SemiAntics

It’s funny that it’s taken me this long to think about using an LDAP server for all my VCU email addresses. Everyone has an address that is available online anyway, so VCU let’s you use the LDAP server to quickly look up addresses.

There is a page dedicated to setting up an LDAP server in Thunderbird at the VCU Technology Services website, so I won’t repeat it here.

LDAP can be used for many things I suppose, but it seems most useful for email addresses and phone numbers.

For my own future reference, there is an LDAP server at NCSU as well.

I just got the call tonight from the North Carolina State University Math department. They wanted to tell me that I will be accepted into their Ph.D. program in Mathematics, as well as to offer me a teaching assistantship. This is just what I was hoping to hear! I’ll be going down to visit in February for the recruitment weekend.

At slightly more than 30,000 students, NC-State University is just about the same size as VCU. But if you compare campus size, NCSU has a much larger campus. It’s also a lot greener, (as in grassy, with trees) and much more pleasant. NC-State has a good reputation with science, engineering, math, etc.

Wish me luck!

Richard Stallman, (founder of the GNU project, the Free Software Foundation) will be speaking at VCU on March 27th of this year.

Mr. Stallman will speak on the topic of “Free Software in Ethics and in Practice”, and about the goals and philosophy of the Free Software Movement, and the status and history of the GNU operating system, which in combination with the kernel Linux is now used by tens of millions of users world-wide.

This seminar will is the result of many hours of work on my part, and the donations and help of the VCU community, faculty, students and staff. It is primarily sponsored by the VCU School of Engineering’s Computer Science Department, the VCU Honors College, the Student Advisory Board to the Computer Science Department, as well as the ACM chapter at VCU. Additionally there is a private company who has offered a significant donation, but I am not sure if I should post their name here.

Event Details

When: March 27th, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Where: Room 1164, Temple Building, VCU Monroe Park Campus
Directions: Please follow the VCU directions to the Main Street Parking Deck.

This vehicle has been sitting in front of my dorm for most of the year, on and off. We finally got a picture of it.

Well, take a closer look, in case you didn’t figure it out yet:

That’s right, it’s that gas-hog of a GMC creation, the “Yukon.” I don’t think anyone is going to take that sticker seriously.

Here in Richmond you get used to falling asleep to the sound of sirens screaming. All night. Not just once or twice, but continuously. It may be due to the fact that VCU is so close to downtown and the VCU MCV Hospital. It may be due to the fact that Richmond is high in crime. Maybe it’s a combination of the two. Either way, you get used to sirens, and you just hope they aren’t for someone you know.

So it wasn’t much of a surprise to see this out my window the other day:

There were about 30 officers running around, arresting, chasing, pacing, etc. You know, police stuff. Half the people on the streets were in trouble, and the other half were milling around like it was nothing new. I wouldn’t be out there unless I had to be. Even in my dorm wasn’t far enough away, seeing as how last year someone shot a hole in the side of my dorm (I wasn’t living here then, but Grace was).

Remember when George W. Bush “won” the election in 2000, and again in 2004? Remember how it was obvious that a lot of fishy things happened, but we still ended up with a crook in office? Well, it seems as though the same things happen at VCU with the Student Government Association elections. Yes, there was illegal campaigning, breaking of rules, turmoil and disarray. It’s just disgusting, but not the least bit surprising.

There were only three tickets in the election, and two of them seem to have honored all the VCU policies regarding campaigning, paperwork, etc. The third (the Lee ticket) seems to have disrespected the entire VCU community. The Lee party posted flyers on cars that, according to Titsworth and Moehl, looked a lot like parking tickets. This was deemed outside the Judicial Review Board’s jurisdiction, according to the Commonwealth Times (CT). Even if the legal part of it was out of their jurisdiction, it is disrespectful and trashy to post junk on cars. I think this is an issue that should have been dealt with severely.

There is also the issue of Lee allowing her signature to be forged. She scoffed at that like it was just one of those things you have to do. The final straw was when VCU library staff asked her not to campaign in the library. She denies ever having been asked, even though the staff person testified to the board. Then, she went back into the library to campaign again!

All together, these issues seem quite petty – and that is true, they are petty. But what is really petty is that it even happened. You might even think I’m just ranting, but consider how small VCU is – a mere 30,000 students, and only about 2000 of them even voted. It’s a lot of baloney for such a small place. Further, this is just an ongoing saga of what the students have to deal with all the time, especially the student organizations.

“The student body has spoken,” Lee said (accoring to the CT). “I really wish we could have more focus on the issues.” Well, Jessica Lee, the issue is that you are not worthy of the office, and now people know it. In fact, that’s not really the issue (we don’t care that you aren’t worthy); the issue is that this will cause even less students to be involved with the things that happen around campus.

Smoking has probably always been an issue at VCU, but in this new millenium, we must be progressive. There is no excuse for VCU’s continued practice of non-policy. There is a smoking policy for VCU; the problem is that it is completely vague, non-specific, and utterly useless! In the interest of the health of the entire VCU community, myself included, VCU should write a useful smoking policy.

How do we know that the current state of smoking on campus is a real issue? If you walk from one class to another, on an average day you’ll pass a lot of smokers. Of course it depends on how far you walk and what route it is, but it can be as many as 10 or 15 smokers in a hundred feet. But passing smokers isn’t the problem; walking behind them is. When you have to follow a group of people who are smoking, you can end up continually inhaling their second-hand smoke. If you don’t believe me, try walking around campus in a path of traffic, and count how many smokers you pass/follow, and how far you go. Then do the math, and post a reply below.

It’s not as if living in the city is healthy to start with. We already live in an area with poor air quality due to automobiles and factories. It’s a pretty major step to clean up automobile exhaust and factory pollution, but at least it is a recognized problem and there are many people working to help make it better. Likewise, with smoking there are people working to make it better. For example, Linda Hancock at the Office of Health Promotion has been working on the Smoke Free Campus project for years.

There is no need to argue over the health issues of smoking; they are numerous and well documented. (Including the health issues due to second-hand smoke) The ratio of smokers to non-smokers is very much in the favor of non-smokers. It is really just a matter of getting the attention of people who make policy for VCU. In California and other places there are now laws that prohibit smoking in any public building. I have heard that (but don’t have any statistics handy) more people go to bars, clubs and restaurants than before the law was made (at least it hasn’t hurt business, for sure).

Linda Hancock suggests that the most important “next steps” are to keep smoke-free areas within fifty feet of all campus building entrances, and to concentrate on keeping smoking out of public buildings (everywhere, but specifically here in Richmond and around VCU).

In 1990 the Indoor Clean Air Bill was passed in Virginia to provide a smoke free environment for the following:

• Elevators regardless of capacity.
• Common areas in an educational facility, including, but not limited to, classrooms, hallways, auditoriums, and public meeting rooms.
• Any part of a restaurant designated a “non-smoking.”
• Indoor service lines and cashier areas.
• School buses and public conveyances.

There is a bill called the Smoke Free Air Legislation which is sponsored by Senator Brandon Bell. It is a significant bill because it basically provides humans with the right to “opt-in” rather than “opt-out.” Here are the highlights.

Provide smoke free environments for all public areas, restaurants and workplaces with the following exemptions:

• Private automobiles, private residences and home-based businesses, except when used as a licensed child care, adult day care, or health care facility.
• Any hotel or motel room not clearly designated as a “non-smoking” room.
• Private functions.”
• Specialty tobacco stores and tobacco manufacturers.

Write a letter to your representative if you care, and write to me or Linda to get involved more around campus.