The Haircut:
I had a stylist named Adrienne and she seemed to know what she was doing. She knew a lot about new hair coloring techniques and I was fairly impressed. She discussed with me what I wanted to do and I felt confident she understood what I wanted. To her credit, she did do what I wanted. She cut my hair as much as I wanted, brought my layers back to life, and trimmed my bangs back. I saw her checking her work and making sure the layers were even and styled my hair to perfection. Because she seemed to be checking her work, I never thought that she would make a rookie mistake. I’ve been looking for a new stylist for the past year and a half because my stylist that I’ve been seeing for the past 5 years moved to Florida. I’ve been desperate to find someone to replace her because she was the bomb diggity. After Adrienne cut and styled my hair I thought, this girl is the one! I woke up the next day and washed my hair and analyzed it to see what it looked like when I styled it myself. That’s when I noticed something; something not so great… She didn’t cut a small section of the bottom layer of my hair.

My messed up hair

It’s not like she completely messed up the whole layer, but clearly this is something that would happen with someone that wasn’t paying attention. I ended up cutting that piece off myself. I’m disappointed beyond belief. I paid $38 for that haircut and she screwed up. I don’t throw around that kind of dough because I have money to blow on something like a haircut. When I spend money like that I expect the quality to be better than the Hair Cuttery. I pay a lot of money because I want my hair to look good. Will I ever go back to Do or Dye for a haircut? Nope. Never. There seems to be no quality control, and that is just pathetic. Will I pay $40 again for a haircut where it’s blatantly obvious the hairdresser didn’t fully check her work? No ma’am, I don’t think so.

The Brows
I scheduled an appointment for the next day to get my brows done because they couldn’t book me after my haircut (apparently the esthetician had facials all day). I had a lovely girl named Rachel. She also did a consultation with me about what I wanted my brows to look like, and in the end I was satisfied. Of course my eyebrows stung a bit after the procedure, I mean, they are ripping my hair out of its roots. When I woke up the next day, I was pissed. I paid $15 for Rachel to do my eyebrows, and she managed to rip a bit of skin off. I have an obvious scab there and today my boyfriend’s mom asked me what happened to my face (which was embarrassing beyond belief). I’ve paid half the price at Lee Nails and not once have they ever managed to rip my skin off. They’ve also managed to do a great job on my brows. I don’t think I’ll be coming back to Do or Dye.

My poor brow!

Do or Dye, two strikes and you’re OUT. You don’t deserve three tries! With a tip of $10 for the haircut plus the brows with a tip of $2, I’m out $65 for abysmal services. Unfortunately for them, I wanted to get my highlights redone, and guess where I was going to go! I think I’m going to go back to Thomas Scott Salon. They’ve never managed to mess anything up, and the only reason I haven’t gone back is because Idon’t like the area it’s in. I’m going to have to go back there and find another stylist because I’m THROUGH with Do or Dye. Do or Dye doesn’t deserve to have any more of my money because the only thing they’ve managed to do is mess up.

Verdict: I will never go back, and I don’t think you should waste your time with this place. Clearly their stylists have no quality control and their estheticians don’t know what they’re doing. I wouldn’t take my dog here to get a haircut.

Verdict: Avoid this place if you’re looking for good food. If you want to waste your money on crappy food, come on in! The fries are soggy!

Dell XPS 14z
I kind of want one -sigh-

I customized this laptop in May of 2011 with a second gen Intel processor, 6 GB of RAM, 1 TB hard drive, and a 4 year House Call, Accidental damage warranty. The screen is 17.3″ is this laptop is really a desktop replacement. For those of you that aren’t too computer savvy, let’s just say this is a pretty nice machine. I haven’t had too many problems software side, but hardware side I have had some major difficulties.

