Quote of the day:

I'd rather have neuropathy than be FAT.
-Heather

Lesson from the JAM Lab

To our beloved dean:

The whole graduate school seems saddened by the fact that you are no longer our dean. If we were ever disunited, we are united now. It seems wrong (illogical even) to ask you to step down before any of your implementations have even been established. In cases such as these, one's thoughts naturally turn to politics. We're reminded of grassroots organizations that have made huge impacts on the world-at-large independent of big business and political fiefdoms. We're reminded of recent college graduates working in small two-car garages to build the next Microsoft. It sounds lofty, but the basic idea is there. That it takes more than boardroom politics to make a resounding change. From the student level, where change inherently comes from anyway, it is like a light has been extinguished. Just yesterday, during our one-on-ones, we felt our motivations pick up, as though we were reminded of why we even began. As a result, we forged ahead using our mistakes as learning tools and our "naivete" and "youngness" as forces of change. Now, we're left swimming in what we learned yesterday, deanless. We don't know why. We're in the dark. You were in fact our dean, and now, we have none. We are an anarchy for a day (at least). Now, we wonder: Did the powers that be hate what you were and stood for? Did they not like the way you supported us? Did you support us too much? It's not like you gave us excuses; in fact, we had no more excuses left. We were pushed to be our very best -- even in the worst of situations. Isn't that what a dean is supposed to do? Isn't that what you did? Isn't that what you were doing? Knowing you were behind us, we wanted to work both for ourselves and the institution.

We are so confused.