Mark Emmert announced in October that they had obtained funds for the creation of a centralized data center that would allow UW departments to better organize and expand their computing capacity. According to Colleen Pike, the director of UW’s Capital and Space Planning Office, the board of regents approved a plan in July that would would renovate one of the three smaller office buildings that are part of the UW Tower complex, which was acquired from Safeco during the last school year.

This data center will service the entire campus and will be managed by UW’s Computing and Communications department.  When this center is operational there will be many opportunities for departments and students to utilize this expanded capacity and this will presumably take the stress off the existing communications infrastructure.

While Pike said that the project is still in the design phase, it is apparent from this plan that they are allocating about $5 million of the project’s $32 million budget, or roughly 15 percent, for improvements to the communications infrastructure. Construction is scheduled to begin in June.

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Data Center Plan (PDF)

“This is the kind of rain that pushes all of our systems and resources to their limits,” said Mayor Greg Nickels Monday in a press release . “Hundreds of City of Seattle workers have responded, working hard to keep people safe, protect property and keep the city moving. We’ll keep our emergency center open and crews out in the field as long as needed.”

According Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, the storm dumped about 6 billion gallons into the city’s drainage system, or roughly six times the volume of Green-lake; constituting what he called the “Second-Wettest Day in City History”. He later admitted that drainage system that the city was built around simply wasn’t designed to handle that much water.

The UW also experienced the effects of the storm on campus as streams of rainwater ran through the streets and walkways on campus. Many students with classes in Condon Hall, including myself, were forced to relocate to dryer locations as storm waters flooded the basement. However, crews had already started pumping out the lower floor of the building by mid-afternoon and according to the UW Office of the Registrar, classes will be meeting back in their usual classrooms tomorrow.

For more updates on this and other campus emergencies, visit http://depts.washington.edu/registra/emergency/

I’m back with a recap of the 100th Annual Apple Cup as promised. While it was a disappointing loss of 42-35 for Husky fans; for the better half of the game, the score was tied and both teams seemed to be evenly matched.

Husky quarterback Jake Locker, went back to play, seemingly unimpeded by his neck sprain from a few weeks ago. The huskies lead the game for the greater part of the first half, but the Cougars tied up the score 28-28 by halftime.

For halftime show the UW and WSU marching bands combined forces and performed an elaborate display while photos of all 99 previous Apple Cup games were shown on the Huskytron screen.

The second half was more exciting, with several near fumbles and a touchdown drive by Locker. Unfortunately the Husky team crumbled after that. The final blow came when Washington State Quarterback Alex Brink, a Senior from Eugene, Oregon, threw a long touchdown pass. With 25 seconds left in the quarter, the Huskies tried to drive back down and tie up the score, but were stopped short by the clock.

After the game, Washington State Governor Cristine Gregoire presented the Apple Cup trophy was to WSU Coaches and players.

Husky Quarterback was injured the game on November 10th against Oregon State in Corvallis. Doctors diagnosed the injury as a stinger and a trapezius muscle strain; a “neck sprain” as Coach Ty Willingham described it to reporters after the game.

Locker, a UW Sophomore, was second in the nation for yards rushed by an NCAA quarterback, with 807 yards in ten games. With three games left in the season, Willingham told reporters that he wouldn’t rush Locker back into action. Doctors have determined that Locker’s injury is not permanent and he began physical therapy the day after the injury.

While many on the team have been expressing that it seems like Locker wants to play again this season, there is a clear message from both Willingham and Locker that he wont be playing until the doctors give the ok; which might means he probably wont be playing the rest of the season.

Last week Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times predicted that Willingham was preparing backup quarterback Carl Bonnell to play last Saturday’s game against California and it prediction turned out to be correct.  Bonnell was able to keep up the pace of the game, not letting off for a minute.  The fowl weather at the start of the game seemed to slow down California and give the Huskies a sizable lead the Bears were not able to overcome.

While the UW’s 4-7 record is not good enough to get into a bowl game this year (for the fifth year in a row); with the win on The Huskies moved from being the lowest ranked team in PAC10 Football to the number seven slot above Washington State and Standford.  I will be attending the Apple Cup which will be played next Saturday at 4 p.m. at Husky Stadium and it should be quite an interesting game.  While doctors have cleared Locker to play, commentators seem to think that he will not re-appear until next season.

The lawns in the Quad and in front of the Hub were transformed into graveyards November 2, when volunteers placed markers bearing the names of more than 3,800 soldiers killed in Iraq since the beginning of the U.S. occupation in 2003.

The student-lead Washington Huskies Against Military Occupation in Iraq (WHAMO) organized the display with the help of about Seventy volunteers. The markers themselves were loaned to WHAMO by the local chapter of Veterans for Peace who have been maintaining these signs.

Joshua Farris, a WHAMO officer and a veteran of Iraq, said that their club was formed last month by about five people and has since grown to about twelve active members and more than eighty supporters.

“Why is it that there isn’t already an established Iraq occupation group on campus as we are about to enter the fifth year of this conflict?” he asked rhetorically. “As a veteran I was disgusted by the lack of one. “

In addition to the display, WHAMO staffed four information tables with pamphlets about the Iraq war, as well as advertisements for their club and an upcoming documentary.

Farris said that their club is also planning to establish ethics courses and community discussions for ROTC program, provide material aid to returning Iraq veterans & Iraqi refugees in the form of financial assistance for attending or teaching at the UW, and to actively encourage companies and individuals to divest from companies which profit from the Iraq occupation and/or provide materials which injure Iraqi civilians.

For more information about WHAMO email: whamoiraq@gmail.com.

Click here to view WHAMO’s letter to The Daily.

In his annual address to the University of Washington, Tuesday October 16, President Mark Emmert praised the strides being made by UW researchers and also set goals for the next year of operation.

Emmert started his speech by noting that the University now does over $1 billion in research and that the school now ranks #4 in terms of the number faculty members that have inducted into the National Academies for their respective fields, including a Nobel Prize winner and 11 MacArthur fellows. He stated that the UW currently sends more students into the Peace Corps than any other University in the country.

Emmert announced that the UW will be making improvements,  including the restoration of the Quad and moving certain offices into the Safeco Tower, now renamed UW Tower.  He also took this time to recognize the need to revaluate the University’s housing strategy and improve the campus’ residence halls some of which, in his words, were older than him.  He also stressed the need to invent new ways of handling data on the campus, that they now had funding to create a data center.  He felt that the University that learns how to best manage its data will be the one that succeeds.However, he wanted to remind everyone that these successes couldn’t have been achieved by these individuals alone that the whole University had a share in their successes.

“Nothing is a solo performance.  No one wins anything alone,” Emmert said.

A recorded version of the speech can been viewed at here.

Now, a little bit about who I am and where I’m coming from. Senior undergraduate majoring in Communication: Journalism. I am writing this for COM361 and my intent is to write as a reporter would write a blog. While I have been blogging for about 4 years, my personal blog tends to be more about myself and less about what is relevant to people who might be reading it. I also think that it will be a struggle to find what kind of voice I would like to have on this blog, but hopefully I will figure out how I want this blog to read after the first few posts.

In addition to this blog, I am writing stories for The Daily (only one so far, but I intend to write more) and I also write in my free time on my blog and with several on-line writing groups that I’m a part of. I also work on pages for Wikipedia.org in English and Spanish from time to time. I will post a more extensive profile on the About section of this blog after have added more content.

On the agenda for today: I will be covering UW President Mark Emmert’s annual speech today at Kane Hall.  Afterward I will give a brief review of the speech and hopefully will find more topics of interest to write on in his speech.