Hey guys. Although it is nice now, it’s time to start being cold. We just finished our last disc tournament last weekend and today is the last practice. Yes disc (not ultimate frisbee; the world frisbee is a brand name owned by Whamo) is an actual club sport here at Alfred. We play against schools from all over the area as well as all over the United States. Last weekend’s tournament had students from Brockport, UB, Houghton, Roberts Westlyean, and other Buffalo/Rochester teams. In the spring we head down every year to Savannah Georgia for a national tornament.

Those of you who haven’t played before might be asking… what is this “disc” business he’s talking about? Well, imagine a game where you get on the field, start running/sprinting/juking/jumping/diving and don’t stop until someone scores a point. Now imagine doing that for an hour and a half. Now imagine doing that 6 times in one day. Sore is an understatement. The game is like doing chess on a treadmill. The offical rules of disc can be found at www.upa.org but to simplify: It’s played on a 70 yard by 40 yard field (15 yards extra on each side for endzones, so it’s a full football field) with two seven-player squads using a high-tech plastic disc. The object of the game is to score by catching a pass in the opponent’s end zone. A player must stop running while in possession of the disc, but may pivot and pass to any of the other receivers on the field. The job of the defenders is to hit the disc out of the air to gain possession of the disc. Anytime it hits the ground it turns over to the other team. With a team of over 20 people, 5 hours of practice per week and 2 hours of game time per week, you can tell this is more than a club. Shown here is Shane after a very nice winning point for our team. You can see the layer of ice over the turf.

This should just show how open we are to new things. Disc is still a relatively upcoming sport with only around 1,000 recognized college teams. It wasn’t all that popular until around the late 90s and has exploded in the recent years due it it’s fast pace and nonstop action. The same way that we were the first school to have men and women in the same classroom and one of the first to have people of all races studying together, Alfred is not afraid of change has has been on the cutting edge for new thought and technology.

Enough campus promotion… let’s hear from some disc players. Send a comment if you have played before or would like to play.

What’s up perspective students? (Or tour guides.) We are now ending our fourth week of classes, the weather is starting to dip down, and I swear I saw some leaves falling. Scary thought huh? I always like this time because you can see the campus transition from the vacation spot to being home sweet home. I have my frist quarter exams tomorrow (Organic and Molecular back to back) so I have spent a good amount of time in my text book.  I think that’s one thing you aren’t going to learn about from the brochures, websites, or tours… there is a serious change in coursework when coming to college. In return, during the changing seasons, Alfred is gorgeous. Last year me and a friend climbed the hill on State’s side of town to get to the highest, clearest area we could, took around 50 pictures, and matted them together to make one solid photograph of Alfred. It’s around 12 feet long with normal resolution but here is a mega down-size of it:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v294/loquito5765/finalsmall.jpg

Yes I know there are photoshop programs to do this but I actually like the barriers between the pictures and the way it’s a little choppy. I worked with a program to make it one completely flush picture but didn’t like it as much as this version. I’m sure one of our art students could do better. Anyway, I have to get back to studying oxidative phosphorylation. Have fun, and come visit while it’s still beautiful here! I would love to give you a tour.

How’s it going perspective students? My name is Cory, I’m a junior biology student here at Alfred. I am an active member in the Ultimate Frisbee Team, Outdoor Club, Skate Division, and intermural Tennis. I came here in August 2007 as an art major but after some time I thought I would check out more of what Alfred has to offer. I transferred over to the School of Liberal Arts and starting trying on different hats. I fell in love with the Biology and Political Science programs and after even more testing I finally settled with a degree in Biology for the Prehealth Professions. I still work at the Corning Museum of Glass on Thursdays blowing glass in their studios and recieving credit for them, so I am really a good example of how when you get to college you can really become a “Individual Inspired.” I found a way to budget my schedule to fit in all of the things I love.

Feel free to ask any questions, we will be happy to tell you everything about campus as honestly as possible. I am also a tour guide, vice president of the glass club, licenced skydiver, longboarder, guitarist and woodworker so please, I really mean it… ask anything. I’m known for being a little too honest.

Number one question I get on tours? “What the heck is there to do in the woods?” Better question… What would you like to do in the woods?

There are pages of clubs in the back of our Center for Student Involvement booklet. Recently 5 other students and 2 staff members and I attended a bills game dressed up as the “Daydream BILLeivers.” Center for Student Involvement set up a plan where they pitched in some money and it ended up being 25 dollars per student to take a bus to the Bills vs. Lions game. Pajamas included.