISO 100 | 35 mm f/1.8 | F8

When my wife and I looked to buy our home 15 years ago, one of the things we loved was how many windows we had. And how much light they let in. If you've followed this blog for more than a moment, you'll know that I'm from the British West Indies. I'm not a fan of winter. It's grey and white and beige. It's the same colour scheme as the inside (and outside) of the average New Jersey home.

I prefer the light. I prefer warmth. I like the big windows.

Each Wednesday, The Daily Prompt Photo Challenge provides a theme for creative inspiration. Participants take photographs based on their interpretation of the theme and post them on their blog anytime before the following Wednesday.