Well. Michigan Tech had a snowday today. That's sort of an historic event, you know. The story varies, but we haven't had one in at least four years (though I've heard thirty-two ^_^). The blizzard (that was part of the huge storm system over the Midwestern and Eastern US) hit and Houghton County couldn't clear the roads in time.

It was pretty nice. I played Morrowind all day. :)

March is Women's History Month. The newsletter that gets sent to the RAs here suggested that a good way to "celebrate" it would be to have, rather than a Take Your Daughter to Work Day, a Send Your Daughter to College Day. Middle school level students are supposed to be paired up with successful female students at the college, to encourage the young ones to take an interest in higher education.

Part of me wants to do it, because I want everyone to be interested in higher education, but I don't really think that this is the way to do it. The process of making people interested in higher education starts with the lower education - they have to want to learn. At least, that's my opinion. Why do so few people enjoy the simple act of learning? I don't get it. I love learning new things. Sometimes I don't like the homework that goes along with it, but I have never truly found myself thinking, "This is stupid, why do I have to learn it?" Even high school biology, which annoyed me, was still enjoyable, for the simple fact that I know more now than I did before I took it.

And another thing. I think I'm turning into a feminist. Why should there need to be a Women's History Month? There isn't a Men's History Month. Why not? Because apparently Men's History is different from Women's History, and the history we already know (Men's History) had nothing whatsoever to do with women, of course. Grr.

There is a part of me that embraces the ability for we as humans to accept the fact that men and women are different, even if it's on a purely physical/biological basis (since some people believe that were we to grow up in a society with no gender bias, men and women would have the same personality proclivities, despite the differences in hormones produced). But there's another part of me that cries every time I realize that the world I live in does not treat men and women as equals who just look different. And what makes men so special, anyway? So special that they got to decide that they were the "dominant" gender. There are matriarchal-type societies out there. Why are there so few? I know, being a female, that I'm just as capable of ruling a country as any male. I'm just as capable of learning science, and just as capable of whatever the hell else men have thought they're better at. In the same way, I know men can be just as capable of raising a child, sewing, vacuuming, and all those other, historically feminine, occupations.

There isn't a single female Physics professor at my college. The number of female students studying the subject is low. Why aren't girls interested in Physics? It's a fascinating! There are so many amazing things we can do with it, things that are being developed right now. I can't wait to finish my degrees and to get out there and to start doing research.

Of course, a lack of interest in physics and other sciences isn't limited to females. This whole damn American society is losing interest in anything remotely intellectual. What story is plastered all over the evening news? It's Michael Jackson's trial, Anna Nicole Smith's death, whatever celebrity scandal is up next. Why? Why don't we care about the latest advancement in research (in all fields, not just physics)? Why isn't there more, and more detailed, coverage of world events?

As far as I'm aware (though I could easily be wrong), most other countries devote a significant amount of news space to events related to the US. We ignore most other countries' events.

Grr.