Heh, that's true, theatre is a pretty easy breezy degree. That's why I'm now picking up history as a concurrent major, I decided I'd feel like I wasted four years if all I did was get a theatre degree.
Thanks for the advice about spring guns. I read around some more and, while there was much more uninformative springer bashing than there was reasoned advice, I can see how they might suck to play with and, if they're as prone to breaking as everyone says, might turn out to just be a waste of money. I was looking at some pistols on Amazon that cost something ridiculous like $5 with the thought that I could get a taste for the sport without committing virtually any cash to it. On the other hand, though, I've looked into it enough that I'm pretty eager to play and reasonably confident that I'll have fun. If I then consider that shipping is a further $10, it becomes $15 that could go towards a better gun.
So, with that in mind, I started looking around at some entry-level AEGs, and I've discovered that the UTG and CYMA MP5 TM (abbreviations ahoy!) knock-offs are actually quite decent considering the price -- still inferior to a real TM, of course, but they definitely sound like a good choice for a starter gun. Now I just have to decide which to get. The UTG goes for $100 brand new -- which is more than I want to spend -- but I've found a
used one for $50, so that is an option. The CYMA, meanwhile, goes for only $30 new. The UTG is said to have sturdier construction (although the CYMA has more metal) and better FPS/range, plus it's convertible from A4 to A5. I think I'd prefer to buy the UTG, but I have qualms about it being used and costing nearly twice as much, so we'll see.
Sorry, this has turned into more of a hardware post than anything. I'd love to meet up on campus some time, that'd be cool. You'll have to let me know if there's any group of ASUers that play (surely among 60,000 students...) regularly or nearby.