Dear Uncle Ezra - Questions for Thursday, October 2, 2008

Dear Uncle Ezra,
I am very concerned for my room mate. He has developed an addiction to World of Warcraft (Wow), it is a massively multiplayer online video game that involves adventuring with a character who uses magic or defeats his enemies with more conventional weapons like swords and axes.

He spends at least 8 hours everyday playing this game. On weekdays, he comes back from class in late afternoon and immedietly starts the game and plays until 2am. On weekends he plays all day, from waking up until going to bed. He also likes to smoke occasional marijuana and spends alot of time playing Wow stoned.

He has stopped speaking with his friends and makes exuses when his friends ask him out whether it is to dinner or a party. His life is absorbed by Wow.

What do I do?

Dear Roommate who is neither Horde nor Alliance,
Video games can become very addicting, in fact they are designed to be addictive. Many a student has flunked out of college by getting caught in the trap of "gaming."
From your description it is hard to tell whether your roommate is indeed in trouble. If he is keeping up with his studies and choosing to play during all of his free time (although this is not the life choice we would make) he may be making a conscious choice that works for him.

If he is getting sucked in to the point of isolating himself from others and neglecting his academic responsibilities he may need help to disengage. Signs of trouble include neglecting to go to class, not doing work, missing an exam, becoming disheveled, not sleeping much, not eating much or relying primarily on junk food.

Please continue to ask him to do things other than gaming and if the opportunity arises, mention your concern.

Since you are concerned, please mention what you notice to your RA and RHD. They will check to see if your roommate does indeed need help. It is early in the semester and it is better to act now, since the longer you wait the more difficult it might be for your roommate to recover.

And remember to beware of the dragon of Blackrock Spire!

Uncle Ezra

Dear Uncle Ezra,
I was wondering if you could pass some thanks to the "Cornell Media Production Group" for making a level-headed video about the risks of file-sharing. While video contained information about the consequences of getting caught, the video didn't talk down to its viewers (the students) and I got the impression that Cornell did not want to mother me, a good one for students desiring independence in college.

Thanks again,

Kevin

Dear Kevin,
We all love appreciation. In fact, Sunday September 21 is World Gratitude Day. Expressing our thanks leads to greater happiness in ourselves as well as others. Please continue to thank those who you appreciate.

I have sent your comments on to Cornell Media Production. To find out more about this Cornell group see their web site, http://atsus.cit.cornell.edu/atsus/programs/media_production.cfm.

Uncle Ezra

Dear Sleepy,
I have often found the big cushy chairs in the International Lounge or the Music Room in Willard Straight Hall perfect for a cat nap, especially after a good hearty meal at Okenshields.

Uncle Ezra

Dear Uncle Ezra,
I thought that there were rules about late night noise in the dorms. Even as late as 3 AM on weeknights, the hallways in freshman dorms are often very noisy. Shouldn't the RA's be enforcing noise restrictions? Freshmen are "sleep-challenged" to begin with, and being kept awake so late adds to the problem. How can sleep-deprived freshmen act to keep the dorms quieter late at night?

Dear Sleepless on North,
Although it's great to have fun, it is not ok to keep everyone else up all night. Please let your RHD know what is going on and they will work with your RA to find a solution that will work for all involved.

Uncle Ezra

Dearest Uncle Ezra,
I am a frequent questioner, and you've delivered every time! Perhaps you can solve a mystery among my fellow West Campus residents. For those of us on a House Meal Plan with unlimited meals within the House System, do our meals in House 5 count as a House meal or as a meal outside the House System? We have no clue since House 5 is not yet fully programmed and our friends in House 5 are on traditional meal plans... but it does have "House" right in the name.

Thanks so much, Uncle Ezra!
Hungry Sophomore

Dear Hungry Soph,

House 5, while it has "House" in the name, will not actually be part of the West Campus House System until next fall. It is currently considered one of the 10 All-You-Care-To-Eat dining halls. House Meal Plan participants when dining in Flora Rose House (a.k.a. House 5) are charged for an out-of-house meal. Students living in the Flora Rose House are not enrolled in the House Meal plans.

