MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2012
PAGE 5A
opinion
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I started leaving peanut butter out for the squirrel living in my tree. I hope this alliance will improve my street cred with the campus squirrels.
I don't care how old I get. Seeing professors outside of class is still weird.
When the weather is this good people need to quit complaining about the buses. Enjoy your extra ten minutes waiting, it'll do you good.
My body keeps telling me cheer as I watch basketball but I'm worried that would disrupt the people actually listening to the professor.
To the kind man whose path I blocked from walking because I was acting like a bird, I'm sorry.
If I had a nickel for every time my dad has called Kevin Young "his man" during this game, I would probably be able to pay off my college loans before I die.
You know it's hot when you use your cool setting on your hair dryer as your own personal fan.
EDITORIAL
Saw a family decked out in KU gear at Disneyland and another on Hollywood Blvd. It's always a great day to be a Jayhawk.
That awkward moment where you thought you texted your friend back but didn't and you were waiting for their text.
My dad sat next to Charlie Weis on an airplane. So I got a wake up call from Charlie, telling me not to skip class.
Banning electronics in class unfair
Benefits to staying on campus hours before spring break: fighter jets flying over campus!
res, there was a sign posted at Hash for someone to return a dragon lighter.
How do they expect us to go to class when I could be playing frisbee on Fraser lawn?
My roommate feel so comfortable around me that she burps in my face. I did not know that I could feel both honored and grossed out at the same time
That freshman moment when you don't know when the dorms open up and you end up sleeping in your car over night.
A little girl just came up to me and said, "Get ready to smell terribleness again!" What does that mean?
To the girl sitting next to me on the bus, I can see your spray tan line and orange and pale don't match.
I hate people that call themselves fans but are on their phone the entire time.
So, when the qudditch team plays, do they yell at each other in cool British accents?
should be expected of any college student upon arrival being that responsibility is a fundamental value learned while in college. Professors need to set an expectation of not surfing Pinterest and Facebook while in class and instead encourage students to use everything they can to learn as much as possible in the way that is best for them. In a more modern world, the laptop is mightier than the pen.
I'll go on dates just because it's free stuff, but I'm staying single.
If they kick me out of the residence halls one more time, I am leaving forever.
The purpose of a research university is to find and blaze new pathways to see the world and manipulate it in new and creative ways. When professors prohibit students from exploring these options, they limit our productive and creative abilities. After all, students do not tell professors how to teach because if they did, the professors would not be able to do their best.
Just saw bus driver Dan smoking. I'm a little disappointed.
Oh no, I'm already going to have to start shaving my legs again.
The use of electronics in the classroom is usually prohibited because of the distraction it causes for other students. The constant key clicking and random ringing of phones does create a distraction for everyone in the classroom. However it is unfair for professors to dictate how students learn.
game.
With this, students must be responsible in class when using their computers and other devices. This responsibility
The current policy regarding electronics in the classroom is that it is up to the professor or teaching assistant to define acceptable use of electronics in class. It is easy to see why a professor would ban the use
this seems like a no-brainer.
of laptops and phones in their classroom, with the abundance of social media outlets and the inability of students to remember to turn their devices to silent. From time to time, electronics do cause a distraction but that distraction is usually short-lived and does not compare to the loss of learning possibilities that electronic devices can provide.
Recently, an instructor expressed to a class that the students must take notes in the conventional way, meaning only pen and paper would
be allowed as our medium of notetaking. Perhaps this professor thinks students are getting a better education by learning in the way that they learned, but professors who ban electronics in the classroom are missing out on how a modern student can learn. Whether jotting down a to-do on an app, taking some notes in a word document that is searchable for later studying, or recording a lecture for later listening, students can greatly benefit from using their resources.
From a university perspective,
Jon Samp for the Kansan Editorial Board
Dealing with your partner's friends
We love our significant others, but sometimes their friends can really be jerks. And when college life enables us to see our partners and their friends frequently, the issue can sometimes be pressing.
It's important for us to understand how to handle these situations because our romantic relationships can often blossom or burn depending on the harmony between us and our significant others' friends.
Since I dated my first serious boyfriend my senior year of high school, I've had a few minor issues with my partners' friends, but it wasn't until I started dating my current one that I have actually had to address the problem.
Last fall my boyfriend and I went to a football game together, and he told me he would be tailgating with a few of his friends beforehand. He didn't technically invite me to join him in tailgating, so instead I went shopping, saw a friend downtown, and met up with him to go to the stadium later.
When I arrived at my boyfriend's tailgate, his older brother teased me about prioritizing shopping over spending an afternoon playing makeshift football in an alley. I laughed it off and lightheartedly said to my boyfriend, "Way to make me look like a jackass."
Then one of my boyfriend's
friends, who has a knack for saying offensive things way too casually, said, "Well, if it quacks like a duck."
I assumed that because the two of us weren't close enough for him to even jokingly insult me, I must have heard it out of context as he said it to someone else.
I brushed it off but still wasn't sure about it the next day, so I confronted my boyfriend about whom his friend was talking to when he said that.
My boyfriend told me his friend was in fact talking about me, and I was secretly pissed when the next thing out of his mouth was, "It's Nick (name has been changed). You just take it in stride."
Take it in stride? Are you kidding me?
