"While in Heaney’s poem what is said is what is important, in Atwood’s poem it is these silences, these spaces that matter. They’re open voids that demand thought, much like the janitor must wonder why the people being interrogated suddenly go silent, must constantly wonder what is happening. They match the void that must be present at the janitor’s house, where he can tell no one where he works, or what it is he wipes away. The words matter because they give a frame for this silence. Alone, they do not signify, strung together they are a somewhat depressing story, but by framing emptiness they become so much more."

- "Atwood Better Than Heaney? News at 13"

     Spencer Reavis (pronounced somewhat like "revv""is") Phillips, currently a sophomore at the University of California at Santa Barbara. When not struggling to get his attempted double major of Biology and Literature to work, he enjoys swimming, bodysurfing, reading science fiction and fantasy novels as well as random scholarly works, and slowly leveling characters on World of Warcraft. He hopes to become more experienced at things like SCUBA Diving, normal (board) surfing, and yoga.

     Having no work experience, he is finally realizing that getting a job is absurdly hard, especially if one has no work experience. To remedy this error, he is currently pursuing volunteer opportunities in order to be better suited in the future for the part-time job market. An example of one of these is CCBER's Vertebrate Collections Internship.

     Academic activities and classes taken include:

• Biology classes, such as...
• MCDB 1A and Lab (Introductory Biology)
• Chem 1A-C (General Chemistry)
• CCS Bio 30 (Introductory Biology, in a less rigid format)
• Writing/Literature classes, such as...
• ENGL 146FM - Literature of Technology, taught by Amanda Phillips (No Relation)
• Poetry Writing by Barry Spacks
• Play Writing by Kendall Lynch
• Television Writing by Paul Portuges
• Random/Eclectic classes, such as...
•  Japanese 1-3 (An Academic Year's Duration)
• Psychology 1 and 3 (Introductory Psychology and Introductory Biopsychology)

     If you wish to contact Spencer Phillips, he can be reached by email at "srp@umail.ucsb.edu". Jokes will be appreciated; spam will not.