Uncle Ezra

Dear Uncle,
Why isn't there a meal plan that offers 3-4 meals/week? It's so frustrating living off-campus and trying to use the meal plan because I use many more than 10 meals/semester (and $16 per meal in addition isn't worth it!) but I'm not on campus enough to eat 7/week. Would dining ever consider instituting this meal plan? I've spoken to a ton of people and I know that if it were a possibility, a good number of students would sign up.

-Infrequent Diner

Dear Infrequent Diner,

Yes, Cornell Dining it will consider instituting a meal plan to address this concern. Currently, off campus residents are only offered a debit meal plan. Cornell Dining administrators will investigate adding an off-campus meal plan with more meals to the list of meal plan options for the next academic year.

Just to clarify something, the cash door price is not $16 per meal. The cash price in the All-You-Care-To-Eat dining halls ranges from $4.45 for breakfast at 104 West! to $12 for dinner in the West Campus Houses. Lunch is $6.95 at Okenshields, $7.75, on West Campus, and $9.95 at North Star (tax included). And they’re even less expensive when using Big Red Bucks.

Uncle Ezra

Dear Uncle Ezra,
I live on West Campus and have the House Choice meal plan, which includes 50 meals that can be eaten in dining halls on Central or North. However, when I log into the account management system, I only have the option of viewing activity for BIg Red Bucks or laundry. How do I check how many of the 50 meals I have left this semester? Last year, I remember there was the option of seeing how many I had left in the week, but I assume that was because I was on a different meal plan, because I can't do that anymore.

One more question: I asked a staff member at one of the dining halls about the option of ordering a lunch 24 hours in advance; specifically, I wanted to know whether it's possible to have a salad premade. However, she told me that the only option is a sandwich. Why is that? Moreover, I've seen people at the Cook dining hall packing food in plastic to-go boxes. Can I do that? If so, how?

Dear West Campusite,

You’re right, the current account-management app does not automatically provide the number of "Out-Of-House" meals used. House Meal Plan participants can determine how many meals are left by viewing their activity over the semester and then deducting the number of "Out-Of-House" meals used from 50.

Uncle Ezra

Dear Uncle Ezra,
I am in the lowest meal plan, the bear basic, which includes 7 meals a week. As I am an athlete, I don't always have time every day to go to one of the all-you-can eat dining halls; in fact, am only able to use my meal plan two or three times a week, so am basically losing the other four meals. I usually can grab lunch at Trillium but have to use my big red bucks. Is there any other dining facility where I can use the meal plan instead of using big red bucks? Thanks.

Dear Bear Basic,

Cornell Dining has 10 All-You-Care-To-Eat dining halls on campus: six on West Campus (in the House System and 104 West!); Okenshields in Willard Straight Hall on central campus; and three on North Campus (North Star, Robert Purcell Marketplace, and Risley). Robert Purcell is the only one that is not open for lunch. Also, there is a Limited Late Lunch from 2:00-4:00 p.m. daily at North Star and every day except Wednesdays at Bethe House.

Uncle Ezra

Dear Sudent,
Yes, faculty advisors and advising deans have access to grades through Peoplesoft. Advisors exist to help students plan and be successful. Since they are looking out for your welfare it is indeed a good thing that they have access to your grades.

Uncle Ezra

Dear Unc Ez,
I have noticed that a big gash in the ground has been created running alongside the treeline between Game Farm Road, near the athletic field, almost to Pine Tree Road, a little north of CISER. It's rather curvy and a bit hilly.

Is this Cornell's attempt to create yet another road? Or is this an attempt at developing a Cornell motorcross race track? If so, I want to get my bike tuned up.

Dear Motocrosser,

You’re seeing a new, natural gas pipeline that will serve the University’s Combined Heat and Power Project. The state-of-the-art cogeneration plant will burn the less-polluting (compared to coal) natural gas—to spin turbines that will generate electricity for the campus and make steam heat for buildings at the same time. More info on this effort toward a more sustainable campus can be found here: http://www.utilities.cornell.edu/utl_ldcchp.html.