I was baffled that my boyfriend didn't have a stronger reaction. He may be friends with Nick, I thought, but he's in a relationship with me. I told my boyfriend that his friend's actions were unacceptable regardless, and that was that.
However, since then, I've realized that a strong reaction on his part may not have been necessary. While I demand respect from my boyfriend, neither always taking my side nor fighting my battles is his responsibility.
The incident was isolated, so in the end I didn't fight it. However, I didn't forget it either.
Therefore, since then I have devised a list of Do's and Don'ts while dealing with our partners' friends that can make or break our relationships.
Below, I give you a snippet of my entire dating philosophy that I live and die by.
DO:
Talk with your partner about how both of you can better facilitate your relationship with his/her friend. Such tension is a problem for your partner too, not just yours.
DON'T:
- Let it go the first time unless it regards a sensitive issue. It's possible that said friend thinks that kind of communication is normal (especially if he/she is nonchalant about it).
- Reevaluate your relationship if this issue occurs frequently and your significant other never sticks up for you. This can often reflect that your partner and his/her friend are alike, and you shouldn't make time for that.
- Address problems one-on-one if they continue with your significant other's friend, but bring it up with your partner too. Don't blame your partner for his/her friend.
- Ask your partner if you could bring your own friend next time you hang out as a group. It can help ease tension by keeping you occupied.
- Feel pressured to be buddy-buddy with your significant other's friends. Be sociable, but just getting along is good enough.
- Talk to your partner's friends endlessly about subjects that probably aren't mutual interests unless the friends initiate the conversation or it's a big deal.
Finding a shared interest will ease communication and make spending time with them more comfortable.
On liking, or not liking, to like upcoming bands
Expect your significant other to choose between his/her friends and you. Ultimatums in relationships are never acceptable.
Confront your partner's friend publicly. This issue is not a public affair. You'll probably get a better response if you confront him/her in person rather than by shooting a message over Facebook or Twitter. If he/she doesn't back off, bring it up with your partner in private later.
- Get mad at your partner for not always sticking up for you. Always picking your side is not part of his/her job description.
Music is full of trends and fads, and when you are an aspiring rock journalist, you have to try to stay on top of what's new and have an opinion immediately. Chuck Klosterman, a former writer for the music magazine Spin, said in a March 6 "Hollywood Prospectus" podcast for ESPN's Grantland Network that being a rock journalist wasn't that fun.
He said that when you have to have an opinion on music, you need it instantly; there was no time to get familiar with it. Klosterman said he had to have an opinion right away, and his co-host Andy Greenwald, another former music journalist agreed. This was their least favorite part of music journalism.
When it comes to new music, I'm a total cynic. My friend Sean is the complete opposite. He seems to like every new song he ever hears. It's a bit frustrating, actually. This past summer when the punk band "Fucked up" released their rock opera "David Comes to Life", Sean couldn't stop raving about it. After my first few listens, I decided that every song sounded the same. And when you claim an album to be a "Rock Opera", sounding the same seems like a death sentence. Sean was not happy with me.
A few months later, Sean told me of the one-woman indie band "Tune-Yards" (stylized "tUnEyArDs"). Luckily, Klosterman was there to have his instant
opinion on Grantland.com. He said he liked Tune-Yards, but he wasn't sure if it was good music, because Indie rock is full of popular music that isn't actually good. Essentially, he says, people like things just to like them.
Once again, I was not fond of what I was hearing, and Sean was not happy.
When I hear people raving about music, I have to ask myself: Are these Abed Nadir reviews of music? On NBC's sitcom "Community", television geek, Abed Nadir, tries to get his friends to join the glee club. His roommate, Troy Barnes, tells him that everyone hates glee club. Abed answers beautifully with, "I guess you're right. I guess I just like liking things." I try to avoid this as much as possible.
So when Sean comes to me with some new band, I have to wonder if this band is actually good, or is Sean just trying to show me a band that a random person talked about. Or if anyone shows me new music, are these people really enjoying this music, or are they showing it to me just so they can feel like they have an
upper hand on me, intellectually because I was unaware of something.
It's a real problem because my first instinct is to believe that people don't like the music for the right reasons. I believe most people like new music just so they can tell their friends about the new hip band that everyone is unaware of. This is why the stereotypes of hipsters exist.
A few months later, once Sean has stopped raving, I gave these bands a listen a few more times. I have to admit that he was right. These bands are great. But for some reason, my fear of becoming a stereotype or becoming another drone that doesn't think for himself stops me from enjoying music immediately. I have to get used to it.
Now, I can't stop listening to Tune-Yards. I believe that I was wrong earlier, but not for the wrong reasons. I was wrong because I wanted to have the chance to experience the music myself, and not let someone tell me how I should feel about it. You need to find music that is great, not what's hip or new.
Many don't see greatness in music right away (most notably me), but when you give music a few months, your own changing opinions might shock you.
Keith is a graduate student from Wichita in education.
Lysen is is a junior in journalism from Andover.
CAMPUS CHIRPS BACK
@Timmy_Hewitt
©UDK Opinion Being in Little Rock seeing the women make the Sweet 16 and the band and yell leaders lift the car off that guy!
@FakeWeis
@FakeWeis
©UBK Opinion House sitting for Self
during the tournament #GoodLife
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@Ashwenis
@UK Opinion I saw Gerard Butler on Santa Monica beach AND got a creeper pic. Definitely one of my favorite moments of my break.
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