SOM-pty

Who in his right mind would be hanging out at the school weeks after our last exam? I asked myself that while hanging out at the school weeks after my last exam.

After doing a few errands on foot on this rather warm day I decided to swing into the School of Management for some air-conditioned respite, as well as to check my mailbox (empty) and see if the IT folks were still working (more on that below). There were actually also a couple students loitering about, which surprised me.

This reminds me that I may not have given due mention in this blog to the fact that construction is under way for a new $150 million SOM campus, set to open in 2013. You can learn more and see some pretty kick-ass renderings here. I find it rather greenhouse-like. Having been in only two other business schools, I am not the foremost authority on the extent to which SOM is outdated or deficient in its facilities, although word on the street is that it most certainly is. The current school is surely an old-school school -- chalk boards and all that. They want to go pretty Star Trek with SOM 2.0.

It's too bad that the new campus won't be ready until two years after I graduate. Too bad not just because I'll miss it, but because I will soon not have an old SOM campus to come back to and visit. I haven't gotten a straight answer as to what they're doing with the old campus. The fronts consist of gorgeous mansions, and the backs, where we actually have class, were constructed in the '70s, I think.

Anyway, back at the current SOM, I was happily surprised to see that the IT department is still working full days and would be happy to fix a few problems I'm having with my laptop. I'll do that tomorrow. What service!