This is the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center during construction. I was on the committee for this buiding and remember all the various discussions from, sound 'clouds', adequate seat sizing, potty parity and the many discussions relating to finding solutions to never having enough funds.... but it turned out very nice afterall.
Here is what I am reading today:
“Researchers for the first time have shown that drinking beet juice can increase blood flow to the brain in older adults — a finding that could hold great potential for combating the progression of dementia.”
“What genetic oddities does rock’s Prince of Darkness and beheader of bats have entangled deep in his genetic code? Knome, the company that analyzed Ozzy’s full genome, divulges some of the details in a Q&A”
“Worried about when you might get dumped? Facebook knows. That’s according to a graphic making the rounds online that uses Facebook status updates to chart what time of year people are splitting up. British journalist and graphic designer David McCandless, who specializes in showcasing data in visual ways, compiled the chart. He showed off the graphic at a TED conference last July in Oxford, England.”
“Could a fetus lying in the womb be planning its future? The question comes from the discovery that brain areas thought to be involved in introspection and other aspects of consciousness are fully formed in newborn babies. Resting state networks (RSNs), sometimes called the “dark energy of the brain”, are patterns of low-frequency brain activity that are constantly active, even when a person is asleep.”
6 Comments
fallingSLOly · November 3, 2010 at 11:43 am
I love the Facebook story because it took a while for me to think about it, but it all seems to be completely valid! I have always thought there seemed to be common breakup times and seeing this study makes me know I am not the only one that feels this way.
I feel like once school starts, we fall into the cycle of school and being busy all the time, and being in a commitment is more convenient, especially when everyone is at school together. Once the weather starts getting warmer and we start making plans for spring and summer, we find that we want to break the cycle and drop the stress, and usually relationships fall into that category.
I mean of course it is wrong to say that all relationships are doomed by springtime, but I think this study has the potential to make a lot of couples paranoid.
M.Klein1023 · November 3, 2010 at 5:48 pm
I’m not convinced that the Facebook breakup study is a good representation of the general public. The fact that they searched people’s status updates means their sample was limited to the type of people with more outgoing/dramatic personalities. Perhaps these were more frivolous relationships to begin with, more susceptible to the influences of superficial factors such as Christmas gifts. Based on my experience with Facebook, the kind of people who would address breakups in their statuses have, on average, different dating patterns than those who consider that too private a matter for such public attention.
kxtran89 · November 4, 2010 at 10:19 am
I found both the articles, “Facebook knows when you’ll break up” and “Introspection brain networks fully formed at birth” very convincing. First of all, Facebook statuses are a good way to keep track of where people are at in relationships since millions of people all around the world use it – making it a good random sample. This is also not the first time its been addressed that most breakups happen around Valentine’s Day, Spring Break, and other holidays. When considering the validity of these observations, I myself must agree that the amount of thought that goes into a gift can really make or break a relationship (which is probably why there are so many breakups around Valentine’s Day and Christmas).
Furthermore, the second article about the fetus having fully formed brain networks by 40 weeks really got me thinking about the old folk theories that claim you can shape your child’s future while they are still in the womb by reading a lot, talking to the fetus, and even just keeping yourself in a relaxed calm environment. Also, if the brain is developed that much in a fetus, then would nurturing the child already begin before they are even born and would we know if the child is possibly affected by the environment it’s in even when it’s still in the womb?
clwarren · November 5, 2010 at 5:42 pm
I am a believer of what the facebook/breakup article is preaching. As much as I agree with M.Klein and how they say that the sample is very limited and in no way represents the population they are studying, I wholeheartedly agree with the outcome. Two weeks before Christmas breakups surprise me, that’s terrible… at least buy the poor girlfriend a pair of shoes to soften the blow. But come January, I am on the look out for couples in my friend groups to break up. Honestly, I’d say at least a dozen a year within people that I know alone break up in between Valentines and Spring Break…
And as for April Fool’s…. that’s a joke. 🙂
Katy Lackey · December 1, 2010 at 6:25 pm
The article about Facebook providing a timeline of when breakups are likely to occur was very interesting. I agree with the gist of the data: I’ve observed that breakups are more prevalent in times when transitions are near, such as seasonal changes, holiday changes, etc. For example, I did research last year for a speech on Valentine’s day and how the holiday is surrounded by breakups. I’m guessing it has to do with the pressure to define a relationship through gifts on that particular day may increase the overall stress in a relationship.
Its interesting to see that Facebook is such a popular aspect of our lives now that research is being collected and analyzed from the site. I wonder if the researcher collected data or considered the relationship statuses of people not using Facebook? Would the timeline shift at all? My guess is that there would not be a significant difference between Facebook users and non users because the transitions that occur throughout the year, and apparently effect relationships, happen whether or not someone has a Facebook page.
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