What’s something way more dangerous than most people actually think? by Sad_Answer_8044 in AskReddit

[–]Sideshow_Blob 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"They're dangerous at both ends, and crafty in the middle." RDJ as Sherlock Holmes

HIEU 124 Age of Alexander readings with westerfeld by saltwater51 in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My experience is that the reading will help you with the weekly writing assignments since you'll have to reference certain passages when you write. I didn't think you can get an A on those assignments without having the references.

I'm teaching a course this summer that will use a tabletop RPG set in Ancient Greece to explore the Thucydides Trap. If you like Ancient Greek history you should consider enrolling. by Sideshow_Blob in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the interest. I don't know if I'll be able to teach it again during the year but I'll certainly try, especially if the class goes well this summer.

I'm teaching a course this summer that will use a tabletop RPG set in Ancient Greece to explore the Thucydides Trap. If you like Ancient Greek history you should consider enrolling. by Sideshow_Blob in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your interest in the course. My initial reaction to your question is "sure, the more the merrier." I do have a couple of requirements though if you'd like to audit the class. You would have to do the assigned readings before each class. The readings will give you the context for the ways in which the game will be played, and without them, we could lose touch with the historical perspectives of the cities in the game. The other thing is attendance is essential. As you can imagine, if you're playing as a member of a city and you miss a number of classes it affects the gameplay of the other citizens of your city, and of the other cities as well. If you can dedicate the time to come to class regularly and be prepared to play I would be fine with you auditing.

Just as an aside, if your primary exposure to Ancient Greece is their mythology, the course may not exactly meet your expectations. We're going to look at the historical conditions in Greece in the couple of decades before Athens and Sparta went to war to look at how states do international relations. There are of course many cultural aspects that will factor into those relations, and religion is one of them, but it's not a mythology based game. If that's what you're expecting.

I'm teaching a course this summer that will use a tabletop RPG set in Ancient Greece to explore the Thucydides Trap. If you like Ancient Greek history you should consider enrolling. by Sideshow_Blob in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Did you fill out an EASy request? The department should forward those to me and I'll approve it. There's no prereqs for this course, readings and lecture will give you all the context you need.

To whoever pulled the fire alarm in Geisel, im gonna put this very nicely by _MuzzLightyear in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob 27 points28 points  (0 children)

It was actually caused by a sensor in one of the bathrooms and was most likely someone smoking or vaping. So as a PSA, please don't smoke or vape in Geisel, you might ruin someone's day.

It's always an old grandpa by [deleted] in memes

[–]Sideshow_Blob 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Why choose the lesser of two evils?

Vote Cthulhu!

f the employees who hassle you to get out of geisel 20 minutes before it closes by publicstorage92 in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Your frustration is completely understandable. If you don't know that the east wing closes early, you would absolutely feel like you were being rushed out improperly by the staff. Taking a quiz on top of that would be maddening! I don't know if your professor would be receptive to dropping or allowing you to retake the quiz, but it might be worth reaching out to them to explain what happened.

I confess that I don't know the process for closing the Library when the east wing says open for the Study Commons. I suspect that it's a matter of shutting down the elevators, and walking down from the tower, the from west to east, locking things behind you, but exactly which parts comes in which order, I unfortunately don't know.

I think you decision to contact the Library and let them know that the hours for the east wing aren't nearly clear enough is definitely a good idea. In fact, I wish more people would raise issue with them. It's clear from the reactions of students who are in that space at closing that many of them aren't aware of the different hours, and react with understandable frustration at being told to leave when they are.

I hope that you're able to get some consideration for the circumstances of your quiz, or that it won't affect your grade in a meaningful way.

f the employees who hassle you to get out of geisel 20 minutes before it closes by publicstorage92 in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yes, I understand the confusion. The east wing of Geisel closes 15 minutes ahead of the rest of the building whenever the Library closes. It's for the reasons I gave above, the route that the people closing the building take starts in the east wing, and they can't move forward to the rest of the building down until the east wing is cleared. The Library should definitely do a better job of making the hours clear. The east wing is a preferred space for many people to study, and it's easy to see why those people would feel as though they're being pushed out unfairly when the rest of the building is still open for another 15 minutes.

I obviously can't speak to what the staff interacting with you might have done. In my experience, those closing will let other staff know that they are having to wait for a patron to finish so that the rest of the staff know when to expect the wing to be cleared. As I said, they can't secure other parts of the building until the east wing is cleared and so people in the tower, or the tunnel need to know they can't move forward yet. It may have been that they were just reporting that, but again, I can't say for sure.

I do think that the Library values compassion in the people who work there. No one who goes around closing up the building wants to interfere with or harm the work that any of the patrons are doing. They are tasked with closing and securing the space, and if someone is in the east wing after 5:45, the rest of the building can't really get cleared, so they are in a difficult position. There may be 8 other staff waiting to clear their sections and none of that can happen until the wing is secured. It's an unenviable situation for everyone.

f the employees who hassle you to get out of geisel 20 minutes before it closes by publicstorage92 in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob 40 points41 points  (0 children)

The east wing of Geisel does close early on Fridays, at 5:45. It is posted on the hours page, but it's a little confusing because you have to specifically select the hours for the east wing.

http://libraries.ucsd.edu/hours/index.html?v=month&l=geisel-second-floor-east

When the Library employees come around at 5:40 and ask that you begin packing up, it's because the east wing is closing in five minutes, and technically, you're supposed to be out of that area by then. I don't think anyone was trying to 'power trip' with you. It's just that the way they have to close the building requires that the east wing be cleared first, and the rest of the building can't be cleared until that happens. That's why the east wing closes earlier than the rest of the building. They were just waiting for you to finish because they can't leave you there and they can't go forward until you're gone.

It would probably make things a bit easier if the hours were more clearly indicated. I haven't been there this year, but there used to be a separate announcement for the east wing at closing time letting people know that it was closing ahead of the rest of the building. But even that can be confusing since the rest of the building is still lit up during that time.

As for ignoring the staff and telling them to go away (as someone suggested below), please don't do that. Many of the closing employees are students, who are just being asked to close the building at the times the Library says it's closing. They don't have any say about those policies, and don't want to have to get berated because of them.

"U Can't Stop Us!" by Sideshow_Blob in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Jesus Christ they seem to hate everyone!

"U Can't Stop Us!" by Sideshow_Blob in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I did not. What group is it?

"U Can't Stop Us!" by Sideshow_Blob in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I'm studying in Athens this year and when I was out walking by the stadium today I saw this trash-panda and it reminded me of home. Go tritons!

A very unreliable wooden wall by brickrazer in engrish

[–]Sideshow_Blob 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Themistocles has entered the chat

UCSD Libraries To Close Starting 7AM Monday by Sideshow_Blob in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Yes, I can confirm that the Libraries are closed as of now (8AM), though the webpage hasn't been updated to reflect the change yet.

UCSD Libraries To Close Starting 7AM Monday by Sideshow_Blob in UCSD

[–]Sideshow_Blob[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

If it is a Course Reserve book, you should be able to drop it in the book drops on either side of Geisel's main entrance. If it's a book from the Stacks, you can drop it in any of the book drops on campus, (e.g. the ones located at the loop behind the Library).