To welcome this years' new arrivals to UF Physics, we thought we'd compile small advicettes to help them better find their way and provide them with a cursory perspective on the times ahead...but first a brief introduction on who we are.

We are UP News! Some twenty and four score physics years (three college years) ago, a girl named Cathy Yeh thought it would be great to harvest the undergraduate physics minds for some funnies as well as stories of physics experiences across the nation each month. With the help of the all-female troop that joined her, UP News was born spitting out Star Trek fanaticism, adventures on a scooter, and other must-hear stories. There's also news of SPS (society of physics students) events like "tea with a professor", and the yearly picnic, along with happenings in the department and physics in general. It was and is the forum for the quintessential physics undergrad. Gotta have your UP News!

Well Cathy graduated last spring, and we miss her, but it hasn't slowed us down! We're still as kooky and ruthlessly informative! And we haven't forgotten what the newsletter is all about - us. So for those of us just entering the scene, here's some survival tips put forth by the generous, sarcastic souls of two UP staffers:

• Develop He-man like biceps and pectoral muscles. These will come in handy when you try to open the 2-ton steel barricades they call "doors" at the main entrance, while carrying all your stuff.
• They purposely schedule physics classes before the crack of dawn so that only the most motivated actually make it to class. Heed this: three or four hours of sleep before other classes might work, but not for physics classes!
• Make sure you're good at Frogger before you try to cross Museum Road and scurry into the Physics building. In this high-traffic zone, almost nobody watches where he or she drives (and busses have terrible deceleration).
• Get yourself acquainted with room 2229--a.k.a. the Physics Lounge. This is where all the other lost students go. At least you can be lost together.
• Don't be a magnetic field. Ask questions often and be prepared to DO WORK.

Another UP staffer wanted to point out that any student of general relativity knows that taking physics classes is the mathematical equivalent of physics classes taking you. But, you can be a physics major and keep up an ortho-normal life. To counter the stress and the strain of your classes, learn to integrate with the flow, or just curl up with a good B-field. If some of this doesn't make sense now, it surely will soon. With the help of the wonderful professors here at UF, enthusiasts in the Physics Lounge (again, NPB 2229), and SPS, you're on your way to a great four years of your life.

Welcome to UF Physics!