I was fined...

My roommate and I forgot to unplug all of our electronics over Thanksgiving Break. We were both in such a hurry we did not even think about it. When I got back to Elon on Sunday after a 7 hour drive I was greeted with a fine notice on our door. Not only were we fined but all of our stuff was unplugged for us. This was so inconvenient because all of our outlets are hidden because our room is so small. It was such a pain to try to plug everything back in and reset our clocks etc. It is too bad we did not remember to do it ourselves. We are just lucky that our forgetfulness did not have worse consequences.

DROID!

Over Thanksgiving Break I got a new phone! Before I had the Blackberry Storm. I really like Blackberry but I really did not like the storm. It had so many problems. The screen constantly froze. It was very slow and there was no real convenient way to text etc. I had to take out the battery at least once a day for it to work properly. Now I have the new version of the Motorola Droid. I really like it so far. It works just like an iphone but it has a keypad too which was really important to me. I am so excited about using my new phone!

ESA

This semester I decided that I wanted to join a service sorority. I joined Epsilon Sigma Alpha. As new members we had to do a new member project. We decided to hold a baked sale and prize drawing. We got businesses to donate goods and all of our proceeds are going to Easter Seals. In the beginning no leader was chosen to bring the event together. As our event approached I decided to step up and become the leader of the project. I am really glad I did because it allowed me to get to know my fellow new members better. I am so glad it is over though. The week of the event was so stressful.

Phoenix Football

Football, especially college football, has always been a big deal while growing up in Georgia. My family members are die hard Georgia Bulldog fans. When I was little I dreamed about going to the University of Georgia and becoming a UGA cheerleader. When it came time to decide where I wanted to go to school that was no longer my dream, but I knew I wanted to attend a school with a football team. When I choose Elon over UGA I knew that the football experience would be drastically different. But I have been pleasantly surprised with how well our team did this year. I love how football can bring a school together with school spirit. It makes me excited to be a part of the school and proud to be a phoenix.

Weather

What is up with the weather here at Elon? One day it is beautiful and warm outside and the next it is cold and rainy. I honestly don't get it. North Carolina weather is so bipolar! At home in Georgia the the weather is more consistent then it is here. I think one reason people are always sick is the constant change in the weather. It always mists. Rarely does it really rain. I have never experienced the continuous misting before I came here. It is so strange. I love Elon but I wish it would be consistent when it comes to weather.

Nanotechnology

On November 9, 2009, Dr. Kimberly Jones spoke about Environmental Nanotechnology. She explained the size of nanomaterials. She explained that they are much smaller than a grain of sand and red blood cell. She went on to explain that one of the important traits of nanomaterials is their surface area. In the market today nanomaterials are bringing in a large amount of income and it is projected for the nanomaterial market to increase exponentially. Fields such as medicine and environmental engineering are researching the use of nanomaterials to improve technology. Dr. Jones is involved in the development of nanomaterials to aid in water filtration. The adverse effects of these materials are not know; therefore, there are little to no regulations on them now. Thus, the sky is the limit for nanomaterials right now.

Overall, I thought that Dr. Jones was a very good speaker. She was very informative but delivered all of her information in a way I could understand. I had no idea that so many products already contained these materials. I think it is so fascinating that such groundbreaking research is being done right now that could potentially change the way people live in the future.

"I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist"

I attended Dr. Frank Turek's speech "I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist." I was very impressed by how good of a speaker he was. I was never confused or disinterested. The speech was obviously religious in nature. As a Christian I learned a lot of things that I did not know. By the title of the speech I expected it to be mainly meant for Atheists but after hearing it I think the information was relevant for any audience. Personally I believe that a lot of Christians go through times of doubts with their beliefs due to media and worldly pressures. However, Dr. Turek argued his points logically and from the premiss of a non-believer. I thought it was very cool of him to answer any and every question asked of him. That way everyone could get different perspectives.

Interview

About two years ago, Elon started to develop a minor in statistics, which it now has. As a psychology major looking into this minor might be beneficial because statistics is a key concept in psychology. This semester I am taking MTH 212 Statistics in Application. Over the past few weeks my professor, Dr. Laura Taylor has been mentioning the new statistics minor and the development of a statistics major. Therefore, I thought it would be beneficial to interview her to find out more about it.

Dr. Taylor attended Winthrop University where she earned her Bachelor’s in Mathematics as well as her Master’s in Mathematics. She then attended the University of South Carolina where she earned her PhD in Statistics. I asked her why she chose statistics to major in. She explained that in today’s society statistics is more useful than other fields of mathematics.

I then asked her how she became interested in teaching. Dr. Taylor said that she has always enjoyed teaching others. She said that in high school she wanted to be a high school teacher, but as she moved on to college she realized that she would rather be teaching in a college setting. She told me that it was a natural progression because throughout grad school she was a TA.

When asked about what she likes about Elon, Dr. Taylor first responded with the size of the school. Then she went on to state that she was impressed with the opportunities Elon students have such as the unique programs there are to choose from.

Finally, I asked Dr. Taylor about the statistics major/minor. She explained that the minor gives a good overview of the subject matter. She went on to say that the new major will be accessible to a wide variety of students. There will be interdisciplinary concentrations. In other words, along with the main classes each student will need to take they will also focus in another field. For instance you could focus in biology. In my case if I choose to double major for instance, I would focus in socio-science because of my interest in psychology.