Earthquake!

As we all have heard by now, there was an earthquake yesterday. I happened to be lucky enough to experience it at Umass Boston. I was on the 8th floor of the library studying for an exam when the earthquake hit. It was one of the strangest experiences of my life. Everyone around me looked confused. I think it took us all time to register what was going on. Some people were a little panicked. It was especially scary when the light fixtures overhead were swinging. The library is a pretty sturdy building but it was shaking! I decided to grab my stuff (probably a bad idea considering) and head for the nearest doorway. By the time I made it there it was over! The whole thing only lasted about 30 seconds but it felt much longer.

About a minute after it ended they sounded the alarms. I walked down the 8 flights of stairs to get out of the library. This is were it gets weird. There were some Umass faculty telling us that we needed to leave campus. The campus was closed. No one was telling us why exactly. No one was confirming whether or not there had actually been an earthquake. So, now the entire student population is scattered outside around campus. Those who left in their cars were charged on the way out! Can you imagine, we are all pretty shaken and told that we have to leave campus but given no real reason. However, Umass was organized enough to make sure that no one left the parking lot without paying. This school really blows my mind.

The Transformer

We have all seen that eery looking steal sculptor driving into the Umass campus. It is right near the soon to be science building. Any ideas on what this might be?

Art!

For the rest of this semester I will be detailing some of the more interesting artwork found around campus. The first piece is that strange bronze man with the red hat. One of my professors called it the menstruating ironworker this evening. Let me know if you have some favorites and I will post them here!

Native America Summer Festival

Umass Boston co-sponsored the 2011 Harbor Island Native American Summer Festival. It was held on August 6th (wish I had seen this sooner). The New England Center for Native American Studies at Umass Boston help hold this even on Georges Island. There was a lot of Native American culture represented at this event. I think this is so cool!! I am Native American and I am totally unaware of any traditional practices. I would have liked to see some of this traditional performance.

Fall

Fall is upon us. September 6th is the first day of fall classes. I thought summer just started? I guess I will have to make the most of my summer vacation August 26th until September 5th.

Finals?!

There are only two weeks left in this semester! So, in two weeks I will be sitting for finals. I cannot believe how quickly this summer session has passed. With that said, I need to start studying!!

Wall Climbing?

I am little confused to say the least. Maybe someone can help me with this one. On the first floor of the campus center, near all the comfy couches, there appears to be some kind of wall climbing device. This "thingy" looks likes a spider web and has a big blue cord hanging from it. Do we offer wall climbing in the campus center? Or is this device yet another piece of puzzling Umass Boston artwork?