Kyle Kastler Checks in From Chile

Junior Honors student and Spanish major Kyle Kastler is studying Spanish at the University of the Americas in Santiago, Chile. He sent us the following postcard, which Ursula has scanned for the Meta-blog. Click on either picture for a magnified version.

Hayley Whitehead Reports From Cyprus

Honors Sophomore Hayley Whitehead, who is spending the semester in Cyprus with fellow Honors Sophomore Sara Selbe, has a nice detailed post on her first impressions of the exotic island in the eastern Mediterranian.

Hayley is still dealing with the culture shock of seeing and experience a part of the world with so much ancient cultural heritiage:

We just got back from our trip to Athens, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice, and Milan. It's crazy to think that I was at all the places that I've read about for the majority of my life. Everything was magnificent. It was strange to find an ancient temple or monument on nearly every street corner instead of a Dollar General or Walmart!!! That's the thing that is probably most impressive about this trip is just the intense amount of cultural heritage. Everyone is very proud of where they came from and what their ancestors accomplished.

Read the rest of Hayley's post and follow her further adventures in this exciting part of the globe at her blog here.

Bowling Night Pix

Morgan Cheoweth has some fun candid photos from the MSSU Honors Bowling night at her blog here. Anybody else? We'll be happy to link to them if you have them up. If you are still trying to figure out how to post your photos on your blog, see us or talk to one of the advanced bloggers who have already done it.

Honors Bowling Night

Hey gang! Don't forget that Honors EMS is sponsoring a special MSSU Honors bowling night on Monday, September 18th at 8:30. Meet at Carl Richards Bowling on N. Rangeline in Joplin (north of the campus, by the Webb City Border). We want to see some fun pictures that we can post here!

Show Us The Honey, Honey!

We've been noticing some pretty sweet photos on the blogs wherein you guys show off your significant others/current squeezes. F'rinstance, Freshman Morgan Chenoweth posts just the cutest shot of her with dreamboat Ryan at a baseball game here. And Freshman Alexis Dollar introduces us to the dashing young Jordan here. Sophomore Amber Kodesh shows off her young family here. And then there's this lucky guy, with his gorgeous wife.

If you'd like to show off a photo of your honey on your blog, stop by for a demonstration on how to post a digital picture.

Alex Vassilev Stands Up For International Students

Senior Honors student Alex Vassilev published a hard-hitting opinion piece in last week's issue of The Chart, questioning the commitment of MSSU to its international students. Alex, a native of Bulgaria, is concerned that MSSU is overlooking a precious resource in its efforts to promote itself as Missouri's "International University."

Here's a sample:

In every history class I have taken, the professors urged us to understand the importance of primary sources of information when gaining an accurate and objective picture of any past or present event. In reality, the internationals on campus not only bring rich and diverse cultures to this University but they also serve as active promoters of their countries to American students willing to take advantage of the international mission by participating in study abroad programs. Almost every international student attends one of the universities featured in these programs and hosts American students. By sharing their inside knowledge and experience with other Southern students, internationals can help eliminate or at least reduce culture shock and assist students in making sound decisions while abroad.

Read the entire opinion piece here. Add your comments to this post or e-mail Alex personally here.

Juggling Anyone?

"M.C. German Honors"---AKA Freshman Maurice Cramer is looking for people who would like to be part of a juggling club here at MSSU. No experience is necessary, according to MCGH. He'll teach anyone who wants to learn. See his blog post here for more details.

Abbie and Adam are Engaged!

Congratulations to Honors Junior Abbie Cooper and Honors Senior Adam Stratton on their engagement. And you guys thought Dr. Ackiss was joking when he said that at least one of you would find your life-partner in this program!

Send your congratulations to Abbie here and Adam here.

Jessica Selby, "Miss Versatility"

Honors Junior Jessica Selby was featured in an article in the Branson Daily News entitled "Miss Versatility." Read all about how Jessica combines excellence in athletics (she was named MSSU female athlete of the year last year) with a well-rounded college life here.

Virtual Views of Oxford -- Online

Thanks to Dr. Ackiss for passing on the link to this incredible website which allows you to see a 360 degree view of practically every spot in and around Oxford. If you've never been there, it's a great way to preview the experience, if you have been there it will be a delightful stroll down memory lane----the Gates of Merton, the Turf Tavern, the Bodlien, Exeter, etc. etc.

Matt Day for Student Senate

Sophomore Honors student Matt Day is running for Student Senate and needs your support on election day, September 5th. Read about Matt's reasons for running and what you can do to help on his blog here.


Update: Congratulations, Matt! No doubt you'll be hearing from your new constituents soon.

Philosophy Club

What is reality, dude? And this thing called "mankind" --- does it possess an essence, or is it merely a kind of animal with an ongoing "project" of self-development? How can we be sure the ends we pursue of founded in virtue? Does virtue even exist? Or is it simply the name the ruling class gives for behavior it wants to encourage? Can we prove by rational means the existence of God? If not, can we reconcile reason with faith? Does science describe some kind of ultimate reality? Or is it just another type of "discourse" we use to muddle through this vale of tears we call life?

If you are the type that loses sleep on these types of questions, consider the MSSU Philosophy club, which has been revived recently by Honors students Patrick Beckett, Matt Lawrence, Anthony Shipman, and Lauren Oxendine. The club meets regularly under the guidance of Dr. Barry Brown and with the occasional participation of your blogtastic assistant director.

