Ryan Hamerly
Residence
Avery House
Room 226
hamerly AT its
About Me
I, Ryan Hamerly, am proud to be a member Avery House, the greatest House ever established at Caltech!
I'm also a social member of Blacker Hovse, the greatest Hovse ever established at Caltech. This statement does not contradict the preceding one.
I come from Colorado, having graduated from Boulder High School. I am currently studying physics here at Caltech.
Things I Care About
Avery Social Team
I was the third social director to preside over the
new order of Avery House.
The Social Director the chief organizer of social activities in Avery House. He oversees the
social team, manages the social budget, and makes sure that everyone in the House has an opportunity to have fun and socialize.
Wesley Chen is our new social director. For social stuff and suggestions, talk to him.
Academics, Research, and Student Experience
The
Academics and Research Committee serves to voice the concerns of students regarding the curriculum, academic policies, and research opportunities. I was Avery's ARC rep two years ago.
Interhovse
Two years ago, the members of Avery build the House's first Interhouse party in history:
The Phantom of the Opera. We built an opera house in the middle of the Avery courtyard, complete with a pipe organ, fancy murals, and a DJ opera box. We didn't have any beer, but we did buy over $6,000 in quality food by Caltech Catering, paid for by declining balance donations from members of the House. Gabriel Mendoza, an Avery frosh, was the party DJ. Interhouse was a smashing success, and because of this we decided to do it again next year.
Next year's party,
A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, was equally impressive. We built a 25-foot stardome in the middle of the courtyard, elevated 8 feet above the dance floor. The dome, constructed in a 4V geodesic design, was complete with LED stars programmed to beat to the music. Interhouse was again a spectacular success. Hopefully, the memories of the last two parties will be enough to sustain the tradition in future years without my leadership.
Avery's History
For many, many years, the history of Avery has gone by unrecorded. Generations have come into Avery, spent their four years here, and left, but no serious attempt has been made to write down a comprehensive history of this fine House from its beginning to its present. Thus, the state of Avery history in our times is akin to that of an archaeological excavation: There are pieces of evidence here and there - everywhere, in fact - but the evidence has not been studied; the history has not been written down in a nice, coherent, complete, and readable form.
The mission of the History Committee is to find and study all these bits of evidence and to piece them together to reconstruct the history of the House. Secondly, the Committee will write down this history that it has so carefully analyzed so that our future generations will not forget our past. Will this "written history" take the form of a book, a website, or something else? That is for this committee to decide.
I am the de facto chairman of the Avery
History Committee (officially called the "Avery History Group") and am very interested in anything relating to the history of this fine House.
Writings and Editorials
Various writings about Avery - our history, our struggles, and our glorious future. Some are more interesting than others, but unfortunately, the more interesting ones would probably get me in trouble if I posted them online.
- Constitutional History of Avery House (March 23, 2007). An essay about the history of Avery's Constitution. The History Committee should do a more detailed study.
- Rant Against the Administration (March 24, 2007). Could use some updating in light of recent scandalous events.
- There's Only One (March 27, 2007). About the unique qualities of Avery that I like
- Rotation Picks: An Inconvenient Truth (March 31, 2007). A study of Avery's relative popularity and happiness during Rotation using publicly available survey data.
- Our Illiterate Generation (April 6, 2007). About how the vast majority of Americans are illiterate in matters of history.
- In Defense of Truth (April 9, 2007). About how the other Houses are also "open" communities and how Avery by no means has an exclusive claim to "openness".
- Statement Against Restoring the Avery Council (April 17, 2007). About how the ExComm system is better than the former Council system.
- Stand for Freedom (November 9, 2008). About how the ExComm needs to stand up for the interests of our members and not bow down to administrative policy legalism.
Humor
This is a collection of humorous Avery and Caltech-related things that I have written. It is probably incomplete, and more things may come up when I go through my files and find them. Note that humor is often subjective, and I often enjoy making fun of points of view I disagree with.
The Avery House Budget: An Inconvenient Truth
Copyright Joke
- This is a satire of a real warning I received about pirating music and movies in 2008. Although it's fun to make fun of, you really shouldn't steal copyrighted content.
Rotation Rules
- These Rotation Rules are designed to make fun of a process that other Houses get overly serious about. Note that I had to remove some content to avoid getting in trouble with the IHC.
South Master Parody
- This is, I believe, a satire of the arguments used to justify the new South House mural policy, particularly those that distorted the meaning of the honor code.
The Great Purge
- This was written in anticipation of a fridge purge in the summer of 2008.
Bailout Rejection Letter
- A note from the Treasury. You didn't know that Avery applied for bailout money?
Palpatine for Chancellor: The Campaign
The Militant Averite
- An adaptation of the American classic Battle Hymn of the Republic, written in protest against the 2009-10 graduate board changes.
ARA Nuclear Deterrent Policy
- The policy of the Avery Revolutionary Army to use nuclear weapons in response to attempts to destroy or distrupt our community.
