May 07, 2008 18:38
Well, that sure was a confusing colloquium, and I'm not just referring to the hour I spent listening to a 90-year-old loony ramble incoherently about the moon and Buck Rogers. Yes, the subject line is a quote.
It was the last colloquium of the academic year, when departmental awards are traditionally handed out. This progressed without incident until, when near the end of handing out the several Outstanding TA awards, the head of the physics department said that I "couldn't be here today." People made sounds and it was realized that I was in fact there, but then they realized I was instead getting the Robert O. Pepin Fellowship in Physics. I have no recollection of applying for or being awarded this fellowship, so I tried to fake knowing what was going on. No word on whether I was successful.
It comes with a full 50%-appointment stipend for the summer, but unfortunately, any first year who submits a research plan for the summer gets a generic "fellowship" anyway, so I think this will just be a non-monetary upgrade of that, rather than a supplement to it. Still, I got a nice, heavy wooden board and a fancy certificate out of it. That's gotta be worth a couple bucks.