Click here for the Philosophy Club blog. And consider coming to the film showing the club has set up for next Thursday, September 6th. Contact Patrick Beckett for more information.

Don't Put Your E-mail Address on Your Blog

As we discussed with you during Freshman orientation, you want to be careful about putting any kind of personal information on your blog, such as your address, telephone number, etc.

You should also avoid putting your e-mail address directly on your blog. Unfortunately, the internet is swarming with "spambots"---little programs that scan webpages for e-mail addresses, which are then sold to spammers. If you type out your e-mail address on your blog, we can almost guarantee that you'll see a marked increase in the amount of e-mails you get touting quasi-legal "male performance enhancing drugs, online gambling and porn, and, of course, appeals from foreigners in developing countries pleading with you to assist them in black-market currency exchange schemes.

So, how do you give people an easy way to repond to you in a blog post? Here's how:

1. Type some text like: "for more information, contact me."
2. Select a portion of the text, like the words "contact me."
3. Click the little "hyperlink" toolbar icon, the little globe with a link on it between the color icon and the left justifcation icon.
4. When the hyperlink box comes up, delete what's in it and type: mailto:
5. Then type or paste in your e-mail address. Thus if you're a guy, the string will read something like: mailto: dragonsword_demonslayer@att.com. If you are a gal, the string will read something like: mailto: princess_pickle_puppy@joplin.net. Or you could just use your official MSSU e-mail address.
   
6. Save and close.
7. You'll now see your original text with "contact me" as a hyperlink. When a reader clicks on it, a new e-mail should be fired up, with the address you supplied already in the "to:" box.

Poker With Jake

Freshman Jake Forste is looking for people who want to play a little friendly poker. Read about it here. No word on when the slots and roulette tables will be ready. . .

New Bloggers---Don't Forget to Check For Comments!

I suspect that many of our new bloggers have comments to their posts that they'd like to read and share with others, but a new feature on Blogger requires blog owners to take an extra step to review and approve comments before they appear.

We think this is as great idea because no one should have to see things on their own blog that they don't approve of. However, this requires each blogger to make a regular effort to check for comments and approve those that they want to appear on their blog.

The procedure is simple. After you initially log in, click on the name of your blog, then look for the "Moderate Comments" tab. Clicking on this will give you a list of the comments that have been left for you. You can then check off the ones you'd like to appear on your blog. You can also sign up for e-mail notification of comments. We didn't select this when we created your blogs, but you might find it convenient to get an e-mail message letting you know that someone has commented on your blog. This will remind you to visit the "Moderate Comments" section and review and approve your comments.

If anyone is still having trouble logging in, getting a blog unlocked, or figuring out the "Moderate Comments" feature, please contact me ASAP.

For those non-Freshman out there who would like to have this kind of control over the comments on their blogs (especially those who are getting lots of "comment spam," click the "Comments" tab on your blog and choose "Word Verification" and "Moderate Comments."

-- JM

Jessica Selby Explains British Culture

Junior Jessica Selby spent part of her summer at Merton College, Oxford. Let Jessica explain the delights of "pubbing," "high table," and getting "staggerish" right here.

The Wonderful World of Jamie

Sophomore Biology major Jamie Reed has, as usual, lots of good stuff on her blog, including photos of all the cute pictures her students made for her when she volunteered at a grammar school for her Service Learning class. You'll also learn what Jamie did this summer and the new TV shows on her must-see list. Finally, Jamie gives you links to her favorite fashion sites. You go, girl!

More Freshman Bloggers Check In

Kalyn Thompson is making up for lost time now that her blog is finally unlocked.

Sarah Perkins wonders why so many of us accept greed and wastefulness as part of human nature. Does it have to be that way?

Kevin Zimmerman checks in with thoughts about the hostage crisis game from the perspective of the media.

Brennan Benkert has thoughts about his first week as an Honors student.

Jakob Forste on what he wants out of college.

Felicia Humphries on her first week in college.

Amanda Hinkle on the hostage crisis game.

Brian Smith on the game and the first week of classes.

Tristan Coble on the game, which got her "hamster moving and the little wheel spinning."

Reba Hocker on surviving the first week of college.

Will Lynch attempts to define art.

Alexis Dollar on what she expects out of college.

Adebayo Orunpekun on college expectations.

Stacy Heiskell on the hostage crisis game.

Heather's First College "Party"

Don't miss Heather Dickson's account of her first college "party" and the various anxieties and moral dilemmas it presented. Why not use the comments section to this post to weigh in your own feelings about the "party culture" associated with college? Is partying essential to the college experience? Can you "party" without alcohol and/or drugs? How does an Honors student make good decisions about when, where, and how much to party?

By the way, Heather's experience is pretty mild compared to the freshman who announced last year that he had been out partying the night before (a Thursday, I think) until 3 a.m., at which point, somebody pulled a gun on him.

And here we were thinking you were all in your jammies, tucked into bed by 11 pm, with nothing more than a bellyful of warm milk and dreams of differential equations to send you off to slumber-land!

Jim Spena's Oxford Blog

We owe Honors junior Jim Spena an apology for our earlier failure to provide a meta-blog link to his rich and thought-provoking blog posts from his summer experience at Merton College, Oxford. Give Jim a hyper-linky visit and read all about his adventures amongst the Brits. Jim pulls no punches about what delighted him and what disappointed him about the experience.