A Letter Written by Tyler Molander, A Student at Umass
Hello,
I’m pissed off at this campus. There is no way for me to get you to understand what I’m really talking about in a page of text. There is no real way to get you to care. Someone will always be freaked out by a note getting shoved under their door, someone will always jump to conclusions, someone will always be busy, and someone will always just throw this letter away without even opening it. So please, just stop and think for one quick minute.
This is what I want to have: a group of friends that do not need to rely on common interests or activities in order to foster friendship, love, and new experiences. What I mean by this is that I don’t want friends solely based on video games, having the same taste in movies, getting drunk on a Friday night, smoking pot or doing other drugs because we’re too lazy to think of anything else, or talking for the sake of talking. I want to do new things, real things… and I don’t want to do them alone.
So, my best friend and I are going to wait in the Blue Wall every day next week (1/30-2/3) from 6pm-7pm or so. I do not want to drink, play video games, make small talk, etc. I do not want to be a means to an end. I want to create things to do on campus, and I want to create with you. I am aware that I may seem stupid, desperate, boring, or whatever negative things you wish to think of me. But the truth is that I am stupid, desperate, and boring and want to change. Call me crazy, but I don’t want to do stupid shit anymore. People can change, but most are lazy. I want to find the people who can understand this, but this school is way too big and I will never have the opportunity to meet everyone. So, I wrote you a letter to tell you that I am here.
I’m proof that at least one person is frustrated that this school is not providing an acceptable social atmosphere. So let’s make it. If you want to do real things at this school, try to be an empathetic human being, and don’t just want more people for your friend collection, please come to the Blue Wall or email us. If you want to talk about everyone else, not yourself, this is the place for you. I want people who I can grow with, who I can create with, who I can be human with, who I can feel real feelings with, who I can love, who are real. Time is short and I’m tired of waiting. If you have felt anything while reading this, please contact me - Not for yourself, but because you know that’s what should happen. Cut the shit, human up, and make time. Even if you don’t like me, there will at least be one other person there to talk to. So think about it, that’s all I ask.
Look for the Green Frog. Regardless of anything I’ve said here: If you want a friend in any form, please contact us: Umassfriendclub@gmail.com. I’m afraid too.
Remember that I love you,
Tyler Molander
Please don’t come if you are acquainted with me, I apologize, but just trust me.
He was living in Southwest. He wrote this letter earlier this week and slid copies of it under the doors of strangers’ rooms in order to form a “friends club.”
Several of the people who received the letter called the police and the administration got involved. He was put through a mental analysis, was told that someone threatened to “bash [him] over the head with a beer bottle,” and had to spend a night in a safe house. And today The Daily Collegian reported that he has withdrawn from the university, possibly under pressure from his peers and from the administration.
While this letter contains some awkward phrasing and word choice, I really see no reason for the response that this letter has drawn. It seems to be an honest attempt to create a change in the social structure of this university written by someone who has had trouble relating to the people around him. I for one can certainly relate to his feeling that most of the relationships that are formed on this campus are based on one common interest and rarely extend much further than that interest (video games, sports, movies, drinking, etc.)
I’ve been feeling much the same way since coming back from winter break, so this news is especially poignant for me. I am sincerely sad that Tyler Molander has decided to withdraw, and I really wish that I had gotten a chance to meet him.
30 Renowned Writers Speaking About God (by JPararajasingham)
Pulverized Planet Dust May Lie Around Double Stars
Tight double-star systems might not be the best places for life to spring up, according to a new study using data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope. The infrared observatory spotted a surprisingly large amount of dust around three mature, close-orbiting star pairs. Where did the dust come from? Astronomers say it might be the aftermath of tremendous planetary collisions.
The particular class of double stars in the study, RS Canum Venaticorums (RS CVns for short), are separated by only about two million miles, or two percent of the distance between Earth and our sun. The stellar pairs orbit around each other every few days, with one face on each star perpetually locked and pointed toward the other.
The close-knit stars are similar to the sun in size and are probably about a billion to a few billion years old — roughly the age of our sun when life first evolved on Earth. But these stars spin much faster, and, as a result, have powerful magnetic fields, and giant, dark spots. The magnetic activity drives strong stellar winds that slow the stars down, pulling the twirling duos closer over time. And this is where the planetary chaos may begin.
As the stars cozy up to each other, their gravitational influences change, and this could cause disturbances to planetary bodies orbiting around both stars. Comets and any planets that may exist in the systems would start jostling about and banging into each other, sometimes in powerful collisions.
Above: (1) This artist’s concept illustrates an imminent planetary collision around a pair of double stars. (2) This artist’s concept illustrates a tight pair of stars and a surrounding disk of dust — most likely the shattered remains of planetary smashups.
Unreal Estate by Tim Doyle
A few detailed and somber pieces from the world of the Simpsons among other pop landscapes. these among others will be showcased at Doyle’s upcoming exhibit at Spoke Art Gallery, showing Feb. 2 - 23.
Elakala Falls
The first and most-visited of the four Elakala Falls located in Blackwater Falls State Park,West Virginia, US. The Blackwater River, named for its tannic acid-darkened water, flows over the falls as it makes its way into the rugged Blackwater Canyon.
(text/photo: Forest Wander Nature Photography)
Volkswagen parking lot towers at Autostadt in in Wolfsburg, Germany
Holy shit, wait, is this for real??
#reasonstoliveingermany
