Where to begin, then? Perhaps an exterior shot of my dorm, Mayflower
Hall, will do it. It's sort of like ML to the main Iowa downtown campus,
which is a mile away and up a hill. The rooms are nice though; a kitchenette
with large fridge and oven and a bathroom between every 2 rooms. Given that
there's no one in the adjoining room, it's just my roommate and me.
Plus, there's AC. It's posh compared to Swat dorms, but HUGE.
The right side of the dorm, where I'm staying, could probably accomodate
all of Willets and Wharton combined. That side of the hall is a long
as all of Willets, and there are 8 stories.
And now, the view from my dorm. Mayflower overlooks the Iowa River, so
one can get a nice view in the mornings. If I've missed
the Cambus shuttle or just feel like walking to lab, I get a nice view.
On my way in, as I approach downtown, I pass some of the dorms. This one
is particularly elegant. There are some stately fraternity/sorority houses
here too.
When I do take the bus, I get off here, at the Pappajohn Business
Building. I just had to get a picture of this as it reminds me of
Papa John's Pizza. Note the Cambus in the background.
Here is the physics/astronomy building, Van Allen Hall. The building
is named after the same van Allen for whom the radiation belts in space
are named. He is one of the emeritus professors here at Iowa. The
interior of the building is unfortunately drab and institutional-looking.
The equipment and resources here are far more extensive than those at
Swarthmore. For example, though the picture doesn't show them,
there are several optical telescopes and a radio telescope on the roof.
This is the apparatus I'll be working on. Inside the vacuum chamber,
we form dusty plasma crystals. If' you're curious, feel free to email me.
The next several shots feature downtown Iowa City. First, here are two views
of the Old Capitol, a University building that served as the capitol of Iowa in
the 1800's. Unfortunately, there's a crane as it's under renovation. Several
years ago, workmen were doing asbestos removal in the golden dome with heat guns
and ignited a serious fire.
One nice area downtown is the Ped Mall shopping area. The brick paths free
of traffic remind me a bit of some European cities. There are always people
sitting on the benches here, relaxing. On Friday evenings this summer,
bands will perform here.
In Iowa City, the University's Hawkeye sports teams are much more prominent
than their counterparts at Swarthmore. This summer, statues of Herky, the Iowa mascot,
are on display around the downtown area. Various artists and local groups
have decorated them. I think New York City did something similar with
cows a few summers ago.
Last but not least, three of my fellow REU students. From left:
Cindy, RaeLin, and Tom. Something happened on the right side since this was
the last shot on the roll of film; I should figure out how to crop this.
And that's all for now.