Freedom Without Walls – Tuesday Events

by Public Relations | Nov 3, 2009 | Staff

“Freedom Without Walls” events continue today with a lecture, a film, and art and public speaking contests.

• Andreas Daum, associate dean for undergraduate education and professor of history at the State University of New York at Buffalo, will speak on “Berlin in the American Century” at 4 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge.
• “Das Land hinter dem Regenbogen” (“The Land Beyond the Rainbow,” 1991), a harsh yet poetic critique of Stalinism in East German, will be screened at 7 p.m. in Lyons Hall room 418.
• Also, the second day of the Public Speaking Contest is underway. Come and see the participating students being filmed in the Quad while they present their speeches. And, the Wall Art contest continues. See the competitors create their graffiti at the Wall in the Quad!

Submitted by: Peter Böhm, associate professor, modern languages

“Funeral” To Be Held For “Chupacabra;” Served DMA For Nine Years

by Public Relations | Nov 3, 2009 | Staff

The Mac server “Chupacabra” died peacefully on October 14, 2009 in an ITS life support facility. Although “Chupa” (as it was affectionately called) was a computer, it was nonetheless very close to the hearts of the Digital Media Arts (DMA) program, and today, November 3, it will be “buried” respectfully on the grounds of Lyons Hall. A “funeral” procession will begin at 4:30 p.m. from Room 118 in Lyons Hall, where a reception will follow. All are welcome to attend.

“Chupacabra” went into service when the DMA program began nine years ago. It hosted the websites for DMA students; served course materials, safe dropboxes for assignments, and FTP; and most importantly…as a trusted location for file back-ups.

As the DMA Program has grown through the years (currently 120 majors and three full-time faculty), “Chupa” had to handle more and more data. It stretched and packed terabytes of data, and nearly crashed many times. But like a quirky Mac, it always seemed to “work” in the end.

One of the unique things about digital content is that it seems “eternal.” These days, people store much of their treasured memories in places like Flicker and YouTube. There is no guarantee that these companies will continue to “take care of” this material, but many people have a strange sense of faith that they will. Our feelings are focused on the ethereal “content” of this material, rather than on the physical hardware that actually contains it. “Chupa’s” funeral is an opportunity to reflect on the “corpse” of an old computer that contained so much, for so many, for so long.

Submitted by: Jamie O’Neil, assistant professor, digital media arts