On the Merits of Licking Rocks

Contrary to popular belief, not all rocks are the same; in fact, they have a diverse set of origins, compositions, structures, and properties, all of which can be related back to their mineral make. This of course renders mineralogy, which is exactly what it sounds like, an important component of any geologist's set of mental tools for conducting field work and research. Now th...
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Breaking Away – Paleontology on Fall Break

The soft mud crumbled beneath our feet as we meandered across the barren terrain. Here and there, flat blades of gypsum caught our eye, shimmering in the light. All around us lay bits and pieces of petrified wood, brilliant fusions of magenta and crimson, emerald and azure. A lizard skittered away from us and into the safety of a small dessicated shrub. Above our heads, a plump...
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Open Channels

If you didn't already know, Dean Feldblum loves to tweet (see her Twitter), which makes her one of the coolest administrators I've ever known. But aside from that, she's not just an awesome administrator, but also a great human being. For many college and high school students, administrators--and even the Dean of Students (or the equivalent)--can sometimes be shadowy unknown fi...
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Two Sides of the Coin

Flip a coin. As long as you're using a real coin (as opposed to a trick one), you can call whichever side you want, but you can't have both. "Head I win, Tails you lose" is not an option. This is just the way that coin-flipping goes. In a similar fashion, many of the ways in which people approach situations, make decisions, and render judgments for things beyond a simple coin f...
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Smile Lots

I opened the navy blue folder, quickly flipped through the generic academic information, and found my unofficial transcript, scanning the page until my eyes came to rest on a name: Eric Grosfils. Eric (or Professor Grosfils as he was known to me at the time) was the professor tasked with being my academic advisor. After a quick Google search, I learned that Eric was a professor...
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Escape to the High Sierras

This past weekend, students and faculty of the Geology Department took the opportunity afforded by the pre-midterm lull (let's not talk about how I have three in one day next week) to embark on the annual department trip. We departed early Friday morning for Mineral King (located in Sequoia National Park) and watched out the windows as the urban landscape faded into open farmla...
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