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If you think I don’t post to this blog often enough, consider reading my other, work-related blog, where I post more often.
What I'm Reading
- Apple to Unveil its Next Move in Music?CBS News | Aug 30, 2010Apple has scheduled a big event for Wednesday. CBS News speculates on the company's coming announcements.
- Can Preschoolers Be Depressed?New York Times | Aug 25, 2010Some psychologists believe preschoolers can experience bouts of depression, this New York Times report says.
- Electronic Arts stands by Medal of Honor Taliban featureCNET | Aug 25, 2010EA defends the ability to play as Taliban soldiers in the upcoming "Medal of Honor" game.
- Twitter’s not stupid – you just have boring friendswww.andrewdubber.com | Aug 16, 2010A nice look at how to get the most out of Twitter and refutation of some common Twitter complaints.
- Is 3-D dead in the water? A box-office analysisSlate | Aug 24, 2010Slate magazine looks at whether people are happy with just two dimensions in their movies, thank you very much.
- Apple to Unveil its Next Move in Music?
Recent Comments
My Clips- Cause of plane crash west of Bozeman under investigation, pilot pronounced dead at scene August 31, 2010
- The man who wanted train horns August 16, 2010
- Money well spent? August 15, 2010
- Local telecom company gets $64 million to bring high-speed Internet to rural Gallatin County August 5, 2010
- Montana Opticom receives $64 million in stimulus money for rural broadband August 4, 2010
- AT&T to replace Alltel in Montana within a year June 25, 2010
- Bozeman twin looks to scale namesake peak: K2 June 21, 2010
- High water claims Amsterdam Road bridge June 12, 2010
- Trio of veteran Belgrade teachers retiring June 7, 2010
- MSU robot digger wins NASA competition May 29, 2010
Michael Becker has been blogging about academia, digital culture and journalism since 2005. He is the Web editor of the
Breezeway goodbye
Part of a concrete breezeway connecting my building and several others on campus collapsed last week. No one was hurt. No one even reported seeing it happen, so quiet is campus in the summertime. It was a surprise to me, though. I walked back into my building at 2 p.m. after an appointment — everything was fine. I walked out again at 4 p.m. and part of the concrete roof just to the east was on the ground and someone had posted a cute little sign that read “walkway closed.” No shit.
News came late last week that the university is going to tear the entire breezeway down, ending its life after just shy of 60 years. Not a bad lifespan, I suppose.
I comment on the breezeway because it makes me a little sad to see it go. It connects, at one end, Langford Hall, and the four-building Johnstone Complex. An entire row of four dorms and an administrative building connected by a block-long concrete overhang that has stood since the late 1950s.
I walked under that breezeway daily when I lived in Langford as an undergraduate. It kept us out of the snow and rain on the way to the cafeteria in Johnstone. As a resident adviser in the building, I even saw jackasses scale to the top of that breezeway sometimes in the night and run along it. They got written up, if we could catch them.
I wonder what the Johnstone and Langford residents will think when they come back in late August and the breezeway is gone. Will they notice?
This is all prelude of course. I’ve seen the university’s 50-year plan. In half a century, neither the Johnstone Complex nor Langford will exist, let alone a silly breezeway. But still, it’s sad to see the demolition start so soon.
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