"Put down that wrench!"

In lieu of a proper post, some observations.

Signs of Spring on Campus

• The campus is full of first-year geographers with theodolites (regular as clockwork, Thursdays in the second half of February every year). The area between the Staff Club, the Law building and the stream must be the most-surveyed part of Southampton (no mean feat, considering we're the home of the Ordnance Survey).
• Students' Union elections are upon us. Again. I amuse myself by playing spot-the-crypto-Nu-Labourite, and seeing if they're at all distinguishable from the crypto-Young Tories. Sadly, the candidates are what you'd expect from a generation that were born under Thatcher, spent their childhood under Major, and their adolescence under Blair. MOREOVER, I HAVE NOT BEEN MISTAKEN FOR A STUDENT (not even a postgrad). V. disappointed.
• The plaza outside the Students' Union is full of stands from the Big Four, with bright young things debasing themselves in order to lure in the gullible. Join KPMGPriceWaterHouseCoopersDeloitteToucheErnst&Young as a fresh graduate, travel the country, and dress like an eejit in a futile attempt to convince people that Accountancy Isn't Dull. Worst job seen in 2007-2008: the lad that spent all lunchhour with his head, arms and torso stuffed into a medium-sized suitcase (his legs were free so that he could walk around). I bet he wasn't told that the graduate recruit programme involved partial asphyxiation. Still, if you don't play the game, you won't make your way in management.
• The deadline for Semester 2 exam papers starts looming.

In other news, there has been a regrettable outbreak of Ugg boots. This must stop. I'm sick of seeing undergrads wearing mid-thigh denim skirts, opaque black tights, and the ugliest sheepskin boots known to mankind. What's wrong with DMs? They at least give the foot some support - the Ugg wearers seem to spend all their time shuffling around (I've not yet told them to pick their feet up and walk properly, but that day will certainly soon come), and most of them seem to have feet that pronate so badly that their heels are half-off the boot heels.

Also, what's with the widespread wearing of University-branded clothing. As a student, I wouldn't have been seen *dead* wearing a sweatshirt with "University of Warwick" on it, and that seemed to be the case for most of my contemporaries (club/society clothing being the exception). I'd ask "have they no self-respect", but I don't want to sound like an embittered academic on the slippery slope towards middle age.