Re: Dave Yellin

(I apologize in advance for the slightly lengthy post, but I needed a way to unwind after taking a ConLaw practice)

The debate was sparked after Torts class, and it was not an unfamiliar one. The esteemed Mr. Yellin made the claim that the Sections at GULC are much like the houses in Harry Potter. I have no problem with this claim, and it's one that got made many times in my tenure at UoC. And yes, Section III is most certainly Hufflepuff. However, then Mr. Yellin made the damning comment that sparked a need for this post:

"...and Section II is Gryffindor."

Oh, how I hate when people say that. It's like when the issue of who women were in a past life, and 70% of them say Joan of Arc. You can't ALL have been Joan of Arc, although this might explain the voices she was hearing. Every group that compares themselves to a Harry Potter house inevitably finds that they would be Gryffindor. I now feel the need to both respond to Mr. Yellin, and make a claim of my own.

Mr. Yellin's major arguments, or at least the ones he told me, were that Section II is both very smart, and very diverse. I agree with both of these points, but I do not necessarily believe they are dispositive here. On his first point, I agree that Section II is full of very smart people, but that does not necessarily make them Gryffindor. Actually, if we are the smartest section, which is possible, that would make us more Ravenclaw than Gryffindor. So the intelligence thing doesn't prove his point.

As to his second point, about our diversity, I agree that this is a Gryffindor characteristic. However, this is not necessarily solely a Gryffindor characteristic. In fact, I would argue that the most important minority character in the book is Cho, a Ravenclaw. Further, the readers do not necessarily know a great deal about the diversity in other houses, so diversity cannot be a dispositive characteristic.

My claim is based off of the professor that most defines our section, which (as much as I know everyone loves Prof. Goldberg) can only be Charles Abernathy. He's the one we're gonna remember in our nightmares, and the one we're going to ask future Section II's about. Mr. Yellin made the claim that Prof. Abernathy is akin to Prof. McGonagall, both tough and fair. This is a fir comparison, but I think that Prof. Abernathy is more like Prof. Snape.

Reasons:
1. He might be tough and fair, but there is no way that McGonagall would ever tell people that they didn't belong. Snape, on the other hand, would tell you that, if you weren't prepared to make your potions, you should go to Durmstrang; you don't belong here.
2. Mr. Yellin himself admitted to both fearing Abernathy's double classes, and referring to it as Double Potions. What could be scarier, or more Snape-like than double class?

This is not to say that I believe we are Slytherin, but more that we aren't necessarily Gryffindor.

Finally, I believe that Mr. Yellin would like the Gryffindor label because he has dark, somewhat unkept hair, and glasses, which would make him Harry Potter. Unfortunately, sir, you are no Harry Potter.

May all your hits be crits,
B

The Great Library Fire

For those of you who don't know, I hate working in the library as a general concept. It's too quiet and sterile for me to really feel comfortable. However, sometimes I realize that I need to be more productive than usual, and that the occasional trip to the library is good for me. This was my thought process today, as I wanted to do a Torts practice exam, and wanted to do under conditions as close to exam conditions as physically possible. As that rules out doing work in my room, I packed up and headed to the library.

I was all set to work; my phone was in my room, my internet was off, and I was even using one of those sets of foam earplugs that GULC gives you during the exam. I had gotten through abotu 60% of my paragraphs, and was right on schedule to finish when I heard,

"May I have your attention, please? May I have your attention, please? A fire emergency has been reported in the building. Please evacuate via the nearest exit. Do not use the elevator...May I have your attention, please...."

Now, there are three scenarios under which a fire evacuation will happen:
1. There is an actual fire. As I was allowed back in the library about 20 minutes later, I have a distinct feeling that this was not the case, or at least there was no actual danger from said fire.
2. Someone pulled the fire alarm. This would be violently uncool. I mean, its a week before my first final, and someone's gonna pull that nonsense? Seriously?
3. This was a fire drill. This is even more flagrantly uncool. To give us all of this work to do then to pull us away from it for a fire drill, is the product of a twisted mind. Although if they wanted to test mass evacuation procedure, there's probably no better time...

So, in summation, the next time I want peace and quiet, I think I'll just stay home.

May all your hits be crits,
B

A Rude Awakening

Hey all. So my trip to New York was phenomenal in all possible ways; between having Marie in, the trip to Uptown Cottage, and seeing the family, this was exactly what I needed to recharge for the upcoming finals weeks. However, going back to DC was not exactly what I was hoping for...

First, my Amtrak was delayed in getting to Penn Station, and I ended up not getting in until 1230am. After that, whether through lack of snuggling or just general unwillingness on the part of my mind/body, I was unable to get to sleep until 3am. To compound this indignity, I was awakened at 830am (five minutes before my initial alarm goes off), by a loud thump on my window. Turns out that they decided to clean the windows this morning without telling anyone, and I was greeted by the sight of a man with a squeegee rapelling down the side of my building.

Now don't get me wrong, it's not like I sleep in the nude or am keeping anything illicit in my room. I just don't enjoy being woken up with loud noises at all, and especially before I have to. It really wouldn't have hurt GULC to do this cleaning later in the day, or to warn us it was happening. Sometimes mornings need to go away, and come back when I'm better able to cope.

May all your hits be crits,
B