First I should say that HP has vaunted itself as a computer company with outstanding customer service.
I, however, would have to disagree with that.
Four months after purchasing my computer, the mic and webcam inside the laptop broke. I called HP support and expressed my concern. They told me that it was likely a hardware problem, but just to confirm, I would have to wipe all of my data and reset my laptop to factory standards. Needless to say, I was pissed. I would lose all my data and have to reinstall and the software; but I did it anyway. I had to if I wanted to get my laptop fixed. Of course resetting all my data didn’t make my mic or webcam suddenly work, so I made arrangements for an HP tech to come out to service my laptop by replacing the entire lid/screen of my laptop. I was told the tech would be there between 1 and 5 pm to do the repair. 5 pm came and went and at 6 I called HP demanding to know where my tech was. After a bit of digging, I was told that the part was on back order and that I wouldn’t have an HP tech out to my home until the part would be shipped. I was absolutely furious. No one told me that my part was on back order and I spent the better part of 4 hours waiting for an HP tech to show up. I was then so infuriated that I requested to speak to the tech-I-was-on-the-phone-with’s supervisor. I was directed to the man’s supervisor and I told him that I wanted my part to be cancelled and a box to be shipped to me so that I could just ship my laptop in and get this whole thing over with. The tech I was on the phone with said that that was even higher than his supervisor and he had to call a case manager. I was put on hold for half an hour before I reached the case manager. Apparently they somehow “lost my call” and I was holding on a different line than the tech or the case manager thought. I was told that my part was cancelled and that a box was being shipped to my home. Of course, HP is totally incompetent, and they didn’t cancel my part. I still received the part and I had to turn around and ship it right back to them. What a waste. The box was also shipped to my previous address instead of the one I currently reside at. It was very frustrating and my case manager assured me that everything would go well as soon as I put my laptop in the box. I shipped my laptop into HP and got it back by the next week looking good as new. This whole process took me about two and a half weeks to resolve. This is completely unacceptable by my standards and I paid almost $300 dollars so that stupid stuff like this wouldn’t happen. More recently I had some of the letters chip off my keyboard. I called HP and they shipped me out a new keyboard in a jiffy. I had made an appointment for a tech to come out and do it for me, but the keyboard came with instructions on how to replace it. I’m not stupid, so of course I replaced it myself. I then called HP back and asked them to ship me a label. They said that wouldn’t be necessary because a tech was already scheduled and I could just give him my other keyboard. The tech was supposed to be here between 1 and 5 pm, and at 3 pm I get a call saying that he wouldn’t be able to get here until 7:30 pm. I get a text at 7:30 pm asking me if we could please reschedule for tomorrow as he was running late. The incompetence of HP is just overwhelming. I’m not sure that I would ever buy another HP laptop given the amount of hardware failures I’ve had. I would not recommend this laptop to anyone else, and I would recommend a Toshiba Satellite laptop. I’ve had my Toshiba for 4+ years and it has yet to break on me. It runs just as snappily as my HP (albeit the multitasking power just isn’t there) and I used it as a back up computer while my HP was in the shop. I’ve dropped it numerous times and it has suffered some banging about and it works just fine.

Overall I would not purchase another HP laptop. I would go back to Toshiba.

Professor: Stephen Beckerman
Every time he lectures, I always picture him as Obi-Wan Kenobi. He has a very serene, calming voice. I wouldn’t say that it makes me sleepy, but it’s definitely one of the more soothing voice that I’ve heard. He’s probably mid 60s and he seems to have all the patience in the world. He seems to be passionate about his field and he knows a lot about the Bari (a tribe in lowland South America) because he’s worked with them over a decade. If you ask him any question, I’m sure he’d be happy to answer it with his very usual calm composure. There’s nothing wrong with him and I find him to be a very good lecturer.

Homework: Pretty Intense
There are weekly readings, make-your-own-exam-questions, and quizzes that his TAs assign. If you want a decent grade in this class I would highly recommend doing all the homework. The class average was a 40% for the first couple weeks of school.

