The post before this one...

If the post prior to this one seemed a little weird, that's okay. I was using it for my class...Integrating Technology Into Curriculum... I'm done with that now, so it will be back to the regularly schedudled programming of my strange but boring life.

Let me at least give you this video...Let's keep it light with a little Barenaked Ladies...

Online Registration Makes Sense for Today's Students!

Here's a typical conversation of a student talking to his wife about registration...




Here's why we are advocating online registration for students at The Art Institutes International Minnesota...


In an effort to increase efficiency and to facilitate greater convenience for its students, The Art Institutes International Minnesota has instituted an online registration program. No longer will students have to wait in long lines for an opportunity to speak to one academic advisor with the possibility that the class he or she has planned to register for is closed. Students will now be able to register from the privacy of their own homes at the time of their choosing. This change will enable students to use their time far more productively. In November of 2008, the Orlando Sentinal reported that a public school using online registration for the first time was successfully able to register 60 to 70 students within 20 minutes. This not only saves time and energy for students, but academic advisors are able to deal with students and immediate concerns within the classroom rather than only counseling students one by one from a line and then entering their class choices. The November edition of Parks and Recreation reported that a Vermont parks organization was able to register over 300 individuals for one of their programs in a 90 minute period using online registration. These reports illustrate how online registration can give both students and teachers more time to truly be effective.

Many students in colleges and universities have adopted online registration due to convenience and an added sense of autonomy that comes with the process. In 2005 the Greyhound, the student newspaper of Loyola University reported that 736 of 837 of its seniors registered for classes in a location other than Newman Towers, the location for traditional registration. This online process also fosters a sense of personal responsibility that some students forfeit by just sitting with an advisor and automatically taking the advice given to them. Adult decision making is one of the positive byproducts of an online registration program.

This new registration process will allow students more time to attend to their studies or actually sit in classes rather than waiting in long lines outside the advising office. Many times students in crisis, who need immediate attention from their advisors, are not assisted because registration processes take precedence and they cannot break through lines to speak to their advisors. The effects of online registration may not be felt immediately, but in the future they may prove to be powerful and positive. We encourage students to begin registering online this quarter so these changes may become a reality and the school is able to be of greater service to all who attend here.


Here's a survey we want you to take to gain information about your registration experiences during past quarters.

Click Here to take survey

It could be worse...

Last night I didn't get to sleep right away. I suppose it could have been the excitement of watching football or having a cup of coffee at 7:30 in the evening. I decided that I didn't want to put J through my spastic rolling around in the sack, so I went out in the sofa to stare at the ceiling and try to get comfortable. At 2:00 in the morning I thought of how terrible my situation was for not sleeping. Whenever I think my lot in life is beginning to suck and clouds form on the horizon, I always go back to this scene in "Young Frankenstein." It makes me laugh and realize I just take myself way too seriously...

A few days ago J tried watching the TV series "Weeds" online. She had to download something called "Zango". To complete the download she deactivated the firewall on our laptop. It immediately went on the fritz and we had to send the dumb thing to the Geek Squad...we had purchased the laptop six months ago at Best Buy, so we thought that would be the thing to do. Yes, Vista was corrupted and we are out $130 to get it fixed. They say it's only a software problem, but there are still problems with the laptop, so they will probably have to send it up to get a higher level diagnostic.

J asked me if I was going through some sort of withdrawl from the laptop. I confessed that I was. She only uses it to talk to her mom on a daily basis. Her mom is in Hong Kong this week and won't be near her computer, so she isn't talking to her anyway. The laptop sits conveniently on the kitchen counter, so I do the dishes/sweep the floor/ clean up the kitchen I watch TV shows like Fringe, Bones, or Life On Mars. I rock out to Pandora when everyone's in the other part of the house. I also like to watch Arirang news...regardless of the fact that it's pretty benign stuff about Korea. I am abreast of Lee Myung Bak's trip to the states and Peru, and also up to date on German Shepards qualifying for a certain international standard in a Seoul park. J thinks I'm a nutcase for continuing to watch that news program and that I should be concerned with what's happening here and now in the twin cities. I think it's because I don't want to lose that feeling of closeness to that dirty, crowded, constantly buzzing behive of a city that I loved and called mine for a long time. Man...did I just go off on a tangent...

Well, anyway...we will be without the laptop for a little bit. I'm sure that during that time I'll look longingly over to the counter where the laptop sat. I know that withdrawl eventually goes away and is replaced by resignation. The laptop will return, but when...

Not quite there yet.

Thanksgiving is racing up to meet us and will soon pass us by. Christmas will be on the horizon and I have found my Christmas spirit...or rather it has snuck up and bit me. I got to my desk and sat down to work at the computer and I opened up media player...yes kids, I've been bad and ripped a bunch of music to my work computer...well, I fired up the old beast, selected some Christmas tunes, and slipped on my headphones. Isn't it amazing how a few bars from an old tune and conjure up warm images from deep down inside that completely color my perception for the day?

Crazy as it may seem, I'm wanting some snow. This is coming from the man who consistently whines about wanting to be in a warm place with crystal blue waters and soft sand. My kids are excited when they see a hint of snow on the roofs of the houses in our neighborhood. That little bit of infectious excitement has found its way into my chest and is slipping into my heart. The Bun is old enough to begin to get the fever for the season too. It's a good thing...

Now, we're doing something new. Instead of getting cheerfully robbed by the boy scouts at the neighborhood christmas tree lot, we're doing something different this year. We're actually going to a tree farm and cutting our own tree. Now don't picture the Griswolds going out and uprooting some huge evergreen in the middle of nowhere and lashing it to the top of the family truckster. The place we're planning to go to is a real tree farm that has trees that are specific for Christmas tree cutting. We've talked to my brother and there's a tree farm up near their place (about an hour away). We'll make a day of it and spend some time with them and share more Christmas cheer-plus we'll borrow his axe and saw.

I realize we have to eat our way out of Thanksgiving before we really get to the beginning of Christmas season, but gosh...I feel like I'm already immersed in it, and it's a good feeling.

Hugs in Seoul

Why do we shy away from human contact? What is it about us that makes us fearful of others? We shun the opportunities to either give or receive the gifts of kindness. The simple act of a hug is invasive and inspires fear. What do we have to fear? It's merely a gift from one to another. I am human and so are you...One simple act...with so much warmth and power. Let it begin with me...

Good Eats...assignment for class

Dr. Franchino has asked us to bring in a video from youtube that we might use in our particular fields. Initially, I thought about the youtube video with Paul McCartney teaching folks how to make mashed potatoes, but this probably is a better fit.