Speaking of sustainability, it would not be cool to ride a polluting motorbike thereabouts. Roughly parallel to the new pipeline is the East Ithaca Recreation Way, a rails-to-trails path (from Game Farm Road to Pine Tree Road, with connections to campus) for walkers, runners, bicyclists and horses. If you leave the motorbike at home—and the University burns less coal—we’ll all breath easier.

Uncle Ezra

Dear Student,
Laurie Ahlers from the Service Center at Robert Purcell Community Center is the person who can tell you how many cards you will need to print and how to go about getting approval to spam the residence hall mailboxes. I think that each organization is allowed this privilege once a semester. But beware, it takes an awful lot of quartercards to cover this campus.

Uncle Ezra

DUE,
Once again, I thank you for all the work you do around here. you are a largely under appreciated resource of the many here on campus. Though I am largely uninterested in most history, since coming to Cornell, I have found myself very intrigued by the many (many) unique and fascinating stories of things around campus, histories of buildings and such.

My question is about a feature I just recently noticed, though the location is difficult to describe, I will try. As you are walking east, along the north side of Olin library, you walk past the windows of the cafe, then the study space in Olin, and begin up a hill. As you begin to ascend the hill, there is a wall on your right, separating the ascending path from the grass next to the library. Out of this wall sticks what seems to be two heads.

They are not easy to notice unless you are looking, but one day the sun managed to catch them such that I saw their reflections in the windows of Olin.

What do the heads represent and when were they built?

Thanks a lot!

-Curious

Dear Gargoyle-Curious,

You are much too kind. Your Uncle loves to answer history-related questions about this ever-changing place.

Those stone heads once adorned Boardman Hall, which was built in 1892 as the university’s first Law School. The William Henry Miller-designed hall stood its ground until 1959, when it was razed to make way for Olin Library.

Campus legend has it that Boardman’s stonemasons carved the faces in their own likeness—but who knows? There were no attached names, as there are for famous scientists’ faces on Tjaden Hall (formerly Franklin Hall) where physics and electrical engineering were taught.

Another place to see architectural artifacts that were rescued from the stone-crusher is in the CALS Centennial Garden, which was designed and installed by horticulture and landscape architecture students, behind Warren Hall and Mann Library, in 2004. The cornerstone and other pieces came from the first (1906) Roberts Hall, which was torn down in the 1980s.

Uncle Ezra

Dear Sage Visitor,

In fact, the E.B. White plaque was not the most recent one added to Sage Chapel, according to the Rev. Kenneth I. Clarke Jr., director of Cornell United Religious Work.

The latest, he says, “was the plaque commemorating the preaching engagements of Martin Luther King, Jr. in November 1960 and Martin Luther King, Sr. in February 1979. That plaque was unveiled during the 2007 King Commemoration in February 2007 with the assistance of keynote speaker Dorothy Cotton, who worked closely with Dr. King as Education Director of King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference.”

See the Sage Chapel web site http://www.curw.cornell.edu/sage.html for info on Sunday afternoon Vespers services, and the Sage Wednesdays program (where the Fall 2008 theme is “Be the Change”).

Uncle Ezra

Dear Thoughtful Parent,

Checking with the ever-helpful Martha Benninger, the administrative manager of a typical Cornell residence (Alice Cook House), produces this example address for UPS deliveries:

Name of student

Room number in residence hall (i.e. 210 North Baker)

Ithaca, NY 14853

You don’t need to add “Cornell University” because the Zip Code “14853” is only the Cornell campus. (In fact, most campus buildings do have street numbers, for 911 emergency-response purposes, but the UPS drivers navigate by building names.) And if you want to UPS a nice box of “Thank You” cookies to Ms. Benninger, she’s in Alice Cook House, Ithaca, NY 14853. She promises to share.

Uncle Ezra