a short list of things i noticed during the first week of school

• Most freshmen still think they need to look nice for class. I suspect this will change around October.


• Grad students are more likely to bring laptops to class than undergraduates. I suspect this is not because they are taking more notes, but because they've learned that playing games on your computer is much less conspicuous than doing the crossword in the newspaper.


• Only about 30% of people on campus will have umbrellas during a torrential downpour. The rest use a copy of the student newspaper; they soon discover one more way in which the paper is ineffective.


• There is always one student in every class who thinks he's too cool for school.


• Chivalry has not made a comeback. (I rode the bus this week.)