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Older students tend to dislike the new Arts canteen and younger students (Year 2s, at any rate) tend to like it. This is, of course, due to nostalgia and romanticisation. One thing anyone can agree on though, is that the servings are now smaller. AND THERE ARE NO MORE COLD DESSERTS (the stall holders said there was no space in the new stall). I WANT MY CHIN CHOW AND LONGAN!!!
Alternate IVLE version:
For example, it’s interesting how some of my seniors dislike the new Arts Canteen because they feel its bland and has lost its unique ‘identity’ and ‘soul’. Personally, I believe the unease stems partly from how the people have not had time to ‘grow into’ this new, unfamiliar structure; it hasn’t been fully habituated by the community and has yet to acquire that deeper sense of meaning which elevates mere ‘dead’ landscapes to a cherished part of one’s lived community.
I find it interesting how most of the older students dislike the new Arts Canteen but most of the newer ones like it. I think it has to do with notions of authenticity, hearkening back to a halcyon (and often imagined past) and the imbuing of tangible space with emotions, memories and other aspects of intangible space. The euphemism for this is "character", "cosiness" or the like. In fact, the older students are not evaluating the new canteen per se but seeking a symbol of their happier times in NUS, which the new place inevitably cannot be.
On the other hand, students who only experienced a semester in the old canteen are less encumbered and better able to judge it on its merits. Alternatively you can look for a positivist, but since it's become unfashionable you probably won't find many of those around.
Research projects are supposed to clear ethical guidelines. On my ISM form there're fields for the supervisor and coordinator to make sure these are not breached by the project. Yet the stupid IRB site (Institutional Review Board) is not available for students to read to make sure the projects they propose don't breach these guidelines. Bah.
I was suffering from Year 4 Ennui for a while, but now it's shrugged off most of the time.
USP Science modules usually involve some Arts component, but to my knowledge no USP Arts modules have Science components. This reflects how immediately irrelevant Science is to our daily lives.
Some people wanted to organise a lunar eclipse viewing session. I wasn't sure what the point would've been, since you would see literally nothing. But it appears that you don't see literally nothing, as a time lapse movie of one on the Wikipedia article shows. Damn.
I notice classes with Indian instructors have a disproportionate number of Indian students.
I noticed that the FASS computer lab technically (according to the rules no one follows, anyway) is for FASS staff and students only. And 'lab supervisors are not obliged to help students in using the software and programs' (so what are they paid for?)
Some classes have what I dub the American Syndrome. ie People talk a lot, everyone has an opinion, there're various lame jokes cracked but ultimately very little is said.
[the fell bat: btw whole of SMU is subject to American Syndrome
it's how to score
The 24 Year Old Virgin: this is also known as the SMU syndrome
we are catching up]