The road goes ever on and on...: 10/01/2005

Heh, I almost forgot about this...

I was looking through some of my past blog entries, and I came across the entry titled Undergrads on a rooftop. I almost forgot about that time, and the "Undergrads and rooftops go together like drinking and driving" comment, lol.

A fairly good representation of my pet peeve. Though it's even more annoying when the elevator becomes stuffed to max capacity by people going up or down a single floor.

Freedom of speech

A few months ago, I was looking up websites about cyber-bullying. I read about kids who were being tormented online by their classmates, through hateful e-mails and/or websites about them. The schools, it seems, do little or nothing to stop it, saying that it's beyond their control, and they just sit back and watch it happen. I read about a case where a girl managed to get her cyber-bullies suspended, but that just made things worse, as even more kids started harassing her. She ended up changing schools, but the harassment followed her there, as her bullies had friends at her new school. What really aggravates me is how the parents of the bullies defended their children's behavior, saying that they have a right to free speech.

Free speech? Does spreading vicious rumours via the internet, e-mailing insults and threats, and posting humiliating websites about someone really constitute free speech? Sounds more like harassment. And the bullies who do this take advantage of the anonymity that the internet provides, which is even more cowardly than ganging up on a single person in the first place.

There are some people who are opposed (yes, opposed) to stopping cyber-bullying, saying that it doesn't make sense to tell our kids that we live in a free country yet forbid them from exercising their freedom of speech (god, again with that freedom of speech excuse). It really feels like they're abusing this freedom; it's not to be taken for granted (considering how in some countries, you can be thrown in prison (or worse) for expressing disagreement towards the ruling class), but instead they use this freedom to make someone's life as difficult as possible. Have the freedom fighters of history really endured so much struggle and hardship just so future generations can engage in this kind of behavior and claim that it's free speech? It seems more like we're insulting their memory and their efforts.

Now here's something you don't see every day...

This is an image made by Unicef, to illustrate the horrors of war. I never thought I'd see the Smurf village looking like that.
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Cold winter up ahead

Ugh, it's gonna be bloody freezing in my house this winter. My dad likes to keep the temperature really low so as to save money on heating; considering how high oil prices are these days, the temperature's gonna be kept even lower. Goody. >:(

Human trafficking

I was on a website earlier this evening when I noticed an advertisement for a mini-series called Human Trafficking, starring Mira Sorvino. Curious, I clicked on the ad, and I watched the trailer; this movie follows an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who's trying to take down a multi-million dollar human trafficking ring.

I don't have the Lifetime channel, but if I did, I'd make sure to see that mini-series. It looks like a really well-made movie, and very chilling, because these things really are happening. Even though I've known for a while that sex slavery exists in North America, it's still shocking every time I hear about it. It's shocking how some people can be that evil, to prey on the vulnerable, and hold their lives completely without worth.

It's just so depressing.

One of my pet peeves...

...is when people crowd into the elevator just to go up one floor. Heck, some people take the elevator to go DOWN one floor. It happens REALLY often over at Burnside, where most of my classes are; down in the basement, people would pack into the elevator until it's completely stuffed, and then three-quarters of them get off at the ground level. WTF?? Just take the ****ing stairs, you lazy asses!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ahh, the long week-end. Too bad I'll be spending it catching up for my classes, and working on my second scolarship application. No rest for me. But at least I'll get to sleep in tomorrow.

A rather amusing incident happened today: one of the students I see in the lab said that she phoned a company in the States which makes a particular piece of lab equipment she needs; before hanging up, she said to the employee, "Happy Thanksgiving." At which point he paused, and said, "Um, riiiiight." She told us what happened, and was like, "What was up with that?" At which point someone pointed out that Americans celebrate Thanksgiving in November. She said, "Shit, really?? So that's why he thought I was crazy!"

When I was a kid, it took me a while to realize that the Canadian and American Thanksgivings were a month apart; I always wondered why, in books and cartoons, there would be a Santa Claus float at the end of the Thanksgiving parade. "Isn't it a bit early for Santa to be showing up?" I would wonder.

Wow, what's up with the spam I've been getting in my comments section? Time to delete...

It's about bloody time I changed that Profile pic
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Here I am, once again...

Contrary to popular belief, I'm not dead ~_^. Just ungodly busy. Holy shit.

This is my last semester, but it's also my most intense semester ever. I'm doing four courses, PLUS an Independent Studies project (a research project that is sort of like half an Honours research), PLUS I'm applying for scholarships for when I start grad school, PLUS I have to look into grad schools and contact potential supervisors.

If there's one thing I learned from filling out scholarship applications, it's that they're a pain in the ass. For one thing, the deadlines are SO early in the year (the national scholarship, from NSERC, was due yesterday, and the provincial one, FQRNT, is due next Thursday). If you want funding for September, you have to apply by October of the PREVIOUS year. What's really frustrating is that not many people (or me at least) don't even know that far in advance what they want to do their graduate degree in, let alone the actual research project (the NSERC scholarship requires a research proposal). But thank goodness that if you get the scholarship, you're not bound to the project you described in the application (although if it's COMPLETELY different, like in a whole other field, you have to tell the agency in a letter, and they'll decide whether you still get to keep the scholarship money).

The competition for the national-level scholarship is really tough, since applications come in from across the country. Apparently there are undergrads who have already published scientific papers, and those are the types of people I'm competing with. I was told by my supervisor (who was on the selection committee in the past) that if you have a GPA of 3.70 out of 4.00, you MIGHT have a chance to get it. If your GPA is 3.60, it's doubtful. I know there's a big chance (erm, a HUGE chance) that I won't get it, but it's good to apply anyway, to show that you're serious about doing grad school, and there's always the chance that the university itself will offer you a scholarship if you came close to winning the national-level one.

Ugh, after I finish the second application, I'll have to start searching for potential supervisors at various universities. I'm definitely going to do something science-related, but I'm still not sure exactly what I want to do. Which really sucks 'cause many grad schools have their deadlines in January or February, so I'll have to make up my mind soon, and I need to contact potential supervisors sometime this semester, and go over the application procedures for each of the universities.

I can't wait until I get my ****ing diploma. Of course, I'll still have grad school after that, but it's good to get your reward for 3+ years of blood, sweat and tears (ok, I'm exaggerating with the blood, sweat and tears part, but you get my drift). It'll feel like you're getting somewhere. That you're making progress.

*YAWN* I'm tired. Need sleep. Bye now.