Back to school

I've been busy with back-to-school stuff lately. This post will probably be bat-free, so be forewarned. Happily I got into all the classes I wanted. Unhappily there were not many. Times are hard for public education, so there just aren't as many classes offered. But please, it doesn't cost less to schedule them all at the same time! This semester I'm taking Plant Ecology, Animal Ecology, and Animal Physiology. I have no problem staying interested, and we'll get to have lots of cool field trips. Oh, that part about being able to understand most of the animal behavior stuff? Doesn't apply to plants. I'm learning how to think like a plant, and let me tell you the more I learn about plants the less I think we need science fiction. This is wierd stuff. Here are some things that seem familiar from the days back in the pleistocene era when I went to college the first time:

• The earnestness of youth. Things are just Terribly Important. Hyperventilating signs around the campus urging me to join this fraternity, or that coalition. There are actual (gasp) socialists and marxist clubs! And even more amazing in San Francisco: Campus Republicans!
• Teachers trying to act really tough the first day, but then dropping all pretense of it after that.

And here are some things that are new:

• Cell phones glued to all the ears that don't have ipod headphones in them.
• People talking on the cell phones even when they're using the bathrooms.
• Buying textbooks online for the cheapest price. OK, lowest price.
• Fast wireless network access across campus. That part rocks.
• Science teachers feeling the need to "acknowledge" that not everyone believes in evolution. It almost sounds like they're afraid of offending someone. I can't imagine anyone majoring in biology and not buying into the ideas of evolution. In fact, they're the basis for all three of my classes. We live in strange times.

Speaking of religion on campus, I saw a funny thing on an office window at the library - Top 10 Reasons Google is Not God. My favorite: There is no "I'm feeling lucky" feature with God.