Irv

Name: Dr. Irving "Irv" Barsama

Age/Birth date/Zodiac: 34/Dec 1, 1974/Sagittarius

Occupation/School/Usual Hang Outs: Assistant professor at the Sunset City, State University Chemistry Department. The research lab. The "Bar None" pub.

Skills, Hobbies: PhD in chemistry from University of Colorado at Boulder, home-brewing beer, starting (and ending) inter-collegiate prank wars, learning to swear in other languages

Likes: Industrial strength coffee (fumes alone can give you a buzz), science-fiction (he enjoys the good stuff and enjoys making fun of the bad stuff), snarking at undergraduates, breaking arrogant students, a good solid dark beer, spicy "Southwestern" cuisine, walking around barefoot, cranking up Electric Light Orchestra on the hi-fi, pen-and-paper style RPGs.

Dislikes: Arrogant students, paperwork (especially expense-justification reports), modern art ($10,000 for toggling a light-switch? Seriously?), rodents of any kind, dressing up, "no shoes, no service" policies

Time Line:

Dec 1, 1974 - Born to Helen and Gary Barsama in Allen Park, Michigan. The next 18 years are spent in typical teenage style and relative normality
August, 1993 - Begins undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina, majoring in English.
January, 1994 - Switches majors to physics after realizing his degree is boring him to death.
December 1996 - Graduates with a Bachelors of Science in Physics
January 1997 - June 1997 - Spends the summer working in a cabinet shop in Raleigh while preparing for graduate school.
August 1997 - Begins graduate studies at Texas A&M University working towards a Master's degree in Chemistry. He becomes (in)famous within the department for pulling stunts that would make MIT jealous.
January 2000 - Graduates Texas A&M University with his Master's degree.
February - May 2000 - Works stint as a bartender during transition period. Begins experimenting with home-brewed alcohols.
June 2000 - Begins graduate studies at U.C. Boulder, working towards a PhD in Chemistry.
February 2005 - Defends thesis. Judged acceptable by the thesis committee.
March 2005 - Publishes thesis in the ACS journal.
May 2005 - Graduates with his PhD in Chemistry from UC Boulder. Takes a position at Sunset City State University as a lecturer at Sunset City State University.
May 2007 – Changes positions to assistant professor.
September 2008 - Gets his world rocked when his abilities begin manifesting

Big Deals

Appearance

Hair: Light-brown with the occasional stray gray pulled back into a ponytail that hang down to about his shoulders.
Eyes: Deep-green, with a perpetual hint of mischief.
Skin: Pasty-pale, sun-burns easily.
Face: In his youth, Irv had a thin and narrow face but the weight he's gained since coming to Sunset City has rounded it out somewhat. He's clean-shaven at work, but neglects shaving during the weekend or when he's on vacation.
Build: Six feet even. Irv's becoming noticeably portly around the middle as the youthful metabolism that once allowed him to thrive on pizza and three-day old take-out has begun failing him in the last few years.
Attire: Weather-permitting, Irv will wear solid-color t-shirts with breast pockets (perfect for holding pens), khaki pants or cargo pants, and flip-flops. If the weather gets cold enough he'll don sweat-shirts purchased during the Clinton administration and his one pair of well-worn tennis-shoes. In the lab he'll wear a lab-coat with overflowing pockets, goggles, and disposable protective booties on his feet. He has one black suit that hangs in the back of his closet which is only used for formal faculty events and job interviews.

Personality:

*Virtues: Even-tempered, rational, energetic
*Neutrals: Creative (in certain respects), perpetually goofy, guarded, sceptic
*Vices: Overly-critical, vindictive

Blurb:

All things considered, Irv is a decent guy. He's a little weird (okay a lot weird), but he genuinely enjoys what he does and that counts for something. He's a dyed-in-the-wool prankster with a decidedly impish sense of humor. Any excuse for a prank or joke is fair game, be it a birthday, April's Fool's day, or just because he's got some time on his hands waiting to use the NMR machine. Occasionally he'll take a prank too far and some poor-by-stander will get caught in the cross-hairs, but he's getting better at knowing where the line is and how far he can go past it.

He's not one to wear his heart on his sleeve and he manages to keep his cool most of the time. He's great at spotting problems but has trouble pointing them out tactfully.

The sudden appearance of what he can only deem "superpowers" has seriously rocked his view of the universe. He's considered asking other professors in the physics or biology departments for help but decided that being labeled insane would probably ruin any bids for tenure.

The Other Side

Elemental Control: Energy : Electromagnetic Radiation

Abilities: Irv is able to alter the the properties of waves along the EM spectrum. By altering frequency or energetics of waves, he can convert one type of EM radiation to another, converting blue light to red for example. Currently he is only able to alter waves falling between radio and visible light on the EM spectrum, but theorizes that with time and practice he will eventually be able to master the entire spectrum, allowing him to hypothetically convert gamma radiation to harmless radio waves or vice versa.
Irv is also able to receive radio signals in his head. He posits that his abilities somehow let his brain process radio waves as audible signals but has no evidence of the mechanism thus far. He has limited control over this ability. Some days he can't tune in to anything no matter how hard he tries, some times he'll pick up seven stations at once, and occasionally it refuses to turn off. Irv believes that, like his EM conversion ability, mastery over this will come with time and practice.

Aptitude: Alchemist

Relic:None

Band:Unaffiliate