3 ms·

Dear President Reif, Don’t Fuck Up the Culture

6 points by cgtyoder 12y ago

MichaelCrawford 12y ago
I attended Caltech and UCSC. A couple years ago I went back for a visit. I was appalled to see the entire campus totally deserted on a late Friday afternoon. What's more, every single exterior door on the entire campus had a card-key lock, with no doorbells. I was hoping to visit the Robinson building, where I once was a research assistant for astronomer Jeremy Mould, but I could not get in. When I visited Ricketts House I figured there would have to be doorbells, as otherwise the students could not find out when visitors had arrived, but no. I hung around waiting until a student passed through. "Old Scurve?" he asked. "Yeah?" "What class?" "Ex '86." I was later accosted by three Institute security guards, dressed all in black with combat boots, like Police SWAT teams. They did not believe that I was a Caltech alum. I kept trying to tell them I was "An old Scurve". They did not know what a "Scurve" was. For a Caltech security guard to not know what a Scurve was is like it would be for a UC Berkeley security guard to not know what a Hippy was. Lately the Institute is repeatedly hitting me up to donate money. I'll be happy too - when they remove the cardkey locks on the Student Houses.
- ScottBurson 12y ago
  Okay, but for the rest of us, what's a Scurve?
  - MichaelCrawford 11y ago
    Sorry - a member, or resident of Ricketts House. Scurvy and Ricketts are both nutritional diseases. However Ricketts House was named for Louis D. Ricketts, who donates the money to build it back in the 1920s or so. Ricketts - Scurve - Drunkard Blacker - Mole Fleming - Flem - Athlete Dabney - Darbs - Stoner Page - Page Boys - Athlete Lloyd - Lloydies Ruddock - Rudd - Gentleman The first four are the old houses, all built during the 1920s, the last three are the new houses, built just to the north in the 1960s. I understand that the book "Electric Kool-Ade Acid Test" tells the tale of how the LSD supply for the entire west coast of the united states turned out to be coming from one single room in Lloyd House.
ScottBurson 12y ago
Outside security services working the dorm desks? Sounds like MIT -- probably like a lot of other places -- is headed toward in loco parentis helicopteri.

6 points by cgtyoder 12y ago

I attended Caltech and UCSC. A couple years ago I went back for a visit. I was appalled to see the entire campus totally deserted on a late Friday afternoon. What's more, every single exterior door on the entire campus had a card-key lock, with no doorbells. I was hoping to visit the Robinson building, where I once was a research assistant for astronomer Jeremy Mould, but I could not get in. When I visited Ricketts House I figured there would have to be doorbells, as otherwise the students could not find out when visitors had arrived, but no. I hung around waiting until a student passed through. "Old Scurve?" he asked. "Yeah?" "What class?" "Ex '86." I was later accosted by three Institute security guards, dressed all in black with combat boots, like Police SWAT teams. They did not believe that I was a Caltech alum. I kept trying to tell them I was "An old Scurve". They did not know what a "Scurve" was. For a Caltech security guard to not know what a Scurve was is like it would be for a UC Berkeley security guard to not know what a Hippy was. Lately the Institute is repeatedly hitting me up to donate money. I'll be happy too - when they remove the cardkey locks on the Student Houses.

ScottBurson 12y ago
Okay, but for the rest of us, what's a Scurve?
- MichaelCrawford 11y ago
  Sorry - a member, or resident of Ricketts House. Scurvy and Ricketts are both nutritional diseases. However Ricketts House was named for Louis D. Ricketts, who donates the money to build it back in the 1920s or so. Ricketts - Scurve - Drunkard Blacker - Mole Fleming - Flem - Athlete Dabney - Darbs - Stoner Page - Page Boys - Athlete Lloyd - Lloydies Ruddock - Rudd - Gentleman The first four are the old houses, all built during the 1920s, the last three are the new houses, built just to the north in the 1960s. I understand that the book "Electric Kool-Ade Acid Test" tells the tale of how the LSD supply for the entire west coast of the united states turned out to be coming from one single room in Lloyd House.

ScottBurson 12y ago

Outside security services working the dorm desks? Sounds like MIT -- probably like a lot of other places -- is headed toward in loco parentis helicopteri.