Ah, the World Wide Web

I read a story today out of London about Oxford Students finding themselves in trouble because of their "Facebook" profiles. Interestingly enough, I have been working with these issues for almost 3 years now. Pepperdine first addressed students pictures on Facebook and other online social networks like MySpace when evidence arose that was in direct violation to the Community Standards. It has become such a large issue in Higher Education that there have been sessions at the national conferences on how to handle 'Facebook Related Issues'.

I know that I am not in the minority in my job when I prescreen my student leaders by looking at their online profiles. I am honest with them during the interview process and try to help them understand that they are accountable for what is on the public domain, or the WWW. This is definitely a different world we live in today. We didn't have to worry about stories or pictures getting sent around the world, unless we sent them. Today, with seemingly every college student having a digital camera, pictures are taken of students in all types of situations. I tell my students, you can't necessarily control the pictures taken of you, but you can control what you are doing in those pictures. Students generally are understanding of this but it is still met with resistance. I attribute it to the fast paced, more technologically savvy world we live in. The perks of the digital age also come with consequences and I try to 'educate' as many students as possible to both.

A Sport I've Never Played

My wife calls me a sports junkie and that is pretty fair. I LOVE sports. If there is a sport/game I'm a sucker for it. Well, after reading this article, "Player Finds Tooth Stuck in Head", I think I know why I haven't played rugby, and never really want to, BTW. What is crazy is that he lived with said tooth in his head for 3+ months, NOT KNOWING IT WAS THERE! Any sport with this much risk, and desensitization probably isn't for me at this stage in life.

Climbing Mountains and Not Stairs

The last two weeks have brought some great adventures for us! We finished June by beginning our annual trip to our condo in Wildernest, CO (there is a link to it on the side of this page). I alway love going to CO because there is so much to do, winter or summer. We arrived on June 27th and spent the next 10 days playing above 9,000 feet! I got to fly fish 7 days and climb another 14er (Mt. Bierstadt), we white water rafted, took two day hikes, and of course did some shopping. It was great to spend time with family and friends. Tara's grandma Albie came for the first time and had a great time. Caleb and his cousin Cole had fun playing together as well. As for fly fishing, it was amazing. I just love it and having the Blue River within 5 minutes of our Condo is amazing! It is what they call it, a Gold Medal River, meaning excellent fly fishing! I caught at least one fish each day, and usually more. It is one of the most relaxing things I do, and is great for a vacation.

Our time in Colorado came to an end on Saturday July 7th. We flew back to L.A. and promptly were welcomed back by the airline losing only Caleb's carseat...luckily we were being picked up by a friend in our SUV with the other seat. (I finally got the seat back on Thursday of this week btw.) Our adventure though was just picking up steam! On Sunday morning, July 8th we moved for the 4th time in our 7+ year marriage. Tara was 'promoted' and with that came a living area change at Pepperdine. We accepted this with open arms because the new place is HUGE! 1500+ square feet, 4 bedrooms, 1 1/2 bath, dining room, living room, washer and dryer, double oven, two yards/patios, and sweeping views of the ocean! It is probably one of the nicest places we will ever live (on the open market it would sell for 2 million (yes MILLION) or more)! We just got the office partially set up yesterday, thus I can now do this. It is nice having an office outside of Caleb's room!

There are new pictures uploaded to the photo album. Make sure to check them out. In there are pics of the 14er, our CO trip, the view from our dining room (and living room as well)...and more Caleb injuries. Let's just say, he likes to "hike" and while hiking outside our condo he fell on a rock! Tara and I thought it was going to be the emergency room but it didn't bleed or cut open. But it was again, the worst yet! Oh to have a little boy...