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Show Daily Utah Chronicle 8 Wednesday, January Revenge of the Nerd FOOD & I had never ventured into the cavernous depths of the life science building, but when I did I was in for an experience that I couldn't have been prepared for. Struggling to make it to class on the first day of school, I made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in a world most of us will never enter. I was DRUG STORES www.smithsfoodanddrug.com Mi? v. i i... 4.1 Jit IKlfiBn Saimtsairy EEwoEifojIIi JJanwaairy 27KIh, IFF jmmnr DG3 00 uO GDI? Li K1U L11J t f , LLJ fl nl i J knii Vm Virf Tye Smith Chronicle Sports Columnist a pocket protector. From one of the many groups came a sudden outburst. "I can't meet every morning at seven," whined one. "Then you're off the team," muttered another. The information was shocking. First, they had teams and these guys didn't look like they would be on any kind of team I knew about. Second, members of this unusual "team" were at risk of losing what appeared to be a starting position if they couldn't be there every day at 7 a.m. Sounded pretty crazy to me, and again I wondered if I was in the right place. Before I had the chance to ask someone, another outburst, this time from another corner of the room, distracted me. The exact nature of the disagreement was unclear, but they were passing around some kind of blueprints and throwing out words like "mechanical arm" and "robot" with reckless abandon. Sounded like someone on the team wasn't being a team player must have been some maverick only in it for the personal glory. But I couldn't tell for sure. As the characteristics of the calculators entertained doz- students in the dreaded Room ens (can you believe they still 101 became more and more make those?) and, I kid you apparent, I realized that I had not, at least one student was seen this kind before. I had I dis- covered additional footage of their kind in the documentary known to many as "Revenge of the Nerds." Yes, I had seen this kind of student before, but never in such numbers. They were the superstars of the sport called school, and as the realization hit me that I was among greats, a humble reverence overcame me. I had accidentally wandered into the holy of the holies of the game of book-smartand these were the champions. It was unthinkable that so many had gathered together in one room. Maybe they were there for the Fellowship of the Nerds, maybe even to crown their king, but it was getting more and more clear that I was indeed in the wrong place. Just then the professor burst into the room and immediately let loose with a tirade of words that Noah Webster would have been proud of. He went on and on, without hesitation or fear, and with time I discovered that this was their leader. Finally, I knew who to talk to if I was ever going to get out of this mess, if only the brilliant madman would stop to let me speak. But there would be no stopping as the fury of his opening day lecture was gaining force. At the right moment, I slipped out the back of the room when all other options had been exhausted. A word to the wise: Stay away from Room 101 those guys will eat you alive! s, tsmithchronicle.utah.edu fWI f ; 4 I iJ J J r upon further research, ! t te seen glimpses of their kind in high school, but only in packs of two or three, and 1 sporting All-Sta- rs CJ Li i f looking for Room 107, but, as fate would have it, I wandered into Room 101, never to look back... Unassumingly, I took my seat in the corner of what appeared to be a normal lecture hall. It was anything but. I knew I had arrived at least five minutes early, but the room was already full-- not a soul was late. Strange, I thought to myself, I've never seen a class fill up five minutes before class starts. Am I in the right place? I wondered for the first time. With no professor present, I figured one must be coming. But in the meantime I began to notice, how should I say it, certain unusual things. Right off the bat I could tell that most of the people knew each other, and more importantly, they seemed to be sectioned off into groups. The clan-lik- e grouping was, for someone obviously without a group, disconcerting, to say the least. There were other patterns that were becoming evident as I scanned the room. Everyone was wearing glasses even those, it seemed, with no visual impairment. Wristwatch n 2004 14, if r r- -J u O 2, J, 13 S0 '7 - iHQv J M I , fie "' ' ' Sujjxjui if iii if SiniLajji JJJ JJnuiLijyn ii ill JJlJD jjj'DllJjjj Apply JiujiiiLry iiJj hjj jiuzuy llJ'UjjllUU JJJi)JJj.Yi It t , f. f 1 1 fatJ Lkll f '- J"" I L-- .. ... ., . lil n - V-- ill n SfiDGGliiao ..; J Pool |