Notes: Fairly Important
In my opinion, as long as you show up to lectures and pay attention, the need for notes isn’t that great. I rarely go back to reference them, but for studying I find them useful. If you don’t show up to lecture, you’re not going to pass this class. Some of the material covered in class is not in the book and there will be questions concerning the topics and movies watched in class on the exams. The exams make up the majority of your grade, and they are not to be taken lightly. I find that this class is a lot of memorization. If you don’t know the definition of a word or who came up with the structure for what, you won’t do well in this class.

Punchline: Take this class if you find anthropology really interesting or subjects relating to it interesting. This class requires effort, and if you don’t like it, then pick a different class.

JoePa fired.
Graham Spanier fired.
It’s a fiasco.

Last night and the previous night, the press showed some footage of Penn State students rioting near Old Main and in the streets. While this is true, it should not be called a riot, but a protest. PSU students are protesting the firing of JoePa and the unfairness of kicking him out without even letting him finish the season. In a press conference he said that he would step down next year, but they axed him before the season ended. Contrary to the media, not all Penn State students are tipping over news vans or bringing down light posts. The media will vilify us to no end, to make us look like hooligans run amok. What you didn’t see on your television screen was that a lot of people were trying to stop the idiots from tipping a van or a light post. They tried to stop those morons from destroying public property. You didn’t see it, you weren’t there. Half of the time nothing was even going on. I was in the thick of it, right in front of Canyon Wings on Beaver street. Most of the time there was just chanting and milling around. Once the cameraman got on the balcony to film us, the whole crowd erupted into cheers and chants. It isn’t what you think it is. It’s all staged, it’s all a sham. We’re not violent people. We’re totally docile and we don’t want to hurt anyone.

Now, why did they fire Paterno and Spanier?
The Board of Directors said that both of them knew that Sandusky was messing around with little boys. I’ve read the 23 page grand jury report. Paterno knew, and he deferred the matter to his immediate supervisor. Both of them assured him that the matter would be taken care of. Paterno did not know the punishment given. If both Paterno and Spanier knew something, both of them would have been charged with not reporting child abuse to the police. It seems that Penn State has found its scapegoat(s). Don’t you think that if Paterno and Spanier knew then they would have been indicted already? It seems that there isn’t substantial evidence to bring them in on charges, so how could the Board of Directors fire Spanier and Paterno on some nonexistent, insubstantial evidence? If there is evidence and they’re just hiding it, I’d be interested to know. So far I have not been presented with one news article that has proof from either the lawsuit, the police, or any quotes that prove that Paterno and Spanier were involved. Penn State is blaming the wrong people and kicked out two of the most influential people in the university because they couldn’t find someone better to blame. They got Curley, Schultz, and McQueary. Who else do they need? Did they really need to take Paterno and Spanier with them? Where is your proof?

Professor: Kazimieraz Wiesak
I would definitely say that Kaz (as he likes be called) is a professor for people who have passed Calc I without any problems and scored at least a 3 on the test. He talks in math-speak and if you don’t know what he’s talking about, you might as well give up. It doesn’t get any better. If you don’t understand what the teacher says when he says, “The inverse derivative of f(x) is f’(x)^-1 = 1/f^-1(f(x))” I would quit right now. Kaz is a funny guy and he can be entertaining. He’s also quite brilliant in his own right. He’s also Polish and has a fairly strong accent. The first few days of class I didn’t really get what he was saying, but after that it was just fine.

Homework: Minimal
Contrary to other math professors, Kaz doesn’t assign much homework. I think we get an assignment once or twice a month that have 40-45 problems due in a week. It’s really not that bad, but it’s probably not good for the procrastinators.

Notes: Crucial
Notes in this class are absolutely essential. If you don’t take notes, you won’t pass. It’s just formulas and examples anyways, so if you decide to nod off, you can always look in the book for help.

Punchline: This class has absolutely killer midterms. The problems are easy, but the answers are not obvious. You have to know your algebra and log rules very well in order to figure out the answers. This class is not for the meek antelope that is scared of the lion. You definitely have to take this class by the mane and run with it. If you put in a decent amount of effort, this class should not be a problem.

