Princeton University moves Outdoor Action (OA) to Fall Break

As reported in the Daily Princetonian. 

Prior to my freshman year in 1990, my summer job ran through Labor Day and I couldn't quit early to go on OA.  It was an optional program then, and you had the choice of OA or UA (Urban Action).  

I regret not going on OA, but even though I missed the trip, I benefited greatly from its existence. 

Everyone in my Residential Advisor (RA) group who had gone on OA came back with friends beyond our RA group. Those friends quickly became my own.  Networks spread like wildfire before the bell in Nassau Hall rang to start Fall classes (or not, because the class of 1994 stole the clapper).  

Moving to OA to Fall Break means the forming of those relationships will be delayed by half a semester.  That's an enormous amount of time during an undergraduate education.  These early friendships reduce loneliness and anxiety in students who are away from home for the first time.  

OA made Princeton a leader in undergraduate onboarding.  It was widely copied by universities across the country for a reason.  It was rightfully expanded into other small-group experiences that give new students opportunities to create meaningful connections with new peers in a flexible, low-programming environment.  It is an excellent idea to spread out the on-campus orientation activities over the course of the first several weeks of the semester.  OA and its kin should continue to be part of pre-classes orientation.

submitted as a letter to the editor

To Eat or Not to Eat

I *think* this Dinosaur Comics comic references To Be or Not to Be (also written by Ryan North; it's been long enough since I read it that I'm not sure, but I'll pretend it does and it's brilliant. 

 

Roy G Biv and Friends

Originally created this playlist on Spotify some years ago, was reminded of it today**, discovered Spotify no longer had America's "Green", and recreated it on YouTube.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8nPtJfUMwlOIv9RVO7SQforS3WoLyo4g

** I have a rotating moderator for my team's weekly standup, and part of the moderator's job is to ask a "Question of the Day". Today's question was "what is your favorite Taylor Swift song" and trying to find my favorite song simply titled "Red" led me to Taylor Swift.

Vermont Spring plantings

Picked up a couple of blueberry bushes at Claussen's in a light drizzle this morning, and a couple hours later Vermont Spring was wondering if we missed Winter.  It all melted, and I got the new bushes in the ground in the evening.

Winter's Orbit, Everina Maxwell, 2021

The opening sentences are great:

"Well, someone has to marry the man," the Emperor said.

She sat, severe and forbidding is a high-collared tunic, in her reception room at the heart of the warren-like sprawl of the Imperial Palace.

I see why they wanted a quote from Ann Leckie, though this is not quite Imperial Radch, and more of a romance than the kind of deep intrigue in Leckie or Arkady Martine.

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance might be the best comparison among works I'm familiar with, promising a similar kind of romantic hijinks set against a broader, darker, background.  The challenge here is that the universe is entirely new, and so it's a lot to take in at once.  If you're ready to take that on, it's worth a read.