Playing Tourist: The Newseum

There is a good thing about dreary, rainy days: it is a perfect excuse to go to a museum. In DC, we are spoiled with so many great, free museums that we might overlook the ones with an admission fee. Fortunately, Alex got free tickets to the Newseum, which usually costs $20 a person, through his job.

Overall, I would say that I was really impressed. The experience was sensory overload, but in a good way. Everywhere you walked there were video clips playing on multiple high definition screens of all sizes, radio broadcasts overtaking the airwaves, hundreds of vivid images lining the walls, and dozens interactive exhibits. At first it was a little overwhelming, but then you realize that you get your money's worth because you have enough really great exhibits to keep busy for hours, and even multiple trips back.

Among my favorite things at the Newseum were:

• The 100-foot big screen showing a montage of the most important news clips during our lifetime. It is really incredible to realize what you have lived through in such a short time.
  
• The 9-11 Gallery which included a movie describing how journalists reported that day. Even though I remember watching the news that day, the images on this video were very powerful and everyone watching teared up. I especially think being younger and removed on the West Coast did not allow me to fully comprehend the magnitude eight years ago.
• The Pulitzer Prize Photograph Gallery, especially with images from the Vietnam War.
  
• The Berlin Wall Gallery which included 8 sections of the Berlin Wall and an East German watchtower.
  
• Everything related to the First Amendment.
  
• The layout which was airy and spacious. The patio, which had a perfect view of the Capitol and Pennsylvania Avenue was really cool too.
  

. . . And there was so much more. As much as I can hate the news sometimes, the Newseum does remind you of what an important role it plays. One of the walls had a quote saying: Journalism is the first draft of history. So true.

So, if you have a full day, I highly recommend going it so that you can try to see as much as possible. I spent three hours there, and I would go back.

Turning the Interview Tables

After selecting a graduation speaker amongst ten people who auditioned, interviewing sixteen people for four Dean's Fellow positions (after already cutting fourteen on paper), and grading submissions to try out to be on our law journal, I realized that making those types of decisions is really hard.

Everyone is "uniquely qualified" and oftentimes we had to factor in seemingly arbitrary factors or things that they applicant could not control. "Oh, this candidate is too much like someone we already have."

Now, I feel like I cannot blame the decision makers for any position I have ever been rejected from and wonder how I ever got any position that I have.

Marketing Madness

Whoever came up with the idea of March Madness must be one of the most savvy business people ever. Here I am, almost a week after UCLA woefully lost, still watching basketball games of teams for which I have no affiliation . . . other than that I chose them in my bracket.

Why March Madness is the perfect sports set-up monetarily and entertainment-wise:

One and done tournament style: Unlike championship series (World Series, NBA championship), every game could be your last game and therefore, everyone cheering for that team will watch and maybe even go to that game (like me). Furthermore, unlike a pure championship game (Superbowl), there are so many good games to watch preceding the final game.

The Cinderellas: Related to the one and done style, March Madness opens up for the possibility for a lower-ranked team to win-it-all. Moreover, it garners a lot of positive publicity if a lower-seeded team who no one has ever heard of advances really far. I never knew anything about George Mason University until March Madness a few years ago.

Brackets: People are competitive, and to have a one-time bracket you have to fill (unlike a fantasy team you have to manage weekly), you are going to get a lot of people to participate. Moreover, it does not take any knowledge to decently fill out a bracket, so you are going to have a broader range of people following games, making sure their bracket stays in tact.

Alliteration: I am a big fan of alliteration. Sweet Sixteen. Elite Eight. Final Four. March Madness!

The Schedule: I think the fact that everything happens in a matter of weeks, and games are on television Thursday-Sunday pretty much all day, hooks people in moreso than if all the games were spread out.

The Schools: 64 schools representing all conferences, ranging from tiny Jesuits schools to huge public schools means a lot of different people watching. I mean, I never thought I would get to see both UCLA and AU in the tournament.

Back in the Day

My friend Lauren came into town this week and it was great having dinner with her. Not only did we get to share law school war stories, but we also reminisced about college life. No, we did talk about the "glory days" (I loved college, but have no desire to go back). Rather, it was so funny to talk about technology then--a whole 3 to 7 years ago.

Instead of the days of Twitter, in college we had AIM and those yellow away messages. I remember how great we all thought those away message were, and how we would come up with a saved list of witty messages. And unlike the red dot on gmail, the away message actually meant that we were away and could not respond to messages.

I can still remember when Facebook was this new thing that was only open to a few colleges. I remember how you could not tell who wrote what on each other's walls and how one person could edit another person's whole wall.

So much has changed in the way that we communicate in just a few years. It is almost scary to think about what will be around when we have kids.

Red Means Stop

Today, many people I know have been circulating this NY times article about how "Drinkers’ Red Face May Signal Cancer Risk." This has of course alarmed my Asian friends and I the most since Asians are know for getting the "asian glow" when they drink.

Basically, the article talks about how certain people, most commonly of East Asian decent, do not have an enzyme ALDH2 to break down alcohol. This causes flushing, nausea, and rapid heartbeat, even after as little as half a beer. I already knew this. What I did not know is that some people think that without this enzyme, the toxin called acetaldehyde can accumulate in the bodies of moderate to heavy drinkers. This in turn may lead to throat cancer.

Although everything nowadays seems to cause cancer, the research seems a little shaky, and it seems like you need to drink a lot of alcohol for this to make an impact, it does provide a good lesson. If your body is physically reacting-whether it be flushing, nausea, and rapid heartbeat- you are not the only person and you should feel comfortable stopping. The article talks about how you should not disregard these warning signs by continuing to drink or taking antihistamines to mask the glow.

My friends may make fun of me for drinking beer really slowly, but I'd rather have lukewarm beer than get sick. I just do what my body tells me to do. Plus, it makes me a cheap date.

The Countdown

1 month + 4 days: Time left of classes
2 months + 1 day: Time until graduation
10: The number of graduation speeches I listened to yesterday.
0: The amount of motivation that I have had since Spring Break to read for any of my classes.

Tourney Time

The Good

• Great seats: 14th row on Thursday, 4th row on Saturday. Perfect to watch both of my schools play.
• Thursdays games: AU putting up a great fight against Villanova and UCLA winning a nail-biting game.
  
• The spirit: watching all the AU fans come out in force and sitting amongst hundreds of Bruins that came from all parts of the country.
• The AU-UCLA alliance: UCLA got pumped for AU (well, because we didn't want to play Villanova) but it was really great seeing the AU band cheer for us after they had lost.
• Saying goodbye: Even though it was far from their best game, I was glad I got to see Collison, Shipp, and Aboya all play one last game. It feels like the end of an era
  

The Bad

• Loud obnoxious fans: There was this one Villanova fan behind us on Thursday who had the most piercing voice. Unfortunately, there was a worse UCLA fan on Saturday who made us just look like referee-blaming loud-mouthed sore losers. He had no idea what he was talking about.
  
• My bracket: busted.
  

The Ugly

• UCLA's loss: We all knew we were underdogs, but it was never close. Tough way to end the season.