The Sawmills shuttle shaft

Getting to class on time in the morning can sometimes prove a rather daunting task. You have to wake up, actually get your ass out of bed (2 very distinct actions as I'm sure many will agree,) get ready according to whatever standard you may uphold in the matter, and then physically get to class. Words simply cannot give justice to how truly difficult this process can sometimes be if you're not a morning person. But its the latter part of the equation that I'd like to take a moment to discuss with you, as this is the part of my morning routine that has become increasingly unpleasant.
For those of us living in the Lakeview/Sawmills area, walking to class is a seasonal and energy absorbing task. Therefore you must either drive and risk having to walk just as far for lack of parking options, (or get a ticket for making your own option, which is just as unfortunate) or you have to rely on the campus shuttle. A HIGHLY unreliable mode of transportation, especially when time restrictions are involved. I.E. if you live at the Mills getting to class on time has become a thing of the past.
OK so that may be stretching it a bit, but I honestly cannot recall the last time the shuttle arrived on time... and better yet, when it does arrive you have to cram into the thing like a clown car and hold on for dear life. The NYC subway system at rush hour is a more enjoyable experience than it, because at least with that there's no fear of the whole damn thing toppling over at the next corner. I mean there has to be laws against this sort of thing, there's no way having kids stand on the last step of a bus door or sitting contorted within a luggage rack is kosher from a legal standpoint. But apparently the school also caught on to the implications of stuffing students into college vehicles like a fat kid on Thanksgiving, because now they've taken a liking to just not coming to Sawmills at all. YUP talk about an injustice! Not only have we spent the entire year endangering our well being in the name of trying to get to class on time, but now we have to stand outside in the freezing morning air for over 20mins past the scheduled arrival time because the shuttle fills up at Lakeview, brings those kids to class, comes back and stops at Lakeview again AND THEN makes its way over to the Mills. So even when one takes the initiative to be ready for one of the earlier pick ups you don't end up arriving to class extremely early but rather cold and pissed off. Which going back to my initial point of the morning class struggle is no way to start the day.
The class of 2007 is even planning to immortalize the Sawmills shaft by making our senior gift a beautiful shuttle stop.. at Lakeview. Which is why I'm officially proposing that one day a week, hell, one day a month the shuttle switches its route and picks Sawmills up first. I'm not asking for a private escort, or even our own Sawmills van as some have suggested, all I'm asking for is that the shuttle starts its senior area loop on our side every so often. I mean we're already in the oldest building on campus, we have 1 bathroom for 4 people, 2 people crammed into a room that's clearly meant for 1, and we're stuck in an upperclassmen dorm instead of the luxury condos our contemporaries enjoy.
Is it really that far fetched of a request to ask that the school provide us with the same opportunity to make it to class on time in the morning without having to be outside and ready over an hour before we need to be? I think all the 50 odd Mills residents will whole heartedly agree... and for everyone else who thinks I'm just bitching... I AM! I'm not starting a Sawmills Shuttle Support group, I'm not protesting in the campus center with petitions, and I'm certainly not starting one of those infuriating campus email chains. I'm simply venting in a non-intrusive blog and if you don't like, well it its your own fault for reading this entire thing.
But I for one just wanted to go on record saying I'm sick and tired of Sawmills getting the shuttle shaft.

Valentines Day: A cycnical perspective

In today's society, February 14th is automatically associated with Valentines Day... the day of "love." The problem with this, however, is that the modern day holiday that hallmark and girlfriends alike have managed to capitalize upon has a rather mysterious past, none of which necessarily pertains to jewelry, chocolate, a chubby guy with a bow and arrow, or greeting cards with red hearts all over them. The REAL history of Valentines Day concerns itself more with religious conspiracies and the mating seasons of birds. Yes I said it, BIRDS.
Though much of the holiday's history can be boiled down to speculation, the most common (and logical) starting point for Valentines Day lore is the Pagan fertility festival of Lupercalia. Sordid details aside, after some ritual sacrificing a town's bachelors walked around the streets slapping women on the ass with strips of goat hide dipped in blood from the ritual (it was considered good luck for the women of course) and then all the women's' names were placed in an urn in a giant lottery, the men drew names, and the couples committed themselves to a year full of "fertility rites." But don't worry, those of you who are die hard romantics at heart, the pairing often culminated in marriage, and if not there was always the next year to give another go around the sex urn. So, as I'm sure many male readers are wondering at this point, what the hell happened to that tradition, it sounds a whole lot better than buying stuffed animals and chocolate right? WELL, as can be imagined, once The Church took over this festival was deemed rather inappropriate, and so as were custom during these times in an attempt to "Christianize" the population they created their own holiday in honor of a martyred Christian figure, and enter Saint Valentine... or Saint Valentine... or another Saint Valentine.. (for details on the lives of the many Valentines of Christian lore see this issues Food for Thought section.) Regardless of which Valentine was in fact being honored, however, the issue remained that by 498AD mid February was no longer dedicated to the 15th's Pagan festival, but was instead overshadowed by the 14th's Day of Christian Love. That, and birds were believed to mate in mid February so the French and English figured what the hell nature obviously intended for this to be a month of romance.
And that my friends, is the readers digest version of how Valentines Day came to be. There were no cherubs with arrows spreading love amongst humanity, no earth shattering romance worth being honored by all lovers for the rest of time, hell there wasn't even (to my knowledge) a highly creative man of the ancient world who thought this would be a great way to sweet talk girls into succumbing to the idea of love in order to get them to succumb to other things. It was just the bloody imprints on girls' behinds from sacrificial goat strips, and some horny birds.
Now I for one am not willing to submit my heart's freewill to the behavioral pattern of an animal regularly known for flying without hesitation into anything glass... but come to think of it... that doesn't seem like quite a bad metaphor for love after all.....

If you don't believe me though, do some research for yourself. There's a plethora of sites dedicated to the topic, but I'd most recommend The History Channel's version, because lets be serious here, it's not A History Channel, it's THE History Channel... doesn't get much more official then that.