[MSTE] MiSTEam Webcomic - Every Wednesday and Friday, University of Illinois

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Dramatis Personae

	Ben: Loosely based on MSTE Graphic Designer/Clerical Staff Benjamin Machalek Ben is an indie-rock loving artsy kind of guy. He enjoys using Macs, but isn't your stereotypical "hardcore Mac user". Still, he tends to get pegged as one since no one else in the office (except Othman, who I can't draw) has much love for Macs. But, being the cool cat that he is, Ben tends to take it in stride.
	George: Loosely based on MSTE Associate Director George Reese George is basically the guy in charge around the office. He's a nice enough guy, but has the responsibility to keep the team in line and can get very busy with work. He's usually very excited about new developments in the office, and just loves spending grant money.
	Jim: Loosely based on MSTE Research Assistant Jim Dildine Jim has been working with the MSTE Office for a long time, and it shows. He's very passionate about his work, sometimes zealously protective of MSTE equipment and resources. Jim is also very likely to hurt himself on any given occasion. We're guessing he'll end up in the headlines someday.
	Matt: Loosely based on MSTE Tech Support Guy Matt Young Matt is a graduate student in Engineering who's job is basically to keep all the equipment in the office running and to work on the MSTE website, although generally he gets so bogged down in little details that no actual work gets done. He's also Michael's roommate, or would be if Michael ever came home... Incidentally, Matt is also the author of the MiSTEam Webcomic, which might explain a few things. Or maybe it won't. :-)
	Michael: Loosely based on MSTE Technical Coordinator Michael McKelvey Michael is basically the leader of the technical side of MSTE, a job with a lot of responsibilities. As such, he tends to be around the office a lot. A WHOLE lot. Although Matt claims to share an apartment with him, Michael is very rarely seen outside of work. Of course, all this working can be very tiring, so Michael is found asleep around the MSTE Office most of the time.
	Pavel: Loosely based on MSTE Java Programmer Pavel Safronov Pavel makes most of the current Java Applets that are available on the MSTE website. He's generally a pretty solid worker, who has been known to come in at odd hours just to get his work done. We think that kind of work ethic comes from his growing up in Communist Russia.

What's Up With the Name?

A lot of people have expressed confusion about the title of the comic, "MiSTEam", especially those of you that have only known us through the web. So here's an explanation of where the name came from:

For as long as I've worked at the Office for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education, we've always gone by our acronym: MSTE, which is understandable because "The Office for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education" is kind of a mouthful. But when you say the letters M-S-T-E fast enough, is sounds like you are saying "misty". So when you talk to someone from the office, they will always refer to it as "misty".

The personnel at the MSTE office has always been referred to as the "MSTE Team", and since they are the subject of the comic, I wanted to name it after them. So I wanted to convey in writing the fact that we always pronounce it "Misty Team". But "Misty Team" was a bit of a clunky name and didn't make the connection between MSTE and Misty very well. So I noticed that "team" shares its first two letters with the last two letters of MSTE, and therefore shortened the name to "misteam". Then, to accentuate the fact that this was in fact referring to MSTE, I capitalized the letters M, S, T, and E in the name, which gives the final name of the comic: "MiSTEam".

So that's probably more information than you ever wanted to know, but at least now you know that a lot of thought went into that name. :-)

-Matt

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MiSTEam Webcomic - Every Wednesday and Friday

Dramatis Personae

What's Up With the Name?