Someone at the Daily Clog tipped my secret: I graduated. I’ve already departed the 510, and I will be about 3,000 miles East of Berkeley by September continuing my education in the dastardly institution known as law school.

With that, even my meager math skills can see that our number of writers has drifted towards zero. Or, in fact, may have equalled or surpassed zero, I’m not really sure. What I’m sure of is that this is my last post on this blog.

That being said, I don’t think this blog is “dead”. In fact, I feel that CalStuff represents one of the greatest aspects of blogging that nobody talks about. It isn’t just that blogs can be real-time media sources - they are historical sources as well. This website contains five years of the history of Cal from a unique perspective - written as it was lived. It would be nice if some curious student Googles “ASUC” or “Chancellor Birgeneau” or “Berkeley nude Playboy” and stumbles upon this treasure trove of personal accounts and comment trolling.

And, with no upkeep at all, this website can serve as a form of institutional memory for a student body that has none, due to the four/five/six year old turnover of students on this campus. Maybe we’ll learn not to reinvent the wheel when we have a little “crisis” in our little microcosm of a universe at Berkeley. Or maybe we’re doomed to continue to reinvent the wheel, and we need to prepare ourselves for that over and over and over and over again. At the very least, hopefully people will be enterained by the blog, either by the constantly dry and amazingly witty commentary on this website or by reliving their college days.

Finally, CalStuff isn’t dead because someone can wake it up at any time and start it up. Better to take this great URL then start over somewhere else. If you’re interested, email calstuff@gmail.com with a group of writers and a plan. First come, first serve. It really is a lot of fun, not a lot of work, and has helped me get at least one job. Don’t doubt your skills: read your competition, it’s not so hot.

So, CalStuff is alive - just alive in the Terri Schiavo sense of the word. Who wants to wake it up?

12 Little Bears said...