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shirenomad...but nonetheless, it is finally over as of today! Turned the tassle, walked across stage, shook the dean's hand, did my darnedest not to trip over the robes, the works.
It was warm, and so were the robes, so I was wearing a short-sleeved collared shirt and khaki shorts under the robes. Didn't realize until I got there that if anyone looked closely around my ankles, they'd see bare skin between my socks and the robe hem... Eh, let them draw their own conclusions, all who noticed. Professor Dourish was an open robe with a kilt underneath, so I think I was within my rights.
This was, incidentally, the first graduating class of the School of Information and Computer Science here at UC Irvine. Last year it was a department. A department that outnumbered three other schools. You see the problem. I actually learned a little history about the situation last night . When the department was first founded, it was the late 60's and the entire concept of "Computer Science" was still very new. So when they tried to put it in the School of Engineering, the dean refused to give funding to what was obviously a "fad subject." Since they couldn't figure out where else to put it, the department was left floating to see whether it would work out, with intent to reinvestigate the matter in five years. Fiver years later the chancellor of UCI had retired and been replaced, and somewhere in there Admin had forgotten the matter entirely. By the time someone noticed that CS was becoming a hot topic and thought to bring the matter up again, the department had grown to enjoy the autonomy and has since shot down four attempts at getting annexed. Enter Department Chair Richardson, who decided from the moment she was selected that her personal project would be sealing the independence in stone. And lo, two years later, she's a dean. More power to her. Anyway, the only shame is that I won't get to see any of the advantages of School-hood.
Mom, Dad, and Grammy (my grandmother) were in town to see me. So was my brother, Andrew, who was a bit of a surprise. He's going to the Naval Academy and had been assigned to serve on a patrol boat for the summer, so we figured he couldn't make it. But Andrew, thoughtful person that he is, broke two fingers a couple weeks ago just so he could get put on temporary medical leave! ...well, silver lining, anyway. Nice to see the guy again.
So lots of photo taking, went out to eat, watched Finding Nemo (fun flick, recommend to all), and now I'm finally back at the apartment... until tomorrow, when I head up north for a few days on business/pleasure. So just FYI, expect my online time to continue being sporadic until Thursday.
It was warm, and so were the robes, so I was wearing a short-sleeved collared shirt and khaki shorts under the robes. Didn't realize until I got there that if anyone looked closely around my ankles, they'd see bare skin between my socks and the robe hem... Eh, let them draw their own conclusions, all who noticed. Professor Dourish was an open robe with a kilt underneath, so I think I was within my rights.
This was, incidentally, the first graduating class of the School of Information and Computer Science here at UC Irvine. Last year it was a department. A department that outnumbered three other schools. You see the problem. I actually learned a little history about the situation last night . When the department was first founded, it was the late 60's and the entire concept of "Computer Science" was still very new. So when they tried to put it in the School of Engineering, the dean refused to give funding to what was obviously a "fad subject." Since they couldn't figure out where else to put it, the department was left floating to see whether it would work out, with intent to reinvestigate the matter in five years. Fiver years later the chancellor of UCI had retired and been replaced, and somewhere in there Admin had forgotten the matter entirely. By the time someone noticed that CS was becoming a hot topic and thought to bring the matter up again, the department had grown to enjoy the autonomy and has since shot down four attempts at getting annexed. Enter Department Chair Richardson, who decided from the moment she was selected that her personal project would be sealing the independence in stone. And lo, two years later, she's a dean. More power to her. Anyway, the only shame is that I won't get to see any of the advantages of School-hood.
Mom, Dad, and Grammy (my grandmother) were in town to see me. So was my brother, Andrew, who was a bit of a surprise. He's going to the Naval Academy and had been assigned to serve on a patrol boat for the summer, so we figured he couldn't make it. But Andrew, thoughtful person that he is, broke two fingers a couple weeks ago just so he could get put on temporary medical leave! ...well, silver lining, anyway. Nice to see the guy again.
So lots of photo taking, went out to eat, watched Finding Nemo (fun flick, recommend to all), and now I'm finally back at the apartment... until tomorrow, when I head up north for a few days on business/pleasure. So just FYI, expect my online time to continue being sporadic until Thursday.