Professor: John J. Hannan
Dr. Hannan is really laid back and he’s willing to help you if you come to him. He seems to get a bad rap on ratemyprofessor.com, but I don’t see why. Sure, this class is hard, but hey, this is college. Suck it up or drop the class. I’m a computer science major, so maybe I’m biased, but I like this class and I like the way Dr. Hannan teaches. He’s really approachable and he’s really a nice guy. This course does move fast, and if you have ZERO programming experience or if you’re not willing to work hard for your grade, this class isn’t for you. Like I said, this class is a weed out class. If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Homework: Time intensive
This week I worked on one program for a total of around 6 or 7 hours. I have no programming experience, so I’d say the time needed to put into this program varies. If you’re a whiz kid at this stuff, you’ll probably only spend an hour or two on the assignments. Assignments are given out every Thursday to be completed by next Thursday. There’s only one assignment, but it takes awhile to code and think about and debug. Office hours are plentiful, and if you’re really stuck you can go to all of them. That’s what I do. This class isn’t easy-breezy, and you do need to put a considerable amount of time and effort into everything you do.

Notes: Minimally important
Depending on the type of person you are, you probably don’t need to take notes in this class. Most of Dr. Hannan’s notes are put on ANGEL a few days after lecture. As long as you understand the lecture, I would say you probably don’t need to take notes. All of the notes are a program anyways, so if you can keep up with him all the more power to you. Usually it’s just easier to pay attention in class and download the notes later

Punchline: This class isn’t easy, and you will need to work for every percentage point
If you love coding, this is for you. If not, you’re better off skipping it.

Overview:
I decided to take Earth 2 as a General Science gen-ed. I picked rather fortuitously in that this class isn’t that difficult. It’s officially called The Earth System and Global Change: An interdisciplinary introduction to the processes, interactions and evolution of the earth’s biosphere, geosphere and hydrosphere. I know it doesn’t sound interesting, and honestly it’s not. Unless you’re really into learning about Earth’s circulatory systems, this class probably isn’t for you. I don’t find it particularly fascinating or enrapturing, but it IS an easy GPA booster. All of the things that will be tested are generally told to you the class before the test. There is no final, but there are 3 exams. This class isn’t interesting. Let me repeat: you will fall asleep at some point. BUT. The professors are really what make the course.

Professor: Klaus Keller
He’s a baller. He’s one of the more entertaining professors I’ve had. He tries to make this stuff interesting, and sometimes he succeeds. He’s a funny guy and he speaks around 4 languages (German, French, English, and some Russian). I believe he grew up in northern Germany so that would explain the flaky Russian; but at any rate, this guy is hilarious. I love having him as a professor and he breaks stuff down so if you’re literally dumb as rocks, you’ll probably get it. There is some fairly basic chemistry involved with the course, so a shaky chemistry background won’t hurt if you’re going to take this course. Knowing some chem will definitely help with your comprehension. He is foreign, so he does have a bit of an accent, but nothing horrible. You can totally understand him after the first week. If he talks to fast sometimes he trips up on this pronunciation. If you don’t get it the first time around, just ask him to repeat it. He will because he knows he mumbles. If you’re down with an easy A/B and you can pay attention through the boring bits, I would definitely say that this course is for you. I recommend an energy drink or some coffee before going to this class. There’s a new Starbucks conveniently located in the HUB, so I would hit that up before Earth 2.

Homework: Minimal
The homework for this class is not much. I have to read a chapter out of the book once every week and a half and that’s it. There’s nothing else you have to do. From my perspective, reading the book is really more beneficial after he teaches the material in class. If you pay attention in class I’d say you don’t have to read the book, but the book really adds to your comprehension.

Notes: Crucial
Notes in this class are absolutely essential. If you don’t take notes, you won’t pass. Dr. Keller posts his powerpoints on ANGEL so you can print out the slides and write on them if you so wish. You should plan on coming to class if you want to pass the course.

Punchline: Take this class if you can handle some boring stuff in return for an easy A/B